Talk:Gothic Sword

Location: haven't spent much time in the Kurzick part of Factions, so I don't know where it all drops and where not, but shouldn't the area, where it can be found, be a bit wider than mentioned? Or are we adding the drop places as we go (i.o.w. if you have a drop somewhere that isn't mentioned yet, then you add it?).
 * Based on the discussion at Guild_Wars_Wiki_talk:Formatting/Weapons we currently try to gather drop research data on talk page and enter hypothesis of that drop research on the article page. There are some pages, where contributors did not follow the formatting proposals and so the informations are not presented the way they should. Feel free to edit it - it's a wiki. My version for gathering drop research date you find here as stub and e.g. here in "productive". - MSorglos 08:00, 10 April 2007 (EDT)
 * I'm guessing this sword doesn't actually drop in Tanglewood Copse, since that's an outpost?151.201.248.168 00:57, 14 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Perhaps there's a quest that ends in Tanglewood Copse that provides one as a reward? That seems extremely unlikely, I'm removing it until someone can confirm that it can somehow be acquired in Tanglewood Copse. --Belker 02:16, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Drop research
Observed drops for Gothic Sword

Real-life sword classification
The Gothic Sword has traits which would define it as a typical German Kriegschwerte, meaning "war sword". Most medieval German sword-fighting styles had powerful strikes that were performed by actually grabbing hold of the blade of one's own sword, on the principle that one could excel in close quarters with a larger sword by doing so, despite the likelihood of self-injury in the process; a fair trade-off for surviving an encounter, of course. This is perhaps why Germans adopted the ricasso, the short non-edged section past the hilt but preceeding the blade. This was for a simple, but effective, secondary handle used for advanced sword-fighting techniques such as the medieval Germans used. The only aspects of the Gothic Sword in Guild Wars that do not belong on a real-world Kriegschwerte are the extravagant pommel and etchings, which would perhaps belong on an Italian sword moreso than a German one.

On a sidenote, most of the Kurzick-oriented weapons and armour derive largely from real-world German culture, so this sword is certainly not the exception. It is named after the Goths -- then known as VVisigoths -- who are rather ancient tribes that share their roots with the Germans, and would have used weapons like this, but in an earlier style. HektorAnasthainomai 15:19, 7 July 2009 (UTC)