Greatsword: The Colossus Cleave Build

Why It Works

Because each Greatsword hit is so large, percentage-based damage boosts are worth more here than on any fast weapon. A +20% bonus on a tiny Dagger tick is negligible; the same bonus applied to a 4× special that already sweeps a screen is enormous. This is the core reason the Colossus build stacks Special Attack Damage and True Damage rather than attack speed.

True Damage matters even more on Greatsword than on other weapons. It is flat damage that ignores enemy Defense, so on a weapon that hits slowly but with huge multipliers, every point of True Damage rides those same multipliers instead of being diluted across dozens of small hits.

• Special Attack Damage multiplies your already-4× special — the strongest single stat for this build.
• True Damage ignores Defense and rides your high multipliers, perfect for a slow big-hitter.
• Crown-style "last hit" bonuses reward the committed combo sequences Greatsword naturally plays.
• Do not stack attack speed; it does little for a weapon whose value lives in one massive swing.

Survival First

The real danger of Greatsword is the long recovery after each swing. You are a sitting target while the animation plays out, so you need enough Defense and Life Steal to eat a counter-hit and keep going. Treat the Greatsword like a deflecting tank that occasionally unleashes a cannon: you do not try to out-dodge everything, you absorb the cheap hits and make the expensive ones count.

Concretely, target the Guardian and Sturdy tags early — flat Defense from items like Academy Brigandine or the larger Beast's Heart stack let you survive the one or two hits you will inevitably take during a whiffed heavy. Once your survivability floor is high enough that one mistake does not end the run, you can start adding damage freely.

Recommended Artifacts

Favor Sturdy and Guardian items for the sustain, then layer Mystic True Damage for the payoff. In practice the ideal Colossus kit looks like the five pieces below, roughly in priority order.

Damage comes from Blue Wrist Guard and Impact Amplifier; survivability from Beast's Heart; Absolute Ring stretches your special's reach so you can start the spin from a safer angle; Crown of Humility turns your combo closer into a second finisher.

• Blue Wrist Guard — Legend Sturdy: +7/14/21/28/35/42/50% Special Attack Damage. The core multiplier on your 4× special.
• Beast's Heart — Legend Guardian: +4/8/12/16/20 Defense plus Universal Damage Boost and Luck. Keeps you alive through the recovery frames.
• Impact Amplifier — Legend Mystic: adds scaling flat True Damage that ignores Defense — disproportionate on a slow, high-multiplier weapon.
• Crown of Humility — Legend Sturdy: last combo hit deals +10/22/40/60/84% damage. Rewards the committed swings this weapon plays.
• Absolute Ring — Legend Sturdy: +30/45/60% Special Attack Range and +10/20/45% Special Attack Damage. Start the spin from a safer distance.

How to Play It — Timing and Spacing

The whole weapon is about patience. Early, focus on reading enemies and only committing when you have a confirmed opening. Whiff one heavy and you eat the recovery; whiff three and the run is over. Learn each enemy's wind-up so you know when the moment to swing is real.

When you do commit, make the special your primary damage event. Watch for a boss locking into a long animation, then release the 4× spinning slash into its recovery frames — the stagger will often interrupt its next attack entirely, opening a second window. Against packs, time the spin so enemies close in from all sides and the wide arc hits the whole group at once.

Between specials, use Normal Attacks to build combos and apply on-hit effects, and Dash Attacks to reposition. The secret is that Greatsword does not need to attack often — it needs to attack at the right moment. A Colossus that lands one clean special per boss phase will out-damage a frantic weapon that never stops swinging.

Recommended Tablets

Greatsword rewards tablets that amplify a small number of huge hits. Power and Conviction push your damage ceiling; Thorns punishes the hits you absorb; Last Stand and Oaths reward the low-health, high-commitment moments that a tanky Greatsword regularly survives.

• Power — raw damage scaling for your big special.
• Conviction — commitment scaling for runs where you keep trading heavy hits.
• Thorns — reflects damage from the hits you are built to absorb.
• Last Stand — rewards standing your ground at low health.
• Oaths — pairs with the all-in, high-risk rhythm of the weapon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What beats this build? The two classic counters are enemies that punish whiffs (dodging your heavy and punishing the recovery) and anything that pressures you faster than you can find a window. Against those, do not force the big hit — fall back to small Normal Attacks and wait for a real opening.

• Do I really need to wait for openings? Yes. The damage comes from landing the special, not from swinging often. Forcing it is how Greatsword runs die.
• Is True Damage a trap? No — because it ignores Defense and rides your multipliers, a point of True Damage here is worth far more than on a fast weapon. Just do not take it at the cost of all survivability.
• How is this different from Sword & Shield? Sword & Shield is safe and attrition-based (its special is 2.5×). Greatsword is burst and commitment-based — much higher ceiling, but far less forgiving if you mis-time.

Key Artifacts

These items are referenced from our artifact catalog and form the backbone of this build.

Recommended Tablets

Pro Tips

• Charge your 4× special when a boss is locked in a long animation — the stagger often opens a second window.
• Do not swing twice in a row unless you have confirmed the opening; the recovery will kill you.
• True Damage artifacts are disproportionately strong on Greatsword because they ride your huge multipliers.
• Whiff discipline wins runs: land one clean special per boss phase rather than forcing three risky ones.
• When surrounded, wait for the pack to close, then release the full-circle spin to hit everything at once.

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