Sword-Style / Pluck
Sword-Style also known as Pluck is one of the 5 Specialities in the game. It has many attacks, most melee and a few movement-based. All of the moves under the Skill Tree require Pluck to use. To obtain the spec, you must be Level 10+ and talk to Uzurashi located on top of the buildings around ShiftPlox The Travelling Merchant. It costs $10,000 and an Ancient Scroll to obtain from Uzurashi.
The Skill Tree costs 33 points
Skills
LMB - M1: With the pluck equipped, the user will slice with their blade up to 5 times in rapid succession, dealing 7.2 damage for every hit.
RMB - M2: While having the pluck item equipped, the user will thrust their blade down dealing 10 damage. M2 breaks block but can be Perfect Blocked.
X - Thrust: The user thrusts their sword forward in a stab that deals around 15 damage, has a 6-second cool down. Can be blocked, doesn’t breaks block, cannot be parried.
B - Instant Slash: The user teleports to the nearest target and slices them, dealing 10 damage. Has a 10-second cool down. (The teleport has a limited range, but if no one is in range, the move doesn't start and neither does the cool down.) Can be blocked, doesn’t break block, can’t be parried.
H - Aerial Ace: The user dashes forward with their sword dealing 15 damage, has a 17-second cool down. Can be blocked, doesn’t break block, can’t be parried.
Z - Pierce Strike: The user deals a heavy strike with their sword that deals 14 damage, has a 7-second cool down. Max upgrading Pierce Strike will give it large range, a hitbox lasting around 1.5 seconds.Break blocks, can’t be parried.
C - Triple Pierce Strike: The user deals 3 strikes with their sword, dealing 7 points of damage with all 3 hits. Has a 12-second cool down. (Pierce Strike Upgrades do not affect Triple Pierce Strike.) Can be blocked,doesn't break block, can’t be parried.
V - Crescent Slash: The user deals a sideways slash with their sword, doing 14 damage and knocking back the targets, has a 13-second cool down. After the opponent has recovered from the ragdoll, they will be stunned for a short duration. Bypasses block, doesn’t break block, can't be parried.
Skill Tree
- Swordsmanship: 3 points, increases the damage of your light and heavy attacks by 20% (X1.2).
- Thorn Block: 2 points, when the user is blocking with Pluck equipped, the damage from the enemy is not only blocked but also thrown back at the enemy.
Thrust Upgrades: Buffs the damage dealt from the Thrust skill and improves the range.
- Thrust Upgrade I: 2 points
- Thrust Upgrade II: 2 points
- Thrust Upgrade III: 3 points
Pierce Strike Upgrades: Increases the damage and range from the Pierce Strike skill
- Pierce Strike Upgrade I: 2 points
- Pierce Strike Upgrade II: 3 points
Crescent Slash Upgrades: Increases the damage from the Crescent Slash
- Crescent Slash Upgrade I: 2 points
- Crescent Slash Upgrade II: 2 points
- Crescent Slash Upgrade III: 3 points
Tips, combos and glitches
- Sword-Style is a good moveset filler, meaning that if your Stand doesn't have many moves, this is a great choice for it.
- Sword is very good with Stands that lack damage, as it has many attacks that can be used in combos to deal large amounts of damage. it also works with Stands that require getting melee damage off, as it allows speed options and getting close. Sword should be used to cover any weaknesses on your stand.
- Aerial Ace is very useful in Steel Ball Run, as it allows you to cover lots of distance very quickly, at least until the developers made it so that you can't use unfair skills in the final dash.
- There is a glitch where if you use Aerial Ace on a horse, your character sometimes appears frozen in where you activated the move and your horse looks like it's being ridden by a ghost. This can be fixed by jumping off your horse.
- Pierce Strike (Z) with its first upgrade works quite well as a mid-ranged attack.
- V + B + C (Crescent Slash, Instant Slash, Triple Pierce Strike) allows you to knock the opponent far back, teleport to them, and then deal lots of damage to them.
- Z + X + C (Pierce Strike, Thrust, Triple Pierce Strike) allows you to attack the enemy, then dash-attack into them, and then deals moderate damage to enemies.
- B + V + H (Instant Slash, Crescent Slash, Aerial Ace) Applies fast dashing combos that is good for hit and run combos
- B + H (Instant Slash, Aerial Ace/1-5 M1) Adjust how many M1s you are going for depending on how fast they block. Use Aerial Ace instead if you are low or just use both if you are confident, just use Aerial Ace last if you are using both Aerial Ace and 1-5 M1s
- Pluck actually used to boost the Stand damage (M1's) without using pluck (Item).
- Pluck does not provide any defense or health advantages. The player does not have the same liability to tank hits with Pluck.
- B + V + Z + C + X (Instant Slash, Crescent Slash, Pierce Strike, Triple Pierce Strike, Thrust) Deals HUGE damage, can be used in many stand combos, as you can use Instant Slash as a combo extender, a good example of this infamous combo in partial use is with Chariot Requiem's BnB combo.
Trivia
- The sword used with this Speciality, Pluck, belonged to the zombie knight Bruford from Part 1 of the anime. He was summoned to Dio Brando's side along with Tarkus.
- Pierce strike used to be parriable, before v0.882.
