Windswept Rapier

"if you wanted to make a weapon for people who really liked 1.8 combat but you still wanted to make it work in the current combat framework" -the serena oculis

the windswept rapier is a new sword that can be obtained by upgrading the mace, designed around being a sort of horizontal alternative to it. it comes with a variety of gimmicks that "exaggerate" combat while simutaniously being too volatile to always be viable, similarily to its predecessor.

-how it works-

(note, this explanation is very long and not very well worded and id honestly just reccomend experimenting with the thing in a world instead of trying to figure it out by reading this)

dashing right clicking with the sword launches the player in the direction they are facing, while also creating a large knockback burst around them. this blast deals no damage, but increases the damage entities take for a few frames depending on how close they were to the player. to deal the highest possible damage, strike immediately after dashing. dashing also breifly makes the player more vulnerable, so try to avoid getting hit after.

hitting an enemy allows for the manual restoration of the players guard stance and dash capabilities shortly after (with a right click), but temporarily negates the ability to do any further damage as well as decreasing attack speed. this downside can be nullified with the sharpness enchantment, which while dealing very low damage on its own in this state, allows for constant guard/dash restoration from enemy hits, resulting in long flurry attacks. (personally i would suggest trying to balance between getting good dash strikes in and overwhelming the opponent with flurry attacks)

parrying / guard stance by default, the rapier starts in a guard stance, which lets the user automatically parry the next source of damage. weaker hits lower the players guard but restore dashing capabilities half a second later, allowing for a counterattack. heavy hits will stagger the player, completely breaking through their guard and preventing them from counterattacking for a few seconds, however they can still dash away and restore their guard. constant heavy damage can be used to back the wielder into a defensive position. a good counter to this is using damaging debuffs like poison or fire, as the damage constantly forces the player to restore their guard stance to avoid taking damage. this, however also causes the players dash to be constantly restored, and they can choose to take a more aggressive stance and rush the attacker at the cost of taking heavy damage from the debuffs + dash vulnerability.

how does it perform against other weapons????? its parrying abilities make it very effective against weaker weapons, however its main weaknesses are weapons that can deal damage really quickly (like DOT debuffs or another rapiers flurry attacks), as this lowers the players guard and leaves them open to be hit by stronger attacks (which are amplified by the vulnerability effect after dashing or being staggered). the shield is also particularily effective against it as it completely nullifies the rapiers strongest attack if used right. like its counterpart (the mace), it performs terribly in crowds as its playstyle is mainly designed to counter the attacks of a single target, and quickly eliminating them with a well timed lunge. with sharpness it CAN be used like a normal sword, but that that point why not just use a netherite sword it literally does more damage lol

ok yeah thats pretty much it in summary it incentivizes a more strategic hit and run mobility playstyle while also opening up opportunities to overwhelm targets with weaker flurry attacks, depending on the scenario. it is also compatable with every sword enchantment have fuuuun!!!!!!!!

credits everything by meeeee with the exception of the sound effects which are all stock sounds. if u know what game im referencing with them no u dont.