When you first start Thymesia, you won’t have access to any Plague Weapons. You will be limited to only your Saber and Deflect abilities, plus the basic Talents that are unlocked by default. However, it won’t be long before you can start experimenting with Plague weapons, as you don’t need to unlock any to try them out. You can instead use them temporarily as a Reave weapon.

This Thymesia guide covers how Reave weapons work and how you can get the most out them.

Reave Weapons Explained

Reave weapons, like the Plague weapons they simulate, are copies of enemy weapons. In the Sea of Trees, you can acquire the Knife, Handaxe, and Halberd by Reaving them from the appropriate enemy. You can also Reave boss weapons, provided you can find an opening.

Reaving a weapon is simple: press and hold the key/button associated with your Claw attack until Corvus takes a stance and his arm is covered in black feathers and green energy. Release the button to launch him toward an enemy. Provided you’re within a moderate distance, Corvus will shove his claws into the enemy’s chest and rip out their weapon energy.

Reave weapons are single-use and cannot be upgraded like Plague Weapons. They are free to use, unlike their Plague counterparts, which cost Energy to activate. You can Reave weapons as many times as you want, and if you do so against two enemies with different weapons, you’ll overwrite your initial Reave weapon with a new one.

Like most abilities in Thymesia, Reaving does not grant invincibility frames, so if your foe is in the middle of an attack animation, you will take full damage. There is a little bit of armor once you connect, so you won’t be immediately knocked out of the Reave animation if you are hit, and you can apply Super Armor to the Predator’s Claw ability, so you can’t be knocked out of the lunge either.

Be aware that Reave weapons don’t last forever. If left unused, they’ll vanish from your inventory, leaving you with only the Plague weapon and your basic kit. If you have both a Plague and a Reave weapon equipped, you can combo one into the other.

If you took the Plague Weapon Level 2 Talent, you can have up to three different Energy weapons to use in sequence. The larger options like Greatsword stun bosses out of most of their attacks, giving you valuable openings in an otherwise constant onslaught, but be mindful of your Energy bar if you stack Reave and Plague weapon activations. For more on Thymesia, check out our guides to leveling up fast, upgrading Potions, and how to get Forgotten Feathers, among others. There’s more available in our Thymesia hub, so check that out while you’re here.