Balsamic Moon



Balsamic Moon (バルサミック) is a Claymore that can be wielded by Saïx in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It can be upgraded to Balsamic Moon+.

Design
The handle of the Balsamic Moon claymore is magenta-colored, and has a black spike set in its pommel. The guard is comprised of two silver diamonds, each with a diamond-shaped gap in its center. The main blade is silver and rather thin. It has a small, diamond-shaped gap in its base and its tip flares out into an arrowhead-like spike with a white diamond in its center, and a smaller, yellow diamond in the center of that diamond. The inside edges of the gaps in the weapon are black. Two thin, silver protrusions are present on the upper half of the main blade, one on each side. These side blades point diagonally downward and each has a yellow diamond set in its center.

When Saïx enters his berserker state, the main blade—particularly its tip—becomes larger, wider, and slightly longer. Its side blades also become longer and wider, to the point that their tips nearly touch the guard. The outer edges of the entire blade become lined by an additional, black blade with purple edges. This claymore and the Crater differ from each other only in coloration.

The name refers to Balsamic moons, an astrological event that occurs when a balsamic Moon is less than 45 degrees behind the natal Sun.

Gameplay
Balsamic Moon’s normal ground combo starts with a side-stepping movement and a sideways slash, followed by a near-vertical upward slash then a diagonal downward slash, and ends with a 360-degree spinning swipe and an upward diagonal slash. The combo can be activated after the second attack, and consists of a leap and a powerful downward vertical slash.

The aerial combo consists of a dash forward in mid-air, followed by two 360-degree spinning swipes.