All Weapons Guide

[languid arrow]

There's a lot of weapons available in RLCraft. Many players go throughout the game using the same few options without trying the vast variety of arms given to us by Spartan Weaponry and Better Survival. This guide outlines and explains every single conventional weapon you can use throughout the game.
This guide will also explain the properties of weapons in order to help you better understand their effects and more accurately choose your preferred weapon. This includes the Two-Handed property, the AOE Sweeps, and how a weapon's stats interact with other damage bonuses.

This guide will not include Dregora specific weapons like the Beast Claw. Most if not all of the additional weapons available in Dregora are either gimmick weapons or a mediocre alternative to the standard arms available. The Scythe will be included, however, since it will be coming to base RLCraft in the next update.

Additional Contributors: @tropic matrix @viral topaz @empty sluice

-----------------Table of Contents------------------
Two Handed Conditions

Base Damage and Attack Speed

Sweep 1/2/3, Sweeping Edge, and Arc Slash

One Handed Weapons:

• Dagger (Spartan Weaponry)
• Saber
• Rapier
• Hammer (Spartan)
• Lance
• Flanged Mace
• Hammer (Better Survival)
• Spear (Spartan Weaponry)
• Dagger (Better Survival)
• Battle Axe (Better Survival)
• Nunchucks 😊 (Better Survival)
• Caestus

Two Handed Weapons:

• Longsword
• Katana
• Scythe
• Greatsword
• Warhammer
• Halberd
• Pike
• Battle Axe (Spartan)
• Glaive
• Quarterstaff

Throwing Weapons:

• Boomerang
• Throwing Knife
• Throwing Axe
• Javelin
• Spear (Better Survival)

Ranged Weapons:

• Vanilla Bow
• Longbow
• Crossbow (Spartan Weaponry)
• Crossbow (Better Survival)

Shields
Parrying With Shields

Living and Sentient Weapons:
-> Evolving from Living to Sentient

• Greatscythe
• Greatcleaver
• Greatsword
• Greataxe
• Greatbow

Two Handed and Offhand Explained

Many Spartan Weaponry weapons will have a modifier called "Two Handed 1 / 2" on it. This modifier will give you Mining Fatigue 3 on Two Handed 1 and Mining Fatigue 4 on Two Handed 2. This reduces your attack speed by 30% and 40% respectively, which is a massive detriment to your damage. In exchange, weapons with the Two Handed modifier will generally be stronger than one-handed weapons, either by having additional/stronger bonuses and/or better base stats.

Both the utility of having your offhand and the greater power of Two Handed weapons are not to be understated. You can use shields, torches, Totem of Undying, and even duelwield weapons using your offhand. Two Handed weapons have substantial power and generally scale better later into the game when you have many damage bonuses through enchantments, baubles, and more. Neither is objectively better than the other and both are useful / best in different situations.

The Two-Handed modifiers also have hidden nerfs in place, as well as weapons in the offhand.

1. Weapons in the Off-hand will always have a -50% damage dealt. This only applies to the base damage and Strength potion effect so the -50% gets weaker later in the game when you have more damage bonuses.
2. Two-Handed 1 weapons will always have -25% damage dealt when anything is in your offhand. This is applied no matter what.
3. Two-Handed 2 weapons will always have -50% damage dealt when anything is in your offhand. This is applied no matter what.
   Essentially, any Two-Handed weapon in your offhand will have to deal with the -50% offhand penalty in addition to the -25%/-50% penalty, and any Two-Handed weapon will have the large damage debuff if you are using both hands.

Vitamins/Ankh Charm/Shield is able to cure Mining Fatigue. This allows you to bypass the Fatigue penalty of Two-Handed weapons but will do nothing to prevent the -25%/-50% damage debuff.

Base Damage and Attack Speed

A weapon's base damage and attack speed are extremely important to consider when judging a weapon's merits. Those two stats are how the weapons interact with damage modifiers and will determine how they perform in different stages of the game.
For example, lets say you have an enchantment that multiples your damage by 3x. If you use it on a weapon with a base damage of three, then it increases to 9. However, if that base damage is 10, it increases to 30. That same 3x multiplier had a difference of +6 and +20, so multipliers are proportionally better on higher base damages.
There are also flat bonuses. Strength is a flat bonus of +3 damage per level. This means that it does not interact with the base damage, but it DOES interact with the attack speed. A weapon with faster attack speed will favor Strength.

Make sure to consider how flat and multiplicative damage bonuses interact with base damage and attack speed when choosing your weapon.

Sweep 1/2/3, Sweeping Edge, and Arc Slash

Having an AOE slash is very important to consider when choosing a weapon, but there are three types of "sweep" to understand.

Spartan Weaponry's Innate Sweep:
Sweep 1: Hitting an enemy with a fully charged attack will deal 1 damage AOE to enemies around the target you hit. The AOE is a one block circle around the hit target. The AOE is more consistent the closer you are.
Sweep 2: The AOE is now 50% of overall damage dealt.
Sweep 3: The AOE is now 100% of overall damage dealt.

Sweeping Edge Enchant:
Sweeping Edge is a vanilla enchant and cannot be applied to all weapons unlike Arc Slash. Sweeping Edge is only eligible for the vanilla sword and Spartan Weapons with "Sweep 1" modifier.
Sweeping Edge 1: The 1 block AOE is now 50% of damage dealt.
Sweeping Edge 2: 66% of overall damage dealt.
Sweeping Edge 3: 75% of overall damage dealt.

Arc Slash:
Arc Slash is a modded enchant that will work on any melee weapon and is the best and rarest variant of the AOE sweeps. Arc Slash does not increase the AOE of weapons that already have sweep, and will give the 1 block circle AOE to weapons that do not have sweep. This 1 block AOE is perfectly consistent regardless of how close or far you are from your opponent. Arc Slash also does not cancel the sweep AOE upon critting, so Arc Slash' s AOE can critically strike unlike Spartan Sweep or Sweeping Edge.
Arc Slash 1: 20% of damage dealt to the hit target.
Arc Slash 2: 40%
Arc Slash 3: 60%

Basically:

1. Weapons with Sweep 2 and 3 are the real deal in terms of having powerful, innate AOE damage.
2. Sweeping Edge enchant is no slacker behind Arc Slash but can only go on a limited amount of weapons.
3. Arc Slash enchant is the best and most consistent AOE sweep option for any weapon but is also the rarest.

One-Handed Weapons

**# Dagger (Spartan Weaponry)**Dagger (Spartan Weaponry) is an extremely fast attacking, low base damage weapon that specializes in bonus backstab damage. The dagger is also throwable, but this feature generally is more detrimental than useful. The dagger can have some serious damage potential with the backstab bonus, but with the way mob aggro works in Minecraft, you rarely ever get consistent usage out of it.

Dagger is generally an inferior one-handed weapon option due to the inconsistency of its backstab bonus.

Early Game: Inferior
Mid Game: Greatly Inferior
Late Game: Basically Useless

Technical Information
-> Very fast attack speed, very low base damage.
-> Backstab damage bonus is +150% and only boosts the base damage.
-> Despite being a small weapon, it does not affect your reach.

Uses:

• General usage one-handed weapon.
• Can get swift kills on fodder mobs while not compromising the offhand.

Most Useful For:

• N/A

Downsides:

• Low base damage makes it a poor choice for later in the game.
• The throwing feature has no benefits from simply using it as a regular weapon.
• Backstab is inconsistent due to mobs facing you the moment you trigger aggro. At most you can get one backstab hit before they all face you.
• Unusable with a shield.

Additional Notes:

• When using a shield in the offhand, holding right click will prioritize throwing the dagger rather than holding up the shield.

# SaberSaber is a one-handed weapon with fast attack speed and very low base damage that has a sweep and the unique property of damage reduction. It does bonus damage against unarmored mobs so it still has decent early game DPS despite all its bonuses.

Saber specializes in defense with the bonus of having a sweep. Its damage reduction property and one-handed makes it a less powerful but defensive utility based weapon.

Early Game: Top Tier
Mid Game: Good
Late Game: Very Good

Technical Information
-> High attack speed, low base damage.
-> "Damage Absorption" reduces damage of hits by 25%. This reduction comes before all other reductions so it is relatively more powerful.
-> Sweep 1
-> One-handed
-> Deals bonus damage against unarmored mobs which includes many early game mobs, including vanilla.

Uses:

• General usage defensive utility weapon, especially with a shield.
• Sweep 1 makes it an option for hordes in the early game.
• Damage absorption's great properties gives it powerful damage reduction all throughout the game.
• Fast attack speed synergizes with flat damage bonuses.

Most Useful For:

• Utility with a focus on defense all throughout the game.

Downsides:

• Low DPS
• Extreme weakness to the Weakness effect which reduces your damage by -4 per level. If you have no damage bonuses you'll essentially deal 1 damage or no damage per hit.

Additional Notes:

• Using the Saber in the offhand does NOT provide Damage Absorption bonus, nor can you dual wield Sabers/Rapiers for 50% damage reduction.

# RapierRapier is a one-handed weapon with fast attack speed and very low base damage that has a sweep and the unique property of damage reduction. It does bonus damage against unarmored mobs so it still has decent early game DPS despite all its bonuses.

Rapier specializes in defense with a specialty in attack speed. Its damage reduction property and one-handed makes it a less powerful but defensive utility based weapon.

Early Game: Very Good
Mid Game: Good
Late Game: Good

Technical Information
-> Extremely high attack speed, extremely low base damage.
-> "Damage Absorption" reduces damage of hits by 25%. This reduction comes before all other reductions so it is relatively more powerful.
-> One-handed.
-> Does bonus damage to livestock.

Uses:

• General usage defensive utility weapon, especially with a shield.
• Extreme attack speed uniquely synergizes very well with flat damage bonuses like Strength.
• Damage absorption's great properties gives it powerful damage reduction even in the endgame.

Most Useful For:

• Utility with a focus on defense all throughout the game.

Downsides:

• Low DPS
• Extreme weakness to the Weakness effect which reduces your damage by -4 per level. If you have no damage bonuses you'll essentially deal 1 damage or no damage per hit.

Additional Notes:

• Using the Rapier in the offhand does NOT provide Damage Absorption bonus, nor can you dual wield Sabers/Rapiers for 50% damage reduction.

**# Hammer (Spartan Weaponry)**Hammer (Spartan) is a one-handed weapon with very similar stats to a vanilla axe and inflicts Nausea 2 on hit. Unfortunately, Nausea does nothing to mobs in 2.9.3 but the hammer will likely receive an update that changes this in the next version.

Hammer is a generally inferior weapon with a unique gimmick that is useless, for now.

Early Game: Inferior
Mid Game: Inferior
Late Game: Greatly Inferior

Technical Information
-> Near identical stats to a vanilla Axe.
-> Nauseous Blow inflicts Nausea 2 for 5 seconds.
-> Has increased knockback.

Uses:

• N/A

Most Useful For:

• N/A

Downsides:

• Inferior stats with a useless gimmick.

Additional Notes:

• If you want the Hulk Smash experience, check out Hammer (Better Survival) !

# LanceThe Lance is a pitiful weapon with an inconsistent gimmick bonus that sees virtually no use in any situation. It has bad stats.

There are niche uses with Lance that requires a fast mount but there are practically no ways to permanently enable its maximum damage bonus of 200%, nor is it viable to make it a "one hit wonder" with a speedy mount.

Early Game: Useless
Mid Game: Really Bad
Late Game: Useless

Technical Information
-> Alright attack speed, low base damage.

Uses:

• Gimmick weapon option for mount users.

Most Useful For:

• N/A

Downsides:

• Poor stats
• Inconsistent gimmick
• Requires a fast, ground mount

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# Flanged MaceThe Flanged Mace is a one-handed weapon that does bonus damage against undead mobs. It also has decent stats.

Flanged Mace is for those who want a one-handed weapon focused on dealing more damage in early game dungeons with lots of zombies and skeletons.

Early Game: Pretty good
Mid Game: Alright
Late Game: Inferior

Technical Information
-> Medium attack speed, medium base damage
-> "Undead Damage Bonus" deals 50% of the weapon's base damage as extra damage against undead mobs.

Uses:

• General usage weapon for early game dungeon raiding.

Most Useful For:

• Early game dungeons with lots of undead mobs like Battletowers.

Downsides:

• "Undead Damage Bonus" does not scale with most damage bonuses so it falls off.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

**# Hammer (Better Survival)**The Better Survival Hammer has poor stats but a very good right click ability that is extremely useful early game.

Better Survival Hammer is an alright weapon when considering its overall properties, but becomes an insanely good auxiliary weapon when used exclusively as a secondary solely for its ground slam ability.

Early Game: Top Tier
Mid Game: Good
Late Game: Inferior

Technical Information
-> Slow attack speed, medium base damage
-> Right clicking the ground causes a ground slam that does 3-5 damage for lower tier materials and 6-9 damage for higher tier materials. The cooldown is about 10 seconds. The slam is 3 blocks for Iron and below, 4 blocks for Diamond and above.
-> The hammer shares its cooldown with other hammers of the same material but not of different materials.

Uses:

• Secondary weapon to quick switch and use its ground slam ability.
• Helps keeps hordes of mobs at bay.
• Keeping multiple different hammers in inventory to spam the ground slam.

Most Useful For:

• Secondary auxiliary weapon for its ability.

Downsides:

• The weapon itself has poor stats.

Additional Notes:

• You must right click the ground in order to trigger the ground slam ability.
• The ground slam turns grass blocks into dirt and stone into gravel. Keep this in mind so you don't ruin certain areas.

**# Spear (Spartan Weaponry)**Spear (Spartan) is a one-handed weapon with middling stats and the bonus of extra range.

The Spear's decent stat distribution and simple but effective bonus makes it a very consistent and solid weapon for the early to midgame.

Early Game: Top Tier
Mid Game: Good
Late Game: Alright to decent.

Technical Information
-> Respectable attack speed and low-midish base damage.
-> Reach 1 bonus provides +0.5 blocks of range.
-> One Handed

Uses:

• General usage one-handed weapon with consistent stat distributions.
• Spear's properties makes it a potent combo with a shield in the early game. A spear and shield is a historical combo afterall.
• Premium choice for dual wielding in the offhand with a Saber or Rapier.

Most Useful For:

• A balance of defense and power with a spear and shield combo.

Downsides:

• No innate AOE to solve hordes.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# Dagger (Better Survival)
The BS Dagger has the same perks as the Spartan Dagger but is better in every single way. It is good enough to be a useable weapon.

The BS Dagger is for those who want a fast attacking, one handed weapon with the ability to deal extra burst in certain situations.

Early Game: Useful
Mid Game: Inferior
Late Game: Greatly Inferior

Technical Information
-> Very fast attack speed, low base damage
-> The Backstab damage bonus stacks with enchants and has an exclusive enchant "Assassinate" to boost it further.
-> Is NOT throwable unlike the Spartan Dagger which makes it useable with a shield.

Uses:

• General usage one-handed weapon with an emphasis on extra damage.

Most Useful For:

• N/A

Downsides:

• Backstab bonus is inconsistent due to the fact that mobs face you the moment you trigger aggro. At most you get 1-2 hits of Backstab damage in before they all face you.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

**# Battleaxe (Better Survival)**The BS Battleaxe is a one handed axe with decent stats with the unique property being eligible for the Desolator enchant.

BS Battleaxe is a very solid option for a heavy hitting one-handed weapon and has unique utility for being one of the best offhanded weapons which amplifies the damage that enemies take when paired with the Desolator enchant.
(Desolator enchant can only be put on axes which makes the BS Battleaxe 1 of only 3 weapons that can have it).

Early Game: Decent
Mid Game: Very good.
Late Game: Top Tier (as an offhand damage amplifier)

Technical Information
-> Medium attack speed, highish base damage
-> One-handed
-> Desolator enchant (at the max level of 4) applies Negative Resistance 3 which makes enemies take +100% more damage.

Uses:

• General usage one-handed weapon for those that want a heavier hitting one-handed option.
• Offhanded support weapon taking advantage of Desolator enchant which makes the enemy take more damage.

Most Useful For:

• Offhanded support damage amplifier.

Downsides:

• N/A

Additional Notes:

• N/A

**# Nunchucks (:**Nunchucks are a one-handed weapon with the unique ability to hold left click rather than having to spam left click. It has the highest innate attack speed in the game and naturally ramps damage over time. Nunchucks are known for being the best late game weapon in the game that rivals even Sentient Weapons.

Nunchucks is the best weapon in the game for scaling and surpasses all others in the late game by a large margin.

Early Game: Alright to decent.
Mid Game: Very good.
Late Game: 🥰

Technical Information
-> Extremely fast attack speed, low base damage.
-> Gradually increases damage by a bit when constantly hitting enemies over time, up to a cap.
-> Can hold left click in order to continuously swing and hit enemies.
-> Nunchucks are completely nonfunctional in the offhand. You cannot swing or hit with Nunchucks in the offhand.

Uses:

• General usage one-handed weapon that doesn't require the player to time their attacks.
• Absolute uncontested best late and endgame weapon out of all standard weapons, even being better than some Sentient weapons.
• Late to endgame weapon option for those that don't want carpal tunnel from perma-spam right clicking.

Most Useful For:

• Comedically overpowered late and endgame weapon compared to all other options.

Downsides:

• 🥰

Additional Notes:

• In a pure DPS test, only the Sentient Greatcleaver beats Nunchucks and by a small margin. Nunchucks beats Sentient Greataxe, Sword, Scythe, and Bow in a DPS test.
• Nunchucks makes perfect use of attack speed as you only need to hold left click. This is a big contributor to its absurd strength over other weapons, as late/endgame builds can very often have blistering fast attack speeds, faster than is reasonable for humans to perfectly time clicks 100% of the time.
• Nunchucks aren't as effective with attack speed builds due to immunity frames limiting the amount of times you can hit a mob.

# CaestusThe Caestus is a one-handed leather gauntlet with extremely fast attack speed and extremely low base damage. Caestus has the special ability to attack enemies faster than any other weapon due to hitting with lower immunity frames.

Caestus is cheaply crafted with wool and leather, and can be upgraded to Studded Caestus with Iron, which increases its base damage from 2 to 4. This is a substantial boost in damage but there are no upgrades beyond Iron.

Caestus is for those who like extreme fast attacking weapons.

Early Game: Decent
Mid Game: Inferior
Late Game: Inferior

Technical Information
-> Extremely fast attack speed, extremely low base damage
-> Attacks with 13 i-frames instead of 20 i-frames, which makes it able to hit enemies more often when utilizing extreme fast attack speed.
-> Studded Caestus requires Attack 8 like other Iron weapons.

Uses:

• General usage one-handed high attack speed weapon specializing in high single target DPS.
• Outpaces other weapons in very extreme attack speed builds.

Most Useful For:

• N/A

Downsides:

• Extreme weakness to the Weakness effect, which reduces your damage by -4 per level.
• Max upgrade of Iron which makes it outclassed by other weapons when reaching Diamond level and above.
• Extreme attack speed builds are generally impractical due to the human constraint of not being able to perfectly time attacks at extreme attack speeds (and also the strain on the fingers).

Additional Notes:

• N/A

Two-Handed Weapons

# LongswordThe Longsword is a weapon with minimal unique bonuses but monstrous base stats. Longsword boasts of respectable attack speed and very high base damage, making it a good option for any combat situation and game stage.

Longsword lives up to its reputation as the gold standard design for swords and has considerable usage throughout all situations in the game.

Early Game: High Tier
Mid Game: High Tier
Late Game: High Tier

Technical Information
-> Respectable Attack Speed, very high base damage
-> Sweep 1
-> Two Handed 1

Uses:

• Has very good innate power and doesn't require damage bonuses to be a heavy hitting weapon.
• Two shots most smaller tier mobs.
• Compatible with Sweeping Edge.

Most Useful For:

• Early Midgame powerhouse due to its stat distribution.

Downsides:

• Two Handed 1.

Additional Notes:

• KKHR's personal favorite!

# KatanaKatana is a two-handed weapon with high attack speed with lowish base damage and an innate sweep. It deals bonus damage against unarmored mobs which makes it more effective in the early game.

Katana is a two-handed option with more "oomph" for those that like fast attacking one-handed weapons with a sweep. The weapon has top tier damage capabilities for the early game and is all around decent for later in the game.

Early Game: Top Tier.
Mid Game: Decent to Alright.
Late Game: Alright.

Technical Information
-> High attack speed, lowish base damage
-> Sweep 1
-> Two Handed 1
-> +50% damage to unarmored mobs.

Uses:

• Jack of all trades with emphasis on attack speed.
• Very good for early game AOE purposes.
• Consistency against most mob types.

Most Useful For:

• Early game specialization with a focus on damage.

Downsides:

• Two Handed 1
• Katana's properties makes it slightly lackluster late game option.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# ScytheScythe specializes in having a superior AOE sweep in exchange for having lackluster stats. It deals extra damage against unarmored mobs which makes it more effective in the early game.

Scythe is for those who want the most premium AOE option available for the early and midgame.

Early Game: Good
Mid Game: Top Tier
Late Game: Decent

Technical Information
-> Slow attack speed, okayish base damage
-> "Wide Sweep" is a two block circle AOE around the target hit dealing 100% of overall damage dealt.
-> +50% damage to unarmored mobs.
-> Two Handed 2

Uses:

• Clearing out large groups of weak mobs.
• AOE option for late game when the player doesn't have access to the Arc Slash enchantment.
• Looking cool.

Most Useful For:

• Dungeons with large groups of weak mobs.

Downsides:

• Weak in single combat against stronger opponents.
• Two Handed 2

Additional Notes:

• The +50% unarmored bonus does not come into effect in many midgame dungeons but has the unique property of applying to the sweep damage if you hit an unarmored mob. This means you can hit an unarmored mob and apply the +50% bonus and have that bonus apply to armored mobs hit by the sweep.
• Scythe currently only exists in RLCraft Dregora. It is coming to regular RLCraft in the 2.10 update.

# GreatswordGreatsword is a two-handed weapon that specializes in large area AOE in exchange for mediocre stats. This combination makes for a potent early to midgame weapon.

Greatsword is fantastic for midgame AOE coverage and its respectable properties makes it a decent weapon in other game stages as well.

Early Game: Good
Mid Game: Top Tier
Late Game: Good

Technical Information
-> Respectable attack speed, medium base damage.
-> Sweep 3 deals 100% of weapon's overall damage in a one block radius
-> Reach 1 provides +0.5 blocks of reach.
-> Two Handed 2

Uses:

• General usage weapon specializing in strong AOE and range while not compromising that much on stats.
• Scales extremely well into the midgame due to its properties.
• Provides a good AOE option for late game for those who don't have access to Arc Slash enchantment.

Most Useful For:

• Destroys dungeons with large swarms of weak mobs.

Downsides:

• Two-Handed 2

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# WarhammerWarhammer is a two-handed weapon with medium stats and the ability to ignore 50% of enemy armor. The ability to ignore armor can scale extremely well into the midgame while the overall weapon has respectable performance in other situations.

Warhammer is a weapon that specializes in armor piercing that excels in the midgame.

Early Game: Mediocre
Mid Game: Very good
Late Game: Good

Technical Information
-> Average attack speed, average base damage.
-> Ignores 50% of armor. This is equivalent to having Rune Piercing Capabilities 2 on your weapon, but it does not stack at all with Rune piercing.
-> Two Handed 1.

Uses:

• General usage weapon specializing in being effective against midgame dungeons with highly armored mobs and fighting dragons.

Most Useful For:

• Using as a midgame weapon when you don't any Rune Piercing Capabilities enchants.

Downsides:

• Warhammer's mediocre stats and two-handed condition makes it a subpar option for the early game when high armor values aren't a concern.
• Two Handed.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# HalberdThe Halberd has exceptional base stats with the bonus of additional reach. The weapon has respectable attack speed and very high base damage, making it a good option for any combat situation and game stage.

Halberd is a jack of all trades weapon that excels in most situation.

Early Game: High Tier
Mid Game: High Tier
Late Game: High Tier

Technical Information
-> Respectable attack speed, very high base damage.
-> "Reach 1" provides +0.5 blocks of range.
-> "Shield Breach" has the same shield countering properties of an Axe, but is useless as mobs don't use shields.

Uses:

• Has very good innate power and doesn't require damage bonuses to be a heavy hitting weapon.
• Two shots most smaller tier mobs.
• Extra reach makes it an alternative to the equally good Longsword in exchange for no sweep.

Most Useful For:

• Jack of all trades weapon with good innate power for the early game and good scaling into the mid and late game.

Downsides:

• Two-handed 2.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# PikePike is a two-handed weapon that specializes in extreme reach while having respectable stats.

Pike is a favorable option for those that want to keep enemies at a distance, and its properties plus Reach bonus makes it a very good option for later in the game.

Early Game: Good
Mid Game: High Tier
Late Game: Top Tier

Technical Information
-> Respectable attack speed, good base damage.
-> "Reach 2" provides +1 block of range.
-> Two Handed 2.

Uses:

• General usage two-handed weapon with an emphasis on a different style of defense utilizing its extreme reach.
• Reach is an innate bonus that doesn't "falloff" compared to other Spartan Weaponry bonuses, making it very good later in the game.

Most Useful For:

• Exceptional option for the late game.

Downsides:

• Two Handed 2.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

**# Battleaxe (Spartan Weaponry)**The Battleaxe is a two-handed weapon with impressive stats on par with that of the Longsword and Halberd. It boasts the highest base damage out of all Spartan weapons and is a good choice for any situation.

Battleaxe is for those who prefer the excellent stat distributions of the Longsword and Halberd but prefer the aesthetic of using an axe over the Longsword's sweep or the Halberd's reach.

Early Game: High tier
Mid Game: High tier
Late Game: High tier

Technical Information
-> Medium attack speed, very high base damage.
-> "Versatile" effect allows the Battleaxe to be used like a normal axe. The mining speed is equivalent to its material.
-> Two Handed 1.

Uses:

• General usage excellent two handed weapon for any stage of the game.
• Two shots most smaller tier mobs.
• Doubles as an axe which can save a hotbar slot.

Most Useful For:

• Early Midgame powerhouse due to its stat distribution.

Downsides:

• Two Handed 1.

Additional Notes:

• Battleaxe is objectively slightly worse than Longsword and Halberd but is still an excellent weapon eitherway.

# GlaiveThe Glaive is a two-handed weapon that has good sweep and extra range with respectable stats. This combination makes it a potent early to midgame weapon.

Glaive is for those who like the Greatsword's large AOE but prefer a little more DPS.

Early Game: Very Good
Mid Game: Very Good
Late Game: Decent

Technical Information
-> Medium attack speed, high base damage.
-> "Reach 1" provides +0.5 blocks of range.
-> "Sweep 2" deals 50% of weapon's overall damage in an AOE.
-> Two Handed 1.

Uses:

• General usage weapon specializing in strong AOE and range while not compromising on stats.
• Scales extremely well into the midgame due to its properties.

Most Useful For:

• Destroys dungeons with large swarms of weak mobs.

Downsides:

• Two-Handed 1

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# QuarterstaffQuarterstaff is a fast attacking weapon that deals AOE damage with good DPS.

Quarterstaff has excellent base stats with the property of AOE damage, making it a potent option for early to midgame. It is a shorter range alternative to the Greatsword and Glaive in exchange for higher DPS.

Early Game: Very good
Mid Game: Top Tier
Late Game: Decent

Technical Information
-> Very fast attack speed, medium-ish base damage
-> "Sweep 2" deals 50% of weapon's overall damage in an AOE
-> Two Handed 1

Uses:

• General usage early to midgame weapon with excellent stats and sweep capabilities.
• Demolishes dungeons with hordes of weak mobs.

Most Useful For:

• Destroys dungeons with large swarms of weak mobs.

Downsides:

• Two-Handed 1.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

Throwing Weapons

# BoomerangBoomerang is a single projectile throwing weapon that specializes in its reusability.

Boomerang is a low commitment, cheap ranged weapon that can be used to slowly whittle away mobs at a safe distance.

Early Game: Useful
Mid Game: Not useful
Late Game: Useless

Technical Information
-> Medium damage
-> 1 projectile

Uses:

• Whittle and take down mobs at a distance without the need to use consumable projectiles or pick up reusable throwing weapons.
• Spammable against mobs at a close-midish range.

Most Useful For:

• Killing an individual powerful mob in early game.

Downsides:

• The return flight can be inconsistent and finnicky, but not that much.
• Low DPS and terrible against hordes.
• Very poor scaling.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# Throwing KnifeThrowing Knives are the most weak but most spammable and plentiful of the throwing weapons. They're cheap to make and the sheer number allows you to use them liberally against mobs.

Throwing Knives are an expendable early game powerhouse that can keep mobs at bay in short-medium range.

Early Game: Very good
Mid Game: Alright
Late Game: Not useful

Technical Information
-> Low damage per knife.
-> 16 reusable knives per craft.

Uses:

• Early game weapon to keep mobs at bay.
• Good for spamming in chokepoints.
• Expendable and cheap resource.

Most Useful For:

• High power expendable resource in emergencies.

Downsides:

• Low damage makes it weak against mobs with high armor.
• Can bounce off enemies and hit yourself.

Additional Notes:

• If PVP is turned off on your server, you cannot get hit by your own throwing weapon.

# Throwing AxeThrowing Axes are the middle of the pack for throwing weapons, providing medium damage and are relatively spammable. They are cheap to make and their increased "oomph" makes them more effective against small groups and individual mobs.

Throwing Axes are for those who who want an even mix between the many but weak Throwing Knives and the few but powerful Javelins.

Early Game: Very good
Mid Game: Alright
Late Game: Not useful

Technical Information
-> Medium damage per axe.
-> 8 reusable axes per craft.

Uses:

• Early game weapon to keep mobs at bay.
• Good for spamming in chokepoints.
• Expendable and cheap resource.

Most Useful For:

• High power expendable resource in early game emergencies.

Downsides:

• Can bounce off enemies and hit yourself.

Additional Notes:

• If PVP is turned off on your server, you cannot get hit by your own throwing weapon.

# JavelinJavelin is the low quantity but high quality powerhouse of the throwing weapons. Javelins hit extremely hard but have the lowest storage count of any throwing weapon.

Javelin is the throwing weapon for those that like to oneshot a mob per projectile. Javelin is also by far the best scaling throwing weapon into the midgame compared to the knife and axe.

Early Game: Very good.
Mid Game: Top Tier (if pvp is off)
Late Game: Not useful.

Technical Information
-> High damage per javelin
-> 4 reusable javelins per craft.

Uses:

• One shot -> one kill weapon for individual mobs and small hordes.
• High damage makes it effective against highly armored mobs.
• Midgame menace when properly enchanted.
• Extremely good dragon slaying weapon.

Most Useful For:

• Mid game menace one-shot weapon against smaller and medium mobs.

Downsides:

• Low projectile count can make it hard to consistently pick up Javelins against large hordes of mobs early game.
• If PVP is off, javelins are very prone to one shotting the person who threw it after bouncing off mobs.

Additional Notes:

• Javelins have one of the best effort to reward ratios when it comes to enchanting it on the Enchantment Table. You can invest into a midgame menace Javelin for relatively little resources compared to other options.

**# Spear (Better Survival) **Better Survival Spear is a melee/throwing weapon hybrid with extremely good properties that makes it one of the best weapons available in the early game.

The BS Spear is the best of the throwing weapons for the early game and one of the best early game weapons in general. It remains useful going into the midgame but lacks any kind of scaling.

Early Game: Top Tier
Mid Game: Good
Late Game: Useless

Technical Information
-> Decent attack speed, low base damage
-> Gets 4 spears per craft. Stacks up to 16 per slot.
-> Throws instantly when right clicking with surprisingly far distance and fast speed
-> Reusable
-> Damage when thrown is 2x that of its base damage

Uses:

• General usage ranged option that decimates the early game due to its fast speed, far range, reusability, and excellent damage.
• General usage ranged option that remains useful going into the midgame

Most Useful For:

• Overall early game menace.

Downsides:

• The thrown damage does not scale with any damage bonuses nor can the BS Spear be enchanted so the weapon has no good scaling.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

Ranged Weapons

**# Bow (Vanilla)**The vanilla Bow is classic and beloved and it has some uses in RLCraft.

The vanilla Bow is is the obvious option for new players who have little resources. It's perfectly usable for its purpose as a ranged weapon but quickly gets outclassed by longbows, although not by that much.

Early Game: Good
Mid Game: Inferior
Late Game: Greatly inferior

Technical Information
-> Requires Agility 2

Uses:

• One of the earliest if not the earliest ranged weapon options available to new players.

Most Useful For:

• Beginner ranged weapon option.

Downsides:

• Gets outclassed by the Longbow fairly quickly.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# LongbowThe Longbow is the upgraded version of the vanilla bow with slightly higher stats and better durability. It doesn't have any unique innate qualities but no one can argue with the practicality of a good ol' bow.

The Longbow is the standard medium ranged weapon available in RLCraft. Its base stats are not that much higher than the vanilla bow but the difference gets more noticeable with the higher tier materials.

Early Game: Good
Mid Game: Top Tier
Late Game: Good

Technical Information
-> Slightly slower drawback speed than the vanilla bow.
-> Longer range and faster arrow speed than the vanilla bow.
-> Slightly more damage than the vanilla bow because of the arrow speed.

Uses:

• Standard option for a medium range ranged weapon.
• Decently enchanted longbow with Multishot and Power/Adv Power is very good at clearing hordes in the midgame.
• Good at dragon hunting not for sniping but for DPS while keeping the dragon at a midrange.

Most Useful For:

• Midgame horde wave clear due to its lower enchantment requirements in the early game.

Downsides:

• The range can be somewhat lacking for what is expected from a Longbow.

Additional Notes:

• The difference in arrow speed and range is minimal from tier to tier.
• The only difference between the Dragonbone Longbow and its blooded variants is durability.

**# Crossbow (Spartan Weaponry)**The Spartan Weaponry Crossbow fires extremely long range, high powered bolts at a slow speed.

The Crossbow is for slow and steady long range sniping.

Early Game: Top Tier
Mid Game: Good
Late Game: Useful

Technical Information
-> Fires only Iron or Diamond bolts. (Iron bolts are always better than Diamond ones).
-> Very slow attack speed, very high base damage.
-> Iron bolts have innate armor piercing.

Uses:

• General usage long range sniping.
• Dragon sniping.
• Keep loaded as a quickdraw, oneshot tool.
• Taking out high defense mobs when low damage early weapons barely leave scratches.

Most Useful For:

• General usage long range sniping.

Downsides:

• Slow load and draw time makes it very ineffective against hordes of slow and weak mobs.
• Slow load and draw time makes it not useful after one shot in intensive close quarters situations.

Additional Notes:

• N/A

# Crossbow (Better Survival)
The BS Crossbow is a weaker, earlier game equivalent to the Spartan Crossbow with a few different properties.

BS Crossbow is for early game use for when you have no access to Iron bolts yet.

Early Game: Useful
Mid Game: Useless
Late Game: Useless

Technical Information
-> Extremely slow attack speed, decent damage.
-> Requires Defense and Attack 2.
-> Uses arrows rather than bolts.

Uses:

• General usage long range sniping for the early game.

Most Useful For:

• General usage long range sniping for the early game.

Downsides:

• Pitiful stats even for a beginner weapon.
• Drawback does not automatically pause at max charge which can make timings inefficient.

Additional Notes:

• It finishes the drawback at three "draws'. Basically when you see the string get drawn back a total of three times, it is done.

Shields

Shields are an offhanded tool that you can use to block attacks and projectiles by right clicking and holding the shield up. Shields are very good for defensive gameplay, particularly in the early game, and are a staple of many playstyles. However, it is not as overcentralizing as it is in Vanilla MC.

The blocking power of a shield diminishes in usefulness greatly past the Iron level. Once you have an Iron shield or stronger, your shield is pretty much never broken unless you are in rare situations like being completely swamped in a horde of mobs or if the enemy mob is a Vindicator. Essentially, higher shielding power doesn't really make the shield that much more effective.

Shields also don't scale that well either. Besides the Natural Blocking enchant, the shield doesn't do much in the way of providing defense later in the game. Oftentimes it is actually more efficient to keep swinging your weapon so that you can keep lifestealing by dealing damage and gradually clearing hordes. The Natural Blocking enchant is extremely good, but due to the way it works, it actually gets less effective the more defensive bonuses you have, so that's another knock against shields later in the game.

Uses:

• Greatly increases survivability in the early game.
• Counters skeletons in the early game.
• Fantastic for 1v1s or small groups.
• Can stall for time to escape.
• Natural Blocking enchantment is an extremely good shield enchant that blocks a lot of damage taken for simply having the shield in the offhand. This damage blocking is extremely good in the early game and remains useful as the game goes on.

Disadvantages:

• Requires the use of off-hand which is anti-synergy with two-handed weapons.
• Past early game, it is often more practical to keep dealing damage rather than blocking with a shield.
• Has no scaling options besides the Natural Blocking enchant.

Parrying With Shields

Despite the somewhat limited scope of shields, they become incredibly effective at their main strengths if you utilize parrying in your gameplay. Parrying is the act of timing your block and completely blocking your enemies attack, along with some other benefits. To parry, you must right click 2-12 ticks after the hit.
Parrying the enemy does:

• Completely blocks the attack regardless of the shield's blocking power
• Knocks the enemy back farther than normal
• Applies Vulnerability 2 (+100% damage taken) and Slowness 3 to the parried mob
  Being able to consistently parry the enemy allows you to 1v1 almost any conventional mob with no damage taken. It is an incredibly powerful tool that allows you to overcome powerful enemies in the early game like blighted mobs as shown in the video. Making consistent use of parrying turns shields from a defensive tool to a 1v1 monster, although it doesn't allow you to cheese 1v1s against some mobs with pure skill. You'll still get demolished by a Battletower Golem or a dragon with just Iron gear and a shield.

Note: There are two different types of shields -> Spartan Shields and Tower Shields. Despite having different names and appearances, there is no difference between the two despite visual. They will do the same exact thing, have the same hitbox, and cost the same amount of materials to craft. Simply choose whichever you prefer the look of.

Living and Sentient Weapons

The parasitic weapons are the premier endgame weapons available in RLCraft that you can only obtain by killing parasites in the Lost Cities and using their body parts to make new weapons. The Sentient Weapons have the most powerful base stats of any weapon in the game and each comes with a unique ability that makes them stand out from the rest. They are unequivocally the most superior and best weapons in the game (besides Nunchucks 🥰 ).
Sentient Weapons have slow attack speed with a whopping 20 base damage.

Living Weapons
Living weapons are the pre-evolved form of Sentient Weapons. They are made from the body parts of certain parasites and have weaker base stats than their Sentient form and do not have a unique ability. Living Weapons are made from:

Infected Flesh -> Dropped from any Assimilated parasite. Used as a basic material for the other crafting components.
Infectious Blade Fragment -> Made from Reeker Fangs. Dropped by Reekers.
Vile Shell -> Made from Longarms Armor Fragment. Dropped by Longarms.
Hardened Bone Handle -> Made from Yelloweye Bone. Dropped by Yelloweyes.
Living Core -> Made from Manducator Orbs and Summoner Cores. Dropped by Manducuators and Summoners.
Dried Tendon -> Made from Strange Bones. Dropped by most Primitive and Adapted parasites.

Evolving Sentient Weapons:
To evolve from Living to Sentient, you must combine the Living Weapon with a Sentient Core in a crafting table.. The Sentient Core is made of a Living Core surrounded by 8 Blood Tears, dropped by the Assimilated Ender Dragon (head and body) and the Ancient Overlord and Ancient Drednaught. (Enchantments do not stay when evolving from Living and Sentient. Make sure to evolve to Sentient before applying enchants).

For Dregora:
Evolving in Dregora is different and more intuitive. Rather than using a Sentient Core, the Living Weapon uses a simple point system. Living Weapons will gain points upon killing a parasite, and lose points when killing a non-parasite. The points gained or lost is equal to the HP of the mob that is killed. When the Living Weapon gains 50,000 points, it evolves into a Sentient Weapon. Enchantments and weapon quality are retained upon evolution. You do not need to deal 100% of the damage in order to gain points. You only need the killing blow.
Note that this means your Living Weapon pretty much mandates max enchantments. Even though the parasitic weapons are much more powerful than Dragonbone ones, an unenchanted weapon stands no chance in the Lost Cities and you need to fight parasites to evolve your weapon.
(In the current verson of Dregora) -> Living Weapons do not actually need to deal the killing blow in order to gain points. You simply need to have it in your hand or offhand. This means that you can evolve a Living Weapon by holding it in your offhand and using a different weapon to deal the killing blows. This also applies to the Living Bow.
HOW IT CURRENTLY WORKS DOES NOT EQUAL HOW IT IS INTENDED TO WORK. If future versions of Dregora change how it detects point accumulation for Living Weapons, this section of the guide will update accordingly.

Importantly note that Sentient Weapons in Dregora will give you the "Prey" effect upon holding it or usage. The "Prey" basically massively increases the number of parasite spawns around you regardless of your location or conditions. This is a massive detriment towards the viability of Sentient Weapons, although "Prey" only does anything in Lost Cities and The Underneath.

Greatcleaver

The Sentient Greatcleaver lashes out with virulent strikes. Greatcleaver is generally considered the best weapon in the game due to its effective unique ability.

Unique Ability: -> Applies Vulnerability 2 to enemies upon hit which amplifies their damage taken by 100%.

Additional Notes:

• The highest DPS loadout possible in the game is Nunchucks in the mainhand and Greatcleaver in the offhand.
• Dualwielding Cleavers does not stack the Vulnerability.

Greatscythe

The Sentient Greatscythe decimates a large area. Greatscythe is generally considered one of the best weapons in the game due to its unparelled AOE capabilities.

Unique Ability: -> Deals 100% of damage in an AOE of a 4 block wide circle.

Additional Notes:

• The Arc Slash enchant neither adds nor interferes with the AOE of the Scythe.
• The range of the AOE is also 4 blocks, but the area lowers by one block for every one block higher/lower.
• Living Scythe has a 3 block range rather than 4 which still makes it very powerful.

Greatsword

The Sentient Greatsword inflicts life threatening injuries. Greatsword is generally considered inferior to the Cleaver and Scythe due to its unique ability being lackluster.

Unique Ability: -> Applies a 2% Max HP bleed approximately per second upon hit. The bleed caps at 100 damage per tick (5000 HP).

Additional Notes:

• The bleed effect, while excellent on paper, simply does not do enough damage to make any significant difference in regular gameplay.
• Since Lycanite bosses have a damage cap of 100 which is already easily reached by any self respecting late game loadout, the bleed is not specially effective against the Lycanite bosses.
• The bleed no longer interefers with immunity frames unlike in previous versions.

Greataxe

The Sentient Greataxe renders armor useless over time. Greataxe is generally considered the worst of the Sentient Weapons due to its unique effect not being effective against mobs.

Unique Ability: -> Applies "Corrosion" effect upon hit, which lowers the durability of armor overtime. This effect currently does nothing against mobs in RLCraft 2.9.3 or Dregora, but there are plans to change it in the future.

Additional Notes:

• Even as a specialized PVP weapon, there are other strategies that are more effective than reducing a player's armor durability in this method, so Greataxe is good in that category either.
• Even though its effect is useless against mobs, its superior base stats still make it a better weapon than all other Dragonbone weapons (except Nunchucks 🥰 )