Blade weapons guide — set bonus, every weapon, who should build it
Updated 2026-11-01 · for v1.1 + Paws & Claws
Melee damage and life steal in one bonus; the class that sustains itself. 8 weapons carry the Blade tag; the set bonus below applies for every Blade weapon you hold at once, duplicates included.
Set bonus
| Weapons held | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 2 | +1 Melee Damage 1% Life Steal |
| 3 | +2 Melee Damage 2% Life Steal |
| 4 | +3 Melee Damage 3% Life Steal |
| 5 | +4 Melee Damage 4% Life Steal |
| 6 | +5 Melee Damage 5% Life Steal |
How a Blade build plays
Blades are mid-range melee with honest numbers: the Sword line hits for 20–30 at Tier II with a 200 reach, and the set bonus adds flat Melee Damage plus Life Steal up to 5%. Six Blades means every swing heals, which is why the class carries characters who cannot buy sustain elsewhere. Most Blades share a second class — Medieval for Sword and Vorpal Sword, Elemental for Thunder Sword, Tool for Chainsaw — so a Blade rack can reach a second bonus by accident. Scaling is Melee Damage first, Attack Speed second; crit is low across the class, so skip Crit Chance.
Every Blade weapon
Numbers are the lowest tier the weapon exists at; open a weapon for all four tiers and its scaling.
| Weapon | Tiers | Damage | Cooldown | DPS | Crit | Range | Also |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chopper | 1–4 | 6 | 0.99s | 6.1 | 10% | 135 | – |
| Sword | 2–4 | 30 | 1.28s | 23.4 | 3% | 200 | Medieval |
| Vorpal Sword | 2–4 | 20 | 1.11s | 18 | 3% | 200 | Medieval |
| Circular Saw | 2–4 | 10 | 0.72s | 13.9 | 5% | 175 | Medical |
| Captain's Sword | 3–4 | 50 | 1.03s | 48.5 | – | 200 | Naval (DLC) |
| Thunder Sword | 3–4 | 40 | 1.21s | 33.1 | 3% | 200 | Elemental |
| Chainsaw | 3–4 | 10 | 0.53s | 18.8 | – | 175 | Tool (DLC) |
| Excalibur | 4 | 200 | 0.66s | 266.6 | 10% | 200 | Legendary |
The core of a six-of set is usually Sword, Vorpal Sword, Chopper, Thunder Sword, Chainsaw; the rest fill in as the shop offers them.
Characters that fit the class
- Baby — Starts with one weapon slot and grows a new one on every level-up instead of a stat.
- Chef — Hits burning enemies for triple damage; the best co-op partner a Mage can have.
- Creature — Weapons scale with Curse, and the whole run bends around cursed enemies.
- Entrepreneur — Cheaper items, harvesting that scales 50% harder, and materials that are damage.
- Gangster — Steal one item per shop; the price is an elite that may follow you in.
- Generalist — Melee feeds ranged and ranged feeds melee; three of each, always.
- Gladiator — More different weapons, more attack speed — six different melee weapons is the goal.
- King — Tier IV items and weapons each add stats; a mid-game spike that wins Danger 5.
- Multitasker — Twelve weapons, each a little weaker; shops get expensive.
- Mutant — Levels come three times faster; items cost half again as much.
- Romantic — Charms low-health enemies and gets range on melee weapons.
- Saver — Materials in the bank are damage; prices are higher.
- Sick — Loses 1 HP per second, steals it back on every hit.
- Speedy — Speed is melee damage, and standing still is deadly.
- Vagabond — Every weapon counts for every other weapon's class bonus; no duplicates allowed.
- Vampire — Missing health is damage, life steal and armour.
- Well Rounded — No gimmick, no weakness; learn the game here.
Overlapping classes
Blade weapons also count as Medieval, Medical, Naval, Elemental, Tool, Legendary, so a Blade rack can trigger a second set bonus without an extra slot. The weapons list filters by class.
The mistake that ends runs
Buying Crit Chance. Blades sit at 3–10% base crit; the points do nothing compared with flat Melee Damage.
See the set bonus ranking for how Blade compares with the other sixteen classes, or test a rack in the build planner.