It’s fair to say that *The Outer Worlds 2* loves its weird weapons. From the first moment you step foot on Paradise Island, you’ll start discovering all sorts of strange murder contraptions. These range from a sniper rifle that fires sneaky explosive bolts you detonate when you reload, to a pistol that infects enemies with a contagious disease they can spread.
The strangest weapon by far that I’ve discovered in my travels through Arcadia, though, is a sword that turns combat into a rhythm game. Yes, you read that correctly—if you don’t slash and slice to the old-timey beat, you won’t gain its bonus. This sword might seem like a bit of a meme at first, but when fully powered up, I’m convinced it might be the best melee weapon in the game.
### The Spectrum Dance Saber
The weapon is called the Spectrum Dance Saber, and it’s quite hard to get. You’ll first have to complete an elaborate collectible quest to unlock it, and even then, it’ll set you back 16,500 bits, making it by far the most expensive weapon I’ve found in the game. Even after unscrupulously looting my way across the first few regions, this still put a serious dent in my hoard of bits.
Its perk reads:
**Dance Mode:** Perform the prompted dance action to keep the beat alive!
Here’s how it actually works: when you enter combat, a new UI appears in the center of the screen, the music starts, and two arrows come in from either side. All you have to do is swing the sword at the right time to power it up a little. Each swing changes the color of the sword and fills the note in the UI.
### Effects and Gameplay
This is where it starts to get a bit busted. The Spectrum Dance Saber applies effects to enemies based on the color it is when you hit them. For example:
– If the note is **white**, it will freeze enemies.
– If it’s **red**, they’ll detonate in a fiery explosion.
Once you’ve successfully hit enough beats and the note is full of all the colors, the sword enters its super state, flashing a rainbow as it cycles through them at speed.
In this super state, every slash applies a different effect to enemies based on sword color. The results are pretty chaotic as enemies simultaneously freeze, explode, corrode, and more, stacking multiple conditions on them.
Even better, you no longer have to keep the beat in this turbo-state, meaning you can attack at will. When the super state ends, the sword starts the minigame again.
### Tips for Using the Spectrum Dance Saber
Although the beat is very consistent, it’s challenging to match your attacks with enemies while also blocking, evading, and just generally staying alive. However, there’s a useful quirk: your timed swings don’t actually have to hit enemies to count. This means you can power up your sword with regular swings from cover and then rush into combat when it reaches its turbo-state.
Admittedly, this might be a bug that gets patched out later, but for now, it works.
### How to Obtain the Spectrum Dance Saber
You can get the Spectrum Dance Saber once you complete Paradise Island and unlock Free Market Station. Head to the bazaar and go upstairs in *The 2nd Choice Tavern* to find Fionna F. Walker.
If you can collect 25 Tossball/Pitchball cards (to beat her collection), this Sub Rosa merchant will let you access her special inventory, including the rhythm sword.
While 25 cards might seem like a lot, I managed to gather most of them from Paradise Island and Free Market Station, with the last few coming from Golden Ridge.
When the game fully releases, I’ll be publishing a guide with all of the Tossball/Pitchball card locations, so I’ll be sure to link it here. Stay tuned!
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/outer-worlds-2-spectrum-dance-saber/
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