Wiki / Weapons
Dual wield
A one-handed weapon in each hand, no shield. Five move sets, one per pair; the guard is a sidestep.
Status: Built, not yet played by people · Last checked: 14 Nov 2026
A one-handed weapon in each hand and no shield. Dual wield hits in quick four-hit strings and cannot block: instead of a guard it has a sidestep that passes through attacks. It runs on stamina. Built on 14 Nov 2026; not yet played by people.
Which pair you hold decides the move set
| The two hands hold | Move set | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Two different weapons (sword and dagger, axe and mace...) | Mixed pair | The shared set |
| Two daggers | Daggers | Quickest rhythm, quicker heavies, shortest reach, lightest heavy, misses cost less stamina |
| Two swords | Swords | Balanced, a touch more reach, a touch more recovery |
| Two axes | Axes | Slower rhythm, harder and later heavies, a harder last hit |
| Two maces | Maces | Slowest, the heaviest heavies, and a heavy staggers |
A two-handed weapon (greatsword, bow, staff) can never be dual-wielded. All five sets are the same moves re-tuned a little. Every pair's first light is as quick as the sword's: a slower pair is slower in its rhythm, its recovery and its heavies, not in its first hit.
The moves
| Move | How | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cut, Cross cut, Twin cut, Scissor | Attack, four taps | The standing string: main hand, off hand, both, then both closing. The last hit is named after the pair: Scissor, Twin fang (daggers), Twin chop (axes), Twin crush (maces) |
| Double thrust / Rising pair / Low scythe | Standing: side, up, down + attack | |
| Cross cleave / Rushing pair / Sky shears / Twin drop | Hold attack: none, side, up, down | The loaded heavy is named after the pair: Double stab (daggers), Double chop (axes), Skull smash (maces) |
| Air whirl / Air cross / Air shears / Air fangs, Falling pair | In the air | |
| Running cut, Driving pair | Running: attack, attack | |
| Shoulder rush, Leaping pair | Sprinting: attack, attack | |
| Sidestep | Guard | See below |
| Flank cut | Guard + attack | See below |
| Bladestorm | The ultimate | A long wind-up, then a rush through the place in front. The same strength as Sunfall |
The guard is a sidestep
| What Guard does | One quick step the way you hold (backward with no direction). Never a block. Holding the button does nothing more |
| During the step | For its first moment attacks and shots pass through you |
| Cost | A little stamina, less than a back dodge. With the stamina bar empty there is no sidestep: nothing to hide behind |
| Perfect sidestep | An attack passed through it: you vanish for a second (drawn faint), your bar fills a good amount, and your next hit does more if it lands from behind. Any hit you land or take ends the vanish |
| Out of a perfect combo | The Guard press in the escape window is a perfect dodge |
| Sprint + back | The same sidestep |
Guard + attack: the Flank cut
Press attack with the sidestep or during it and keep Guard held: your hero turns to the nearest enemy and dashes back in behind both blades. A small hit, a push and a short stagger. A step past the enemy ends in a cut from behind.
When to use it
- When you like timing: its strings do the most with a perfect chain.
- Sidestep through a slow attack, then punish from behind.
What beats it
- It cannot block: with the stamina bar empty it has no defence at all.
- Waiting out the sidestep: only its first moment is safe, and there is a short wait before the next one.
- Its reach is shorter than a sword and shield's.
How it is carried
Sword, axe and mace pairs stand with the blades crossed low in front of the chest, hands at the belt, the far hand forward and a little higher than the near one. Two daggers: arms relaxed, the blades low. In a run both blades trail behind. Both blades work in every move.
Nerd section: the exact numbers
Built on 14 Nov 2026, checked by 15 automatic tests (tests/dual.test.ts) and seen in the browser; not yet played by people. Adding ?weapon=daggers (or swords, axes, maces, dual wield) to the address tries a pair with any hero.
Numbers changed on 14 Nov 2026 by the balance pass. The table of changes is on How the weapons compare; the values below are the new ones.
The five pairs in numbers
Every pair's first light comes out on the same frame as the sword's (frame 6). Daggers: heavies two frames sooner. Swords: one pixel more reach, a frame more recovery. Maces: a heavy staggers for at least 0.4 s.
| Mixed | Daggers | Swords | Axes | Maces | Hand and shield | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| String mashed / perfectly chained | 4% / 10% | 4% / 10% | 4% / 10% | 4% / 11% | 4% / 11% | 4% / 9% |
| Loaded heavy (no load) | 7%, frame 10 | 6%, frame 8 | 7%, frame 10 | 8%, frame 12 | 9%, frame 13 | 8%, frame 10 |
| Reach of the first light | 27 px | 25 px | 27.5 px | 27 px | 27 px | 30 px |
| Push | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 112% | |
| Ten seconds on a still target, mashed / perfect | 26% / 68% | 31% / 64% | 26% / 68% | 28% / 61% | 27% / 67% | 28% / 63% |
The moves in numbers
- The standing string: 1 / 1 / 1 / 1% mashed, 1 / 2 / 2 / 5% on the glow.
- With a direction, running, sprinting and in the air, the moves are built from the sword's with the same job: 1 pixel less reach, heavies 1% weaker.
- Bladestorm: wind-up to frame 25; 14%, the same strength as Sunfall.
The sidestep in numbers
| Untouchable | The first 10 frames (0.17 s). Attacks and shots pass through |
| Cost | 8 stamina (everyone's back dodge: 12, untouchable for 7 frames) |
| Whole move / wait before the next | 18 frames (0.3 s) / 14 frames more |
| Perfect sidestep | You vanish for 1 s, the bar fills by 20, and your next hit does 30% more if it lands from behind |
The Flank cut in numbers
From the sidestep's sixth frame the hero turns and dashes back in. 2%, a push, a stagger of at least 0.23 s (14 frames), 10 stamina when it starts.
Pose pass (14 Nov 2026)
In the moves built from the sword's, the second hand follows the first, a little shorter and higher, so the two strike one after the other and are never in one spot; in the string's third hit they go together.
Not built
- The pairs do not look different in the fight unless the hero's look draws two weapons (the hero screens' work).
- The old test opponent does not know how to use the sidestep well; it was used only for the fairness table.
Fairness, measured
Forty fights of the old test opponent per pairing (it fights at arm's length and mashes, so read these as "not stronger up close"):
| Against hand and shield | Wins / losses / out of time | Damage dealt / taken |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed pair | 10 / 19 / 11 | 6119 / 5993 |
| Daggers | 12 / 18 / 10 | 5764 / 6025 |
| Swords | 15 / 15 / 10 | 6092 / 5605 |
| Axes | 16 / 14 / 10 | 6168 / 6188 |
| Maces | 10 / 17 / 13 | 5926 / 6081 |
Against the staff every pair wins clearly in the test opponent's hands (for example mixed pair 26 / 6 / 8), because the test opponent does not use the staff's reach.