Ultima Online Swordsmanship

For official shards · 48 weapons · every figure sourced

uo.com: “Swordsmen have access to a wide variety of bladed weapons designed for slashing movements from the lightweight, one handed Katana to the substantial, two handed Halberd and including a variety of axe weapons.” Every one of them is below, with its swing speed, its base damage and both special moves.

Open the damage & swing calculator → — it works out your real swing speed and damage for the weapon you are actually holding.

What the skill actually does

Swordsmanship decides whether you hit. It contributes nothing to damage — that is Tactics, Anatomy, Strength and Lumberjacking, and uo.com publishes each one as an exact line:

Tactics ÷ 1.6, and +6.25% once Tactics reaches 100
Anatomy ÷ 2, and +5% once Anatomy reaches 100
Strength × 0.3, and +5% once Strength reaches 100
Lumberjacking ÷ 5, and +10% once Lumberjacking reaches 100 — axes only

[!] The Tactics line: uo.com publishes Tactics ÷ 1.6, which is 68.75% at 100 and 81.25% at 120. There is also an unpublished figure of skill level + 50% [!], which is 170% at 120. Those are not close, and nothing uo.com publishes reconciles them. uo.com’s figure is the one the toolkit’s calculator uses — but the gap is real and is shown rather than hidden.

Those add into Final Damage = Base Damage + ( Base Damage × Final Damage Bonus% ). Damage Increase from items is capped at 100% and the damage bonus overall at 300%. This is why an axe in the hands of a lumberjack is a different weapon from the same axe in anybody else’s.

The two special moves, and what they cost

Every weapon carries two. The thresholds are 70 and 90 weapon skill, with 30 and 60 Tactics alongside them, and they must be real skill points, not bonus from items.

Which one is “primary” is published two different ways, by uo.com, on two of its own pages. The Special Moves page says the first move is the one at 70 and the second needs 90. The Melee Fighting page says the opposite in as many words: “70 weapon skill and relevant support skill for the ‘secondary’ move and 90 weapon skill and support skill for the ‘primary’ move”.

The numbers are not in dispute anywhere — 70 with 30 Tactics, 90 with 60 Tactics. Only the labels are. Both readings are shown here rather than one being picked, because picking one would be inventing agreement that does not exist.

Mana runs 15 to 35 depending on the move, and comes down with your combined total across Swordsmanship, Mace Fighting, Fencing, Archery, Throwing, Parry, Lumberjacking, Stealth, Poisoning, Bushido and Ninjitsu: −5 at 200–299, −10 at 300 or more. Using a special within 3 seconds of the last one costs double.

Move	Mana	What uo.com says it does
Whirlwind Attack	15	Strikes at all nearby targets in one spinning swing.
Crushing Blow	20	Increases damage by 50% on a successful attack.
Shadow Strike	20	Extra damage, and renders the attacker invisible.
Frenzied Whirlwind	20	20–50 damage per attack, scaled on Ninjitsu or Bushido.
Riding Swipe	25	On foot, dismounts your opponent and damages the mount or the ethereal’s rider.
Armor Ignore	30	Bypasses all of the target’s armour resistance, for one shot only.
Bleed Attack	30	The target bleeds, taking damage over time, for up to ten seconds.
Double Strike	30	Two quick swings in succession.
Mortal Strike	30	The victim cannot heal — 8 seconds on a player, 14 on a monster.
Paralyzing Blow	30	Stunned, unable to move, attack or cast — 3 seconds on a player, 6 on a monster.

[!] uo.com’s Special Moves page does not publish a mana cost for Concussion Blow, Feint, Nerve Strike, Infectious Strike or Dismount, all of which appear on swords in the table below. No figure is given for them here, because there is not a published one to give.

One-handed

A one-handed sword leaves the other hand free for a shield, which is the whole argument for carrying one.

Weapon	Speed	Damage	Primary (70)	Secondary (90)
Bokuto	2.00s	10–12	Feint	Nerve Strike
Gargish Bokuto	2.00s	10–12	Feint	Nerve Strike
Butcher Knife	2.25s	10–13	Infectious Strike	Disarm
Gargish Butcher Knife	2.25s	10–13	Infectious Strike	Disarm
Skinning Knife	2.25s	10–13	Shadow Strike	Bleed Attack
Cleaver	2.50s	10–14	Bleed Attack	Infectious Strike
Cutlass	2.50s	10–14	Bleed Attack	Shadow Strike
Gargish Cleaver	2.50s	10–14	Bleed Attack	Infectious Strike
Gargish Katana	2.50s	10–14	Double Strike	Armor Ignore
Katana	2.50s	10–14	Double Strike	Armor Ignore
Radiant Scimitar	2.50s	10–14	Whirlwind Attack	Blade Weave
Wakizashi	2.50s	10–14	Frenzied Whirlwind	Double Strike
Elven Machete	2.75s	11–15	Defense Mastery	Blade Weave
Glass Sword	2.75s	11–15	Bleed Attack	Mortal Strike
Bone Harvester	3.00s	12–16	Paralyzing Blow	Mortal Strike
Gargish Bone Harvester	3.00s	12–16	Paralyzing Blow	Mortal Strike
Pickaxe	3.00s	12–16	Double Strike	Disarm
Scimitar	3.00s	12–16	Double Strike	Paralyzing Blow
Bladed Whip	3.25s	13–17	Bleed Attack	Whirlwind Attack
Broadsword	3.25s	13–17	Crushing Blow	Armor Ignore
Dread Sword	3.50s	14–18	Crushing Blow	Concussion Blow
Longsword	3.50s	14–18	Armor Ignore	Concussion Blow
Stone War Sword	3.75s	15–19	Armor Ignore	Paralyzing Blow
Viking Sword	3.75s	15–19	Crushing Blow	Paralyzing Blow
The Redeemer	5.00s	20–24	Disarm	Paralyzing Blow

Two-handed

Weapon	Speed	Damage	Primary (70)	Secondary (90)
Crescent Blade	2.50s	12–15	Double Strike	Mortal Strike
Daisho	2.75s	13–16	Feint	Double Strike
Gargish Daisho	2.75s	13–16	Feint	Double Strike
Hatchet	2.75s	13–16	Armor Ignore	Disarm
Axe	3.00s	14–17	Crushing Blow	Dismount
Bladed Staff	3.00s	14–17	Armor Ignore	Dismount
Gargish Axe	3.00s	14–17	Crushing Blow	Dismount
Rune Blade	3.00s	14–17	Disarm	Blade Weave
Double Axe	3.25s	15–18	Double Strike	Whirlwind Attack
Executioner's Axe	3.25s	15–18	Bleed Attack	Mortal Strike
Battle Axe	3.50s	16–19	Bleed Attack	Concussion Blow
Gargish Battle Axe	3.50s	16–19	Bleed Attack	Concussion Blow
Gargish Scythe	3.50s	16–19	Bleed Attack	Paralyzing Blow
Gargish Talwar	3.50s	16–19	Whirlwind Attack	Dismount
No-Dachi	3.50s	16–19	Crushing Blow	Riding Swipe
Scythe	3.50s	16–19	Bleed Attack	Paralyzing Blow
Tachi	3.50s	16–19	Feint	Nerve Strike
Two Handed Axe	3.50s	16–19	Double Strike	Shadow Strike
Bardiche	3.75s	17–20	Paralyzing Blow	Dismount
Gargish Bardiche	3.75s	17–20	Paralyzing Blow	Dismount
Large Battle Axe	3.75s	17–20	Whirlwind Attack	Bleed Attack
Ornate Axe	3.75s	17–20	Disarm	Crushing Blow
Halberd	4.00s	18–21	Whirlwind Attack	Concussion Blow

Where these come from

uo.com’s Melee Fighting page for the skill and the four damage lines, and its Special Moves page for the requirements, the mana rules and every description quoted above. Weapon speeds and damage ranges are the toolkit’s own weapon table, which is what the damage calculator runs on. Everything here is from uo.com or the game itself; anything uo.com does not publish is marked [!] as unpublished.

The spell books

Magery · Necromancy · Chivalry · Bushido · Ninjitsu · Spellweaving · Mysticism