Demons Great hammer and Dragon Riders Halbred

Just wanted to come back to this suggestion. It was right. Oh so very right. Even with my lowest stat being 11, the scaling on the mundane Santier's Spear made it the clear option.

Like @selfconfessedcynic, I really enjoyed using the Claymore and it was my go to weapon for basically all boss fights once I managed to upgrade it to a higher damage than the Drangleic Sword. It's decently fast, not too heavy and has a pretty fantastic reach and moveset. However, due to the nature of Dark Souls 2 and weapons degrading quite fast, I tended to save it for boss fights later on and instead relied on the Drangleic Sword, Bastard Sword, Halberd and Giant Club for the regular enemies. Of all the above weapons, only the Bastard Sword was not fully upgraded (left it at +9 since I didn't want to use a third slab on weapons).

For shields, I used the Tower Shield for most of the beginning, until I went back and found the Drangleic armour and shield. I then used the Drangleic Shield for a good while until I got the stats to use the Pursuer's Shield, that thing is a BEAST. With its high stability I could block most attacks from enemies without losing too much stamina, though that same idea doesn't always apply to bosses. It's also pretty heavy at I think 13 or 16 weight, but still lighter than Havel's Shield, and almost as good.

I also kept the Dragonrider Bow equipped for most of the game, though I only used it on rare occasions. I'd say for probably 99% of the game I went strictly melee.

I've been using my Uchigata + 10 as soon as I was able to have. If someone can convince me to use a different katana (moveset and speed are the most important factors) I'll definitely switch. As it currently stands I'm using the weapon that carried me through 500+ hours of Dark Soul PVE and PVP. If another katana exists with the same moveset that's faster or more powerful then let me know.

A +4 Broadsword (i think that was my starting sword) it has served me well.

I got my ass handed to me by a guy who was dual-wielding (actual dual-wielding) greatswords. One attack took 75% of my health. Shit is crazy. I might try that out...

A +5 Curved Dragon Greatsword, The heavy attack is amazing, it just unleashes a huge cone attack that most people don't expect. I'ma huge fan of it, but it's only accessible by Ornifex in NG+ so if you're someone playing NG+, i'd highly recommend it. You need to use petrified dragon bones to upgrade it, but it's worth it. Believe me.

Trying out whips with a new character and they still kind of suck against everything but single-target bosses.

Fire long sword +4 atm, I've chosen not to upgrade it further though as it feels quite enough to kill most enemies with a few blows at least where I'm in now(iron keep), also got the zwei finally and I'm planning on using it later on as well as the claymore when I get it.

Basic whips don't do enough damage, even upgraded. The spiked whip isn't any better, even with the bleeding it inflics. The torturer's whip, do slightly better but can't compete with other weapons. But... but... There is two whips that are good enough :

- The one you create from the Demon of Song Soul (can't remember the name). It's a really decent poisoned whip. Infuse it with poison and it becomes really good, both in PvP and in PvE. I keep a pair of those whip +10, dual wielding them in power stance... Everything gets poisoned with two powerstanced attack. Players that don't have enough poison resistence gets poisoned from the first attack and those with huge poison resistence (players and monsters alike) get poisoned in three hits. Plus, the reach means you're safe to poison your victim from a fair distance.

- The Old Whip, randomly traded with the crows for a petrified something... This one packs some serious damage, on par with more conventional weapons. The running attack is a 360° swing. That's true for all whips, but this attack is devastating with this one in particular. Add to that the bonus damage he makes on hollows and you have here a really good weapon for PvE.

The cons, regarding the whips, is their ridiculous durability, ranging from 20 to 25, which makes them difficult to use as main weapons in PvE.

I used different weapons, in different occasions.

My first "real" weapon was the Heide sword. Once I found the fire long sword, I've been dual wiealding them for most of my playthrough. Then I traded them for dual blacksteel katanas, then I swapped for a dual darkrift katana (infused with fire and darkness), then I swapped for the Ropera Espada (which I intend to use in pair, when I can finally get a second one). I always keep my dual poisonous whip as secondary weapons and a black witch staff, for my hexes.

I tried some weapons now and then, but couldn't stick to it :
- Dual wielding cestus, but as a dex/hexes build, it wasn't so good.
- Dual wiealding bleed infused claws, to see if the powerstance could make some the bleed worth it. It doesn't.
- Dual wielding infused (fire and dark) manikin claws. They did better damage for my build than the dual cestus (even after infusing them) but I didn't like their look.

I'm pretty much locked on Sunset Staff and Dragon Chime both +5. Magic gets me through every area and I don't use melee anymore except in the Shaded Ruins where I have a +10 Dark Shortsword. Thinking about changing the infusion to Raw since it's only useful for me against those lion headed warriors.

I grinded away to be able to use the Black Knight Great Sword which needed 12 Faith and Intelligence. Lemme tell ya.. at level 150, it wasn't easy to get those stats up from 5's. I finally did it though, and realized I've now beaten the entire game and have nothing left to fight except for NG+.

It's pretty cool though, more damage than Drangleic and bigger reach. Still retains the thrusting move which is so crucial for those exploding belly floppers.

I've toyed around with some Ultra strength weapons and they're all too slow. The Pursuer Sword has a cool knockdown on it's heavy attack, but the regular attack is an overhead which tends to track terribly. The Zweihander doesn't knock people down or even stunlock certain regular mobs which makes it useless. The Vendrick Stone Greatsword isn't even that good against armored opponents despite the description.

I really think the entire game is geared towards Dex and Magic as most interesting weapons require both.

Oh fuck. I found my combo. Dual-wielding a Great Club and a Crescent Axe (the long one). You would think I'd dual-wield 2 clubs for the damage, but the Crescent Axe modifies the attack animation to a faster one that looks like I'm rowing a boat. It's hilarious and no one expects it. I'm just tearing everyone to pieces.

im using a +10 broadsword i think. cant remember. its heavy hitting and with a fine and fast enough move set i have used it since i got it and later decided to just upgrade it. never found anything else that work using since it either does to little dmg. or to slow with a terrible move set.
i want to use something else but cant really find anything else. really like the dragon tooth but it is terrible. and its also the one i used in ds1 so dont want to go back to the river. and im thinking about respecking to more of a battle mage since i never really got in to that in any of the games, and im not talking about pyro spells only.

so... your a de-privat dancer, a dancer for money?

Craftman's Hammer. I'm about halfway through the game and it has been working out really well for me. It's gives me a good damage output, but allows me to not have to focus all my stats into VIT so that I don't just fat roll all the time

I've used the Halberd since quite early in the game (I'm not very far either.) I've got it to +10 and it's my strongest weapon, considerably surpassing even large weapons with high base stats. Using it with a Tower Shield and I'm using the Fire Sword for tight spaces (I think that's +8 or 9). With Halberd and Shield I can tank forward and prod at fodder enemies from a safe distance. 2 Handed the Halberd just cuts through bosses, and in PVP the running light attack with the 1080 degree spin with that huge shield covering me from behind makes me quite formidable. Sank quite a bit into Vit so I'm able to be as heavy as I am without fat rolling. I only feel slightly OP.

Trying the Monarch Sword, atm.
Same moveset than the Greatsword of Mirrah (dropped from Lucatiel or Alastiel), the more you hold souls, the more it hurts. Well suited for a Dark Infusion, considering the int and faith requirements to wield it. Although I the souls influence on the weapon seems minimal.

I believe I read somewhere that you start seeing stat buffs when you have over 100,000 souls on you.

I have 1.000.000.

I didn't try to rob myself from my souls to see the difference. Will try that.
Atm, with 20 str, 40 dex and 27 faith/int and 1.000.000 souls, I pack like 560+ damage (stats panel)

Jumped off a cliff to see the difference with the Monarch Sword :

Without any souls :- Monarch Sword +5, with Dark Infusion
- Stats : 20 str / 40 dex / 27 faith / 27 int
- Damage : 393

With around 1.160.000 souls :
- Same Monarch Sword +5 with Dark infusion
- Same stats.
- Damage : 599

It took 60 VIT and both load reducing rings to pull it off with the required 70% or less equip load for non-fatty rolls, but I'm sporting a Havel Set +5 with the shield and a Lightning Dragon Tooth +5. Totally worth it!

It feels amazing to play as Havel the Rock. Havel SMASH! (Powerstance Heavy Combo hits for up to 2,5k -albeit most fodder just up and dies on the first hit- at 50 STR & 20 FTH, btw. Infusion is mandatory on Dragon's Tooth, due to shit STR scaling)

Time to finally tackle NG+ and call it a day.

I made a Lightning Bow of Want+5 for PvP and holy shit does it just cut up fools hard. It's got 234 base lightning damage with C scaling for another 92. Add in another 140 lightning damage from lightning arrows and it does 466 lightning damage. Almost nobody has good lightning defense and their shields don't either. I don't even care about the 160 phys damage that results from the shot because the lightning is the bread and butter.

Large club +10 on my str/sort of faith build. So much fun. I want to get my hands on that Gyrm Great Hammer (the anvil on a stick) if only for how amazing it looks.

Invisible Demon Great Hammer +5.

Playing in very short bursts and only 3 major souls in (actually might proceed to castle because no idea where to go next) but weapon wise? Still power stancing dual maces and no plan to change.

Plain +10 in right hand, buffable.

Magic +8 in left / Dragonrider bow +3 as an alt infused with Fire.

Farmed the belfrey midgets for swathes this morning and will now add some atn :)

Wound up using the heide knight sword for the beginning portions of the game until I got the greatsword. Stuck with it for almost the entire first playthrough, then switched builds to dex/faith and now have been using the Chaos Blade. Looks good, best damage katana under 48 dex, good moveset, good reach. The damage you take from it is way more than in Dark Souls but its not serious, plus it adds a new element to manage.

Fashion Souls, Best Souls.

I've recently learned to love Staff of Wisdom +5 with Unleash Magic and then Soul Geyser along with Crystal Soul Spear... bosses suddenly got super easy.

@skyrider: that thing dropped by the guys in recycled Sif's area? Put the explorer hat on, crush a rusted coin and farm them for a bit. It's a pretty common drop.

Then pump your stats to power stance two of them and still roll and we're talking :)

I guess I'm halfway through the game. I'm currently using Claymore +10, in addition to the Craftsman's Hammer for some armoured enemies.

@nentisys: I haven't tried the Chaos Blade yet, but are you sure it has the highest damage output? I found that the Blacksteel Katana is still the best for a DEX build because it has a high S scaling.

@fredchuckdave: Really looking forward to that Scimitar, currently using a Bastard Sword. I think I've decided on using no shield for the entire game and probably just two-handing whatever my weapon-of-the-day is.

@emofratparty: The Flexile Sentry sword? Let me know how it is; definitely looks/feels neat from what little I've used it.

hmm these are found later in the game but im rocking with defender great sword +5 kings shield +2 chime of want +1 :/ i like these weapons buuut if ur looking for good weapons that are found early early (i used this basically threw whole game til i got defenders sword along with drangliec and sacred chime +max) but mace +10 with lighting is pretty beast

i propably got of topic but this is a place for opinions ^.^)

im a paladin build-ish (cuz some of my stats are uneeded) btw if ur playing ps3 and ever ever run by my summon sign feel free to summon me

I know this might sound obvious, but apparently it took me this long to realize that using a weapon that does a lot of damage makes getting through the game significantly easier. Maybe it's just that strike weapons are really good against most enemies, but using my +10 large club has allowed me to easily beat bosses that had previously given me nothing but trouble ( Lost Sinner and Smelter Demon in particular. I didn't beat the latter until I was sl 130 on my main character and even then I needed to summon another player, but my club dude dunked that jabroni in one go)

@ryetye: Welcome to Giant Bomb!

I love the King's Shield. I love the whole King's set, except for the funny-looking crown.

Lightning Large Club +10 and a Lightning Sacred Cleric's +10... I'm nearing the end and they've served me well up to this point.

I'm in the Shrine of Amana at the moment.

Dual-wielding Blacksteel Katanas. I can get 3 hits in a row but it leaves my stamina on 0, so no dodge straight after...

For my champion covenant playthrough, which goes pretty swell, I've gone back to the roots. Longswords. The powerstance moveset is particularly effective. I have one Magic and one Dark Longsword +10. Trash gets cleared with the Magic one & Magic Weapon enchantment, bosses get the Dark one & Dark Weapon enchantment. Resistant to dark bosses get the magic treatment too.

Going for a evenly distributed build. Might check out Mundane Santier's Spear +5 for the endgame, but really, a longsword is all I need. I mean these things hit for almost 500 damage per swing, which come quick and are very stamina efficient. I guess a shortsword might be even better, it has the better regular stance moveset, and deals practically the same damage at lower stamina cost.

I always start these games with DEX weapons. I still think dual wielding katana's is the best stuff I've used, but I'm currently trying an ultra greatsword for the first time in Dark Souls 2 and like what happened in Dark Souls, it makes me question my preference for fast weapons like katana's. Man, it is a lot of fun. I'm using the Greatsword and it's great to just smack stuff around. Literally. It does like 60 poise damage?

I was summoned a while ago and the host and another phamtom where already fighting skeletons. They needed 4 hits or so to kill them. There were still two left when I came running and I smacked both of them and their already perished corpses went flying against a wall as they collapsed on impact. It was so awesome.

There really are very few weapon types that I do not enjoy using. In fact, besides the joke weapons I can't really think of one. I usually have such a strong preference in RPG's for a certain path, but man, I can go anywhere and have a great time with this game.

Dark Uchigatana +10, Archdrake Staff +10, Archdrake Chime +10, and lots of INT and FAITH.

I'm currently testing dual wielding the Bandit Greataxe and Greatsword.
It's so much overpowered it's ridiculous... You thout spells were the kicker ?

Psst... it has the same moveset than a dual wielding longswords... albeit, a little slower.

Throwing knives are pretty badass early in the game. They've saved my ass a bunch of times!

Going to start using a Lance just because the backstab animation is so badass.

@lukeweizer: Lance backstab is the lift animation right? I guess more people are using it in PvP lately.

I've been running an SL 250 sorc build but for backstabs in the shaded woods I'm using the Gyrm's Greathammer, which is alright but has a funky moveset compared to the standard for great maces.

I think all pole weapons (Halberds, Spears and Lances) have that animation. Plus they just look cool to begin with.

I had heard Gyrm's Greathammer was a great Strike weapon, but I'm not a huge fan of the moveset and the weapon has very short reach. Too used to reach of the 1-handed heavy attacks of the Defender Greatsword, Claymore and Ultra Greatsword.

Also, if you like backstabbing, Lances do 160 counter damage.

@lukeweizer: Yeah, lances and pole weapons in general seem really popular lately. Maybe that has to do with the way things are balanced now. I realize they took out my favorite powerstance of Helix Halberd + Mastodon Halberd.

Been using the Heide Lance for my SL1 character, and DLC SPOILER Ivory King's Greatsword for my all-powerful level 315 dude. Destroyed 3 red phantoms at once with it on the Iron Bridge while wearing the Ivory King's armor set. Felt so badass.

I didn't even realize Lances were separate than Spears. I've always wanted to play around with a Spear but preferred STR to DEX. When I heard that Lances were basically STR based Spears, I jumped right in.

i went the whole game using a blue longsword i found in the chest inside the manor in majula

I use a mix of Mastadon's Halberd, Black Knight Halberd, Red Iron Twinblade, Black Witch's Staff, Demon's Great Hammer, Malformed Shell, Dragon's Tooth, and Red Rust Scimitar.