Have a Nice Death – Handbook Guide: The Scythes

A little collection of info about the scythes and their abilities.

Introduction

Note: Credit goes to Crevice; Abyssal Storm

There are five different primary weapons that Death can use, the base Scythe, the long ranged Diss Scythe, the half-spear half-shield Parasol, the stylish Twinsie, and the stun master Sickles. Each weapon has their own perks and drawbacks, which I will go over in this guide.

The Scythe

A reliable damage dealer that can hold its own on higher difficulty levels. The Scythe may seem weak at first, but when the mana pool is dry and the cloak is resting, it can get the job done.

• Perks: Decent damage output, available at the start of the run, has good range when fully upgraded, can gain a chance to crit on hit.
• Drawbacks: Short combo.

There are not too many drawbacks to using the Scythe in combat other then its short combo which can hinder it’s fury refilling abilities.

Its fury is rapidly slicing the surrounding area along with any enemies caught in its range. This is useful in arenas and against bosses due to the high damage it can do.

Diss Scythe

A long ranged menace on the battlefields, with decent stunning abilities that can only be beaten by the Sickles. This is one of two options that the Scythe can be upgraded to, the other being the Parasol. But unlike the Twinsie and the Sickles, there is a random chance for one to be present while the other one isn’t, though the chance isn’t known to me, but it seems to be a 50% chance for the Diss Scythe to be in the tree and a 50% chance for the Parasol to be in it.

• Perks: Long range, respectable damage, great stun abilities, hard hitting fury, long range.
• Drawbacks: Low attack speed, less then ideal aerial abilities.

The Diss Scythe isn’t good at dodging into the air which is extremely important when dodging attacks, especially from bosses. The slow attack speed can also be harmful since it means less damage being dealt before the enemy attacks, which is especially problematic against Spooksmen, Petrols, Sweetarts, Impostors, and Veterans. The offensive abilities of the Diss Scythe are what keep it from being at the bottom of the bin, boasting a massive reach and a decent stunning ability, usually stunning grunt enemies such as Waldo boxes, Ghosts, and Bombaras within the first two hits. Why is stun important? If the enemy is stunned, they aren’t attacking. And if the enemy isn’t attacking, Death can attack uninterrupted.

Its fury is summoning several Scythes from the ground that deal massive damage when they extend and when they attract, and have a high chance of stunning all enemies in its area, though they can’t stunlock bosses.

Parasol 2.0

The Parasol might seem like a straight downgrade to the Scythe in practice, but the offensive capabilities are more then made of more with defense. As mentioned before, the Parasol can take the place of the Diss Scythe in the upgrade tree, roughly 50% of the time.

• Perks: Invincibility during certain attacks, a fury refilling fury attack with respectable height, a slow decent after an upperslash (up attack).
• Drawbacks: Slow attack speed, steeper learning curve.

Yes, the first perk is what it says. Invincibility is rare for Death, only present in dashes and after getting hit. The down attack is the most notable attack that gives invincibility since, if timed correctly, can make Death immortal. Though the slow attack speed is a problem, the learning curve is rather steep, which may make it unpreferable to most.

Its fury is summoning rain from the top of the screen that affects a large area and does high damage over a long period of time. This is especially useful against enemies who stay at the top of the arena such as Seaglues and Maxxx.

Twinsie

A straightforward weapon, it deals higher damage and has more hits in its combo, at the cost of a slower attack speed. The bonus damage it provides when attacking low-hp targets can be useful, though it doesn’t help too much since it shaves off a swing or two.

• Perks: Bonus damage the lower the hp of a target, highest base damage of the Scythes, longer combo, fury refilling fury.
• Drawbacks: Slow attack speed.

Like the Scythe, the Twinsie only has one downside which is noticeable in arenas when multiple strong enemies are grouped up. As mentioned previously slow attack speed means less damage before dodging.

It’s fury summons a small tornado that can replenish some of the fury meter and deals respectable damage to anything in its winds. This is useful against singular, tanky enemies who don’t move quickly such as Sullied and Grimes.

Sickles

On paper this seems to be the weakest upgrade of the Scythe but in practice it is one of the best weapons in the game. It has a high attack speed but slightly lower damage.

• Perks: High stun capabilities, multi-hitting attack in the middle of the combo, fast fury refill, fury refilling fury, upgrading the Sickles upgrades the dash.
• Drawbacks: lowest base damage, smallest fury area.

The Sickles play more of a supportive role in the arsenal of Death’s weaponry, being able to stun most enemies with ease and stun nearly every boss and mini boss consistently with its fury, with the exceptions being Maxxx and Candice who teleport often. The base attack of the Sickles isn’t anything to scoff at either, being able to quickly refill the fury gauge for much the same reasons Firescreamer refills it when it does 0 damage and quickly stun most enemies caught in it’s blades.

The fury of the Sickles is summoning six blades that don’t move very far but can easily stunlock anything that isn’t immune to stun, especially if they are caught where the blades converge.

The End

This will probably be the only weapon guide in the Handbook Guide series, but it was fun to make. As usual the schedule for future guides should look something like this:

Sorrow guides:

• Natural Disasters sorrow
• Krank
• Brad
• Grimes
• Maxxx
• Any future sorrows

Thanager guides:

• Toxic Food-Processing Thanagers
• Physical Illness Thanagers
• Industrial Pollution Thanagers
• Hall of Eternity Thanagers
• Natural Disaster Thanagers
• Modern Warfare Thanagers
• Any future Thanagers