Swordai Wiki

Welcome to the official Swordai Wiki.

Please feel free to contribute to the wiki if you have something to add. If you have any questions check the #wiki channel on the official discord.

Swordai

Swordai is an upcoming melee slasher being developed by ALX Theory LLC. Swordai is scheduled to be released on steam in Q3 2025, and has various public and private playtests planned leading up to release.

Getting Started

If you are new to Swordai, you will need to play through the Beginnings map to learn the basic controls. You can also review the Combat Quick Start Guide.

It is recommended to start with the default control scheme (adjust your click-drag sensitivity to your liking), but depending on what other melee fighting games you have played you may be more comfortable using drag click or key binds. Note that Block Assist only works with the default controls.

It is also worth taking the time to adjust your look sensitivity, camera FoV and other settings. After completing beginnings, and the basic training in your home it is worth taking the time to read and understand the combat basics and to then pass the Trail of Initiation which will allow you to enter the tower.

If you are coming from other melee slashers

Swordai is similar to existing melee slashers in many ways but it has some unique mechanics that take some time to learn and understand.

• Directional blocks - you must block in the direction that counters your opponents attack to block to successful stop an attack.
• Handle hits - You must hit with the blade or point of your sword to do significant damage, if you hit with the hilt or cross guard you will do near zero damage.
• No hit stuns / flinching - hitting someone does not interrupt their windup or swing, which can allow for more trading. If you and your opponent both swing at each other and both hit you will "trade" damage However, there are three key mechanics that make trading against a skilled player very risky
  • Combo-blocking allows a player to immediately block when their swing connects with another player. If someone tries to trade into you and your blade makes contact first, you can combo block and then riposte potentially hitting them twice without taking any damage.
  • Because damage is heavily based on attack charge trades usually will be uneven. Whomever has more attack charge has priority and trying to trade into them will usually result in taking more damage than you receive (unless you can combo block them).
  • Riposte damage reduction reduces incoming damage to players who are riposting by 50% (plus potential bonuses), and ripostes are always fully charged so trading into a player who is riposting is extremely risky, unless you combo block or they they swing and miss, or handle hit, you will lose the trade heavily.
• Held blocks
  • In Swordai you can hold a block for as long as you want to (there is a slow stam drain) so making your opponent mistime a block is not an important element of the game. Instead using kicks to stagger someone who holds a block for to long, or feints to attack from an unexpected direction is key
• Damage awareness
  • The difference in damage between a fully charged attack to the head that hits with the upper blade and in the sweet spot of the swing vs. a minimum charged attack at a weak part of the swing is enormous so paying attention to your attacks and landing high quality blows will heavily out damage light attack spam. The most common mistake the melee slasher veterans make when they first play Swordai is to spam low charge attacks. If they hit they do little damage and when they are blocked they feed their opponent ripostes.
• Long Riposte window.
  • You can wait up to 1.5s after blocking before starting a riposte which is longer than some games. While sometimes it is optimal to riposte as fast as possible, other times it is better to take time to reposition or feint. You also need to respect the possibility of your opponent riposting for the full duration of the riposte window after they block.
• Kiai
  • The Kiai ability is a crucial part of dueling in Swordai and lets you instantly charge a to full power. Keeping track of your opponents kiai cooldown and being aggressive when you have a Kiai advantage can win fights.

If you are new to the genre

As a new player you don't have any bad habits to unlearn. However, building up the muscle memory to consistently block and attack in the direction you want and the visual pattern recognition to read your opponents attack animations takes time and practice. Spending time with the Block Trainer in your home and practicing the Katas is one of the fastest ways to improve when you are new. Try and practice initiating your blocks and attacks with small, accurate, mouse movements and not moving your camera too much when you input an action.

Discord

If you have any questions or feedback please join the official discord.