Personally this one would consider it pay for advantage.
But this one is a pedant like that

It is utile early game, for perhaps the first day or so on most PvP servers.

If servers started fresh regularly, it would be a much more noticable edge, but as matters stand, it is one of the advantages this one notes that if that’s all it took to defeat someone else, they were going to lose anyway.
Specifically because a better version of those weapons is available as a drop from the dreck patrolling around the Stygian fort.
“Unique” (or whatever they call the yellow border) Hardened Steel Shortswords, easy enough to acquire on the way to picking up Musashi’s Blackblade.

Controlling the resource glut that is Al Merayah is it’s own issue. That one stop shop is a massive boon to solo reaver activity or other decentralized strategies. But that’s it’s own separate topic.

This one personally doesn’t consider these hardened steel blades as impactful on the same level as, say, certain steep roof pieces.

All things equally, it is definitely an advantage. But in the current situations it’s a very thin advantage.
That having been said, enough paper thin advantages can add up to a book, if someone knows the trick for bringing them all together.

TLDR; this one is uncomfortably on the fence regarding how impactful it really is, but feels it is inaccurate to say it has no impact at all. Especially as server settings vary and officials may change it n the future.

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