Nightmare sword penalty too harsh?

[АlphaWhelp]

this sword basically empties your MP in just a few rounds of combat and so it's impossible to use it and the shadow shield at the same time. Is there a gimmick I'm missing in order to maintain some MP while using this thing?

[Sir Pencil]

The blue Rally medallion can help you restore a percentage of lost MP, but yeah, it does seem to be a weapon that's meant to be used for quick encounters. I don't recommend it for fights that last longer than that.

Personally I ended up using the flaming white staff of life for most of the game - its overheal ability trivializes a lot of encounters and frees up Black Joe for Tool Use, which makes Peanut Shark and other similar Tools very useful.

[АlphaWhelp]

The rally medallions don't work on losses because of nightmare sword or overpower melee strikes or Ecarr. The Red Absorption Stone and Life Stone from Balt work and can basically negate the HP penalty but I haven't found away around the MP penalty. Black Joe can use curative items but seems like a huge waste. It's much faster to just use a different weaker sword than to use the nightmare sword to end fights slightly faster but then have to spend time crafting / buying restoration items.