Sephiria Weapons: Choose a Weapon for Your First Real Run

The choice that actually matters in a run

Sephiria is not a game where choosing a weapon means only comparing one damage number. The official Steam description frames a run around weapons, Artifacts, Tablets, Talents, Magic, and Miracles. A good first choice is therefore the weapon whose basic rhythm you can actually execute while you are still learning enemies and inventory placement.

TEAM HORAY confirms six distinct weapons with more than 50 upgrades branching from them. That is enough variety for a player to find a fit, but it is not an official ranking. Start by choosing the action you want to practise—guarding, charging, parrying, spacing, stance switching, or a mixed defensive attack—and let the items you see during the run develop from there.

Choose a weapon by combat rhythm

The following profiles paraphrase a player-maintained weapon reference last modified shortly before the 1.0 release. They explain the feel of each weapon, not a promise of the highest possible damage. Read them as a practical way to pick a first weapon, then confirm the exact move and upgrade text in your own current game.

If two styles appeal to you, pick the one that makes survival simpler first. A weapon that lets you clearly recognise its defensive window or spacing requirement will teach more in an early run than a weapon whose best move depends on a timing sequence you cannot yet repeat.

• Sword & Shield — a close-range weapon built around a held frontal guard, with a wide sweep available while guarding. Choose it if you want to learn enemy tells and block timing instead of relying only on dodges.
• Greatsword — a charge-and-release style with strong reach and a wide charged strike. Choose it if you like deliberate, high-commitment attacks; the trade-off is larger recovery windows and less built-in defense.
• Dagger — a fast, very short-range style with a parry that can lead into Fury. Choose it if you enjoy timing a defensive action into an aggressive response; it asks for closer positioning and cleaner execution.
• Crossbow — the long-range choice, with an enhanced arrow that the community reference describes as piercing enemies and terrain. Choose it if safe spacing helps you learn encounters, while remembering that reload timing becomes part of positioning.
• Blade — a stance-switching style that alternates sheathed and drawn states. The reference describes a strong, broad sheath-state slash that costs MP, so it fits players who enjoy setting up a deliberate payoff rather than attacking on autopilot.
• Staff — a middle-weight reach option. Its Riposte special is described as combining a guard window with a broad two-part strike, making it a useful candidate for players who want some defensive timing without staying as close as Sword & Shield.

Use Training Grounds before risking a run

You do not need to treat every tower run as an expensive weapon experiment. TEAM HORAY added Comprehensive Training Grounds as a place to test unlocked weapons and items. Use it to press the attack, special-action, guard, charge, reload, or stance-control buttons without asking a live run to teach you all of them at once.

Make the test small and comparable. For one weapon, practise its normal attack rhythm, its special action, and the moment at which you can safely move again. Then repeat the same three checks with another weapon. Write down what felt unclear rather than only looking for a damage total; unclear control is usually the reason a promising weapon fails to help a new player.

How to make a first upgrade choice

Do not begin by searching for a universal ‘best upgrade.’ The official store says each weapon has more than 50 unique upgrades, so the first useful question is narrower: what part of this weapon am I already using well? A player who reliably guards may prefer an option that rewards guarding; someone who is safe at range may want an option that reinforces Crossbow spacing rather than forcing an unfamiliar close-range pattern.

Read the current in-game tooltip before choosing. Older community pages can identify a weapon's basic identity, but a named upgrade can be changed, removed, or fixed by a patch. The page should guide the decision, while the current tooltip and official patch notes settle a detail that could affect a real run.

A practical first-run routine

For a first session, begin with Sword & Shield if you want the clearest defensive learning loop, or Crossbow if maintaining space helps you read the screen. Try Greatsword only after you are comfortable accepting its recovery window; try Dagger when you want to practise parry timing; try Blade when you are ready to manage a state change and MP; try Staff when a guarded special attack sounds more natural than a pure block.

After a few rooms, ask one concrete question: did I die because I did not understand the weapon, because I stood in the wrong place, or because the inventory part of the run had not developed? That question keeps weapon selection connected to actual play. It also prevents the usual trap of abandoning a familiar style for an internet tier list that was made for a different patch or a different player’s build.

• Pick one weapon, learn its normal action and special action, then compare it in Training Grounds.
• Choose upgrades that reinforce the action you can already use reliably.
• Use Artifacts and Tablets to support the style you chose; do not force a build before you understand the weapon.
• If a tooltip differs from an old guide, trust the current game and then check the official patch notes.