Just curious if people changed their weapons over time or just found your favorite weapon early on and stuck with it...

I've mainly been using the Kirkhammer up to this point (just beat Vicar Amelia) but now I'm considering switching to Ludwig's Holy Blade. Ludwig's blade seems like it might be more fun to use after I got used to it, maybe, but then I'd have to start splitting my points between strength and skill, instead of just strength.

I'd also been using the Threaded Cane for crowd control against weak enemies. It was an OK starting weapon, but I don't really like it anymore. I'm unsure what to replace it with... Maybe the Stake Driver? Or Rifle Spear? They both seem pretty good for crowd control.

For left-handed weapons, I made the switch from the Pistol to the Blunderbuss and am much happier with it. Ludwig's Rifle is available in the shop, but I don't feel the need to test it out so far.

So what about you duders?

I used the axe and the starting pistol for 95% of the game. Lots and lots of two handed R2 charge attacks. I used the tonitrus in some situations and upgraded several weapons like ludwigs and the logarius wheel and played with them a little but nothing ever felt as good as the axe for me.

I've been using the cane for most of my play time right now and it's kinda too bad because other than the Blade of Mercy (which I now use for dealing with low level mobs, really good fast weapons), I haven't encountered any other weapons that requires the Skills stat. Most of the weapons I've picked up or at the vendor require strength numbers that I don't have and kinda don't want to bother levelling. Also I chose the pistol and that has been my one and only ranged weapon.

I used the Ax Cleaver up until i killed that gattling gun bitch and got the Stake Driver. It was love at first sight with that weapon, i liked the movesets when it was "unloaded" and "loaded" and the "loaded" charge attack was just so great when it would hit. Towards the end of my run in the Chalice Dungeons i switched to Ludwigs Holy Blade for bosses entirely for the greatsword, i desperately needed the range for a couple fights and the Stake Drive lacks any range.

As for guns i chose to start with the blunderbuss and was happy with it, switched it out for the pistol in chalice dungeons and found parrying to be much easier with it. weird

my first playthrough i used all the weapons for a while as soon as i got them, just to get a feel for the move sets.

my current build is using the burial blade (instant favorite) and blade of mercy, making my way through the chalice dungeons.

only weapon i havent tried yet is the beast claw. i literally just picked it up 30 minutes ago.

Double handed the axe the entire game until I got the Scythe. The heavy attack on the axe where you spin twice... nothing topped that. So much range since you spin twice plus you swing in every direction. I'm always surprised seeing people playing because it seemed I was the only one that used it while everyone else used the cleaver. I never had any need for guns because of the axe.

I have used the Axe from the beginning and haven't seen any reason to change it.

I like having access to a weapon with reach and a close-range, faster weapon. Early game I kind of just used saw cleaver for both. Added the Stake Driver as soon as I got access to it and used that as my close range for the rest of the game. Switched from Saw Cleaver to Ludwig's Holy Blade once I got that and never looked back. I mostly use stake driver in its transformed (retracted) form and Ludwig's in its transformed (greatsword) form.

I'm following the same general strategy for my 2nd character, who is Skill/Bloodtinge based. Rifle Spear for reach, Reiterpallasch for close range, Evelyn for my gun. It's a lot of fun. Transformed rifle spear probably has the most broken charge attack in the game.

I was an Axe man for the majority of my first playthrough. I picked up the Blade of Mercy and initially didn't like it's short range and low damage. I invested more into Skill and got familiar with its move set and now it's been my primary through NG+/NG++ and Chalice Dungeons.

It doesn't pack the punch of Ludwig's, but it dishes out damage fast, and gives you great mobility options. The L2 attack + auto back jump is great for coercing enemies into their attack, which lets you easily follow up with the blade's dodge attack. Its flurry of attacks can stun-lock most enemies, and unlike most transformed weapons, you're never fully vulnerable while attacking; you can usually cancel and dodge.

I still have Ludwig's on hand for when I want to dish out the big hurt, but the Blade of Mercy is always equipped.

Not so much in one playthrough, but I created a lot of characters which whom I tried out pretty much all of the weapons and stuck with a certain set throughout.
I ended up liking the cane, the axe and the saw cleaver the most. I also really enjoyed the rifle spear for its charge attack.

Ludwig's because it is the best weapon in the game, the end. Even the strategy guide will tell you that the higher level you go the more powerful it gets and for truly high level characters it is the hardest hitting weapon. It is the only weapon with B / B scaling on strength and skill, it scales equally on both, so you can level whichever one you want primarily and have tons of secondary options. Plus it's moveset is stupidly versatile. You have the fast one hand sword attacks, and when needed the great range and raw power of the two hand mode. Both modes also have plenty of thrusting and wide arc swings so they work well in almost all situations.

Long term it simply outpowers every other weapon and has the best all around moveset from my experience.

Stuck with the Threaded Cane and Pistol for 100 % of the game. Finished it in 26 hours with 99 insight. Missed 2 optional bosses I believe, which I'll tackle on the next play through.

Well, I started out with the Threaded Cane and for a good while I was very much into the idea of using faster, dexterous weapons as I've never done so before in a Souls game, but when I found Ludwig's I couldn't resist. It's so much like my beloved Claymore and it's fantastic for certain bosses. I've stuck with it for the rest of the game.

Blade of Mercy is my offhand but it hasn't quite clicked with me.

Kirkhammer

Generally speaking, I think a character's gear is part of who they are. I'll usually play through a Bethesda game once without "cheating," then I'll go in with the content creator and make myself a nice suit of armor and a nice pistol that are both on-par with end-game goodies.

I used the Threaded Cane during my first playthrough but switched to the Burial Blade for my second / chalice dungeons.

I swapped between the Pistol and Blunderbuss, throughout, but settled on the Pistol for it's reach.

i tried all weapons but i started with the axe and used that almost through the whole game because its alternate state + charge is overpowered. took the kirkhammer for the late game since i got tired of the axe and the sword still feel awesome.

I stuck with Ludwig's Holy Blade for the entire game once I got it and I even did my entire New Game+ with it. Now that I'm on New Game++ I switched to Beast Claws and Blades of Mercy.

I've been switching pretty constantly. Started with saw cleaver, then spear cleaver, then rifle spear, then ludwigs, and now reiterpallasch. For guns, I almost always use the blunderbuss or now, ludwig's rifle (which I prefer). I switch back and forth between ludwigs and reiterpallasch at the moment, and I'm not sure which I like more. The reiterpallash is easily the best weapon for skill/bloodtinge builds though. I don't even have much bloodtinges and the gun part hits like a truck.

I chose the Hunter Axe as my starting weapon and I used it for the majority of the game. It's one of the most versatile weapons in the game, and can deal a good amount of damage too. It might sound hyperbolic, but it's probably the best weapon I've used in any game. Interestingly enough, I ended up experimenting and upgrading more weapons in this game than I did in the previous two Dark Souls games. Ever since I got it, the Blade of Mercy has been my back-up weapon. The thing has like a 10-hit combo, which can come in handy when dealing with a single enemy with a lot of HP.

There are other skill weapons that are really good. In high level PVP you'll find that most people stick with the Skill weapons. Off the top of my head I can think of 5 skill weapons that come up quite a bit in PVP.

I used the cane for most of the game and had the rifle spear and axe as my secondary weapon. Once I got the Chikage I switched that in for my primary weapon and moved the cane to by sub since it has excellent range (it's dash R1 is one of the best in the game) and does work on bosses that the Chikage isn't really suited for.

For guns it was the Blunderbuss for the majority of the game. Once I got my hands on Evelyn it moved to my sub weapon. Evelyn deals the damage and my Blunderbuss handles the spread for parries as the Evelyn can miss in PVP with a simple side step.

Saw Cleaver and Kirkhammer for the whole game. I eventually got a new shotgun, but those were more than enough. The Cleaver had such a quick, effective attack that I didn't want to swap out for mobs. And the Kirkhammer scaled well and had a devastating attack for slower enemies, so it kept growing on me and worked out for most bosses.

New Game plus might require something else, but on the first runthrough I was just fine. Granted, I rarely experiment with varied arsenals in most games.

Axe the whole game. Tried the others a tiny amount but nothing compares.

I've been experimenting with almost every weapon I've found so far (10+) for a little while at least.

The three weapons I've used the most are the Cane, the Hunter's Axe and Ludwig's Holy Blade. I tried real hard to get into the Blade of Mercy, but right now I just don't feel it.

For the guns I stuck with the blunderbuss almost exclusively.

Just as an aside for those who want to know...

Ludwig's Rifle and the Hunter Blunderbuss are the same gun. As are the Hunter Pistol and Evelyn. The difference is your build. If you have high bloodtinge (20 or so +) the Blunderbuss and Evelyn are better. If you have lower than 20 you will get more damage out of the Ludwig Rifle and Hunter Pistol.

@probablytuna: Blade of Mercy is the most devastating weapon in the game. Thanks to its really high scalings (Skill = S, Arcane=B).

If you really want to kick butts with it you need to go for a skill/arcane build.

Used the cane for the entirety of the first playthrough then the burial blade for the entirety of NG+

I've tried most of the weapons in this game and i have to say that the Cane have won my heart because of its amazingly high and wide range.. Poor bloodletting beast couldn't stand a chance because of it. I just kept my distance and went R1 on him.

The problem with this game is that leveling weapons is a bitch so you have to stick to a few number of weapons per run. I've got a chickage and i'm still not sure if it's worth it to drop my precious chunks on it or not.

I tried everything once, but mostly stuck with the same weapon on my first playthrough.

Yes I did. What is the point of buying a game for $60 if all you are ever gonna do is use one weapon? Feel the same way about clothing.

I used the Threaded Cane throughout the whole game on my skill build. Then I used the Hunter's Axe until I could get Tonitrus on my strength build. Then I was done with the game.

I used the Axe the ENTIRE time. I played through the game twice, got all the trophies, and only used the Axe. Everyone else is crazy.

Used the Saw Cleaver and Ludwig's for most of the game. At the end I switched to Chikage instead of Saw Cleaver. Planning to replace Ludwig's with something else in NG+ but not sure what yet.

I beat the game using the axe and cannon once I had picked it up. I didn't really see the appeal of the shorter weapons but I'm using the cleaver in my second play and I like it, it's almost better than the axe in the early game.

I used Kirkhammer and then switched to Ludwig's. Ludwig's is great, I use it exclusively in greatsword mode. The R1 swings have fantastic crowd control potential. I'm thinking about using Stake Driver as my secondary, since I want something that's really fast for single target fights. Currently it's just my old saw cleaver, but I haven't upgraded it much due to it being kind of a boring weapon.

My gun is just the Hunter's Pistol, I don't like how many bullets the repeater eats and I wasn't impressed with how slow Ludwig's Rifle is. I have my cannon upgraded and it can be nice on bosses, or if I'm exploring a new area and come across a swarm of enemies. It's +8 right now, so if I Ash it the damage is pretty insane.

@giant_gamer: I just farm insight helping people with bosses and use that to buy shards. That will at least bring you up to +6 on everything pretty easily. I agree that finding chunks can be a pain in the ass though. Seems like there are some farming routes online that yield a pretty high return, but I haven't tried any yet.

Ludwig's from the moment I got it till the end of the game. Used the cane up till Ludwig's though

saw until Ludwigs, then game was pretty much cake.

@giant_gamer: Looks like it's 40000 souls well spent. Though now I'll have to focus on Arcane if I want to use it effectively.

@golguin: Hmm looks like I'm still fairly early in the game then. Nice to see Skill weapons has its uses in PVP, though I'm not sure I'll be doing much PVP.

I stuck with the saw cleaver and the blunderbuss for the vast majority of the game, only switching to the Tonitrus (electric mace) a few times.

I'm sort of ambivalent on whether or not that's a good thing. On one hand, it's cool that the weapons come down to taste and you're not basically "forced" to change because you're under powered. On the other, sometimes, being forced to change things up can be a good thing, to get you out of your comfort zone.

I feel the same way about armor. I kind of stuck with the same stuff for the whole game.

Threaded Cane all the way. Switch early from Blunderbus to pistol because I wanted to shoot faster. The trick with the cane is its first form and get in close on everything.

Been using the Saw, then a little Kirkhammer. Then back to Saw, now debating Ludwig.

Axe for the first third of the game, then ludwig holy blade for the rest of the game. The blade did insane damage compared to everything else by the end of the game.

Never really used guns since I almost always used the 2H variants of the weapons. I tried using the flamethrower for a bit, but that was just for shits and giggles. I spent my ammo using the empty phantasm shell.

I've been switching between Ludwig's Holy Blade and the Blades of Mercy. All my builds from the Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II had been hulking strength builds, and I wanted to change things up for Bloodborne. Blades of Mercy do decent damage, but they don't interrupt some of the larger enemies like Ludwig's does. Different enemies die by different blades.

I used the axe until I got Ludwig's Holy Blade and have pretty exclusively using that since, although I've switch to the Tonitrus every now and again to test it an enemy's weak to electricity.

I mostly used the whip mode of the Threaded Cane and relied on pokes at the edge of the enemy's range. Then I picked up the Blades of Mercy and have been rushing down every enemy/boss and slicing them up with it. As for the offhand, I never really clicked with any of the guns. I just settled on Ludwig's rifle for most of the game. I only use the gun for interrupts and the various guns didn't really feel too different in that regard.

Used some combination of the Saw Cleaver/Stake Driver as my primary weapon and the Threaded Cane as my secondary for 70% of the game. At some point my playstyle wasn't working in situations where enemies could consistently hover just outside of the extremely close range my melee attacks required. Eventually, I made the switch to Ludwig's Holy Blade (and picked up Tonitrus along the way). My playstyle remains pretty similar, but the Holy Blade affords me extra range, extra stagger opportunities, and generally acceptable (if not superior) damage output.

The range on the Threaded Cane-whip is probably better, but most of the time I'd end up getting punished during its long windup.

EDIT: Cannon4Lyfe.

I finished the game with starting Hunter's Axe and Blunderbuss. The axe had a moveset that I really liked and it felt plenty powerful to me, and since I just used the gun to set up parries I saw no need to change it up at all. If I play through again I may try out another set up for the sake of variety, but I found that axe to be pretty powerful, and it's two handed charged up R2 attack let you sort of cheese your way through a lot of enemies.

Been sticking with the Kirkhammer since I got it. I have the Tonitrus as my secondary weapon. I'd like to give Ludwig's Greatsword a try, but I'm going to wait until I've +9'ed both my hammer and mace. Right now, I don't have chunks to spare to level up the sword, too. Trying to level my hammer first, then Tonitrus.

I still need to get Ludwigs Rifle and the Cannon upgraded and ready to use, but I need to put points into skill and bloodtinge. Right now, just using the blunderbuss with a torch in secondary. I've seen what that cannon can do to a boss with a little bone marrow ash on it... need to get that skill up.