The Best Looking Sword Is

vampirism

Prove me wrong. You cannot.

Excalibur

It's
Fermion Sword > Almace > Tizona > (honorable mentions): Sagasinger/Anahera Saber

Murgleis by a mile. You're all wrong.

Holy ***that's certainly a take. If we were listing fugliest, you nailed it.

Merg is a nice looking sword. I like that, and Reikiko. Not counting sagasinger cause it's the glow that makes it look cool it's just a degen.

The only way it could be better is if it made squeaky toy noises whenever you hit a 99999 Savage Blade.

Sagasinger > Sanus Ensis > Excalibur

If we're going by best looking for a theme or style, then Vamp can certainly fit the bill. I like Sagasinger for COR for similar reasons for example, or Tizona for BLU and then building your lockstyle around it w/ gold highlights. Fermion sword is a great honorable mention because it can kind of go with Any lockstyle.

Best looking sword standalone?
Probably between Onion Sword II/III (love the dragon motif/color scheme), Dissector (always been a fan of the reverse design, wish there were more variations of it), and Kam'Lanaut's Sword.. or Sanus Ensis for their intricate jewelry looking designs.

Was going to Poo Poo Eiryls Poo Pooing, but he added his own candidates so I'll take it back

IT'S A CANE ANNNNNNND A SWORD!!! All these others are just generic fantasy toys.

For me it's organics.

My wife has challenged my taste in things though.

My favorite looking sword in the game. Though some others include:

Tizona
Save the Queen II
Dissector
Acclimiator (when used as Savage Blade WAR because of its huge model)
Sagasinger
Ogrenix Organics

And if we're including Great Swords: I still rock Lionheart as my lockstyle choice for RUN. The Niburu Faussar from Geas Fete also has grown on me for how ancient it looks.

Naegling

Seconding Murgleis, but I also really like simpler designs such as the Ethereal Sword and the Hunting Sword.

Rune Blade and the superior Excalibur recolor, Hauteclaire.

I mean....how was this even a debate? The Kings of Fashion tip their Chapeaus and declare Murgleis above all.

Murg or saga singer

Ephemeron / Wing Sword.

ragnarok, and if it has to be a 1h sword, excalibur. simple is best.

I'll give Sagasinger definitely Gold Medal for coolest Aura, and that raises a clean simple line from just "good" to "contender" :)

I would put that aura on anything and yes it is doing all the work. You could throw it on the brown ancient sword model and I'd be happy just because of the decay/patina.

Onion Sword II/III.

also I feel the need to say that TP Bonus Sword model (that toothy log thing) has to be the WORST in-game.

it's a frat paddle with spikes on it :)

Spatha

Twinned Blade as a RDM lockstyle sword looks p nice imo

If they took the time to make the cutting spikes black so you could at least pretend they are obsidian, it would at least sell the idea that it's a sword instead of a club.

Twinned Blade and Onion Sword are both acceptable entries

If Hauteclaire isn't on this list, i'll kill myself on live tv.

Link inc?

Hauteclaire is just solid brass Excalibur.

Organics is the coolest looking sword in game since its addition in ZNM times. The texturing on the blade's teeth has not been out done.

Excalibur has always looked amazing and ornate, but I actually think that the Caliburnus reskin managed to outdo it while being edgy about it on top.

MacBain is a strong contender for best looking Great Sword. It actually fits in with other gear better than Ragnarok, which is my old flame. I'm still not sure how I feel about Helheim in this regard.

The rapiers don't necessarily look bad, but they're all supposed to be piercing swords but our characters still swing them as if they had cutting edges, and the models in game clearly don't! Murgelis is also a weak sauce choice because it's just a standard rapier with a fluke in the middle (I mean it is a pretty cool fluke honestly). Which is just dumb extra weight, that is again, on A PIERCING SWORD! You really want the thrusts that your characters aren't doing to be slower? Blegh.

Honorable mention Acclimator and the Nibirun sword as well.

Almace is comically wide and was clearly designed with PLD AF3 in mind (not my favorite set either, AF3 was very hit or miss) despite having two other jobs attached as well. It doesn't look good on its own and it doesn't pair well with other gear with few exceptions. Tizona, Excal, Sagasinger, etc look good but they also pair well with more equipment.

Agree with Vyre that Caliburnus looks better than Excal, but I feel it's more selective about what it complements. Sanus Ensis is kind of like this; I like it with Tessera Saio for example but it feels out of place with most of my other lockstyle pieces.

It'd be alright if it was down at the ricasso... and also reversed from how it is now, so that you could properly catch the opponent's blade with it to disarm them instead of having that part on the rear of the blade.

Tizona/Wightslayer has been my go-to lockstyle pairing on BLU for ages. Sagasinger is probably as close as I've gotten to that for RDM, though I've been meaning to build a lockstyle or two with Caliburnus.