Keyblades of Kingdom Hearts III

May contain spoilers!

Hello, everyone! Sorax here! Sorry for the long wait for this post, I have no other excuse other than me being lazy and that I kept pushing it off. But, the time has finally come where I get this half-pint self into gear and “Jump on the Hydra’s back!” With the “Hydra’s back” being this post😉.

By now, I am sure that most of the people that have been playing Kingdom Hearts III have made it through majority of the main game and have obtained the keyblades from each of the worlds. These are the keyblades that I will be discussing in this post. Partly because these are the keyblades I have the most experience with right now and some of the other keyblades could be seen as spoilers on how to get them. I also view these keyblades as not being very beneficial right now for finishing the main game because, usually, a player must finish the game at least once to obtain some of the items required for keyblades (such as Ultima Weapons) and it just makes more sense to focus on the keyblades that the player gets right away without grinding or treasure hunting. I will make a post about ALL of the KHIII keyblades but this is just to help those players who want to maximize Sora’s potential during the main game. And I will be ranking these keyblades as they are, so without any upgrades from the Moogle Shop. This way each keyblade is given a fair shot, since the upgrades can make about any keyblade more powerful.

Keyblades will not be on this list: Starlight (the limited edition keyblade that could have been gotten through KHUX app), the Ultima Weapon, and Hunny Spout. I’m choosing not to include Hunny Spout merely because the player does not need to finish Hundred Acre Wood to finish the main story of the game.

Now, this is merely my opinion about the usefulness of these keyblades and others may have a different opinion. That’s totally fine 😊. Feel free to comment about which keyblades you prefer, what order you would put these keyblades in for usefulness, or if you agree with my list. Now, onto the reason you came here! (I did add links to the wiki pages in case any of you wanted to see the keyblade being mentioned. Crystal Snow and Ever After’s wikis only show their keychain however.)

9. Crystal Snow: Strength: 5, Magic: 8, Blizzard Claws, Blizzard Blades

Let’s start with the keyblade that I believe is the least helpful of the nine main keyblades: Crystal Snow. Crystal Snow is the keyblade that Sora obtains from completing Arendelle. Now, the design for this keyblade is great. It looks much like Elsa’s ice palace and the teeth of the keyblade is a snowflake. The different tones of blue make it seem like this keyblade is also made of ice and the little Olaf keychain is a nice and cute touch.

However, cute can only get Sora so far in his journey. The strength isn’t the greatest on this keyblade, relying more on magic than anything. The Blizzard Claws and Blizzard Blades formchanges are pretty cool but the claw concept was also done on the Happy Gear and so it does feel a little repetitive. These are all great traits, however, the main reason I have Crystal Snow as number nine on my list is because of the bonus ability Sora gains from this keyblade: Freeze Protection.

Now, Freeze Protection is a very useful ability, when Sora is in a place against enemies that have ice or snow related attacks, which is mostly only on Arendelle. Which is fine, but that really limits how much Freeze Protection benefits Sora in the long run. So, using Crystal Snow in Arendelle is a great choice, but overall, it would benefit Sora much more to use a more well-rounded keyblade that he can use on multiple different worlds rather than just one.

8. Hero’s Origins: Strength: 6, Magic: 2, Counter Shield

Next, we have Hero’s Origins. Sora obtains Hero’s Origins from helping Hercules and completing Olympus. This is the first keyblade Sora obtains, outside of his default keyblade, and it is very reminiscent of the keyblades he would get from Olympus Coliseum in KHI and KHII. It is nice to finally see the gods being incorporated into Hercules’s world, since they had been such a large part of his movie. And it was pretty great seeing Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s reactions when learning that Herc is the son of a god 😆. But, even with the nostalgia that came with obtaining this keyblade, I couldn’t help but put it as number eight.

Firstly, this keyblade is very unbalanced. The description even states that it has an emphasis on Strength, which is fine, but brute force will only get Sora so far in his journey. However, for the time when Sora obtains this keyblade, the brute force is much more useful for him, which is why this is one step above Crystal Snow, in my opinion.

Hero’s Origins formchanges, Counter Shield, is a great representation of who Hercules is and what he stands for in his world. When activated, Hero’s Origin transforms into a shield, which fits with Herc being a defender and the extra ability that Sora gains form wielding this keyblade, aptly named Defender. Lightning surrounds Sora during some attacks and during the finishing moves, Sora gets to ride on Pegasus’s chariot while shooting lightning at enemies. This allows Sora to hit a larger group of enemies instead of a small amount or just a single enemy. This just feels more beneficial for Sora and is very unique for Hercules’s world.

7. Ever After: Strength: 3, Magic: 7, Mirage Staff

Coming next at number seven, is Ever After, the keyblade Sora obtains from the world Kingdom of Corona. This is a great looking keyblade, (though I’ll be honest, all of these keyblades were well designed and I couldn’t be happier) and the added touch of the frying pan being the keychain is pretty awesome. But pretty keyblades do come with their downfalls.

Much like Crystal Snow, Ever After is heavily relent on boosting Sora’s magic, but seeing as this is one of the first worlds that Sora can visit and doesn’t have all of his magic, the imbalance of this keyblade is felt.

However, there is a reason why I put this a step higher than Hero’s Origins and that is because of the Leaf Bracer ability that this keyblade offers Sora. I don’t know about anyone else, but I get rather annoyed when I’m trying to heal Sora and an enemy hits him, breaking the spell. With Leaf Bracer, Sora is still able to heal himself, which lowers the risk of a “Game Over” screen and when one is still reeling from the other games where a certain someone (cough*Donald*cough) won’t heal Sora, this ability can, literally, be a life saver. Though, as useful as this ability is, Sora does have the ability to obtain it without equipping Ever After, which is why it is so low on the list, but is more beneficial than Defender or Freeze Protection.

6. Happy Gear: Strength: 7, Magic: 3, Agile Claws, Twin Yo-Yo

Next, we have Happy Gear. This is the keyblade that Sora obtains from completing Monsteropolis. It has a little blue hard hat that many of Monster Inc. characters are seen wearing and little Boo in her monster disguise as the keychain. If we are going to be completely honest, Monsteropolis was my least favorite world in KHIII. I believe that it could have been replaced by almost any world, whether another Pixar or Disney world, and they would have affected the story just as much. But this is not about whether or not I liked the world, this is about the effectiveness of the keyblade that Sora gains from completing the world. And I do see this keyblade being more useful to Sora than the last three keyblades mentioned. With a strength of 7, this keyblade gives Sora more ‘umph’ to his hits with a slight boost to his magic, especially when compared to Hero’s Origin.

The formchanges of Happy Gear are Agile Claws and Twin Yo-Yo, both being quite useful, even though Crystal Snow also has a claw-like formchange, losing some of the uniqueness toward it, Twin Yo-Yo is a nice touch. The reach is great for hitting enemies from a far, especially when Sora is low on health and he needs space to heal himself.

Focus Converter, the ability that comes with this keyblade, is also quite nice, but is quite limiting. Maybe if the player heavily uses Sora’s Focus attacks quite a bit, they would benefit from such an ability and seeing as Sora, at least for level 55, doesn’t already have this as an option for a permanent ability, it’s a nice addition to have. I definitely used Sora’s Focus attacks to help me out while in a pinch and waiting for the Focus Gauge to refill was always the worst. So, I can definitely see this ability being useful for Sora in the long run when trying to complete the main story of the game.

5. Favorite Deputy: Strength: 6, Magic: 3, Hyper Hammer, Drill Punch

At number five, I have put Favorite Deputy. Sora obtains this keyblade once he completes Toy Box. The combination of aspects from Buzz and Woody in this keyblade definitely adds to the ‘toy’ vibe that the whole world of Toy Box offered. Favorite Deputy has, much like Happy Gear, a nice balance between strength and magic, especially with how early Sora gains this keyblade.

The formchanges Hyper Hammer and Drill Punch also add to the toy-vibe and are quite powerful attacks, especially when in close proximity with a large group of enemies. Swarms of Heartless can be knocked back to give Sora space by using Hyper Hammer, and I can tell you, this has helped me give Sora space to heal and just breath for a second. Drill Punch is great for chasing enemies that like to move around the area and the use of fire when Sora punches the ground is another great way to keep enemies from crowding him. The hits are quite powerful and are enjoyable to use and are very unique to the keyblade.

Now for Lucky Strike, which is the ability that Sora gains when equipping this keyblade. This is mostly the reason why this is number five and not higher on the list. Lucky Strike is an ability that increases how often Sora’s enemies will drop items. Not rarer items, just items. This ability is stackable, as it was in the other games, and could be useful if the player is grinding for specific items. In my opinion, Hero’s Origins’ Defender and Ever After’s Leaf Bracer are better abilities have have equipped to Sora, since it is still early on in the game when these keyblades are obtained and there is no way to know what items are needed for specific recipes until Sora gains the recipes (unless a walkthrough just happens to open next to you 😉 or future vision is a secret power of yours 😆). Goofy, also, is the only one who actually has Lucky Strike as a permanent ability by level 55, meaning that unless Sora gains it after that, there is no way to increase Lucky Strikes usefulness for Sora in the beginning of the game.

The formchanges and the better balance between strength and magic are why this keyblade has taken the number five slot for main game play, but for grinding, this keyblade could be quite useful.

4. Kingdom Key: Strength: 5, Magic: 4, Second Form

Now the most iconic keyblade from the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise, the Kingdom Key. Sora and Roxas’s default keyblade, this keyblade has to be the most recognizable out of all of them. This is the most key-like blade that Sora uses, and for this game, this keyblade is very well-balanced. It was nice to see that this iconic keyblade was no longer one of the weakest weapons that Sora can use like it was in the previous games. For starting KHIII, this is definitely a great keyblade to have equipped and it probably wouldn’t provide Sora too many issues when it comes to the stronger worlds. Especially if the player is upgrading their keyblades whenever they can. And with how well-balanced the Kingdom Key is, I wouldn’t fault anyone for just wanting to use this keyblade the entire time.

The formchange is also really nice and beyond nostalgic. Known as Second Form, Sora is transformed into his KHII outfit (when he finally gains his new KHIII outfit) and is able to use abilities that were offered to his in KHII, such as Stun Impact. These attacks are quite powerful and can help eliminate enemies quickly or stun them so that his companions can deal with them. It is a little disappointing that these changes that Sora gets isn’t quickly apparent when he still has his KHII outfit, but that doesn’t last long.

Now, for the ability that comes with the Kingdom Key: Treasure Magnet. This ability allows for treasure and munny to be automatically drawn to the person (Sora, Donald, or Goofy). Sora can gain this as a permanent ability, there really is no need for it right away, unless, like with Lucky Strike, the player is grinding for treasure and items and doesn’t want to spend the time having to collect the items individually. If it wasn’t for this ability, I probably would have had the Kingdom Key closer to number one or two on this list.

But, beside the ability, this keyblade is quite strong and provides Sora with a nice balance between his strength and magic, which I have noticed to be a benefit the higher the level Sora is. This is probably the only keyblade on here that I would recommend just using the entire game if the player wants the challenge of using only one keyblade the entire time. No upgrades. No nothing. Use as is and I honestly don’t foresee anyone having too many issues defeating Heartless or Nobodies. (Unless you’re like me and accidentally equip Zero EXP because it was two in the morning and you only read the first part of the description 😅. But I digress 😆.)

3. Shooting Star: Strength: 4, Magic: 6, Double Arrowguns, Magic Launcher

We are closing in on the end! Here at number three, I have put Shooting Star, the keyblade we normally associate with King Mickey and Yen Sid. Sora gains this keyblade after completing Twilight Town. This, much like Hero’s Origins, holds a very nostalgic feel to it, not quite looking like the other Shooting Star keyblades that we have seen in the earlier games, but close enough that a quick glance would tell the player which keyblade it was. Shooting Star has always put more emphasis on magic, seeing as we were first introduced to this keyblade back in KHII in Yen Sid’s Mysterious Tower. But there is a nice balance between magic and strength. This would definitely be the keyblade I would recommend to those who are more apt to attack enemies with Sora’s magic rather than charging in and using brute force. And with how early on Sora gains this keyblade, a single keyblade use could be used with Shooting Star if the Kingdom Key isn’t quite your cup of tea.

Now, Shooting Star, like five other keyblades on this list, has two formchanges: Double Arrowguns and Magic Launcher. I have to admit, Double Arrowguns has to be one of my favorite formchanges. It was my first time seeing Sora use something like a gun and it felt very new and fresh. Though it is not the first keyblade to have a gun-like formchange or a rocket launcher formchange, it is one of the first one the player is introduced to, which is why I am not criticizing it as much as I had with Crystal Snow’s Blizzard Claw, since both Happy Gear and Favorite Deputy have claw-like formchanges and it no longer feels like an original aspect of the keyblade. I also really like the call back to Wisdom Form from KHII where Sora would just shoot magic at the Heartless instead of smacking them.

The ability that comes with Shooting Star, Magic Treasure Magnet, is probably the only thing about this keyblade that is lacking. Magic Treasure Magnet is pretty much the same are regular Treasure Magnet that Kingdom Key has, but only specifically targets MAGICAL treasure, instead of all treasure. This could be useful for grinding for items once more, depending on what treasure the player is grinding for, but for just regular game play, this ability does not really do much for Sora. This ability is also specific to Shooting Star as of Sora being level 57, but I honestly see this ability being more important for Donald, as he is the main magic user of the group, then for Sora.

Though the ability is lacking, the formchanges definitely help boost Shooting Star in the rankings for best keyblade to use, especially since Sora gains this keyblade so early on in his journey that Shooting Star could be used for almost the entire game if the player chooses.

2. Nano Gear: Strength: 7, Magic: 6, Nano Arms

Here at number two I have put Nano Gear. This is one of the last keyblades that Sora gains through the main storyline, depending on how the player goes about the worlds. Sora must complete San Fransokoyo in order to obtain this keyblade and this has to be the strongest balanced keyblade from the main storyline that Sora can obtain. Which is great for the large fight that is awaiting Sora and his friends but is a little sad that he didn’t have the opportunity to give it more use throughout the game.

Now for the formchange, Nano Arms. When I first read this name, I thought this was going to be something like Happy Gear, where Sora has weapons attached to his arms, but I was pleasantly surprised. Instead, Nano Gear transforms into something at appears more sword-like and when the finishing move happens, Sora disappears through a hole in space and the nanos form a sphere that shoots rods out. It is quite unique and is reminiscent of the evil nanos that Sora and the gang had to deal with on San Fransokoyo. The attack is strong and a good mixture of up close and personal and needing some space to breath.

Onto the ability, Stun Protection. Finally, FINALLY an ability that is useful outside a single world or for grinding. There are quite a few enemies that can stun Sora and it can get nerve wracking when he is at low health and he gets stunned. By having Stun Protection on, it protects Sora from being stunned, thus keeps him from being vulnerable to attacks. This could be useful for grinding, if the player is merely grinding to raise Sora’s level, but this is also useful during fights on other worlds. Unlike Freeze Protection, which was more helpful while Sora is in Arendelle, this is more universal for worlds such as the Kingdom of Corona, Olympus, and San Fransokoyo, even in the Keyblade Graveyard have enemies that can stun Sora. While it doesn’t stop Sora from taking damage, at least he won’t be unable to fight because a Heartless such as Earth Core manage to land a hit.

NOW FOR THE NUMBER ONE KEYBLADE

1. Wheel of Fate: Strength: 8, Magic: 5, Highwind, Storm Flag

And here is the keyblade everyone has been waiting for, the number one keyblade to use, Wheel of Fate! Sora obtains Wheel of Fate after he completes the Caribbean and is probably one of the darker in concept keyblades that Sora can use. There is, much like Shooting Star and Hero’s Origins, a nostalgic attachment to this keyblade, seeing as this is from the third and last returning world that the player gets to visit as Sora. Wheel of Fate gives Sora a nice boost to his magic and an even stronger boost to his strength for when he runs out of magic and has to smack a Heartless or two. It is nice to see the incorporation of a pirate ship into this keyblade, since for most of the game, Sora is sailing the seas with Jack.

Now for the two formchanges that come with Wheel of Fate: Highwind and Storm Flag. Highwind transforms Sora’s keyblade into a lance-like weapon that provides quite the reach to keep enemies at a safe distance and after using the lance for a while, a bunch a lances made of light will shoot down around Sora, spearing any enemies near him. Storm Flag is just as cool with the lance-like weapon transforming into a pirate flag and pole and when Sora strikes it down, the Krakens tentacles made of water sprout up and surround Sora while smacking the ground around him. These attacks are quite powerful and are very useful when in a swarm of Heartless, Nobodies, or even the Unverse. They’re unique and incorporate the struggles that Sora and the gang faced while in the Caribbean.

As for the ability that comes with Wheel of Fate, Waterza, this is a little different than the other keyblades on this list because Waterza is one of the magic spells that Sora can learn in KHIII. However, when combine with Wheel of Fate, it allows Sora to generate Waterza commands without him needing to fulfill any of the special requirements. This can be quite useful, especially when up against fire type enemies such as Flame Core or for enemies like Neoshadow where it is recommended to use water-based attacks against them. And seeing as Sora will be facing one of the largest battles in his life in this game, equipping Wheel of Fate will provide him with not only a nice balance of strength and magic, but provide him with extra powerful attacks through his formchanges and extra ability.

And I want to give my boy the best weapon to show off how much he’s learned throughout this journey 😉.

So, that is my ranking of which keyblades will be the best to use throughout the main story of Kingdom Hearts III. I know that I didn’t list Hunny Spout on here, but much like the first two games, it seems that the Hundred Acre Wood isn’t necessary to complete to get the complete main story. Though, I do recommend doing so 😊. It can provide a much needed break when the Heartless, Nobodies, and Unverse start getting frustrating. And again, this list is merely my opinion on the keyblades without any upgrades. Anyone can make even the weakest keyblade stronger by adding the upgrades to it, but I wanted to give my opinion of the keyblades as they are, like how I would have to deal with them if they were from any of the older games where upgrading keyblades was not an option.

Do you guys agree with me list? Do think a keyblade should be higher or lower on my list? Let me know in the comments. And tell me which is your favorite keyblade from KHIII. Mine has to be between Shooting Star and Wheels of Fate, but I honestly think all of them look great 😆.

But until next time, my fellow half-pints, Let your heart being your guiding key. And I’ll see ya real soon 😉.

-Sorax.