Weapons Tier List - Ultimate Warrior Difficulty

This is an update to the tier list I wrote last week. I’ve completed 100% of the game, including all UW challenges and other optional side content like the Dream Battle. Previously, I’ve weighed a weapon’s performance heavily against Lu Bu. However, after many MANY battles later, I’ve come to the realization that half of the hardest UW challenges boil down to disbanding a large force or killing certain officers within X minutes or before X happens. For the uninitiated, a good BA kit is a necessity when it comes to fighting large forces, so even if the weapon has strong standard attack strings, a weak BA kit will bring it down. This time I’ll been weighing a weapon’s performance by its validity in single combat and large crowds of officers, which will be averaged(sorta) into a single grade. Note that all weapons are run with SP. Power Shot BA and the Huanglong & 60% Defense charms. When it comes to Gems, I'd recommend Ascendance for the average player, particularly for levels with large force(s). If you're an advanced player, I'd recommend Vortex since enemies become airborne when you initiate assault by default. You'll get even more use out of it if you pair it with weapons like the spear, staff, or crescent blade. All of their kits have the ability to launch opponents for air combos. Watch their respective videos below for some examples. Scorch seems great on paper, but its buff duration is actually quite short, so it's not as beneficial as it might seem.

01/29/25 Update: Added videos of some basic attack strings for every weapon so you can get a gist of how they function.
02/16/25 Update: Added some gem recommendations to the intro. Updated videos.
02/21/25 Update: The double damage exploit was patched, so all mentions of it has been removed.

S Tier

• Halberd
  
  Little needs to be said. It’s Lu Bu’s weapon. Insane battle arts. Incredible range with a C6 that can stagger any enemy, even through their True Musou phase. The strong string is a tad slow to ramp up, but that’s only an issue if you start your attack string with strong attacks. It can easily be mitigated by using 4/5 normals at the beginning. Rage mode consists of wide sweeping ranged attacks with which is incredibly easy to abuse. This weapon is unparalleled, but it still has some weaknesses. Steed Blitz, while strong, is very prone to interruption. Time is not completely paused during its animation, so you might find yourself being interrupted as your horse lands for the big finish. And while the BA itself has the potential to interrupt any enemy attack, it’s only capable of doing so during the horse’s arrival sequence, and it won’t interrupt anyone close to you, leaving you open to interruption yourself. Again, it’s a very strong BA that’s worth using, but its use in large army engagements can be questionable. Still, because the Halberd has such an amazing kit for crowd clearing already, you don’t have to rely on this BA as much, making its shortcomings less problematic.
  
  Single Combat: S
  Large Armies: S
  
  Recommended BAs: Sky Crusher, Dance of the Demon, Steed Blitz

A Tier

• Crescent Blade
  
  This weapon is moving up a tier due to its incredible performance in large engagements. While a tad slow, its wide sweeping attacks does an amazing job at generating bravery and ramping up its weapon mechanic, allowing you to do 3 fortitude damage with its block+heavy(held) attack at level 2, which is equivalent to a lot of mid-late game BAs that cost 5 bravery. What really catapults this weapon to A tier is Great Mountain Throw, which procs quickly, has what I believe is the largest AOE from a BA in the game, keeps the officer you strike right in front of you, and interrupts any attack, including red unblockables, which also makes it a great tool for single combat. However, it does function a little differently compared to most AOEs. For one, its damage is frontal. Positioning everyone in front of you could be an issue, but because of its 180-degree radius and immense range, it’s worth the tradeoff. The second caveat is that it procs off a single strike, meaning it could whiff if you activate during an inopportune moment. The strike is very similar to the Palm Strike though, so it does have decent range and it will teleport a short distance to connect. To round up the kit, you have Azure Dragon Bellow as a medium cost BA that scales off the weapon’s ramp up mechanic, and Burst Wave Slash, a cheap BA with solid fortitude damage that’s best used to finish off combos.
  
  Single Combat: A
  Large Armies: S

• Wheels
  
  I wanted to put this at the same tier as the Halberd at first, but I couldn’t do it. It’s still above the competition, but it’s not nearly as dominate as the Halberd. It has exceptional range and an incredibly easy to abuse dash-recovery string that spawns two circling rings around the player for a duration. Paired with its fantastic selection of BAs that can spawn more wheels for recovery, this weapon can easily be spammed to take out large groups of enemies and dissolve fortitude. The only caveat is its high skill ceiling. Getting the timing down will take practice, but you unlock a perk at level 5 that makes the timing more forgiving. Also, it has one of the best AOE BAs in the game in Tiger Blast, albeit it's quite costly since it doesn't have a cost reduction for mastery like most other end game AOE options. I found myself using Flowing Lotus Gambit more often due to its cheap cost and ability to generate 5 wheels. It’s easy to abuse the recovery mechanic with this BA. I will add that the performance of this weapon does suffer a bit in 1 on 1 encounters since dash-recovery spam can make tracking a single target quite tough, but it's still worth using due to the damage & bravery generation potential.
  
  Single Combat: A
  Large Armies: S
  
  Recommended BAs: Claw of the Predator, Flying Lotus Blast, Twin Tiger Blast

• Gauntlets
  
  Moving up from B to A is the Gauntlets. I grossly undervalued its potential in large engagements. While its standard attack strings are still focused on short-ranged attacks, it has a great collection of AOE BAs that allows it to clear huge crowds without issue. Its standard attack strings are not without AOE support either, with access to both a siphoning attack and some frontal AOE strings. Its ability to generate bravery is somewhat limited though since it can’t take advantage of huge mobs with its standard attacks in the same way that both the Crescent Blade and Halberd can. When you do have enough bravery though, Heaven and Earth's Wrath will clear your immediate area and do a ton of fortitude damage. It procs the same way as Great Mountain Throw, via a strike, except the AOE consists of a circle around you. Wrath of Earth is a great budget version of this BA should you find yourself in smaller engagements.
  
  Single Combat: S
  Large Armies: A
  
  Recommended BAs: Wrath of Earth, Heaven & Earth's Wrath

• Spear
  
  While the weapons are not listed in order of strength, the spear does sit at the bottom of the A tier. There’s simply too much focus on frontal attacks, making it a relatively hard weapon to use in large engagements. Thankfully, the weapon is agile, so it can still perform. You’ll just have to worry a bit more about positioning. With that said, it’ll devour anything in front of you. It has a good selection of BAs. Dragon Flash can melt almost a full bar of fortitude. Its range is immense, equal to Great Mountain Throw or better, but it’s AOE is a narrow straight line, limiting its use in large engagements. And like the rest of his kit, it only damages what’s in front of you. There are some BA options for crowd control, but they’re lackluster at best. I found it best to focus on what the spear is good at, small engagements and single combat. Being one of a handful of weapons with a dedicated BA that sets up a counter, I think its fair to say that this weapon is a dueling specialist. Pair it with Rising Dragon Vortex and you’ll be winning a majority of your duels.
  
  Single Combat: S
  Large Armies: A-
  
  Recommended BAs: Piercing Vengeance, RIsing Dragon Vortex, Dragon Flash

B Tier

• Sword
  
  Yes, the beginner weapon. Agile, decent range and good selection of battle arts that includes possibly the best value BA in Divine Eagle Dance, a large AOE BA for only 6 bravery. Like the Halberd, it also has a C6 that can interrupt anything. And while its range is shorter than the polearm weapons, it’s serviceable. It is a versatile weapon that will fit any playstyle. Now, I must knock this down a tier since its evaluation in large army battles is only average due to its middling range. Its C5 + Aerial Heavy does have crowd clearing potential but makes positioning a nightmare due to the already chaotic battlefield. UW challenges often have you taking down a single lead officer within a time limit, so it's imperative that you keep track of your target. Dashing across the battlefield makes this quite tough. Additionally, Divine Eagle Dance is incredibly unsafe to use with multiple officers around. The animation is quite long, and you’re just standing around the whole time. It doesn’t negate its usefulness in single combat & small engagements, but when you’re fighting 3 – 5 officers at once, it can become quite hard to activate.
  
  Single Combat: S
  Large Armies: B-
  
  Recommended BAs: Fickle Fury, Shadowless Blade, Divine Eagle Dance

• Podao
  
  Moving up from C to B is the Podao. I severely undervalued the BA, Sea of Flames, which absolutely melts fortitude due to its DOT effect. Its AOE is somewhat small though, limiting its use outside of small engagements and single combat. It's also not stackable, like someone here has suggested. Outside of this, the weapon’s focus on charged attacks and average reach makes it somewhat weak to large scale engagements. Because so much of the kit, including the BAs, requires charging for optimal damage, you leave yourself open to interruptions. It does hit hard, and you can clear plenty of content with it, but you likely won’t be clearing large armies with this weapon. Like most weapons, it has a large AOE BA that’s a single chargeable sweeping slash. It’s quite strong, and I believe its range is close to Dragon Flash from the spear kit at full charge, but again, you’ll have to charge it. It can perform against large forces, but you’ll have to pay attention to your positioning.
  
  Single Combat: S
  Large Armies: B
  
  Recommended BAs: Sea of Flames, Ardent Aura Slash

• Twin Pikes
  
  The first time I spoke about this weapon, I thought it was the best aside from the Halberd. While it’s still a great weapon, it’s hampered by its middling BAs. Like I've mentioned at the start, good BAs are an absolute necessity for large scale engagements, especially when you're targeting a the lead officer for a challenge. Generally, you need a good cheap BA that costs between 3-4 bravery, a good mid-tier BA that costs 5 bravery, and a massive AOE that costs between 6-8. It doesn’t have anything that fits the criteria of the first two, but it does have one flashy AOE BA in Sky Sunder. However, its radius is somewhat small, and it doesn’t pause time like the best AOE BAs, meaning your target might move outside of the targeted area. With that said, it’s still a good BA that does a good chunk of fortitude damage, and the pikes still have one of the better standard attack strings that’s both effective and easy to use. Hitting the enhanced attack at the end of a strong string is very satisfying. Also, its dash strong attack is one of the best for clearing trash mobs. However, the heavy attacks coming off a normal string should be avoided in large engagements since it roots your character, making it unsafe.
  
  Single Combat: A
  Large Armies: B
  
  Recommended BAs: Battle Roar, Maelstrom, Sky Sunder

C Tier

• Lance
  
  Preface, I LOVE playing this weapon. It’s a very fun gimmick. You’re supposed to hold the strong attack button to soak up damage and power your attacks but that’s risky to do on UW difficulty. Yes, you won’t be taking as much damage when you’re absorbing, but ideally you should be dodging because dodging generates a ton of bravery, not sitting there and eating damage. The nail in the coffin for its usability is its lack of a good large scale AOE BA. I think the idea of this weapon was to rely on its standard string of powering up your attacks through absorption, but without good BAs, it'll fall behind other weapons. And because your damage output is dependent on being attacked, there can potentially be a lot of downtime when your opponents refrain from hitting you, which makes timed UW challenges hard to complete.
  
  Single Combat: C
  Large Armies: B+
  
  Recommended BAs: Inner Fire Fury

• Staff
  
  An acrobatic weapon for small engagements with some obvious shortcomings. There’s some novelty to having a mechanic where you can just hold down the strong attack button and seemingly attack forever, but its lack of options for crowd control makes it more of a specialized weapon. Also, its normal into strong attack string is kind of weird. Since your character runs forward, he tends to overshoot your opponent. This problem could be mitigated if it knocked your opponent back, but it doesn’t. The dash+strong(held) attack is a wide sweeping move that's meant for clearing crowds, but its surprisingly sluggish and somewhat weak. There are also some fun aerial combos you can do, but again, it feels like a novelty. Like the lance, it’s also lacking a good large scale AOE, reducing its usability in large battles. However, it performs quite well in single combat. The held heavies doesn’t do as much fortitude damage as the rapid succession of strikes would suggest, but Furious Tiger Dance is a great endgame BA that'll make up for its shortcomings.
  
  Single Combat: A+
  Large Armies: C
  
  Recommended BAs: Furious Tiger Dance

[Glorious Comrade]

Sword is S tier for me. I have been using it for all UW challenges.

probably because all other weapon for me are under leveled so they feel really bad by comparison.

C6 hits the entire screen ( fast bravery and rage recharge, and crowd clearing)
C5 makes you air borne which makes you immune to AOE arrows and ballista in case your weapon dont have the block arrow trait.

I have no trouble fighting Large force that have a timer in UW challenges. the divine eagle BA have a slow down time effect so it feels very safe for me to use in large group. and it breaks 3 shield in 1 go. spam 1 light attack combo and the minor officer can be executed. without that 1 light attack combo, they will be at 10% health. so any minor officer is effectively dead in 1 combo. no matter if it is 1 or a bunch of them. More the better.

[__yuragi]

How the hell was that exploit found out lmao
Nice write up, I'm just feeling a bit contentious regarding Podao. At least for me, even in UW, Sharp Fang Flurry feels like a carry BA more than Ardent (partly skill issue too especially in 1v1 since I kept whiffing the latter on single target lol) as a mid cost option that deals good amount of damage and fortitude, and I've been pivoting on this whenever I use Podao so maybe you wanna take a look.

[Dr.D (Chat Off)]

Great write up thank you!

[Dinerenblanc]

@Scipo0419 Scorch if you’re confident in your parrying abilities, or if you decide to craft a custom +99 Grade 7 weapon with the easier parry trait, which stacks. If you’re not good at parrying, then use the Ascendance gem.

[Scipo0419]

What gems do you recommend for each weapon? Any accessory recommendations too?

[Dinerenblanc]

@Snotwasabi No problem! I'll continue updating this as new information comes out. If anyone knows of better combos for any weapon, feel free to post in the comments. I'll test and evaluate everything.

[Snotwasabi]

thank you for the latest updates and reevaluating some of the weapons

[ArkAngel]

[Dinerenblanc]

@Jeje Appreciate the kind words!

[Jeje]

Very useful info, thank you for taking the time to write this guide.