Sworn - The Next Big Co-Op Rogue-Like!
Jun. 12, 2024Sworn – The Next Big Co-Op Rogue-Like!
Sworn is a rogue-like similar to Hades, with a bit of Ravenswatch mixed in, coming to Steam some time later this year. Players will reclaim a fallen Camelot from the corrupted King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Players can choose from one of 4 characters to play, each with different weapons and different spells, that allows you to fully customize your character build. And the best part about it is that it is up to 4 player co-op, so if you like Hades but always wished you could play with friends, well you’ll definitely want to check this one out then!
Thanks to Team 17 for sponsoring this video, love those guys. There is actually a playable demo out now, that you can downloaded and play for free. If you want to do that after watching this video, please use our link to download it to further support the channel:https://bit.ly/FextralifeSwornIn.
Sworn features 4 playable characters: Vigilante, Rook, Spectre, and Monk. Vigilante is the default character, but others are unlocked by obtaining Crystal Shards when playing through Sworn. So if you want to unlock new characters quickly, prioritize rooms with the pink crystals in order to get them faster.
Additionally, each character has 4 weapons that they can use, with one default, and the other 3 unlocked with the same Crystal Shards that unlocked the character. These weapons each have a unique Light and Heavy Attack that separates them from other weapons, and can only be used by their assigned character.
Then each character also has 4 spells they can use, 1 default and 3 that can be unlocked via Crystal Shards. And what I really love about Sworn, compared to Hades, is that you can mix and match these spells with your weapons, allowing you to further customize your build. This allows you to find both the weapon and spell you like most with each character and use them in tandem.
As I mentioned earlier, Vigilante is the default character that you begin Sworn with, and in my opinion is the weakest of the 4 characters you can play. He has access to the Sword, Bow, Bo Staff and Chakrams for weapons.
The Short Sword hits rapidly for minimal damage, while also providing a spinning attack. The Bow shoots a short distance with its light attack and can be charged to shoot further, but does an AoE with decent range quite easily. The Bo Staff swings rapidly for low damage, but also has a small leap attack that slams in a small AoE, and the Chakrams hit enemies repeatedly when thrown out, and they can also spin in an AoE.
Blade Rush dashes forward striking through multiple enemies over a long distance. Remote Mine drops a mine on the ground that can be remotely detonated for AoE damage. Flurry of Daggers throws 3 daggers forwards while flipping backwards, which is good for mobility. And Shadow Strike teleports to the target dealing damage, and is my personal favorite of the 4 Spells Vigilante has, though Blade Rush is also solid for hitting many enemies at once and getting out of bad situations.
Because all of Vigilante’s weapons tend to hit quickly for modest damage, he is a prime candidate for Weapon Blessings that benefit rapid attacks that stack up debuffs, which I will go into a little bit later on.
Rook is the “bruiser” character of the group with slower attacking weapons that hit harder per swing, but don’t swing as often. If you favor high damage numbers over repeated attacks, Rook is the character for you.
The Great Hammer swings in a cleave in front of Rook, and his heavy attack spins in an AoE and can be charged up for more spins. The Hand Cannon is my personal favorite of his weapons, firing an explosive round a good ways in front of him that hits in an AoE, while also having a heavy attack that melees when enemies get close. The halberd swings in a cleave in front of Rook, though has slightly longer range, and can be charged up for more damage and range. The heavy attack charges forward, and can be charged for a longer distance charge. The Gauntlets hit more rapidly than any of Rook’s other weapons, and have a stronger heavy attack that deals more damage, and when upgraded can knock enemies backward into objects for “slam” damage.
Counter allows Rook to stand in the fray and protect himself while also dealing damage back to the enemy. It is an extremely strong Spell, and allows him to stay on the front lines more easily than other characters. Bull Rush allows him to charge through enemies while maneuvering and dealing damage, and is great for mobility. Sky Drop allows him to leap into the air and land on enemies in an AoE, and Commanders Shield allows him to buff the damage of friendlies in the area for a short time, which is good in cooperative play.
Because Rook has higher per swing damage, but slower attacks on average, he makes better use of Weapon Blessings that add damage to a single attack rather than ones that provide stacking buffs.
Spectre is the resident “mage” of the group, even though all characters can cast spells, but also has some very rapid attacking weapons.
Armillary Sphere shoots low damage projectiles a short distance in front of Spectre, while the heavy attack shoots out a ball of delayed exploding magic that hits in an AoE. The Scythe swings rapidly in a cleave, spinning at the combo’s conclusion for solid damage, and the heavy attack does an over head attack. The Arcane Blades allow Spectre to throw out up to 5 daggers, before having a short cooldown, and also to swing with a blade cleaving enemies in front of him. And finally, the Claws attack extremely quickly, with the heavy attack lunging forward, which is great at gap closing to enemies. I prefer the Armillary Sphere or Claws for fast attacks.
Mystic Beam shoots out a magic beam in front of Spectre in a channel, but is hard to aim and the damage is not stellar. Dragon Dive allows him to move quickly and then detonate when connecting with an enemy for decent AoE damage. Spirit Guardian act as mobile turrets that automatically deal damage, but you have to get in the habit of casting them continuously as they don’t last long. And Blink allows Spectre to teleport to a location and deal damage in an AoE, and is one of the longest range Spells.
Because all of Spectre’s weapons tend to hit quickly for modest damage, he is a prime candidate for Weapon Blessings that benefit rapid attacks that stack up debuffs, just like Vigilante.
Monk is the “Cleric” of the group, with a bit of a lightning theme to her. Of the four characters I would argue that she is the strongest over all, and I highly recommend unlocking her ASAP.
Her Mace hits for relatively decent damage on its own, but the lightning heavy attack is deadly, and is one of the reasons she is so strong. The Magic Staff has excellent range and damage, and can hit like a truck with both the ranged attack and it’s slam AoE heavy attack. The Tome shoots out in a cone with its light attack which can be charged to hit all Tomes in a specific spot, and the heavy attack is a ranged AoE. The Chimes are a strange weapon that deal damage in an area in a short distance, with a different ranged attack when utilizing its heavy.
Storm Call hits repeatedly in an AoE dealing damage over time rapidly. Crystal Turret fires off 6 projectiles before vanishing, so you can place several down at a time. Black Hole pulls enemies in before dealing damage in an AoE, and Arcane Shield protects you and allies in the area from the next attack, which is good for co-op.
Because Monk has both rapid attacks and hard hitting slower attacks, she can utilize any of the Weapon Blessings, making her the optimal character to play with currently.
Players can also upgrade weapons that they like at Nimue using Fairy Embers and Emeralds to further increase the damage of their Light and Heavy Attacks with certain weapons, as well as improve the nature of the weapons. For instance you can upgrade the Mace of Monk to hit with all Lightning Bolts at once, instead of in rapid succession, speeding up damage.
Fairy Embers are acquired from events, defeating enemies, and as rewards for completing certain rooms. Emeralds are obtained from beating Bosses. Players will have to play Sworn a lot in order to upgrade all Weapons to max, but it does add more progression to the game, which is great.
Beyond the characters themselves, players will also have progression that is not character related in Merlin’s Skill Trees. Players have the Life Tree unlocked by default, but can unlock further Merlin Trees buy spending Crystal Shards.
These Trees are: Life, War, Treasure, Wealth and Devotion. Life should be prioritized first as it increases the amount of Max Health you begin each run with, but eventually you’ll want to move to War to gain Movement Speed and additional Dashes, and to Treasure to increase the Grail Water you receive. Grail Water is what is used to unlock nodes on these Trees, as well as Emeralds, so you will need a lot of it. Prioritize Grail Water early on as bonuses gained here apply to ALL characters you play with.
Wealth gives you Gold to buy items in the shops on any given run, and Devotion increases the likelihood of better Weapon Blessings. Eventually you will max all of these out, but Life and War are the best early on.
And the last thing to cover in terms of character progression is of course the Weapon Blessings. There are currently 8 categories of Weapon Blessings in Sworn, with each tied to a powerful person or creature.
One that deals with Backstab damage, one that does freezing and chill, one that deals with weakness, one that allows you to stun and stagger enemies, one that increases critical chance, one that does poison damage over time, one that deals with fury which increases your damage with successive hits, and one that does fire damage in bursts and over time. There are also duo blessings if you have certain blessings of different categories, which may look familiar if you’ve played Hades.
Weapon Blessings affect Light Attacks, Heavy Attacks, Spells, Dashes along with other passives that improve the way your character plays in general such as reduced damage taken, chance to evade enemies, and other spell things like summons that change or improve gameplay.
So your Build then will consist of the character you chose, the weapon you chose for that character, what Spell you selected for that character and what Weapon Blessings you get for those, which of course are somewhat randomized so it’s not the same every time. There are also upgrades in the field that can improve the way your weapon operates, just like Hades, adding more projectiles, or changing the nature of your Light or Heavy Attacks, which also plays a significant role in your Sworn Build.
Some general tips about these are, Ice, Poison, Fury and Backstab all work best on weapons or attacks that hit rapidly allowing you to build up stacks or just hit the back of the target before they turn. Stun or stagger, Fire and Weakness work best on powerful single attacks, like with the hand Cannon. And critical chance works well with any build.
And this brings us to Co-Op which is arguably the best part about Sworn, other than the tried and true gameplay formula it possesses. You can host a game with up to 3 other friends, allowing you all to play together through the game with more enemies, more health on Bosses, and other balancing tweaks that keep things grounded. For instance, reviving fallen party members takes its toll on the group, so if you bring a brand new player with you, and they keep dying, your group will eventually wipe as your max health continues to get lower and lower and lower.
However, there are difficulty settings that allow you to make things harder if you find things too easy, increasing enemy health and damage, but it gets very crazy with all the enemies on the screen. Note that you do keep your progression between single and multiplayer modes, so anything you earn can be used to unlock things you can use solo as well.
Sworn is arguably one of the most fun Rogue-Likes I’ve played since Hades, and I love the Arthurian theme to it, it’s definitely one of my favorite legends throughout history. The fact that you can not only play solo, but with friends makes it all the more enjoyable, and as I mentioned earlier there is currently ademo out now on Steam that you can try and see if you like it.
The demo includes the first 2 biomes of the game, Weapon Blessings, Weapon Progression, 5 difficulty modes, an end of run scoreboard, as well as upgraded sound effects and visual effects over the previous demo. This gives you a chance to experience more of the game before you decide if you’ll be picking it up or not later this year when it launches on Steam. Again, if you want to check it out please use ourlink to download the demo, to help support the channel!
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
