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In Warborne: Above Ashes, weapon choice is more than a stylistic preference—it defines your role, your tempo, and your impact on the battlefield. Among the game’s diverse arsenal, Greatswords stand apart as the embodiment of frontline brutality. Designed for sustained pressure, spatial control, and momentum-driven combat, Greatswords excel in chaotic engagements where positioning, Warborne Above Ashes Solarbite, and resilience matter more than raw burst damage.

This article explores the Greatsword weapon category in depth, breaking down its combat identity, strengths, optimal playstyles, and the standout Epic options—Hellcore Cleaver and Voidblade—that currently define the meta. Whether you’re anchoring your team in large-scale fights or bullying objectives through sheer presence, mastering Greatswords can turn you into an immovable force on the battlefield.

The Greatsword Identity: Frontline Bruisers by Design

Greatswords in Warborne: Above Ashes are built for frontline bruisers—characters who thrive in the thick of combat rather than dancing at the edges. Their defining characteristics include:

Wide cleaving attacks that hit multiple enemies

Momentum scaling mechanics that reward continuous aggression

Area-of-effect (AoE) crowd control

High synergy with defensive or hybrid builds

Unlike lighter weapons that focus on mobility or burst assassination, Greatswords are about pressure over time. Every swing threatens space, every engagement forces opponents to reposition, and every extended fight tilts further in the Greatsword user’s favor.

This makes them particularly effective in:

Group engagements

Objective control

Chokepoint fights

Frontline disruption roles

Momentum: The Core of Greatsword Combat

At the heart of Greatsword gameplay lies momentum. Momentum mechanics reward players who stay engaged rather than disengaging after short trades. The longer you maintain combat flow—landing cleaves, chaining abilities, controlling space—the stronger your offensive presence becomes.

Momentum typically influences:

Damage scaling

Cleave effectiveness

Ability amplification

Burst windows after sustained engagement

This design pushes Greatsword players to commit fully. Retreating too often resets pressure, while half-hearted engagement wastes the weapon’s biggest advantage. Successful Greatsword users understand when to push forward relentlessly and when to absorb pressure long enough to build momentum before unleashing devastating AoE bursts.

Wide Cleaves and Spatial Control

One of the most underestimated strengths of Greatswords is spatial dominance. Wide cleaves do not just deal damage—they control space.

Every swing:

Threatens multiple targets

Punishes clumped formations

Forces ranged enemies to reposition

Interrupts coordinated pushes

In group fights, a Greatsword user can effectively dictate where enemies can and cannot stand. This zoning effect becomes especially powerful when paired with allies who capitalize on forced movement, such as casters lining up AoEs or supports applying debuffs to trapped enemies.

Greatswords shine brightest when opponents make mistakes—overcommitting, stacking too tightly, or ignoring frontline pressure.

AoE Crowd Control: Turning Chaos into Advantage

Beyond raw damage, Greatswords offer AoE crowd control that transforms chaotic engagements into controlled victories. These effects often include:

Sweeping knockbacks

Stagger or stun effects

Slows that trap enemies in cleave zones

Area denial tools

Crowd control from Greatswords is rarely subtle. It is loud, disruptive, and immediately impactful—perfect for breaking enemy formations and halting coordinated pushes.

In coordinated teams, Greatsword CC often serves as the initiation tool, opening windows for allies to unload damage. In solo or small-scale play, it functions as a survival mechanism, keeping enemies locked down long enough for momentum-based damage to overwhelm them.

Sustained Pressure Over Burst Damage

Unlike assassin-style weapons that rely on killing targets instantly, Greatswords excel at sustained pressure. Their strength lies in:

Wearing down defenses

Forcing healers into constant reaction

Creating attrition-based victories

Punishing extended engagements

This makes them especially valuable against tanky compositions or teams reliant on healing and sustain. When fights drag on, Greatswords become increasingly oppressive, their momentum scaling turning them into engines of inevitability.

This sustained pressure also makes Greatswords ideal for:

Objective sieges

Control-point battles

Long skirmishes around choke points

Best Pick: Hellcore Cleaver (Epic)

Among Epic Greatswords, Hellcore Cleaver currently stands as the premier choice for frontline dominance.

Why Hellcore Cleaver Is Meta-Defining

Hellcore Cleaver excels due to its momentum-based burst potential combined with anti-heal effects—a deadly combination in Warborne’s sustain-heavy meta.

Key strengths include:

Strong scaling with extended combat

Burst windows that punish overconfidence

Anti-heal mechanics that cripple sustain builds

Excellent synergy with frontline hybrids

The anti-heal aspect alone makes Hellcore Cleaver invaluable in group fights, where denying healing often matters more than dealing raw damage. Against compositions reliant on sustain, Hellcore Cleaver turns prolonged engagements into one-sided affairs.

Ideal Synergy: Aegis and Frontline Hybrids

Hellcore Cleaver truly shines in the hands of frontline hybrid classes like Aegis. These builds combine defensive resilience with offensive presence, allowing them to stay in combat long enough to fully exploit momentum scaling.

Aegis users wielding Hellcore Cleaver can:

Absorb initial damage

Build momentum safely

Trigger devastating cleave bursts

Suppress healing during critical moments

This combination transforms the Aegis from a simple tank into a pressure engine, forcing enemies to choose between retreating or being slowly dismantled.

Playstyle Tips for Hellcore Cleaver

To maximize Hellcore Cleaver’s potential:

Stay engaged—short trades waste its strengths

Target clustered enemies to maximize cleave value

Time anti-heal bursts during enemy healing windows

Anchor your team’s frontline rather than chasing stragglers

Hellcore Cleaver rewards patience and confidence. Overextending without support can still get you punished, but controlled aggression turns you into a nightmare for enemy healers.

Also Notable: Voidblade (Epic)

While Hellcore Cleaver dominates sustained frontline play, Voidblade offers a different but equally valuable approach.

Voidblade’s Strengths

Voidblade emphasizes:

Heavy AoE pressure

Zoning and area denial

Disruption over raw damage

Control of enemy movement

Instead of focusing on anti-heal or burst windows, Voidblade excels at breaking formations and punishing clumped enemies. Its AoE pressure forces opponents to spread out, disrupting coordinated pushes and making it easier for your team to isolate targets.

Zoning and Disruption Specialist

Voidblade is particularly effective in:

Chokepoint fights

Defensive holds

Objective denial

Group skirmishes with tight terrain

By controlling space rather than focusing solely on kills, Voidblade users create openings for their allies. Enemies forced to reposition often expose themselves to ranged damage, flanks, or crowd control chains.

This makes Voidblade a powerful pick for players who enjoy battlefield manipulation rather than pure damage output.

Comparing Hellcore Cleaver and Voidblade

While both are Epic Greatswords, their roles differ:

WeaponStrengthBest Use Case

Hellcore CleaverMomentum burst + anti-healSustained frontline pressure, anti-sustain

VoidbladeAoE zoning + disruptionFormation breaking, area control

Choosing between them depends on your team composition and preferred playstyle. If your team lacks healing denial, Hellcore Cleaver is often the correct choice. If your team needs space control and disruption, Voidblade provides unmatched utility.

Positioning: The Hidden Skill Ceiling

Greatswords may appear straightforward, but positioning separates good players from great ones. Standing slightly off-angle, timing cleaves to catch multiple targets, and predicting enemy movement all drastically increase effectiveness.

Key positioning principles include:

Fight where enemies want to stack

Use terrain to limit enemy escape routes

Anchor fights rather than chasing kills

Always threaten multiple targets per swing

Proper positioning amplifies both damage and crowd control, turning every engagement into a calculated advantage.

Greatswords in the Current Meta

In the current Warborne meta, Greatswords thrive because:

Group fights are common

Sustain-heavy builds are prevalent

Objectives reward area control

Momentum-based combat favors extended engagements

While they may struggle against highly mobile ranged comps if left unsupported, in coordinated play Greatswords remain one of the most impactful frontline weapon choices available.

Final Thoughts: The Power of Presence

Greatswords in Warborne: Above Ashes are not about flashy assassinations or hit-and-run tactics. They are about presence—being the player enemies cannot ignore.

With weapons like Hellcore Cleaver and Voidblade, Greatsword users dominate space, dictate tempo, and turn prolonged fights into crushing victories. For players who enjoy leading the charge, controlling the battlefield, and thriving in the heart of chaos buy Warborne Above Ashes Solarbite, Greatswords offer one of the most satisfying and strategically rich playstyles in the game.

Master the momentum. Control the space. And let the battlefield bend around your blade.