Echoes of Aincrad Partner Guide - Full list of partner weapons and how to unlock the secret ones
In Echoes of Aincrad, you do not have to explore the Sword Art Online MMORPG by yourself, as you can be accompanied by a fellow in-game player as a partner in quests. They will help you fight enemy monsters in the game, whether in alternating coordination with the Switch mode or in a focus-spending Free mode.
However, some of the partner candidates will only be available after completing side quests that appear after certain points in the game. This guide will help you pinpoint the prerequisites, while also providing a more general summary of the partner system.
Partners available via story progression in Echoes of Aincrad
The following characters will be available as selectable partners as you gradually progress through the game's storyline and main quests. Some characters may become unavailable at some points in the storyline, but we won't specify those to prevent further spoilers.
- Iori (Weapon Type: Sword)
- Wyzeman (Weapon Type: Mace)
- Argo (Weapon Type: Dagger)
- Zash (Weapon Type: Two-Handed Sword)
- Stina (Weapon Type: Mace)
- Musoh (Weapon Type: Two-Handed Axe)
How to unlock more Partners in Echoes of Aincrad
In addition to the above story-based partners, there are more characters you can optionally unlock as recruitable partners. All of those characters available so far also turn out to be the famous recurring characters from the original Sword Art Online light novel and anime.
The general flow to recruit these characters is as follows: After completing a specific Main Quest, there may be an addition of a purple side quest marker in one of the available towns. This marker may point to the existing character, where interacting with them would start a line of 3 side quests that will eventually unlock them as a recruitable partner upon completing the whole plotline. As a side note, without spoiling too much, the plot for each character also corresponds to their background around the whole arc in the Sword Art Online anime.
However, some of the quests for these characters are going to take place in optional dungeons that need to be unlocked during exploration in other quests. This guide will include notes when such dungeons do appear.
Asuna
The earliest you can unlock an optional partner in Echoes of Aincrad will be after you have cleared the main quest Cliffside Marvel. You can find the Sword Art Online series' main heroine Asuna standing outside the Inn in the 2nd Floor's major town of Urbus.
Asuna's quest line entirely takes place in field areas, so you can immediately access the 2nd quest after the 1st and the 3rd after the 2nd. Finish this line and Asuna the Flash will be available to call in subsequent quests with Rapier as her weapon type of choice.
Kirito
The famous Sword Art Online series protagonist Kirito will be available after you have completely finished The Black Swordsman line of quests in the main story. You can find him at the plaza square area to the far west of the Inn in Urbus.
However, this is also where you may need to explore and unlock an optional dungeon in a previous quest zone. This is because Kirito's first side quest Heartbeat will take place at the Ancient Ritual Hall on the 2nd Floor.
Once you have finished the whole line, you will be able to call the famous Black Swordsman to accompany you in quests—of course, with Sword as his weapon type.
Agil
After you have cleared The Black Swordsman quest line, you will also gain access to Agil's quests at the same time as Kirito. However, you may more likely see Agil first, as he stands on the ground floor inside the Urbus Inn, and his first side quest also takes place in the open field.
However, you will still have to make sure you have been unlocking optional dungeons on your way, as Agil's third and final side quest Years Together is set to take place at the Soldiers' Stronghold on the 1st Floor.
Finishing this quest will allow you to invite Agil, who excels in using Two-Handed Axe weapons.
Klein
Once you have cleared the main quest Original Sin, you will notice a new side quest appearing in Tolbana on the 1st Floor. Here you will find Kirito's first acquaintance Klein, standing beside the main street near the Item Seller.
Take note that the first two quests in Klein's line—Bride-to-Be and Suspicion—will respectively take place at dungeons named Millenium Palace (sic) and Vialno Cave.
The third and final quest will take place in the open field. Once you have finished that, the Sword-wielding Klein will be available to invite.
Lisbeth
The smithy-aspiring Lisbeth will make her debut as you aim to visit the 2nd Floor town of Marome in Seeking Hope, with her also appearing as an extra party member. Right after the quest ends and you're well settled in Marome, Lisbeth will also stay in the same town, sitting near the Item Seller.
Unlike the above three guys (and just like Asuna), Lisbeth's quests all take place in field areas, so there should not be any dungeons to unlock beforehand. Once Lisbeth has become available as a partner, she can also equip one of your Mace weapons.
Silica
As of the main story available at Echoes of Aincrad's launch, Silica is the last recurring character and recruitable partner you can encounter here. After appearing as the extra party member in the Violet Footsteps quest, she will then move to Horunka on the 1st Floor.
Just like the other two female characters above, all of Silica's quests take place in field areas, so you can just proceed straight through the quest line. Silica will afterward be available as a Dagger-using partner.
Echoes of Aincrad Partners sorted by Weapon Types
In the Partner menu from the Chest inside your bedroom at any Inn, you can have any available partner equip one of the weapons from your Inventory. They should also be able to utilize any buffs and abilities provided by the selected weapon. However, they can only equip a weapon from their respective weapon type of choice.
We have also made a list of available partners sorted by their weapon types, so you can prepare enough weapons for each and every partner.
- Sword: Iori, Kirito, Klein
- Rapier: Asuna
- Dagger: Argo, Silica
- Mace: Wyzeman, Stina, Lisbeth
- Two-Handed Sword: Zash
- Two-Handed Axe: Musoh, Agil
Interacting with Available Partners in Echoes of Aincrad
The original characters who are part of your own group are generally interactable on the ground floor of the Inn in the town that serves as the current base in the main story progression.
Meanwhile, the series recurring characters you have befriended—including Argo, who is available by default—will instead gather at the Inn in the Town of Beginnings. All of them will stay there no matter where you are based in the story progression, but they will also have lines relevant to your progression whenever you speak to them.