Best Sword Weapon Build in Dynasty Warriors: Origins

This build guide explains the key aspects of playing with the sword weapon in Dynasty Warriors: Origins (DWO): battle arts, traits, accessories, and gems.

Dynasty Warriors Origins (DWO) is a big game with many things to learn and explore, including 10 different weapons to choose from, determining your build and playstyle. DWO is set in ancient China during the Three Kingdoms era. You play as a hero without a name, on a journey to uncover your identity and help different groups through battles and conversations. Along the way, you’ll slowly learn about essential features like riding horses, using guards, planning tactics, mastering battle arts, and teaming up with companions. This guide will explain how to use the sword build, what are the best combos, battle arts, skills, and gear.

Sword Weapon Overview in Dynasty Warriors: Origins

While the Sword is the starter weapon in Dynasty Warriors Origins, it’s also one of the best. Unlike other weapons, the Sword blends normal and strong attacks to perform six chain combos that can lift your enemy in midair and stun them. Moreover, you have a balanced battle arts (active skills) loadout with low and high-cost bravery. Therefore, you can create a balanced build and activate battle arts when needed.

The downside to the sword weapon build is a weaker range, and the combos take a lot longer to pull off. Therefore, it is brutal to land a six-hit combo on harder difficulties. Moreover, it takes a while for you to unlock the overpowered skill Divine Eagle Dance. This skill acts as an area (AOE) nuke, costing a whopping six bravery, destroying everything in a massive 360 radius. Once you unlock Divine Eagle Dance and learn the combos with the Sword, it rivals the most powerful weapons in Dynasty Warriors Origins!

Sword Build Pros	Sword Build Cons
Combos can Stun	Long Combos
Powerful Battle Arts	Weak Strong Attack
Gameplay is Fun	Shorter Range

How to Unlock Sword Weapon in DWO? Explained

The Sword weapon type is unlocked automatically at the beginning of Dynasty Warriors: Origins. It will be the first weapon you use and start to earn weapon proficiency with.

Additionally, you will earn a Longsword +2 after the Battle of Guangyang, an early-game mission. Therefore, it’s best to stick with the first sword you are given, rather than spending precious gold to upgrade to a basic Longsword.

Weapon	Grade	Attack
Longsword	1	22
Longsword Ex	2	42
General’s Sword	3	80
General’s Sword Ex	4	136
Commander’s Sword	5	204
Commander’s Sword Ex	6	264
Training Sword	6	300
Celestial Sword	7	326

Why You Should Pick Sword Weapon Build in DWO?

In Dynasty Warriors: Origins, the Sword excels at long combinations, allowing the player to press four normal attacks, then two strong and launch enemies into the air. This gives you damage, survivability, and crowd control without using battle arts. Furthermore, the Sword unlocks a powerful 360-radius battle art called Divine Eagle Dance. The Sword is ideal for players who like balanced, combo-based combat with a mix of normal and strong attacks.

Everything About Sword Weapon Build in DWO

We will explore all the various components of the overpowered Sword build in Dynasty Warriors Origins. Not all of these variables will be available immediately if you’re a new player. Moreover, you can unlock new content after completing the game, so expect some battle arts, tactics, and gear to come later as you progress. However, we have beginner and advanced setups to guide you through the story campaign. The following list presents all the essential Sword Build Features and Mechanics in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Best Battle Arts
  • Shadowless Blade
  • Flying Dragon Slash
  • [Sp.] Power Shot
  • Divine Eagle Dance
• Weapon Traits
  • Boost Musou Guage
  • Grants a very small chance of generating a whirlwind when attacking
  • Increases the drop rate of weapons (farming)
• Best Combo: normal, normal, normal, normal, strong, strong
• Gems: Ascendance Gem (block), or Oblivion (range)
• Accessories: Red Dragon’s Talon, and Dragon’s Spleen
• Horse: Birch
• Tactics: Flaming Volley, Encirclement, Mounted Charge
• Companion: Guo Jia, Sun Shangxiang

Best Battle Arts for Sword Weapon

The battle art skill for the Sword is Divine Eagle Dance. Once mastered, this six bravery cost skill creates a massive spherical damage ball, destroying everything in a huge AOE in 360 degrees. Divine Eagle Dance is obtained later in the campaign, but once unlocked, it gives the Sword equal burst damage battle arts as any other weapon in the game.

Shadowless Blade is another powerful battle art because it costs one bravery, does decent damage, and “stuns” enemies that are hit. The Flying Dragon Slash pops you up into the air while doing a series of attacks. This helpful single-target damage art allows you to avoid being attacked while airborne.

You have two options for interruption skills called special battle arts: [Sp.] Palm Strike or [Sp.] Power Shot. The strength of a palm strike is that it costs only one bravery. Therefore, you always want to have at least one bravery (resource for skills) in the tank to interrupt an enemy if needed. The alternative is Power Shot. This is unlocked in the expert skill tree later in the game. While it costs two bravery, it launches at range and is a better interrupt skill against harder bosses later in the game.

Battle Arts are actions or skills used in combat consuming Barvery, the resource required to use them. Bravery is the octagon icon in the lower left of your screen (orange). You can increase the total amount of Bravery and how you gain it through skill passives, portables, and weapon traits. You can master skills by using them, gaining an additional effect like reduced bravery cost, more range, or increased damage.

Beginner Sword Battle Arts

Arts	Name	Description
Left	Swallow Slash	Perform a wide slashing attack in front of you
Up	Falcon Flurry	Perform a flurry of forward slashes in a concentrated manner
Right	[Sp.] Palm Strike	Focus your bravery into a palm strike which can stop and stagger enemies
Down	Whirlwind Kick	Unleash a swinging kick with blinding speed, disappear and invulnerable while active

• Swallow Slash: AOE damage ability in a cone in front of you (two bravery).
• Falcon Flurry: Single target multiple strikes in front of you (three bravery).
• [Sp.] Palm Strike: Special Battle Art interrupt in melee range (one bravery).
• Whirlwind Kick: Mobility skill, unlocked in Knight-Errant skill tree (one bravery)

Advanced Sword Battle Arts

Arts	Name	Description
Left	Shadowless Blade	Generate a whirlwind in front of you to strike enemies
Up	Flying Dragon Slash	Jump up to launch a shockwave in the area
Right	[Sp.] Power Shot	Fire one powerful arrow can be done midair and interrupts
Down	Divine Eagle Dance	Deliver a rapid flurry generating energy then exploding

• Shadowless Blade: This low-cost attack can stun enemies (one bravery).
• Flying Dragon Slash: Airborne attack that is great for single target and avoiding damage (four bravery).
• [Sp.] Power Shot: ranged interrupt that can be done while mid-air (two bravery).
• Divine Eagle Dance: Your AOE damage nuke that has a high cost but massive damage.

Best Sword Skills and Passives

The best skills talents are Meat Bun Glutton, Item Investor, Perfect Evade, Extreme Musou Attack, and Rage Restored. Meat Bun Glutton increases your overall healing potential is and is vital for survivability. Once fully upgraded, you can obtain 6 meat buns per battle and refill them with pots in towns. Item Investor allows you can carry one more portable (consumable) to each battle, and fully maxed gives you four. This is helpful later in the game when you need to heal allies, burst down a boss, or obtain bravery on demand.

The most important skills and combat goal is to boost your Musou meter so you can enter Rage more frequently. Once in Rage form, you can heal while doing damage, become immune to damage, max out your bravery, and are essentially god mode for 15 or so seconds. Therefore, talents that enable you to heal more, like Rage Restored Upgrade, or stay in Rage longer, like Prolonged Rage, are the best. Lastly, the Extreme Musou Attack allows a companion to activate rage simultaneously, giving you twice the effect on a Musou attack.

Skills and Passives List

Name	Tree	Description	Skill Points
Whirlwind Kick	Knight-Errant Rank	Unleash a swinging kick with blinding speed.	20
Chain Evade	Knight-Errant Rank	Enables you to evade repeatedly	30
Meat Bun Glutton	Knight-Errant Rank	Enables you to hold more meatbuns.	50
Perfect Evade	Adept Rank	Grants bravery when evading just as the opponent attacks	50
Meat Perceiver	Adept Rank	Allows you to see meat buns with Sacred Bird	40
Army of One	Adept Rank	Boosts Musou Guage after 1k kills	60
Item Investor	Expert Rank	Hold +1 portable	50
Extreme Musou Attack	Expert Rank	Enables Extreme Musou Attacks with Companions	80
[Sp.] Power Shot	Expert Rank	Skill that interrupts at range two bravery cost	100
Meat Bun Glutton	Mastery Rank	Enables you to hold more meatbuns.	70
Bolster Bravery	Mastery Rank	Increase Bravery gain 10%	80
Accessories Artisan	Mastery Rank	Equip +1 accessory	80
Meat Bun Glutton	Hero Rank	Enables you to hold more meatbuns.	70
Item Investor	Hero Rank	Hold +1 portable	70
Endurance Accumulation Increase	Hero Rank	Increase Endurance Accumulation	120
Bolster Bravery	Musou Rank	Increase Bravery gain 10%	100
Prolonged Rage	Musou Rank	5% less drain in rage mode	200
Rage Restored Upgrade	Musou Rank	Restores HP when landing attacks in rage	200

Weapon Traits for Sword Weapon

The best weapon traits are extending input for parries, boosting damage to officers, increasing Musou Guage, and increasing the drop rate of weapons. Below is a list of our favorite traits for beginners and advanced players in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

Beginner

• Grants a very small chance of obtaining a meat bun from a defeated enemy.
• Boost Bravery Gain.
• Boosts Battle Art strength
• Increase drop rate of Nectar Water (increase bravery).

Advanced

• Grants a 10% chance of not draining bravery gauge when activating a battle art.
• Extends the input window for parries
• Boosts damage to officers.
• Boost Musou Guage.
• Grants a very small chance of generating a whirlwind when attacking
• Increases the drop rate of weapons (farming).
• Boosts attack by 30% after a perfect evade.

Your weapon comes equipped with a grade and a number. The Grade indicates its rarity, with beginning weapons at 1, and epic at 7. You can increase the damage of your weapon by leveling it, and therefore, you will see a +number. Traits are randomly assigned to weapons, and the diamond shape indicates how many traits a weapon can have. However, you can unlock the reforge option at the weapon shop after beating the campaign. This allows you to take unused weapons and repurpose the traits to a more powerful weapon.

Best Sword Weapon Combos in DWO

The midair combo slash is the best for the sword because it stuns the enemy and locks them in place in the air. To execute the combo, pressure normal attack four times, followed by two strong attacks. Your character will bring his sword across his body. This is the moment the four normal attacks have concluded, and you should press a strong attack.

Once the target is in the air, then you can follow up with another strong attack which will catch all enemies in the area. However, you can also do 3x normal attacks to combo them in the air, even a fourth.

This combo takes a lot of time, so you should wait for a stun via a parry or perfect evade before trying to execute it. Your goal is to get off four normal attacks then at least one strong to pop up the enemy in the air. If you expect this often, the Vortex gem might be useful as it increases damage to airborne targets.

Best Gems for Sword Weapon

The best gem for a sword build is Ascendance Gem because it automatically blocks an attack from an officer. At level 21, you gain a 55% chance to automatically block! This is a lifesaver and more of a defensive gem.

A secondary option is Oblivion, which increases the range of attacks. Oblivion is helpful because the sword lacks range like the Wheel or Spear.

Lastly, consider the Vortex gem, which increases damage to airborne targets. Only use this if you’re reliable in popping up enemies in the air with the six-button combo. If you lack survivability, take Wellsrping Gem in big battles with many enemies.

Gems are accessories that grant special effects to weapon attacks. You can obtain Gems by using Pyroxene, a material found in the open world, to create them.

Best Accessories for Sword Weapon

The best accessories for the Sword build are Red Dragon’s Talon and Dragon’s Spleen because they help with Musou and enter rage more frequently. Red Dragon’s Talon increases your Musou Gauge accumulation by 10% and stacks with other bonuses like portable items granting additional resources. Dragon’s Spleen is helpful because you gain Musou Guage when attacked.

Beginners should consider a health increase accessory or Ravenous Spirit Amulet. This accessory heals you by 5% when defeating an officer. Early in the game, you limited meat buns, and any extra heal can be a lifesaver.

Below are the best accessories for the sword weapon build in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Red Dragon’s Talon (advanced): Increases Musou Gauge accumulation by 10%
• Dragon’s Spleen (advanced): Slightly increase your Musou Gauge when you are attacked.
• Ziluan’s Sash (beginner): boosts health by 3%.
• Ravenous Spirit Amulet (beginner): restores health by 5% when an officer has been defeated.

Note that you can increase your accessory to two via the Accessories Artisan skill passive in the Mastery Rank tree.

Best Horse for Sword Weapon

The best horse is Birch because it increases your charge maximum distance by 0% and staggers enemies when you summon the horse. Ultimately, you want high speed, endurance, and longer charging to reach locations faster. To level your mount, simply select from the equipment menu and take into battles with you.

Best Tactics for Sword Weapon

The best tactics for a Sword build are Mounted Charge, Flaming Volley, and Encirclement. Mounted Charge is a massive damage, cooldown tactic that hits many enemies in a wide radius. This is ideal to open up with when entering from a far distance into a large opening with many enemies facing you. The same strategy can be employed with Flaming Volley, however, with a much faster cooldown of 240 seconds. To trigger this tactic, look for the high ground when entering a large field area. Lastly, the Encirclement tactic is for tough boss challenges requiring a distraction. This will send allies and guards to swarm an officer and harness them. Consider this a flex skill, but essentially in tough boss battles.

Below are the recommended tactics for a Sword build in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Flaming Volley: unleash a powerful fire arrow volley, 240-second cooldown.
• Encirclement: Surround the enemy before unleashing an attack, 210-second cooldown.
• Mounted Charge: Perform a fearsome cavalry charge, 420-second cooldown.

To activate a tactic, look for a blue line indicating “Dramatic Success.” Using a tactic with a blue (not white) appearance can lower enemies’ morale and do increased damage. Therefore, when charging into combat, immediately hit Eagle Eye when you see a blue line appear as you approach.

Best Portable Items for Sword Weapon

The best portable consumable items are Incense of Vitality and Spirit Pill. Incense of Vitality heals you for 70% of your health and everyone around you. This includes officers, companions, and allies. Therefore, Incense of Vitality should be used in battles with multiple allies, and survival is required for victory. Pay attention to victory conditions before the battle starts; it’s not just you as a main character. The second best consumable one-time use is Spirit Pill, which grants Musou Gauge resources. Therefore, you can use the Spirit Pill to gain enough resources to enter rage more frequently, granting you god mode for a limited time.

Below are the recommended portable consumable items for a Sword build in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

• Meat Buns: Restore some of your health
• Strength Potion: Increase your attack by 60% for a limited time.
• Incense of Vitality: Restores Health by 70% for you and nearby allies.
• Spirit Pill: Restores some of your Musou Gauge.
• Arbogreen (progression): Increases proficiency gained by 200% until you defeat 100 enemies.
• Crimson Cress (progression): Grants you 20 skill points

Portable items are consumables granting effects and are one-time-use items. You can buy them at stores or earn them through various quests. Additionally, skill passives can increase your effectiveness with meat buns, capacity, and storage of items. These are critical to select as you progress and obtain more portable items.

Best Companion for Sword Weapon

The best companion for sword build is Guo Jia or Sun Shangxiang. Guo Jia also uses a sword and has the Divine Eagle Dance battle art unlocked. Therefore, when you swap to him as a playable character, he is just as powerful as your character, with as much AOE and damage. The secondary option is Sun Shangxiang who uses the wheel weapon and has more range than Guo Jia. She comes equipped with Twin Tiger Blast, one of the most powerful battle arts in the game, and even more AOE damage and range than Guo Jia. However, the bravery cost is high, so use it sparingly or the companion will despawn.

Companions can be selected in the battle preparation menu and come with important battle arts and skills. Look for a blue line connecting you to a “Battle Chain Art.” When in range and active, if you cast a battle art (regardless of cost), the companion will follow up with another attack of their own. The battle art UI menu lights up blue, indicating a Battle Chain Art is ready. This is essentially a way to increase damage passively when a companion is near.

Best tips and tricks for Sword Weapon

Below are the top 10 tips and tricks for using the Sword Weapon in Dynasty Warriors Origins:

1. Battle Arts Setup: Make sure to have one high-cost, low-cost, and mobility battle art to start the game.
2. Interrupt: Always save at least one bravery in reserve to interrupt incoming battle arts from enemies with Palm Strike.
3. Build Bravery: Don’t automatically use bravery and battle arts; saving up is okay when fighting an easy officer.
4. Mobility: Use a combination of evading, jumping, and Whirlwind Kick battle art to stay near enemies.
5. Weapon Traits: Look for weapon traits that fit your build, not just increase your attack power.
6. Increase Portable: Take skill talents that increase your meat buns, portable items, and healing effectiveness since healing is limited.
7. Combo: Look to stun, parry, or evade an attacker, then perform a six-button long combo, knocking the enemy in the air.
8. Companions: Use your companion’s two most important abilities: Extreme Musco Attack (yellow line) and Battle Chain Arts (blue line).
9. Tactics: Look for a blue line indicating a Tactic can be used for Dramatic Success to increase effectiveness.
10. Rage: The easiest way to dominate DWO is via Rage and Musco Meter; when in doubt, always try to build this gauge.

Build Summary – Best Sword Weapon in Dynasty Warriors Origins

FAQs about Sword Weapon Build Dynasty Warriors: Origins

Is Sword weapon good in Dynasty Warriors: Origins?

Yes, although the first weapon is unlocked, the skill Divine Eagle Dance is one of the strongest battle arts in the game. Moreover, Sword has a powerful six-button combo that knocks enemies in the air, allowing free damage for a time.

What is the best alternatives for Sword Weapon in Dynasty Warriors: Origins?

The Podao is the best alternative to the sword, emphasizing long animations and strong attacks.

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