Two of the best weapons in the game, and for the completionists out there two things you might need toward the Scavenger achievement, are obtained using some unintuitive means. I created this guide so you new players could identify where they are and how to get them so they don't upset the more experienced players by screwing them up. That's right, it takes teamwork.



I also apologize beforehand for the abysmal low quality of the images. Unfortunately, my video card gave up the ghost so I'm stuck using my on-board card until my student loans for next semester get in or 4 months of saving go by, depending. If someone wants to volunteer helping me get screenshots, it would be much appreciated! Just leave a post on the guide if you want to volunteer.

Despite not showing up til halfway through the game, this one gets the Cursed Sword 1 moniker. Oh well. It still turns into the game's best weapon provided you don't mind dying 4 or 5 times. Considering this game doesn't eat actual quarters anymore so the goal is just earn as much XP as possible and die as few times as possible purely for bragging right's sake, you might want to skip it for pride reasons. That said, the Sword of Legend is the best weapon in the game and was worth spending the dollar and a half it took to unlock.

There are some strategies to not taking any damage and unlocking the sword. Skip to the end of the guide for those.

At the start of the Caves of Rafael map (it's right after the gnome village should you choose to save it), hug the left side of the wall while you're falling. In a chest at the end, you'll find this in the back of the short room full of fire traps.




Pick it up and mash your attack button. It'll kill you, as I said, a good 4 or 5 times before it unlocks, maybe even more depending on how bad the RNG wants to screw you over. After mashing it about 50 times, it turns into the Sword of Legend.




Don't worry, there's a big accompanying flash so you'll know it happened.


STRATEGIES FOR UNLOCKING SWORD AND NOT TAKING DAMAGE
There's a few ways of doing this. This section will expand as people chime in with other ways to do it.

1) Contributed by /A/Xanathor:

Two methods for Decursing

The First:
"If someone gets the boots of levitation, you can levitate BEFORE a boss has died to prolong that period you get to collect drops, and in that extended period you are also invulnerable, so you can unlock it there easily. It's most commonly done at the salamanders since you can often get boots of levitation on those chests near the top. But if someone can preserve a boots of levitation from before(crafting the beholder's eye at the following shop right after the fight), it can be done at the red dragon even. Gotta equip the sword beforehand though, can't open the inventory wheel after the boss dies."

[Editor's notes: Levitate with the boots simply by tapping jump again while mid-air. The Salamanders he's referring to are the bosses at the end of the Caves of Raphael.]

The Second:
"Upon obtaining the cursed sword 1, you can remove the curse right away without harming yourself by jumping straight up and performing a swing at the last moment possible before landing, if you've done it right, you should see a red skull and heard the swing but you will not take damage."

2) Contributed by SUPERMCNUGGET:

You can get free hits out with the sword by having a beneficial spell cast on you right as the skull appears. That means any cure wounds spell and striking from the cleric, or Invisibility from the elf.

THOUGHTS ON THE SWORD
It's usable by everyone except the Cleric and Magic User as they simply can't wield swords. Personally I find it's most dangerous in the hands of the Elf or Dwarf. The elf attacks really quickly on her own right and combined with her air downward thrust bouncing attack, she can stay safe and pogo the red dragon bosses to death with relative ease. The Dwarf also makes great use of it with his rapid attack. Mash your attack button fast enough and he slashes a bunch of times. Chews bosses right up if you catch them in it before they get knocked to the ground.

It's also worth noting it counts as a magical weapon for the purposes of Gargoyles. Seeing as Gargoyles drop delicious loot when killed, it's imperative whomever ends up with the weapon pulverizes those statue jerks into dust.

This sword is the one most frequently screwed up by newer players because it's kind of obscure and the immediate reaction of anyone is to go pick up objects on the ground.

DON'T BE THAT GUY. Or better yet, if you are that guy, roll as a cleric because you actually need one in order to make the Holy Avenger sword happen.

Cursed Sword 2 is located after your airship crashes. Go to the Forest of Despair, because it's the superior option no matter what anyway.


The chest containing Cursed Sword two is in a weird pod-like looking thing along the top of the map. You can walk straight there without fighting anything if you really want.



Inside, there's a large wood chest and a large locked metal chest, and a whole bunch of skeletons coming to eat you. Cursed Sword 2 is in the locked metal chest, so you'll need a key or a Thief. If you don't have a key or a thief in the party, make sure to explore the rest of the stage until you find a key. There's all sorts of places to explore inside the forest, so keep on looking and you'll stumble on one eventually.



Once you see that inky black sword drop on the ground, everyone stay the hell away, except the cleric. Just make sure you don't accidentally pick it up with anyone else, or you're gonna be stuck with a weapon that is terrible and makes you die. The cleric must try to pick up the sword 8 times. Like magic, it turns into the Holy Avenger.



Thoughts on Weapon:

The sword is pretty incredible because it instantly kills any undead character it hits. This lasts the rest of the game, too, which is extremely handy later on once you fight ghouls with large HP pools. Just like the Sword of Legend, it's not usable by the Cleric or Magic User. Because the bonus effect of this weapon is so final, there's really no reason to prefer one class over another with it. Personally I usually let the thief get it because she's the reason we could open the box in the first place, but that's just me.

Also keep in mind the weapon is not magical for the purpose of hurting gargoyles. Make sure you keep a fire/thunder sword on you if you pick this up.