Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-14061097-20140603023830/@comment-4010415-20140605154757

Crescent Rose - I don't think Ruby has to fire bullets just to use it for melee combat. She has shown that she's perfectly capable of swinging it without firing a bullet, such as when she cut a tree down after arguing with Weiss in the Emerald Forest. The bullets simply augment her strikes, but aren't fully necessary.

Myrtenaster - As a sword, it was only ineffective against a suit of armor because, well, it's a suit of friggin armor. It was also kind of ineffective against a Boarbatusk, but that was a heavily-armored grimm. She was able to stab and kill it when she got to its unarmored underbelly. Myrtenaster is just not for brute force, unlike Ember Celica and Crescent Rose. It's built more for quick strikes and stabs. Its most powerful feature is Dust, though.

Gambol Shroud - I'd say that its kusarigama ("chain" sickle) form is medium range, so I guess you're right that it doesn't have a long-range ability. Blake relies on her speed and agility to get in close to her opponent.

StormFlower - I agree with the second anon up there. He was fighting a full grown King Taijitu, and we don't really know whether it injured the Taijitu or not. Then again, for all we know, it could be like Myrtenaster: Designed for speed, rather than brute strength.