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The Godsword - Introduction, General Description and Statistics The Godsword - Obtaining Shards and Hilts

From the standpoint of its use as a weapon, the most important part of the godsword is its blade, which comprises 90% of the sword, and of course, does the damage. In terms of how the godsword works, however, it is the hilt that matters most. The hilt is what defines each of the four godsword types, gives each its unique character, and determines each sword’s special attack.

I will now show you all four of the godsword types and describe them for you in detail. Be sure to also see my comparison of the four godsword types later in this special report.

Note that I include approximate prices as of the publication of this special report, but prices fluctuate and can change rapidly. Be sure to check current prices if buying or selling.

The Armadyl godsword is created by attaching an Armadyl hilt to a godsword blade, done simply by “using” one on the other to combine them. This is arguably the most sought after of the four godswords, because many players are greatly attracted to the huge damage potential of its special attack. You can see what it looks like in Figure 4

Here is a summary of the Armadyl godsword’s key characteristics:

• Godsword Name: Armadyl godsword.
  
  
• Created From: Armadyl hilt and godsword blade.
  
  
• Hilt Appearance: Resembles a bird’s tail feathers; medium blue in color.
  
  
• Special Attack: The Judgment. A swirl of white smoke comes out of the sword as it swings, inflicting 25% extra damage on opponent.
  
  
• Special Bar Drain: 50%.
  
  
• Rarity: Moderately rare compared to other godswords.
  
  
• Approximate Cost of Complete Sword: 100 to 110 million.

The special attack of this sword is the easiest to understand: it does more damage when you use it. The drain is only 50%, so two special attacks can be done in a row, making the sword very powerful indeed (see Figure 5 for a good example). The high cost of this hilt/godsword reflects the desirability of its special, and the fact that the Armadyl hilt can only be obtained by ranging or maging the Armadyl boss.

The Bandos godsword is made by attaching a Bandos hilt obtained from the Bandos boss to a godsword blade, again done simply by “using” either object on the other. The Bandos is the most common godsword, for the simple reason that the Bandos boss is killed more often than any of the others. It has a very interesting special attack that can be quite useful in certain circumstances, which is why it is not the cheapest godsword despite the larger number of them in circulation. The Bandos godsword is shown in Figure 6

Here’s a summary of the Bandos godsword’s key characteristics:

• Godsword Name: Bandos godsword.
  
  
• Created From: Bandos hilt and godsword blade.
  
  
• Hilt Appearance: Looks somewhat like leaves on a stem; greenish in color.
  
  
• Special Attack: Warstrike. The sword hammers down in a white arc. It inflicts 10% extra damage on opponent, and reduces opponent’s combat statistics by the amount of damage done. Levels are drained from stats in this order: Defence, Strength, Prayer, Attack, Magic and then Ranged.
  
  
• Special Bar Drain: 100%.
  
  
• Rarity: Most common of the godswords.
  
  
• Approximate Cost of Complete Sword: 45 to 55 million.

The Bandos godsword’s special attack has been the source of much confusion. Some people have surmised that it causes a constant drain on the opponent’s stats, or that it drains all their stats simultaneously, but that’s not how it works. Let me explain it fully so you can understand what happens.

When the special is invoked, the damage done to the opponent represents the total number of levels that are temporarily reduced by the godsword. The first statistic reduced is Defence: if the opponent’s Defence level is less than the damage done, then Defence is reduced to 0 and the remaining points come off Strength. If there aren’t Strength points then the rest come off Prayer, and so forth.

For example, suppose I am at the Duel Arena fighting a pure with 10 Defence, 41 Strength, 1 Prayer and 60 Attack. I spec and hit a 57. The first 10 points would come off Defence, dropping it to 0, leaving 47 points of stat reduction to go. The next 41 points would come off Strength, dropping that to 0, with 6 points to go. Then 1 point would come off Prayer reducing that to 0, and finally 5 points would come off Attack, making it 55. (This of course is a rather contrived example to show you how it works.)

The Bandos special is really a hit-or-miss affair; if you hit well it can have a big impact on a fight, but if you miss or hit low it does little, and the 100% drain means you have to wait 5 full minutes to try again. In terms of dueling, a spec hit of even 30 points can end a duel if potions are turned off, because for the rest of the fight the opponent will have a serious defence penalty (Figure 7). On the other hand, if you miss, then that’s it for the duel.

Note that I have not been able to determine with certainty if the draining effect works on monsters or not. It seems to, but only Jagex could confirm. My suspicion is that it does work, because Jagex usually mentions when a special attack doesn’t work on monsters (though not always).

The Saradomin godsword is created by “using” the Saradomin hilt on a godsword blade or vice versa. This is probably the most interesting and controversial of the four godswords. It is the rarest of the four, likely because few people have both the Agility level required to enter the Saradomin area of the god wars dungeon, and the ability and patience to fight the boss. In terms of its desirability, it is considered by some to have the worst special effect, while it is highly sought after by those who appreciate what it can do—including yours truly. You can see me holding mine in Figure 8.

NOTE: There is also a weapon that was released at the same time as the godsword called the Saradomin sword. This is not the same as the Saradomin godsword, so be sure not to confuse the two.

Here’s the key information on the Saradomin godsword:

• Godsword Name: Saradomin godsword.
  
  
• Created From: Saradomin hilt and godsword blade.
  
  
• Hilt Appearance: Resembles Saradomin’s golden cross emblem.
  
  
• Special Attack: Healing Blade. You leap in the air as the sword swings in a blue, upward arc. It restores your Hitpoints by 50% of the damage dealt and your Prayer by 25% of the damage dealt. The minimum restored is 10 Hitpoints and 5 Prayer points—as long as at least 1 damage is done on the opponent.
  
  
• Special Bar Drain: 50%.
  
  
• Rarity: Rarest of the godswords.
  
  
• Approximate Cost of Complete Sword: Highly variable, but generally somewhere in the range of 90 to as high as 140 million.

As I mentioned before, people disagree strongly on the value of the Saradomin godsword’s special attack. In my experience, though, the ones who discount the sword’s capabilities have never tried it, or are lacking in imagination when it comes to the possibilities opened up by a sword that heals damage and restores prayer. I’ll discuss this in more detail in my comparison of the godswords. The price on the Sara godsword has been increasing due to its rarity and the fact that more people are discovering its usefulness (as shown in Figure 9).

Note that in Jagex’s descriptions, they mention the minimum of 10 Hitpoints and 5 Prayer points restored. What they neglect to mention, though, is that this only applies if you land a hit on your opponent! The way it works out in practice is as follows:

• If you hit over 20, you get 50% of the damage done restored to Hitpoints and 25% to Prayer.
  
  
• If you hit 1 to 20, you get 10 Hitpoints and 5 Prayer points.
  
  
• If you hit 0, nothing is restored.

A couple of other interesting points about the Saradomin special effect. First, its healing power is not considered “food”, so it can be used in the Duel Arena even in a fight where eating is turned off. Very useful. Second, for the purposes of determining how many Hitpoints and Prayer points are restored, the game goes by what the sword would have hit if your opponent had enough Hitpoints, not the exact amount of damage done. For example, you can attack a chicken, and even though it has only 3 HP, if the game decides you would have done 44 points of damage, you get 22 HP restored and 11 Prayer points. In this respect, the Saradomin godsword special is superior to the Guthans set effect.

Finally, we come to the Zamorak godsword, created from the Zamorak hilt and a godsword blade. This is a relatively common godsword, because Zamorak is fought fairly often. It is the least expensive because it is usually considered the least desirable due to the limited usefulness of its special attack, but it is still very useful in many cases. Figure 10 shows what it looks like.

Here’s the key information on the Zamorak godsword:

• Godsword Name: Zamorak godsword.
  
  
• Created From: Zamorak hilt and godsword blade.
  
  
• Hilt Appearance: Resembles the unholy symbol of Zamorak, with reddish trim.
  
  
• Special Attack: Ice Cleave. The sword smashes down in a red arc, and an “ice cube” animation appears on the opponent, who is frozen for 20 seconds.
  
  
• Special Bar Drain: 60%.
  
  
• Rarity: Moderately common compared to other godswords.
  
  
• Approximate Cost of Complete Sword: 45 to 50 million.

The special attack of the Zamorak godsword causes the opponent to be held in place for 20 seconds. When used, an “ice cube” animation appears on the other player or monster, which reflects the similarity of this special attack to the Ancient Magicks spell Ice Barrage. It only affects one opponent, however.

The Zammy godsword is the least expensive because there are a good number of them in the game, and there are only a few practical uses for a sword that freezes; one of them definitely is Castle Wars, as shown in Figure 11). Most of the time when using a godsword you will obviously be engaged in melee and so freezing your opponent doesn’t accomplish much. There are some good uses for the Zammy sword, however, if you are creative—for details, again, see my comparison of the godswords.

Figure 11: The Zamorak Godsword’s Special Attack

The Zamorak godsword’s specialty is Castle Wars and other PvP situations, where its ability to hit high and freeze your opponent can be very useful indeed.

The Godsword - Introduction, General Description and Statistics The Godsword - Obtaining Shards and Hilts

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