This article covers the original sword skills in Sword Art Online VRMMORPG, which were later taken and implemented in ALfheim Online and Underworld.

Summary

Sword Skills (剣技sōdo sukiru ) are a complex combat move system introduced in Sword Art Online . All skills are written in Latin letters in the game and, with the exception of the Katana and several martial arts skills, are named in English. Contrary to what the name suggests, they work on all weapons, such as warhammers, spears, and even bare fists.

In the ALO patch that introduced sword skills, they were changed to include elemental damage and allow players to create and share their own skills. Rumors circulated that about a dozen skills would be removed in the process.

The Seed Game Creation Kit doesn't contain sword skills, so how Underworld adopted them is a mystery as of February 2020. Underworld skills are called Secret Art Finishing Moves, and the main difference with them is that the combo numbers depend on the weapon's priority class.

Mechanical

A sword skill is activated by adopting a pre-set weapon stance, called a Pre-Motion (I don't know what that is) puremōshon, (literally, preparation movement). When the system recognizes the pre-movement, it powers up the weapon in the Skill shade. The player then chooses when to let the system complete the move, which automatically executes an attack much more powerful than a simple weapon swing at a speed nearly impossible to achieve without it.

Once a specific skill has been performed, it enters a cooldown ( kūringu ) period during which it cannot be used again, which is indicated on the player's heads-up display (HUD) at the bottom. Other skills are still available during this period.

The number of different sword skills a player has and their type are based on the player's unlocked weapon skills.

In SAO , when opponents' sword skills collided, the two had a chance of being mutually canceled out. This is no longer the case in Underworld.

Known sword skills

One-handed sword

|English Name | Japanese Name | Description | Combo|
None
|Deadly Sins | The Deadly Sins | This skill combo hits seven times with slashes, full circle spins, and a backflip. | 7|
|Horizontal | ホリゾンタル | A horizontal slash. | |
|Horizontal Arc | A horizontal swing from left to right, a swing from right to left, and a more powerful LtR swing. | 2|
|Horizontal square | ホリゾンタル・スクエア | Draw the shape of a horizontal square. | 4|
|Screaming Octave | Five high-speed thrusts followed by a downward slash and an upward slash, ending with a full-force upward slash. 40% Physical, 60% Fire. | 8|
|Lightning Strike | Dashes a long distance, then stabs the sword into the ground, sending blue sparks flying in all directions. 30% Physical, 70% Lightning. | |
|New Ascension | ノヴァ・アセンション | | 10|
|Rage Rush | A leap at the enemy followed by an upward strike. | |
|Wild Pivot | Traces the Arabic numeral "4" in the air. 50% physical, 50% ice. | 3|
|Serrated Wave | AoE control skill that slows enemies. | |
|Pointed nails | One diagonal upward RtL slash, one horizontal LtR slash, one diagonal downward RtL slash. Alternatively, three vertical slashes. | 3|
|Tilt | スラント | A slash. | |
|Snake Bite | Two swings: one left and one right. It aims at the opponent's weapon and can cause it to break. | 2|
|Sonic Jump | Sonic | The charges then rush towards the enemy, slashing them downwards. | |
|Upper Cut | Delivers an uppercut. | |
|Vertical | A vertical slash. | |
|Vertical arch | バーチカル・アーク | A V-shaped slash. | 2|
|Vertical square | バーチカル・スクエア | Draw the shape of a vertical square. | 4|
|Vorpal Strike | A powerful strike that doubles the weapon's range with high attack power. The strength of this skill is balanced by a long cooldown. 30% Physical, 30% Fire, 40% Dark. | |

Other weapons

• One-handed curved sword
• One-handed axe
• Two-handed battle axe
• Two-handed sword
• Rapier
• Dagger
• Martial Arts (Additional Skill)
• Blade Throwing
• Claws
• Katana (Additional Skill)
• Dual Blades (Unique Skill)
• Holy Sword (Unique Skill)
• Defense of weapons
• Two-handed longbow (ALO)
• Composite skills that use the player's weapon and body

Sword Schools in the Underworld

• Aincrad Style : Kirito's usual style has become a one-handed sword school.
• Zakkarite style
• Serlut style
• Norlangarth Style (Norkia Style)
• Norlangarth Style (High Norkia Style)
• Balto Style

References

• Sword Skills - Fan Wiki