Swords

The sword is the generalist blade, in one-handed and two-handed form, and the only melee class that loses no damage when a single swing catches several enemies at once.

Combat

Pros

Sword damage is not reduced when one attack hits several enemies or objects, a penalty almost every other melee class suffers. Against a Greydwarf pack or a Seeker Brood, that alone is the argument for the class.
One-handed swords cost 8 to 16 stamina a swing from the Bronze Sword up, so a sword build is still attacking when an axe or two-handed club build is winded.
There is a sword at every tier: Bronze, Iron, Silver, Black Metal, Flametal and Bloodgold. Progressing never costs you the skill you have levelled.
Low knockback keeps an enemy in front of you and inside the combo instead of punting it out of reach, the opposite of what a club does.

Cons

Nothing in the game is weak to slash, so a sword never gets a bonus, and many creatures resist it outright. Among them are every Seeker in the Mistlands, both Blob types in the Swamp, Lox, Stone Golems and Morgen.
It is the wrong tool for the undead. Skeletons fold to blunt and fire, not to slash, so bring a club along for the Burial Chambers.
No crowd control at all: nothing is staggered and nothing is pushed away, so a pack closes on you while you swing.
It cuts nothing. A sword will not fell a tree or break a rock, so a sword build still carries an axe and a pickaxe anyway.
Two-handed swords cost 20 stamina a swing and give up the shield, which is both halves of the class's reputation at once.

Builds

Sword and board is the class as intended. The shield supplies the block power, parry force and parry bonus, so the sword slot is free to be pure damage. A buckler parries best, while a tower shield blocks hardest and cannot parry at all.

The rhythm is the 3-hit primary, whose third swing lands double, then a step back before your stamina bar empties. The secondary deals triple damage at slightly longer reach for double stamina, so it opens a fight rather than finishing one.

Two-handed is a different build, not a bigger sword. It costs 20 stamina a swing, you give up the shield, and you block on the sword's own numbers. You take it for the reach and for the damage on the third hit.

Against anything that shrugs off slash, carry a sword with an elemental half, such as the Mistwalker or a Nidhögg, or swap to a club outright. No amount of Swords skill fixes a resistance.

Swords are made at the Black forge, the Forge, the Frost Foundry and the Workbench.

The skill is Swords, and it levels by use rather than by choice.

Best Swords

Build	Name	Stats
Hardest hitter	Frostfire Greatsword	286 damage across all types
Cheapest to swing	Bronze Sword	8 stamina a swing
Best guard	Frostfire Greatsword	76 block armour
Lightest to carry	Dyrnwyn	0.8 weight
Longest lasting	Frostfire Sword	400 durability

Notes

With a Shield equipped, blocking uses the shield's block armor, parry force and parry bonus instead of the sword's.
The third hit of the primary combo deals double damage, and every enemy a swing catches takes the full damage.
The secondary attack deals triple damage with slightly more reach, but costs twice the stamina.