Understand Swordplay
Useful when…
- A Hunt wearer who can repeatedly hit one target.
- Encounters where changing targets infrequently is practical.
How does the damage bonus build?
Each time the wearer hits the same target, their DMG dealt increases by 8% at S1, up to five stacks. At S5, each stack is 16%. Changing targets dispels the effect, so attacks against a different enemy do not preserve the accumulated bonus.
What if targets change often?
Adversarial increases SPD for two turns when the wearer defeats an enemy; Arrows gives CRIT Rate for the first three turns of battle. These effects have different triggers and do not depend on maintaining hits against the same target. Baptism of Pure Thought gains additional CRIT DMG for debuffs on the target and grants a further effect after the wearer uses an Ultimate to attack. Consider those conditions if Swordplay's target-switch reset would be disruptive, without assuming any option is an automatic replacement.
What does investment improve?
Promotion raises the Light Cone through six stages. Superimposition increases the damage gained per stack from S1 to S5, while the cap remains five stacks. The example steps require a copy of Swordplay, so compare the value of improving this effect against keeping another copy available.
Limitations and tradeoffs
- Changing targets removes the accumulated effect.
- The damage bonus requires repeated hits against the same target to reach its cap.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Switching targets and expecting Swordplay's stacks to remain.
- Assuming five stacks are gained automatically; each requires another hit on the same target.