Hi all. Got a question for you.
I haven't had much time to play games this year. Last year I played DS1 and DS3. Early this year I played DS2. I replayed a bit of DS3. And the last few months I've been playing DS1 again. Got the achievements. I'm at the of NG+++ now (just Kalameet and Gwyn left). I might try and see if I can finish NG+7.
I've got 40 str and dex, 40 vitality (health), and 45 endurance. Faith is now too at 40, and intelligence will be at 40 soon. I can equip 4 spells, but I don't use a lot of them (mostly Sunlight Blade, and sometimes Greater Magic Barrier). Normally my armor is: Chestplate of Artorias (allround, and looks good), Havel gloves and boots (for the poise, and because I got the endurance to wear them). And the Thief's mask (again for the looks, so I can see my face). I almost always use the GreatShield of Artorias. It's awesome. By far the best item in game.
I have a problem with weapons. So many to chose from. And so few that feel like they are actually useful.
I use 3 weapons.
My go-to weapon is the Halberd. This is the weapon I feel most comfortable with. It's damage is unbelievable. (I think it might be the highest dps in the game. Not highest damage per hit, but highest damage-per-second over longer time). It has very good reach. It allows me to fight trash-mobs with very little risk of getting hit. There are only 2 downsides. If you don't hit your target, you stagger for a second or 2. And then you are vulnerable. The only other downside, imho, is when fighting bosses. Because the Halberd hits low, in a straight line, it can be hard to hit some bosses. If the bosses are high, standing on 2 legs, and you are locked on to the boss, it's easy to miss the legs. And when you miss, you stagger, and the boss can easily hit you hard.
So for those fights, I got a Washing Pole. Awesome weapon too. It's pattern of attack is not poking straight ahead like the Halberd, but slashing left to right. Vertically, a little diagonally. With the Washing Pole it is a lot easier to hit some bosses. E.g. the demons (Stray, FireSage, etc). Or dragons. The demons are vulnerable to bleed, so a katana is perfect for those fights. Dragons (Kalameet) are not vulnerable to anything special, so a katana is just as good as most other weapons. I sometimes use the Washing Pole for trash-mobs. But usually after the Washing Pole had had its use, I switch back to my beloved Halberd.
I also have Artorias' GreatSword. The regular one, not the cursed one. I got it at +5. I need it to beat the Four Kings. I've used it in a few boss-fights. E.g. Sif. But tbh, the moveset is too wild, and it takes too long to recover after a swing. I am too vulnerable when I use it. My playstyle completely revolves around hiding behind my GreatShield, and waiting for opportunities to hit with very low risk. I hardly dodge or roll. Just so that always stay in control. With Artorias's GreatShield and a lot of poise, there are no bosses that can hit me through my shield. Not even Manus.
I also got a Divine Longsword+10 for the catacombs. And a +10 Chaos Great Scythe. Queelag’s Fury Sword +5. I hardly use those. I have a Short Bow+15. I use that a lot. Got a Gough's Greatbow+4, just so I can kill Gwyndolin without chasing him.
And now for my question:
I want to play with other weapons. But which ones should I use ?
I got a zillion shards and large shards. And chunks are relatively easily farmable. I upgraded a bunch of weapons to +12. Zweihander, Balder Side Sword, Estoc, Butcher Knife, Murakumo, Mace. Mace is at +14 even. I've tried them. None of them feel like they are even close to the Halberd or Washing Pole. The mace was awesome in DS2, because of strike damage. It feels like the mace doesn't to much special against armor in DS1. The large weapons feel clumsy. After/before swinging them, I am too vulnerable. If I use those large weapons for a long time, I just take too much damage. Estoc is fast, but its damage seems too low. Balder Side Sword is not much different from a long-sword. Less reach and less damage than the Washing Pole. Whips might be fun, but their damage seems very very low (unless the target is vulnerable to bleed. And even then a Halberd will one-shot what takes 6 hits with a whip).
I can upgrade 8 or 10 weapons to +14. And a few special weapons to +5 (that require Twinkling Titanite). But which ones should I try ? Got a suggestion ?
I had made a Lifehunt Scythe once. I didn't like it. The constant bleeding can be negated with rings (non bleed, and constant health regen). But then I can't use my normal 2 rings (havel and chloranty). And it made me nervous.
Other Halberd are supposed to be strong (e.g. BKH). But they hit over-head. That leaves you vulnerable when you start to swing.
Maybe the Demon's Spear is worth upgrading ? Split damage just isn't very good at end-game. Whenever I use a melee weapon with split damage, it feels like it hits like a wet noodle. I rather not waste Demon Titanite.
Gravelord sword ? Moonlight Greatsword ? Dragon Greatsword ? Are they any good ? Are they just gimmicky with their extra functionality and sub-par dps ? Black Knight weapons ? (Artorias's Greatsword feels like a Black Knight Sword). Are big hammers fun ?
So again: what weapons are good ? Or just fun to use ? What's worth upgrading and trying out beyond +10 ?
Oh, and FYI, I just do PvE. I never do PvP. (And with my SL at 185 now, I never get invaded, even though I now always play in human form constantly).
Thanks in advance.
The most fun I had in the first game was two-handing the Zweihander. Yes, it's slow and maybe it doesn't have the best DPS, but I love the way it pancakes enemies and just the raw strength of the weapon and how weighty the animations feel. It also makes the game more strategic and challenging, as it forces you to learn dodging and good positioning.
In the second game I used the Berserk sword instead. I forget what it's called, but it basically looks like a big slab of metal.
I can see how you can use the Zweihander to pancake trash-mobs. Just time it right, and you can destroy them before they get close or get up. But what about bosses ? I assume they have indefinite poise. So you can hit them and damage them. But the "pancake-effect", the stagger, will not work, right ? So after you swing, when you recover from the strike, you are open to the boss hitting you back. Or am I being too negative ?
You just have to time it right. And no, you can't stagger all of the bosses (the Gaping Dragon, for example), but you can stagger quite a few. Most notably, Ornstein and Smough come to mind. If there's any boss that can be staggered, Zwei will stagger it, as it does an obscene amount of poise damage. And even if you can't stagger something, the sword still has quite a large reach and very wide swings. The most trouble I had was with the dogs, actually, because I had a very low poise myself. It's a different playstyle, essentially.
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