Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Sword

• Notes
  • All attacks cut ropes and go through walls, ceilings, and floors

Overhead Slash (Press 1)

• Tips
  • Use this mainly to hit something through a wall, as it's quick and keeps Kirby in place.
  • Otherwise this should generally be used to lead into Spin Slash.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 16 dmg

Sword Beam (Overhead Slash at max HP)

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 16 dmg

Multisword Attack (Mash 1 during Overhead Slash)

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1st hit is NOT comboed from Overhead Slash - 8 dmg
  • 1st hits IS comboed from Overhead Slash - 7 dmg
  • 2nd, 3rd hit - 7 dmg per hit
  • 4th hit - 10 dmg
  • 5th hit near - 28 dmg
  • 5th hit far - 32 dmg
  • Sweet spot for final hit at the sword's tip.
  • Entire Combo (Overhead Slash + Multisword Attack) does 79 dmg max.

Drill Stab (Dash + 1 on ground)

• Tips
  • Same horizontal speed as sliding, but harder to time thanks to harder button input, so stick to sliding when possible.
  • Carries off across ledges, so use it over sliding for one-space gaps or when falling off a ledge intentionally.
  • Can be used to plow through generic ground enemies; however, due to considerable hitlag, it may be more beneficial to just jump over the enemies, or use a falling Sword Spin.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1st hit - 12 dmg
  • 2nd hit - 10 dmg
  • Total max - 22 dmg
  • Lunge at a foe from a bit of a distance to do a combo
  • Can combo into Upward Slash at any time during the move
  • Invincible for the duration of the move

• Distance ^[2]
  • Flat ground: 5.3 blocks

• Speed ^[2]
  • Successive first-frame Drill Stabs seems to be 46 frames apart. That's 46/5.3 = 8.7 frames/block on flat ground.
  • With slower timing, say 51 frames apart, it's 51/5.3 = 9.6 frames/block on flat ground.

• Hitlag: 3 frames for enemies and cuttable cords. ^[2] Will often hit enemies multiple times.

Sword Spin (Dash + 1 in midair)

• Tips
  • Disregarding hitlag, Kirby does not horizontally slow down in the air while using this. As a result, this should be the only aerial attack Kirby ever uses for clearing enemies while moving (never use Chop & Thrust for stage clearing). This is most important for the Challenge Room.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 12 dmg
  • Can be used on the ground if executed just before landing.

Chop and Thrust (1 in air)

• Tips
  • When Kirby hit an enemy with this move, he bounces off of the enemy. This is very bad for generic enemies, as it slows him down considerably.
  • However, the rebound can be useful for dealing with bosses safely, if the player isn't familiar with the boss patterns to use Sword Kirby's better moves yet.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 16 dmg

Down Thrust (Down + 1 in air)

• Tips
  • Use this to descend rooms very quickly.
  • Down Thrust does not have invincibility while falling. Though most foes die quickly enough to not be a problem, enemies with more health, all harmful obstacles, and gordos will stop Sword Kirby's Down Thrust and damage him. Be careful while using this.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • Sword Strike - 22 dmg
  • Shock wave - 16 dmg
  • The sword is a sweet spot, hit with it directly as opposed to striking from the side for the most damage.
  • Brief invincibility during start up and when landing.

• Speed

Upward Slash (Up + 1)

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1st hit - 12 dmg
  • 2nd hit – 8 dmg
  • Max total – 20 dmg
  • 2nd hit against a boss is when Kirby is at the peak and has run out of a invincibility.
  • Can be combo'd from Drill Stab

Sword Dive (Down + 1 during Upward Slash)

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • Dive hit is NOT comboed from Upward Slash - 12 dmg
  • Dive hit IS comboed from Upward Slash – 10 dmg
  • Ground impact hit – 32 dmg
  • Max total – 44 dmg
  • Entire combo (Upward Slash + Sword Dive) does 62 dmg
  • The dive hit does 10 dmg if it comboes almost immediately after either hit of Upward Slash, later hits result in 12 dmg.
  • Sword Dive's ground impact damage on small bosses Kirby has to be almost overlapping with them to overcome mercy invincibility.
  • On Whispy Woods it's possible to get a combo for 62 dmg using both hits of upward slash and sword dive.

Spin Slash (Hold 1, release)

• Tips
  • This is Sword Kirby's best attack to use against any grounded bosses/minibosses
  • To spam Spin Slash quickly (also applies to Meta Knight's Spin Slash):
  1. Press and hold 1 (Kirby should do an overhead slash first; this is ok, and helps tack on a little damage)
  2. Let go of 1 when charged
  3. While Kirby is spinning, hold 1 again. By the end of the attack, he should immediately start charging again. Repeat from step 2.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1st hit - 12 dmg
  • 2nd, 3rd 4th & 5th hit - 10 dmg per hit
  • 6th hit - 28 dmg
  • Total Max - 80 dmg
  • Invincible for the duration of the move

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Frame tests by Yoshifan. This involved DVD-recording a test run, and then analyzing the recording frame-by-frame in 60 FPS using VirtualDub. For detailed info on the setup, see this SDA forum post. The block measurements and frames/block tests are particularly prone to inaccuracy, because the human eye is used to count "blocks" in the terrain and figure out exactly how many frames it takes for Kirby to travel a certain amount of blocks. It is estimated that test results may be up to 0.5 frames/block off from the actual values, possibly more if block-counting or math mistakes were made. If one could test on emulator, using a memory value to see what is Kirby's x and y position (or even x and y speed) according to the game, that could result in much more robust tests than these.