"Bad" Keyblades in Kingdom Hearts

[@Zylysh]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the buff Divine Rose got in FM that makes it outclass Oblivion. It was originally +10 which made it just one point less than Oblivion.

[@elbow_juice]

I had it in my notes but just realized I totally forgot to script it in 😅. The Metal Chocobo and Olympia final mix stat changes are also worth mentioning here, good catch!

[@MythicMachina]

Saves me making a comment. Oblivion used to be quite decent in vanilla.

[@EuroMIX2]

They did my boy Oblivion dirty in FM.

[@YukeWeiss]

I'm glad this is here. Metel Chocobo and Oblivion used to be a lot better, but they buffed Divine Rose for some reason. I remember using Oblivion a lot.

[@sephirothslayer1152]

I thought the one winged angel was good when I went through the fm. It’s fast attack speed/long reach/high crit chance make it an amazing crit build keyblade, even on par with ultima with the right build.

[@elbow_juice]

I don't care what this video says, I'm gonna keep using Metal Chocobo.

[@user-vg8sn6dy1r]

And i am going to keep playing one winged angel this keyblade is RAW physical powaaaa also it can be combined with strike raid since it always deal critical damage and critical damage with one winged angel deals +20 more damage

[@ultimate_pawnch]

Wait, I was actually going to post this exact comment lol.

[@bubalackgaming8892]

On the plus side, Metal Chocobo is in ReCoded and it absolutely destroys the final boss

[@MasutaMJ]

As a heavy magic user that's the only reason why I don't give it a ton of use

[@theninjasquid2568]

Metal Chocobo is my preferred option when it comes to beating Riku 2 upside the head

[@JuliusKingsleyXIII]

They really fucked up Oblivion and Divine Rose in Final Mix. "What if we just made the best looking Keyblade completely worthless?"

[@sentientwaffle6696]

Screw that. Looks aren't worthless. I use it for longer reach and because it's my favorite looking one.

[@Lauren_C]

@@sentientwaffle6696I used magic fairly often during my KH1 play through, so Oblivion was actively detrimental to how I played.

[@cloudshines812]

One Winged Angel being the worst of the bunch. You beat the hardest superboss yet get a terrible sword

[@umokwhy2830]

​@@Lauren_Cfor you to get ultimate you had to have the maximum mp bar

[@Boomrainbownuke9608]

@@umokwhy2830 you craft the ultima blade with the moogles.

[@Cross-chan]

Real ones remember pre-fm when metal chocobo was better than olympia in every way because it had the higher str stat

[@tylercafe1260]

Actually no Olympia was better in every way because of two big factors. It had a native 1.5 Crit Rate with a whopping +4 Crit Bonus. The Metal Chocobo has a 0.1 Crit Rate with an absolutely abysmal +0 Crit Bonus meaning you're doing less crits for absolutely no reason. It's the main reason Olympia was nerfed going into Final Mix and is still considered the better Keyblade. Olympia now only has x1 Crit Rate and +2 Crit Bonus. Metal Chocobo was never good. Don't gaslight yourself. Metal Chocobo was dealing less damage even in the Base Game.

[@Bro-cx2jc]

​@@tylercafe1260Does 1.5 and 0.1 mean 150% and 10% respectively? Also, please learn how to respect other's opinions. You can have your own, but lying to other people that they're gaslighting themselves is an awkward, out of place thing to do. The other person is probably just going to shrug at your awkward word usage, not care what you think, and keep considering Metal Chocobo as the best. That can't be argued, since everyone's considerations are just opinions.

[@tetsiga45XxX]

@@Bro-cx2jc 1.5 and 0.1 are the odds of landing a crit with 1 being base crit chance, so Olympia crits 1.5 as often as usual and MC crits 1/10th as much as other keyblades. Each keyblade also gains a particular amount of extra damage from crits, which in the case of MC is 0 so its crit chance might as well be 0.

[@Bro-cx2jc]

@@tetsiga45XxX That extra is the crit bonus everyone's been mentioning right? Lkme +2, +4 and all?

[@tetsiga45XxX]

​@@Bro-cx2jc Yep. So, for example, Olympia in base KH1 is 1.5x as likely to crit (haven't found base chances anywhere) and gains +4 to its strength (upping it from 9 to 13) when it does.

[@Brexcon.mp4]

Sweet memories has a use: it’s used to flex and show off your skill. If you can beat a super boss with it, it’s a pretty big flex

[@M0NK3Y42]

Speaking of which. It was in the vanilla version of KH2 so no critical mode or anything like that, but I did beat Sephiroth at level 48 (or 49 can't remember) with Sweet Memories on proud mode. Took a few tries but I eventually did it just to say that I did.

[@pinkiepyro5964]

i always forget to switch off of sweet memories before i go into the coliseum. im happy they removed lucky lucky ability from the weapons, so i can more efficiently farm with the end game weapons

[@amurilloreno]

The sound effect it made also cute and quite an ASMR type when used. So, another good point~

[@jonathanrobinson198]

About BBS, you get Pixie Petals right before endgame starts and after like 4 cutscenes the trio gets their endgame blades. Terra is the only person who rationally gets to use Pixie because he has a fight before getting Ends of the Earth.💀

[@RafaelRodriguesAxelyexNobody]

Bruh 💀

[@tetsiga45XxX]

Funny you mention Ends of the Earth since it has a similar problem, by the time you can get it and/or Chaos Ripper you can also unlock Sweetstack (which effectively had a higher strength bonus due to guaranteed crits and still had decent magic) with a bit of effort.

[@axinhedgelion8417]

Isn’t ends of the earth a beginning game keyblade?

[@tetsiga45XxX]

@@axinhedgelion8417 You're thinking of Earthshaker. Ends of the Earth is the keyblade he gets at Destiny Island.

[@leonmystique9372]

@@axinhedgelion8417 That’s Earthshaker.

[@pinoyboy3552]

when Hidden Dragon inevitably came up, I was actually hoping you would bring up it's only good use is to just be able to swap to Star Seeker LOL

[@Asakedia]

I used that keyblade to fight and beat data Axel no joke xD

[@windwaker2094]

Actually Pixie Petal in Birth by Sleep is immediately outclassed considering the second you get you also get the trio's final form starting keyblades after an exposition dump in their stories

[@TheAzulmagia]

Aqua benefits from Pixie Petal if you're going all in on her being a mage over a physical attacker, but the other two don't really care about it at all.

[@Joost8910]

I wish you talked more about the different keyblades in 358 days, the fact that every weapon alters your moveset plays a huge factor into deciding which ones are useful.

[@elbow_juice]

Totally fair. There could be a whole video on how deep the keyblade system of that game is. I did a playthrough to see if there were any I didn't like. It seemed pretty dependent on personal preference to me, with none feeling super awful to use, just different. That's why I didn't mention any specifically, but it's totally possible I missed one/some with how many there are.

[@jeanriviere2599]

I mean, yeah, he could have talked more about 358, but the game is almost complete trash (the story, as good as it is, doesn't save this horrible game)

[@naysayerck5971]

​@@jeanriviere2599 Just because you don't like the game doesn't mean it's trash.

[@jeanriviere2599]

@@naysayerck5971 I know, there are certainly games I don't like that are not trash, and Days is not one of them.

[@lpfan4491]

@@jeanriviere2599 Nah.

[@OmegaChase1002]

Real ones know that Oblivion used to be stronger than Divine Rose in the PS2 version

[@Bro-cx2jc]

Yeah until I read the top comment I was confused about the stats mentioned

[@MoonlightAce69]

Yep. Pretty sure Divine Rose used to be 8 or 9 strength. Oblivion was the only one besides Ultima to go above 10

[@OmegaChase1002]

They didn't need to nerf Oblivion like that...

[@MoonlightAce69]

@@OmegaChase1002 They really didn't. Made it useless, compared to it originally being the second strongest in the game.

[@OmegaChase1002]

@@MoonlightAce69 Which is a shame cuz it's one of the coolest Keyblades and one I have a lot of memories with.

[@tylercafe1260]

I feel like the Metal Chocobo wasn't really discussed in depth why it sucks. It has really nothing to do with the Stats it has to do with the final description "Rarely Deal Critical Blow" because it actually has +0 Crit Bonus with a lesser 0.1 Crit Rate. Meaning your crits do not boost damage and you stagger enemies less often when you use Metal Chocobo meaning literally any other Keyblade will do better damage. Fairy Harp is still the better Keyblade by the time you even get Metal Chocobo. It's really sad to because it's such a huge Keyblade but deals no bonus damage .

[@honeycrisp808]

Was going to mention this. Metal Chocobo is just awful all around except in reach, and that's genuinely the least important stat in KH1.

[@redpenguin111]

He implied in the previous video that crits don't actually deal more damage in general unless the keyblade has a crit bonus modifier, but I'm not sure if that's true

[@tylercafe1260]

​@@redpenguin111 it's true but that's why it sucks that much more. Everything else can increase crit damage and has higher crit chance. It's just baffling why it's so bad. If it didn't have that -1 MP it'd be just fine but as it stands it's just bad for the sake of being bad.

[@Bro-cx2jc]

​@@tylercafe1260I think it's probably partly the gimmick. At the time you get it normally, it's a few points higher in strength and has incredible reach as it specifies, and there's probably a few fans out there who really enjoy those particular attributes at that time above the other available selections. Of course it gets outclassed soon, but everything does have its moment to shine before something better comes.

[@reddodeado301]

​@@redpenguin111 All crits do at least +2 damage (some modifiers do +4), the crit bonus is just a bonus *on top* of the default extra damage critical hits already do

[@Dr_Donald_Duck]

There is a STR cap for Bosses and certain enemies. This means for example if you don't care about Magic and only need 11 STR to reach the cap, you might prefer the long reach of Oblivion over the Rose. Highly theoretical of course. Use whatever you like best.

[@Bro-cx2jc]

I remember the Defender's strength cap. Takes two hits to go down 🤣 maybe they should have been a bit more strict lmao

[@TimothyGod]

But you forget, divine rose can Crit a lot easier, and you can have the extra mp that oblivion remived

[@sodathejunker]

Beating Sephiroth in KH2 with Gullwing is still one of my favorite gaming moments as a kid. It was literally the opposite of optimized but I loved FFX way too much at that point to unequip it. I didn’t even realize back then that the keyblade was actually seriously boosting my exp so that when I got to Sephiroth I was totally above level

[@zachriku]

In defense of two becomes one , it has the niche but somewhat useful property to force you into anti form , reseting the anti counters , which can help if you want to use them during organisation members/ data boss fights

[@mikaelcrucible]

yeah, but you can force final form so easily with that keyblade and final form spamming lowers anti points much more efficiently too lol

[@michealforguson5317]

Doesn't activating Final Form reset the Anti-Counter?

[@ThisIsntAYoutuber]

Or if you’re insane, use Two Become One to purposely turn into Anti-Form, because that form is an arguably stronger but riskier Valor Form.

[@Robbie_Haruna]

@@ThisIsntAKZbinr I mean that's true, but Valor Form is by and far away the weakest Drive Form anyway so that's not saying much lmao

[@tetsiga45XxX]

@@michealforguson5317 Technically no, it just subtracts 10 points from the counter. Practically speaking though once you have Final Form there's little reason to use the others and you need to wrack up at least 4 points before you even have a chance of triggering Anti.

[@darkheart2287]

Quick note oblivion is actually the strongest physical keyblade in the original outside of ultima with ultima only beating oblivion by 1 str when crit is taken into account because crit boosts were nerfed in final mix for a lot of keys

[@GL_099]

I expected you to mention One Winged Angel's very unique hidden stat: A Critical Bonus of +16, where most other Keyblades have +2 at most. It's the defining trait of the Keyblade mentioned in its description, but since it's not a visible stat, you never really realize just how high it is. It also has a 0.5x Critical Rate though. I haven't messed with it enough to say how useful it is, personally.

[@iancomtois9832]

It's more distracting than useful, really. The Critical Rate is low enough that you never really get a critical hit when you need it, and every swing produces gaudy puffs of flame that don't do anything but sting your eyes with the contrast in dark rooms like the Cave of Wonders.

[@RedFloyd469]

If I can believe the internet, "critical bonus" is not a multiplier or an addition of damage, it's an addition of STR to your critical attack. The problem is that fighting sephiroth will likely happen at the end of your game, with a max or near max levelled character. At that point, Sora is likely to have over 61 strength, which is the ultimate strength cap for bosses. This means that the extra 16 crit bonus in fact doesn't do anything. Damage can NOT go above whatever damage a 61 str hit would do, critical or otherwise. The only way for a crit to do more damage is for it to be a special finisher, a la gravity break or zantetsuken, who deal damage in a different way, calculated differently from base strength, unlike how critical hits are calculated, at which point the one winged angel wouldn't make a difference. This makes the one winged angel functionally useless at the highest levels. I could see it being useful at low or mid levels, but this would require either great or INSANE amounts of preparation and skill in order to beat sephiroth at such levels. If THAT'S the case, do you really NEED one winged angel anymore? I guess it could always be a nice final keyblade for those masochists that somehow finished the sephiroth fight in a lvl1 run but also haven't gotten ultima weapon yet. Maybe it might give a good edge if you're going to be facing "unknown" with a lvl 1 character, though I can't imagine "unknown" being harder than sephiroth any day of the week. Might just be my inexperience talking though. So yeah, other than for very specific and ultimately NOT recommended challenge runs, for the absolute vast majority of players, one winged angel is pointless. It's a nice little reward to get for beating the hardest superboss of kingdom hearts, but that's it. It's a trophy.

[@xXasiahkiinXx123]

3:49 funny fact for sweet memories my sister who isnt much if a gamer used this keyblade to beat sephiroth in kh2 she died alot but her determination to prove me and my big bro wrong was unbreakable

[@kylespevak6781]

I literally never noticed length being an actual stat since im usually close-combat

[@tylercafe1260]

Yeah and things like Slapshot only work at a close range.

[@RedFloyd469]

I guess it might make the difference for some mobs that need to get that extra foot closer to you in order to start their attack animation. functionally, however, and realistically, keyblade length is pointless. Some people even claim a shorter length of keyblade speeds up the keyblade, making shorter blades have a higher dps in the long run. Can't say whether that's real or not.

[@KHGuides]

Wow, I never realized that MP Rage has no effect during MP Recharge. Great video as always, elbowjuice!

[@AshZucchini8168]

Id say Victory Line is a pretty good example of an immediately outclassed keyblade from BBS. It’s seemingly balanced around the idea that you _could_ potentially beat every rumble racing track before beating Olympus or Deep Space, but it’s completely optional, so many players are going to wait until after beating those worlds in order to do so. So, when compared to Frolic Flame or Destiny’s Embrace, it comes off as a fairly good choice, with the only downside being lower magic, and not even that if compared to Treasure Trove, which was previously Terra’s best physical option. But when compared to Deep Space’s Hyperdrive keyblade, the *only* benefit for putting in the extra effort to get it is its higher crit chance, and the problem just gets worse the more keyblades you get after that, especially for Ventus whose mandatory Lost Memory keyblade is driving laps around Victory Line in every single way

[@EuroMIX2]

TIL that keyblade exists.

[@AshZucchini8168]

Lol, I know right?

[@isenokami7810]

Actually, in Birth By Sleep, there is a Keyblade that I think gets immediately outclassed, or at least that’s the issue on the obvious user: Pixie Petal, the Neverland Keyblade. To put it simply, this one has an unfortunate mix of being horribly weighted toward one stat, namely magic, while also being from the final world before endgame. The former means that Terra won’t want this at all, and while you’d think that would conversely mean Aqua WOULD want it…she goes from getting it immediately into the Destiny Island cutscene that gives her Stormfall, generally a better pick. That leaves Ventus as the only one of the Wayfinder trio who’d ever consider using it, since he’s the only one to not get his endgame Keyblade immediately after leaving Neverland, and even then, there are no fights between Neverland and when he gets Lost Memory if you don’t meander. There’s basically no chance to use Pixie Petal on anyone before they get better options.

[@lpfan4491]

Magic is fairly important in BBS(The only non-magic commands the characters want to use are the surges), so there is an valid excuse to use it on Terra.

[@isenokami7810]

@@lpfan4491 Interesting. That said, he’s the only character who would consider using it and only because his endgame stuff focuses on strength because Terra. He still has that “you immediately start getting the endgame Keyblades after getting Pixie Petal” issue.

[@RTMP_]

@@isenokami7810Terra at least has the Eraqus fight first

[@Cross-chan]

​@@RTMP_ He gets Ends to the Earth right before it though and then Chaos Ripper right after

[@RTMP_]

@@Cross-chan It’s been a few years since I’ve played BBS. I’m honestly not surprised that I forgot that.

[@williamrobinson8678]

0:45 So that's where that victory pose from Smash came from.🤔

[@snowarmth]

That's exactly right! It's too bad that it's such a rare occurrence in Smash!

[@cheddarcheeky]

And in KH1 that victory pose was inspired as a reference to Squall's (Leon) victory pose from FFVIII.

[@leonmystique9372]

All keyblades are usable in Re:Coded and can be proven to be useful But then you realize the reason they’re bad is not because of their abilities, it is actually because of when you unlock them, their abilities are downright unusable. Lady Luck falls victim here. You can upgrade Lady Luck, but you’re playing in Olympus Coliseum. That area renders your Keyblade abilities useless. This results in Lady Luck being one of the bad ones, because you unlock Olympia right after, and you can’t even test Lady Luck because of how good Olympia was when you get to Agrabah. Oh and btw, does anyone else use Three Wishes in Hollow Bastion Part 2? I cannot think of anyone using it there because you have Oblivion with Attack Haste as your starting ability.

[@TheShinyFeraligatr]

I leveled all the Keyblades up immediately when I got them. Fucked around with all of them to figure out which I wanted to use most in the postgame grinding.

[@leonmystique9372]

@@TheShinyFeraligatr Whatever suits your fancy, go wild. Re:Coded’s Keyblades are flexible and don’t have a lot of disadvantages compared to their KH1 counterparts.

[@maagic2031]

I like Three Wishes bc its your first sonic arts keyblade and magic upgrade can be cool right when you start getting -ga spells and stuff like Exo Spark. I do think that Lady Luck was done really dirty, though.

[@JI0MB]

I definitely wouldn't say Lady Luck is useless, as it has Renewal Block as its default ability which comes in super handy if you don't wanna have cures clogging up your deck.

[@leonmystique9372]

@@JI0MB It’s not useless in terms of ability, it’s just that when you get it, you can’t fully utilize its potential since you are in Olympus Coliseum, locking keyblade abilities until you finish it And when you do finish it, Olympia is already available to you which provides better offense than most keyblades. I even mentioned the reason why some keyblades are bad in terms of availability, not their ability.

[@nesoukkefka1741]

Fun fact about Divine Rose it was buffed for the Final Mix version in the base KH1 Divine Rose had +10 Strength so just under Oblivion. Sweet Memorie also has it's use if you're playing a Critical LV1, to upgrad Master Form, IIRC I also think multiple Drive Converter stacks between each other, still a very niche Keyblade overall tough.

[@snakwa]

Another great video man! The worst keyblade for me is Hidden Dragon, I’ve never found a use for it and always stick with Kingdom Key until you unlock Hero’s Crest, which I tend to use until the revisit to either Hollow Bastion or Twilight Town. Can’t wait for your next upload!

[@Flutterdark_]

About kh1 Oblivion. in the original kh1 release, Divine rose had 10 strength, not 13 because of this oathkeeper, divine rose and oblivion were a trio magic, balance and strength respectively but because final mix decided to buff divine rose oblivion is just objectively bad. and heck most keyblades become bad because divine rose is that strong. I think Ultima got buffed to be stronger then divine rose but ultima is hard to get. Edit: i see someone already commented on divine rose getting a buff but i still feel its important to point out these 3 roles, since all 3 keyblades are gotten close to eachother and help with playstyles

[@lpfan4491]

So that's something objectively bad that Final Mix did. Good to know.

[@tylercafe1260]

​@@lpfan4491That's not objectively bad. It's the exact opposite.

[@lpfan4491]

@@tylercafe1260 Essencially invalidating a piece of equipment by buffing another one to rediculous proportions when both were already properly balanced? That's fairly objective, I think.

[@JI0MB]

@@lpfan4491 This kinda ties into Final Mix having a lot of weird balance changes in regards to weapon stats in KH1. They made it WAY harder to grind for Ultima in FM, so my guess is they nerfed Oblivion to encourage you to grind for Ultima, but buffing Divine Rose kinda throws that idea out the window which I never understood.

[@grandruby5343]

Worth nothing that in 2FM, Kingdom Key had Damage Control, which is honestly so broken that I damn near don’t change my key blade til oathkeeper to be honest.

[@MythicMachina]

Is Damage Control that good? I've never been able to notice when it takes effect.

[@redpenguin111]

I think in playtesting level 1 (something osaka team should actually do lmao) they found that the Defender ability just didn't matter because stats aren't relevant anymore after LoD 1 due to the generous damage scaling. In the process of fixing this they made a much better ability in general

[@grandruby5343]

@@MythicMachina In all cases except Lvl 1 crit, with damage control you’ll live a lot more attacks like say Cerberus Fireballs for example in OC1. Once you hit late game super bosses, you won’t notice it too often.

[@MythicMachina]

@@grandruby5343 Don't you need to be at low hp for it to work in the first place? By the time I reach Olympus, everything two shots me anyways so I might be skipping the threshold.

[@grandruby5343]

@@MythicMachina You only need half HP for FM as opposed to the critical HP for defender in vanilla.

[@Dr.AvenVon]

In my opinion, the worst keyblade in 358/2 is the ground fokused one. simply because the Air fokused one exists. many enemies an bosses in this game are not hittable on the ground, but every enemy is hittable from the Air

[@michealforguson5317]

Abbadon Plasma, right? The thing I love about Days is that, given the right situation, any Keyblade can be useful. The Stick was an obvious joke. And also a reference to a heartbreaking moment in KH1. Though, the Stick that Roxas finds does do damage with physical attacks, it's very minimal and as such, it's best to rely on magic during that mission.

[@lpfan4491]

@@michealforguson5317 I still find it impressive that Roxas just picks up a stick, says "this be keyblade" and then it actually turns into a keyblade.

[@isenokami7810]

Though it would definitely be a personal preference deal, I feel like someone making a favorite or tier list of the 358/2 Keyblade types would be interesting. In my experience, I prefer the air combo ones for just having the more satisfying combos, but the magic boost ones are really good in the early game when that boost makes Fire a one shot on a lot of standard Heartless. Also worth noting that, in Mission Mode, the different gears do different things for each member of the Organization. Your usual gear that gives Roxas and Xion an air combo Keyblade might make a ground combo weapon for Lexaeus or a strength weapon for Vexen.

[@khfreak5531]

I remember before FM Metal Chocobo was +1 more strength than the Olympia. Now it’s 1 less than the Olympia. The drawback was that it would reduce MP by 1. I don’t know why they removed this trade off in FM. It basically makes Metal Chocobo pointless to use in FM.

[@tylercafe1260]

No it was already pointless. Olympia in the original game had x1.5 Crit Chance and a +4 Crit Bonus. It was straight up broken because Sora could stack Critical Plus more easily in the Original Game so you'll be around x2.5 crit chance while the Metal Chocobo is at x0.10 Chance.

[@khfreak5531]

@@tylercafe1260 Ah, okay. It’s been a long time since I’ve play the PS2 OG.

[@RenKium]

Long comment for warning, but I will always say that Re:Coded’s Ultima weapon will always be the worst keyblade I have seen aside from what’s been listed, ignoring the all or nothing gambles you must make to acquire it, it’s only unique ability once maxed requires a specific command: Zantetsuken and it has a chance to defeat regular enemies instantly, not all the time, just a chance. And even then, there’s already better keyblades to use you get from the main story that gets clocked abilities quicker than Ultima weapon: Oblivion or Zero/One for offensive abilities like All Critical (both), Attack Boost (Zero/One), and Attack Haste + Two-Edged Blade (Oblivion). Or you could go with the defensive Oathkeeper with Undo, Regen, and it’s exclusive Auto-Life. Ultima Weapons feel like a reward and one of the best weapons in Kingdom Hearts, but Re:Coded’s makes it obsolete..

[@leonmystique9372]

The only advantage Ultima has is the (constant) Heavy Blade. Anything else it has, the other keyblades can do better.

[@RexcorJ]

I remember falling in love with Metal Chocobo for helping me out so much in the fight against Riku-Ansem due to being so fast to counter with, while Olympia struggled to keep up. Might have also been the range that Olympia had versus MC, but that lightweight nature was just very handy when guarding/countering his Strike Raid

[@Bro-cx2jc]

Everything has its time to shine, and its own unique fanbase. That's why even the wildly different looks are pretty awesome, not just the attributes. To me it's easy to say the Ultima is your favorite for being the undeniable best (only disadvantage is having to go out of your way a lot to get it), but I like the variety of the others better, always a choice that matters. I only ever got the Ultima once and never did it again. Too much effort for so little payoff.

[@Astaroth1-i5m]

​@@Bro-cx2jcyes, i've always used Lioneheart against Ansem and i was fine.

[@xaviersalens606]

I'm still gonna use two become one. I honestly like messing around with anti form a lot

[@sandwormleto3358]

i love Winner's proof and i was so disappointed that even if you beat all the mushrooms you still need to finish tron's world to make hollow bastion into Radiant garden to actually get the keyblade. Even getting ultima basically requires you finish the while game and every. i really don't like how locked to endgame certain keyblades are, with no new game+ !!!

[@abiean222]

yeah kh3 allowing you to keep all your keyblades starting a new game was a really good idea i wish they had implemented sooner. a lot of the endgame keyblades are just basically trophies because once you get them you have noting to use them on really.

[@BluestCheese]

This was an awesome video, I am going to sub. I genuinely hope you liked making this video as much as I liked watching it

[@dancarter5775]

One thing I feel like is missed about BBS. While yes, most keyblades have their focus, and there is a clear progression to them, I would argue there is still one useless keyblade. That being the reward from Neverland, the Pixie Petal. Immediately after you receive this keyblade, all three characters receive their keyblade upgrade from mandatory Destiny Islands cutscene, which has better stats. If there was a boss or minidungeon or something on Destiny Islands for each character, and the Pixie Petal could be used there, then sure.

[@tylercafe1260]

It's invalidated but not a bad Keyblade. These on the list have zero value and actually harm your build using them.

[@dancarter5775]

@@tylercafe1260 it just doesn't make sense to give the keyblade at all. Sure, it may not be detrimental but it is still redundant.

[@samwise495]

I'll always use Oblivion because it looks cool.

[@jordanholloman5907]

I just love using Oblivion. It seems to resonate with me.

[@widebroadcast6812]

It does

[@Bro-cx2jc]

It does, but my favorite is Oathkeeper. I'm not going through the effort of getting the Ultima Weapon again. I remember it being tiresome the first time. Probably not hard, just a waste of time, the payoff not really being worth it.

[@WonJohngaming]

fun fact: in the original release of kingdom hearts 1 both oblivion and metal chocobo are very useful and good keyblades and in the final mix metal chocobo loses one attack and as for oblivion divine rose was buffed heavily making oblivion useless

[@Nobody_Shroom]

I knew I wasn't insane!

[@JuliusKingsleyXIII]

I wish Two Become One's ability allowed you to go into Anti Form at will after you unlocked Final Form by choosing any other form.

[@ThisIsntAYoutuber]

Is… that not what it does? I thought it guarantees Anti-Form regardless of condition if you have Two Become One (after unlocking Final).

[@Robbie_Haruna]

That's exactly what it does though? Once you unlock Final Form, choosing anything else will 100% put you in Anti Form instead of a 50/50 coin flip for Anti vs Final. That happens to be precisely why it's bad, because Anti Form is only arguably better than Valor form (and miles weaker than every other Drive Form.)

[@leonmystique9372]

I think he meant after unlocking Final Form, you can also choose to go into Anti-Form as well without Two Become One

[@timothyb1836]

Ok so something big that you missed is the way criticals work, basically each keyblade has a hidden, but hinted at in the description, critical rating. The oblivion's is so high you are basically guaranteed to crit thus making it's actual damage output higher than the rose.

[@javaPhysician]

When my brother and I were kids, he challenged himself to beat the entire final boss sequence with Sweet Memories. It was an awesome night.

[@SorakuFett]

Two-Become-One's detrimental effect doesn't apply to a large number of fights. Namely, fights where you don't have Donald and Goofy, so you can actually freely go into Limit Form. This means you can easily take it into the final fights against Xemnas if you'd rather have some more magic than Decisive Pumpkin and you don't want to go through the effort to get Fatal Creat, Fenrir or Ultima Weapon II. Since the first World of Nothingness fights are the last chance you have with Donald and Goofy, there's no reason to not just go Final there, then coast along with TBO and let Roxas get his wish to fight Xemnas in spirit!

[@Savagewolver]

I do kinda miss how having a long or short reach mattered in the subsequent games. Heck, metal chocobo actually took some work for sora to swing, giving the inkling that it was a lot heavier than it was.

[@narutardkyuubi]

I remember noticing it when fighting the Phantom and Kurt Zisa. They kept on moving so much that it was difficult to hit them, but the longer reach helped clear attacks that ordinarily would’ve missed beforehand. The -1 MP penalty hurt though, especially with the Phantom fight due to having to cast Stop on the clock tower

[@HeadCut77]

For KH 4 i would love a combination of Days and 3 system, like each keyblade has it's own combo (and changes form to attack mid combo and/or as finishers as well as common finishers for all keyblades) and be able to level them up to use them even late game just imagine, you have a keyblade that changes to a hammer to send your ennemies flying as your finisher, then you change to a keyblade with a bow or any long range weapon just after to land a second finisher with finish plus at long range, that would be so cool

[@RobinSpellbinder04]

I just beat KH2 today (again) and I managed to forget about Two Becomes One’s gimmick, I was wondering why my anti-form luck was so bad. I feel despair.

[@negimaaddict742]

Honestly I love what the critical mix mod does for the keyblades in KH 1. Using Oblivion, getting that 30 boost to attack, and just trying to not get fucking hit or you die is pretty sweet.

[@computaterjones]

I think metal chocobo has this really weird niche where its size leads to some goofy stuff. I remember using it in the sephiroth fight because the length was enough where you could counter from a safe distance. The length of the keyblades became less critical in the final mix because they gave sora gap closers.

[@Flutterdark_]

bbs has a keyblade that deserves special mention, not for it being objectively bad but because it does something unique Chaos Ripper. Its a Terra only keyblade and it is really amazing with its strength stat at +10, the highest in all of bbs, but it actively reduces your magic attack stat. which is i think the only keyblade that does this since the magic attack stat exists in the series.

[@tylercafe1260]

A bunch of Keyblades in KH1 reduce magic

[@Flutterdark_]

@@tylercafe1260 thats why i said "since the magic attack stat exists" in kh1 a bunch of keyblades reduce max mp, oblivion being one of those, but unless you check your damage you wouldnt know that max mp decides your magic strength. because while everything with mp writes something about enhancing magic and summon power, thats only for the increasers and you could think its an item ability, not part of your mp like it actually is.

[@AphoticLucent]

For 3 the worst Keyblade is the Playstation preorder one, Midnight Blue. Like the other preorders it's a Second Form Keyblade but it has Blizzard Boost and Blizzaza on it to differentiate it. But as Blizzard is mostly an utility spell neither ability really helps much, in fact the only time you really want to use Blizzard for it's damage as a spell is in the Lump of Horror battle as it's one of the few enemies in game that only has an ice weakness. If you're really hurting for Blizzard Boost and Blizzaza you can just go to Arendelle and grab the Blizzard Cufflink from the Labyrinth of Ice. If your willing to jump into Arendelle early you might as well finish it so you get the Crystal Snow which adds Ice damage to you basic attacks while using Blizzard Claws/Blizzard Blades making it a far better choice if you really need take advantage of an ice weakness.

[@AnAverageGoblin]

lmao the kh3 fanboy can't spell

[@moistman3110]

Bad or not, One Winged Angel will always be my favorite keyblade. Having a katana with a fireball attached is just too sick.

[@L1v1ngDeAdGirl]

The thumbnail literally has my 3 favorite kh1 keyblades...

[@PrettyGothBoi6085]

I can relate. Especially with oblivion.

[@Zyga21]

I appreciate the effort but I really feel like this should've been an hour long video that goes into depth about every keyblade, this is the only suitable sort of content to watch while I'm having dinner :(

[@taqresu5865]

I've always been a fan of the Metal Chocobo Keyblade. FF7 was my first JRPG, so it was the perfect tribute. It's also my Keyblade of choice for fighting Sephiroth. I'm glad that KHUX and KH3 introduced the ability to level up Keyblades.

[@SondaroSasuke]

Sweet memories had one other good use for me: bragging rights with my friends from beating Sephiroth with it 😂

[@michaelirazori9214]

The only design I don’t like is Descisive Pumpkin. It’s ability is strong, but it honestly doesn’t look like a key on the top part.

[@redpenguin111]

Hidden dragon has a decent use as a budget Myst. Abyss for Data Axel. You lose out on blizzard boost, but you don't have to do Atlantica and you can use potions instead of ethers for the entire fight.

[@nobodysbusinezz]

in my original playthrough of KH2 I used Sweet Memories more than most keyblades because I was farming synth mats for journal completion. It was actually pretty annoying. I don't remember if 2.5 had a lucky lucky keyblade or not, but it surprised me to see how they changed that.

[@Binary79]

I recall on my first playthrough I was stuck at a boss and only after getting Metal Chocobo was I able to continue playing.

[@drakewarnock1239]

I haven't played many of the newer games, so I can only really comment on the earlier games, but I think you're discounting how useful reach is. I try to focus on physical attacks mostly. I figured Donald is magic, Goofy is defense, so Sora should be attack. And if you aren't using much magic then a longer range keyblade is just...so helpful. So I personally love the Metal Chocobo and Oblivion both!

[@shiftfire4511]

Honestly, Divine Rose is actually balanced in the original game for when you get it. It's a little weaker than Oblivion at +10, much shorter, and has no crit bonus. Meanwhile, Oblivion is mostly unchanged between versions, although they nerfed the crit bonus for some reason. But for some unholy reason, they gave divine rose *3 more strength* with no downside other than no crit damage, making it a monster in pure stats and almost unmatched in general. Divine Rose will get you through the rest of the game, including all the optional bosses if you want, as in Final Mix it's stronger than Ultima Weapon from the original game! And you just...get it. Without ceremony or even a challenge, it's just given to you. Why bother going through the challenges for the niche Diamond Dust, the flawed One Winged Angel, or even the horrific grind of the Ultima Weapon if you have such a powerful alternative for free? Heck, Ultima Weapon is actually even harder to get in Final Mix, and is only *one* strength higher.

[@latinogamer1012]

The Oblivion keyblade got me through the sephiroth boss fight because longer keyblades have longer i-frames when your keyblade gets deflected, which is useful in when he uses his desperation move octaslash. That's the only use I find with Oblivion over Divine Rose

[@Did_No_Wrong]

They really didn't think it through with Oblivion and metal chocobo because you get better keyblades literally in the same level you recieve them. They should have given oblivion after the 1st riku fight when u reclaim the Keyblade and metal chocobo after the Pegasus cup instead

[@Londobelle]

I think that Two Become One still has some use. Since the ability only affects base form sora, once you unlock Final Form, putting it onto Final Form to take advantage of its high stats is a good use for it until you get some of the strongest keyblades in the game.

[@mayac69]

I will always love KH3 for making Oblivion good enough to reasonably use. I've always love the way it looks but I always have something better.

[@DADA-yt1pt]

I haven't unlocked it yet, but Oblivion looks like a really cool reward for beating Critical Mode.

[@supersaiyanmikito]

I'd like to bring up End of Pain from DDD. You can technically consider it a trophy keyblade, I cannot help but be dumbfounded at the sheer uselessness of it. It is totally outclassed by Ultima which requires you to just beat one boss while End of Pain will most likely be the final item in the game you obtain. I seriously cannot imagine a single scenerio where someone will obtain End of Pain before Ultima Weapon. At the very least, a casual player might look at the other two and try them out. As for Days, any keyblade with long multi-hit attacks. The combos and hit detection are incredibly jank and many enemies don't flitch in Days so it makes anything with quick simple swings really good.

[@dave9515]

And ultima isn't even the best weapon in DDD. That goes to the light up glowtoy keyblade. I forgot its name.

[@MythicMachina]

​@@dave9515Unbound.

[@GamingintheAM0801]

No mention of Lady Luck from KH1?

[@MMaDness21]

1:53 One other thing also to consider is the fact that divine rose also has an insanely high critical rate. Slap that with critical plus plus slapshot, and you will watch health bars melt. In my current play through, it is extremely hard for me to justify using any other keyblade because the critical rate is just that good

[@tylercafe1260]

Divine Rose doesn't boost Crit Damage. It only has a x2 crit chance but a +0 crit bonus. The crit bonus has nothing to do with it. The strength is just that insanely high

[@MMaDness21]

@@tylercafe1260 ahhhh I see. Forget I said this then.

[@JusticeSolaris85]

Every once in a while i use Winner's Proof for its 7 in magic that can become quite handy sometimes, it helped me quite a lot with Vexen and even Demix comboed with Bond of flame for Fire boost damage

[@Scorchlette]

Never forget that DIVINE ROSE *STOLE* OBLIVION'S STRENGTH IN FM

[@Mimiyan_or_Pikapikafan]

In Re:Coded, Oathkeeper kind of outclasses most keychains in general, because you get access to Undo without needing any clock guage level up, and with that you don't have to worry about status affects, and can freely equip Accessories that allow you to for example, have either more Def, Atk, or Magic at 25% HP or less, do counter attacks when you block with either a standard attack or using a command, and most importantly: Once More and Second Chance are Accessories in Re:Coded. Undo makes it so your kit isnt limited at all by status affects, meaning you don't need to equip gear or Esauna for them, meaning you have more freedom everywhere else. That's just the 1st part of the skill tree. My set up is Level 2 with Regen, and Level 3 with Auto-Life. And EXP Boost at level MAX, otherwise both level MAX abilities are good (either reduced physical or magic damage taken). Undo makes the super bosses (Data-Roxas, Bug-Data-Roxas, and Bug-Data-Riku) way easier to prep for, and fight, because you dont jave to worry about clock guage level 1 or silence ect. And that's just the super bosses. Eliminators, and Yellow-Bug/Speedy Wizards and Invisibles are incredibly deadly. And all 3 have different status affects they can do. Undo is just that OP in Re:Coded Edit: this is assuming you aren't doing a level 1 run or command less playthrough. In those cases Lady Luck having Drain Block is incredibly useful

[@CurtisDoesADig]

I have to say, I love love love Kingdom Hearts 3, but I completely forgot that you could switch keyblades in combat (I played when it first came out but haven't again since)

[@dustinj918]

I had a run in KH2 where for the entirety of the game (excluding the Solar Sailer segment since even I'll admit that was too daunting) I switched to Hidden Dragon as soon as I got it and didn't switch to anything else. It was a personal challenge.

[@EggyEggtoast]

Me beating Og KH2 a dozen times with Sweet Memories Not because I wanted a handicap or anything I just kept forgetting to switch out of it after item farming

[@t_g_gamerftw5075]

Now Hidden Dragon actually does have a very interesting use late game, especially for level 1 runs of Kh2. Axel's data fight. You can actually abuse the hp drain from the flames to keep your mp recharging, and instead use health items to charge mp. This means you can pop an hp item when it is safe to do so, and then also not have to worry about your mp running out at the critical moment when you don't have the time to pop an item. Combined with certain accessories that also give you the upgraded MP rage ability you can be affectively spamming ice and reflect the entire battle using just regular hp potions. This can make it really easy to chain combo's better as well. Of course there are other ways to beat Axel's data fight, and much better keyblade options for dealing damage, but this is a pretty good option for those with lower skill levels and allows you to make the occasional mistake, as you aren't stuck at the usual 1 hp for most of the fight and can sometimes fumble a hit and not die and the generous mp means more defensive reflect casting. This makes learning his patterns a lot easier.

[@jamesmason3734]

did people figure out the stats for the wooden sword and struggle bat to see their stats?I know they're probably really bad but I do wonder what they are

[@AndroidHarris]

You forgot victory line from birth by sleep. Its so bad its forgotten. You didnt even show it.

[@mikeyjk6813]

Hold on in KH3 you can upgrade keyblades how on earth have i missed this

[@Soulsnatcher89]

Something worth mentioning is Divine Rose in KH1 has an absurdly high deflection rate too, so it could combo through attacks meaning it cheesed everything in game

[@felman87]

If we're going to mention keyblades that are useless because you get them so late, I nominate Ultima. Considering all the grinding you'll have to do to get the materials, what's there left to do afterwards?

[@trevsoda]

im pretty sure kh2 drive converter stacks, equipping 1 turns 50% of munny into drive, and equipping 2 makes it 100%, so sweet memories is useful for master form grinding even after sora gets drive converter

[@tylercafe1260]

Yeah but outside that specific use there's no reason to stack them ever.

[@alanevans5353]

playing KH1 I naturally leveled enough that I was strong enough to make due with any keyblade I had equipped regardless of the stats, I think that game is the most forgiving when it comes to which keyblade you use. (I used Kingdom key for most of the game until I got Oathkeeper, which I then used to finish the game) I haven't played the other games enough to say for sure how I feel about keyblade choices exceppt KH2, and I definitely just found myself upgrading to the newest keyblade for basic combat, and swapping occasionally for specific situations like you mentioned in the video. KH3 I found myself messing around with random keyblades all the time to see what the different forms were until I got to the boss gauntlet at the end, because at the same time I learned you could level up the keyblades so I picked my strongest one (I think it was the pirates of the Caribbean one) and leveled it as much as I could. I did that on my Critical playthrough when that update dropped, in my first playthrough on proud the game was a complete cakewalk until the very final Xehanort fight, which was quite difficult. Strangely Xehanort was much easier on Critical, at least compared to the Young Xehanort/Xemnas/Ansem fight right before him.

[@Gkiss3955]

I never used Divine Rose in my recent KH1FM playthrough because I was more focused on using magic. I only switched my Keyblade like 4 times. Also, currently doing KH2FM and I have absolutely no motivation to change by Keyblade so far, just did Timeless River. Damage control is just so much more useful than what the other Keyblades provide on Critical Mode.

[@Nobody_Shroom]

Metal chocobo went from my Riku ansem killer to a hunk of metal in my pocket. Why would final mix change these stats around?

[@agitpolat1061]

Final Mix basically goes with the assumption that Reach > everything else, so MChocobo (and Oblivion for that matter) is balanced under the assumption that its Length makes for a good selling point to use it. The Problem is that the Playerbase doesn't share that view, hence why its commonly seen as so bad.

[@Nobody_Shroom]

@agitpolat1061 Yeah, I really wish they didn't do that. Like, the room before final rest was surprisingly difficult because I decided to use oblivion because... idk. And I just couldn't (I was on proud) that was until I switched to divine rose and it became a peice of cake. I miss the times where the coolest looking keyblade was useful😔

[@agorel]

Love your videos man, excited to watch this one when I get off work tonight

[@MythicMachina]

For KH3, I personally think Crystal Snow is the worst key in that game. Blizzard Blades is an awesome form, but you gotta go through the claw form which I just do not like. The abilites and stats on it just aren't that great either imo. It's not bad, but it just feels lacking compared to some other options.

[@thetronwarriors4817]

But wouldn't crystal snow be a good keyblade for magic. I remember watching a KH3 KZbin video about a magic based build and crystal snow was listed as one of the keyblades to use for a a magic based build

[@DADA-yt1pt]

​@@thetronwarriors4817 That's what I really like about KH3. Thanks to the Keyblade upgrade system, even the least useful Keyblades can still have a good amount of use.

[@BlueCastleGaming935]

I wonder if it’s possible to do a randomizer run in which you use sweet memories and no strength. I wonder how that would work if you’ll still do damage with zero strength

[@uberfreak2]

Iirc wasnt there an endgame keyblade in DDD that came with a bonus triggering reality shifts more often?

[@Bogeynator]

I want to offer one argument for Sweet Memories, which is that it's useful as a source of Drive Converter in situations where the one you get by level isn't available for some reason. While Dream Sword and Dream Shield get Drive Converter at reasonably early levels of 41 and 53 respectively, Dream Rod doesn't get it until level 99. If either you want to max out master form without overlevelling yourself or you're doing a level 1 run where can't get the level up Drive Converter at all, Sweet Memories is your only option.

[@nickhatessnow763]

The big issue with oblivion imo is that it would've been great at the start of Hollow Bastion to deal with the wyverns but you get it AFTER Riku so it's only really useful in like the guant chasm in The End of the World if you wanna get every single chest in one run without getting knocked off but even then magic works fine.

[@LuizHenrique9406]

I do like to use Two Become One, on the second slot of Master Form. 5 Strenght and 3 Magic do help with it's damage output, specially since I tend to run either Decisive Pumpkin or Ultima Weapon as main And in BBS, there's one keyblade that is instantly outclassed, and it is Pixie Petal. Poor keyblade has the unfortunate placement as being right before everyone gets the upgraded version of it's base keys, and only usable before the upgrade, by Terra, and in one fight. Although it's stats aren't great for him, so it is better to hold onto either Darkgnaw or Mark of a Hero, or grind for Sweetstack

[@videoforlife7086]

I do like the two become one keyblade. Only if I'm done grinding all the forms, cause I found anti form useful if you're having trouble hitting enemies that move around a lot

[@Magulousmous]

I actually like to sometimes use One-Winged Angel now that I’m level 100 and can set as much magic as I need in a battle thx to certain accessories. Also I like how it creates a flame when I swing it.

[@ProxyFox45]

I remember getting the Divine Rose and immediately writing it off for aesthetics alone. I knew the Oblivion was worse but it’s got so much style

[@luckyducky7819]

I've always liked the design of the Metal Chocobo. I can't explain why, but there's something awesome about it essentially being a chunk of metal and a handle.

[@MythicMachina]

It looks like someone built a replica Kingdom Key out of the scaffolding on a construction site.

[@luckyducky7819]

@@MythicMachina Yeah, isn't it awesome?

[@cronanevermore2033]

I think you could've made mention of the deflection stat as well for the KH1 blades. Oblivion becomes even worse due to it's relatively low deflections stat. At least Metal Chocobo's is high

[@iancomtois9832]

Not high enough to deflect Riku-Ansem's attacks like Olympia can, so his point stands

[@TotallyCluelessGamer]

@@iancomtois9832 My dude, Olympia and Metal Chocobo have the same deflection/recoil stat, they're 2 of the 4 Keyblades in the game with a 90 deflection/recoil alongside Ultima Weapon and One Winged Angel(Deflection/recoil only comes in 1, 30, 60 or 90). Any difference in performance when deflecting moves with keyblades with the same stat in that regard is down to which attack you actually clash with since Finishers and named moves generally have an innate value they add to your weapon's. I have a spreadsheet on every Keyblade in KH1 and KH1FM's stats because I went through a phase of being that enamored by how in depth the numbers on keyblades in KH1 were.

[@michealforguson5317]

I use Sweet Memories only for leveling up Master Form. Add on Wishing Lamp and the natural Drive Converter ability Sora gets and every Munny drop becomes a Drive Orb.

[@twitchtubeboyjamie]

I kinda wanna just mention Oathkeeper cause you get it technically after Fairy Harp but I'm not sure about mentioning that cause I don't know which one is better

[@MythicMachina]

There is still a bit of time between Oathkeeper, so Fairy Harp can still be useful.

[@thetronwarriors4817]

Yeah just use fairy harp until you get oathkeeper if you decide to get lady luck after unlocking white trinity use that until you get oathkeeper

[@xXMasterJ360Xx]

They made the OathKeaper 2nd strongest in KH3 its just -1 stat from the Ultima Weapon...... I'm like wtf?

[@omegahaxors9-11]

Important to note since it was glossed over, that because Days puts all the damage in your finisher, fast weapons with long combos end up being really bad in the game, with a lot of them being outclassed by the standard starter weapon's Ha-tyh! putting out more finishers and therefore having much higher damage output. The only real downside is that you have way less upgrade slots, but there's a later game version of your standard weapon which fixes this and a lot of the times taking up less space on the board is actually a good thing for weapons, as shown by weapon types with the gimmick of being way too big to fit into a lot of builds.

[@matheusheringer9569]

Hidden Dragon shines on final mix version, where you can use Limit Form and evolves using said limits which cost MP. using Hidden Dragon to spam limit on the 1k heartless fight make it's faster to grind limit lvls. though cant go max right way without having final. on the note of "to late to be useful" i fell like every ultima weapon falls in the that chart, specially on kh1 where only the final boss and optional bosses can be a prey of that. alongside One-Winged-Angel there's also the Diamond Dust, reward of Gold Match which is prior to Platinum Match (sephorth figth) and also pretty late game

[@tylercafe1260]

Well that's actually not as good as you think. Limit Form already comes with MP Rage. So again Hidden Dragon really doesn't help. You can also get it on base Sora meaning you could already have two MP Rages without Hidden Dragon. Worthless. Worthless.

[@fabioelcazatesoros]

One Winged Angel is the strongest physical keyblade in KH1, it has an insane critical bonus of +16 damage, making it so when it deals critical hits they deal the highest damage in the game by far. Its critical chance is 0.5, which is low, but there are some combat modifiying abilities that assure a critical blow and with combo + they can be spammed. Also, the game considers it a heavy keyblade, so you can counter-attack after a parry, which is incredibly useful against most enemies. Is a, shame there is not more postgame content to test it out