Swordsman Profile in Chrono Odyssey

Swordsman Guide — Chrono Odyssey

The information on this page is based off of the recent Closed Beta Test (CBT) of Chrono Odyssey. This information may change as additional updates and developments are made to the game. We will continue to test and update this page as new information releases.

The Swordsman class provides an extremely flexible melee toolkit in Chrono Odyssey, rewarding you for mixing up different combat styles depending on the situation. It rewards good timing and picking the right tool for the job, being able to dish out high damage or deflect punishment from foes, being able to switch on the fly between offense and defense.

In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about the Swordsman class in Chrono Odyssey, including weapon options, available skills, playstyle choices, class masteries, positioning, gear recommendations, and more.

Strengths

• High sustained and burst damage.
• Variety of defensive cooldown tools.
• Can switch between tanking and DPS on the fly.
• Good mobility tools for navigating combat.
• Access to hyper armor effects.

Weaknesses

• Limited to melee range.
• Parrying and charged attacks require precision timing.
• Resources fade out of combat.
• Requires good buff management from weapon switches.
• Requires good stamina management for defense.

Weapon Playstyles

When playing Swordsman, you can equip two out of the three available weapon options at a time. These are the Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, and the Greatsword. Each of these have their own strengths, weaknesses and uses cases, but can all be paired with each other in different combinations depending on your playstyle. Below is a brief rundown on how each weapon works:

• Greatsword — High burst damage option, attacking slowly but dealing devastating damage with each hit. It features powerful combos and up front damage, allowing you to charge up attacks for even higher damage. It also makes use of both Super Armor and Hyper Armor, allowing you to tank through damage to ensure you deal a decisive blow. It heavily relies on you knowing how much punishment you can take, and when you have the time to exploit an opening.
• Dual Blades — Sustained damage option, dealing constant damage while mixing in high damage strikes. It is extremely mobile, allowing you to dip in and out of the fray when needed. It also has parries, allowing you to negate incoming attacks if timed perfectly, with a big payoff when doing so. When switching to them, you gain a large burst of resources, rewarding you for mixing up styles with your paired weapon. Finally, it also provides a stacking threat increase or decrease buff, which is useful to carry over to your alternate weapon depending on your role.
• Sword & Shield — While this is the tanking option, it still manages to deal impressive damage when used correctly. Its key defensive tool, Block, can be timed perfectly to negate damage, and then followed up with a powerful counterattack that knocks enemies down. While not every attack can be countered, knowing an enemies pattern can allow for devastating reprisals that given an opening you can exploit with your secondary offensive weapon. With its large suite of defensive tools and high threat generation as well, it's a potent tanking option in group content.

Best Swordsman Perks

When playing Swordsman, you are going to need to stay on your toes, switching between defense and offense when opportunity presents itself. That means you need a good mix of tools to survive attacks, and the ability to deal damage back when you can. Therefore, it is very important to perks applied to your gear to improve your playstyle.

For optimal gearing, it is highly recommended to transfer the trial-specific perks from the Level 5 gear (available from NPC Zakal outside the Trial of the Tilted Walls) onto your higher-leveled gear. This will allow you to take advantage of the high defensive and offensive attributes that higher-leveled gear offers, as well as the powerful, unique perks obtainable through the Trial of the Tilted Wall.

These perks will greatly increase the damage output and survivability of your character, and include the following:

• Trial's Retaliation (Chest Perk): Summons thorns that reflect 100% of damage received (up to 74% of the enemy's attack) for 5 seconds (Cooldown: 27 seconds).
• Trial's Resistance (Head Perk): Stuns the enemy for 3 seconds when hit (Cooldown: 24 seconds).
• Trial's Agony (Legs Perk): Deals additional damage equal to 10% of the target's lost HP upon landing an attack (Cooldown: 3 seconds).
• Trial's Refutation (Back Perk): Recovers HP equal to 18% of damage dealt upon landing an attack (Cooldown: 5 seconds).
• Trial's Endurance (Feet Perk): Triggers [Super Armor] for 5 seconds when HP drops below 20% (Cooldown: 60 seconds).
• Sequence of Trials (Hands Perk): Upon being hit, deals 5% Physical Damage over time for 5 seconds (Cooldown: 15 seconds).

To learn more about how to obtain these perks and transfer them on your gear, watch the Trial Perks Video Guide.

Consumable Recommendations

Please Note: Consumables will receive massive changes in the upcoming Closed Beta Test for Chrono Odyssey. As such, information below may be out of date and is currently preserved for reference.

Managing your Stamina is extremely important for Swordsman in combat, and since you will often be tackling foes head on, having a handle on your health is even more crucial. Thankfully, throughout the world of Chrono Odyssey there are some consumable options to assist with that.

If you find some encounters a bit too difficult even with your gear upgraded, consider using cooking and alchemy to craft the following consumables:

• Advanced Nectar of Fortification — Grants +3 to Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Wisdom for 30 minutes.
• Advanced Nectar of Agility — Grants +10% Movement Speed and +9 Max Stamina for 30 minutes.
• Advanced Warrior's Meatloaf — Increases Attack by 35 for 30 minutes.
• Uncommon Hearty Pottage — Increases HP Recovery per Second by 12 for 30 minutes.
• Guardian's Grilled Fish — Increases Physical and Magic Defense by 25 for 30 minutes.

Most consumables in Chrono Odyssey last for 30 minutes, so are good to have whenever you will be in combat for extended periods of time — especially challenging encounters. You are not required to have all of these consumables to be effective, but the more you have, the easier you will find dealing with dangerous enemies while learning attack timing.

Please note: One of the recent updates regarding consumables is a major one which impacts Health Potions. HP potions no longer function as individual consumable items, and is now part of a permanent, rechargeable system. HP potion usage is mapped to a dedicated key, freeing up consumable slots, and will auto-refill upon death in instanced content. It's best practice to ensure your character has the maximum amount of health potions available before starting difficult boss battles or PvP-related content.

How to Play Swordsman

Each Swordsman weapon has its own individual skill tree that can be filled out, so you should always look to pair them together with a purpose for your pairing in mind. We recommend using the below skills for each individual weapon, but always think about the entire package when using the two together. Swordsman relies on switching between weapons frequently, so think about how you'll utilize each one in combat.

Please note: It is recommended to unlock the base level of each active skill recommended below prior to upgrading the skill itself, allowing you to have more skills to use in combat. Once you have your four skills locked in, you should move forward with upgrading them. These priority active skills are bolded in the chart below.

Swordsman has unique perfect defense mechanics with both the Dual Blades and the Sword & Shield. This section will be expanded further as Chrono Odyssey moves forward with more testing phases.

As you complete Chrono Gates, you will unlock unique Chronotector abilities to support your playstyle as a Swordsman. In most combat-related scenarios, the best two Chronotector abilities to use is Time Reversal and Summon.

For more information on each Chronotector ability, see the chart below.

Learn how Swordsmen execute Guard Breaks and crowd control in the upcoming Closed Beta Test of Chrono Odyssey. This section is a work-in-progress.

Wordup

Staff Author

Follow Wordup

This guide has been written by Wordup, a frequent theorycrafter involved in a number of class communities. He is also an experienced player who has been in the world top 100 since the days of Sunwell, currently raiding in Echoes. You can follow him on Twitter.