Genshin Impact is an open-world RPG that features a wide variety of in-game weapons. Every player wants to equip their game characters with the best available weapon and get a good damage boost. Throughout your journey in Teyvat, you’ll discover exquisite weapons and in-game materials. Its wide variety of weapons, which gives unique passives, opens up options for versatile team compositions.
I’ve been playing Genshin Impact since day one and so far have been collecting whichever weapons I can get my hands on. To this day, I keep improvements for different weapons for specific situations and bought battle pass exclusive weapons to keep growing my collection. Here, I’ll be going over one such battle pass weapon, the Black Sword, and its details.
Bottom line upfront:
Let’s go over a summary of what you can expect from this guide:
- Black Sword Details
- Ascension Material
- Characters Available
- Concluding with FAQs
Black Sword
The black sword is described as a pitch-black longsword that thirsts for violence and conflict. It is said that this weapon can cause its user to become drunk on the red wine of slaughter.
The black sword is one among five battle pass weapons you can choose from when you reach level 30 of battle pass. I’ve been using this weapon on some of my friend’s accounts, and so far, entirely, its damage is quite impressive. A CRIT rate on weapons gives you access to equip CRIT damage on artifacts and boost your character’s overall damage.
Weapon Details:
Genshin Impact has a lot of stats on which strength of character depends, and CRIT is an important one among them. So, if you’re ready to get the Black sword and add it to your arsenal, it’s better to know beforehand its uses and details. Let’s go over Black Sword’s details and see how you can obtain this weapon.
- Rarity: 4-star
- Base Attack: 42
- Secondary Stat: CRIT Rate
- Secondary Stat Value: 6%
- Passive Ability: Justice
- Passive Ability Description: Increases DMG dealt by Normal and Charged Attacks by 20%. Additionally, it regenerates 60% of ATK as HP when Normal and Charged Attacks score a CRIT Hit. This effect can occur once every 5s.
Okay, let’s go over passive a bit. As far as the healing effect goes from this passive, it’s better to dedicate a healer role to some character in the party. I don’t think this will tank damage from enemies, solely depending on this minor healing you’ll get from attacking.
The boost of the charged and normal attack’s damage seems very good on characters like Keqing, who can get elemental infusion on their regular attacks. I’ll be giving my remarks about the characters below, so it’s better to have this discussion there.
Getting the weapon
As of writing this guide, Genshin Impact 2.4 has only one way of obtaining a black sword: buying the in-game battle pass. You can purchase ‘Gnostic Hymm’ for $9.99 or ‘Gnostic Chorus’ for $19.99. Both of these are a premium version of the battle pass, which you can unlock on top of ‘Sojourner’s Battle Pass.
The critical difference between ‘Gnostic Hymm’ and ‘Gnostic Chorus’ is that you get some extra in-game items like name cards and fragile resins later on. Although, you’ll be able to get battle pass only weapons from both of them. So, in my opinion, if you’re a light spender, you should go with ‘Gnostic Hymm’ and get that battle pass weapon of your choice.
You have a weekly limit of 10000 Battle pass EXP, which you can get by completing different in-game tasks. The battle pass includes missions that range from daily, weekly, or battle pass time-limited events.
Here are the following four daily missions:
- Daily Login: 120 BEP
- Complete 4 Daily Commissions: 150 BEP
- Mine 10 items: 115 BEP
- Use a total of 150 Original Resin: 225
You can get 4515 Battle pass EXP every week by completing daily missions. So, if you’re coming to the game daily, doing your daily commissions and some farming, you’re done with daily battle pass missions.
Genshin Impact has events that run for a limited time, and often they’re also in battle pass missions. They can give you decent BEP to jump a few levels. So, keep an eye on doing events in the battle pass and get a boost in leveling up the battle pass.
Now, to get the remaining BEP, you can do weekly missions. Here’s a list of some easy weekly tasks which you can do to earn BEP:
- Obtain a total of 1000 Realm Currency – 675 BEP
- Create a total of 10 furnishings – 450 BEP
- Purchasing two items from the teapot traveling salesman in another player’s Serenitea Pot – 450 BEP
- Complete three requests – 450 BEP
- Complete three bounties – 450 BEP
- Cook 20 dishes – 360 BEP
- Forge 20 items – 360 BEP
You can also complete battle pass missions that require you to complete a domain several times or leyline deposits. Here’s the catch, you can achieve those missions without spending resin. Just co-op with a friend and complete those missions and don’t claim them; they will count towards your Genshin Impact progression.
I’ll recommend you not use primogems to level up the battle pass. Simply, it’s not worth it unless you’re a heavy spender on the game and don’t want to put effort into farming.
But, you’ll be doing many things in a week in-game, and they will have everyday tasks, which may be a mission in battle pass. You’ll be clearing weekly bosses, and they’re already a mission in battle pass, so it’s best to save those precious primogems.
Weapon Stat Progression
Weapon Level | Base Attack | CRIT Rate |
1 | 42 | 6 |
20 | 109 | 10.6 |
40 | 205 | 15.5 |
60 | 327 | 20.3 |
80 | 449 | 25.1 |
90 | 510 | 27.6 |
I’ve listed vital levels where the weapon’s power gets a boost with ascension. You can see how the CRIT rate and base attack progresses as you level up the weapon. So, it’s best to level up weapons you want to use in the long term and invest in your characters.
Refinement Rank | Normal and Charged ATK DMG Increase (%) | HP Regeneration(%) of ATK |
1 | 20 | 60 |
2 | 25 | 70 |
3 | 30 | 80 |
4 | 35 | 90 |
5 | 40 | 100 |
So, if you want to refine the Black Sword to the maximum level, you’ll need to buy five battle passes and progress each of them to level 30. As you can see, the damage increase is quite good, and your character will also get good sustainability.
However, I’ll not advise you to refine the Black Sword to the maximum level because you can instead get other weapons. If you’re a continuous battle pass purchaser, I recommend you complete your battle pass only weapon collection first. It’s better to have all battles pass only weapons and then refine them later.
Ascension Material
Boreal Wolf’s Materials | Dead Leyline Materials | Slime Materials |
Boreal Wolf’s Milk Tooth = 3 | Dead Leyline Branch | Slime Condensate = 10 |
Boreal Wolf’s Cracked Tooth = 9 | Dead Leyline Leaves | Slime Secretions = 15 |
Boreal Wolf’s Broken Fang = 9 | Dead Leyline Sprout | Slime Concentrate = 18 |
Boreal Wolf’s Nostalgia = 4 | Â Total mora required for ascension = 150000 |
You can see how important farming is in Genshin Impact, whether to ascend characters or weapons. It would be best if you spent decent time farming in-game items and collecting exquisite materials for weapon’s ascension.
Moreover, along with different materials for the weapon’s ascension, you need to have around 600 Mystic enhancement ores and about 750k mora for leveling up the Black sword to level 90. So, it would be best if you prioritized which weapons you want to ascend first and put your resources into it.
Characters Available
All characters who use sword weapon type in Genshin Impact can use Black Sword. I’ll be giving some remarks from my end about how good black sword is on those characters. Though you’re always free to adopt different playstyles depending on your team composition, and in no way are these instructions about how you play these characters.
I’ve been playing Genshin Impact for quite a time, and I’m sure some of my remarks will help you adopt a better strategy. I’ll also be giving some 4-star weapon alternatives which you can use on these characters if you’re not a battle pass user.
As of writing this Black Sword Genshin Impact guide, Genshin Impact 2.4 has the following characters which can use Black Sword:
Albedo
He is a 5-star geo sword character whose abilities are scale on Defense. As an off-field damage dealer or support, as people say, Albedo is extremely good at providing support to your primary damage dealer.
I recommend you use a sword with DEF as a secondary stat value to get the best damage out of him. You can also use a black sword on him, but make sure to balance his defense stats in artifacts.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Cinnabar Spindle, Harbinger of dawn (3-star)
Kamisato Ayaka
She is a 5-star cryo sword user who can act as a good cryo damage dealer. Her regular attacks get infused with cryo and can deal much damage in her burst.
If you’re not using the ‘Blizzard Strayer’ artifact on her, then it’s better to equip a CRIT rate weapon on her. So, the Black Sword is a decent choice here.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Amenoma Kageuchi, The Flute, Blackcliff longsword
Kaedehara Kazuha
He is a 5-star anemo sword user who specializes in providing area-wide crowd control and support to your team. He’s precious when you use him as support, so I’ll recommend you to use him as support. The black sword will be more suitable if you make him an anemo damage dealer.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Iron Sting, Sacrificial Sword, Favonius Sword
Kaeya
Kaeya Alberich is a 4-star cryo sword user specializing in providing off-field damage for your character. He can generate a good amount of particles in his burst and has a low cooldown on his skill, which helps funnel energy particles to your primary damage dealer.
Moreover, if you’re using ‘Blizzard Strayer’ artifacts on him in a freeze team composition, then you necessarily don’t need to use Black Sword on him.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Festering Desire, Favonius Sword, Lion’s Roar
Jean
She is a 5-star anemo sword user whose abilities scale off her attack. She’s excellent in healing your overall team and can generate HP based on atk with her regular attacks.
I’d rather avoid using Black Sword on her and put some weapon with ‘Energy Recharge’ as a secondary stat value to use her burst more often. Moreover, her burst is quite expensive and requires 80 energy to initiate.
So, building decent Energy Recharge becomes essential for her.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Favonius Sword, Sacrificial Sword, Amenoma Kageuchi
Bennett
He is a 4-star pyro character who’s very good at providing attack buff to your active character. If your characters are standing in his burst circle, they get a boost in their attack, which scales off Bennett’s attack in a ratio. The Attack boost ratio depends on his talent level, so it becomes super important to level up his talent if you’re planning to use him as support.
I recommend you use Bennett to support your team and get a good damage boost. So, for having his burst back more often, it’s better to use a weapon that provides Energy Recharge as a secondary stat and keep your team buff active most of the time.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Favonius Sword, Festering Desire, Sacrificial Sword
Keqing
She is a 5-star electro character whose attacks get electro infusion after using her Elemental Skill. You can use the Black sword on her, and it’ll be good overall if you’re looking to make her your primary damage dealer. Make sure to level up her talents and get extra damage when using her in Spiral Abyss.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Lion’s Roar, The Flute, Amenoma Kageuchi
Qiqi
She is a 5-star cryo user who is better in healing roles. Her healing scales off her attack, and it’s better to use a weapon that features ATK% as a secondary stat value. She can heal your overall team using her elemental skill and attacking enemies with regular attacks.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Amenoma Kageuchi, Lion’s roar, The Flute
Xingqiu
He’s a 4-star hydro sword user who shines exceptionally well in an off-field damage dealer role. Xingqiu has a versatile kit, which allows him to provide damage reduction, good off-field damage in the burst, and some healing at the same time.
But, due to his high burst cost requirements, it’s better to use a sword that gives Energy Recharge a secondary stat.4-star weapon alternatives: Sacrificial Sword, Festering Desire, Favonius Sword
Traveler
I’ll recommend you to use a weapon that has Energy Recharge as a secondary stat for all three elemental versions of Traveler. Traveler is better as support or battery roles and gets better as you unlock other constellations.
- 4-star weapon alternatives: Favonius Sword, Festering Desire, Sacrificial Sword
Final Thoughts on Black Sword characters
Now, as you know, Black Sword features CRIT rate as its secondary stat; it’s more suitable for characters who you will be using as your primary damage dealers.
I’ve put my remarks above, which suit my playstyle. If you want to use the Black sword on any of these characters, feel free to do so. Everyone has their play style and game sense, and it’s better to use characters or weapons you feel comfortable playing.
FAQ
Let’s go over a few questions that you may have after reading this guide.
Question: Should I refine the Black sword?
Answer: The black sword is a battle pass weapon, and you can obtain it after you reach level 30. If you were to refine Black Sword to refinement level 5, then it’ll take you five battle passes to do so. I recommend you rather have five different battle pass weapons than refine a single battle pass weapon.
You can use different weapons for characters and get the CRIT rate as a secondary stat. CRIT rate is a valuable stat when dealing damage to enemies, and your party can benefit from it. So, you should go with various weapon options and have a more flexible playstyle.
Question: Are 4-star weapons good enough to clear end-game content like Spiral abyss?
Answer: Yes, they are. A significant advantage of 4-star weapons is their refinements. Most player base is free-to-play and cannot afford to wish on the weapon’s banner. So, even if they get 5-star weapons, chances are they will have them in less quantity than their 4-star counterparts. Most 4-star weapons are decent enough to clear the content that the game has to offer, and having refinements on them gives a passive upgrade.
With each refinement, passive stats go up, and you can easily benefit from it. I recommend you have your team equipped with the best weapons you have in your inventory and take advantage of refining them in the longer run. This way, you won’t face difficulty facing more formidable enemies and clear out future content.
Question: How good is the CRIT rate on characters?
Answer: Now, weapons that offer CRIT rate as their substat are necessary for primary damage dealers. Most of the characters you use as your primary damage dealer require CRIT rate or CRIT damage in their stats. Currently, there are few free-to-play options in-game for weapons that offer CRIT rate as their secondary stat. Although, there are options like White Tassel, Harbinger of Dawn, and other 3-star weapons you can obtain from the overworld or wish system.
Now, most 3-star weapons are suitable for niche situations and will fall off in the long run when competing against 4-star weapons. Ultimately, you’ll progress through the game and equip your characters with better weapons.
Conclusion
Purchasing a battle pass is a good option if you’re looking to get extra resources for your characters and equip them with an exclusive battle pass weapon. Each weapon from battle pass has a CRIT rate as its secondary stat and can be helpful for your primary damage dealers.
A black sword is a decent option on sword characters that you want to use as a primary damage dealer and manage CRIT ratios on them.
The black sword also has a passive, which can help you get an extra boost in regular and charged attacks. But the critical difference between Black Sword and other weapons is its CRIT rate secondary stat.
Not many in-game weapons offer a CRIT rate, and having a CRIT rate on weapons allows you to use CRIT damage in artifacts. Unless you’re using a character like Kokomi, whose CRIT rate value goes into negative on ascension, the CRIT rate weapon will benefit you in the long run.
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