- "The master swordsman, whose strikes are so swift that they create powerful shockwaves."
- — Description
| Swordmaster | |
| |
| Sprite(s) |        
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| Gender | Male LUCT PLC KOL Unisex LUCT PSP |
| Race | Human |
| Alignment |  PLC LUCT  KOL
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| Element |  PLC    LUCT KOL
|
The Swordmaster is a class that appears in Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. It is alternatively spelled Sword Master in Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber, and is similar to the Samurai Master class that appears in Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen.
The Swordmaster is an expert with the two-handed katana who strikes at his foes with incredible power and speed. His reflexes are blindingly quick, allowing him to cut down even the most agile of opponents. Although the swordmaster is armored with little more than loose-fitting robes, his swordplay is so exceptional that he can parry enemy attacks and deflect incoming missiles with ease.
Appearances[]
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis[]
You cannot unlock this class for female characters.
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber[]
The Sword Master appears as a middle-aged man with spiked gray hair. He is dressed in broad-shouldered orange robes with a blue undershirt, wearing sandals and wielding a massive Claymore. The Sword Master is a Male-only class, and is the upgraded form of the Fencer.
The Sword Master can be obtained as early as late Chapter 2, when the Claymore can drop from enemy units during the scenes Visitors from the West and A Legendary Land. He is an excellent frontline attacker for Lawful units, especially with the abundance of magical greatswords that can be found later in the game. Although his defense is rather poor, he will frequently dodge or parry enemy attacks as his Agility and Dexterity stats skyrocket during later missions. In the back row he attacks with Sonic Boom, a physical ranged attack that damages back row enemies, but also hits the Sword Master with recoil.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)[]
"A melee attacker and master of the two-handed katana. Able to dance powerful war dances..."
Returning from previous versions, now the Swordmaster class is available to both male and female units. Males still sport long hair, light robes and wield 2H Katanas exclusively, while females follow the same, with an added bandanna. Swordmasters have been severely underpowered in this version, no longer having access to elemental magic or Double Attack, overshadowed in DEX growths, and being one of the most frail melee units; on the other hand, they remain one of the fastests units in the game, and in place of elemental magic they have gained the exclusive skillset War Dances.
Recruitment[]
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis[]
Male human units with the Book of Initiation emblem, 95 STR, and 111 AGI can be classed as Swordmasters. Recruitable enemy Swordmasters can also appear in the following locations:
- Haena (Path A, Battle #15)
- Hall of Corruption (Path A/B, Battle #23)
Overview[]
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis[]
- Favored Weapon: Swords, Katanas.
- Favored Armor: Light Armor.
The Swordmaster is an advanced, male-only playable class. They can be considered one of the two best physical damage classes (the other being the Dragoon), and one of the best playable classes overall, helped by their surprising evasion score and support magic. Unlike previous games, there's no Alignment restriction, only stat and emblem requirements.
The Swordmaster boasts the highest physical damage potential with their weapon of choice (Katanas or Swords), and if compared to the Dragoon, better evasion, less restrictions, more skills and support magic options at the expense of lesser HP and STR. They possess two action skills, Pelting Fury (RNG 7, AOE 1) which is a better Shuriken Barrage, and Swallow's Daze (RNG 1, AOE 1), a special Katana attack which may paralyze an enemy; in addition, they can use one support spell of almost any element except Virtue, which includes Petrifying Cloud, Ray of Paralysis, Time Flux, Fluid Magic or Teleport.
When Katanas become unreliable by the late-game, this class can easily switch to Swords, which gives them excellent weapon options such as the Notos, Oracion, and more notably the Snapdragon, making them prime candidates for inheriting the Atropos skill. It must be noted that their stat growths also allow them to skillfully wield Spears and Bows, the latter even better than Archers, so they may be worth to consider for the Lachesis and Clotho skills as well.
They only have two basic downsides: Cannot use healing spells, and cannot be classed onto female units.
With the above in mind, it's adviced to have one or two Swordmasters in the party, especially if the player lacks in melee heavy hitters. This is also one of the recommended classes for Alphonse Loeher.
The generic class Warlock possesses a similar build.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)[]
- Weapon: 2H Katana.
- Shields: None.
- Body armor: Light armor.
- Other armor: Average access.
To its own detriment, Swordmaster plays rather differently from other melee classes. Only one weapon option, can't equip shields, and defenses as weak as a Berserker or Terror Knight without the damage or ailment potential of either. The Swordmaster is rather poor in early game, but can gradually improve.
The Swordmaster isn't meant to take damage, but to avoid it, and possesses the skills neccesary. Setting Preempt and Knockback guarantee complete avoidance to melee attacks for the most part (unless it's against a beast, a dragon or a walled enemy), but ranged and magic attacks will still be a problem. Considering this, one effective (though risky) strategy is to bait melee enemies with the Swordmaster, and finish them off with other attackers.
The Swordmaster possesses the unique skillset War Dances. Overall, War Dances aren't that much useful, and cost TP that is much needed for Preempt. Still, Lion Dance (grants Strengthen), Bellows Dance (grants Fortify), Shriving Dance (removes debuffs) and Demonpetal Dance (charms the enemy) can be useful in a pinch; the last one is missable, and can only be obtained from specific enemies under Lv.33.
Other action skills this class can learn are are Mighty Strike (increases Katana damage by 25% until next turn) and Mind's Eye (avoids all melee attacks until next turn). Both skills are too costly to be practical, so it's suggested to simply stick with Preempt and fill the rest of the slots with more neccesary support skills.
As described above, this class has a very high TP upkeep, so getting Tactician* is a necessity.
There are many other classes that overshadow the Swordmaster in terms of damage output and resistance, but as most classes tend to become overpowered in the endgame players looking for a self-imposed challenge may take a look at this class. Those simply wanting to fill a Swordmaster role in their team may be better off just recruiting Hobyrim.
Classmarks are available from any shop from mid Chapter 2 onwards.
*Asterisk signifies it must be taught from another class.
Suggested endgame skillset: Katanas (2H), Augment [element], War Dances, Swiftfoot I, Anatomy, Spellstrike IV, Knockback IV, Strengthen IV, Tactician II, Preempt.
Notable Swordmasters[]
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together[]
- Hobyrim V. Rahms - Former member of the Dark Knights Loslorien, until he was framed for his father's murder, blinded and exiled. He found his way to Valeria, and joined Denam's Order to fulfill his revenge against his patricidal brother Balxephon.
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber[]
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis[]
- Margret - Commander of the White Fang Troops. Used to mentor Ivanna, and helped her escape from the Troops and her uncle's grasp, but retained her oath to serve Naris. Was slain in combat during the siege of Ostorea, but not before trusting her sword and secret technique to Ivanna.
Statistics[]
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber[]
 Sword Master
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|---|---|---|
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Requirements | ALI 40-100 STR 127 DEX 117 |
| Class Type | Master (Male) | |
| Size | Small | |
| Leadership Rank |  Unit Leader
| |
| Carriable Items | 2 | |
| Movement Type |  Plains
| |
 Statistic Growth Per Level
| ||||||
| Hit Points | Strength | Vitality | Intelligence | Mentality | Agility | Dexterity |
| 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
 Equipment
| |
| Greatswords | Light Armor |
 Claymore
|
 Cloth Armor
|
| Headgear | |
 Hachigane
| |
 Attacks
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row | Attack Name | Description | # of Attacks | Element |
| Front | Slash | Slashes an enemy with his greatsword | 3 |
|
| Middle | Slash | Slashes an enemy with his greatsword | 2 |
|
| Back | Sonic Boom | Swings his sword with enough force to create a deadly shockwave | 2 |
|
Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis[]
| Swordmaster | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Stats | Growth | |
| HP | 5 ~ 7 | ||
|
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MP | 3 ~ 4 | |
| Emblem |  Book of Initiation
|
STR | 4 ~ 6 |
| Element |  Wind  Earth  Fire  Water
|
INT | 3 ~ 4 |
| Move | 7.x  
|
AGI | 5 ~ 7 |
| Requirements | |||
| 95 STR, 111 AGI | |||
| Skills & Magic Slots | Magic Type | ||
| -- Magic Slot --
|
 Wind Magic [Support]
| ||
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)[]
| Swordmaster | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Stats: | Level 1 | Level 50 | |
| STR | +118 | |||
| VIT | +113 | |||
|
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DEX | +123 | ||
| Human | AGIL | +113 | ||
| Classmark | Swordsman's Mark | AVD | +121 | |
| Move | 4 Agile, 2 Up, 3 Down | INT | +117 | |
| RT | 26 | MIND | +122 | |
| Basic Attacks | RES | +120 | ||
Melee 
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Punch | ATK | 9 | |
Ranged 
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Sling Stones | DEF | 5 | |
| Magic | Class Skills | |||
| War Dances [All dances] | Preempt [Lv. 8] Mighty Strike [Lv. 16] Mind's Eye [Lv. 24] | |||