The coolest sword I ever obtained in a video game is the Phantom Blade in World of Warcraft. In fact, it’s so cool to me that I never parted with it. It’s still sitting in my original character’s bank vault, some 19 years after I first got it — even though its stats have been squished almost to nothing by the multiple math resets the venerable online game has had over the years, and even though that character has now far outleveled the point at which the sword would be useful.

Celebrate Cool Sword Day the Polygon way

What makes the Phantom Blade cool? It’s not a special weapon, although it’s not bad. It’s not some Legendary boss drop earned through the blood, sweat, and tantrums of a raid party. It’s not even Epic — just a run-of-the-mill blue Rare. It doesn’t hold a special place within Warcraft lore, it’s no Ashbringer or Frostmourne. It’s just… a sword. But to me, it’s not just any sword.

Back in 2005 — or now, if you’re playing on Blizzard’s Classic servers that (more or less) replicate the game as it was then — the Phantom Blade was a decent, crafted weapon for mid- to high-level characters, though definitely not endgame........

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