Are swords still going to be outclassed by the other weapons?

[Keirndmo]

We've seen Swordlocked classes go downhill after Binding Blade as swordmasters lost half of their innate crit, and then when they got Astra back it was nerfed to only half damage. This only further continued with the removal of weight as swords instantly lost their edge of being lighter than lances and axes, not to mention the latter weapons having hand axes and javelins.

Do you think Swords might be able to make a comeback as an actual competitor with axes and lances now that javelins and hand axes can't double, and the doubling thresholds most likely being higher for the steel lances/axes?

I understand they're still usable, but the other weapon classes just do most of their stuff better.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Astra was full damage in Radiant Dawn, and generally I thought swords were fine there (they got 2 S rank weapons, and Storm Sword/Tempest Blade were rarer but more powerful than their lance/axe corresponding types). Beyond that though I generally agree the weapon type has declined somewhat since their low weight became less of a selling point / not a selling point at all. Although the weapon rank bonuses in Shadow Dragon and beyond did help swords catch up on raw attack, at least.

I'd roughly expect more of the status quo, for all that any nerf to javelin/hand axe may help them out a bit relatively.

[goodperson707]

Your title is a bit misleading the initial paragraph seems to only be about sword locked classes not swords. (+ berserkers lost half their crit as well) also swords always have their higher accuracy and nearly always (at least to me) seem to have a higher amount of non-standard weapons. swords also seem to get more out of the weapon triangle than axes and lances, as they have an avoid boost on the weapon with typically lowest accuracy. Sword locked classes do have a lack of range i admit.

[Paperblade]

Swords being lighter wasn't really that relevant since Sword users tend to have less Con than Lance or Axe users anyway. It's relevant for classes that use multiple weapons a little bit, but dudes like Lyn and Guy had like 5 Con and thus lost quite a bit of AS from KE/Steel and even a bit off Silver, meanwhile Paladins and Berserkers and whatever aren't losing anything from their weapons

Astra was full damage in Radiant Dawn, and generally I thought swords were fine there (they got 2 S rank weapons, and Storm Sword/Tempest Blade were rarer but more powerful than their lance/axe corresponding types). Beyond that though I generally agree the weapon type has declined somewhat since their low weight became less of a selling point / not a selling point at all. Although the weapon rank bonuses in Shadow Dragon and beyond did help swords catch up on raw attack, at least.

I'd roughly expect more of the status quo, for all that any nerf to javelin/hand axe may help them out a bit relatively.

Astra being full vs. half damage didn't really matter because it was Skl/2 % while a lot of other Masteries were Skl% or Spd% and they were all a OHKO anyway since they tripled Strength or doubled damage or whatever crazy shit so you just wanted highest activation rate.

Storm Sword/Tempest Blade were okay but were very limited use and Wind Edges could not be forged, meanwhile Axe users were running around with 14 might Hand Axes which also had far more hit than the Swords

Swords were pretty okay in New Mystery because Hand Axes/Javelins had just gotten nerfed, and enemy Res was pretty trash so Levin Swords could actually do adequate 1-2 range damage when compared to the other weapons' 1-2 range options. They also had the advantage of Swordmaster being one of the better classes in the lategame due to a 30 speed cap and having a +10 Avoid boost, plus the Master Sword was a great weapon. Meanwhile your more "traditional" uberclasses' offense fell off once their Speed cap prevented them from doubling (Paladin/Wyvern Lord)

Edited May 29, 2015 by Paperblade

[Cysx]

The lack of doubling on their rivals' 1-2 range will definitely help a lot. I believe the formulas for stats is the same as Awakening though, which means that accuracy may only matter in extreme cases. Overall it may be different in Hoshido, since naginatas are weaker than lances and I'm not exactly sure we'll get some that can be thrown, same for maces to an extent; as far as Nohr goes though... It does seem like they'll still get dominated by axes and lances.

[BrightBow]

Well, the difference between swords, lances and axes is basically pure aesthetically at this point (seriously, a Silver Sword had 11 might, a Silver Lance 13. And a high weapon rank gives swords a great might bonus then lances), except that the latter two also have range.

Nerving ranged attacks alone doesn't matter. By virtue of ranged attacks still existing, Lances and Axes can do something that swords can't do, while swords don't provide anything that the other weapons lack. Unless that changes, they will continue to have the edge.

Edited May 29, 2015 by BrightBow