Choose Timing or Heavier Frontline Attacks
Warrior's Longsword emphasizes precise blocks, parries and counters, while Greatsword focuses on enduring frontline pressure, building Resolve and delivering heavy strikes. Start with Longsword if you enjoy responding to enemy attacks; try Greatsword if you prefer committing to powerful blows.
Longsword also has a blood-oriented path that spends your HP for offense and restores health by draining enemies. Greatsword has its own aggressive and defensive trait directions, so choosing a weapon is only the beginning of deciding how your Warrior fights. These are previewed mechanics and announced progression options; Early Access combat will continue to evolve.
Longsword and Greatsword Compared
| Option | Playstyle and Practical Choice |
|---|---|
| Longsword defensive play | Precise blocking, parrying and counterattacks define this approach. Choose it if reading an enemy's attack and answering with your own strike sounds satisfying. |
| Longsword blood-oriented traits | Exchange your own HP for offense and recover health by draining enemies. Consider this direction if you enjoy managing your health as part of attacking. |
| Greatsword Resolve play | Build Resolve through frontline fighting to support heavy attacks. Previewed moves include Final Cleave, Rampage and Warrior's Cry. |
| Greatsword damage branch | XLGAMES describes unlocking Armor Break and changing Sunder into Sweeping Slash, which hits twice and has a broader cleave arc. |
| Greatsword defensive branch | XLGAMES describes Pummel Strike as an attack usable while guarding that grants a damage-absorbing shield. Consider this branch if maintaining defense appeals to you. |
Parries, Counters and Resolve
The previewed Longsword kit rewards defensive timing and counterattacks, with Closing Clash and Bladeburst among the demonstrated moves. Practice recognizing an incoming attack before trying to turn that defense into offense. Treat learning the enemy's rhythm as your immediate goal instead of rushing through every attack opportunity.
The blood-oriented Longsword direction changes that decision by putting your own HP into the exchange. Its traits support spending health for damage and draining enemies to restore it. If that trade feels uncomfortable, begin by exploring the defensive timing approach before building around health expenditure.
Greatsword builds Resolve through frontline fighting and uses it to support heavy attacks. Think about the fight in terms of building that resource and finding an opening for a committed strike. Avoid deliberately taking unnecessary hits simply to imitate the weapon's enduring-frontline theme.
Practice a Warrior Play Loop
- Choose a practice focus before the fight. With Longsword, concentrate on defensive timing and counterattacks; with Greatsword, concentrate on Resolve and openings for heavy strikes. Keep your goal narrow enough that you can tell afterward whether the approach suited you.
- Observe the enemy before committing. For Longsword practice, try to recognize an attack you can answer with a well-timed defense, then look for your counterattack opportunity. Prioritize understanding the exchange over fitting every available move into it.
- For Greatsword practice, pay attention to Resolve as you fight on the frontline. Look for an opening to use your available heavy attacks, with Final Cleave, Rampage and Warrior's Cry among the previewed options. Judge your timing by whether you chose a sensible moment to commit.
- Open the Traits menu and inspect the tree for the weapon you want to develop. Longsword and Greatsword have separate trees, with branches that can add skills or change existing ones. Match your next choice to the part of combat you want to improve.
- Return to a familiar fight and reassess your choice. Ask whether you enjoyed reacting with Longsword, managing its blood-oriented health trade, or finding Greatsword openings. Use that experience to guide your next trait decision rather than assuming the weapon name determines your entire build.
Develop Your Chosen Weapon Through Traits
Weapon traits let you refine the broad playstyle rather than follow an identical path to every other Warrior. XLGAMES describes nodes that grant stat boosts, unlock skills or alter existing skills. For Greatsword, its damage and defensive branch examples offer concrete directions to inspect before spending points.
Trait points come from Raeven's Coilstones, which sit near powerful bosses, rather than from character levels. If your next goal is expanding your weapon's options, exploring for those challenges gives you a progression target. Learn the guarding boss's attacks and return better prepared if the fight stops your progress.
Early Access Changes and Planned Warrior Options
Warrior's announced November 3 starting weapons are Longsword and Greatsword. The October 29 combat adjustments reduce the durability cost of disarming with Parry. XLGAMES also says skills pass through monsters less often, an announced launch improvement to distinguish from older demonstration behavior.
The female Warrior character-creation option and Gladius are planned for the first update in December 2026. Gladius is the announced additional Warrior weapon, so base your starting playstyle decision on Longsword and Greatsword. Keep the upcoming options in mind when deciding which Warrior experience interests you.
Broader combat work continues throughout Early Access. XLGAMES says stamina, hit stun, movement speed and hit feel need further work, while trait costs, tree layouts and skill variants may evolve with feedback. Revisit your choices as those changes arrive, especially if a trait no longer feels the way you remember.