The Swordsman is perhaps the most straightforward of Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds' five Classes: in a world of Rogues, Witches, and Destroyers, sometimes it's reassuring to know that the simple solution - whacking people with a pointy sword - can be the most effective. Of all the classes in the game, the Swordsman is the most accessible, and it also makes solo play a breeze.

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The Swordsman is a fantastic all-rounder, whose high DPS and impressive base defence make it a potent threat in close quarters. Don't let its simplicity fool you, however: with the correct team to support it, the Swordsman can be a deadly damage-dealer at the front ranks of your PVP or PVE team. Here, we'll cover everything you need to know to master this Class.

How To Play As A Swordsman

The Swordsman's impressive spread of stats - featuring high Attack, Defence, and Speed in particular - makes him a versatile fighter that can effectively accommodate many playstyles.

How you decide to play the Swordsman, then, is up to you: would you rather outlast the opponent in battle, outmanoeuvre them with an array of dodges and fast attacks, or simply overpower them by burning all of your skills in one incredible hit of damage? The Swordsman gives you the flexibility to choose.

In PVP situations, your Swordsman build should also take into account your existing team composition - for example, if you already have a Destroyer on the team acting as a Tank, then building a defensive Swordsman might be a bit overkill. However, a Swordsman with many Defence buffs can be incredibly powerful in multiplayer teams that support it from afar with ranged damage and healing, and so pairs naturally with an Engineer.

However you decide to build your Swordsman, a few things will go unchanged. You should use your Basic Attack and Class Skills as often as possible to maximise your DPS output and put pressure on the opposing team - a well-timed Spinning Assault is also great for chasing down retreating enemies. In addition, your Burst Skill is overwhelmingly powerful and should always be used at the best available opportunity.

Best Familiars To Pair With A Swordsman

Since your Swordsman build relies on both strong Attack and Defence, there are many Familiar options open to you. However, people will be relying on you for high damage output, and your defences can be buffed with good armour choices, so it is better to stick with Attack-Type Familiars, unless you have an express reason not to for your build.

Fortunately, Attack-Type Familiars are plentiful throughout the game and so getting your hands on a few shouldn't be too hard.

You should pay attention to the Elements of your Familiars as well: the most important thing here is to ensure that you have a consistent Element present across your build, meaning that your weapon of choice should match up with at least one of your Familiars in its Element. If you can, though, it's a good idea to go all-out and match the Elements of your Familiars as well, since many Familiars provide buffs that will stack if more Familiars of their Element are present in your party.

For example, the Hippocampus - one of the best Attack-Type Familiars in the game - increases all damage by one percent for each Water Familiar equipped. For Water-oriented builds, this is fantastic, but it gets better: Hippocampus also has two attacking abilities.

Waterspout deals 74 percent of your Attack (which is a combination of both you and your Familiars' stats) as damage and Silences enemies on hit, and Torrent deals the same amount of damage but as an AoE attack that pulls enemies towards the centre of the attack area. This is excellent for applying pressure and for crowd control.

Other brilliant Familiars to pair with a Swordsman include Mite, for Fire-oriented builds, and Oroboros for Earth players. Mite's passive ability increases all Fire damage by one percent, and it also has two attacking abilities which do impressive damage and apply debilitating effects: the first ability does 41 percent of Attack as damage and Burns the enemy for further damage, and the second deals 43 percent of Attack as damage and Knocks Down the enemy.

Oroboros behaves very similarly to Mite, having the same damage-increasing Passive ability, but for Earth Attack. His Spin Attack deals a hefty 230% of Attack as damage and inflicts Poison onto the enemy, and his signature Oroborospin deals a massive 263% of Attack as damage, as well as Knocking Down enemies.

Best Armour For A Swordsman

A Swordsman is nothing without his armour. Just as you'd expect, armour's main purpose is to augment your defences, although certain pieces provide other useful effects. For example, shoes and boots tend to improve your mobility by giving you Move Speed buffs and other useful perks. Here are some of the best armour pieces for a Swordsman:

Best Accessories For A Swordsman

Although they are not as fortifying as armour, accessories are a massively important part of your build in Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds, since they provide a wide variety of effects to give you the edge in battle. Because of this variety, personal choice is a much larger factor when choosing accessories - which ones work best for your build will also depend on the Elements of your Weapons/Familiars and your position on a team. Nonetheless, here are some you should be keeping your eye on:

Swordsman Skill Guide And Recommendations

The Swordsman has three Class Skills at their disposal: Pristine Blade slashes quickly at any enemies in front of the Swordsman to deal massive damage and reduce enemy Move Speed, Soaring Slash fires energy in a line ahead of the Swordsman to deal good damage and decrease enemy Move Speed, and Spinning Assault has the Swordsman rush towards a target ahead of them while spinning to deal decent damage and knock down enemies hit. Use all of them whenever you can to get as much damage in as possible, then if the opponent tries to retreat, you can chase them down with a Spinning Assault.

Your Burst Skill is Mega Slash, which does exactly what it says on the tin: your sword grows massive and you perform one big slash with it in a 180-degree arc ahead of you, dealing incredible damage. This is fantastic in frenetic, close-quarter battles and can help you single-handedly change the fate of your team if deployed at the opportune moment.

A Swordsman's Special Active Skill selections should be as versatile as they are, providing a mixture of staying power and damage-dealing attacks. Some particularly good choices include Siphoning Lunge (dealing massive damage to enemies in a line in front of you, as well as debuffing their Defence and buffing yours), Vital Spark (increasing your party's max HP and giving them shields, great for when you're about to enter a big fight), and Meteor Strike (dealing strong AoE damage from afar using your Fire Attack).

Similarly, your Special Passive Skills should be chosen to complement your build and help you excel in the things you are trying to specialise in. Solid aggressive options include Deadly Marker (increasing your Attack and Stunning enemies when attacked) and Fire Barrage (increasing Fire Attack and Damage dealt to Burned enemies, pairing especially well with Mite's Burning capabilities). If, however, you also want to fortify your defences with your Passives, you should consider Quick Overcome (reducing the duration of Stun, Knock Down, and Subdue) or Enhanced Defence (has a chance to increase the party's Defence significantly when you land a successful attack).

The suggestions made for both Active and Passive skills here are by no means comprehensive, and you should consider all the Skills available to you, since most provide some benefit to the Swordsman. You should also always be wary of your position on a team when choosing Skills: think about what might help you best fill your role, or what might help your teammates the most.

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