Parting Hooks
A pair of silver hooks once wielded by Soulclaimer of the Elite Shadow Wardens — guard stance turned to attack, heavy shield break.
Form
A pair of silver hooks, each shaft bent into an arc like a waning moon.
They were once the weapons of Soulclaimer, an Elite Shadow Warden; the points are thin and cold, and even sheathed they do not quite keep their edge in. The grips are bound in faded cord that has clearly been rewrapped more than once.
Combat
The hooks do not open the fight. They take a guard stance first and turn defence into offence, waiting for the enemy's strike to come out before cutting back through the arcs.
Their shield-breaking power is high — raise a shield against them and it is often the shield and the arm behind it that come apart.
The counter grows with the incoming blow: the heavier the enemy's attack, the harder the answer. Only a Black-Flash Attack can neither be blocked nor countered.
Nothing ruins a hook art faster than greed. Snatch half a step early and the stance comes apart, and no counter can be built on it. The hooks want the enemy to move first, and themselves to stay a beat behind.
Arts
Active | Peerless Hook: consumes 1 point of Sha-Chi to unleash the Peerless Hooks technique. Unblockable.
Special | Counter: assume a guard stance that blocks enemy melee attacks and turns them back; the stronger the incoming attack, the stronger the counter, but Black-Flash Attacks cannot be countered.
Soul Tempering | Foretelling Strike: a perfect parry of an enemy's Blue-flash Attack automatically triggers Counter.
Later | Counter Follow-Up, Poised to Strike, Counteroffensive, Divine Beast Bind: four forms running from the guard to the grapple.
Origin
Soulclaimer stood among the three great Shadow Wardens, and these silver hooks closed a great many roads for good.
The achievement "Three Wardens Fall" marks the battle in which Cavalrybane, Soulclaimer and Heartpiercer were each brought down in turn.
Related entries
Linked automatically from mentions and tags