Sword Hunter Base Guide: Merging, Upgrades, and When to Return
What the Sword Hunter base does, how the loot-to-cash-to-merge loop works, the stick-to-Rank 999 sword ladder, Base stations seen in gameplay, and exactly when to return to base.
Quick answer
The Base is Sword Hunter’s home location for improving weapons: the game’s own description tells you to “Return to your Base to upgrade and merge your Swords!” It has been there since day one — the update log lists “merge base” among the features present when the game went live on July 31, 2026.
- Two functions, confirmed by the game and its guides: upgrading your equipment and merging swords — you “merge swords at your base to strengthen your collection.”
- Merging is Base-bound: merges happen at the Base, not out in the hunting areas.
- Cash funds the whole thing — hunting loot becomes cash, and cash merges swords at the Base.
A note on the description wording
The Base description has shipped in two versions: the current “Return to your Base to upgrade and merge your Swords!” and an earlier “Upgrade and Merge Swords at your Base.” The function is the same in both. Because the wording has drifted, recheck the exact phrasing and Base mechanics after a major Sword Hunter update.
The loot-to-cash-to-merge loop that runs through the Base
Monster farming feeds the Base’s merge function: you hunt, loot drops, loot becomes cash, and cash merges swords at base. Pets and offline collection ride on top of that engine. Guides put it plainly: “Cash is what merges cost,” and cash “is spent at base to climb the sword ladder.” The documented loop:
Roadmap
- 1
Select your sword
- Select your current sword with F.
- 2
Find a pack you can kill
- Walk into a pack your blade can actually kill.
- 3
Turn on auto-attack
- Toggle auto-attack on with R.
- 4
Let loot pile up
- Stay inside the pack until loot piles up.
- 5
Convert loot to cash
- Convert loot to cash.
- 6
Merge or park
- Either merge at base or park the sword for offline loot.
Merge rules at the Base
A few fixed rules govern every merge:
Tips
Merges happen at the Base, not in the grass
Merging is location-bound. Guides flag “the path back to base, because merges happen there, not in the grass.”
The first merge is stick-to-steel, and it happens at the Base
“Stick to steel still happens at your base.”
Group perks do not skip merging
“You still merge at base. A group join does not skip stick-to-steel,” and “a group crate, if one exists, is not a skip.”
There is one documented alternative
“Either merge at base or park the sword for offline loot.”
The sword ladder your cash climbs
Merging spends cash to climb a visible ladder, and each rung has a job:
Mistakes to avoid
- Problem
- Taking the LV.1 stick into hard content
- Fix
- The LV.1 stick is the start of every new hunter — fine for the first packs on tropical islands, not for the volcano or the giant gorilla. The first real merge off the stick is a steel or gold blade.
- Problem
- Expecting the mid ladder in one click
- Fix
- The cave gem sword — the jungle cave reward on the ladder — comes before rainbow crystal LV.999, which is a long mid ladder: you farm, merge, farm, merge.
- Problem
- Chasing the end goal as your first merge
- Fix
- The huge blue Rank 999 sword is the end goal players chase, but “your first merge is the first rung, not Rank 999.”
Other Base stations and upgrades seen in gameplay
Gameplay footage from two playthrough videos shows more at the Base than the merge function. The labels below are the creators’ spoken descriptions, not official UI text, so treat them as observed play and recheck them in-game after a major Sword Hunter update:
- Buy swords with cash — “Buy a sword… let’s buy another sword.”
- Merge swords into better ones — “Merge three to for better sword.”
- Feed the dragon for cash, and collect accumulated cash at the Base — one session collected 34 million.
- A free upgrade chain that granted a tier-two sword, then tier four and tier five as upgrading continued — the tier five increased the loot multiplier.
- Upgrade deals covering “Loot and monster HP, more monsters,” plus a “merge deal” offering a new sword (one shown as “Edge. Damage 50”).
- Chests — a tier chest (one pull shown as “Tier three”) and a common chest.
- A Robux-flagged “Upgrade by tier” option — the commentary is unclear whether the observed 2.3 billion figure is Robux or in-game currency.
- A “processing loot” upgrade, observed at “plus one um million per second.”
The footage and the guides frame merging slightly differently: guides describe spending cash at the Base to climb the sword ladder, while the footage shows swords also being bought outright and merged in groups. The exact cost or recipe for each merge is not settled between those accounts, so treat the Base’s in-game prices as the final word.
When to return to the Base
Documented return-to-base triggers, and what to do on each:
Best by use case
| Trigger | What to do |
|---|---|
| Cash looks like enough to leave the stick behind | Return to base and merge. |
| The next blade is in reach | Walk to base and merge — or, if the session is over, park the new sword for offline collection. |
| The boss does not die | You are here too early. Return to island packs, merge at base, and come back. There is no secret emote — cash and a better sword are the strategy. |
| Needing more cash | Gameplay shows a return to base on exactly this trigger: “I think we need more cash.” |
| A co-op merge is ready | Return to base together — the island does not merge for the party. Meet at base first if anyone still swings a stick. |
| Offline progress is waiting | Swords keep collecting loot while you are away, “giving you plenty of reasons to return and improve your setup.” |