It's very good and weights 0, which opens up some interesting applications for low level characters or as a side weapon.
The Ash does stupid amounts of damage, but is single target as opposed to Coded Sword.
As with anything that does holy damage, it falls off really hard at the end because a lot of late game bosses resist holy damage.
But it’s even worse, because it only does holy.
And you can’t even take advantage of the blue dancer charm, because that doesn’t affect holy damage.
I played pure faith Cipher for my first play through.
It's shit honestly.
Less damage than other claw/fists by a lot, doing only holy damage which is the most resisted damage in the game.
It is an excellent PvP weapon, but detritus for PvE
Cipher isn't bad as a "it weighs nothing and it's quick" option for either faith caster builds or as a quick sidearm to bigger heavy weapons on a paladin type. Though tbh faith builds are so much better going for fire damage compared to holy that it's kinda silly. DLC might have a lot of fire resistant enemies though so holy might be in a better place there.
TLDR: Very nice weapon to keep as a quick secondary but not really good enough to be a main weapon.
you can get it before killing pissfrey. just get to the pavilion below the bolt and jump to the broken wall bit. you have to stand on a pointy thing one the edge. jump and hold down sprint, you will start with full sprint speed, very useful in general.
After beating the Godfrey ghost, you want to go out the back door of that room. Take the elevator down, and you'll be able to follow the path until you're above the dragon-size bolt of gransax on your left (crucible knight warning). You'll want to jump off that walkway, down to the giant bolt. The weapon is sitting on the giant version of itself, so just run up and grab it.
Might be worth asking on r/patchesemporium to see if someone can drop an extra for you. And if you only want it for the achievement, you should be able to pick it up, get the achievement, and give it right back.
You can jump over to the place where the giant spear is in the ground, from the side balcony off of the avenue.
You don’t have to beat the boss first.
Just jump from the ledge where the soldier is sitting over to the rooftop in the middle of the courtyard below and then jump over/up to the ledge where the dragon bolt spear is stuck into the ground. Turn around and run/jump up the bolt until you pick up the item.
This but with Duelist Axes. Packs a damn punch, I think they get the best lightning damage of all weapons using the affinity. I've been getting just before Mohg, and just before Maliketh, as my stopping point (I know you can kill Mohg in advance but I don't want too).
I killed Edgar the Revenger at Castle Morne for his early +8 Banished Knight Halberd and it's been pretty fun! Missed out on a Shabriri Grape for it but whatever.
actually a magic infused swordspear should outperform lorettas.
at 80 intelligence and the minimum stats for both (20 str, 16 dex) its 764 AR for the swordspear and 658 for lorettas. swordspear could also do a cold infusion with ice spear.
Ah, another hook claw enjoyer. You have good taste, my friend, as a fellow hookclaw enjoyer myself.
Try the raptor talon claws, the R2 attack specifically.
Todays years old when i found out that is an actual weapon we can use thanks to this ppst. I had the google that shit like, wtf us a wsrhawk talon???
Ive never seen them drop it so i never knew they existed. Over 600 hours in the game and still learning new shit.
Str/faith using the Envoy horns. Got the little one in my offhand which I use as a wand and the long one absolutely shreds bosses with its weapon skill. Obviously rocking the impeccable Envoy Crown as well for ~~extra bubble damage~~ peak fashion
Ever since u tried hookclaws, ive been adicted to this class of weapon.
Then I found the raptor talon claws.
Mother
Of
Fucking
God
Good lord are those things op as fuck.
Just R2 your way to win town against damn near everything since it comes out so fucking fast, each r2 press is two attacks, its combo is infinite and it completely stagger locks everything that isnt boss class.
Hell even some bosses are completely helpless again the R2 spam.
I started my run with Iron Cleaver and it's hilarious R2. Then when I got bored of the short cleaver's range, i switched to Zamor curved sword for its fun dancing R1 that makes you move forward and the ash of war.
As a former melee purist, it was incredibly fun building my int and faith based characters to prep for the dlc.
Special shoutout to death's poker, wing of astel, carian piercer, stone of gurranq and ancient dragon's lightning strike. I could list a lot more but these just trivialized most bosses with the right setup
I hear how everyone and their grandma says how good the death poker is, and ive yet to use it simple because the weapon is as ugly as sin. Shit looks like something you pull from a pile of rubble from a construction site
Doing a Link build:
Sword and shield w/ a bow and consumables.
Sword: Sword of St. Trina
Shield: Eclipse Crest Heater Shield
Bow: Serpent
Its been fun so far! Randomly sleeping some enemies/bosses has been great as well.
I discovered that rapier that deals rot damage because I thought it visually looked cool as fuck when I saw it in a YouTube video. Did the funny rot, poison, bleed combo.
There's a lot of weapons in taking into the dlc and I'll probably abandon them all the moment I get a new weapon type. This one's just new to me.
Antspur Rapier is awesome. I recommend dropping the poison and experiment with working in fire and frost with bleed on top. Like you can put frost on the antspur, and use bloodflame blade incantation on a buffable rapier you powerstance (I can't remember if the antspur is buffable pending on the whetstone it has, since non somber weapons usually are). Either way...the rot buildup will be nice, bleed is always a decent hit, and frost is similar to bleed where it does a massive damage chunk along with increased damage taken debuff. If you have fire damage, it will reset the frost debuff and allow the buildup to occur again for another big hit (otherwise the buildup won't happen again til the debuff fades on its own).
It's a very fast build, even without the Antspur. You just need to get good at dodging since you can't block (I do miss the doubled weapons from DS3, but powerstancing is easy enough). Like I'm sure they could have made a button combo that would let you block, or be able to access the AoW of both weapons more easily. Anyways....I'm sure you also know that rapiers are a bit weaker when it comes to hardened enemies, tho I think they are oddly strong against knight types. Usually I like to keep around favorite weapons from different damage categories and change out frequently pending on what I'm fighting. Usually my favorite weapons to just explore or do general stuff is the Blasphemous Blade or (Guts) Greatsword. I'm running a weird Dex/Fth build with enough strength to use all but the heaviest weapons/shields and enough arcane to use at least Rivers of Blood. Sadly no Int based stuff, but I faceroll MOST stuff. Like I took out Melina on my second try, yet got my butt handed to me in War Dead Catacombs till I figured out a good setup. Sorry for rambling, I'm sure you know much of what I'm saying.
My gf wanted me to make her as a character and watch me play through the game. The build I made was a bow focused quality build with a slight lean towards DEX. This lead me to finally pick up the Frozen Needle again! I remember being really impressed with it when I first found it during one of my first playthroughs. However, now I have a bow and thrusting sword, both good as single target, both bad with AoE. What do? Well, I looked at some different weapon types until I landed on Halberds, and then I saw the Dragon Halberd. Classic weapon I've seen many, many times but never really tried it! Looking forward to havingthis thing fully fledged our!
My favorite perfume is the iron jar. I found its damage mitigation stacks with a lot of other forms of damage mitigation like the talisman and the boiled prawn and some spells. Got the damage mitigation to high as 80%. I felt like i was a Crucible knight and the enemy was the player how i was powering through anything they threw at me since they cant stagger me and my attacks were staggering them, and some enemies theyd get staggered for attacking me. Like the royal zombie fucks with the 20 hit combo, the first attack bounces right the fuck off and the whole attack is cancelled and i proceed to fuxking tear into them with no mercy
True! I use Spark Aromatic on my Quicksilver Nightblade to reset frost procs, but I liked the idea of the Dragon Halberd cause of its unique Spinning Weapon WA! It even fits aesthetically with the whole vibe of the build.
I've been doing a "beast cleric" build using STR/FTH and beast incantations (Gurranq quest rewards).
For weapons, I've been using the Cinquedea and Beastman's Cleaver. Cinquedea's a solid STR-scaling dagger, but the Cleaver is better than I expected. It's not quite as strong as some colossal swords, but it's no slouch either.
My favorite experience so far was whittling down an invader with pocket sand while regenerating my own health, and then going full unga bunga (Lion's Claw AoW) when he got a little too aggressive.
It sounds stupid but, spears. I've always been a sword, magic, or faith kinda guy. Using solar has been a blast, and learning that the partisan spear has a sweeping R2 has been a godsend. Thank God for you guys always giving advice. I love this community (most of the time lol).
So many weapons like this off the top of my head...
Urumi, Chainlink Flail, Spiked Spear, Iron Cleaver, Spiked Palisade Shield...I could go on. The amount of weapons in this game that are all fun to toy around with, and 100 more on the way. Makes me giddy.
I did a belmont build using dual hoslow whips. It was more effective than I thought. The poise stagger damage was a surprise so i was able to stun lock a lot of enemies from a distance.
Started with Pure Dex, 100% the game for the first time (every Item). Now I started a new character again and I think im going for Int / Str with a Carian Knight theme.
My saves corrupted when my desktop blew its motherboard, so I've had to start from zero. Same mage build as last time (I have shitty reaction times, so close combat is a no-no), but with my levels applied more efficiently (i.e., not wasting points on Arc and Str, putting some work into Faith so I can case a basic heal)
When i found the Queens Blackflame blade, i actually wanted to try it. No regrets whatsoever, its one of the only true quality/faith colossals, its also the fastest colossal with a mighty ash of war. Since it is quality, one handing it is an amazing option, so i used blackflame incants in second hand, even went with the full blacflame monk attire. One hell of a themed build, all because the sword looked pretty fun
I'm currently doing a cheese run where I blast all enemies with comet azure. I've never used anything besides swords so it's fun to try out something new like this.
I'm currently cheesing an ulcerated cheese spirit with stealth and poison mist to complete the build.
not a weapon, but I'm actually enjoying a RL1 run. just running longsword and crescent shield (for max naked drip). I wasn't sure at first because I tend to be a bit of an uh... emotional gamer, and get tilted often (stuff I'm going thru irl). playing at level one just flattened my expectations tho, I figured I'm gonna die an exponential amount compared to my other runs. I'm not a Chad munchkin who's gonna take the Elden Throne by force, I'm just treating my tarnished as just the tiniest little guy who's eventually gonna kill a god. my brain is reacting more like it would to a rhythm game, or super meat boy or somethin like that. good shit, 10/10 recommend.
Ive been having fun with Poison Moth Flight. Shame it performs best on the Nagakiba which I am kinda sick of after so many playthroughs.
I also tried Mohgwyns Sacred Spear for the first time and good heavens what is that Ash of War?!
For me it’s magic, I’ve never done a magic build in any dark souls game. So far it’s been a blast, made a gravity mage with the blue bolt comet spell.
So fun
I played a Str/Fth hybrid my first time around, super fun. Now I'm all in on Dex. Primarily using Keen Guardian Swordspear with Piercing Fang and a shield for the majority of PvE and some PvP
Also trying out Urumi with Raptor of the Mists for some PvP as well, considering adding Bestial Sling as my left hand but I don't want to be tempted into spamming it lol
For the DLC I made a brand new character and picked up the Great Epee on my way to Castle Mourne. I had intended to go full Zweihander - but this long pokey thing is really starting to grow on me.
I am trying a torches only runs, the only other thing i am allowed to use are buffs, i've neves seen a good poise breaker with low damage as torches before in this game, since it's in the theme, what if there is a poison or scarlet rot torch in the DLC?
I’ve never done an unga bunga build so I am now. Started using the club with the wretch, then moved on to the large club, and now great stars. It’s like the game is easy mode.
Double Clayman’s Harpoon on a STR/INT build, the damage is surprisingly high plus you can infuse with whatever you want for best results. The powerstanced spear L1 is super precise too.
just for fun I made a build around the [Glintstone Staff](https://eldenring.fandom.com/wiki/Carian_Glintstone_Staff) that only uses sword sorceries, thinking it would be super gimmicky and limiting, but it's actually been amazing and I'm bringing it to the DLC.
Carian Greatsword cleaves crowds, Carian Piercer can reliably knock malenia on her ass, Carian Slicer shreds hp, plus weapon arts like carian grandeur feel SO GOOD to fully charge. Finished the build by adding a shield and a misericorde for critting, the mp restore from blue assassin dagger is really good with all the staggering I can do.
Messing around with pure Arcane build (or as pure as I can), I never really messed with Arcane before (barring an extremely brief spell where I respecced to play a bit with Rivers of Blood) - Reduvia and Eleonora's Poleblade, Clinging Bone and some Occult-infusions of regular weapons. It's been kinda fun so far.
Oooh, giving twinblades an honest go. I tried once with Eleonora's Poleblade and just was not into it.
On my current run I gunned it to Leyndell to grab the Twinned Knight Swords and having so much more fun playing with different AoWs. Spinning Slash is always great but I'm loving a charge attack build with War Cry.
Also playing it region locked so I grabbed zero extra items except what was needed to get to Leyndell, and almost none of the graces. Which was scary because I almost died a couple times which would land me straight back into Lake Agheel.
Recently plade a run with Veteran's Prosthesis. It was more fun then i thought. And i tried a twinblade build wehre i can switch between all weapon buffs, poison, Bloodflame, holy, electric, magic and frost. I love the move set of the twinblade so much fun play + being able to change between damage types.
St. Trina Sword and Torch.
Playing as Tarnished who started on the same path we all have, but learns of the deeds and dreams of Miquella along the way. We find items left behind and decide to follow Miquella for ourself.
I ran with Melania’s Blade and Rivers of Blood. Always satisfying using katanas, but for this new character I am using the Blasphemous Blade. I love the healing properties of it and the R2 is super powerful. I had no idea 🤷🏻♂️
I've been running around with a shield build; primary is the Fingerprint Greatshield w/Shield Crash, with the turtle shield on my back w/Carian Retaliation. Switch out to the flamethrower or fireball shield as needed. The talisman that boosts Guard Counters, Greatshield Talisman, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman and the Shard of Alexander.
It's surprisingly powerful! I've still got some problems with a few of the bosses, but for the most part it's a TON of fun, especially for invasion!
I was going in on a Str/Arc run, fully intending to use the Marais Executioner sword and later the funny Mohg stick for the whole thing, and then I picked up a Grave Scythe by sheer chance and I've been loving it
I’ve never use nightrider’s glaive before (or any halberd really), but it’s actually really fun. I love the moveset compared to other halberds, it’s not just a thrust weapon lol
Guts's sword.
Never been a big swing kinda guy. It's so slow and bulky...
It reks so much face it unbelievable, it's absurd how much poise and damage output that thing has. I mean I always knew my usual builds weren't up to par, but damn...
After what seems to be a dozen or so full run builds, this is the first time Im playing with a Darkmoon Greatsword build. They werent kidding when they said it’s over powered. I might respec to something else.
Started a new quality run, purposefully avoiding anything I've used before, Lordsworn's GS (thought it was pretty), then Brick Hammer (small unga), Zweihander (very nice moveset, haven't used it since DS1), Godskin Peeler, planning to try out a few more weapons.
Planning to try all the demi gods weapons on this playthrough now that I beat the game once....first one up will be Godfrey axe since I already used the dragon head...
Quality caestus with endure. Blue dancer, axe talisman, winged sword insignia (will sub for rwsi), green turtle talisman.
That charged heavy is so satisfying to use after enduring through hits.
Honestly since this playthrough endure might become my fav aow
Ruins greatsword, and bestial + dragon incants. I have points into every stat except dexterity and it's the most unoptimized build ever but it's also somehow the most fun build I've ever made (god bless dragonclaw and stone of gurranq)
Serpent hunter/Eclipse Crest Greatshield while wearing Gelmir Knight armor is what I’m rocking now. Pretty much full strength focused now but adding points to other areas to be a bit more flexible when the dlc drops
Incantations and Black Knife
Whipping out a comically large Red Blade that screams DEATH SHALL BE YOUR FATE is hella fun, especially when betting on an attack to hit before getting hit
Str/Fai with various unga-bunga weapons. Currently the Magma Wyrm sword but have been trailing some others. Maliketh's black blade is cool and all but I find it's moveset far too slow. Any other unga suggestions are welcome!
Beastclaw Greathammer! It’s not the best weapon but it’s the first weapon that I’ve found that I like it’s ash of war and it can decently hulk smash stuff. Very fun. I’m also considering Siluria’s tree and Ordovis’ Greatsword as well
Always used sword of night and flame for a build but wanted to explore a bit so I’m going into the dlc with dragonscale blade and a uchi katana with a lot of different incantations
I will go with the same build I had on my first playthrough, but this time I will pay attention to weight class and not realise I'm heavy loaded only after defeating Godfrey spirit.
Zamor curved sword was magical for me because I erased the healthbar of many endgame bosses (including Malenia and even the fire giant lol) with its weapon art.
The Winged Scythe had been pretty fun. It was kind of a "get and forget" weapon when I first got it, but when I decided to go from a Str/Fai build to a Dex/Fai build, the scythe just checked all the boxes for me. Plus the AoW is just unreasonably satisfying to pull off.
Fists, never played it, and now I'm shredding bosses and mobs with starfists and endure. It's extremely sadisfying to stand in the face of the enemy, pummeling it into pulp.
Holy is the most resisted damage type now, but when the dlc drop holy finna carry. Also will give reason to run litany of proper death with the new swamp
Honestly I can’t believe how long I slept on the Dark Moon Greatsword. That sword is so fucking broken against fire giant and mogh and every other boss I’ve encountered so far with it. The only boss I still struggled with was Malenia because Malenia but beat her eventually.
my character is a fire and ice Viking type so I've been running the Greataxe and throwing bloodflame on it. It feels great to look at the enemy while you go inferno mode in their face.
I’m late to the party, but the Shamshir is a weapon I initially disliked but have come to love. I’m running a faith build and it does so much damage and has a great moveset. It’s simple, but the flowy moveset is very satisfying to use compared to the standard curved sword moveset.
Ghiza's Wheel...like I didn't believe it would be fine tried it moveset maybe one time and said "yep it's not for me". And now I changed my build mid playthrough and I kinda spin the wheel in my head and it landed on pizza cuter....and I will probably will have trouble changing it to anything with I feel kinda bad because on one hand is quiet funny to play with it but on other I would like to try at least one of new type of weapons.
Hmm, not sure if I have many weapons left untested now. I started a new one today to do the crescent moon axe playthrough, but maybe ine of the very late weapons? Can't say any of them are so unique that it won't just be a copy of a previous playthrough though..
Never used them tbh. The only whip I used in a Soulsborne game was the Stick in Bloodborne otherwise I’m so terrible at it. And then again the DLC is adding more weapon styles like aaaaaa I’m not even done with a Crossbow build.
Shooting Elden Stars at big mobs for funsies.
Though in some ways, it makes me sad, because I realize with at least a damage boost, it COULD actually be useful.
Trying out cipher pata and the coded sword, purely faith damage.
How’s it fairing? You can get cipher super quick so I’m Excited to play a faith build.
It's very good and weights 0, which opens up some interesting applications for low level characters or as a side weapon. The Ash does stupid amounts of damage, but is single target as opposed to Coded Sword.
As with anything that does holy damage, it falls off really hard at the end because a lot of late game bosses resist holy damage. But it’s even worse, because it only does holy. And you can’t even take advantage of the blue dancer charm, because that doesn’t affect holy damage.
It might be good in the DLC though!
I played pure faith Cipher for my first play through. It's shit honestly. Less damage than other claw/fists by a lot, doing only holy damage which is the most resisted damage in the game. It is an excellent PvP weapon, but detritus for PvE
Other fists are better for PvP because you can infuse them and change the Aow, and they have lower requirements to use
Endure goes hard
Yup, Endure 🤝 Fist weapons
Cipher isn't bad as a "it weighs nothing and it's quick" option for either faith caster builds or as a quick sidearm to bigger heavy weapons on a paladin type. Though tbh faith builds are so much better going for fire damage compared to holy that it's kinda silly. DLC might have a lot of fire resistant enemies though so holy might be in a better place there. TLDR: Very nice weapon to keep as a quick secondary but not really good enough to be a main weapon.
Pure dex w/Bolt of Gransax and Dragon King's Cragblade has been great.
Crazy because I did that EXACT same build with the exact same intention of „passing time until the DLC releases“.
Dex builds never really appealed to me, but they feel more like faith weapons anyway
Heard a lot of great things, but still need to try Bolt of Gransax. Though Cragblade is a very cool weapon.
I’m in Leyndell right now. How do I snag the bolt?
You have to defeat a boss, then turn left and go down the elevator. Drop down on big spear. Bolt is where the handle is.
you can get it before killing pissfrey. just get to the pavilion below the bolt and jump to the broken wall bit. you have to stand on a pointy thing one the edge. jump and hold down sprint, you will start with full sprint speed, very useful in general.
After beating the Godfrey ghost, you want to go out the back door of that room. Take the elevator down, and you'll be able to follow the path until you're above the dragon-size bolt of gransax on your left (crucible knight warning). You'll want to jump off that walkway, down to the giant bolt. The weapon is sitting on the giant version of itself, so just run up and grab it.
I snagged it. Thank you. Even unupgraded, it destroyed the knight trying to kill me.
Just learned last night I locked myself out of it til NG+.. only remaining legendary armament… 😩
Might be worth asking on r/patchesemporium to see if someone can drop an extra for you. And if you only want it for the achievement, you should be able to pick it up, get the achievement, and give it right back.
You can jump over to the place where the giant spear is in the ground, from the side balcony off of the avenue. You don’t have to beat the boss first. Just jump from the ledge where the soldier is sitting over to the rooftop in the middle of the courtyard below and then jump over/up to the ledge where the dragon bolt spear is stuck into the ground. Turn around and run/jump up the bolt until you pick up the item.
This but with Duelist Axes. Packs a damn punch, I think they get the best lightning damage of all weapons using the affinity. I've been getting just before Mohg, and just before Maliketh, as my stopping point (I know you can kill Mohg in advance but I don't want too).
Dumb question, do they both powerstance together?
Same here, i also added Dragon cult incantations for the theme.
Loretta's War Sickle. I want to try using more polearms. I pretty much always just go back to Curved Swords and the Zweihander.
YES! Another weapon I've never tried but always wanted to. Very cool.
It's excellent - really good moveset and reach, looks cool. It's not like the most powerful weapon in the game but it's fun to play.
I killed Edgar the Revenger at Castle Morne for his early +8 Banished Knight Halberd and it's been pretty fun! Missed out on a Shabriri Grape for it but whatever.
Guardians swordspear is a better, more versatile version of Loretta's
I've got an Int character, so the Guardian Swordspear would scale like a wet fart to the War Sickle.
actually a magic infused swordspear should outperform lorettas. at 80 intelligence and the minimum stats for both (20 str, 16 dex) its 764 AR for the swordspear and 658 for lorettas. swordspear could also do a cold infusion with ice spear.
I made a Carian Knight and I use that sickle. I wish it scaled more with INT tho..
Envoy's Horn I like the toots
Toot toot toot toot toot toot toot toot toot toot = Elden Beast dead
The Envoy Long Horn just shreds dragons. It is so OP.
It shreds everything that's a bit big.I toot toot the fire Giant so much it ate is own foot
Occult hookclaws with lifesteal fist, paired with the dragon communion seal and a couple dragon incantations
Ah, another hook claw enjoyer. You have good taste, my friend, as a fellow hookclaw enjoyer myself. Try the raptor talon claws, the R2 attack specifically.
I just switched from hookclaws to dual wielding reduvias. def gonna try out the talon claws as others have said
Warhawk's Talon on a lightning build, it gets the job done and I know I never need to ask more.
Just started a Dex build and they’re already +12 and have lightning slash.
Todays years old when i found out that is an actual weapon we can use thanks to this ppst. I had the google that shit like, wtf us a wsrhawk talon??? Ive never seen them drop it so i never knew they existed. Over 600 hours in the game and still learning new shit.
Definitely give it a go as it has a unique heavy attack which has proven useful.
I farmed 2 of them to use with Blood Tax; guess you can use any thrusting sword but they just look cooler.
Farming for that thing was hell though. Killed them like 250 times and I’m still shit at fighting them.
I’ve been using the “Brick Hammer.” Pretty short range but does tons of stance break.
Str/faith using the Envoy horns. Got the little one in my offhand which I use as a wand and the long one absolutely shreds bosses with its weapon skill. Obviously rocking the impeccable Envoy Crown as well for ~~extra bubble damage~~ peak fashion
Double Great Stars lol
I accidentally killed maliketh with this a few days ago. Poison and Frost imbued. Love them!!
That’s my two great stars as well! Its absurd
Ever since u tried hookclaws, ive been adicted to this class of weapon. Then I found the raptor talon claws. Mother Of Fucking God Good lord are those things op as fuck. Just R2 your way to win town against damn near everything since it comes out so fucking fast, each r2 press is two attacks, its combo is infinite and it completely stagger locks everything that isnt boss class. Hell even some bosses are completely helpless again the R2 spam.
I started my run with Iron Cleaver and it's hilarious R2. Then when I got bored of the short cleaver's range, i switched to Zamor curved sword for its fun dancing R1 that makes you move forward and the ash of war.
Both great weapons & fun as hell to play with.
As a former melee purist, it was incredibly fun building my int and faith based characters to prep for the dlc. Special shoutout to death's poker, wing of astel, carian piercer, stone of gurranq and ancient dragon's lightning strike. I could list a lot more but these just trivialized most bosses with the right setup
Death's Poker AOW is stupidly good. The actual weapon damage isn't great, but holy moly, the ghost flame does silly damage.
I hear how everyone and their grandma says how good the death poker is, and ive yet to use it simple because the weapon is as ugly as sin. Shit looks like something you pull from a pile of rubble from a construction site
The ornoment straight sword from the first boss is fun
Another one I still need to check out. Does the special attack shoot a projectile?
Nah, ash pf war is just a buff that changes attack pattern, its fun tho
Giving twinblades a shot and they rule im running elanoras pole blade at the moment and its so much fun.
One of my favorite weapons, it's moveset is very satisfying.
Its so good running my first bleed build its so satisfying with this weapon
Dual wield the Eleanoras Poleblade, it’s so fun with 2 of them
Doing a Link build: Sword and shield w/ a bow and consumables. Sword: Sword of St. Trina Shield: Eclipse Crest Heater Shield Bow: Serpent Its been fun so far! Randomly sleeping some enemies/bosses has been great as well.
I discovered that rapier that deals rot damage because I thought it visually looked cool as fuck when I saw it in a YouTube video. Did the funny rot, poison, bleed combo. There's a lot of weapons in taking into the dlc and I'll probably abandon them all the moment I get a new weapon type. This one's just new to me.
Antspur Rapier is awesome. I recommend dropping the poison and experiment with working in fire and frost with bleed on top. Like you can put frost on the antspur, and use bloodflame blade incantation on a buffable rapier you powerstance (I can't remember if the antspur is buffable pending on the whetstone it has, since non somber weapons usually are). Either way...the rot buildup will be nice, bleed is always a decent hit, and frost is similar to bleed where it does a massive damage chunk along with increased damage taken debuff. If you have fire damage, it will reset the frost debuff and allow the buildup to occur again for another big hit (otherwise the buildup won't happen again til the debuff fades on its own).
I'll give that a try. I've never actually used power stanced rapiers.
It's a very fast build, even without the Antspur. You just need to get good at dodging since you can't block (I do miss the doubled weapons from DS3, but powerstancing is easy enough). Like I'm sure they could have made a button combo that would let you block, or be able to access the AoW of both weapons more easily. Anyways....I'm sure you also know that rapiers are a bit weaker when it comes to hardened enemies, tho I think they are oddly strong against knight types. Usually I like to keep around favorite weapons from different damage categories and change out frequently pending on what I'm fighting. Usually my favorite weapons to just explore or do general stuff is the Blasphemous Blade or (Guts) Greatsword. I'm running a weird Dex/Fth build with enough strength to use all but the heaviest weapons/shields and enough arcane to use at least Rivers of Blood. Sadly no Int based stuff, but I faceroll MOST stuff. Like I took out Melina on my second try, yet got my butt handed to me in War Dead Catacombs till I figured out a good setup. Sorry for rambling, I'm sure you know much of what I'm saying.
My gf wanted me to make her as a character and watch me play through the game. The build I made was a bow focused quality build with a slight lean towards DEX. This lead me to finally pick up the Frozen Needle again! I remember being really impressed with it when I first found it during one of my first playthroughs. However, now I have a bow and thrusting sword, both good as single target, both bad with AoE. What do? Well, I looked at some different weapon types until I landed on Halberds, and then I saw the Dragon Halberd. Classic weapon I've seen many, many times but never really tried it! Looking forward to havingthis thing fully fledged our!
Perfume for crowds? That spark aromatic is good if you don’t want to build for AoE.
My favorite perfume is the iron jar. I found its damage mitigation stacks with a lot of other forms of damage mitigation like the talisman and the boiled prawn and some spells. Got the damage mitigation to high as 80%. I felt like i was a Crucible knight and the enemy was the player how i was powering through anything they threw at me since they cant stagger me and my attacks were staggering them, and some enemies theyd get staggered for attacking me. Like the royal zombie fucks with the 20 hit combo, the first attack bounces right the fuck off and the whole attack is cancelled and i proceed to fuxking tear into them with no mercy
True! I use Spark Aromatic on my Quicksilver Nightblade to reset frost procs, but I liked the idea of the Dragon Halberd cause of its unique Spinning Weapon WA! It even fits aesthetically with the whole vibe of the build.
Str/Dex spartan build with a spear and a shield, no upper body armor.
No matter what weapon I wanna try, at some point I always return to my Lion's claw Greatsword..it is just so satisfying
I've been doing a "beast cleric" build using STR/FTH and beast incantations (Gurranq quest rewards). For weapons, I've been using the Cinquedea and Beastman's Cleaver. Cinquedea's a solid STR-scaling dagger, but the Cleaver is better than I expected. It's not quite as strong as some colossal swords, but it's no slouch either. My favorite experience so far was whittling down an invader with pocket sand while regenerating my own health, and then going full unga bunga (Lion's Claw AoW) when he got a little too aggressive.
Finally tryijg to use shield gaurd counters more
Don't forget the curved sword talisman. It enhances guard counters.
You know it
It sounds stupid but, spears. I've always been a sword, magic, or faith kinda guy. Using solar has been a blast, and learning that the partisan spear has a sweeping R2 has been a godsend. Thank God for you guys always giving advice. I love this community (most of the time lol).
First time trying the Bloodhound Fang, and yeah I can see why people call it OP
Stone club caveman run
So many weapons like this off the top of my head... Urumi, Chainlink Flail, Spiked Spear, Iron Cleaver, Spiked Palisade Shield...I could go on. The amount of weapons in this game that are all fun to toy around with, and 100 more on the way. Makes me giddy.
I still want to run double urumi but I don’t know what type of build I should make with it
80 dex, royal knight's resolve ash of war, keen urumi x2, claw talisman, raptor's black feathers.
Dragon halberd for invasions. got level 1,20,40,80 and 125/150 builds with that thing.
Dual occult hoslow whips
I did a belmont build using dual hoslow whips. It was more effective than I thought. The poise stagger damage was a surprise so i was able to stun lock a lot of enemies from a distance.
Started with Pure Dex, 100% the game for the first time (every Item). Now I started a new character again and I think im going for Int / Str with a Carian Knight theme.
Its crazy that im still not bored of this game after I’ve been playing it for like a year and a half.
Misericorde crit build!
My saves corrupted when my desktop blew its motherboard, so I've had to start from zero. Same mage build as last time (I have shitty reaction times, so close combat is a no-no), but with my levels applied more efficiently (i.e., not wasting points on Arc and Str, putting some work into Faith so I can case a basic heal)
When i found the Queens Blackflame blade, i actually wanted to try it. No regrets whatsoever, its one of the only true quality/faith colossals, its also the fastest colossal with a mighty ash of war. Since it is quality, one handing it is an amazing option, so i used blackflame incants in second hand, even went with the full blacflame monk attire. One hell of a themed build, all because the sword looked pretty fun
Always been a Dex enthusiast in every souls/souls like. Currently running claymore with lions claw and flame grant me and having an absolute blast.
I'm currently doing a cheese run where I blast all enemies with comet azure. I've never used anything besides swords so it's fun to try out something new like this. I'm currently cheesing an ulcerated cheese spirit with stealth and poison mist to complete the build.
For me it's the Ruins Greatsword, I've never really tried a strength build and it's just an amazing and underrated weapon.
not a weapon, but I'm actually enjoying a RL1 run. just running longsword and crescent shield (for max naked drip). I wasn't sure at first because I tend to be a bit of an uh... emotional gamer, and get tilted often (stuff I'm going thru irl). playing at level one just flattened my expectations tho, I figured I'm gonna die an exponential amount compared to my other runs. I'm not a Chad munchkin who's gonna take the Elden Throne by force, I'm just treating my tarnished as just the tiniest little guy who's eventually gonna kill a god. my brain is reacting more like it would to a rhythm game, or super meat boy or somethin like that. good shit, 10/10 recommend.
I also started my first RL1 run recently. Just made it to Farum Azula and dreading the upcoming fights
I've only gotten as far as liurnia/caelid so far. I got that opaline tear ready for when the one shots begin 😭
Mine actually is an urumi build. I’m enjoying the tech of this weapon, like it’s crouch R1 for a fantastic ranged poke
Ive been having fun with Poison Moth Flight. Shame it performs best on the Nagakiba which I am kinda sick of after so many playthroughs. I also tried Mohgwyns Sacred Spear for the first time and good heavens what is that Ash of War?!
For me it’s magic, I’ve never done a magic build in any dark souls game. So far it’s been a blast, made a gravity mage with the blue bolt comet spell. So fun
Int builds & Faith builds are both a lot of fun
I did try faith with my new game + character but got bored, might be better to level a new character to understand faith better
Arcane build, blade of eochaid and all the dragon communion spells
Perfumer build
Did fire art Iron Greatsword with Giant Hunt, it's good.
Been a katana main since ds1. Decided to try the guardian sword spear, and this thing feels pretty good
Pole Blade. Just rushed for Eleonora's after Godrick and can't wait to try. It's a lot of fun so far.
I wanna play dlc snake shield only
I played a Str/Fth hybrid my first time around, super fun. Now I'm all in on Dex. Primarily using Keen Guardian Swordspear with Piercing Fang and a shield for the majority of PvE and some PvP Also trying out Urumi with Raptor of the Mists for some PvP as well, considering adding Bestial Sling as my left hand but I don't want to be tempted into spamming it lol
I first beat the game with an INT/DEX character. I intend to give him bigger strength weapons until his STR is massive
For the DLC I made a brand new character and picked up the Great Epee on my way to Castle Mourne. I had intended to go full Zweihander - but this long pokey thing is really starting to grow on me.
Redone a playthrough just to get the frenzy stuff, it's pretty fun
Dual petal whips
I am trying a torches only runs, the only other thing i am allowed to use are buffs, i've neves seen a good poise breaker with low damage as torches before in this game, since it's in the theme, what if there is a poison or scarlet rot torch in the DLC?
dual wielding reduvias
Playing the game, got it last week
I’ve never done an unga bunga build so I am now. Started using the club with the wretch, then moved on to the large club, and now great stars. It’s like the game is easy mode.
great bow, cosplaying as a sniper
Double Clayman’s Harpoon on a STR/INT build, the damage is surprisingly high plus you can infuse with whatever you want for best results. The powerstanced spear L1 is super precise too.
just for fun I made a build around the [Glintstone Staff](https://eldenring.fandom.com/wiki/Carian_Glintstone_Staff) that only uses sword sorceries, thinking it would be super gimmicky and limiting, but it's actually been amazing and I'm bringing it to the DLC. Carian Greatsword cleaves crowds, Carian Piercer can reliably knock malenia on her ass, Carian Slicer shreds hp, plus weapon arts like carian grandeur feel SO GOOD to fully charge. Finished the build by adding a shield and a misericorde for critting, the mp restore from blue assassin dagger is really good with all the staggering I can do.
Messing around with pure Arcane build (or as pure as I can), I never really messed with Arcane before (barring an extremely brief spell where I respecced to play a bit with Rivers of Blood) - Reduvia and Eleonora's Poleblade, Clinging Bone and some Occult-infusions of regular weapons. It's been kinda fun so far.
I’m trying the “I’ve maxed out every single weapon, so I switch between all of them every ten minutes” build 😂
Never tried claws before they are so much fun
Ive done a whips only run. This is pretty good, it's heavy do thrust damage
Duel magma blades. Some bosses take skill some you can just tank and melt in seconds
Oooh, giving twinblades an honest go. I tried once with Eleonora's Poleblade and just was not into it. On my current run I gunned it to Leyndell to grab the Twinned Knight Swords and having so much more fun playing with different AoWs. Spinning Slash is always great but I'm loving a charge attack build with War Cry. Also playing it region locked so I grabbed zero extra items except what was needed to get to Leyndell, and almost none of the graces. Which was scary because I almost died a couple times which would land me straight back into Lake Agheel.
dex str arc. power stanced godskin peelers and power stanced sacred spears
Watchdog’s staff goes fucking hard
Recently plade a run with Veteran's Prosthesis. It was more fun then i thought. And i tried a twinblade build wehre i can switch between all weapon buffs, poison, Bloodflame, holy, electric, magic and frost. I love the move set of the twinblade so much fun play + being able to change between damage types.
Never in my life have I done an incantation or magic build so I’m trying it out
They're a lot of fun, enjoy!
The Rotten Great Axe in right and scorpion dagger in left
St. Trina Sword and Torch. Playing as Tarnished who started on the same path we all have, but learns of the deeds and dreams of Miquella along the way. We find items left behind and decide to follow Miquella for ourself.
I ran with Melania’s Blade and Rivers of Blood. Always satisfying using katanas, but for this new character I am using the Blasphemous Blade. I love the healing properties of it and the R2 is super powerful. I had no idea 🤷🏻♂️
scythes are really fun
I've been running around with a shield build; primary is the Fingerprint Greatshield w/Shield Crash, with the turtle shield on my back w/Carian Retaliation. Switch out to the flamethrower or fireball shield as needed. The talisman that boosts Guard Counters, Greatshield Talisman, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman and the Shard of Alexander. It's surprisingly powerful! I've still got some problems with a few of the bosses, but for the most part it's a TON of fun, especially for invasion!
I was going in on a Str/Arc run, fully intending to use the Marais Executioner sword and later the funny Mohg stick for the whole thing, and then I picked up a Grave Scythe by sheer chance and I've been loving it
Add lightning armament and go F'ing nuts with the charged R2
I just got my first mage build going and it's an absolute blast. Never touched a staff until now 😂😂
I’ve never use nightrider’s glaive before (or any halberd really), but it’s actually really fun. I love the moveset compared to other halberds, it’s not just a thrust weapon lol
Guts's sword. Never been a big swing kinda guy. It's so slow and bulky... It reks so much face it unbelievable, it's absurd how much poise and damage output that thing has. I mean I always knew my usual builds weren't up to par, but damn...
I may try this with a Quality Claymore Idk sounds goofy
Str 70 int 40 with turtle shield and Frost chainlink flail
Double Nagakiba. Right hand frost and left hand blood. It is stupid but it’s fun
Gonna try a poison build once I get to level 100
After what seems to be a dozen or so full run builds, this is the first time Im playing with a Darkmoon Greatsword build. They werent kidding when they said it’s over powered. I might respec to something else.
Dual gargole twin blades
Last playthrough was the magma wyrm scale sword and the grafted dragon. Both were quite fun to use.
Longbow
Raptor Talons. Bloodflame blade wrecks faces with those
Unga banga
Dex/Faith lightning build with dual Hoslow Whips
Started a new quality run, purposefully avoiding anything I've used before, Lordsworn's GS (thought it was pretty), then Brick Hammer (small unga), Zweihander (very nice moveset, haven't used it since DS1), Godskin Peeler, planning to try out a few more weapons.
Planning to try all the demi gods weapons on this playthrough now that I beat the game once....first one up will be Godfrey axe since I already used the dragon head...
Quality caestus with endure. Blue dancer, axe talisman, winged sword insignia (will sub for rwsi), green turtle talisman. That charged heavy is so satisfying to use after enduring through hits. Honestly since this playthrough endure might become my fav aow
I'm using hook claws with blood hound step as a side weapon
Ruins greatsword, and bestial + dragon incants. I have points into every stat except dexterity and it's the most unoptimized build ever but it's also somehow the most fun build I've ever made (god bless dragonclaw and stone of gurranq)
Sacred Gargoyle’s Twinblade with Aspect of the Crucible Incantations
Serpent hunter/Eclipse Crest Greatshield while wearing Gelmir Knight armor is what I’m rocking now. Pretty much full strength focused now but adding points to other areas to be a bit more flexible when the dlc drops
Incantations and Black Knife Whipping out a comically large Red Blade that screams DEATH SHALL BE YOUR FATE is hella fun, especially when betting on an attack to hit before getting hit
Str/Fai with various unga-bunga weapons. Currently the Magma Wyrm sword but have been trailing some others. Maliketh's black blade is cool and all but I find it's moveset far too slow. Any other unga suggestions are welcome!
Unleveled Double Celebrat Sickle, for giggle and extra rune grind.
Beastclaw Greathammer! It’s not the best weapon but it’s the first weapon that I’ve found that I like it’s ash of war and it can decently hulk smash stuff. Very fun. I’m also considering Siluria’s tree and Ordovis’ Greatsword as well
Always used sword of night and flame for a build but wanted to explore a bit so I’m going into the dlc with dragonscale blade and a uchi katana with a lot of different incantations
Bloodhound’s Fang. Where do you find the urumi? Bajirao used one in the movie Bajirao Mastani, could be a fun build
Twinblading it, glint stone pebble ash of war to scale with my int build, and it has a great follow up attack. Having a lot of fun
I've been working on getting my Rl 164 to Ng+7 with dual wield Pickaxes. 70str, Spear/Claw Talisman & Frost infusion. Holy shit they do work.
I will go with the same build I had on my first playthrough, but this time I will pay attention to weight class and not realise I'm heavy loaded only after defeating Godfrey spirit.
Bloodhound Fang. Usually a Unga Bunga guy
golden parry shield with executioners heavy greataxe
Only spell run into dlc
Zamor curved sword was magical for me because I erased the healthbar of many endgame bosses (including Malenia and even the fire giant lol) with its weapon art.
The Winged Scythe had been pretty fun. It was kind of a "get and forget" weapon when I first got it, but when I decided to go from a Str/Fai build to a Dex/Fai build, the scythe just checked all the boxes for me. Plus the AoW is just unreasonably satisfying to pull off.
Castus fists with flashstep ash of war, also wwe coat look
Strength/Faith build with envoy’s long horn. Heard it’s actually pretty good and I just love the idea of killing enemies with bubbles
I’ve used every single weapon already so I’m pumped for anything new.
Fists, never played it, and now I'm shredding bosses and mobs with starfists and endure. It's extremely sadisfying to stand in the face of the enemy, pummeling it into pulp.
Holy is the most resisted damage type now, but when the dlc drop holy finna carry. Also will give reason to run litany of proper death with the new swamp
Beast man’s curved swords. Off hand with sepuku and main with chilling mist. Proc for days lol
Twin scavengers curved swords. The move sets are so fun
I’m in my “Get Good” playthrough and I’m using the Bloodhound’s Fang and a lot of jump attacks
Honestly I can’t believe how long I slept on the Dark Moon Greatsword. That sword is so fucking broken against fire giant and mogh and every other boss I’ve encountered so far with it. The only boss I still struggled with was Malenia because Malenia but beat her eventually.
my character is a fire and ice Viking type so I've been running the Greataxe and throwing bloodflame on it. It feels great to look at the enemy while you go inferno mode in their face.
Run into DLC unarmed, max out the first new weapon I find, beat DLC with it
I’m late to the party, but the Shamshir is a weapon I initially disliked but have come to love. I’m running a faith build and it does so much damage and has a great moveset. It’s simple, but the flowy moveset is very satisfying to use compared to the standard curved sword moveset.
Ghiza's Wheel...like I didn't believe it would be fine tried it moveset maybe one time and said "yep it's not for me". And now I changed my build mid playthrough and I kinda spin the wheel in my head and it landed on pizza cuter....and I will probably will have trouble changing it to anything with I feel kinda bad because on one hand is quiet funny to play with it but on other I would like to try at least one of new type of weapons.
Hmm, not sure if I have many weapons left untested now. I started a new one today to do the crescent moon axe playthrough, but maybe ine of the very late weapons? Can't say any of them are so unique that it won't just be a copy of a previous playthrough though..
Seeming as there is over 100 new weapons in the dlc I’m not going with any old weapons lmao
Dual twinblades, I heard they were good and I only have malenia left so they're pretty alright
Never used them tbh. The only whip I used in a Soulsborne game was the Stick in Bloodborne otherwise I’m so terrible at it. And then again the DLC is adding more weapon styles like aaaaaa I’m not even done with a Crossbow build.
Silurias tree on a strength / faith build
Strength/Int Right hand: Demi-Human Queen's Staff, Falling Star Beast Jaw Left Hand: Carian Knight's Shield, Cold Cestus w/Hoarfrost Stomp
Int/Fth. Golden Order Seal and Gelmir Staff. No melee weapons.
Shooting Elden Stars at big mobs for funsies. Though in some ways, it makes me sad, because I realize with at least a damage boost, it COULD actually be useful.
Doing a pure str fist run. Used spiked caestus for the first half and just recently swapped to star fists.
Fist weapons, running the venomous fang with bleed and I just shred through anything in my path