Blades

In the category of blades are swords, daggers, knives, and cleavers: melee weapons that consist primarily of a cutting edge and are used to slice, stab, or slash. Blades are balanced, versatile, and easy to maneuver, making them ideal for complex techniques like parrying or disarming. They excel in particular at defense and against fleshy targets. However, the balance and long cutting edge also make them ill-suited against armored foes and prohibitively expensive to make.

Daggers
A dagger is a knife specifically designed for combat, primarily in stabbing and slashing attacks. Although too small and light to be a primary weapon for most, these same qualities make it easy to carry and conceal (either as a sidearm or hidden weapon) and particularly suited for striking at weak points: gaps in armor plating, perhaps, or critical spots on an enemy's body. In a pinch a dagger can be thrown with decent speed and precision, or it can be carried in the offhand as a parrying weapon.

Its small size and practical applications make the dagger the favored ceremonial weapon of many cultures, especially when it would be prohibitively expensive and difficult to fashion a larger weapon with exotic materials like dragonbone or obsidian. As such, the dagger is a common sight in arcane rituals and pagan ceremonies.

Dagger variants include the kunai, misericorde, the rondel dagger, the katar, the dirk, and the push dagger.

Shortswords
Usually 2 to 3 feet long, a shortsword is a sword designed to be wielded in one hand, used for stabbing, slashing, and chopping attacks. The primary benefit of a shortsword is that it leaves a hand free for grappling or the use of a shield or another weapon. Short and light enough to remain agile, but still long and heavy enough to retain decent killing power, the shortsword is very versatile, and can be found all over the world as a sidearm or even as a primary weapon.

Shortsword variants include the gladius, the arming sword, the falchion, the cutlass, and the katana.

Longswords
Usually 3 to 4 feet long, a longsword is a sword that can be wielded with one or two hands, used for thrusting, slashing, and chopping attacks. Light enough to be used alongside a shield but not much else, longswords strike a balance between the agility of their smaller brethren and the reach and power of their larger counterparts. This combination of traits makes them the favored weapon of many knights and swordsmasters.

Longsword variants include the spatha, the kriegsmesser, the jian, and the estoc.

Greatswords
Usually 4 to 6 feet long, a greatsword is a sword designed to be wielded with both hands, used for thrusting, slashing, and chopping attacks. The greatsword is long enough to employ polearm tactics with, while its sheer mass is enough to make it decently effective against armor. Certain greatswords place great emphasis on the pommel and crossguard; when held and swung by the blade, a technique known as mordhau, the handle can act like the head of a warhammer. Greatswords are the favored weapons of many Human mercenaries for their killing power, versatility, and impressive appearance.

Greatsword variants include the zweihander, the changdao, the claymore, the odachi, and the flammenschwert.

Dueling Swords
A dueling sword is a sword designed to be wielded one-handed for fencing, primarily employed in thrusting attacks with some slashes or cuts. Lighter than its chopping counterparts, the dueling sword is an agile weapon, well suited for flurries, lunges, dual wielding, and parrying. Unfortunately, it lacks armor-penetrating power, but it is thin enough to slip into any gaps that a skilled wielder can find.

Dueling swords include the sabre, the smallsword, the shamshir, and the rapier.