Buster Sword

The Buster Sword is a non-elemental cat toy available to NoLegs in Epic Battle Fantasy 5.

Description

The Buster Sword is a single-edged sword with a disproportionately massive blade, a small, rectangular crossguard and a nondescript hilt. Its offhand item is a roughly square shield. Both items are made of brown cardboard "reinforced" with strips of silver duct tape.

Normal

In the initial version of EBF5, the Buster Sword was literally useless, providing no stats whatsoever and being weak to three elements. It was objectively the worst weapon in the entire game, if not the series - its only positive was being obtained at the same time as the much more useful Star Hammer.

However, the v2 update completely overhauled the Buster Sword to make it somewhat viable (and much more accessible). It has good offenses and Accuracy, decent defenses and Evade, and a HP boost only surpassed by the Blood Bank and the Riot Shield. It also enhances buffing skills and can occasionally unleash Paper Storm with its weapon-elemental skills (including its Normal Attack counter), enabling NoLegs to support the party with his wide range of buffs and the odd Dispel. Incidentally, this basically makes it Gungnir with three elemental weaknesses.

While theoretically useful for an offensive support build, the v2 Buster Sword is outclassed in all of its main niches. The Icecream Sandwich and the Dog Sausage are better for buff builds, while the Honjo Masamune and the Star Hammer have better nonspecific damage. Even as a balanced non-elemental weapon, it's overshadowed by the superior resistances and more versatile bonus skills of the Steel Buckler and the Pixel Popper.

The Buster Sword is weak to Fire, Water, and Wind, none of which change at any level.

Equip Remix

The Alt Buster Sword is a fragile cat toy that still packs a punch, with impressive Attack and acceptable Magic Attack. It may unleash Paper Storm with weapon-elemental skills, counters attacks with Blade Blitz (which can trigger its unleash), and occasionally summons an Origami Dragon between turns to attack all foes while buffing the party's Evade.

While it suffers from three elemental weaknesses and has no defensive bonuses apart from its unreliable auto-skill, the Alt Buster Sword is NoLegs's strongest physical option in Equip Remix (aside from the Alt Star Hammer, which is only available in the endgame). It fills a similar niche as the normal version of the Honjo Masamune - a potent offensive weapon that makes NoLegs even more vulnerable than usual - and should be built around accordingly.

The Alt Buster Sword is weak to Fire, Water, and Wind, which remain constant no matter its forging level.

Epic Battle Fantasy 5

The Buster Sword is obtained in the left wing of the Greenwood Library; the Stepladder is necessary to reach the chest. Prior to the v2 update, it was obtained as the "reward" for defeating God in the Temple of Trials.

	Buster Sword
	The strongest sword of all. Made from 100% recycled cardboard. May unleash Paper Storm while attacking. Level 3: Counter-attacks with Normal Attack. Level 5: Increases the effect of buff skills used.

Statistics
Stat Bonus												Resistance
	LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5
	5%[0%]	10%[0%]	15%[0%]	20%[0%]	25%[0%]	-	-	-	-	-	-		-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%
	30%[0%]	40%[10%]	50%[0%]	60%[0%]	75%[0%]		5%[0%]	5%[0%]	5%[5%]	10%[0%]	10%[0%]		-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%
	30%[0%]	40%[0%]	50%[10%]	60%[5%]	75%[0%]		5%[0%]	5%[0%]	5%[0%]	10%[5%]	10%[0%]		-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%
	5%[0%]	5%[0%]	5%[0%]	10%[0%]	10%[0%]		5%[0%]	5%[0%]	5%[0%]	10%[0%]	10%[0%]	Element		----
Spells & Statuses
			Power					Chance Modifier				Attack Status
Auto Skill			--					--				-	-	-	-	-	-
Bonus Skill			200					(20%)					-	-	-	-	-
Auto Status			--					--				-	-	-	-	-	-
Defend Status			--					--					-	-	-	-	-

Forging Information
Lvl	Requirements			Lvl	Requirements
2	x 2	--	--	3	x 4	--	--
4	x 5	--	--	5	x 1	--	--

Statistics with Equip Remix enabled.

	Buster Sword
	The strongest sword of all. Made from 100% recycled cardboard. May unleash Paper Storm while attacking. Level 3: Counter-attacks with Blade Blitz. Level 5: Randomly casts Origami Dragon between turns.

Statistics
Stat Bonus												Resistance
	LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%
	50%	65%	80%	95%	110%		-	-	-	-	-		-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%
	10%	20%	30%	40%	50%		-	-	-	-	-		-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%	-30%
	-	-	-	-	-		-	-	-	-	-	Element		----
Spells & Statuses
			Power					Chance Modifier				Attack Status
Auto Skill			--					--				-	-	-	-	-	-
Bonus Skill			200					(25%)					-	-	-	-	-
Auto Status			--					--				-	-	-	-	-	-
Defend Status			--					--					-	-	-	-	-

Forging Information
Lvl	Requirements			Lvl	Requirements
2	x 1	--	--	3	x 8	--	--
4	x 2	x 4	--	5	x 1	x 1	x 6

Trivia

• The Buster Sword is an explicit reference to Cloud Strife's Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII. Despite being the weakest sword available for him, it has gone on to become an icon closely associated with Cloud (and, to an extent, the Final Fantasy series as a whole).
• In the equipment shop of Hope Harbor, there is a proper metal Buster Sword on the counter.
• Fitting its original status as a complete joke weapon, the Buster Sword has the simplest upgrade requirements of any equipment in the EBF series, requiring a modest number of exceedingly cheap items. Oddly, even after being made into an actual weapon in the v2 update, its upgrading requirements are unchanged.