Hylian Sword

The Hylian Sword is one of Link's signature weapon categories in. It is the first weapon category he has access to in the game, receiving it as part of his training to be a Knight in the Hyrulean Army. It is based off of the staple sword-and-shield combination that the hero wields in the main series. As such, its attacks consist primarily of series of slashes and Spin Attacks.

The basic Hylian Sword is the Knight's Sword, its upgraded form is the White Sword, and its most powerful form is the Magical Sword. Its 8-bit skin is the 8-Bit Wooden Sword, modeled after the basic sword in.

The Hylian Sword is of the Light Element.

Knight's Sword
The Knight's Sword is the basic incarnation of the Hylian Sword. The sword itself is rather plain in appearance: silver in color except for the grip, which is a darker gray; its crossguard sports a simple pattern. The shield is designed to complement the uniform of the Hyrulean Forces, the right half sporting vertical, blue stripes, and the left half sporting embossed patterns.

Link receives the Knight's Sword as part of his training; as such, it is also the only weapon available from the very start of the game (without DLC). As a first-tier weapon, the Knight's Sword can be obtained with a base damage value ranging from 80 to 120, in increments of eight.

White Sword
The White Sword is the second-tier variant of the Hylian Sword. Its design is based on that of its namesake from, particularly with regard to its color scheme. The blade and the shield's emblem are a very light-bluish color, while the grip is a more typical blue. The sword's pommel is golden, as are the shield's accents and an inset piece within the crossguard. The crossguard itself is dark blue with a loop on each end.

The White Sword is unlocked within Legend Mode during the "Sealed Ambition" scenario. A Chest containing the corresponding Sealed Weapon appears within the East Cannon Keep after it is captured, as long as Link is a player character.

Like other Lv.2 weapons, the White Sword is found in five variants with different base damage based on a given weapon's star rating. A zero-star White Sword has a base damage of 150, while each additional star adds 15 to that value, with a five-star White Sword possessing a base-damage value of 225.

Magical Sword
The Magical Sword is the primary Lv.3 form of the Hylian Sword. Aesthetically, it takes cues from the design of its The Legend of Zelda/ namesake, particularly with its color scheme, which consists primarily of red, silver, and black. Both the hilt and the blade itself are encrusted with red jewels, and the blade's sharp edges are serrated, making for a beautiful yet intimidating weapon. The shield has a design on its front that loosely resembles the cross that adorns the original Magical Shield, with a pair of circles surrounding the point of intersection.

The Magical Sword is the only version of the Hylian Sword that is unlocked in Adventure Mode. To obtain it, one must complete—with an "A" rank—the Adventure Battle located on the Adventure Map square falling on the third row from the top within the second column from the left, "Defeat the warriors of Twilight!".

Lv.3 weapons such as the Magical Sword have the highest basic attack strength values in Hyrule Warriors, ranging from 280 to 420, in increments of 28, depending on the star rating of a specific weapon.

8-Bit Wooden Sword
The 8-Bit Wooden Sword is the "Lv.★" skin of the Hylian Sword. The sword is an exact replica of the Wooden Sword from The Legend of Zelda, rendered in three dimensions, while the shield is a 3D render of the Legend of Zelda Wooden Shield, albeit with a somewhat altered emblem.

The 8-Bit Wooden Sword is the only 8-bit weapon skin available without any of the DLC packs, being unlocked automatically upon completion of the "Shining Beacon" scenario in Legend Mode. If the player has already completed the scenario before installing Update 1.2.0 or later, this weapon will be unlocked the first time the game is loaded after updating. After unlocking, 8-Bit Wooden Swords can be collected just as any Magical Swords, though the former may be slightly rarer.

As a Lv.★ weapon, the 8-Bit Wooden Sword effectively shares all properties except aesthetic ones with its Lv.3 counterpart, in this case the Magical Sword. It is found with basic attack strength values ranging from 280 to 420, in increments of 28.

Regular Attack and Strong Attack Combos
The Hylian Sword's Regular Attacks consist of a sequence of sword slashes: a downward diagonal slash from left to right, a horizontal slash from right to left, a small leap into the air then downward diagonal slash follow-through from right to left, an uppercut slice from left to right, then a series of four back-and-forth horizontal slices starting from left to right, all culminating in a potent vertical Spin Attack.

The Strong Attack is a standard horizontal Spin Attack, although if the Combo Attack button (X in Warriors Style, Y in Zelda Style) is first held down for a couple seconds before being released, the Warrior will unleash a horizontal Spin Attack with a wider attack radius and slightly increased damage.

The first Combo is a more powerful uppercut slice, followed by a downward thrust that causes splash damage if the Combo Attack button is pressed again during the initial uppercut. As the second Hylian Sword Combo Attack, the wielder jumps back before unleashing a ranged Sword Beam forward. The third Combo Attack is a short-radius horizontal Spin Attack performed while the wielder leaps into the air, creating an upward-spiral attack; identically to the first Combo, if the Combo Attack button is pressed again while performing the third Combo, the attack is followed up with a splash-damaging downward thrust.

The fourth Combo can only be executed by Link after any Regular Attack other than the first, second, third or last, as long as Link has crafted the Wooden Sword IV Badge: Link charges forward with his Sword out in front of him, plowing through enemies, ending with a forceful thrust that sends enemies flying forward. Given the potential for hitting a fair number of enemies with this Combo, there is an increased chance that the Light effect of the Hylian Sword will be activated following the final thrust.

An extra move can be added to the end of the any of the existing Combo Attacks by continuing to press the Combo Attack button, assuming Link has crafted the first three Wooden Sword Badges, respectively. This additional attack is somewhat similar to the Great Spin Attack in other Zelda games: Link performs three consecutive horizontal Spin Attacks (with a notably short attack radius) while moving forward, the third slightly wider and more powerful than the previous two.

Special Attack
The Hylian Sword's Special Attack is a far more powerful version of the attack added to Link's Combo Attacks by the first three Wooden Sword Badges. The wielder raises the Hylian Sword skyward, calling upon some mighty power, and launches into a series of three very wide horizontal Spin Attacks while dashing forward, culminating in an extra-potent fourth Spin Attack finisher.

This attack is highly effective when facing a crowd of enemy soldiers, given its wide radius; however, its effectiveness against singular opponents as compared with other Special Attacks is fairly mediocre. That said, generally speaking, the Hylian Sword's Special Attack is well-rounded.

Weak Point Smash
Like all weapon categories in Hyrule Warriors, the Hylian Sword has two different Weak Point Smash attacks, the one used depending on whether the target is a Captain/Warrior or a Giant Boss. The attack used against Captains and Warriors consists of a series of wide slices in varying directions, followed by an ultra-powerful forward thrust. The Weak Point Smash used against Giant Bosses is a massive leap into the air, followed by a to-the-hilt downward thrust into the Boss's core.

Focus Spirit
The Hylian Sword's Focus Spirit Attack is a single forward thrust that has a relatively high attack range. Like with all Focus Spirit Attacks, hitting a Captain, Warrior, or Giant Boss with this thrust will instantly expose that target's Weak Point gauge for an extended period of time.

If Link's Focus Spirit gauge is allowed to run dry on its own (without unleashing the Focus Spirit Attack), Link will thrust his Sword upward and release his remaining Magic as the center of an explosion of Light with a massive radius and mid-level attack damage, perfect for eliminating a whole crowd of enemies at once.

Trivia

 * The emblem on the shield of the 8-Bit Wooden Sword skin has been changed from the original on the Wooden Shield. The original was a Latin cross; this may have been seen by the Hyrule Warriors developers as too religious for today's general gaming audience, so the emblem was changed to a "plus" sign (+) with a pixel missing in the center.