Timespinner is a game with a lot to say about war. Its storyline is a messy tangle of revenge and redemption, told across two different timelines. Its protagonist, Lunais, finds herself pulled in different directions by the characters she meets and the truths she reveals, struggling to reckon with the implications of the violence she enacts upon her enemies.
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This violence is undoubtedly a central theme of the game, a fact that is reflected in the diverse arsenal of weaponry that Lunais accumulates throughout her journey. These weapons, the game’s Melee Orbs, span a spectrum from modern weaponry to ancient magic, each offering a new way to fend off the flurry of foes in your path. No matter your views on violence, some of these options are more effective than others. Here, we present the ten best tools in Lunais’ magical toolbox.
10Blue Orb
Given to Lunais by her mother Selen in the game’s tutorial, the Blue Orb is the first weapon you’ll find during your quest. Don’t let its early placement fool you, however: this is a powerful Melee Orb with a lot of potential, even in the game’s later stages.
The attack here consists of a quick, short-range bash with the orb. While this doesn’t deal much damage, even when extensively levelled, the key to its power lies in its quick attack speed. With two of these equipped, you can strike foes at close range in rapid succession. Combine that with the Bleak Ring, which grants increased damage as you chain together consecutive attacks, and even the mightiest bosses will fall given the right opening.
9Blade Orb
An Orb that should feel familiar to fans of the"vania" part of Metroidvania, the Blade Orb is acquired after defeating the game’s first boss, the Feline Sentry. Its attack is an overhead swing, capable of delivering solid damage at a fairly quick rate.
The overhead nature of this Orb’s attack is a big advantage, letting you hit enemies both above and in front of you, as well as at an angle. This flexibility, combined with the much greater damage this Orb deals compared to the starting Blue Orb, make it an attractive choice in the early to mid game.
8Plasma Orb
While blasting your enemies with bolts of lightning in the style of Emperor Palpatine may make you question whether you’re really the good guy in all of this, that’s exactly what the Plasma Orb lets you do. Acquired at what is roughly the midpoint of the game, after defeating the Aelana the Great boss, the Plasma Orb plays very differently to the majority of other Melee Orbs in the game.
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Firstly, it consumes Aura when used, which is a downside you’ll need to manage as you play. Secondly, it hits out almost at random, homing in on nearby enemies but not in a reliable way. Put these two elements together and you have a chaotic weapon that makes up for its unreliability with power and range; the Plasma Orb is capable of hitting pretty much anything on screen, and doing great damage in the process.
7Gun Orb
While it’s been done before, and it even makes sense here due to the partially futuristic setting, there’s still something strange about seeing a Metroidvania protagonist just pull out a gun and shoot down their enemies. That’s exactly what the Gun Orb lets you do, however, once you’ve picked it up in the Military Hangar area.
This Orb combines excellent range and damage to good effect, but it can only fire straight forward, which limits the scenarios in which it’s useful. It’s a great Orb to have set up in your secondary or tertiary slots, as it’s great in certain situations, but you likely won’t want to run it as your primary Orb for general exploration and combat.
6Shattered Orb
Similar to the Blue Orb, the Shattered Orb is a quick-fire short-range weapon. You can find it inthe game’s opening area, Lake Desolation, after burning some young vines in the past to prevent them from blocking your way in the present. Once you have it, it makes a great addition to your arsenal, complementing Blue Orb builds nicely since it acts in a very similar way.
The key difference between the two Orbs is that the Shattered Orb deals multiple instances of damage instead of one, each hitting for less than one Blue Orb hit. This makes it harder to use at first, since every hit isn’t guaranteed to land, but much more effective as you scale into the late game, and ratchet up the Orb’s base damage.
5Iron Orb
A great example of the “simple but effective” cliche, the Iron Orb is nothing but a huge metal hammer. You can find it in the Castle Ramparts area while you’re storming the place in the past, and once you do, you’ll have access to one of the game’s best sources of blunt damage.
The overhead swings of this Orb are great at hitting a range of enemies, and the high damage makes it great at wearing down bosses quickly. The one downside is the relatively slow attack speed, which makes sense given the nature of the weapon, but still reduces its effectiveness somewhat.
4Wind Orb
The Wind Orb takes the “close range but fast” style of weapon in this game to its logical extreme: a hyper-fast Orb that only hits the area right in front of Lunais. This makes using the Wind Orb a risk/reward scenario: if you’re confident in your ability to avoid damage at extremely close range, then this weapon allows you to rack up hits like no other in the game.
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You can find the Wind Orb fairly early on, in the Caves of Banishment area, which gives you plenty of time to get used to its tricky gameplay style. If you manage that, and combine it with a Passive item like the Bleak Ring, you can become a boss-melting machine later in the game.
3Empire Orb
Likely one of the last Orbs you’ll find in Timespinner, since you acquire it after defeating the “final boss” Emperor Nuvius, the Empire Orb lets you beat down foes with a pair of giant fists. The hitboxes on these fists are excellent, extending a good amount out from Lunais to give impressive range, and the damage they deal is strong as well.
If you use some Elemental Beads to boost the level of this Orb after acquiring it, it can become a valuable tool for the last few endgame sections, letting you deal good damage at a solid rate. This makes it a fitting reward for defeating the tricky Emperor Nuvius boss.
2Forbidden Tome
A reward for defeating the optional Ifrit boss in the Temporal Gyre, the Forbidden Tome is one of the best Melee Orbs in the game. This is due to its unique attack pattern: first, the blade swings in an arc, like the Blade Orb; then, it fires out in front of you, like the Gun Orb.
This dualistic moveset opens things up considerably, letting you take on diverse groups of enemies with ease. It also packs great damage, making the Forbidden Tome one of the best general-use Orbs in the game, and an invaluable tool for New Game Plus and Nightmare runs.
1Radiant Orb
One of the easier Orbs to miss, since you receive it for defeating Cantoran at the end of Haristel’s multi-stage quest line, the Radiant Orb is well worth the hassle of tracking it down. Its attack is a burst of light, spreading out from Lunais in a circle, damaging everything around her. While it technically has quite a short range, its omnidirectional nature means that you’ll catch a surprising number of enemies in its blast zone.
This, along with its speedy attack rate, make it easy to spam this Orb as you move through an area, and rarely have to stop to clean up any missed enemies. Great damage and a great attack style make this a great Orb overall.
