'Forged a million years ago, black blade!' sang Blue Oyster Cult far too many years ago. They were, of course, rocking out over Elric of Melnibone's famous soul-drinking weapon, Stormbringer. Since the patch of June 17th, something not all that dissimilar to the moaning sword has now turned up in City of Heroes as a new broadsword option, without any announcement in the patch notes.The Nictus Sword, as you can clearly see, manages to be both dark and shiny. A Nictus, for those who have yet to encounter them, is a form of evil Kheldian, a disembodied quasi-vampiric energy being.
The sword is not available at character creation, as it's one of the unlockable custom weapon options; you have to unlock it by defeating the principal villain of the Imperious Task Force a set number of times. The comprehensive fan-made encyclopedia of all things CoX, ParagonWiki, suggests two defeats are needed - one to unlock the regular sword, and another to unlock it with the Nictus aura.
Broadsword-wielding heroes are rumored to be piling in to the Imperious Task Force in search of this gorgeous object. Broadsword-wielding villains aren't, because they don't exist yet. We're hoping Issue 13, which is widely expected to bring Shields as a power set, will also add the Broadsword to the existing villain options - if only for the sake of the Nictus!
