Yes, the first weapon to be revamped is the Shortsword & Shield.

Design Concept: Making Every Skill Worth Equipping

The Shortsword & Shield is one of the oldest weapons in Conqueror's Blade, featuring 8 skills—6 standard skills and 2 Ultimates, allowing for multiple combinations.

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With this adjustment, our core goal isn't simply to buff a few skills, but rather—

To give every skill a clear battlefield value, allowing players to create truly distinct builds based on their playstyles and tactical needs.

To achieve this, we have comprehensively optimized the Shortsword & Shield from its underlying logic, fine-tuning animation flow, movement curves, and hit registrations. We've also increased the damage multipliers on multiple skills to match the actual battlefield environment, balancing the combat performance across different builds.

After the rework, the Shortsword & Shield can be played in at least three distinct styles:

Three Playstyles, Built for Your Needs

The Classic Build

• Recommended Attributes: Armour / Toughness

• Recommended Equipment: [Flameshackle] Set / Officer's Set

• Skill Selection:[Throw Shield] + [Ironsides] + [Shielded Charge] + [Thunderstruck]

  • Based on the traditional playstyle: [Throw Shield] slows enemies to prevent escape, [Ironsides] provides massive protection,[Shielded Charge] balances pursuit and retreat, and [Thunderstruck] breaks enemy formations over an area.

  • This combo emphasizes crowd control and utility, maximizing the weapon's functional attributes while maintaining solid mobility.

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The Hero Assassin Build

• Recommended Attributes: Strength

• Recommended Equipment: Officer's Set

• Skill Selection: [Shield Bash] + [Ironsides] + [Shielded Charge] /[Barricade] + [Centurion's Battle Drill]

  • Geared towards Warlords looking to duel and secure kills: [Shield Bash] provides control and output, [Ironsides] absorbs damage,[Barricade] breaks guards for woven attacks / [Shielded Charge] chases down fleeing targets, and [Centurion's Battle Drill] suppresses with continuous damage.

  • This combo emphasizes damage output, using strong protective capabilities to absorb hits while maximizing burst efficiency.

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The Unit Controller Build

• Recommended Attributes: Armour / Toughness / Strength

• Recommended Equipment: [Flameshackle] Set / Officer's Set

• Skill Selection:[Throw Shield] / [Shield Bash] + [Ironsides] + [Kick] + [Thunderstruck]

  • Designed for Warlords who prioritize synergy with their Units: [Throw Shield] slows escaping enemies / [Shield Bash] offers crowd-controlled output, [Ironsides] ensures high survivability, [Kick] provides multi-stage suppression, and[Thunderstruck] disrupts formations.

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Three Core Changes Support These Builds

1. Comprehensive Handling Optimization

[Shielded Charge], [Shield Bash], [Barricade], [Kick], and [Thunderstruck]—all five skills have received reworked animation transitions and movement curves, along with optimized hit registration. Executing combos is now silky smooth, and landing skills is significantly easier.

Attacks that used to miss will now connect; animations that felt clunky now chain seamlessly.

2. Across-the-Board Damage Increases

Additionally, casting [Barricade] or [Kick] will now instantly cure the dazed state—no more helplessly taking hits while under crowd control.

3. Holding the Line Against Cavalry

The core identity of the Shortsword & Shield is to absorb damage. However, in the current meta where cavalry charges are frequent, this weapon often struggles to withstand their impact.

In this update, we have vastly improved the weapon's effective crowd control against cavalry. Skills that originally applied CC will now slow cavalry, and skills that already slowed them will apply an enhanced slow, creating a more cohesive sequence from control to kill:

In the current meta, the Shortsword & Shield can truly cement its position as the core frontline tank, holding a solid defensive line for the Units behind it.

Gameplay Tips

In Dueling (1v1):

• Cast [Ironsides] exactly when the enemy unleashes their damage skills to absorb the burst. Use the Officer's Set bonuses to cleanse debuffs and recover health to sustain the fight.

• Use [Barricade] / [Kick] when the enemy uses a skill with blocking effects to break their guard and deal controlled damage.

• Use the movement from [Shield Bash] / [Centurion's Battle Drill] to maneuver to the enemy's flank or rear for back-attack damage.

• During close-quarters brawls, weave in the first hit of your Left-Click basic attack to supplement damage. The overall focus is on sticking close, whittling down the enemy, and utilizing your defenses to absorb hits while safely dumping your skills.

In Team Fights:

• Activate[Ironsides] early to guarantee your survival upon entry. Keep track of the buff's duration—if you don't have the Officer's Set, disengage swiftly before the weakened state kicks in.

• Cast[Barricade] / [Kick] to break the guard of blocking enemies and disrupt their output.

• While ensuring survival, try to hit as many enemy targets as possible with [Thunderstruck] / [Centurion's Battle Drill]. You can even maneuver behind them for back-attacks to maximize your damage output. The focus here is on breaking formations and applying CC. The powerful protective buffs will sustain your flexible hit-and-run approach amidst the chaos.

Important Note:

When the [Ironsides] buff ends or is about to end, you become highly vulnerable to being chain-cc'd by enemy Heroes or bogged down by weakened movement in enemy Units. Avoid taking focused fire while in the weakened state. Although[Ironsides] massively boosts your defense, it is still not recommended to directly face-tank an enemy cavalry charge to stop them. Be mindful of different damage types: percentage-based bleed damage is extremely lethal, and Blunt Damage not only breaks block easier but also chunks your health harder.

Welfare Events

To celebrate the Shortsword & Shield Specialisation rework, a Legendary Equipment Crafting Rate-Up event will go live simultaneously this season.

Reworked Specialisation + End-game Gear, all in one go.

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Final Words

The Shortsword & Shield is just the beginning. More weapon Specialisation adjustments are on the way, so stay tuned.