In this A.I. Limit guide, I’m going to explain the general approach to building your character when using the Dual Swords weapon type as your main weapon.
Dual Swords in A.I. Limit offer the highest attack speed with rapid and nimble slashes. They’re the best weapon choice if you prefer an offensive and flashy playstyle.
If you chose the Blader Swords as your starting weapon, don’t worry—they’re solid for the early portion of the game. You’ll be able to obtain better dual swords once you reach the mid-game. Thanks to the weapon upgrade and scaling systems, none of the weapons become obsolete as long as you continue upgrading them with the materials you find throughout your journey.
Attribute Distribution
Let’s start with attribute point allocation. Dual Swords primarily scale with the Technique attribute in A.I. Limit. While the amount of scaling can differ slightly between swords, focusing on Technique will be the most efficient way to boost your damage output.
For other attributes, I’ve found that 15 points in Vitality by level 50and 20 by level 100is sufficient. Although Sync Rate gain increases with Vitality, the benefit isn’t substantial enough compared to the raw damage increase you get from investing in Strength or Technique.
As for Life, the ideal amount will vary depending on the player. Generally, 25 points in Life by level 50 and 35 by level 100 is a good baseline. If you prefer a more aggressive build and want to avoid getting one-shotted by combo strings, consider increasing this to 40 or even 50. More Life makes the game more forgiving, letting you survive more mistakes.
You can safely ignore Spirit and Strength when using Dual Swordsas they don’t scale well with this weapon type. Only invest the minimum required to wield your chosen sword—having 12 Strength and 12 Spirit will allow you to use all Dual Swords in the game.
After investing 40 points in Techniqueyou might consider putting points into Strengthas the scaling with Technique starts to fall off beyond that point.
Weapons
There are a total of seven Dual Swords in the game.
As mentioned earlier, the Blader Swords will carry you reliably from early to mid-game. Their weapon skill, Swift Stabs, unleashes a series of rapid stabbing attacks followed by an upward slash, capable of staggering most enemies. This attack has almost no wind-up and is extremely useful against tougher enemies, as it applies constant pressure.
Around mid-game, you’ll encounter several other Dual Swordsbut I recommend switching to the Opossum Sais, which have the highest damage per strike among all Dual Swords.
The Opossum Sais require 10 Strength, 15 Technique, and 11 Spirit to wield, and they deal both physical and fire damage. Their weapon skill, Execution Flame, staggers enemies and can be performed relatively quickly. It also infuses your swords with fire, further increasing your elemental damage. While the weapon does scale with Spirit, the scaling isn’t strong enough to justify investing points into the Spirit attribute.
Alternatively, you can use the Reaperswhich are obtained by trading in an elite Necro Nucleus. This weapon is fantastic for applying the Piercing status effect, triggering massive burst damage when the effect procs. Its weapon skill, Blood Harvest, extends your attack range and unleashes a flurry of spinning strikes, rapidly building the Piercing effect.
If you’d rather keep the elite Necro Nucleus for increased crystal gain, you can opt for the Corrupted Blader Swords instead. These function similarly to the Reapers but build up Piercing damage more slowly. Their skill, Berserker Slash, delivers a rapid series of slashes in front of you that also inflict Piercing. However, they have shorter reach compared to the Reapers.
Although you’ll come across other Dual Swords during your playthrough, I find the above weapons to be the most effective choices as you progress through the game.
Spells
Although A.I. Limit features spells, their functionality is limited compared to other Soulslike games. They act more as secondary, complementary abilities rather than being a main source of damage. While you can change your equipped spell at any time via the equipment menu, you can only have one spell equipped at a time, which can be frustrating during combat when you have to pause and navigate menus mid-fight, breaking the flow of battle.
The spell I found most useful—not just for my Dual Swords playthrough but with any weapon—is Partial Reconstruction. This spell costs 60% of your Sync Rate and is the most expensive spell in the game, but it allows you to regain health without using consumables or Life Drop charges. However, it has a longer cast time than consumables, so proper timing is crucial.
Aside from Partial Reconstruction, spells aren’t heavily relied on when using Dual Swords. The focus is more on swift, successive attacks to quickly eliminate enemies.
Seals
When using the Dual SwordsI found that the Standard Seal of the Bladers worked really well during my early and mid-game. This seal is great for a balanced build because it allows faster Sync Rate gain by landing attacks when your Sync Rate is below 70%, and increases your stability when it’s above 70%. This makes it easier to maintain your Sync Rate and consistently use weapon skills and spells.
This main seal has four normal seal slots that you can use to gain passive stat bonuses. Generally, I use seals that give me increased defense for all damage types, increased conversion, increased Life Pointsand increased burst damage. These aren’t necessary to perform well—you can switch them out with any seals you prefer—but I used this particular combination to strike a good balance between offense and defense in my playthrough.
In the late game, I switched my Main Seal to the Seal of the Tree. This is because the seal increases passive regeneration of your Sync Rate from 50% to 75%allowing you to use more skills and spells before needing to recharge by landing attacks. It provides more room for healing and using weapon skills or offensive spells before switching to regular attacks for damage.
I mainly used these seals while exploring new areas or when I wanted to play relatively safe. But when I wanted to go on the offensive and play super aggressively, the Seal of the Executor was amazing to use with the Dual Blades, as you can quickly regain health with the rapid strikes. If you want to use this seal, it’s recommended to have at least 50 points in the Life attribute to boost survivability. You can also use Breath of Life and Tide of Life to gain an additional 15% HP, since using this seal reduces all your defensive values by 50%.
In addition to the lowered defense, another major drawback is that the seal only gives you one Sync Rate level—although it’s the highest. This means you won’t be able to use the Partial Reconstruction spell and will have to rely mostly on consumables or healing through attacks.
The Headwear, Armor and Nucleus
While there are Headwear and Armor pieces that provide varying degrees of defense, there are no set bonuses or unique attributes tied to them. As a result, it’s best to swap in whatever pieces offer the highest defense values as you progress. These items don’t affect or change your playstyle beyond offering additional protection.
For the Nucleus accessory slot, your choice depends on how confident you are in your abilities. Generally, when I wanted to take fewer risks and protect my crystals in a new area, I equipped a Nucleus with a higher retention rate—so I would lose fewer crystals upon death. Once I became familiar with an area or wanted to farm for crystals, I switched to a Nucleus with a higher absorption rate, which lets you gain more crystals per enemy.
Spell Frame Abilities
The first Spell Frame ability you acquire, Counter Fieldis—hands down—the most useful. It requires learning enemy timing, but the counter window is forgiving. Even the hardest bosses become manageable once you learn their patterns. Mastering this can trivialize large parts of the game, as most enemies enter a weakened state after being countered, opening them up for a fatal strike.
If you’re struggling with counter timing or just learning enemy patterns, Shield is a solid alternative. It blocks all physical damage and most elemental damage. However, status effects will still build up. Also, you can’t block forever—the shield accumulates energy with each hit. Once it’s overloaded (indicated by a purple glow), your block becomes ineffective. You must discharge it with an Overload Burst attack, which staggers enemies if landed, to resume normal blocking.
The third ability, Piercing Clawis more offensive. It applies a Piercing status effect to you and gives you a temporary Claw buff, allowing all your attacks to trigger energy claw strikes that deal piercing damage. The buff drains over time but is replenished by landing attacks. This ability pairs excellently with Dual Swordsand especially well with the Reapers or Corrupted Blader Swordsenabling rapid Piercing Burst Process.
The last ability, Thunder Step, is a dodge move that provides more mobility than standard dodges. A perfect dodge creates a mirror image that explodes after a few seconds, dealing electrical damage. However, it doesn’t stagger enemies or set them up for fatal strikes, making it the least effective Spell Frame ability in most situations.
To maximize your combat potential, you can activate Piercing Claw before a fight and keep it going throughout, significantly boosting damage. When paired with Counter Fieldthis combo makes it easy to defeat even the game’s toughest foes using Dual Swords.
Conclusion
So, this wraps up my guide for using the Dual Swords weapon type in A.I limit. These weapons are the flashiest weapons in A.I limit while allowing you to deal massive amounts of damage in a short time using their fast attack speed. If you want to take down enemies quickly and look good while doing so, these weapons are the weapon type for you when playing A.I limit.
If you have other tips or tricks that you want to add when using the Dual Swordsplease leave them in the comment below and be sure to check out the wiki for other guides.
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