Queen’s Domain weapon evolutions and levels: every weapon that evolves, the Pandora Blade and the best weapons by stage

Weapons level from hits on enemies, 3% damage per level up to level 10

There is no blacksmith. A weapon gets stronger only by being used, and each one keeps its own level, separate from your character and from every other weapon you carry.

• Only hits on enemies count. Players levelling for the weapon challenges agree that every hit that lands registers experience, so one swing through a pack is worth several swings at one target. You do not need the kill.
• Bigger hits move the bar faster. One player reports a single fully charged swing through three or four enemies filling half a level bar. Several note that a secondary attack that hits a group levels a weapon faster than its normal swing.
• Each level is +3% damage. Level 10 is the usual ceiling, for +30%. At that point the level reads MAX and the weapon is finished, unless it is one of the few that evolve.
• An evolved weapon starts again at level 1. It has higher base Power, but it has lost most of the bonus it built up, so one player notes it can hit slightly softer than the level 9 weapon it replaced until you level it again. It then goes to level 10 a second time.

Spirit Oil is worth about three levels a bottle

Spirit Oil adds experience to the weapon in your hand. Two players put it at roughly three levels per bottle: one says so directly, another used three bottles to reach level 8 and finished by hand. Bottles come from chests and hidden rooms, Umbada sells them in her later stock, and players farm them from the stone centipedes outside the Petrified Garden crystal monument. Spend them on a weapon that evolves. Our key items guide has more on Spirit Oil and the accessories that help.

Where players level weapons

• Early: the ankle-deep water where the small fish first swarm you in the Obmuer Temple area. A sweeping weapon hits four or five at once.
• Mid: the Tower of Knowledge, either the slow skeletons behind the bookshelves near the first floor crystal monument or the gargoyle statues below the tower teleporter, which spawn a pack of book monsters next to a save point. One player took every weapon from about half done to MAX there in around an hour.
• Late: the Petrified Garden crystal monument, where the centipedes are weak to Impact and can drop more Spirit Oil.

The Training Band accessory raises weapon experience, according to two players. One of them places it in the building where you find the Shock Rifle; we could not confirm that location a second way.

Eight base weapons evolve at level 10, plus Holy Sword Endu

The rule players settled on: if it is rusted, it evolves, and so does the Wooden Club. Each one becomes a weapon named after one of the island’s gods. Where to find the base weapons is in our all weapons and locations guide.

Power and speed figures for the first four rows come from players reading them off the item screen, and at least two sources agree on each. Nobody has posted the numbers for the four late evolutions, so we are not stating any.

What players say about each evolution

• Sipeha’s Twisted Heart. Physical damage is its own type, and players testing it found it does decent damage to everything with no weakness to exploit. Opinion is split: one player calls it amazing, others find the light swings weak for an evolved weapon.
• Jigeki’s Serpent Thrust. The stun lasts about a second and interrupts whatever the enemy was winding up. This is the evolution players recommend most often for the early game.
• Puwema’s Blessed Orb. The heal is the reason to evolve the club. The size is disputed: one player estimated about 200 health, another report says about 150. Players also disagree on whether it charges only from the club’s own hits or refills while you use other weapons.
• Sipeha’s Void Maul. The damage per explosion is described as only okay, but three orbs each exploding up to three times add up on enemies that do not die fast.
• Wodaso’s Holy Lightning. The late evolution with the most praise. One player says the spell humiliates sentinels, manticores and mimics, and another that it one-shots the drill robots.
• Jigeki’s Rot. Good but not amazing, in the words of the player who documented it first.
• Puwema’s Wind Dancer. One Steam guide calls this weapon Puwema’s Leaf Blade. Four separate players and the in-game weapon lists they posted call it Puwema’s Wind Dancer, so that is the name we use.
• Okbujo’s Silver Garden. Two players single it out as the strongest of the set. One says it melts almost anything in one or two charges and trivialises the late game.

Umbada sells a clean copy of each weapon you evolve

If you miss the old moveset, the shop restocks it under a new name: Ancient Short Sword, Common Spear, Hard Wooden Club, Silver Longhammer, Scaled Greatsword, Bronze Great Morning Star, Gilded Leaf Blade and Black Steel Greataxe. They handle like the rusted originals, and they count as separate entries for the weapon collection challenges.

The Trident and the Jar Club break at level 5 instead of evolving

Two weapons are built to be used up.

• Trident. At level 5 the head snaps off and becomes the Ruby trident key, and the weapon leaves your loadout. Umbada then sells a Sturdy Trident that does not break. Where the key goes is in our trident keys guide.
• Jar Club. Some players call it the Jarmace. They find it as a jar on the ground on the cliff to the left of the beach where you start. At level 5 it breaks open and leaves the Symbol of Jigeki, a treasure, and Umbada starts selling the Reinforced Jar Club.

Gagi’s Magic Pot, the reward for 60 meal tickets, is the third oddity. When it hits its maximum level it produces a random meal and resets to level 1. Players report one Spirit Oil is enough to trigger that, which is why the pot is the favourite late use for spare bottles.

Holy Sword Endu evolves twice, and the second step needs an altar

Endu becomes Soul Bound Endu at level 10 and drops back to level 1. Level it to 10 again and it reads MAX, which makes it look finished. It is not.

The final form, the True Holy Sword Akunra, does not come from levels alone. Players list the same requirements: Soul Bound Endu at level 10, the broken sword King Gius Abraon gives you after the Deimpo Mausoleum boss, and the door in Verdant Hollow that opens once every Sipeha seal is activated with the Mask of Second Sight. Behind it is the Temple of Puwema, where the two swords are forged into one. If the sword is short of level 10 the game refuses. Akunra is required for the second ending, and our endings guide walks the seals step by step.

The Pandora Blade is in the Crypt and levels to 100 without evolving

You can take the Pandora Blade within minutes of starting. In the Crypt on the Isle of Neasied, go to the room where you pick up the Endu Shrine Gate Key and interact with the wall on the right, beside the broken stone pedestal and shrubs. It opens onto a small room of posed skeletons with the sword inside. You can come back for it after the Shrine Guardian if you missed it. Since patch 1.01.04 that door counts toward the Concealed Passages challenge, and the developers added an in-game hint for finding it.

What level 100 gives you

Nothing new. Players who took it all the way report the level reads MAX at 100 and the blade stays the same weapon. At the game’s 3% per level that is a +300% bonus, which makes 5 Power the equivalent of 20. One player in the Steam discussions says it tops out at 99, so treat the exact cap as lightly disputed. Either way it is a long grind for a number other weapons reach sooner. One player sums it up as “it caps at lvl 100 and does nothing”. One player lists it among the weapons that do not count for the Perfected Weaponry challenge, so you should not need to max it for completion. We could not confirm that a second way.

The real reason to carry it: the Lunging Stab jump

The item description hints at a secret technique. Players identify it as the movement trick the starting sword had in the demo, which the developers kept on this weapon:

1. Sprint and use the secondary attack, the Lunging Stab.
2. Press jump right as the lunge ends. One player times it at about 0.28 seconds after the attack button.
3. The lunge’s speed carries into the jump and throws you much farther than a normal one.

It works at weapon level 1. Players use it to clear the gap above the first crystal monument and to skip dashes they do not have Wind Gems for yet. Several also report you can repeat the lunge in mid-air to keep travelling, though one written guide disputes that it chains without limit. Either way, the Pandora Blade is a traversal tool first and a weapon second.

Everything else stops at MAX, then Ossi’s terminal takes over

Players have levelled these to 10 and watched nothing happen: Cestus, Diamond Blade, Engraved Halberd, Azure Torch, Occult Warhammer, Skull Rod, Melting Moon, Blood Moon, Sin Keeper’s Spear and Wind Blaster. Assume the same for any weapon that is not rusted. The Diamond Blade is the common trap, since its 16 Power makes it look like something worth feeding Spirit Oil.

MAX is not quite the end. In the Ancient World, Mechanical Engineer Ossi takes the data modules hidden behind the orange symbols around the island. Each module unlocks upgrades for a set of weapons at the computer terminal in his lab. Two rules trip players up:

• A weapon appears as greyed out until it is at its maximum level. The “increase level” prompt means level it first.
• Each upgrade costs Ancient Coins and raises base Power. One player’s screen showed 9 Power going to 11.

Upgrading every eligible main weapon is the Perfected Weaponry challenge, which counts 63 weapons. Rusted weapons cannot be upgraded because they evolve at the cap, but their evolved forms and shop copies can. Several players report the challenge completing one or two weapons early, and others stuck at 62 of 63, so expect it to be inconsistent. The 1.01.06 patch notes list fixes for several issues with weapon evolutions and for challenge save data.

Best weapons by stage, according to player consensus and stated stats

This ranking is built from what players in the Steam discussions keep recommending, plus the stats on the item screen. It is not our own test. Where players disagree, we say so.

One rule sits above every pick: enemies have separate defences against Slash, Pierce and Impact, and hitting a weakness can interrupt their attack. Keep one of each type available. Physical weapons hit everything evenly but never hit a weakness.

Early game: Isle of Neasied and Obmuer Temple

Holy Sword Endu stays equipped throughout for the Wind Dash. Players rate its damage as low to middling even fully evolved, so treat it as movement that also happens to level. Our early weapons guide walks the route to the starting set.

Mid game: Tower of Knowledge to Deimpo Mausoleum

The Scimitar and Wind Rapier numbers come from a single Steam guide, so treat them as unconfirmed. The Crushing Lance, the reward for the six-book puzzle in the Tower of Knowledge, has a smaller but loud following for its drilling charge. We only found two players vouching for it.

Late game: Ancient World onward

Players describe the late game as a shooter. The picks that come up again and again:

• Iron Fist. The single most praised late weapon. It fires an explosive shot in a straight line with splash damage, runs on energy cells, and one player says it made the Heavy Rifle look bad.
• Heavy Rifle. Automatic fire plus up to five homing rockets. Players say the rockets one-shot some enemies even in the Record of Sin.
• Okbujo’s Silver Garden. The Rusted Greataxe evolved, and the strongest melee pick by player report.
• Wodaso’s Holy Lightning. Still in loadouts at the end.
• True Holy Sword Akunra and Okbujo’s Judgement. Not optional if you want the second or third ending, since each has to be used in the final fight.

Not every player rates the evolution line. One who evolved most of the rusted weapons called the results just okay and preferred the Cestus for its uppercut jump. The two named most often as worth the effort are the club and the greatsword.

Two secret weapons are built in, not exploits

Two weapons sit outside the ranking. Hempie’s SVT 38 is a rifle you get by inscribing the word Hempie in the Witch’s Grimoire, which is hidden on the back of the tree on the starting beach. It deals Physical damage, ignores stamina, and one player reports it levels to 25. Players call it the best weapon in the first half of the game and, half joking, a cheat code. It is not an exploit: the developers maintain it, and the 1.01.03 patch notes fixed its experience and resource generation by name. The Nyx Thorn Blade has 999 Power and makes you invulnerable, but you only receive it for completing every challenge, so it is a completion reward rather than a shortcut.

The Shock Rifle is a puzzle tool for the Ancient World towers, not a damage pick. Its location and the tower puzzles are in the all weapons guide.

Mistakes with weapon levels and evolutions

• Mistake: Swapping to every new weapon. Fix: Experience does not transfer. Pick the weapons you want evolved and keep them in your three slots.
• Mistake: Grinding a MAX weapon and waiting for it to change. Fix: Only rusted weapons, the Wooden Club and Endu evolve.
• Mistake: Using Spirit Oil on the Diamond Blade or the Trident. Fix: One never evolves and the other breaks. Save bottles for rusted weapons, or for Gagi’s Magic Pot later.
• Mistake: Expecting the evolved weapon to keep its moveset. Fix: The spear loses its back dash and the short sword loses its lunge. Buy the clean copy from Umbada if you want the old move.
• Mistake: Levelling the Pandora Blade for damage. Fix: Use it for the jump and level something that evolves.
• Mistake: Thinking Soul Bound Endu is finished at MAX. Fix: Level it to 10 again before you go to the Temple of Puwema.

FAQ

Source & credit

Queen’s Domain is developed by Freshly Baked Games and published by Future Friends Games. Evolutions, stats and the ranking were compiled from the game’s Steam community discussions and guides, where players posted their item screens and results; anything only one player has reported is marked as such. Images are frames from the official trailers on the Steam store page.