Where the sword has been nerfed a bit to take away the “always win” ability I figured that would satisfy the major gripes with it, but I’m still not seeing it being used in ranked.
Is there still shame in using the sword? Why?
Edit: Serious question folks. Do you think the sword is still broken?
Dont know. I grab it all the time. But then again iam just a filthy casual :3
I have no shame.
Or at least I wouldn’t if I could actually get into a ranked game 
I have it set to region - and I have found zero games in the last week.
That sucks, sorry to hear. Does it work with open?
Played a few games of BTB last night. Worked well. Points of 25ms and 60ms were the best I’ve had in a month.
Can get Team Slayer games. Good pings.
So I’ve been head’s down in Forge. So pretty happy.
Would love to tackle ranked though. Get a feel for the new CSR matching. But I averaged 205ms in the last month of last season. It was like trudging through mud.
Its there for you to use and can certainly “turn the tide” in your favor (or against you, lol) when the timing works out. Grab it and get to work.
Nah, pick that bad boy up.
Shame is the product of pride, and pride goeth before getting stabbed.
Use that to your advantage. If people are too prideful to pick up the sword, make them regret it. 
It’s a cute novelty, but it’s super easy to counter on most maps. The most ideal with just keeping some distance from the sword wielder shuts them down rather easily.
Needlers one of the funner ways to do it…
Well, I dont have a problem picking it up. I am just wondering why pros are still turning their noes up at it.
“Take this sword or die upon it!”
~Random Brute Captain, New Mombasa, ONI Alpha Site, 2552
My question may sound a bit cheeky, but I’m genuinely curious why it still isn’t being used.
There is no shortage of self proclaimed pros and competitive purists here. Why don’t y’all use it?
343i said that they changed the sword trade mechanic a bit so that the sword wielder will die sometime if they get meleed by their victim. However, I haven’t seen or experienced any sword trading so I don’t know if this update even went into effect. Even if it had, though, I think many feel that it makes ranked games less fun. Without a one-shot kill shotgun on the map to balance the sword, hallways and rooms become unusable when someone has the sword. It encourages camping and it’s not a very skillful kill. I’m happy when people don’t pick it up, I just think that Recharge and Catalyst games are more fun without it.
I do like the sword as a weapon; it’s an interesting part of the sandbox. If a few changes were made then I’d be happy to have it in ranked. First, I’d like a one-shot shotgun to counter it or place the replusor away from it so that the opposing team can use it to counter the sword wielder (the repulsor is right by the sword on Catalyst and Recharge). Second, reduce the sword’s magnetism a lot and reticle friction a little. Third, add a little bit of time between swings.
How many games have you played since the update? I’ve played around 20 games of ranked so far and every time I’ve got Recharge the sword gets used.
Not really noticed it been easier to take out, although didn’t think it was too bad in 4v4 before the update.
Just team shoot or use the repulser.
It’s a lot less frustrating - I’m finding it harder to rank up but losing a match doesn’t drop you down to the basement - so far.
That could change though when I rank higher.
The only people who should care about the agreement to not use sword are pros, rest can use it. I think you’re seeing a bunch of bad players not pick it up. Saw in low onyx season 1 when I played ranked a lot. A lot of players are oblivious to any pick ups. Even watching streamers, people don’t pick things up and just run by them.
I don’t really care when people use the sword; however, I’m not sure the new trade mechanic works like it should all the time. I have already had a few encounters where the sword carrier has no shield, grapples me, and then when I melee for the trade only I die and the sword carrier survives, not sure if anyone else has had this happen but it seems hit or miss…almost like everything else with this game…
You must be right. I had an encounter tonight where I had 4 shots in a sword carrier as they were sprinting at me. Their shields were popped, but I couldn’t clutch the perfect so I threw my elbow at the final moment. It connected, but I was disappointed to see in my death screen they had red-barred. How close must they be to death for a trade, 343? Because no shields and half health should be more than enough.
Two things… unless you’re playing with a GA… then use it. Secondly, there’s still a problem with trading against someone with the sword. Like many others, I’ve had lots of experiences where a sword user with popped shields simply doesn’t die when they take a melee hit… I die, but somehow they’re still alive… I guess it could be desync still.
Same here. I had already multiple times where i had the shields shot down from a sword-carrier and then meleed them when they lunged into me. They still always survived and i got killed. That new mechanic doesn’t seem to work…
I hadn’t touched ranked since half way through season 2, but a group of friends convinced me to play and rank in earlier this week. Gold 1!!! How!!! Granted, I was playing with friends of a higher calibre than myself, so I wasn’t getting the KDA I usually would, but Gold 1 is a shock… I was got to Plat 6 I think last season.
Had the sword issue in multiple games out of ten during the ranking in process.