Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-4141313-20181124081953/@comment-37471367-20181129033210

MobiusEternal1 wrote It's like how people kept questioning why Qrow used his weapon's sword form against Winter and Tyrian instead of the scythe form.

Neither of those opponents are suited for him to use a scythe against. Both are swift and agile and fight up close. A scythe is a mid-range weapon where you have the blade on the end of a pole. It's one of the reasons Neo royally kicked Ruby's ass - she was too swift and agile and had a tendency to get too close for Ruby to use her scythe's blade.

It seems scythes are better against Grimm than quick-moving human or Faunus opponents.

Precisely. Your comparison is exactly what I’m talking about. Using a scythe against Tyrian is not a good move, with Ruby as proof unfortunately. For Winter, that would have meant sacrificing the defense and mobility his sword mode has.... for what exactly? (He did start deploying the scythe for some reason though.)

Though I will disagree with your assessment of Neo against Ruby. Just to make sure, I rewatched it. There was no clear advantage in that confrontation before Roman arrived. Before Torchwick got there, we got shots of Ruby whirling her scythe in a blur, with Neo dodging away. That’s no so much winning on anyone’s part as it is Ruby keeping Neo back by windmilling her scythe rapidly and Neo being forced to get out of range. It’s when Roman shows up and begins double teaming that Ruby takes a beating.

That said, yes. It’s clear at this point that scythes are better suited for taking on Grimm or other large targets (Such as the Altesian Paladin), than for human or Faunus combatants. Ruby can mow down hordes of normal Grimm, no problem. But save for cannon fodder (I’ve noticed that she only bludgeons or kicks bandits/White Fang. Guess that means she prefers non lethal combat in those cases), she’s not so great in melee against humans or Faunus. Qrow seems to have compensated for this by having the option of sword or scythe.