+1 Drangleic Sword and the backup is a +5 Fire Longsword.

Claymore +10. I just love the move set. It also has good range with reliable damage, suffering no "non-direct hit" penalties unlike the halberds and clubs.

Claymore +10. I just love the move set. It also has good range with reliable damage, suffering no "non-direct hit" penalties unlike the halberds and clubs.

Been power stanching a flamberg and the Hidle Knight Sword. Lighting damage is just too good yo.

I'm using a halberd mainly because I'm trying to play a Temple Knight that was in the beta.

I'm using the club +5 at the moment...thinking of buying another and going akimbo. #esports #headshotcity

35 hours in.....still rockin' the broadsword......Kinda hoping this isn't going to be the best one handed sword in the game....

Bastard Sword +5 does tons of damage. Also use Homunculus Mace +3. Found an Ultra Greatsword, but the animation start up is too slow for me.

I played around tonight with re-spec'ing and using infused weapons. First I did a magic build with fire. And then a faith with lightning. Holy crap. A lot more powerful than I was experiencing at first with just straight str and dex. I was able to get the same total damage output on a bastard sword +10 for both, actually more for the lightning one, than I was with an ultra greatsword +10 with an B bonus damage rating.

UGS +10 was 533, fire bastard +10 was 545 and lightning bastard +10 was 578. I bet making the UGS Raw to pump the BNS to A would increase to the same as the fire or closer to the lightning. But also having the elemental for things weak to it is probably the better route. Because so many things are weak to lightning and fire. And poison for that matter. So even doing a pure dex build would be just as good. If not better because you get bleed and poison on dex.

So when I used my final soul vessel I turned my knight fully into a paladin type character. I was building to that before. But I removed most of my dex and some strength and dumped them into faith. And increased my attunment for more lightning bolts. Because you can never have enough.

@fearbeard: what's the scaling like on on upgraded royal? It has the same moveset as the drangleic but doesn't require twinkling titanite, which is why I want to switch

I'm still using the Mace that the Cleric starts with. It's still only +5 as I'm needing one more Large Titanite. However, I really like it. It hits as hard as my Large Club +2 and I can get four consecutive hits in before tiring.

Halberd, currently at +6 - Haven't found any Titanite Chunks yet to keep leveling it up. I'm currently somewhere around SL60 and just finished Belfry Luna and Undead Purgatory. About to head into the rest of Huntman's Copse.

My main run through Dark Souls 1 I got a lucky early Titanite Catchpole drop from the Titanite Demon between Undead Parish and Darkroot Basin. Eventually I switched to the Zweihander so in either case I got used to the combination of range + damage as the way I play a Souls game (I don't own a PS3 so never played DeS - I do plan on going back to it at some point once we get one more PS3 price drop...there have only ever been 2 PS3 must play titles for me so it hasn't been worth the $).

I picked Warrior class in DaS2 and went for the early switch to the morningstar and club due to STR scaling. Between the lack of range on the weapon and changes to the game mechanics, I had a very hard time in the early areas of DaS2, but with the weapon switch, upgrades, improved equipment, and proper leveling up, it has been much more comfortable/enjoyable. I really struggled against even easy early bosses like Dragonrider, and had to summon help, something I only did for O&S in DaS1. Meanwhile I was able to beat the Belfry Gargoyles and Executioner's Chariot on my first try. Obviously, I know the game will still get considerably harder, but at least I feel like I am on the right path.

@thiago123: There are multiple ways to get titanite chunks, but since you mentioned the Belfry area; if you join that covenant and get summoned to protect the area from a trespasser, you will earn a titanite chunk each time you defeat someone. I did a bunch of farming as I needed the large shards as well, but if you only need chunks, it is a great source of it. I gathered like 10 chunks in 30 minutes or so doing that.

Dang... that's a hell of an extra incentive to gank people.

Greatsword +10. Rocked the Bastard Sword for a while, but then I found the Greatsword and just fell in love. I found Zweihander but I think the Greatsword does more damage... probably cause it's a 20 on the weight scale.

Anyone have any tips on Infusing weapons? My Greatsword is A scaling in STR (of which I have 40), but I'm also Faith (currently 43, going to 50). Should I infuse it with Lightning since my Faith gives me a Lightning damage bonus and downscale my STR scaling to a B? Or should I stick with the standard A scaling for STR? I've been upgrading a Large Club as well (S scaling in STR from like +4), maybe I should Lightning infuse the Greatsword and have the Large Club as my STR weapon?

@lukeweizer: Lighting would be the best choice as it will give you the best damage output. Everything else will dwarf the damage.

Think it's still worth while in case I run into enemies that strong against Lightning? I guess that's when a secondary weapon comes in handy.

PS - I'm getting errors when I try to post stuff, but it ends up getting posted anyway. Sorry if I'm double-posting.

@lukeweizer: That is what I am doing. I have two of the same sword. One is lightning. And anyone that is strong against it gets the plain jane version of the same sword. I have them both equipped at all times. I have a very similar build to yourself. But faith is not as high as yours.

I have my equip load just high enough that I can use the gear I like and the Ultra Greatsword equipped without going over 100%. Will have to learn to equip a new weapon on the fly. Will definitely try Lightning imbuing my Greatsword though. Thanks!

This is absolutely correct. Anyone approaching weapon choice based upon whichever is the "best one" is doing it wrong. The animation and your ability with the weapon is much more important, and almost anything can be made viable for the majority of fights in the game.

I rocked a Halberd +10 for my first play-through, might go for a mace with my faith build next...

Just for fun, I've started dualwielding Bastard Swords +10. Surprisingly, it's really fucking baller in PvP, and against enemies that need to die quickly.

Also finally decided which armor I want to upgrade. Alonne's from the Iron Keep. Looks great, has good stats, and upgrades with regular titanite. Soon the whole suit of armor will be +9. Just to smack a couple more invaders in the belltower with my dual Bastard Swords.

Dual Bastard Swords +10 for PvP and just for fun in PvE.

How'd your get that UGS? Is it a drop or craft from the boss soul?

Did you pump a lot of points into Equip Load? I'm using the Ultra Greatsword as well, but I put just enough points into Equip Load so I can equip my best stuff and the sword without going 100%. Don't have room for another equipped weapon.

My Bastard Sword +7 has been awesome thus far (at the Iron Keep). I also have an upgraded Large Club for heavily armored guys and a Chariot Lance +1 that's worked well for situations where it is better to stand your ground than to strafe.

I really wish there weren't DEX requirements on more weapons. My last run through Dark Souls 1 was with a +10 Lucerne. I loved that weapon. <3

Falchion. I was searching the whole game for some really cool/effective dex weapons, but by the time I found them, I had already leveled my Falchion to +10 and become quite accustomed to its speed and moveset, so the likelihood of changing things up too much now that I've entered the endgame here seems unlikely.

I'm mid-late game and switch between:

Sun Sword +10 (at +9 it scales A/A/ / ftw)

Halberd +10

Dragonslayer Spear: mainly for fooling around and the warm and fuzzy memories from DS1

I'm doing a 40/40 strength and dexterity build (don't know if 40 will still be a soft cap - going to have to research) with a good dose of faith - so these weapons are right up my alley. I've done surprisingly well against invaders and quite well against bosses so far. I'm mainly a PVE player - so take that into consideration.

dagger.

+4 atm. playing a pure caster, putting nada into str or dex, but the backstab on this is powerful and pretty easy to pull off. otherwise i can get off four or five quick slashes between enemy attacks, with enough stamina left over to strafe or block, which adds up to a good chunk of damage for little risk, really helps if i want to save spells for bosses or whatever.

Mace + 10. At 40 strength, so its scaled to a motherfucker.

@daneian: Where do you start finding the ..slabs..or chunks.. stuff that you need from +6 on up? I'm also macing it up and damn is that simple weapon a motherfucker. I've defeated a lot of invaders now just stunlocking them or bashing right through their shields.

@lukeweizer: It's a "soul trade" (no more burning +10 weapons to turn them into boss weapons); petrified guy in Lost Bastille.

@humanity: With regards to Titanite Chunks...

Join the Bell Bros. covenant. Wear the ring. You will automatically invade people. You get a chunk for every host you kill.

Going to fight the final boss now......still have my trusty +10 broadsword. :P

I'm using a mace, bastard sword and a caestus behind a tower shield. I just got through the Lost Bastille and I'm too paranoid to upgrade any of them yet as I don't want to waste any materials since they seem to be pretty limited this time around. With the way durability is in this game I'm not a fan of the larger weapons that hit the walls and floor.

@bnutz2k: I was thinking about it but the moment you said "Bell Bros" a wave of revulsion hit me that I just can't shake.

@humanity: Well, if you're in need of some chunks...

FYI, I had to take the ring off after like 20 minutes. It may not trigger for a few minutes, but once you start invading, it can't be stopped. I think I got pulled into another host's world within 30 seconds of returning to my world each time. Craziness.

I was using that dragonslayer crescent axe for a while, but I finally found the dull ember and I'm rocking a lightning longsword now. I was thinking about lightninging up something bigger, maybe a bandit axe, but I wanted something with quality scaling. Also I'm in love with the longsword moveset. Elemental weapons seem really good now that they scale, and don't completely kill the original scaling.

My main dex character's got Ricard's rapier, the black knight halberd, and a blacksteel katana that I switch between depending on the circumstances. Halberd primarily for pvp, the katana when I want to stunlock enemies, and the rapier for that little extra bit of damage, especially in coop where I can just keep jabbin' while the boss may be focussed on someone else.

I've also got me longbow, which has proven invaluable. Really love how much better bows and the lock-on are in this.

My other strength character was using the bastard sword for the longest time, but now I've switched to that red rusted straight sword you buy from Vengarl (?). Looks awesome, and at +2 it does just about the same amount of damage as my +8 bastard sword.

Upgraded the first Iron Keep bonfire to NG+ difficulty, so I can farm some easy souls while waiting for Bell Tower PvP. Guess what dropped? A Alonne's Greatbow. Took it all the way to +10 and it's quite the boon in PvP. Nothing like knocking down a caster on his arrogant OP ass and then slicing his face to ribbons with dualwielded greatswords.

In regards to greatswords, I've upgraded from a Bastard Sword +10 to a Mastodon Greatsword +10, which has A scaling on STR. Effectively, it's not really better than the Bastard Sword, due to having one less swing in it, due to Stamina restraints - it sure as hell looks more badass though.

Also - the Alonne's Captain Set started to drop at bonfire lvl 2. Got the helm and the chest, but sadly ran out of spawns again.

P.S. Smelter Demon is linked to that Bonfire too. If I ever want to do NG+, that asswipe will be NG++ difficulty.

@humanity: We've been ringing this bell forever we have! Mwa ha ha ha ha ahahaahhahah! What an awesome voice actor.

I've been mostly using the Heide Sword, switching to the Flame Longsword for fleshy enemies.

I really want to upgrade my twinblade and give it a bleeding effect using the bleed stone, but I have no idea if that would actually be good. The twinblade is fun, but not terribly effective so far.

I put poison on my Large Club and pretty sure I gimped it. Decided to go with the Great Club instead after stumbling upon it in the Gutter.

@fredchuckdave: I couldn't listen to all of the dialog because adult I kept getting invaded

It's not, there's a much better straight sword that's a Convent reward: The Sunlight Straight Sword for level 2 Heirs of the Sun has B STR and DEX scaling that upgrades to A on both.

Anyone know if the Zweihander is as good as it was in DS1? Is it as good at stun-locking enemies?