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In essence, this is a sword/melee weapon made of some self-moving fluid. The cyborg or computorialy advanced wielder can control the shape of the fluid and form it into whatever they want (within reason; there is a limited amount of material available). It has a range of about 8 ft; beyond that, it loses its shape. It does need to have supports (it can't fly, only move along itself and other things). It is about the strength of steel (any shape that steel can hold under any given pressure, this can handle), and is generally handheld (not like an arm or whatever). The combat scenario is hand-to-hand (no ranged weapons).

How good of a weapon would this be against an opponent with chainmail equivalent and double-handed sword and buckler/shield?

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    $\begingroup$ Speed technique and luck. If it can move from 0 to 8 feet in a tenth of a second, it's a sure winner. $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
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    $\begingroup$ For future reference, you're asking two questions on a service that literally has a close reason for asking more than one. "would X be good for a cyborg?" is different from "would X be good against an opponent with armor/weapon Y?" $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
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    $\begingroup$ Now I'm asking for details. Does the fluid form a solid? If so, how quickly can the fluid form a solid? Seconds? Microseconds? If formed into a rod, how thin can that rod be? I ask because if fast and thin enough, what you have is a punch (think, "devastating crossbow bolt") that would win any 1-on-1 scenario and most multi-on-one scenarios. That would make this an absolutely overpowered weapon. Consequently, the real question is, "how will you, the worldbuilder, limit this weapon so it balances the engagements and makes stories interesting?" $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
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    $\begingroup$ There is a lot missing from this question that would be required to answer it. How strong is the material? How strong is the force behind the material? How finely can the material be formed? Could you make a hypodermic needle that could pierce plate armor? Can it attack at multiple points simultaneously? Can it wrap itself around the enemy's weapon and break it? Without limitations, the weapon could be completely indomitable to any normal weapon. $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
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    $\begingroup$ This makes me think of the T-1000 from Terminator 2 (and other similar models from subsequent movies). In that case, it was the creature's entire body that had these properties rather than a weapon it was holding, but think about how powerful that guy was and what it took to ultimately bring him down - it's pretty much the same situation here. $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago

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Your Cyborg is Playing Blackjack With a Seven Card Hand

I'm making one major assumption, which is that when you say

"It is about the strength of steel (any shape that steel can hold under any given pressure, this can handle"

that also means it holds rigidity in that shape as if it was made of steel.

In that case, this weapon is absurdly good.

Real melee weapons are all about compromises. A polearm has range and power, but is basically just a stick if someone gets within your guard. A sword gives you speed and versatility, but it's effectively useless against good armor. A mace is a fantastic bludgeoning weapon, but a good shield makes it very hard to get a solid blow in. Few things beat a dagger once you're wrestling on the ground, but it loses to everything else otherwise.

Every weapon has an optimal range, and the half the game of medieval combat was about forcing your opponent to fight at your optimal range while staying out of theirs.

When it comes to that particular game, though, your cyborg is playing blackjack with a seven-card hand while their opponent is drawing off the top of the deck.

Start the fight as a poleaxe. You have reach advantage, which is massive. I'm not saying a poleaxe never loses to a sword, but I'd given about 5:1 odds with armored opponents of similar skill.

So what happens in that 1? That's when the sword-wielder manages to move aggressively enough into your range, likely half-swording, at which point they would have an advantage... against a regular polearm wielder. Instead, you just shrink your weapon to sword length (ideally always just a few inches longer than theirs). At that point, with similar weapons, it should be closer to even odds... except that even at this range, you have a huge advantage. If they try to bind up your weapon, or pin it, you can just shrink it out of the way or change its shape to free it from the bind or unhook it.

Depending on how dynamically/quickly you can change the shape, this gets even more broken. Your blade can grow parrying hooks at will, and vanish them if they're getting in the way. If it can adapt fast enough, the truly OP move is to get them into a bind:

enter image description here
(credit Dequitem on youtube)

and then have your moving metal actually wrap around the blade of their sword, then twist it out of their hands. You can create unescapable blade locks!

To really enhance it, I would pair this weapon with a three-or-four-foot long wooden pole, with holes through it every six inches or so. You can then use that to extend your reach, by having it function as a temporary haft, extending your range by a few feet, with metal bands along the wooden haft to keep hand-contact, (with metal 'dowels' growing through the holes to keep it locked in place) without violating that eight-foot range requirement, and then simply dropping it once they get within that range by having the dowels 'shrink out'.

enter image description here

enter image description here credit me in fusion360

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One touch you DIE weapon

frankly depending on the control level of the "living metal" and 8 foot range, if the metal touches a person you could have it spread into tiny needle like web over the attacker/victim and just bypass any amour or defense and kill the attacker with ease by the needles stabbing all the useful parts of a human. another way would just form a shield itself and just spam spear thrusts that turn attackers into Swiss cheese. its combat even if lacking range would force attackers to only go at it with range combat or use of wave tactics and cannon fodder to finally bring it down or a would be melee expect dealing a quick lethal blow.

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  • $\begingroup$ Make sure to make redundant hidden connections to the attack web, so that opponent would not cut them all off. $\endgroup$ Commented yesterday
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Pneumatic Hammer

This one looks like an accidental world-beater to me when it comes to hand to hand combat. If the weapon can form/extend quickly enough you essentially have a pneumatic hammer with a range> guy with shield and buckler. The idea is the wielder would form a solid cylinder and then use arm strength+whatever mass/energy the rest of the metal could impart while extending as rapidly as possible. The result might not defeat the chainmail itself, but the crush injury potential would be really high. If it's quick enough, the cylinder could be made pencil-thin and therefor capable of defeating the chainmail. It's basically a gun with 8ft range and unlimited ammunition.

Alternatively, if it flows too slowly for the pneumatic hammer approach you could create something like a 7ft spear with a very narrow speartip to defeat the chainmail by breaking individual links. The remaining mass could be used to shield the wielders hands, create flanges to help disguise the true point, or similar things. Either way you have range on the swordsman, and in a melee fight range is a Really Big Deal.

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  • $\begingroup$ At the very least, if not deal fatal crushing damage, it would be a great way to keep the enemy at 8-foot range for basically ever. +1 $\endgroup$ Commented 2 days ago
  • $\begingroup$ No, don't optimise to "defeat the chainmail", that lowers it's resale value after you obviously win. Chainmail is near worthless against bludgeoning damage anyway so just crush their ribcage / arms / legs. You still absolutely win, but now you can loot a fully intact, maybe even clean chaimnail shirt $\endgroup$ Commented yesterday
  • $\begingroup$ @QuestionablePresence But hasn't the weapon-wielder just proven the chainmail isn't a great defense? $\endgroup$ Commented yesterday
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It doesn't sound functionally too different from a whip or a flail, with the additional factor of having to deal with momentum conservation while the shape is being changed: as an example, forming a bulky impact head moments before the hit lands would cause the velocity of the weapon to decrease because mass is being concentrated further away from the rotation pole.

If this is positive or negative depends on the specific combat scenario.

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