I've decided to turn my warrior into a huge armored beast and I'm wondering what weapon I should look forward to the most. What weapons do you guys think are best for high STR builds? I'm looking to do an awful lot of PvP with this character.

PvP?
High STR weapons are slow to swing and I would imagine that it would be very problematic to make proper use of them against players, since they can just dodge out of the way.
 
For PvE:
Personally I'm digging my Zweihander. It's only weights 10, has a big primary swing arc, heavy attack knocks weaker enemies down completely even through shields and stagers even heavier dudes. If you keep upgrading base weapons they can become very good. I 2 shot silver/black knights (or 1 shot backstab). Even Dark Wraiths now with a +13
Unfortunately all the special/boss weapons I have found or made so far seem to suck balls, because: 

• their STR requirements are absurd for the fist playthrough, requiring 2 hands (no shield)
• they weight a fuckton, meaning you either suck it up with shittier armor or stuck being a slow poke
• their damage is at best comparable to equivalent upgraded standards, sometimes worse
• they have shitty unique effects that frequently do more harm then good
  

I really like my Black Knight Sword +5 (307 atk) but I'm looking for a possible replacement as well myself. 

@Nadril said:

I really like my Black Knight Sword +5 (307 atk) but I'm looking for a possible replacement as well myself.

Really any standard weapon is vastly superior to the 'twinkling titanite/demonic titanite/dragon scale' weapons, once you've found the blacksmith in Anor Londo. Just upgrade a weapon with a moveset to your liking to +10 and then turn it into a lightning weapon.

The regular Greatsword uses a very similar moveset to the Black Knight Sword. I've got the Lightning +5 version and it pretty much one-hits any standard mob with one jump-R2 attack or regular R2 thrust. Upgrading is also painless. Chunks for lightning drop like bonbons in the New Londo Ruins and I've even gotten a slab once from there.

Where do you get the black knight sword? I just finished anor londo and I'm using the dragon's tooth, it's damage is good but it is terribly slow. Are there any good boss weapons that are quick like a spear? It seems like a lot of the boss weapon stuff is huge slow weapons. Also, by upgrading your stats can you ever swing these huge weapons any faster or is it always the same slow speed?

@SuperfluousMoniker: Ok. Is it just me, or is it a bit dumb that things like the dragons weapons aren't as good as a regular shitty weapon upgraded to lightening?

I like using heavy weapons a lot. I've become really good at using the Halberd (which I've upgraded to +2). I was able to kill Havel with only about 7-8 backstabs as opposed to people I've seen spending 10 minutes or more just backstabbing him. I've also come to really like the Bastard Sword. It doesn't pack quite the same punch and the range is a little shorter, but it's lighter, faster, and deals with multiple enemies better than my Halberd. Plus, it looks bad ass when two-handed.

So I've come to use my Halberd in enclosed areas (I can effectively stonewall a horde with just my shield and pokes) and against big/slow-moving monsters, and my Bastard Sword for everything else.

Found the Iato sword, turned it into lightning.. got it to +3 so far, and no longer want a big weapon; this thing deals enough damage and is stamina friendly.

Trying out a Dragon Greatsword +5 right now. 540 damage on it. 
 
one thing I like about it so far (for pvp) is the R2 is pretty awesome. Just hit some dude for 800 damage with it.  
 
edit: and I'm lvl 95 for those who are curious. 

@James5955 said:

Found the Iato sword, turned it into lightning.. got it to +3 so far, and no longer want a big weapon; this thing deals enough damage and is stamina friendly.

Just wait til you max it out. You'll wipe out a lot of dudes with 1 R2/T attack, and feel like a fucking badass doing it.

@AyKay_47 said:

@James5955 said:

Found the Iato sword, turned it into lightning.. got it to +3 so far, and no longer want a big weapon; this thing deals enough damage and is stamina friendly.

Just wait til you max it out. You'll wipe out a lot of dudes with 1 R2/T attack, and feel like a fucking badass doing it.

Yah so far it's amazing, I went to New Londo Ruins with my level 48 warrior a few hours ago to play around with it. Was so close to killing those badass black knights in one backstab, the ghosts would die before they could react. I'm really amazed at how well that weapon does its jobs in narrow hallways, I'm loving the move set. I noticed the durability is only 80, but hell, I don't 2 hand it often and I don't abuse R2 much so w/e. Went down to the four kings and made quick work of them with it at +3 and 2 handing it, I'm addicted to this sword.. Glad I found it before deciding to drop a bunch of points into STR, more for VIT and END :D

@Nadril said:

I really like my Black Knight Sword +5 (307 atk) but I'm looking for a possible replacement as well myself.

Really any standard weapon is vastly superior to the 'twinkling titanite/demonic titanite/dragon scale' weapons, once you've found the blacksmith in Anor Londo. Just upgrade a weapon with a moveset to your liking to +10 and then turn it into a lightning weapon.

The regular Greatsword uses a very similar moveset to the Black Knight Sword. I've got the Lightning +5 version and it pretty much one-hits any standard mob with one jump-R2 attack or regular R2 thrust. Upgrading is also painless. Chunks for lightning drop like bonbons in the New Londo Ruins and I've even gotten a slab once from there.

@Nadril: Can't you have the lordvessel and still join the darkwraiths? I just did the 4 kings after getting the lord vessel and I joined Darkwrath covenant. You just can't talk to that monster that shows up in fireshrine after you ring the two bells. I think that's how it goes anyway.

Yeah I know. I pretty much just don't feel like going through anor londo to that point again right now, haha. 
 
I did hear that fire +10 has equal damage to lightning +5 though so I might go that route. I have a lot of red titanite. 

@Nadril said:

I'm still curious how much damage a +5 lightning greatsword does though.

Just got my Black Knight Sword to +5 (because I really wanted one, before I knew better) and did some comparison swings. My Lightning Greatsword +5 (the mod from the Anor Lando blacksmith) does about double to triple damage of the Black Knight Sword. It does almost 700 with swings the Black Knight Sword +5 does 250ish.

Infinitely more powerful.

@Seppli: But these Lightning weapons don't scale in damage right? If that's the case, would you encounter a point whereby having 99 strength on a regular weapon (at +15) totally overwhelms the output of a lightning weapon (at +5)?

@White said:

@Seppli: But these Lightning weapons don't scale in damage right? If that's the case, would you encounter a point whereby having 99 strength on a regular weapon (at +15) totally overwhelms the output of a lightning weapon (at +5)?

First of all. There is a limited amount of levelups. I think 150 is levelcap. So if you go for 99 strength, many vital attributes will suffer. Ontop of that, there's quite harsh diminishing returns for stacking offensive attributes such as str/dex/int/faith past 40-50 points. Before 40, you get like 2 points of damge per attribute point, past 40, you'll get 1 point of damage in 3 attribute points.

Stats scaling is extremely underwhelming in any case.

*DISCLAIMER : Second Hand Knowledge (not verifyed by me)

@Seppli: I'm side-tracking past the topic of this thread, but basically it'd be best to distribute your stats evenly among str/dex/int/faith? Or max out vitality/endurance?

And just use one of those high damage non-scaling weapons?

@White said:

@Seppli: I'm side-tracking past the topic of this thread, but basically it'd be best to distribute your stats evenly among str/dex/int/faith? Or max out vitality/endurance?

And just use one of those high damage non-scaling weapons?

Personally, I find Endurance the most important and Vitality is *vital* for an eventual NG+ (New Game Plus) playthrough, where monsters will be way more hard-hitting.

My Playstyle would dictate 50 STR and then stacking END and VIT. A little love for INT and DEX for 'Slow Fall' and using bows of course.

So yeah, stacking END and VIT sounds like the best plan for both endgame PvE, aswell as PvP - regardless if your playstyle is about STR/DEX/INT/Faith.

@Seppli said:

Personally, I find Endurance the most important and Vitality is *vital* for an eventual NG+ (New Game Plus) playthrough, where monsters will be way more hard-hitting.

My Playstyle would dictate 50 STR and then stacking END and VIT. A little love for INT and DEX for 'Slow Fall' and using bows of course.

So yeah, stacking END and VIT sounds like the best plan for both endgame PvE, aswell as PvP - I figure.

Glad I'm not the only one who put more than 20 points into strength. Now I don't feel so bad about having 42 strength.

@White said:

@Seppli said:

Personally, I find Endurance the most important and Vitality is *vital* for an eventual NG+ (New Game Plus) playthrough, where monsters will be way more hard-hitting.

My Playstyle would dictate 50 STR and then stacking END and VIT. A little love for INT and DEX for 'Slow Fall' and using bows of course.

So yeah, stacking END and VIT sounds like the best plan for both endgame PvE, aswell as PvP - I figure.

Glad I'm not the only one who put more than 20 points into strength. Now I don't feel so bad about having 42 strength.

I'm all about Greatshields. Havel's needs 50 strength and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

I have a Claymore upgraded to+7 or 8, and that seems pretty good, I'm going to give the Bastard Sword and the Halberd a chance too however.

@Seppli said:

@White said:

@Seppli said:

Personally, I find Endurance the most important and Vitality is *vital* for an eventual NG+ (New Game Plus) playthrough, where monsters will be way more hard-hitting.

My Playstyle would dictate 50 STR and then stacking END and VIT. A little love for INT and DEX for 'Slow Fall' and using bows of course.

So yeah, stacking END and VIT sounds like the best plan for both endgame PvE, aswell as PvP - I figure.

Glad I'm not the only one who put more than 20 points into strength. Now I don't feel so bad about having 42 strength.

I'm all about Greatshields. Havel's needs 50 strength and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

So other than that and the axe-tail from the Gaping Dragon, there isn't really a need for 50 strength, huh?

Guess so. The Stone Shield is almost as good and the Shield of Artorias even better in some aspects, both of which work out just fine with 40 STR.

I kinda regret not having built a 40/40 character. Like STR/INT. That would have been dope.

@Seppli: DOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH

Wasted 2 points in Str! REMAKE MY CHARACTER!

@JacDG: I've been considering which sword I'm going to upgrade, and the Bastard Sword and Claymore are on my list to look at. I've already started on the Halberd, just because the range on it is really useful.

I don't have the BS or Claymore yet, what is the moveset like? Am I right in thinking the Claymore's 1h attack is a stab? I've got the Zweihander but the attack is the slowest thing I've ever seen in my life, so I can't really use it.

As a side note, how did you get the claymore from the dragon? I want it bad.

@gerrid said:

@JacDG: I've been considering which sword I'm going to upgrade, and the Bastard Sword and Claymore are on my list to look at. I've already started on the Halberd, just because the range on it is really useful.

I don't have the BS or Claymore yet, what is the moveset like? Am I right in thinking the Claymore's 1h attack is a stab? I've got the Zweihander but the attack is the slowest thing I've ever seen in my life, so I can't really use it.

As a side note, how did you get the claymore from the dragon? I want it bad.

Haven't bought the Bastard Sword yet, I'll probably do that when I begin playing, but the Claymore is pretty good, the R2/RT attack is a thrust, and the swing speed on the R1/RB attack is pretty descent, plus the range overall is pretty good.

@White said:

@Seppli: But these Lightning weapons don't scale in damage right? If that's the case, would you encounter a point whereby having 99 strength on a regular weapon (at +15) totally overwhelms the output of a lightning weapon (at +5)?

First of all. There is a limited amount of levelups. I think 150 is levelcap. So if you go for 99 strength, many vital attributes will suffer. Ontop of that, there's quite harsh diminishing returns for stacking offensive attributes such as str/dex/int/faith past 40-50 points. Before 40, you get like 2 points of damge per attribute point, past 40, you'll get 1 point of damage in 3 attribute points.

Stats scaling is extremely underwhelming in any case.

*DISCLAIMER : Second Hand Knowledge (not verifyed by me)

Exactly. The level cap is irrelevant. If you want o grind out hard enough to get everything maxed, go ahead.

There is a soft cap (ie diminishing returns) above 40 for each point, but its not like the points give nothing.

So far, my favorite Strength weapon is a Greataxe +10. I'm trying to decide if I want to upgrade something to a lightning weapon now...

@Nadril said:

@Seppli said:

@White said:

@Seppli: But these Lightning weapons don't scale in damage right? If that's the case, would you encounter a point whereby having 99 strength on a regular weapon (at +15) totally overwhelms the output of a lightning weapon (at +5)?

First of all. There is a limited amount of levelups. I think 150 is levelcap. So if you go for 99 strength, many vital attributes will suffer. Ontop of that, there's quite harsh diminishing returns for stacking offensive attributes such as str/dex/int/faith past 40-50 points. Before 40, you get like 2 points of damge per attribute point, past 40, you'll get 1 point of damage in 3 attribute points.

Stats scaling is extremely underwhelming in any case.

*DISCLAIMER : Second Hand Knowledge (not verifyed by me)

the level cap is when you get all stats to 99 btw.

Truely? That's insane! And awesome.

For me, upgrading strength was all about getting an awesome shield. All the best weapons don't require a strength of more than 16

@Seppli said:

@White said:

@Seppli: But these Lightning weapons don't scale in damage right? If that's the case, would you encounter a point whereby having 99 strength on a regular weapon (at +15) totally overwhelms the output of a lightning weapon (at +5)?

First of all. There is a limited amount of levelups. I think 150 is levelcap. So if you go for 99 strength, many vital attributes will suffer. Ontop of that, there's quite harsh diminishing returns for stacking offensive attributes such as str/dex/int/faith past 40-50 points. Before 40, you get like 2 points of damge per attribute point, past 40, you'll get 1 point of damage in 3 attribute points.

Stats scaling is extremely underwhelming in any case.

*DISCLAIMER : Second Hand Knowledge (not verifyed by me)

First of all, the guide shows level cap being 700+. So long term players will see better scaling than the static numbers on the lightning/fire stuff.

@JacDG said:

Haven't bought the Bastard Sword yet, I'll probably do that when I begin playing, but the Claymore is pretty good, the R2/RT attack is a thrust, and the swing speed on the R1/RB attack is pretty descent, plus the range overall is pretty good.

I got the claymore and bastard sword now, I think I prefer the Claymore. That thrust uses more stamina but does 50% more damage too. Think I might go with upgrading this. I only have one large titanite shard though, so I'll have to make the right choice. Not sure whether to use it on the halberd or the claymore though. I'll be ages thinking this one through...

@White: Supposedly the max level is like 792 as that maxes out every stat. At least that's what the word is from the glitchers who used the infinite soul glitch to max out. As for the stat question, it's really better to be fairly well rounded since every stat except vitality takes a heavy hit in scaling as already mentioned after 40. So realistically though taking soul costs into consideration, 40 endurance is where you want to be till later unless you want that heavier armor+gear NAO.

You want a mix of the other stats like str/dex and then one of the other magical attributes (int, faith, attunement) with a mix of vitality otherwise in my opinion and based on what I've read. Dex scaling unfortunately is pretty lackluster unless you've got a Pharis bow since it has an S rating, one of the few in the game overall. Most other dex rating weapons are at a B which takes a huge amount of points to even come close to the damage on non scaling weapons. Vitality itself doesn't have a ridiculously drop off till 50 points in. 49 is a 15 hp gain, while 50 is is 11 followed by 9 at 51, and ever more diminishing at that point. Still 50 points in is 1500 hp which is pretty sexy ;3

To those who don't have one, pick some type of magical enhancement whether pyro (for those not wanting to dump points since it really only requires attunement) which I've mentioned is amazing in other posts for damage, sorcery (which you really have to invest in to see benefits, single target long range boss killing), or faith which is pretty nice for its balanced nature, you'll just have to go through hell for the power of zeus if you want lightning bolts because of how hard it is to get summoned at times :(

Elemental weapons = insanely good, they unfortunately just outclass other weapons at this point in time once you upgrade them enough until you get to high str super weapons. Also the "MFING" Dragon Greatsword is 50 str and a monster, at +5 the attack is like 500+ on it, pretty beastly lol.

Just found my sweet spot:

• got 50 STR
• with Havel's armor on and ring I have 36 weight to spare
• that works out nicely to Havel's shield + Zweihander
• or an Eagle Shield + the Dragon Greatsword

Semi-pimped a Demon Machete today. Rare drop from the Capra Demons down in that fiery demon place. B Strength modifier. Going for Demon Machete +15 to check out STR scaling. Currently at +13 its quite neat, but I'm pretty close to finishing-up the game, so I might end up not pushing it all the way up to +15. As far as I can tell, the Demon Machete is the only Greatsword with a B rating for STR. Might already be better than +5 Lightning scaling with just 50 STR.

Also - it's looking fucking dope. Just the regular R2 attack has a long wind-up and short reach, though the light swings come out surprisingly quickly. Regular Greatsword all the way though, when it comes to moveset. Love the L2 thrust.

Semi-pimped a Demon Machete today. Rare drop from the Capra Demons down in that fiery demon place. B Strength modifier. Going for Demon Machete +15 to check out STR scaling. Currently at +13 its quite neat, but I'm pretty close to finishing-up the game, so I might end up not pushing it all the way up to +15. As far as I can tell, the Demon Machete is the only Greatsword with a B rating for STR. Might already be better than +5 Lightning scaling with just 50 STR.

Also - it's looking fucking dope. Just the regular R2 attack has a long wind-up and short reach, though the light swings come out surprisingly quickly. Regular Greatsword all the way though, when it comes to moveset. Love the L2 thrust.

@Tennmuerti said:

@Seppli said:

Semi-pimped a Demon Machete today. Rare drop from the Capra Demons down in that fiery demon place. B Strength modifier. Going for Demon Machete +15 to check out STR scaling. Currently at +13 its quite neat, but I'm pretty close to finishing-up the game, so I might end up not pushing it all the way up to +15. As far as I can tell, the Demon Machete is the only Greatsword with a B rating for STR. Might already be better than +5 Lightning scaling with just 50 STR.

Also - it's looking fucking dope. Just the regular R2 attack has a long wind-up and short reach, though the light swings come out surprisingly quickly. Regular Greatsword all the way though, when it comes to moveset. Love the L2 thrust.

That B stat scale seems awesome on paper but it's requirement is 40 STR which means it only starts scaling fomr there doesn't it? Whats your current STR and what are the stats? I want to see how it compares to the Zweihander.

I get like +299 from STR scaling on a +13 Demon Machete with 50 STR. Something like that. Base is around 300. So it's at around 600 now and will be even better at +15. Should be better than Lightning +5 and will keep on scaling with more STR investment.

@Tennmuerti said:

@Seppli said:

Semi-pimped a Demon Machete today. Rare drop from the Capra Demons down in that fiery demon place. B Strength modifier. Going for Demon Machete +15 to check out STR scaling. Currently at +13 its quite neat, but I'm pretty close to finishing-up the game, so I might end up not pushing it all the way up to +15. As far as I can tell, the Demon Machete is the only Greatsword with a B rating for STR. Might already be better than +5 Lightning scaling with just 50 STR.

Also - it's looking fucking dope. Just the regular R2 attack has a long wind-up and short reach, though the light swings come out surprisingly quickly. Regular Greatsword all the way though, when it comes to moveset. Love the L2 thrust.

That B stat scale seems awesome on paper but it's requirement is 40 STR which means it only starts scaling fomr there doesn't it? Whats your current STR and what are the stats? I want to see how it compares to the Zweihander.

I get like +299 from STR scaling on a +13 Demon Machete with 50 STR. Something like that. Base is around 300. So it's at around 600 now and will be even better at +15. Should be better than Lightning +5 and will keep on scaling with more STR investment.

I might have to try and do that. I'm using a fire greatsword +10 right now (same as lightning +5) and if that thing scales with STR real nice than great. I've got like 50 str atm too so. 

@gerrid said:

@JacDG said:

Haven't bought the Bastard Sword yet, I'll probably do that when I begin playing, but the Claymore is pretty good, the R2/RT attack is a thrust, and the swing speed on the R1/RB attack is pretty descent, plus the range overall is pretty good.

I got the claymore and bastard sword now, I think I prefer the Claymore. That thrust uses more stamina but does 50% more damage too. Think I might go with upgrading this. I only have one large titanite shard though, so I'll have to make the right choice. Not sure whether to use it on the halberd or the claymore though. I'll be ages thinking this one through...

Yeah, I went with the Claymore as well, just found my first lightning weapon, and it's super cool and fast to have as a secondary weapon, but that might ultimately end up being a broadsword, a Halberd or the Jagged Ghost Blade, due to their speed compared to the Claymore.

@Tennmuerti said:

Just found my sweet spot:

• got 50 STR
• with Havel's armor on and ring I have 36 weight to spare
• that works out nicely to Havel's shield + Zweihander
• or an Eagle Shield + the Dragon Greatsword

Like a rock baby!

But is that under 50% or under 100% weight?

Ok, reading this made me realise that using my +4 Astora is just silly. I need to go upgrade some stuff!

@MrMuscle said:

Ok, reading this made me realise that using my +4 Astora is just silly. I need to go upgrade some stuff!

The Astora scales C with STR, DEX and FTH, right? So if you have high levels in all of those stats, level it up to +10, it should still do some pretty square damage. Or does it lose its STR and DEX scaling when you modify it past +5?

@gerrid said:

@MrMuscle said:

Ok, reading this made me realise that using my +4 Astora is just silly. I need to go upgrade some stuff!

The Astora scales C with STR, DEX and FTH, right? So if you have high levels in all of those stats, level it up to +10, it should still do some pretty square damage. Or does it lose its STR and DEX scaling when you modify it past +5?

STR is the only one of those i have leveled so im guessing there are better suited weapons fo me. It also takes 4 twinkeling bits to upgrade it to +5. And even after trading with the crow and playing over 50 hours im still 3 short.

@Tennmuerti said:

Just found my sweet spot:

• got 50 STR
• with Havel's armor on and ring I have 36 weight to spare
• that works out nicely to Havel's shield + Zweihander
• or an Eagle Shield + the Dragon Greatsword

Like a rock baby!

But is that under 50% or under 100% weight?

Sorry to revive an old thread, but it saves me making a new one. I'm currently doing my secon playrhrough of DS, and im going all out STR. I'm about soul level 37ish, and I have about 38 STR, 23 END and 12 VIT. I'm using the Zeiwhander at the moment. My question is, is there any point in me putting more points into STR? Is there some really cool weapon or something that requires a shitload? I ask because on my first playrhrough months and months ago i went all out DEX so didn't really pay much attention to the STR weapons? I'm fine with my VIT and END where they are for the time being if the answer is yes they is some badass weapon, otherwise I'll start pumping up END.