I've got sword CTR high in trinkets right now, plus the medium from heat equals CTR ultra. I'm gonna wait until all that stuff with the chaos gear settles down a bit, then figure out where I'll get that last bit of CTR from.
So, should I first craft an Avenger to a Divine Avenger, or craft a Dark Thorn Shield to a Barbarous Thorn Shield?
(other suggestions for swords are fine, but I want to keep this loadout mainly swords.)
Gear:
-I use a Voltedge, because it's so great on crowds.
-I use a Valiance so I can hit switches and all that good stuff.
-I use a Gran Faust on anything that's resistant to elemental.
-I use either a Sudaruska to charge for arenas beforehand (it charges slowly), or a Barbarous Thorn blade as a lighter version of the Blitz for Trojans.
Other:
-I use a Swiftstrike fairly often, so I'm don't think I'm unprepared for having a shield that won't block much.
-I don't play LD or have enough previous damage boosts to waste any of the shield's bonus.
Improving the shield will give more damage to both the avenger, the faust, BTB, sudaruska and voltedge.
The avenger will give you a fancier charge but you already have a decent elemental sword.
BUT you also say you use the swifstrike often so... will that BTS have any use?
Thsee are some facts you have to consider to find your answer.