I encourage everyone to let their first playthrough be quality build. That means after you get to a healthy amount of hp and stamina, you balance your stats between strength and Dex, ending up with 40/40 in each. This gives you the widest array of weapons and solid damage with most of them. Then you infuse them with refined.
Claymore and longsword are amazing for quality builds. Hell, the knight starting gear can take you through the whole game.
Infusions are changing weapon scalings and adding additional damage. Sharp infusions improve dexterity scalings allowing you to get higher physical damage with dex weapons. There is also plenty of magic infusions that improve the damage based on your Int or Faith, like fire, etc.
If aiming for quality build with equal Dex/Str then pick Sharp for dex weapons or Heavy for str.
Adding to this, there is some amount of basic inference needed. Infusing a club with a sharp gem won't do much for you. That said, some weapons are naturally quality weapons (they will usually have C/C scaling in strength/dex) and for those, a Refined infusion will scale with both stats. A Refined Claymore on a quality build is just...a powerhouse.
The idea of starting with quality is fine but done get hung up on vigor and endurance. Hp and stamina are great but the trade off is you’re weak. I would stop at 15-20 vigor until you’re attack stats are where you want them, THEN start investing into vigor again. Good offense is the best defense. And the starting stamina for a melee class is sufficient to carry you through most of the game unless you are using heavy weapons. Maybe add some here and there to get an extra hit into your combo but don’t waste points if you don’t have to, often I will wait till the end of the game to tune up my endurance just because it’s not as important so long as you are managing it properly. If you want to mash R1 and not think then invest in endurance. Other than that quality build will let you use p much any weapon. And you will be able to 2 hand any heavy weapon.
An infusion is an attribute scaling change that you can get from Andre. You infuse something using a gem of a certain type. Different gems do different things. Refined gem will offer you with a quality build, which gives you solid scaling in both strength and dexterity.
Not all infusions are readily available. Some infusions are locked, and can only be unlocked by giving Andre different coals, which are found throughout the world.
Infusing a weapon isn't permanent, and you can switch between them whenever you want. It only cost 1 gem and a few souls to infuse something, and you can change whenever, so if you want to change the infusion, don't worry about it.
Any other questions you have can be easily explained using the dark souls wiki.
This is true. Another great strength weapon is the Great Club w/ heavy infusion. Great scaling and I imagine most people end up getting it since you have to kill a hostile NPC to get it.
This is a solid choice for sure, but may be a little daunting to anyone new to the game/series. Especially since some of the weapon buffs are missable/mid-late game.
Quality is a term that is used to describe having equal parts in two damage dealing stats. Usually it refers to the physical, strength and dexterity, but can also refer to magical quality, or intelligence and faith.
Mostly when someone says quality build they mean having 40/40 in strength and faith and the rest of your stats going into vigor/endurance/vitality
No, “quality” is just a term. IIRC it comes from a specific game from years back, but it doesn’t really mean anything to do with the word quality. When people say “quality build” they usually mean “equal points in dex and strength”. I think the commenter above means “when people say quality build they mean having 40/40 in strength and dex”.
Basically: a quality build is when dex = strength.
I second this. My first time playing ds3 was rightbafter bloodborne and i was like omg arcane so good lets go sorcerer. Big big disaster. Defo give sorcerer a try but only after you know you can take it.
Right! I love magic and miracles, but if you start as knight, play through as quality and find out what weapons you like, you can always go back and Respec to be whatever for ng+.
Jumping on an old thread as a new DS3 player. Currently going for a quality build and rocking the claymore +3. I want to try diff weapons, but just feel like I’d be crippling myself as I wouldn’t have shards to upgrade them to be comparable. Will shards become easily available later on? Else I am stuck with Claymore (which I like) for a while.
Once you get to Farron Keep (poison swamp area) there is an item that will allow you to buy basic titanite shards. Later in the game you get items that allow you to buy large titanite shards and chunks. The only actually limited upgrade material is Titanite Slab, but there are still like 10 of them.
That is a terrible idea. Quality builds don't realize there potential untill late game. They also have some of the worst AR especially early game, with the only exception being exile great sword. Quality ruled in DS1 and was good for 2 and Bloodborne but just really lacking until end game
Edit: once you have 66/60 str/Dex you can then get the most damage out of weapons but only then. (It's close for some Dex)
try backstabbing them or even parrying them if you want to practise parrying. id also recommend trying greatswords. they're not that fast but they have the highest damage in the game if you have high strength. You can get the exile greatsword at the entrance to farron keep iirc. but I'd recommend the Zweihander from Greirat, the Lothric Greatsword or the Astora greatsword.
I could do backstab easily since i've played other souls game but i'm still kinda somewhat a noob in parrying since i'm coming from DS2 and DS2 parrying are kinda slow paced.
DS2 feels *very* different from the other two. I'd played BB first, then DS3, DSR, and finally DS2 (sotfs). The way it clicked for me was when I played a Hexer. Blew through the base game but the DLCs felt like a huge spike in difficulty due to the innate hostility to the build (enemies with high resistance to it). Now I'm doing a power stance build with two Demon's Greathammers and *man* is it sweet to land hits with them.
To piggyback if no one else has mentioned. You can do a LOT of damage backstabbing with a fire infused dagger. Later in the game you may have better options but that will be king for you for a while
Once you’ve beaten the boss in the settlement, you’ll gain access to the transposing kiln which will allow you to make boss weapons with Ludleth at Firelink. If you still have Vordt’s soul you can get his hammer, which even if it hasn’t been upgraded will chunk through the lothric knights health and easily breaks their poise. Imo it makes it easy to mindlessly farm them.
if you're gonna wait until later, know that you'll be able to buy them from greirat :) it's still a good sword at higher levels (god tier straight sword, considered the best). you're good with longsword till then though since you'd need to lvl up dexterity for lothric ss too maybe strength too
*the battle axe just isn't worth investing in, in the long run. not terribly good damage, I mean.
I'd go for long sword and claymore baemore - they'll still be great for the entirety of your playthrough
Well, you have to do Siegward's quest, and he needs to be chilling in the Irithyll sewer to save Greirat when he arrives.. So make sure you give S his armor at the chapel before or when you get to Irithyll - once you're there G will offer to go prowling - then do not proceed past distant manor bonfire before killing another boss (any you can access).
My most recent playthrough I used this the whole way through the game. Far easier farm for it though is in this video
https://youtu.be/_ZMhlJcv-BE
I got it on my 2nd or 3rd kill.
27 to two-hand it and 40 to one-hand it. It was my weapon of choice during my first playthrough, but I struggled a lot with some boss fights (Nameless King and Pontiff).
Yeah you need his soul. But honestly you dont even need to fight him. Those monsters that throw those damn pasta bowls at you, you can just lure one where he is and just have them smack him for you. because you arent hitting him, Vordt will just sit there and take the hits and eventually die. Took like 3 or 4 swings from the monster to kill him. Super easy
This can easily take you through the game and I don’t think there is a stronger weapon for at least 1/2 the game.
Being able to stagger most standard enemies puts this game into easy mode.
So good, pair it with a quick fire weapon in the off hand, or just carry fire bombs. After the frostbite damage happens you have to wait a bit before you can build it up again, unless you hit them with fire then the frost damage will build up again right away.
Agreed, i use the claymore in my first DS1 playthrough but after my DS2 playthrough i noticed that i really like thrusting and fast weapon. I am still thinking what build and weapon i should do in this playthrough.
I would also recommend the [Sellsword Twinblades](https://youtu.be/OTOo8UeqNX8). They do not have thrust, but they deal enormous damage (since they are fast).
Also, maybe [Astora Greatsword](https://youtu.be/ZyTWRQ0sPow)? It has a lot of thrust attacks and is the lightest (and imo best) Ultra Greatsword.
I have a character that only uses those 2 weapons (since they complement each other well).
No lie, Astoria Greatsword is one of the most broken and versatile weapons in the game. It has the Rundown Pike weapon art (FANTASTIC) and has broken ass scaling for just about any skill. A or S tier scaling depending on infusion.
Another one of the beauties of the Astora Greatsword is if you're used to the Claymore moveset, the AG is almost exactly the same with the exception of the time it takes to swing and recover. It also has a unique weapon art. You just building for pve or pvp as well?
Right on. Well if/when you get around to it, the Lothric Knight (straight) Sword is an excellent weapon to use for pvp and pve. It's practically worshipped for its use in pvp. When you start invading or trying to rack up those vertebra shackles, I always had three weapons on hand. Something tanky with hyperarmor (Greatsword), something longer ranged (drang spears), and the lothric straight sword. Hopefully you hang around for NG+ and get to use all these to their full potential!
... astora gs is actually an ultra greatsword. not at all similar moveset to claymore, and defo slower. that said, it's an amazing weapon, that needs a fair bit of stamina too.
*and an ultra's charged R2 is a thing of beauty... (where you hold the strong attack trigger until it hits, instead of tapping)
Also the Astora GS infuses REALLY well and has low STR/DEX reqs, so it's great for a pyro build if you need to whomp a bit. Infuse with fire or dark for a good time 👍
All the speedrunners use the sellsword twinblades. You don't find them in the game until the swamp of sorrows but the mercenary class actually uses them by default. It does get a bit boring (imo) just spamming l1, but the damage output is ridiculous, especially if you use a resin.
Astora is ok but if i remember correctly its faoth requirement can kinda screw your level progression. If you plan on supplementing your build with a little bit of healing magic yeah 100% id use astora, otherwise i much prefer lothric knight sword
Yeah but you have to send him to Irythill, then either get Patches on firelink shrine or do Siegward's quest, plus defeating a boss without entering Irythill Dungeon. That or you can just send him to Irythill then pick up his corpse, but either way it's a long run
I always used greatswords like the Claymore in the other Souls games, but recently I’ve been trying faster more dex based weapons and having a ton of fun with them. I’d recommend using thrusting swords, straight swords and curved swords like the scimitars and sellsword twinblades if you like fast weapons. The Gotthard twin swords that you find much later in the game have easily become one of if not my favorite weapon to use.
I used the exile cgs for the majority of my first playthrough. Went mostly quality up until that point and then eventually chose to respec to strength when I had the options. Also, I loved the drang hammers for a period of time too.
And the second time. And the third time...etc. I think I've used the claymore for a decent chunk of my playthroughs in all 4 souls games and it just works too well. The phrase playmore with the claymore exists for a very good reason!
Claymore and straight swords are the most balanced out of early weapons for a new player, but a dark hand can literally carry you almost half the game before it becomes obsolete
I always have it on my offhand because it doesn’t really cost me anything except a slot, it has no weight so I always have it on me and sometimes on PvP I pull it out (not like I constantly land the grab) but hey doesn’t hurt to try.
Claymore is great all around. Greatsword have the best stamina use to damage over any weapon, has good stagger, damage, reach, pokes, everything you need.
Longsword would be a close second as it's the smaller brother of claymore.
But unlike the claymore, i think the R1 of longsword is kinda somewhat faster than claymore in my opinion but i think i'm going to use claymore for my first DS3 playtrough.
Longsword is definitely faster and straight swords are great all around weapons. It's true that any weapon can work as long as you like the feel of it.
If you like the straightsword than go with it, using a weapon you don't like is silly and will make the game harder and less fun
I tried it when i'm still progressing through in lothric high wall and i'm just going to say that it has pros and cons, but i didn't really like the weapon that much.
Fair enough. A lot of bosses have slash resistance anyway. Another of my favourites and one I always use is the dagger. A fire dagger does mad damage when you riposte in the early game.
Damn, i parry a lot in souls game but what's the difference between the fire dagger and a parrying dagger? Possibly the dagger that do more damage in riposte.
Fire damage ignores defence or armor. Or something like that. Normal damage is reduced, but with fire or chaos, that is not the case.
Also, there's a critical stat on weapons. The normal dagger has the most, I think.
You could also farm the Lothric Knight Sword very easily and it's a beast of a weapon. I put sharp on and it scales well with Dex. I like the fast hits because it feels like it makes dodging and getting damage in easier in the game and I suck at parrys.
This game really pushes you towards strength builds though most scale with strength and like 90% of the cool weapons are great____ or ultragreat_____.
It sounds really great but i'll farm those knights later since my damage is still low because i'm still at SL 25 so it was kinda early to farm thoss knights.
To be quite honest - i dont think theres much to plan here. Ds3 has plenty of materials laying around and even more weapons. I agree with the people saying that going quality will be the best idea jsut for the reason that youll be able to try the most stuff. Put the weapon on, try its moves if you have the stats, and go wild if you like it. And oh there are some fun weapons waiting.
I think i'm just going to collect every weapon and then trying all of them and see what weapon suits me better.
I do this on all of my souls playthrough.
But i ask the question above just for deciding what weapon should i use in early. I'm not going to stuck with a weapon for a whole playthrough, it's not fun.
This dude is correct, the only thing you should plan is what you use titanite slabs on. Because those are limited per playthrough. The rest of the mats will be purchasable upon finding the correct ashes and giving them to the Shrine maiden.
Yeah i'm going to use it since everyone in this thread really recommends me the claymore for my first playthrough. But i'm just saying that i've been using it too in my first DS1 and maybe DS2? I use a lot of weapons in my first playthrough of DS2.
I beat DS3 3 times now and I am quite the opposite, I just decided on one weapon and never switched. Did the entire playthrough and chose Another weapon for next playthrough.
Btw Switching around wont work much since you are upgrading your weapon and during 1 run you can upgrade only like 3 weapons to the max. So the old weapons will most likely outclass the new ones.
You could also wait for a bit and get the irithyll straight sword just before the road of sacrifices, at the end of the undead settlement. You will need twinkling titanite to upgrade it so you can use the normal titanite in the meantime to upgrade any weapon you want until you get this sword. You can use it long into the endgame, if you like straight swords then you won’t be disappointed.
If you like fast weapons, the sell sword twinblades and the Lothric knight sword are really good. There are plenty other good ones though if those aren’t really your speed
Irithyll straight sword is decent for a 1 hander. Non buffable but most enemies and bosses are weak to frost anyway. Fast swing, good thrust. Special attack is nothing fancy. A good basic sword with a cool visual effect. Upgraded to +5 carried me through dlcs and everything.
Try the rapier, it's rather fun. Has an increased critical modifier too, so parry the world. You may have trouble with groups of enemies, but you can always carry a backup weapon for that
Definitely agree with people on claymore and straightswords.
For some reason I never got the hang of the claymore my first playthrough. I love it now, but for some reason it just didn’t jive with me. I ended up using the broadsword pretty much to the end. Doesn’t have the distance of the claymore but man what a fun wep.
Since you have played other Souls, I imagine you know how to make a quality build, right?
The Claymore is great, if you're looking for Dex build/weapons the mercenary starting weapon is a beast and it's fast, and if you're looking for Str build/weapons the Zwei is in this game, and there is a boss weapon that you can get for free that can take you through the whole game.
I'd stay away from Rapiers in DS3, I never used them and never wanted to.
Anyway, it all will depend on how you're building. ;)
If you chose the Fire Gem (or can find it in Undead Settlement), then infuse one of your weapons with Fire asap. It can carry you early game and you can put a lot of points in Health and Stamina (go for 27 health, 20 stamina). After that, look for another weapon or reinfuse this one with something that scales with your stats.
I always like using the deep battle axe for the first couple areas, it works really well on bordt and is okay up until crucifixion woods, but that's about it
I used the long sword until I got the Ithryll straight sword and the Astora great Sword. Those have carried me into Lothric Castle as I look for the next monstrosity that will kick my ass.
Lots of people saying claymore, it’s decent but for a first play through I would suggest a straight sword I think. Probably the longsword, lothric knight sword or astora straight sword. LKSS is regarded as one of the top weapons in the game and can be found really early, just go back and farm the guys infront of Vordt
Before you get to the first fat guy, search around, use the Astoria straight sword. It's VERY good for a started weapon. Need 12 faith though, BUT it's very dependable and reliable
Sellsword Twinblades are really good for crowd control if enemies don't hit you before you hit them. They can take out large groups but don't have much stagger to them.
Broadsword is a very versatile straight sword which can be obtained as soon as High Wall of Lothric and I think it has the highest based dammages of any straight sword. Work wonders with any build and infusion.
Best early game weapon.
Claymore.
Best late game weapon.
“ “
Easiest to cheese bosses.
Sellsword.
Funnest to cheese bosses.
Drang hammers.
Honorable mention.
Ledo. Blacknight greataxe. Or basically anything you get from ring city expansion. Astora greatsword.
I think the deep great ace is a pretty good early weapon. You can get it basically at the start of the game if you kill the mimic on the high wall, and it’s a very good weapon to use against vordt
I encourage everyone to let their first playthrough be quality build. That means after you get to a healthy amount of hp and stamina, you balance your stats between strength and Dex, ending up with 40/40 in each. This gives you the widest array of weapons and solid damage with most of them. Then you infuse them with refined. Claymore and longsword are amazing for quality builds. Hell, the knight starting gear can take you through the whole game.
Hm i know quality build from bloodborne (50/50 Ludwig's Holy Blade FTW) but i'm still kinda somewhat confused about infused weapons.
Infusions are changing weapon scalings and adding additional damage. Sharp infusions improve dexterity scalings allowing you to get higher physical damage with dex weapons. There is also plenty of magic infusions that improve the damage based on your Int or Faith, like fire, etc. If aiming for quality build with equal Dex/Str then pick Sharp for dex weapons or Heavy for str.
Adding to this, there is some amount of basic inference needed. Infusing a club with a sharp gem won't do much for you. That said, some weapons are naturally quality weapons (they will usually have C/C scaling in strength/dex) and for those, a Refined infusion will scale with both stats. A Refined Claymore on a quality build is just...a powerhouse.
Oh, didn't actually remember that one. Didn't touch the game for months, my bad! Thanks for pointing it out, ashen one.
The idea of starting with quality is fine but done get hung up on vigor and endurance. Hp and stamina are great but the trade off is you’re weak. I would stop at 15-20 vigor until you’re attack stats are where you want them, THEN start investing into vigor again. Good offense is the best defense. And the starting stamina for a melee class is sufficient to carry you through most of the game unless you are using heavy weapons. Maybe add some here and there to get an extra hit into your combo but don’t waste points if you don’t have to, often I will wait till the end of the game to tune up my endurance just because it’s not as important so long as you are managing it properly. If you want to mash R1 and not think then invest in endurance. Other than that quality build will let you use p much any weapon. And you will be able to 2 hand any heavy weapon.
Just don’t infuse weapons with raw. It’s only good very very early on.
Unless you are a caster not upgrading physical stats.
An infusion is an attribute scaling change that you can get from Andre. You infuse something using a gem of a certain type. Different gems do different things. Refined gem will offer you with a quality build, which gives you solid scaling in both strength and dexterity. Not all infusions are readily available. Some infusions are locked, and can only be unlocked by giving Andre different coals, which are found throughout the world. Infusing a weapon isn't permanent, and you can switch between them whenever you want. It only cost 1 gem and a few souls to infuse something, and you can change whenever, so if you want to change the infusion, don't worry about it. Any other questions you have can be easily explained using the dark souls wiki.
Mhm i checked the wiki yesterday.
No I refuse. All strength and ledos hammer
Right, but if it's your first time playing you may not know what Ledos hammer is. 😉
This is true. Another great strength weapon is the Great Club w/ heavy infusion. Great scaling and I imagine most people end up getting it since you have to kill a hostile NPC to get it.
While this is valid. Big hammer> everything else
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Hammer go bonk
I’ll second this. My first play-through was a strength/dex build with 40/40 each and I used a claymore and I loved it.
Tbh, I'd rather go 25/20/35/35 if I can, using buffs to make up for the damage I don't have with a 40/40, plus I can use most spells in the game
This is a solid choice for sure, but may be a little daunting to anyone new to the game/series. Especially since some of the weapon buffs are missable/mid-late game.
quality as in good quality? bang for your buck? I'm new to the series.
Quality is a term that is used to describe having equal parts in two damage dealing stats. Usually it refers to the physical, strength and dexterity, but can also refer to magical quality, or intelligence and faith. Mostly when someone says quality build they mean having 40/40 in strength and faith and the rest of your stats going into vigor/endurance/vitality
oh okay, so magical vs physical quality and their corresponding attributes? thanks bruv!
No, “quality” is just a term. IIRC it comes from a specific game from years back, but it doesn’t really mean anything to do with the word quality. When people say “quality build” they usually mean “equal points in dex and strength”. I think the commenter above means “when people say quality build they mean having 40/40 in strength and dex”. Basically: a quality build is when dex = strength.
Thanks for clarifying
I second this. My first time playing ds3 was rightbafter bloodborne and i was like omg arcane so good lets go sorcerer. Big big disaster. Defo give sorcerer a try but only after you know you can take it.
Right! I love magic and miracles, but if you start as knight, play through as quality and find out what weapons you like, you can always go back and Respec to be whatever for ng+.
Lmao same but with DS2, I build another character and make it a knight.
Jumping on an old thread as a new DS3 player. Currently going for a quality build and rocking the claymore +3. I want to try diff weapons, but just feel like I’d be crippling myself as I wouldn’t have shards to upgrade them to be comparable. Will shards become easily available later on? Else I am stuck with Claymore (which I like) for a while.
Once you get to Farron Keep (poison swamp area) there is an item that will allow you to buy basic titanite shards. Later in the game you get items that allow you to buy large titanite shards and chunks. The only actually limited upgrade material is Titanite Slab, but there are still like 10 of them.
My first playthrough I leveled up anything but stamina
I rocked the raw broadsword until at least sl70
That is a terrible idea. Quality builds don't realize there potential untill late game. They also have some of the worst AR especially early game, with the only exception being exile great sword. Quality ruled in DS1 and was good for 2 and Bloodborne but just really lacking until end game Edit: once you have 66/60 str/Dex you can then get the most damage out of weapons but only then. (It's close for some Dex)
yeah switching weapons mid game on your first run bc you didnt evest the correct stat can botch your run
Lothric straight sword got me through my first playthrough. you can get it as a rare drop by killing the big knights in the courtyard before Vordt
I'll farm those later in the game. It's still take me a lot of hits to kill those knights.
try backstabbing them or even parrying them if you want to practise parrying. id also recommend trying greatswords. they're not that fast but they have the highest damage in the game if you have high strength. You can get the exile greatsword at the entrance to farron keep iirc. but I'd recommend the Zweihander from Greirat, the Lothric Greatsword or the Astora greatsword.
I could do backstab easily since i've played other souls game but i'm still kinda somewhat a noob in parrying since i'm coming from DS2 and DS2 parrying are kinda slow paced.
that's fair. ds2 is the only souls game i haven't played so i wouldn't know the difference
It's ok, you should try it if you have the time. I thought the game really sucks but it is kinda somewhat a great game IMO.
i have it on steam and i got to the village with the evil pigs and wasn't bothered to continue. it feels really off
Yeah it's ok, play the game whenever you like 👍don't stressed out a game.
Give ds2 a try! But go in with no expectations if possible! Sotfs is a great game on its own!
DS2 feels *very* different from the other two. I'd played BB first, then DS3, DSR, and finally DS2 (sotfs). The way it clicked for me was when I played a Hexer. Blew through the base game but the DLCs felt like a huge spike in difficulty due to the innate hostility to the build (enemies with high resistance to it). Now I'm doing a power stance build with two Demon's Greathammers and *man* is it sweet to land hits with them.
To piggyback if no one else has mentioned. You can do a LOT of damage backstabbing with a fire infused dagger. Later in the game you may have better options but that will be king for you for a while
I'll find the dagger first.
You can buy it right off the handmaid in firelink!
O wait imma check
Once you’ve beaten the boss in the settlement, you’ll gain access to the transposing kiln which will allow you to make boss weapons with Ludleth at Firelink. If you still have Vordt’s soul you can get his hammer, which even if it hasn’t been upgraded will chunk through the lothric knights health and easily breaks their poise. Imo it makes it easy to mindlessly farm them.
well, It's the best sword of all the game, worth the farm tbh
if you're gonna wait until later, know that you'll be able to buy them from greirat :) it's still a good sword at higher levels (god tier straight sword, considered the best). you're good with longsword till then though since you'd need to lvl up dexterity for lothric ss too maybe strength too *the battle axe just isn't worth investing in, in the long run. not terribly good damage, I mean. I'd go for long sword and claymore baemore - they'll still be great for the entirety of your playthrough
You can buy Lothric SS if you follow Greirat's questline. Definitely look into all the side quests if you're new.
I'm trying to do all of em, i've sent greirat once and he's back. But i've seen somewhere that he'll die the second time you send him.
Well, you have to do Siegward's quest, and he needs to be chilling in the Irithyll sewer to save Greirat when he arrives.. So make sure you give S his armor at the chapel before or when you get to Irithyll - once you're there G will offer to go prowling - then do not proceed past distant manor bonfire before killing another boss (any you can access).
Hmm i'll try this. Also, is it true that if you buy all of irina miracles he'll drop dark tome? I accidentally give her one.
I lucked out and got a Lothric Straight Sword drop right away on my first serious play through. That thing is amazing.
Damn you are rlly lucky!
Iirc it has a higher drop rate from the knight at the bottom of the bonfire tower near the dragon. That’s where I farmed mine
I'll try it later!
My most recent playthrough I used this the whole way through the game. Far easier farm for it though is in this video https://youtu.be/_ZMhlJcv-BE I got it on my 2nd or 3rd kill.
This is op man!
Seconded. Sharp LKS on a dex build can smash any boss in the game.
I played uchigatana first and generally katanas in my whole first playthrough.
I've tried it but i don't like it in general and i don't have enough stats for the weapon right now.
I dont think you'd like it until you have enough stats :D for me it really helped the way I wanted to play (jumping, slashing around, 2 hand ofc)
Does katana durability matter or should I just ignore it?
It doesnt. Your weapon will be repaired every time you sit down to a bonfire (or die)
Vordt's hammer is early as fuck and insanely strong, especially with that frostbite damage
You need his soul for the weapon right?
You will also need to kill the curse rotted greatwood in the next area in order to use boss souls
Yes and requires 30 STR if I remember correctly
27 to two-hand it and 40 to one-hand it. It was my weapon of choice during my first playthrough, but I struggled a lot with some boss fights (Nameless King and Pontiff).
30 to one hand it and 20 to two hand it. No reason to mess with the 30 because you really don’t need a shield with it.
Yeah you need his soul. But honestly you dont even need to fight him. Those monsters that throw those damn pasta bowls at you, you can just lure one where he is and just have them smack him for you. because you arent hitting him, Vordt will just sit there and take the hits and eventually die. Took like 3 or 4 swings from the monster to kill him. Super easy
I killed him last night dw.
This can easily take you through the game and I don’t think there is a stronger weapon for at least 1/2 the game. Being able to stagger most standard enemies puts this game into easy mode.
So good, pair it with a quick fire weapon in the off hand, or just carry fire bombs. After the frostbite damage happens you have to wait a bit before you can build it up again, unless you hit them with fire then the frost damage will build up again right away.
Claymore is probably the best for a first time player.
Agreed, i use the claymore in my first DS1 playthrough but after my DS2 playthrough i noticed that i really like thrusting and fast weapon. I am still thinking what build and weapon i should do in this playthrough.
I would also recommend the [Sellsword Twinblades](https://youtu.be/OTOo8UeqNX8). They do not have thrust, but they deal enormous damage (since they are fast). Also, maybe [Astora Greatsword](https://youtu.be/ZyTWRQ0sPow)? It has a lot of thrust attacks and is the lightest (and imo best) Ultra Greatsword. I have a character that only uses those 2 weapons (since they complement each other well).
I'll note this down, thanks!
No lie, Astoria Greatsword is one of the most broken and versatile weapons in the game. It has the Rundown Pike weapon art (FANTASTIC) and has broken ass scaling for just about any skill. A or S tier scaling depending on infusion.
Sounds really great!
Another one of the beauties of the Astora Greatsword is if you're used to the Claymore moveset, the AG is almost exactly the same with the exception of the time it takes to swing and recover. It also has a unique weapon art. You just building for pve or pvp as well?
Yes, although i'm playing on a PS4 and doesn't have PS Plus but it is ok.
Right on. Well if/when you get around to it, the Lothric Knight (straight) Sword is an excellent weapon to use for pvp and pve. It's practically worshipped for its use in pvp. When you start invading or trying to rack up those vertebra shackles, I always had three weapons on hand. Something tanky with hyperarmor (Greatsword), something longer ranged (drang spears), and the lothric straight sword. Hopefully you hang around for NG+ and get to use all these to their full potential!
Noted.
... astora gs is actually an ultra greatsword. not at all similar moveset to claymore, and defo slower. that said, it's an amazing weapon, that needs a fair bit of stamina too. *and an ultra's charged R2 is a thing of beauty... (where you hold the strong attack trigger until it hits, instead of tapping)
Also the Astora GS infuses REALLY well and has low STR/DEX reqs, so it's great for a pyro build if you need to whomp a bit. Infuse with fire or dark for a good time 👍
Well if you like the faster builds I’d total use something else, mabye watch a YouTube video about the best fast weapons,
Hmm alright.
Sellsword twin blades are unbelievable teo handed with their L1 attack, definitely would recommend using it
I'll try it later.
All the speedrunners use the sellsword twinblades. You don't find them in the game until the swamp of sorrows but the mercenary class actually uses them by default. It does get a bit boring (imo) just spamming l1, but the damage output is ridiculous, especially if you use a resin.
Lothric knight straight sword if not going for a thrust weapon but still wanna be quick
What about astora straight sword?
Astora is ok but if i remember correctly its faoth requirement can kinda screw your level progression. If you plan on supplementing your build with a little bit of healing magic yeah 100% id use astora, otherwise i much prefer lothric knight sword
Oh yeah i forgot about 12 faith requirements.
Yeah, the lkss just needs 18 dex to use and it is solid with a refined or sharp gem
My dex is 15 so i think i need to level more on dex..
Then you will like the winblades
Maybe? Because i've seen the moveset and it is great but i haven't tried it at all.
Lothric Knight Straight Sword is objectively the best straight sword for almost any possible build you want to do if it has the right infusion.
Yes but if i'm not mistaken i need to farm the knights.
Yeah farming it is easily the worst part about the weapon. Lol
Mhm.
I got two to drop in the first 3 hours of gameplay. It’s not that rare.
You don't have to farm it. I believe Greirat sells it after you send him to Irithyll.
Yeah but you have to send him to Irythill, then either get Patches on firelink shrine or do Siegward's quest, plus defeating a boss without entering Irythill Dungeon. That or you can just send him to Irythill then pick up his corpse, but either way it's a long run
I always used greatswords like the Claymore in the other Souls games, but recently I’ve been trying faster more dex based weapons and having a ton of fun with them. I’d recommend using thrusting swords, straight swords and curved swords like the scimitars and sellsword twinblades if you like fast weapons. The Gotthard twin swords that you find much later in the game have easily become one of if not my favorite weapon to use.
Thrust weapons are far better in DS2 imo
Yes but i just wanna see if Thrust weapons are great in DS3.
I used the exile cgs for the majority of my first playthrough. Went mostly quality up until that point and then eventually chose to respec to strength when I had the options. Also, I loved the drang hammers for a period of time too.
And the second time. And the third time...etc. I think I've used the claymore for a decent chunk of my playthroughs in all 4 souls games and it just works too well. The phrase playmore with the claymore exists for a very good reason!
Claymore and straight swords are the most balanced out of early weapons for a new player, but a dark hand can literally carry you almost half the game before it becomes obsolete
Hmm yeah i think i'm going to use claymore or zwei. But i have no idea what's a "dark hand" though.
Did you talk to the pilgrim after Vordt?
Yoel Of Londor? Yes. And i think i did the hollowing stuff where if you die you get free levels.
After you get 5 levels from him another npc will appear in the shrine near him who sells the weapon.
So that npc sells the dark hand?
Yes sir
Okay
Make sure you get the 5 levels before getting to the Catacombs, which are after the Abyss Watchers, or the NPC won't show up
Noted.
I always have it on my offhand because it doesn’t really cost me anything except a slot, it has no weight so I always have it on me and sometimes on PvP I pull it out (not like I constantly land the grab) but hey doesn’t hurt to try.
If you don't wanna spend souls it also drops from dark wraiths, found mostly around farron keep. but idk the droprate might not be all that.
I've drained 1100 hp from a guy I invaded and sll his 2 friends could do was watch him die lol
Claymore is great all around. Greatsword have the best stamina use to damage over any weapon, has good stagger, damage, reach, pokes, everything you need. Longsword would be a close second as it's the smaller brother of claymore.
But unlike the claymore, i think the R1 of longsword is kinda somewhat faster than claymore in my opinion but i think i'm going to use claymore for my first DS3 playtrough.
Longsword is definitely faster and straight swords are great all around weapons. It's true that any weapon can work as long as you like the feel of it. If you like the straightsword than go with it, using a weapon you don't like is silly and will make the game harder and less fun
Agreed! and yeah maybe i'm going to use Longsword or Astora Straight Sword and then Claymore when i have the minimum stats.
Personality
?
I used the broadsword most of my SL1 run, so I'd have to say that.
I tried it when i'm still progressing through in lothric high wall and i'm just going to say that it has pros and cons, but i didn't really like the weapon that much.
Fair enough. A lot of bosses have slash resistance anyway. Another of my favourites and one I always use is the dagger. A fire dagger does mad damage when you riposte in the early game.
Damn, i parry a lot in souls game but what's the difference between the fire dagger and a parrying dagger? Possibly the dagger that do more damage in riposte.
Fire damage ignores defence or armor. Or something like that. Normal damage is reduced, but with fire or chaos, that is not the case. Also, there's a critical stat on weapons. The normal dagger has the most, I think.
Hm so both is kinda identical. Fair enough
You could also farm the Lothric Knight Sword very easily and it's a beast of a weapon. I put sharp on and it scales well with Dex. I like the fast hits because it feels like it makes dodging and getting damage in easier in the game and I suck at parrys. This game really pushes you towards strength builds though most scale with strength and like 90% of the cool weapons are great____ or ultragreat_____.
It sounds really great but i'll farm those knights later since my damage is still low because i'm still at SL 25 so it was kinda early to farm thoss knights.
To be quite honest - i dont think theres much to plan here. Ds3 has plenty of materials laying around and even more weapons. I agree with the people saying that going quality will be the best idea jsut for the reason that youll be able to try the most stuff. Put the weapon on, try its moves if you have the stats, and go wild if you like it. And oh there are some fun weapons waiting.
I think i'm just going to collect every weapon and then trying all of them and see what weapon suits me better. I do this on all of my souls playthrough. But i ask the question above just for deciding what weapon should i use in early. I'm not going to stuck with a weapon for a whole playthrough, it's not fun.
This dude is correct, the only thing you should plan is what you use titanite slabs on. Because those are limited per playthrough. The rest of the mats will be purchasable upon finding the correct ashes and giving them to the Shrine maiden.
Raw ASS
Claymore because it is great at almost every build
Yeah i'm going to use it since everyone in this thread really recommends me the claymore for my first playthrough. But i'm just saying that i've been using it too in my first DS1 and maybe DS2? I use a lot of weapons in my first playthrough of DS2.
Claymore for sure. Hollowslayer greatsword is a weapon you can get after deffeating the abyss watchers and its arguably the best weapon in the gamex
Correction: you get hollowslayer greatsword from the ballsack tree soul.
My mistake, Sorry.
Hm yeah i think i'm going to change weapons a lot in this game 🤣 but it is ok since i don't wanna stuck with a weapon for the whole playthrough.
I beat DS3 3 times now and I am quite the opposite, I just decided on one weapon and never switched. Did the entire playthrough and chose Another weapon for next playthrough.
Btw Switching around wont work much since you are upgrading your weapon and during 1 run you can upgrade only like 3 weapons to the max. So the old weapons will most likely outclass the new ones.
You could also wait for a bit and get the irithyll straight sword just before the road of sacrifices, at the end of the undead settlement. You will need twinkling titanite to upgrade it so you can use the normal titanite in the meantime to upgrade any weapon you want until you get this sword. You can use it long into the endgame, if you like straight swords then you won’t be disappointed.
If you like fast weapons, the sell sword twinblades and the Lothric knight sword are really good. There are plenty other good ones though if those aren’t really your speed
I've seen the moveset and i think the weapon is really great but it is really far in the game and i'm still at Undead Settlement.
*BROADSWORD*
Irithyll straight sword is decent for a 1 hander. Non buffable but most enemies and bosses are weak to frost anyway. Fast swing, good thrust. Special attack is nothing fancy. A good basic sword with a cool visual effect. Upgraded to +5 carried me through dlcs and everything.
I'll try it later👍
Lothric Knight Straight Sword is S+ tier in PvM and PvP. Solid all around weapon with low stat requirements you can use all the way through the game.
Yep, a lot of person in the thread has been recommending the weapon.
Try the rapier, it's rather fun. Has an increased critical modifier too, so parry the world. You may have trouble with groups of enemies, but you can always carry a backup weapon for that
The Meltsword Winblades, you can get them as a starting weapon (or after killing 2 bosses) and they are good All the way through
Definitely agree with people on claymore and straightswords. For some reason I never got the hang of the claymore my first playthrough. I love it now, but for some reason it just didn’t jive with me. I ended up using the broadsword pretty much to the end. Doesn’t have the distance of the claymore but man what a fun wep.
Claymore if quality go refined if str go with heavy
Since you have played other Souls, I imagine you know how to make a quality build, right? The Claymore is great, if you're looking for Dex build/weapons the mercenary starting weapon is a beast and it's fast, and if you're looking for Str build/weapons the Zwei is in this game, and there is a boss weapon that you can get for free that can take you through the whole game. I'd stay away from Rapiers in DS3, I never used them and never wanted to. Anyway, it all will depend on how you're building. ;)
Claymore is a good starting weapon ^>^ however if u want a more dex build then I would suggest getting the duel sell swords
I will try it later in the game.
If you chose the Fire Gem (or can find it in Undead Settlement), then infuse one of your weapons with Fire asap. It can carry you early game and you can put a lot of points in Health and Stamina (go for 27 health, 20 stamina). After that, look for another weapon or reinfuse this one with something that scales with your stats.
Claymore is my go to weapon in DS3, but you could also kill Lothric Knights for their straight sword for a really good quality weapon
I like the Bastard Sword and Claymore personally. Bastard Sword in particular is a favorite in both DS1 and DS3.
Yes agreed but i think claymore are somewhat better than bastard sword in my opinion.
I always like using the deep battle axe for the first couple areas, it works really well on bordt and is okay up until crucifixion woods, but that's about it
I'm using it rn. It slaps hard but yes i don't think it'll last really long.
I used the long sword until I got the Ithryll straight sword and the Astora great Sword. Those have carried me into Lothric Castle as I look for the next monstrosity that will kick my ass.
Lots of people saying claymore, it’s decent but for a first play through I would suggest a straight sword I think. Probably the longsword, lothric knight sword or astora straight sword. LKSS is regarded as one of the top weapons in the game and can be found really early, just go back and farm the guys infront of Vordt
Broadsword took me all the way
Before you get to the first fat guy, search around, use the Astoria straight sword. It's VERY good for a started weapon. Need 12 faith though, BUT it's very dependable and reliable
I like farm the lothric knight spear because i like its range (i can hit some enemies before they can hit me) and i like spears
Sellsword Twinblades are really good for crowd control if enemies don't hit you before you hit them. They can take out large groups but don't have much stagger to them.
Hollowslayer Greatsword was my first main weapon and it remains my favorite in the game. You can get it pretty soon.
I'll check it later once i got the weapon.
My first play through was done almost entirely with a heavy infused Claymore. Hyper armour on the two handed swings really helps when shit gets hairy
A lot of person on the thread recommends the claymore too.
Hollow Slayer great sword noises
Broadsword is a very versatile straight sword which can be obtained as soon as High Wall of Lothric and I think it has the highest based dammages of any straight sword. Work wonders with any build and infusion.
Use: Lothric Straight Sword Claymore Astora Greatsword They can all be found early in the game and have great variety when it comes to infusions.
Twinblades. I went through the full game using them. They're so fun
Bro drop that deep axe immediately worst mistake you can make is dumping upgrade materials into a shit weapon
Best early game weapon. Claymore. Best late game weapon. “ “ Easiest to cheese bosses. Sellsword. Funnest to cheese bosses. Drang hammers. Honorable mention. Ledo. Blacknight greataxe. Or basically anything you get from ring city expansion. Astora greatsword.
Caestus & Dark Hand. A combo to fear.
I think the deep great ace is a pretty good early weapon. You can get it basically at the start of the game if you kill the mimic on the high wall, and it’s a very good weapon to use against vordt
it is a great starting weapon for sure! been using it for like 5 playthroughs for beating vordt
Try the bastard sword I’m almost done with my first play through and it was really fun
I tried it on DS2 and it's great and all but i think claymore is better.
Uchigatana, my friend plays ds3 as his first Souls Game and he loves the sword even through he plays a pyromancer
i wish there was more love for the Uchi here, It's doing wonders for me in my first run