Post your Souls weapon-fu.

Whatever is the most broken meta with the biggest numbers that patch.

Sacred chime hammer...my beloved

>Entire arsenals of legendary weapons crafted from the bodies and souls of gods.
>Not a single one of them holds a candle to mundane shit you can get almost immediately.

This is one facet of Dark Souls as a brand that annoys me to no end.

>>3768131 (OP)
Useless as soon as you get it and beyond

>>3768144
Lighting mace is objectively the best overall weapon in the game. Shame that ng+ pigeonholes one into specific builds.

>>3768131 (OP)
BLACK
KNIGHT
VLTRA
GREATSWORD

Moonlight greatsword is always the best

>>3768131 (OP)
broadsword

>>3768131 (OP)
For me it's canvas talisman

>>3768131 (OP)
Claymore got me through the game for the first time and I still love her

>>3768131 (OP)
DS1 Halberd, I remember so many fight clubs people didn't know the moveset and got rekt.

I find myself using the basic longsword on almost every playthrough. I just really like its moveset and it has a nice balance between attack speed, damage, and range. I know the balder side sword is a straight upgrade but I can never get lucky with the drops and it requires more stat investment to use.

>>3768159
Reinforced clubs are better than maces for lightning/fire/chaos infusions and they're easier to get.
The mace is only better than the reinforced club for any infusion that keeps stat scaling and once you get enough points in those stats. The mace is still one of the best weapons in the game though. Using these basic blunt weapons almost feels like cheating.

>>3768415
fuck forgot to edit the image properly

>>3768415
>The mace is still one of the best weapons in the game though. Using these basic blunt weapons almost feels like cheating
The stat scaling was the difference, right. I really dislike stats in dark souls and the scaling is objectively bad. Higher ng cycles force one to run around naked and eventually the fast weapon beats the strong weapon. Playing ds with optimal builds is boring as fuck. I use random builds all the time. Suddenly the game is hard af.

>>3768144
I mean the best straight sword in the game (the Baller Swag Sword) is a normal enemy drop, the issue is more that said enemy only like 5 of them exist and it's actually quite a bit of a walk to and from the bonfire to reset them. And that the drop rate is pretty shit.

>>3768448
>Higher ng cycles force one to run around naked and eventually the fast weapon beats the strong weapon.
None of the Souls games do anything to actually incentivize playing in NG+ anyway since unlike say Nioh 2, the game doesn't mechanically change anything when you up the difficulty. It's one of the biggest weaknesses of the series, that it has a feature that you have no reason to play.

>>3768465
Ds2 has few alternative encounters, but that's that. Haven't played nioh2. Whats done to incentivize ng+?

It just annoys me a little how little pick ups actually mater the more you understand the game. There's very little to zero weapon progression outside of upgrading your chosen piece so on most replays I barely pick up anything and only loot enemies if I think there's a titanite.

>>3768487
And armour (upgrades) are completely useless, too. Missed opportunities.

>>3768144
love mace my only qualm is its hard to hit neato even if youre as close as you can get. Bash damage is so damn good

>>3768494
Armor itself is completely useless in general. I know FASHION SOULS is the big meme but it seems like no matter how I kit out my character armor wise I get the same damage no matter what. Sometimes poise is helpful sure but I can have insane hp, wearing the heaviest armor and it feels like a boss will still hit for a third of my health bar.

>>3768517
Indeed. Bosses three shot pretty much any build. Not completely unrealistic, as a 800 pound sword will crush bones, no matter if full plate or rags are between pc and big ass sword. Gameplay wise it's not fun.

>>3768131 (OP)
For me, it's the Jagged Ghost Blade.

>>3768479
It's actually really neat, both Nioh 1 and 2 do this
>Dream of the Samurai
What you're on at the start, the absolute base game
>Dream of the Strong
Divine gear and the ability to upgrade gear to a + level when at cap is introduced, but is otherwise a slightly harder version of the base game with little real changes. Do just enough missions to let you rush to the end
>Dream of the Demon
Each stage now has enemies with buffs that can only removed by using a yokai counter on them. A step up from DotS but still not too bad, rush this one too
>Dream of the Wise
The game's true beginning. The enemies introduced in the DLCs are now in the base game levels, some of the ethereal sets start dropping, everything short of ethereal-tier gear has become obsolete, your level cap is now the max of 750 and you can raise a stat to a max of 200
>Dream of the Nioh
You will never want to leave this difficulty once you enter is. Every enemy fights optimally for their AI, every 10th or so enemy has the yokai counter buffs as well as all bosses, all ethereal sets drop, and the Abyss becomes available which is the ultimate challenge, but enemies now drop millions of amrita per kill and the gear you can get is so good that even with their stats you will melt them. Your base damage will be higher than the total hp of some bosses in Dream of the Samurai.

>>3768517
>>3768494
>>3768539
I will say, armor actually mattering is something I like about Elden Ring. It's not cosmetic in that game, you can boot up Smithbox, change your armor values, and see that with armor the Tree Sentinel with NG+ stats hits you for 210 damage, and without armor hits you for 550 damage (these aren't the actual numbers, I'm just spitballing here). That's huge, that's the difference between dying in 2 hits and dying in 5.

>>3768131 (OP)
>cool beast screams on various attacks
>builds beast meter for more damage
>awesome jump attack that sends you flying and you can backstab with it
>comes with a free scream button for funs

>>3768784
Elden Ring reviving defensive and tank builds is a godsend.
Especially with how overtuned a lot of bosses are in the late game. If you're not able to keep up dodging, being able to spec into a tank build and smash through with brute force is a great alternative.

its been a while but i recall armor mattering in ds1 due to the poise mechanic. Being able to poise through enemy hits vs getting staggered is often the difference bw life and death. And for whatever reason they have some light armor ridiculous resist levels which are situationally amazing. But i havent played in a while so im sure i will be corrected and sustain personal attacks if im wrong

>>3768131 (OP)
I use the uchigatana in every game and I'm not even an anime weeb. I guess I like Kurosawa though

>>3769729
The guy who makes meme challenge runs showed you can beat ER (including Consort Radahn) without every dodging, blocking, or even moving out of the way of anything, just facetanking it all, with enough armor and lifesteal equipment.

>>3769951
without ever*, I meant

Purely visually

>>3768131 (OP)
partizan

I've had a great time with the occult fork in my most recent play through.

>>3770154
forgot image

Curved ultra great swords, the forgotten weapon class.

>>3768131 (OP)
Partizan and Lucerne are tied for me, also the pursuer UGS
DS2 was the goat

>>3768131 (OP)
ds1: Quelaag's Furysword
ds2: Blue Flame
ds3: Ringed Knight's Straight Sword

>>3770803
The most satisfying movesets to use in DaS3.

>>3768784
>I will say, armor actually mattering is something I like about Elden Ring.
Sure it's a good change until you try roleplaying a mage wearing robes and then everything in the lategame two shots you because it's balanced around armor.

>>3768131 (OP)
>DeS
I freaking love how many gimmick weapons are in this game but for the sake of argument, i'd say Meat Cleaver and Northen Regalia as second.
>DS1
Velka's Rapier and Gravelord's Sword as second option
>DS2
Oh geez, hard to say but i'll go with Butcher's Knife and Espada Ropera as 2nd.

>>3768131 (OP)
>DS1
Shotel. Curved sword moveset + shield bypass is a deal too great to pass. Buff with sunlight blade and you're golden.

>>3771346
>be a wizard
>a group of people designed around focusing their mind while not focusing on training their body
>be surprised when you aren't very durable
>surprisedpikachuface

>>3771299
>t. Carthus Curved Sword pvp shitter who relied entirely on rollcatching before it was nerfed

>>3768144
DS1 has the best mace in the series. It and similar weapons do expose something I've come to dislike about DS1, that is damage types not mattering as much as in DeS. The pure vit-end-str/dex builds with single stat scaling weapons completely bulldoze the game, and having the most basic one-trick character be the most effective is dull.
It could be modded with a lot of tedious work. Would greatly enjoy having to plan out a build and route allowing me to use slashing for depths, darkroot and blighttown wildlife, strike for skeletons and knights, piercing for snakemen dragons and anything that can be critically attacked.
From probably shouldn't have let you get +10 weapons until anor londo either. They probably should finish their fucking games before releasing them

>>3771744
This was one of my favorite pvp weapons in ds1 because of how good shields were and how much damage this thing did with its r2

>>3771811
The D2 mace is also pretty busted. Though that could also be due to a lot of the enemies in the game being armored dudes. The ruin sentinels just melt.

>>3771811
I like the Blueblood Sword in DeS. Yes I'm going to invest in 3 different stats to max this thing out, I'm also going to WIN

>>3771778
That isn't a Curved UGS so I don't know what this is supposed to mean. Carthus is a regular curved sword

>>3772184
For like 2 months everyone in pvp was using the CCS because pre-nerf it had both insane bleed buildup and was really good at rollcatching, and DaS3 was THE game in the series to just constantly roll like a sperg against anything because poise and defense were both shit in that game, so a rollcatching bleed weapon caused immense amounts of butthurt.

Definitely the scythe of percent damage, some bosses practically required it.

>DS1
Scythe
>DS2
Partizan, Scythe of Want for PvP
>DS3
Sellsword Twinblades

greatsword
>ermmmm dont you know that lots of people use the greatsword and larp as guts???? ummmm you aren't unique chuddy
yep
greatsword is pretty popular
larping as guts is pretty popular
probably why miyazaki put it in the game in the first place, fuckin' nigger

>>3768144
>mace-chad
great taste. FTH STR mace paladin was my favourite DS 1 character.
>>3768782
based nioh 2 enjoyer. it's a shame wise-nioh completely ruins samurai-demon. making a new character to try a different playstyle is such a drag.

>>3768131 (OP)

>Dark Souls should have an easy mode

You could say, in its base form, it's just a regular katana, but damn, it swings so sexily. There is no other way to describe it.
And then you switch to the blood-mode, and it has this great risk-reward, with fantastic damage, a supercharged R2, and switches back and forth between both modes as part of the attack-chain makes me cum.
The Chikage appeals to my inner weeb, my inner edgelord, and my inner 19th century aristocrat, and you can REEE at me, roleplaying as a church-member, but this thing is underrated even for how widely know it still is.

DeS: meat cleaver, DBS, and moonlight sword
DS1: BSS, large club
DS2: lol
DS3: greatsword
BB: saif for pvp, beast claws for pve

>>3774054
>DS2: lol
I like Dark Souls 2

>>3774087
Alright

DS1: Great Scythe
DS2: Arced Sword I guess. Or Ricard's Rapier (poison infused)
DS3: Onyx Blade
BB: Kirkhammer
ER: Morgott's Cursed Sword

>>3774142
Poison anything is hilariously op in 2

>>3773713
>making a new character to try a different playstyle
The respec items are plentiful, just don't throw out your other sets

>>3774318
this—also most dream of the nioh builds don't really require you to respec your attributes unless you really want a different combination of ultimates
most of the variety at this point comes from stuff you can simply equip and unequip as you pointed out. I just rotate between all weapons (or even different pairs of weapons so they synergize a little different) and nearly every soul core, and keep the experience fresh that way. it probably helps that DotN AA agility combined with all the animation cancels you can do via soul cores is incredibly addictive and other souls games don't really give you the same impression of being speed incarnate

>>3774736
This was my build. Tsukuyomi 7/Omoikane 6. Magic is a few spells to debuff enemy, then apply buffs to myself and spam Moonlit Snow Redux. Worked all the way to Abyss.

>>3768131 (OP)
>DeS: Winged Spear
>DaS1: Pike
>DaS2: Pate's Spear
>DaS3: Lothric Longspear
>BB: Rifle Spear
>ER: Pike

>Demon's Souls
Long Sword
>Dark Souls
Longsword
>Dark Souls II
Longsword
>Bloodborne
Saw Cleaver
>Dark Souls III
Longsword
>Elden Ring
Longsword

>>3774981
Sir Basic, the Mediocre

>>3775369
Sir Sensible, the winner

>>3768131 (OP)
Greatshields in DS2. Jumping at enemies with a big door and stunlocking them is the most fun I had with melee weapons.
Though it's the only game in the series where all greatshields actually deal meaningful damage,

>>3775369
Actually in DS3 that would make him a metafag because the Longsword had crazy good scaling/moveset.

>>3776822
Longsword is Knight’s default starting weapon in DS3. This isn’t either or; it’s both. He’s basic and a metafag.

>>3776871
I'm >>3774981 and I exclusively play deprived / waste of skin / wretch no matter what build I make, with the exception of demon's souls where it's not an option. Longsword just feels good, fast all rounder, can two hand it, thrust attacks for counter hits or enemies who resist standard damage, good weapon arts / skills, great backup on caster builds, just the best. Most other weapons are better at something but give up something in return.

>>3776888
Look just because you lucked into the meta game doesn't mean you're not basic. The fact that such a basic bitch weapon is so OP says more about the balance of the game

>>3776909
ds3 is the second worst game in the series so who cares

>>3776912
Ds3 is the worst game in the series.

>>3776927
I didn't like it much either. Too linear and way too many bosses that just spazz out like a blender. It's the most role heavy game and I dislike that.

>>3768131 (OP)
I need nothing more.

It only depresses me how effective just running past every enemy can be.

>>3777016
you should play the game to have fun instead of playing it to win

>>3776962
Unga and bunga pilled

>>3776888
Yes, you enjoy the most mediocre weapon in the game because it’s mediocre and doesn’t require you to sacrifice anything and doesn’t do anything unique. You will never outclass in reach, you will never outclass in speed, you will never outclass in impact. Congratulations on championing the vanilla ice cream of weapons, don’t forget to get your tickets to the grass growing competition right next to where the paint drying show is hosted.

>>3776888
No point to using straight swords when greatswords exist. If I want a combination of strength and dexterity then a claymore or bastard sword will always be superior.
>can thrust
>can slash
>reach
>crowd control
>charge
Straight swords are too limited, especially the longsword. Hammers and axes have more impact while having similar reach and curved swords are much faster.

longsword is the best weapon, one day you will understand

>>3768144
This is what actually makes souls games GOATed as far as gearing goes

Almost every RPG just gives you weapon with bigger number so you equip it until you get next weapon with bigger number. Souls games broke the formula and added different movesets to boot so I can't understand how this amazing amount of added depth "annoys you to no end"

>>3777336
It annoys him because he doesn’t want to make meaningful gameplay choices and would rather have the game force feed him good equipment. Same type of low executive function retard that takes 3 hours to order drive thru.

>>3777356
What meaningful choice? The fact that you can carry the whole game with one mundane easily obtained weapon and never once change up your approach to combat or gear is the exact opposite of choice. You're an idiot.

>>3777372
the meaningful choice of

>which moveset suits my playstyle or the encounter best
instead of
>which one has the bigger damage numbers

>>3777311
>webm
what a mess

>>3777372
Have you considered the fact that if you changed your weapon type, your experience of the game would be different? Suddenly the way you approach enemies is radically different. If your only concern is big damage number then what is stopping you from running a sorcerer with dusk crown and pursuers who one shots every conceivable enemy? Why are you even using mundane weapons at all if big damage and getting through the game as fast as humanly possible is your sole concern?

>>3777372
All the mundane weapons you start with have limited movesets or are otherwise inferior when compared to other equipment. Why would you stick with a battle axe when a great axe can get you an AR of 500 and has hyperarmor? Why would you use a regular rapier when ricard’s has a superior moveset and greater dex scaling? Why should you be required to swap weaponry as a necessity to complete the game? I don’t understand your argument nor your line of thinking.

>>3777372
How does being forced to abandon your weaponry for other weapons incentivize player choice? What the fuck are you talking about

>>3777472
>>3777470
>>3777460
>>3777382
By needing different tools for different situations you have to make choices. As it is you just pick the one weapon you don't suck with it and coast through the game. You make one meaningful choice at the very start and that's your build the whole game. There is no adaptation. You're all idiots.

>>3768131 (OP)
Loved it in Dark Souls 3, I don't think it was THAT good, but I just like polearm in general.
In Dark Souls 1, it was the black knight halberd that I looted on my first run, and in Dark Souls 2, it was the regular mace dual wielded with black smith hammer

>>3773737
I loved the great rapier in Elden Ring, they all look cool and are all usueful mechanically. I think that the great épée is the weakest, but I still kept it until the end and dual wielded it with the blood helix

I go for whatever lets me do the most damage in a single hit.

>>3777336
This is a lie because 9 times out of 10 scaling >>>>>> moveset. Yes, it's nice that the Baller Swag Sword has the thrusting poke on its R2, but what's even better is it combines that with crazy high dex scaling. There are weapons in this series with amazing movesets that you'd never use because they do shit all for damage.

>>3777666
>There is no adaptation.
Carian Sovereignty says I don't need to adapt when I'm doing 5 digit damage.

>>3777336
Don't talk like you know anything about this subject if you don't even once bring up motion values, attack IDs, or scaling. You're going purely by vibes rather than actual numbers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAFWQr08SZE

>>3777666
You haven’t played the game long enough to try out other weapons and it shows.
>I beat the game with my mundane shit
Great, now play it with a halberd or ultra greatsword and see how different of an experience it is. In any case you’re arguing that the game should force players to abandon their equipment for objectively superior equipment that renders their previous equipment unplayable. There’s no choice to made in:
>play game with shitty gear and make it more difficult than it needs to
vs
>play game with linear progression of gear as devs intended
The only idiot here is you. By your logic, walking into a restaurant should have 1 menu item that gets swapped out for a different item every month rather than have 14 items that have vast differences but all are good to eat. You’re arguing against choice, not for choice.

>DeS
Never played
>DaS
Claymore
>DS2
Zweihänder
>BB
Holy Moonlight Sword
>DS3
Twin Princes' Greatsword
>ER
Sword of the Cosmos, or Claymore again if Mods don't count.

>>3768782
While that stuff is neat, you blaze through to Nioh so fast that you won't even notice those changes. Just learn a handful of duel boss fights or grab that one where you can crush Amrita crystals for exp and you ignore most of the game.

>>3777356
I can see a legitimate reason to be annoyed in that situation: Weapons are a reward and when they all disappoint, it's like the moment of finding loot is from the game. DS3 had this issue if you started with a straight sword, it would take a long time until a weapon you found would feel like a treasure.
The worst case for that is of course when the weapon is just a number because any lower number is instantly worthless. You need a system that allows a weapon to express itself: animations, elements, status effects, etc. Golden Sun gave weapon fancy animated special attacks that could trigger at random, Kingdom Hearts gave each weapon a passive effect(though generally too weak to matter), Monster Hunter has the Sharpness/Element/Raw/Slots balance, and so on.

>>3778305
>you blaze through to Nioh so fast that you won't even notice those changes.
You definitely notice the enemies with buffs because suddenly they become way tougher. That and you can see the buff icons on them.

>>3778305
>I can see a legitimate reason to be annoyed in that situation: Weapons are a reward and when they all disappoint, it's like the moment of finding loot is from the game.

It reaches a point where you don't even check enemy drops or even stop to look at treasure.

>>3768131 (OP)
for me, it's astora's great sword. it's a great sword.

I am a champ at this game so I bare-knuckle boxed the entire thing on my second or third playthrough.

>>3777797
The only polearm I like is a fist shoved up my ass.

>>3777336
I agree, most equipment being viable is one of my favorite things about the game. I make the decision based on what feels fun and looks fitting for a character.

A great scythe might be a good dex weapon bro, but I'm not roleplaying a farmer.

>>3778873
>most equipment being viable
In every game like 20% of weapons are so garbage-tier that using them is a self-inflicted challenge run. There is a difference between "viable" and "effective" and if you like just doing less damage with a shit moveset then that's just on you.
Fuck roleplaying, what's the actual meta weapon in pvp this patch?

>>3778754
this one looks like a real life wall ornament, and unlike the other greatswords the balance looks like it would be pretty good provided one is really strong
if your sword has to be this long and you can't have a zweihander-style handle above the guard or just a really long nagamaki-style handle, I don't really think that design can be improved

>>3768157
I'm not OP, but Gold Tracer is one of the most OP weapons in the game. You can just rip through bosses with it, everything just dies super fast. It's really easy to use with how fast it is. IIRC, I think it's the bleed damage that makes it over the top. You can easily R1 through the game with it and not even have to think.

>>3781653
It's a shame powerstancing wasn't a thing in 1 to pair with the Silver Tracer, but then I guess powerstancing a bleed weapon with a toxic weapon would literally break the game, nothing can counter that.