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Plague Halberd - Version 21 vs Version 22
May 23, 2026, 08:31 PM
Corrected wikilink existence flags
Jun 4, 2026, 07:21 PM
Removed duplicate in-body wikilinks
11Overview33Plague Halberd is a Rare / Epic halberd-class melee weapon in Windrose. Wounds the body, destroys the soul. It stinks like a ship's hold after a long voyage.55Halberds are two-handed polearms with long reach and high Pierce damage. See Halberds for the full class profile.77At a Glance99FieldValueWeapon ClassHalberdsRarityRare / EpicDamage355 CrudeScalingStrength (- at Rare, B at Epic)ATK (Item Level 15)380ATK (Level 1 crafted)100Stack Size1FlavorLost by the Spaniards in the Swamps ages ago, it has absorbed the full power of the tree plague.1111Effects1212Rare and Epic variants share a base effect. Ascending the Rare to Epic at the Weaponsmith Workshop preserves the Rare effect and stacks an additional bonus on top.1414TierEffectRareDealing Damage grants you a stack of Plague Echoes effect. At 5 stacks, the special [F] attack becomes available.Epic (adds)Using the special attack instantly restores 35% of your maximum Health.1616Crafting1717Craft at the Weaponsmith Workshop (Level 1). Base recipe: Wood x10, Copper Ingot x3, Ingot Arborum x5.1919Ascension to Epic2121Ascending the Rare variant at the Weaponsmith Workshop converts it into the Epic variant and unlocks the Epic bonus line. Ingredients: Plague Halberd x1, Tumbaga Ingot x9. The ascension consumes the Rare weapon. See Tumbaga Ingot for sourcing notes and Upgrade System for the full ascension mechanic.2323How to Obtain2525Crypt and Gardenruin chests in the Swamps biome.Can drop during plague-themed story beats that unlock the Ingot Arborum vendor route.2727Loot Sources2929Specific chests and drop locations currently listed on the live item card:3131Chest SourceLocationChanceOld SkeletonAncient Ruins10.0%Old SkeletonCrypt5.0%Old SkeletonRuin with a Flowerbed5.0%Old SkeletonTainted Ruins5.0%3333Tactical Usage3434Strong Strength two-hander. Plague Echoes stacks quickly on wide AoE sweeps, and the Epic tier's 35% max-HP refund on the F-attack makes it a DPS-and-sustain package.3636Lead with dodges because halberds cannot Perfect Block. Long-reach pokes during enemy recovery frames are the bread-and-butter pattern; heavy swings are your punish tool when the enemy whiffs.3838Talent Synergies4040Strength-scaling weapons pull from the Crusher branch of the Talent System, with Toughguy as a survivability complement. Relevant picks include talents that boost Crude damage, two-handed melee damage, posture break on staggered enemies, and stamina-efficient heavy attacks. Strength weapons also benefit from Toughguy talents like Stout Frame and Too Angry to Die that improve survivability during heavy-attack windows.4242See the Talent System article for the current list of unlockable talents and their exact bonus values. Respeccing talents costs an in-game currency, so early-game branch commitments tend to lock in weapon pairings for the rest of the playthrough.4444Comparison Within Class4646Plague Halberd sits alongside 3 other halberds on the current live index. Consider the alternatives:4848Halberd: Uncommon, 340 Crude, Strength (B). no special effectExecutioner: Rare / Epic, 365 Crude, Strength (C at Rare, B at Epic). Killing enemies grants stacks of Decimation effect. Each stack increases your Critical Hit Chance by 10%, up to 30%.Sturdy Halberd: Rare / Epic, 370 Crude, Strength (A at Rare, S at Epic). Increases Critical Hit Chance by 10%.5050See Also5252Melee Weapons for the full melee index.Weapons for the cross-class roster.Halberds for the halberd category roster.Strength is this weapon's scaling attribute.Upgrade System covers Rare-to-Epic ascension with Tumbaga Ingot.Weaponsmith Workshop is the crafting and ascension station.Combat covers stamina, posture, and Perfect Block timing.5454Scaling and Modifiers5656The five-stack special attack is the headline mechanic of the Plague Halberd, but its damage and heal output are tied to a specific set of multipliers. The boom counts as a melee attack even though the visual is an outward AoE explosion, and it cannot critically strike. That single restriction reshapes the optimal gear list, because every crit-focused ring, necklace, and set bonus offers zero value to the explosion itself. Use the table below to plan around it.5858ModifierApplies to Special Boom?Strength (diminishing returns near 20)Yes. Primary scaling stat. Returns flatten around 20 points.Two-handed weapon damage modifiersYes. Includes set bonuses, talent ranks, and elixirs that affect two-handed weapon damage.Melee damage modifiersYes. The AoE counts as melee damage, so general melee damage rings, talents, and elixirs all apply.Pikeman Set (full bonus)Yes. The +15% two-handed weapon damage bonus boosts both basic swings and the boom.Major Ring of Bravery (+8% melee damage)Yes. Best ring slot for the build because the boom inherits the melee bonus.Infused Elixir of CrueltyYes. Adds melee damage on top of food bonuses for the duration.Stitches and Rum talentYes (heal only). Increases the size of the 35% max-HP heal received from the special.Crude damage rings (Major Crude Damage, etc.)No. They only boost the basic light-attack swings, not the explosion itself.Crit chance / crit damage gear (Privateer Set, Cutthroat rings, Necklace of Mastery)No. The boom cannot crit, so every crit modifier is wasted on this weapon.Minor Warrior Ring (+15% special weapon attack)Bugged. The ring does not boost the boom in the current live build, despite its tooltip wording.6060In short: stack flat melee damage and Strength, lean on the Pikeman Set for the +15% two-handed multiplier, slot the Major Ring of Bravery, and ignore everything that says "crit" or "special weapon attack" until the bug is patched. Pair the build with Meaty Croc Kebab for the +20 Strength food buff, Coffee for endurance, and Infused Elixir of Cruelty for the melee damage elixir slot.6161Stack Management6363The Plague Echoes buff applied by light attacks has one frustrating quirk on this weapon: swapping to a pistol or any other weapon erases all built-up stacks. You cannot bank stacks for later, and you cannot pop a quick pistol shot mid-combo without losing the boom. This is a halberd-specific behavior, not a general rule. The Arboris Saber retains its Plague Echoes stacks when you swap weapons, which is one of the saber's key quality-of-life advantages over the halberd.6565Practical pattern: commit to five swings on the halberd, fire the special, then re-stack. Multi-target cleaves do not help here because each swing only adds one stack regardless of how many enemies it hits. The fastest path to five stacks is five clean light attacks against a single target or a small group, not a single sweeping swing into a crowd. Once the boom is queued, you can swap freely (the cooldown does not refund stacks anyway), so this is the natural moment to flip to a sidearm or to a Soul Eater if it is off cooldown.6767Boarding Bomber Build6969The community-favorite setup for ship boarding actions and crowd clear is the Boarding Bomber. It pairs the Plague Halberd with the Soul Eater on the hot bar so that every boarding wave has an answer: the halberd handles trash mobs in five-swing intervals, while the Soul Eater special covers the two-minute window when you need a long-range emergency drain. Together they make the wielder arguably the best two-handed brawler in the game for both bossing and crowd clearing in the Cursed Swamps.7171Loadout. Full Pikeman Set for the +15% two-handed weapon damage set bonus. Major Ring of Bravery in the ring slot for +8% melee damage. Plague Halberd in the primary weapon slot, Soul Eater in the secondary slot for the long-cooldown panic heal.7373Consumables. Meaty Croc Kebab for the +20 Strength food buff, paired with Coffee for the endurance side so you can keep swinging through stamina drain. Infused Elixir of Cruelty in the elixir slot to push melee damage higher for the duration.7575Talents. Prioritize Strength-scaling and two-handed weapon damage talents. Berserk and Momentum both feed the swing damage that builds the stacks. Dominating Presence gives a long melee damage buff after a kill, which is easy to keep refreshed during a boarding action. Stitches and Rum makes the 35% max-HP heal from the boom even bigger, which is the difference between surviving a sloppy boarding and getting cut down by the last defender.7777Rotation. Drop in, light attack five times to fill stacks, hit the special to detonate the AoE and refund 35% of max HP, then start the next stack count. If you take heavy damage between stacks, swap to Soul Eater for the wide drain, then return to the halberd. Avoid pulling the pistol mid-stack because you will lose every echo you have built. The build asks you to commit to the swing combo, but the payoff is a Boarding loop where you self-heal every five hits and clear entire freighter decks without leaving the deck of your own ship for long.7979Details8181Properties8383PropertyValueStrengthBAvailable RaritiesRare, Epic8585Crafted By8686Crafted at: Weaponsmith Workshop8888IngredientQuantityWoodx10Copper Ingotx3Ingot Arborumx59090Ascend Cost9191Ascend at: Weaponsmith Workshop9393IngredientQuantityPlague Halberdx1Tumbaga Ingotx99595Where Found9696Beyond the Old Skeleton chests listed under Loot Sources above, the Plague Halberd has no fixed world spawn; it can also be crafted at the Weaponsmith Workshop using the recipe in the Crafting section.9898Patch History100100Hotfix 0.10.0.2.54 (April 17, 2026): fixed a Plague Halberd visual bug where the special-attack VFX could float above the deck during a boarding sequence rather than playing at the player's position. The fix is purely cosmetic; the special attack's damage, the 5-stack Plague Echoes mechanic, and the Epic-tier 35% maximum-Health restore all behave the same as at launch. Boarding-loop builds that rely on watching the explosion to time the next stack count can do so reliably again post-patch.102102No damage, scaling, ingredient, or ascension changes have shipped to the Plague Halberd since launch.
