This article relates the original Sword Skills in Sword Art Online VRMMORPG, which were later carried forward 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-game and, excepting Katana and several Martial Arts skills, named in English. Contrary to the name, works on all weapons, like warhammers, spears and even bare fists.

In the ALO patch that introduced Sword Skills, they had been tweaked to include elemental damage and allow players to create and share their own skills. Rumors circulated that talked about a dozen or so skills being removed in the process.

The Seed game creation kit does not have Sword Skills, so the way Underworld has adopted it 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.

Mechanics

A Sword Skill is activated by assuming a pre-set weapon stance, which is called Pre-Motion (予備動作 puremōshon, lit. preparation motion). As the system recognizes the pre-motion, it lights up the weapon in the Skill hue. Then the player picks the moment to let the system finish the move, which automatically performs a much more powerful attack than a simple weapon swing at a speed that is nearly impossible to reach without it.

After a specific Skill has been performed, it enters a cooldown (冷却 kūringu) period where it cannot be used again, which is indicated on the player's head-up display (HUD) at the bottom. The other Skills are still available during that period.

How many different Sword Skills a player has and their type are based on the player's unlocked Weapon Skills.

In SAO, when Sword Skills of the opponents collided, both had a chance to be mutually negated. This is no longer the case in Underworld.

Known Sword Skills

One-handed Sword

|English Name | Japanese Name | Description | Combo|
|-|-|-|
|Deadly Sins | デッドリー・シンズ | This combination skills hits seven times with slashes, full circle spins, and a backwards somersault. | 7|
|Horizontal | ホリゾンタル | A horizontal slash. | |
|Horizontal Arc | ホリゾンタル・アーク | A horizontal left to right swing, a right to left swing, and one more powerful LtR swing. | 2|
|Horizontal Square | ホリゾンタル・スクエア | Traces the shape of a horizontal square. | 4|
|Howling Octave | ハウリング・オクターブ | Five high-speed thrusts followed by a downward cut and an upward cut, finishing with a full-force upward cut. 40% Physical, 60% Fire. | 8|
|Lightning Fall | ライトニング・フォール | Dashes long-distance, then stabs the sword into the ground, shooting out blue sparks in all directions. 30% Physical, 70% Lightning. | |
|Nova Ascension | ノヴァ・アセンション | | 10|
|Rage Spike | レイジスパイク | A leap at the enemy followed by an upward strike. | |
|Savage Fulcrum | サベージ・フルクラム | Traces the Arabic number "4" in the air. 50% Physical, 50% Ice. | 3|
|Serration Wave | セレーション・ウェーブ | An area control skill that slows enemies down. | |
|Sharp Nail | シャープネイル | An upward diagonal RtL slash, a LtR horizontal slash, a downward diagonal RtL slash. Alternatively, three vertical slashes. | 3|
|Slant | スラント | A diagonal slash. | |
|Snake Bite | スネークバイト | Two swings: one left and one right. It targets the opponent's weapon and can cause it to break. | 2|
|Sonic Leap | ソニック・リープ | Charges then dashes at enemy slashing a downward. | |
|Uppercut | 上段斬り | Delivers an uppercut. | |
|Vertical | バーチカル | A vertical slash. | |
|Vertical Arc | バーチカル・アーク | A V-shaped slash. | 2|
|Vertical Square | バーチカル・スクエア | Traces the shape of a vertical square. | 4|
|Vorpal Strike | ヴォーパル・ストライク | A heavy strike that doubles the reach of the weapon with a high attack power. The strength of this skill is balanced by a long cool-down. 30% Physical, 30% Fire, 40% Darkness. | |

Other Weapons

• One-handed Curved Sword
• One-handed Axe
• Two-handed Battle Axe
• Two-handed Sword
• Rapier
• Dagger
• Martial Arts (Extra Skill)
• Blade Throwing
• Claws
• Katana (Extra Skill)
• Dual Blades (Unique Skill)
• Holy Sword (Unique Skill)
• Weapon Defense
• Two-handed Long Bow (ALO)
• Composite Skills that use the weapon and the player's body

Sword Schools in Underworld

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

References

• Sword Skills - Fan Wiki