Sword Horizon is an Inner Way that turns the Strategic Sword into a rhythm game of perfectly timed follow-ups and massive bleed bursts. For bleed-focused Bellstrike – Umbra builds, it sits at the center of some of the highest sustained and burst damage available with Strategic Sword.
Where Winds Meet Sword Horizon: what it actually does
Sword Horizon is an Inner Way (passive skill) aligned with the Bellstrike – Umbra path and tagged as an Attack / Martial Arts / Pursuit effect. It is explicitly designed to pair with the Strategic Sword Martial Art.
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Inner Way name | Sword Horizon |
| Path | Bellstrike – Umbra |
| Weapon pairing | Strategic Sword |
| Tag type | Attack, Martial Arts, Pursuit |
| Core effect | Perfect-timing follow-up attack and single-hit high bleed damage |
The core effect is simple but strict:
- Whenever Strategic Sword finishes a Martial Arts Skill, Special Skill, or Charged Skill, there is a short window at the end of the animation.
- Press the same skill button at the “perfect timing” during that ending phase to trigger Crisscrossing Swords, a dedicated follow-up attack.
- If the target is already at 5 stacks of Bleed, the follow-up consumes all stacks and deals a single instance of high bleed damage.
In other words, Sword Horizon does two things at once: it adds extra hits after your core sword skills if your timing is accurate, and it converts maxed-out bleed stacks into a large spike of damage.
How Sword Horizon fits into Bellstrike – Umbra bleed builds
Bellstrike – Umbra is the home for several bleed-leaning Inner Ways. Sword Horizon sits alongside Wolfchaser’s Art, Adaptive Steel, and generic bleed tools like Fivefold Bleed to form a complete damage-over-time kit.
| Inner Way | Path | Role in bleed builds |
|---|---|---|
| Sword Horizon | Bellstrike – Umbra | Timed follow-ups and bleed detonation for Strategic Sword |
| Wolfchaser’s Art | Bellstrike – Umbra | Speeds up Heavenquaker Spear’s combo buff and interacts with bleed on bosses |
| Adaptive Steel | Bellstrike – Umbra | Grants extra Martial Skills depending on blade type; supports sword-focused rotations |
| Fivefold Bleed | General | Adds a separate stacking bleed (Weeping Blood) with a piercing hit at 5 stacks |
Within this ecosystem, Sword Horizon is the conversion piece: it takes carefully built bleed stacks and cashes them out on demand when your timing is on point.
Sword Horizon timing window and practical usage
The follow-up is not automatic. It only triggers if you press the skill button inside the narrow window at the end of a Strategic Sword action. Practically, that means three habits:
- Use Strategic Sword as your primary source of bleed stacks via its Charged Heavy and relevant skills.
- Watch the end of each skill animation and “double-tap” with a slight delay rather than mashing.
- Prioritize the follow-up when enemies are at 5 bleed stacks for maximum value.
Because the Crisscrossing Swords follow-up is tied to timing, it rewards players who learn the exact rhythm of Strategic Sword’s moveset. That rhythm becomes even more important once Sword Horizon is upgraded through its Breakthrough tiers.
Sword Horizon Breakthrough tiers and what they change
Sword Horizon supports a full Breakthrough track with six tiers. Each tier layers on additional resource returns, bleed scaling, and synergy with specific Strategic Sword mechanics such as Crosswind Blade and Unrestricted Sword Intent.
| Tier | Breakthrough enhancement | Practical impact |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Casting Crosswind Blade restores 8 Endurance. | Makes repeated use of Crosswind Blade more sustainable, supporting longer offensive strings. |
| Tier 2 | Increases Max Physical Attack based on Solo Mode Level. | Scales raw damage as the solo profile levels up, directly boosting bleed conversion hits. |
| Tier 3 | Dealing high bleed damage builds Crosswind Blade Spirit; when full, the next Crosswind Blade is guaranteed to be an Affinity hit. | Rewards successful bleed detonations with a powerful, guaranteed Affinity Crosswind Blade. |
| Tier 4 | When Unrestricted Sword Intent is not empty, high bleed damage is increased by 15%. | Encourages keeping Sword Intent above zero before triggering the big bleed hit. |
| Tier 5 | Increases Physical Penetration by 5.6. | Helps your follow-ups and bleed detonation chew through higher defenses. |
| Tier 6 | When Unrestricted Sword Intent is not empty, high bleed damage retains 2 stacks of Bleed; when Unrestricted Sword Intent is full and triggers the next Comprehension hit with Unrestricted Sword, 20 Sword Intent is retained. | Prevents a full reset of Bleed after detonation and reduces the cost of spending max Sword Intent. |
Fully upgraded, Sword Horizon shifts from a “spend all bleed, start over” tool into a loop that partially preserves Bleed and Sword Intent. Detonations still hit hard, but you re-enter the stacking phase with a head start.
How to unlock Sword Horizon and upgrade it
Sword Horizon is obtained as an Inner Way and then advanced using the shared Inner Way Breakthrough systems. Inner Ways Breakthrough unlocks after hitting Solo Mode Level 4, which comes from progressing a solo save and clearing the barriers to higher Roaming Levels.
Upgrading Sword Horizon’s tiers requires Inner Way-specific materials:
- Notes or Inner Way Advance items tied to Sword Horizon.
- Bookplates exchanged in the Tips Exchange for random Inner Way materials.
- Optional Inner Way Conversion usage when you want to move all existing upgrades from a different Inner Way onto Sword Horizon. This transfer is limited per season.
Because Breakthrough effects lean heavily into bleed and Sword Intent synergy, Sword Horizon is best prioritized on characters already invested in Strategic Sword and Bellstrike – Umbra.
Where Winds Meet Sword Horizon with Strategic Sword and Heavenquaker Spear
Sword Horizon becomes even more interesting when Strategic Sword is paired with Heavenquaker Spear in a Bellstrike – Umbra bleed build. That dual-weapon setup is built around stacking bleed, amplifying damage-over-time, then detonating everything in a controlled burst.
| Component | Function in the combo |
|---|---|
| Strategic Sword | Applies Bleed stacks (especially via Charged Heavy); uses Sword Horizon for follow-ups and bleed detonation. |
| Heavenquaker Spear | Applies Sober Sorrow buff and Soul-Shaken debuff to increase damage-over-time. |
| Wolfchaser’s Art | Reduces Heavenquaker’s combo requirement and adds extra combo gain per Bleed stack on bosses. |
| Fivefold Bleed | Adds Weeping Blood stacks and a piercing hit at 5 stacks, further increasing DoT pressure. |
| Sword Horizon | Converts 5 Bleed stacks into a large single hit when triggered at perfect timing. |
The rotation built around these tools looks like this:
- Open with Strategic Sword’s Charged Heavy to stack Bleed; if needed, use Inner Track Slash or other bleed-applying skills to reach 5 stacks.
- Swap to Heavenquaker Spear, use Sober Sorrow to gain its buff, then apply debuffs like Soul-Shaken and additional Bleed (for example, via Sweep All and a Charged Heavy).
- Swap back to Strategic Sword and, as you use your next key skill, hit the Sword Horizon timing window to trigger Crisscrossing Swords and detonate Bleed.
- Continue the loop, rebuilding Bleed and timing Sword Horizon procs whenever you reach 5 stacks.
Played correctly, enemies sit under a constant storm of Bleed and Weeping Blood ticks, punctuated by Sword Horizon detonations boosted by Heavenquaker’s debuffs.
Recommended Inner Ways and stats around Sword Horizon
For a Strategic Sword–centric Bellstrike – Umbra build that leans on Sword Horizon, several Inner Ways and stat priorities stand out.
| Category | Recommendation | Why it helps Sword Horizon |
|---|---|---|
| Inner Way (Bellstrike – Umbra) | Wolfchaser’s Art | Improves Heavenquaker Spear’s access to its Sorrow Without Wine buff, which indirectly powers up Bleed-centric rotations. |
| Inner Way (Bellstrike – Umbra) | Adaptive Steel | Provides extra sword Martial Skills, giving more opportunities to apply Bleed and trigger Sword Horizon. |
| Inner Way (General) | Fivefold Bleed | Adds another bleed-like DoT, increasing overall damage while you build to the Sword Horizon detonation. |
| Inner Way (Bellstrike – Umbra) | Sword Horizon | Core for timed follow-up hits and bleed burst. |
| Main offensive stat | Physical Attack | Bleed damage scales well with higher base attack, improving both passive Bleed ticks and Sword Horizon’s big hit. |
Unlike standard crit-heavy setups, bleed builds centered on Sword Horizon gain more from stacking raw Attack than from chasing high critical rates, especially when additional DoTs (Ignition from Mystic Arts, Weeping Blood from Fivefold Bleed) are in the mix.
Set gear that plays well with Sword Horizon
Set bonuses that reward hitting high-HP targets and staying alive through damage-over-time windows line up with how Sword Horizon builds play.
| Set | Slot | Key effects | Synergy with Sword Horizon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swaying Heights | Weapon | 2-piece: +1 Min Physical Attack; 4-piece: extra damage against targets above 50% HP, scaling further as HP remains high. | Bleed builds spend a lot of time whittling down high-HP enemies before detonating. The set amplifies all that pre-burst damage. |
| Eaglerise | Armor | 2-piece: +1 Physical Defense; 4-piece: stacking damage reduction from DoT or healing, plus a large one-time damage cut via Eagle Guard. | Bleed-heavy play keeps DoTs rolling almost constantly, making it easy to maintain Eaglerise’s defensive stacks while you stay in range for Sword Horizon timings. |
These sets do not directly change Sword Horizon’s numbers, but they support the long, aggressive uptime that bleed builds demand, letting you remain in melee range for more perfect-timing follow-ups.
Where Winds Meet Sword Horizon: Who should actually use it
Sword Horizon is not a generic plug-in buff; it demands both a Strategic Sword-focused kit and a comfort level with precise button timing. Players who want to hold heavy attacks, weave in Heavenquaker Spear buffs, manage Unrestricted Sword Intent, and watch for the end of each animation will get the most value.
For anyone already running Bellstrike – Umbra with Strategic Sword and leaning into bleed, Sword Horizon is the Inner Way that turns those steady DoTs into controlled, explosive burst without abandoning the core playstyle.
