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Should you bring a sword to a magic fight? Swords are a staple of the fantasy genre. But when you can just cast fireball and take out a bunch of enemies from a distance, would a sword actually be any use? Let's find out. Hello, internet. Welcome to Game Theory, the show that gives you its sword and its staff. But no more because of copyright. But that's okay because those are the only two things we need to talk about today's sponsor, Sword Staff. Sword Staff is the brand new free-to-play idol adventure RPG from Boltree Games. The game takes place in the unique fantasy world of Canstein, a world that is actively being plagued by the chaos. But that's where we come in.
We get to join in the action as our own fully customizable character. Obviously, that means things like your appearance, but the thing that really interested me was the class system. At first, it seems a little basic. You could only pick a warrior or a mage, but as you progress, those paths begin to branch into a massive variety of options. Dualists, knights, sorcerers, and sages. Each class lends itself to a different play style and provides interesting gameplay mechanics. I of course automatically pick the mage because one, magic is cool, but two, there's no way a sword could win in a fight against pure magic, right? I mean, there's a reason we don't really use swords in combat today when
we have guns. And magic is just even more powerful. And yet, despite this, swords are still a staple of the fantasy genre. Why? Their continued prominence made me think I must be missing something. There has to be some sort of reason scientifically and historically that keeps the sword as a viable weapon in the League of Fantasy weapons. So, loyal theorists, it's time to dawn your armor or slide into your wizard robes because we are going to answer the obvious and absolute timeless question. Why bring a sword to a magic fight? First, we have to go back in time. And I mean way back about 2,000 to 5,000 years ago during the Bronze Age. This is the first time we melted down metals like
bronze, duh, into double-sided blades. These early swords were much shorter than what you'd expect a sword to look like. They were honestly more dagger-esque in shape. But even these early weapons were a huge leap forward in combat. Before swords, most people fought with clubs, spears, axes, or knives. Swords were different because they were versatile. You could slash, stab, parry, and defend, all using the same weapon. Then we get to the Iron Age, where, you guessed it, the sword started being made out of iron. Suddenly, blades could become longer, thinner, and more specialized. A longer blade gave you more reach, but it also made the weapon heavier, and harder to use in cramped spaces. Wider blades delivered brutal cutting power, while
narrower blades were better for thrusting into weak points of armor. Finally, there's the Middle Ages, the era that inspired the whole genre of fantasy to begin with. The swords of this era were incredibly high quality, and each culture had their own special style and design. Many European swords were built around versatility. A knight might need to fight on horseback, in formation, or one-on-one while wearing armor, so European blades often balanced cutting and thrusting equally well. Long swords especially became famous for their reach and adaptability, capable of being used with one hand or with two. Japan had katanas, which were curved specifically to improve cutting efficiency. The curve allowed the blade
to slice through targets more smoothly during a draw or a swing. Meanwhile, in China, they had the Xian and Dao, which represented entirely different philosophies of combat. The Xian was straight and double-edged, emphasizing precision and finesse, while the Dao was broader and optimized for powerful slashing attacks. Could go on, but then this whole video would just be me naming swords, and I think you guys get the idea. These things were once a huge part of both war and peace. But the challenge for us today is that in the real world, we didn't and don't have magic. Plus, magic and its rules within a fantasy setting typically change depending on the franchise. But in general, it's
pretty self-explanatory. A person trains their whole life to learn how to wield some sort of other worldly power. For example, a lot of the magic in Sword Staff is based on elemental power like water, fire, ice, and more. And they learn this through specific mage techniques that are granted to them by the goddess. But if we strip away all the other worldly power and look at the base premise of what magic is typically used for in fantasy battles, it's a ranged weapon allowing you to hit one or many targets from a distance. Plus, we have actually found ways to incorporate elemental powers into longrange weapons like bows and arrows. During the Tang Dynasty in China, they invented fire
arrows. Essentially, they worked by strapping gunpowder or some other flammable material to a bow. and that arrow was lit before firing. These were used to set large wooden structures like boats or castles on fire. There's also arrow heads that were discovered in South Africa which were dated to about 60,000 years ago. And scientists have discovered traces of plant toxin on them, meaning that we've been using poison arrows for tens of thousands of years. But again, upon initial look, the long-range weapon seems to be the obvious choice. Being able to burn down an entire fleet of naval ships with just a bow and arrow seems pretty powerful to me. And if you could poison or set an
enemy swordsman on fire before they even reach you, surely you just win, right? Well, it turns out things aren't as cut and dry as you'd think. Technically, anyone can just pick up a bow and arrow and in a few weeks you could probably learn the basics. But to become useful artillery, traditionally archers would go through years of extensive training. You need to have a ton of upper body strength to pull back the bow strength and it takes a while to master the weapons. A it's going to be similar for magic users, too. In most fantasy stories, it takes them years of training to master their spells and requires them to have a full mastery of their mana, the spiritual life force or power that
allows them to use magic in the first place. Much like having the consistent strength to pull back your bow string, you need good power and stamina to continue to use your mana with each attack. Swordsmen, on the other hand, historically only took a couple of months to train. Yes, being a master would take years, too, but swords were such dangerous weapons that even in unskilled hands, they can do a lot of damage. Most sword strikes can range from about 100 to 300 jewels of kinetic energy, which isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things. But when your object is incredibly sharp, it's going to leave a mark. Plus, sometimes medieval strategy was actually more of a numbers game, not a skill game. The Battle of
the Golden Spurs was one such war. In 1302, after years of unrest, many cities in Flanders teamed up and revolted against the Kingdom of France. While the French army was made up of heavily armored and well-trained knights, the rebels were mostly made up of town militia who had some decent training, but were mostly just infantry rather than highlevel masters of combat. However, they had more people, and so they won. Even at lower levels of skill, you can easily overpower the enemy. If it takes four to 6 months to train a swordsman, you're essentially getting four swordsmen for every one archer or
mage, which adds up fast. Suddenly, it becomes much harder to pick them all off before one of them gets through and offers a clean blow. And that problem is only exemplified with the time it takes to actually draw back the bow in the first place. The fastest a person can fire bows and arrows is somewhere between 10 to 14 arrows per minute. That's about 4 to 6 seconds per arrow max. That might sound fast, but those seconds could be the difference between life and death. Those opposing forces can use that time to push through and reach your location. Then what? In the few seconds it takes to reload, you might have already been greeted by the sharp end of a cold blade. The same
applies to magic. It takes precious time to fire and or cast your spell. Meanwhile, a sword can move as fast as you can swing it. It causes instant damage. Swords are also much more versatile. Not only can you change your style of attack from thrusting to cutting to blunt force blows with the hilt, but you can also use them defensively. They can parry other close combat weapons, and in some fantasy settings, you can even use them as a shield of sorts against elemental attacks. But the biggest strength swords have over long-distance weapons is the lack of ammunition. On average, an archer could only hold around 40 to 50 arrows. If you fire all of those rapid fire, then after 5 minutes, you're basically out of artillery. This comes
back to my earlier point about mana as well as other magical aids like ingredients required to make potions or spells. There are a lot of resources required to do magic that often go forgotten. All of which can and will run out if the battle takes too long. The bigger the spell, the more of those resources you need, and therefore the quicker you run out. Sure, you might let off a massive spell that wipes out a huge amount of people, but then you're totally out of materials and mana. So, does this mean you should never pick magic? That swords are just infinitely better? Not quite. Yes. As I've shown, swords are definitely more useful than you initially think, but most historic
armies had a mix of both. Long-range weapons, while slower and less common, offer much needed support. If you have a wave of arrows launching at you, that is a terrifying thing to run into. There's an intimidation factor, a psychological factor beyond the physical. Plus, if you have massive attacks that can destroy waves of enemies, then suddenly the numbers game might become a little easier to manage. Clearly, you are going to need a mix of the two in order to come out victorious. using your sword for close encounters while relying on your staff to attack from afar. Unfortunately, in real life, as we've talked about, it can take a long time to master either of these skills, which
makes using both incredibly difficult. Most people just have to stick to one or the other. And that is typically the same in fantasy media as well. But luckily, in Sword Staff, you don't have to lock yourself into one path. In fact, the game lets you switch classes for free whenever you want. Meaning that if you have commitment issues, you're in luck. So, if you decide you're tired of swinging your sword around, you can just pick up a staff and get spellcasting whenever you want. This is why Sword Staff is being called the third way RPG. Rather than sticking to traditional labels and tropes, they want to give players the freedom to explore, grow, and define their characters and journeys
without any restrictions. So, if you want to see what I mean, or you just want to put my theory to the test about Swords versus Staffs, head on down to the description and click the link, or use the QR code on screen to download the game today. Thanks again to Sword Star for sponsoring this video. And as always friends, remember it's all just a theory, a game theory.
