I’m probably late to the party, but I just realized there seems to be a relationship between weapons and how you deal with people in the same way the element of your vision correlates with your ambition; specially how you express your ambition to the world.
I also think that Pyro is the most honest/straight-forward of the elements when we study each character’s ambition, which helped me a lot to understand weapons as it offers most direct approach to them, so direct you can resume every weapon in one word; hence, I’ll start taking about that I think each weapon means with pyro users as an example, and then go into other elemental users.
Swords: Leadership. Sword users are destined to lead, yes, even Bennett, whose passion for adventure would make him the ideal leader for an exploration team if it wasn’t for his bad luck. It’s easy to see the leader trait in some sword users as Xingqiu (heir of the Feiyun commerce Guild), Jean, Keqing and the upcoming Kamisato Ayato, while teasing some characters’ destinies, like Kaeya’s or the Traveler’s.
Catalyst: Analysis. Catalyst users are about studying one thing to their utmost and using it to help others. Their knowledge gets so deep they may seem like clairvoyants to others. This thirst for knowledge becomes obvious when is combined with pyro: Yanfei is invested in laws, and Klee is all about learning explosives. Other elemental catalysts have also their respective fields of study, such as Mona with Astrology or Ningguang with economies.
Polearms: Connections. While swords impose their ambitions on everyone they want and catalyst will show them to you when you ask for them, polearm users are all about their interest in a sort of middle way in between the previous two. Their ambition exists for them but they want to share it with everybody, for example Xiangling wants to make everyone enjoy food and Hu Tao wishes for everybody to leave this world the most honorable way possible; even Thoma has this trait in various ways as he comes from both Mondstadt and Inazuma and has multiple connections to help the Kamisato State. Other notorious polearm users are Yun Jin, who connects Liyue’s past and present through theater, or Shenhe, who wishes to connect with Liyue citizens after being lost for a while.
Bow: Longing. Like catalysts, bows are ranged weapons and their users’ ambitions seem further than any other weapon user, so they live by just helping people the best way they can. Yoimiya wishes for everybody’s happiness and uses fireworks as her medium; Amber, while unsure about their goal, has decided to help and protect Mondstadt as only she can do. Notorious bow users are Kujou Sara and Gorou, that help their respective leaders to attain their wishes, or Diona’s will to end the alcohol industry.
Claymores: Protection. Claymore users have a strong sense of independence that is caused of by -or consequence of- a strong need to protect the object of their ambitions. Xinyan wish to protect rock’n roll in Liyue granted her a Pyro vision and and Diluc’s vision now answers to his will to protect Mondstadt. Notorious Claymore users are Chongyun, whose sole existence is a protective charm against evil spirits, and Noelle, the aspiring Knight of Favonious. There is also a parallel with swords, as some of them end up leading groups, inadvertedly, in contrast with sword users’ destiny to lead.
There you have it, my take on weapons as a personality trait, this info is based only on human characters but I could probably translate it to archons; take Raiden Shogun for example, her main weapon is a sword, as she’s the sole leader of Inazuma, but uses a polearm because her current goal is to work towards eternity more than being for their people in the present.
Now I wanna write my thoughts about visions and mix these two and then a prediction on why I think Shikanoin Heizou is an anemo catalyst.
If Visions are your wish, the Weapon is your way. As a tool for character design, their assigned weapon helps to deepen their personality and way to interact with the world, and especially with us, the player.
Sword. Leader. Sword users strike fast and close, as one of the melee classes, they have no problem getting close to you using (and getting) what they want. Most of them are good at directing people, being either a big group like the Kamisato Brothers and Jean, a small group of people like Kuki Shinobu or, in more extreme cases, only one person, like certain 50-50 character that ordered herself to continue living.
Being the leading and social class, it’s the ideal weapon for The Traveler, as we play and see everything from their eyes, we are always meeting new people and adding them to our parties, while our sibling is in charge of ruling the Abyss Order.
Claymore. Protector. Owners of a natural charm, most Claymores users end up attracting a lot of people or already belong to a group, not as a boss but as a companion. Their honesty is their best trait, and no harm will come your way if they can do something about it.
Polearm. Server. Polearm users are never in the spotlight as their jobs and actions are guided by a higher cause, ironically, their efficiency is the reason one will never forget them. The polearm is a midrange weapon and this quality shows in the social aspect of its users, who have no issue with being alone but know how to strike a conversation, it will take a while to know them completely.
Catalyst. Guide. Masters of elemental energy in its purest form, Catalysts understand the world in a deeper way than the average person, and are experts on the topic they decide to research. Meeting a catalyst user becomes a learning opportunity, whether you want it or not.
Bow. Helper. The weapon with the longest reach is wielded by people that won’t doubt to give you a hand whenever you’re in trouble, your goal may look unreachable to you, but it’s not an issue for a Bow user, and you will have a fun time by their side. Don’t be dissuaded, though, the real them is hard to know, and their own goals are farthest than everyone else’s. They just hope that by helping you to reach your goal they get closer to theirs.
Midlander billets might change the way people of Sumeru pick their weapons in comparison to Mondstadt, Liyue and Inazuma. Now that Dori, Nilou, Candace and Cyno were revealed, this idea grew stronger.
3.0 and 3.1 can’t come soon enough. I want that Hydro spear now.
