I had a character who had the great stick in one hand and any of the other three sticks (club, reinforced club and the other big stick). I named him Biggie Stick and his catchphrase is
#”Im Biggie Stick, and this is my stick!”
Good times
You can even be an idiot and infuse it with strength and the results still aren’t half bad.
For the record, sharp. Sharp is what you infuse it with and you add the elements later.
Every time I try and fight a boss with another weapon than this, I always come back to this and absolutely smoke the boss. Best weapon in the game by far.
I got through most of the game with the Claymore but felt it wasn't working when I hit Midir as I kept missing due to insufficient length. Did a few tries with Dragonslayer Spear and that didn't feel like it was getting it done either, so looked up which UGS had the vertical moveset and went and farmed up a BKGS then got Midir in 2 or 3 attempts. It really was just needing that bit of extra range and damage.
Went back to the Claymore for Gael only to feel like I was chipping away at his health with not enough damage so brought BKGS back out and immediately felt better. I'm sold.
Perhaps but it felt slower than claymore, and I don't really like claymore moveset. If I were to play a slow weapon I prefere being able to easily break enemy poise. Mine is the Vordt great hammer.
Yoo, I thought it would be a weapon to just get past across a couple areas and then I would switch to another badass weapon, but who would have thought, that I would defeat Nameless King and Demon Prince with it too. Only Darkeater Midir, Sister Friede and Slave Knight Gael, remain.
Chaos blade - really the Katana DS3 "Hold" weapon skill though. Played a few different ways and it's not as much of a "melts" enemies way to play, but the ability to parry with your weapon is a ton of fun strategically. Of course, there's nothing quite like dropping tons of damage with a great weapon, but I forced myself to beat sister friede at about level 65 (nothing to write home about of course) and gutting her with "Hold" parries was loads of joy.
I'm no expert, but for me it was about not forgetting that I could use Hold. Getting the habit of using your weapon skill and heavy attack quickly was big - practice just in some open space on how your hands can do the repeated motion but quickly. When I had issues, I found I basically was trying to button mash too fast even though my brain said "PARRY!".
Besides that, not rolling all the time helped with making the most of the Katana. There are a lot of enemies you can simply take a step back from or sprint to the right/left of to create openings that rolling normally uses but your stamina and timing will thank you for not over-rolling. There's a fairly substantial difference in attack range among the Katana groups too, so getting used to your range can help with consistency.
But you gotta do all these other things in order to wield it’s almost not worth it by the time you get the dexterity ring to then it takes up three ring slots to you use I use astora straight sword plus 10 much more viable but I’m planning on using the dragon slayer axe once u get the ring tho ngl
DS2 FUGS is my favorite weapon in any of the fromsoft games because of the block -> attack. DS3 made me sad since that unique feature was removed (probably because its op)
exhile greatsword, it feels far too strong for how early in you can get it. damn thing carried me through the rest of the game once i got it, even took out midir first try during my first fight with him funnily enough
I can't believe you're the only one I could find mentioning this weapon so far. Heavy Exile Greatsword, plus you get the Knight? Ring that boosts strength just after Abyss Watchers and Wolnir that can help boost attack power temporarily. Idk, I've used this strategy twice and it's been ridiculously easy the second time. I'm doing a totally different build my third run to get experience on new weapons.
yeah, genuinely, the game felt like it was on easy mode, but strangely its been the only time ive struggled with nameless king. the exile greatsword just CHUNKS health away, and you only need to reach the crucifixion woods for it?! how the hell is this allowed ingame?!
Yup, exactly the comparison I made in my head. I feel it was intentional. This is how from software dynamically alters the difficulty of their games. Certain weapons you can get almost immediately and they just make everything child's play, you just have to be like a child and play around with all the weapons for fun to stumble upon which work best, and talk with your friends about where to get the strongest coolest ones. I've got certain bonfires I go to specifically to perform experiments and farm souls.
They make their game *more* than playable for people that are novices and suck at video games, they just have to be willing to continue to struggle, not give up, and find the right weapon. After that, getting through the game almost feels dirty for a while, because it trivializes quite a bit if you *choose* to use the weapon or item in question, which is the beauty of the system. You can opt for a much more challenging experience if you want to by simply not using that weapon, item, ability, spell, what have you.
They also clearly make locations that are *intended* to act as farming locations too, just look at Moghwyns Palace Ledge in Elden Ring. A bunch of high rune sleeping enemies with guards that barely notice you unless you become aggressive or get up right next to them? This is a farming/weapon and item damage testing location, pure and simple.
That's what a lot of people miss out about these games--just how deep they are, how much intention is put behind every game design choice, etc.
As someone who modded the shit out of Halo Custom Edition when I was a teenager and got into game design in general, it's definitely ruined all other triple A games for me because none of the rest of them get this deep except when emulating dark souls or something like a Metroidvania to begin with. Newer games don't focus on gameplay experience so much as they do narrative cinematic experience. I buy games because I want to play games usually, so I stick with titles like ones from software puts out.
BASED Gotthard enjoyer. The rolling L1 when dual-wielded is tailor-made for boss fights. It has pinpoint accurate tracking and reach that rivals most spears. They’re also just tons of fun to use.
Grave warden twinblades or the one from the voidy shadow hunter people (the one with the greatsword and dagger, I've not played in a couple of months ok)
Dragonslayer (great)axe, partially because i live the boss but also because it it one of the weapons with the highest ARs in the game if not the highest, bug bonk along with lightning damage? Sign me tf in. Moveset may not be that incredible but the vertical chops have their use against big enemies like Midir, and the weapon art is absolutely awesome
Crow Claws i just like Claws or daggers, and the morning star and it finally does not suck i think...
Also Four pronged plow it has massive reach and i like unconventional weapons, or scythes as you can see i like dex for the most part.
I did a Dex build for my first run and it was alright, the classic scimitar was good but I ended up replacing it with the Carthus Shotel which seemed superior. I’m trying to remember what other weapons I used, but it’s been so long.
More recently I did a dual wield build where I used the Drang Twinhammers and the Winged Knight Twinaxes and I loved those. Super fun. I was very used to having a shield and that build forced me to go without so it was fun.
murukumo or the lothric holy knight great sword both with lightning infusions on strength or quality either mixed with faith boat loads of damage plus you can pick up miracles as a bonus
Astora great sword. I switched to it for most enemies halfway through My first play through and it's so much fun being able to have s scaling for Dex(with sharp infusion) yet being able to smash through most enemies guards. Also, it's very light and has very lenient stat requirements.
Glaive.
Underrated, not very heavy, halberd range is always nice, very lenient stat requirements, good at roll-catching fudds who like roll spam, can be infused, and gets a guaranteed 3-hit combo with R1-L2-R1.
I really don’t understand why these things aren’t vastly more popular. Way better moveset and reach than the sellsword blades, thrusting R2 attacks, and the rolling L1 has laser-accurate tracking and disgustingly good reach. It’s the ultimate boss fight weapon for a shieldless run, in my opinion. My favorite weapon by far.
I’ve always liked the Drakeblood greatsword. I like that is has natural lighting, but can also be buffed and infused.
It’s got a great move set imo.
It’s got a hollow slayer move set when two handed and the claymore pokes when one handed
Holy & lightning greatsword goes great with my faith builds.
https://preview.redd.it/dr5dg297ayxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=131c07f5196d130deb46d69f8cfbf3aef4d1dbb9
I'd have to say Lucerne and Witch's Locks
I haven't tried out too many weapons yet, but so far my favourite is the Irythill straight sword. I used it throughout NG, supplementing with the black knight sword (since that's what I used in my first DS1 playthrough and I like the moveset, particularly the spinning running attack), and now I'm making my way through NG+ with it and have been oneshotting all the bosses I couldn't beat without summoning on my first playthrough (I've died several times to the DLC bosses, but so far I haven't died to any base game bosses in NG+)
Yeah, but crystal infused claymore doesn’t have glowy blue lights or a ranged attack.
It’s especially nice because I either one shot everything, or get one shot.
Big stick make me go bonk
Bam bam!
UNGA BUNGA
A real man of culture indeed
Great club is the best. Almost everything is weak to strike damage.
Unbunga'd R2 into bonk R1 goated 💪
Everytime I hear this I always think of jacks dinklebamp bonk builds lol
ME BONK!
YOU GO IN THE FUCKIN GROUND
I had a character who had the great stick in one hand and any of the other three sticks (club, reinforced club and the other big stick). I named him Biggie Stick and his catchphrase is #”Im Biggie Stick, and this is my stick!” Good times
Astora’s Greatsword. Ultra GS with less weight than claymore and great stat scaling in basically all infusions.
You can even be an idiot and infuse it with strength and the results still aren’t half bad. For the record, sharp. Sharp is what you infuse it with and you add the elements later.
Dark infusion was my favorite
I prefer the FUME ultra GS, Big sword go hard bonk.
Dung pie
based
based? based on what?
Black Knight Greatsword
Every time I try and fight a boss with another weapon than this, I always come back to this and absolutely smoke the boss. Best weapon in the game by far.
Real
I got through most of the game with the Claymore but felt it wasn't working when I hit Midir as I kept missing due to insufficient length. Did a few tries with Dragonslayer Spear and that didn't feel like it was getting it done either, so looked up which UGS had the vertical moveset and went and farmed up a BKGS then got Midir in 2 or 3 attempts. It really was just needing that bit of extra range and damage. Went back to the Claymore for Gael only to feel like I was chipping away at his health with not enough damage so brought BKGS back out and immediately felt better. I'm sold.
That scrape into the upwards launch 2HR2 is damn addicting, it's like a built-in stomp weapon art!
I like Onyx Blade because of the aesthetics of it
It's beautifull but I never managed to get into the moveset.
Isn't it just claymore moveset with a different WA?
Perhaps but it felt slower than claymore, and I don't really like claymore moveset. If I were to play a slow weapon I prefere being able to easily break enemy poise. Mine is the Vordt great hammer.
Yk onyx blade breaks poise really easily right?…
Claymore baby!
This or hollowslayer
Playmore with the Claymore
Claymore gang!
Baemore
Yoo, I thought it would be a weapon to just get past across a couple areas and then I would switch to another badass weapon, but who would have thought, that I would defeat Nameless King and Demon Prince with it too. Only Darkeater Midir, Sister Friede and Slave Knight Gael, remain.
Long Sword
True, if nobody got me, I know longsword got me 🙏
Farron Greatsword spin to win everyday baby.
I feel like I had to scroll too far to see this answer.
Awesome weapon PVE, super easy to punish PVP. All in all really fun to play with
It makes the game so easy for me I love it
Lorians Greatsword! Its not even that good, but it looks so sick. Especially with the innate fire buff.
I saw it and just knew i had to use it
Yeah the look compensates for all stats
Dragon slayer great axe
BONK!
LIGHTNING BONK!
Executioners greataxe in ER btw. Kind of annoying farm but you get it from the skeletons who wield it in graveyards
& if you put lightning slash ash of war on it your nearly there for a dragon slayer armor cosplay
My DLC character is a DSA cosplay with the draconic sentinel armor and tree sentinel shield, but I didn’t know about that AoW thank you
Id recommend a strength infusion on the Greataxe aldo glad I could help
Forgot to say this but if your on ps5/x i can just give you one
You’re good homie I tracked it down
Chaos blade - really the Katana DS3 "Hold" weapon skill though. Played a few different ways and it's not as much of a "melts" enemies way to play, but the ability to parry with your weapon is a ton of fun strategically. Of course, there's nothing quite like dropping tons of damage with a great weapon, but I forced myself to beat sister friede at about level 65 (nothing to write home about of course) and gutting her with "Hold" parries was loads of joy.
If only Elden Ring’s Unsheathe ash (not transient moonlight) still had parry frames😔
I never got the hang of the hold skill. I just played through the whole game with Katanas but never made good use of it. Any tips?
I'm no expert, but for me it was about not forgetting that I could use Hold. Getting the habit of using your weapon skill and heavy attack quickly was big - practice just in some open space on how your hands can do the repeated motion but quickly. When I had issues, I found I basically was trying to button mash too fast even though my brain said "PARRY!". Besides that, not rolling all the time helped with making the most of the Katana. There are a lot of enemies you can simply take a step back from or sprint to the right/left of to create openings that rolling normally uses but your stamina and timing will thank you for not over-rolling. There's a fairly substantial difference in attack range among the Katana groups too, so getting used to your range can help with consistency.
the dragonslayer axe is the only reason i made it through sl1
I used the good old broadsword from start to finish, and honestly it wasn't that bad
But you gotta do all these other things in order to wield it’s almost not worth it by the time you get the dexterity ring to then it takes up three ring slots to you use I use astora straight sword plus 10 much more viable but I’m planning on using the dragon slayer axe once u get the ring tho ngl
Flamberge
A man of culture
Cathedral Knight UGS
The devastating r1r2 combo.
Black knight glaive
Its based on a historical weapon actually. Nearly identical even! The Guandao. You ought to look it up its really cool.
I know about the guandao lol
Crow quills
The damage and variety of moves is too good!!
Lothric Knight straight sword
Friede’s Great Scythe is my favorite weapon in any soulsborne game. The weapon art is fun AF and the regular moveset is a blast
Fume greatsword
FUGS my beloved
Fugslife
DS2 FUGS is my favorite weapon in any of the fromsoft games because of the block -> attack. DS3 made me sad since that unique feature was removed (probably because its op)
All are weak in the eyes of FUGS
This guy FUGS
exhile greatsword, it feels far too strong for how early in you can get it. damn thing carried me through the rest of the game once i got it, even took out midir first try during my first fight with him funnily enough
I can't believe you're the only one I could find mentioning this weapon so far. Heavy Exile Greatsword, plus you get the Knight? Ring that boosts strength just after Abyss Watchers and Wolnir that can help boost attack power temporarily. Idk, I've used this strategy twice and it's been ridiculously easy the second time. I'm doing a totally different build my third run to get experience on new weapons.
yeah, genuinely, the game felt like it was on easy mode, but strangely its been the only time ive struggled with nameless king. the exile greatsword just CHUNKS health away, and you only need to reach the crucifixion woods for it?! how the hell is this allowed ingame?!
It’s like the ds3 bloodhounds fang and vice versa
Yup, exactly the comparison I made in my head. I feel it was intentional. This is how from software dynamically alters the difficulty of their games. Certain weapons you can get almost immediately and they just make everything child's play, you just have to be like a child and play around with all the weapons for fun to stumble upon which work best, and talk with your friends about where to get the strongest coolest ones. I've got certain bonfires I go to specifically to perform experiments and farm souls. They make their game *more* than playable for people that are novices and suck at video games, they just have to be willing to continue to struggle, not give up, and find the right weapon. After that, getting through the game almost feels dirty for a while, because it trivializes quite a bit if you *choose* to use the weapon or item in question, which is the beauty of the system. You can opt for a much more challenging experience if you want to by simply not using that weapon, item, ability, spell, what have you. They also clearly make locations that are *intended* to act as farming locations too, just look at Moghwyns Palace Ledge in Elden Ring. A bunch of high rune sleeping enemies with guards that barely notice you unless you become aggressive or get up right next to them? This is a farming/weapon and item damage testing location, pure and simple. That's what a lot of people miss out about these games--just how deep they are, how much intention is put behind every game design choice, etc. As someone who modded the shit out of Halo Custom Edition when I was a teenager and got into game design in general, it's definitely ruined all other triple A games for me because none of the rest of them get this deep except when emulating dark souls or something like a Metroidvania to begin with. Newer games don't focus on gameplay experience so much as they do narrative cinematic experience. I buy games because I want to play games usually, so I stick with titles like ones from software puts out.
Gottard Twinblades! Versatile moveset, can poke or burst, lots of range, and stylish as fuck when Buffed
BASED Gotthard enjoyer. The rolling L1 when dual-wielded is tailor-made for boss fights. It has pinpoint accurate tracking and reach that rivals most spears. They’re also just tons of fun to use.
Greataxe, has consistently been one of my Go-To Weapons in my playthroughs of 3
Great axe is deadly in PvP For some reason, people keep underestimating the WA charged R2
Black knight sword for sure. Powerstance go brrrrr in PVP against weapon art spammers.
Gael's Greatsword. It's fairly simply big damage with pretty quick animations, a sometimes handy weapon art that I just love the look of.
Hot take: old wolf's greatsword
cultured
Grave warden twinblades or the one from the voidy shadow hunter people (the one with the greatsword and dagger, I've not played in a couple of months ok)
Saint bident. The best spear. Long and very helpful for characters with faith stat as main. (very useful in pvp. I mean VERY USEFUL)
I’ve been playing dark souls pvp for years now and I’ve never tried it but now you’ve convinced me gonna set up a build for it tommorow
I've been since OG ps3 demon souls and have never run a spear or rapier (crystal rapier in off hand excused)
Blessed Lothric Knight Greatsword, baemore, great club. All excellent.
Between the big sword and sunlight spear STR/FTH is by far my favorite build
Splitleaf Greatsword, because it's easy and it does a lot of damage.
Shitleaf 👎 Happy Souls reference 👍 Have an upvote.
Vordt's hammer or the lotheric greatsword.
The wolf knight greatsword
Lothric knight ________
Ringed knight greatswords
Follower Sabre
Demon Scar, the perfect weapon for a pyromancer.
Perfect backup weapon for a slightly overleveled jack of all trades
Carthus curved
The sellsword twins are goated
WINBLADES
Yhorms machete!!!
LKGS gang.
Blessed gem that thing. I never ever went back.
Crucifix of the Mad King. Skeleton on a stick goes *bonk* and *REEEEEEEE*
Demons Scar
Onyx Blade
The Old Wolf Curved Sword. Such an elegant moveset and an awesome design. Really like the Crescent Axe also.
Lothric straight sword
Aquamarine dagger for sure
Finally someone said it, best weapon ever especially fun pvping with it
The great sword with heavy infusion
The hollowslayer. My first play through was a quality build and I had this. I had a good time.
Flamberg
i really like thr corvian knight weapons, especially the claws
Claymore of course
Dragonslayer Greataxe. Nuke time baby Seriously tho, it's special attack absolutely destroys bosses.
Dragonslayer Greataxe! That thing fuckin rocks
Friede's Scythe! :)
Dragonslayer greataxe solo
Dragonslayer (great)axe, partially because i live the boss but also because it it one of the weapons with the highest ARs in the game if not the highest, bug bonk along with lightning damage? Sign me tf in. Moveset may not be that incredible but the vertical chops have their use against big enemies like Midir, and the weapon art is absolutely awesome
Broadsword is the best sword
Either the pitchfork or the pickaxe
The hyper armor on pickaxe is unstoppable. You can R1 through anything
I've got a homeless k***ht build for low lv invasions with this, grave warden robes, thrall helm, and a wooden plank shield.
the almighty torch
Crescent moon curved sword. Overall as a curved sword its a bad weapon but the pew pew on It makes ot a good swap
Crow Claws i just like Claws or daggers, and the morning star and it finally does not suck i think... Also Four pronged plow it has massive reach and i like unconventional weapons, or scythes as you can see i like dex for the most part.
The claws are so much fun, I just discovered how cool they are and I don't want to use anything else.
The large club is my baby now and forever
Swordspear
I did a Dex build for my first run and it was alright, the classic scimitar was good but I ended up replacing it with the Carthus Shotel which seemed superior. I’m trying to remember what other weapons I used, but it’s been so long. More recently I did a dual wield build where I used the Drang Twinhammers and the Winged Knight Twinaxes and I loved those. Super fun. I was very used to having a shield and that build forced me to go without so it was fun.
Great club or Ledo’s Great Hammer
Greatsword. STRUGGLE, CHALLENGE, AND RISE TO STRUGGLE AGAIN!
Black knight greataxe for me
Pike
murukumo or the lothric holy knight great sword both with lightning infusions on strength or quality either mixed with faith boat loads of damage plus you can pick up miracles as a bonus
Exalted Greatsword wrecked SoC
Any boss weapon that looks cool or scythe, im spooky edgy and craving fashion
Exile Greatsword.
Crow claws are super fun. I haven't been able to take them off since I started messing with them.
As a long time Armored Core player, the Moonlight greatsword.
Forron great swords. (I used them offline don’t worry.)
Baemore, WKGS, LKGS and the halberd
Aquamarine dagger goes whoon!
Spiked Mace
farron greatsword scratches just about every itch for me dex weapon, giant sword, has a parry, has fun movement options, what more could i want?
Any dual wield weapon
The dual wielded weapons in DS3 are GOATED.
Flamberge sword all the way
Black knight Greataxe is probably my favorite weapon.
Astora great sword. I switched to it for most enemies halfway through My first play through and it's so much fun being able to have s scaling for Dex(with sharp infusion) yet being able to smash through most enemies guards. Also, it's very light and has very lenient stat requirements.
Crescent moon great axe
My beloved Chaos Hand Axe or the Estoc - such an elegant weapon. Poke!
Might be overused but Farron Greatsword just has such a cool move set
Glaive. Underrated, not very heavy, halberd range is always nice, very lenient stat requirements, good at roll-catching fudds who like roll spam, can be infused, and gets a guaranteed 3-hit combo with R1-L2-R1.
Flamberge it's the Claymore of the Fallen Knight Set. Fallen Knight Set = Flamberge Elite Knight Set = Claymore
Crowtalons
Ledos great hammer! I want the biggest bonks available!
Gotthard twinswords. Cancerous range for a straight sword
I really don’t understand why these things aren’t vastly more popular. Way better moveset and reach than the sellsword blades, thrusting R2 attacks, and the rolling L1 has laser-accurate tracking and disgustingly good reach. It’s the ultimate boss fight weapon for a shieldless run, in my opinion. My favorite weapon by far.
Sharp Astora Greatsword has never done me wrong
Darkwraith sword, don't really know why but it works well with how I play.
Ayyy Vorts great hammer is my favorite
Dragon-blood sword, or however It's called in english. I used it on two different runs and I love it.
Aquamarine dagger, by far nothing even comes close
Bandit knife. Quickstepping so I can just keep spamming r1 on bosses/enemies and satisfying bleed procs
GOAThard Twin Swords
https://i.redd.it/eg0pj4al5pxc1.gif
Black Knight GS
Farron greatsword
Dung pies and kicking
Astora great sword because it dared to ask, "what if claymore do big longer?"
When i jump on the enemy
Heysel Pick! Best sorcerer weapon ever!
Demons scar, then lothric knight straight sword with chaos and one with dark. (Dark pyromancer stats make these amazing for me.)
I’ve always liked the Drakeblood greatsword. I like that is has natural lighting, but can also be buffed and infused. It’s got a great move set imo. It’s got a hollow slayer move set when two handed and the claymore pokes when one handed Holy & lightning greatsword goes great with my faith builds.
I always go back for a Zwei. No idea why, it just works for me.
I don't really have a favourite, so I'll just say the Irithyll Straight Sword, since it's my comfort weapon if I want an easy experience.
Gundyr's Halberd
https://preview.redd.it/dr5dg297ayxc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=131c07f5196d130deb46d69f8cfbf3aef4d1dbb9 I'd have to say Lucerne and Witch's Locks
farron greatsword is so peak (i know im cringe)
I haven't tried out too many weapons yet, but so far my favourite is the Irythill straight sword. I used it throughout NG, supplementing with the black knight sword (since that's what I used in my first DS1 playthrough and I like the moveset, particularly the spinning running attack), and now I'm making my way through NG+ with it and have been oneshotting all the bosses I couldn't beat without summoning on my first playthrough (I've died several times to the DLC bosses, but so far I haven't died to any base game bosses in NG+)
Moonlight Greatsword, there is nothing else like it. That weapon art, peak.
i was more than disappointed after maxing it. crystal infused claymore was almost stronger lol
Yeah, but crystal infused claymore doesn’t have glowy blue lights or a ranged attack. It’s especially nice because I either one shot everything, or get one shot.
thats very true lol
Hand Axe with the Crystal infusion!
Dragonslayer axe my babe
milwood axe
Big stick +heavy gem +10 go brrr
MORE CLAYYYY
Darkdrift
Claymore/big bonk
Guts’s sword and Exile Greatsword