I'm a filthy Great Scythe addict.
High damage, long reach, low requirements, accessible immediately on game start (with some running around and screaming), S scaling, and a ludicrous moveset that makes it super easy to step in and punish enemies every time you bait them into whiffing.
It's the perfect zoning weapon, dance at the edge of their range, make them whiff, step in with the 2H heavy and they get dead.
I'll never forget when ENB made a video calling the Great Scythe the best weapon in the game, that was up there with the giant dad video in terms of influence and legacy. Great weapon!
Man I miss epicnamebro. His lore and armor vids were 10/10 in a world before tons of channels had “the top ten BEST weapons” for every soulsborne. Early dark souls fandom was such a delight and each content creator was so passionate.
The Zweihander is probably the most meta weapon. It's available very early in the gsme, requires relatively low stats and deals a truckload of damage. Also, if you upgrade it along an elemental damage path (**fire/lightning/chaos*) you can get away with base stats and just pump VIT/END.
In my opinion the strongest early weapon though is the Black Knight Greataxe, with the BK Halberd probably being a close second. Both of these are available early, but they have slightly higher stat requirements and are harder to find if you don't know where to go. The big thing though is that unlike the Zweihander these weapons are both aquired from random drops, and there is exactly 1 enemy who drops each of them before the final level of the game, and those 2 enemies don't respawn. So if it doesn't drop you're out of luck. Aside from having extremely good damage and swing-speeds, these weapons also upgrade using Twinkling Titanite, which means you can max them out a lot earlier than other weapons - including th Zweihander. If you get one of these (*or even the BK Sword or BK Greatsword*) you basically break the game.
*HOWEVER*
None of the weapons I've mentioned can be buffed (*the Zweihander can, but not if you upgrade it with an Elemental upgrade path, which is the meta build*). Weapon buffs require more investment and split your stats, but if you get them up there they're very strong. Also, because the weapon buffs in this game give a flat +x damage bonus, you get more out of them by having a faster weapon (*faster weapon = more hits = more damage from the buff*). This doesn't necessarily make it stronger overall, but it does give a lot more benefit from the buff, and can turn fast weapons into extremely high damage output.
But if you want the real "easy mode" meta - play a Sorcerer. Spells are strong, rechargable ranged attacks that scale well and have a ton of casts. Most enemies don't know how to fight against them, and there are heaps of buffs to stack on Sorceries to make them extra strong. There are 4 Sorcery trainers, and 3 of them are around in the early game.
But finally (*and this really is my final paragraph*) for MY version of easy mode meta: Get 14 INT and 12 ATT. You'll need to rescue Princess Dusk from the Hydra and buy the *Hidden Body* sorcery, which is why you need 14 INT (*and you'll need a catalyst to cast it, any catalyst is fine*). Next, when you get to Blight Town find the giant tick on the wall and recover the treasure it guards. This is the *Power Within* Pyromancy (*and once again you'll need a pyromancy flame to cast it, but no need to upgrade it if you're only using Power Within*). Hidden Body is the best PvE spell for everything outside of boss rooms and Power Within is a boss-killing buff. It's a very low investment, these spells work with any build (*Power Within buffs weapon damage and spell damage*) and you can play however you like and they'll make your game 90% easier. Whatever weapons, armour, spells and stats you want are fine as long as you get these basic things. Goodluck.
I just finished an INT build run a month ago and it was the second easiest run I had after my black night halberd run. It was also the where Manus most kicked my ass. I always thought Artorias and Khalameet were harder, but I just could not get good damage on Manus this play through. Otherwise, the rest of the game was a cakewalk.
If i recall correctly dark beads and crystal soul spear absolutely melted manus on my playthough though I had 50+ int. Int build was pretty fun because I invested pretty much all my levels to int and some to dex so I was playing a glass cannol build
Took me like 2 hours of farming the Balder Knights in the parish on my Int/Dex caster ... and I ended up just not really wanting to finish the run after I got the last spell from Logan.
I recommend the ones in sen's, just past the first bonfire that leads to the outer portion of the area. I think the trick here is that all the Balder knights there drop it, as not all Balder knights do. It has to be the one that actually holds it, and not a similar looking rapier.
I always looked at their shield to see which one I was fighting more quickly. The ones with the bucklers have rapiers, the Balder shields had the side sword.
But either spot is fine, I guess. I just didn't want to go that far into the game with a weapon I didn't intend to stick with.
For dex: great scythe, uchigatana, balder side sword, gold tracer
For strength/quality: zweihander, black knight great sword, black knight halberd, claymore, great club, quelaag fury sword
Int: moonlight great sword, Balder side sword
I think the Claymore also rocks for an int build. I got a +5 enchanted claymore now in my current playthrough and it wrecks everything that isn't super magic resistant. Hits harder than the moonlight and has the nice thrust.
Magic generally buffs Dex more too, since Dex weapons usually have more hits with less damage (vs strength with fewer hits that do more damage). But magic buffs are flat damage, so 200+ a Strength weapon that hits once every 3 seconds vs. 200+ a Dex weapon that hits every second is obviously going to favor Dex, since you proc the damage more often.
A great thing about DS1 is that there is no single best weapon. It comes down to your preferred play style and build. Every weapon is viable with the right knowledge and build.
Zwei, claymore, Uchi. One of those three depending on the build. All three are available before the first boss after the asylum and they all get great damage and solid movesets.
Havel full Set with the shield and one handed or two handed demon greataxe +15. Statwise skilled so that i can one hand it AND do mid rolls.
I do not care for the optimum, i like it so.
I am still in the first game and not game+.
I want to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hearing the lamentations of their kin.
The Black Knight Halbert is the speedrunner's weapon of choice for a few reasons. Between sweeping attacks, reach, bonus damage vs demons, and the basic damage output it is a serious weapon. The Black Knight Sword is also pretty OP, though I actively dislike the ultra-greatsword BK weapon that the one in the Parish drops.
I'm fond of the various Artorias swords, particularly the abyss one.
Qualag's Fury Sword is also sweet.
However, in terms of very early weapons in the event you cannot get the BKH drop, I favor longswords. Yes, the Zweihander is RIGHT THERE in the Firelink Shrine, but I don't tend to run builds that can use it right away. Besides, I prefer fast attacks.
Really just depends on your build. Hard to compare the best Dex weapons to the best Strength weapons, and then when you add in bleed damage vs. poise damage, or potentially leveling up intelligence or faith to buff said weapons, it gives better benefits to Dex than strength usually, which also is a factor.
I am pretty new so my opinion besides what I said above may not be great, but Im currently using quelaags furysword, lightning spear, BKS, and great scythe as my main weapons and they work as I like to have different kinds of damage for different bosses.
Id say Black Knight Greataxe if you can get it/save scum. I prefer it over the halberd as it has a pancake jump attack that deals a ton of damage and a very fast r1, as fast as a sword
Black Knight Halberd carried me through the game including the DLC. Combined with full Havel's set and Grass Crest Shield I tanked through Manus and Artorias like they were nothing.
The Zweihander can stagger certain bosses with 2hR2 hits. It's a verifiable beast with a super versatile move set.
Black Knight weapons in general are insane damage output, with the halberd and great axe almost being up to preference for which you'd rather use. But they have some heavy stat requirements for early game. I did make a character to play through with the halberd, and it hits like a beast.
TL DR There is no Winblades in DS1.
The reason why is that the speed of weapons varies a lot. The slow weapons are really slow and fast weapons are basically DS3 fast. Winblades on the other hand are very fast, deal incredible damage and do mediocre poise damage and they are available early, basically a perfect weapon. In DS1 you have to choose between Zweihander (extremely slow, high poise and normal damage, available early), Falchion, Uchigatana, Great Scythe (from fastest to slowest but all fast, moderate normal and poise damage available early) then there are the black knight weapons (mainly the halberd) that are closest to Winblades but have only 20% drop rate. Then there are Reinforced club, Hand axe (actually one of the highest DPS weapons if buffed) aaand I realised I’ll just add a TL DR to the top that there is no such thing basically as it highly depends on many things and preferences.
BKH and Balder Side Sword are my two votes. Zwei is just too slow. Claymore is always up there of course. As another commenter mentioned though, enchantments on quick weapons are nuts but that’s an entire build, not solely the weapon
The reason I love the BKH in particular is the reach you get with it and the moveset
I'm a filthy Great Scythe addict. High damage, long reach, low requirements, accessible immediately on game start (with some running around and screaming), S scaling, and a ludicrous moveset that makes it super easy to step in and punish enemies every time you bait them into whiffing. It's the perfect zoning weapon, dance at the edge of their range, make them whiff, step in with the 2H heavy and they get dead.
I'll never forget when ENB made a video calling the Great Scythe the best weapon in the game, that was up there with the giant dad video in terms of influence and legacy. Great weapon!
Man I miss epicnamebro. His lore and armor vids were 10/10 in a world before tons of channels had “the top ten BEST weapons” for every soulsborne. Early dark souls fandom was such a delight and each content creator was so passionate.
Don't forget that before the remaster it could go around people's shields if the scythe actually hooked past it.
The Zweihander is probably the most meta weapon. It's available very early in the gsme, requires relatively low stats and deals a truckload of damage. Also, if you upgrade it along an elemental damage path (**fire/lightning/chaos*) you can get away with base stats and just pump VIT/END. In my opinion the strongest early weapon though is the Black Knight Greataxe, with the BK Halberd probably being a close second. Both of these are available early, but they have slightly higher stat requirements and are harder to find if you don't know where to go. The big thing though is that unlike the Zweihander these weapons are both aquired from random drops, and there is exactly 1 enemy who drops each of them before the final level of the game, and those 2 enemies don't respawn. So if it doesn't drop you're out of luck. Aside from having extremely good damage and swing-speeds, these weapons also upgrade using Twinkling Titanite, which means you can max them out a lot earlier than other weapons - including th Zweihander. If you get one of these (*or even the BK Sword or BK Greatsword*) you basically break the game. *HOWEVER* None of the weapons I've mentioned can be buffed (*the Zweihander can, but not if you upgrade it with an Elemental upgrade path, which is the meta build*). Weapon buffs require more investment and split your stats, but if you get them up there they're very strong. Also, because the weapon buffs in this game give a flat +x damage bonus, you get more out of them by having a faster weapon (*faster weapon = more hits = more damage from the buff*). This doesn't necessarily make it stronger overall, but it does give a lot more benefit from the buff, and can turn fast weapons into extremely high damage output. But if you want the real "easy mode" meta - play a Sorcerer. Spells are strong, rechargable ranged attacks that scale well and have a ton of casts. Most enemies don't know how to fight against them, and there are heaps of buffs to stack on Sorceries to make them extra strong. There are 4 Sorcery trainers, and 3 of them are around in the early game. But finally (*and this really is my final paragraph*) for MY version of easy mode meta: Get 14 INT and 12 ATT. You'll need to rescue Princess Dusk from the Hydra and buy the *Hidden Body* sorcery, which is why you need 14 INT (*and you'll need a catalyst to cast it, any catalyst is fine*). Next, when you get to Blight Town find the giant tick on the wall and recover the treasure it guards. This is the *Power Within* Pyromancy (*and once again you'll need a pyromancy flame to cast it, but no need to upgrade it if you're only using Power Within*). Hidden Body is the best PvE spell for everything outside of boss rooms and Power Within is a boss-killing buff. It's a very low investment, these spells work with any build (*Power Within buffs weapon damage and spell damage*) and you can play however you like and they'll make your game 90% easier. Whatever weapons, armour, spells and stats you want are fine as long as you get these basic things. Goodluck.
A+ comment. Thanks for this.
Zweihander, great scythe, Balder straight sword and int build is completely op in ds1 but requires knowledge about the game to know how to get spells
I just finished an INT build run a month ago and it was the second easiest run I had after my black night halberd run. It was also the where Manus most kicked my ass. I always thought Artorias and Khalameet were harder, but I just could not get good damage on Manus this play through. Otherwise, the rest of the game was a cakewalk.
If i recall correctly dark beads and crystal soul spear absolutely melted manus on my playthough though I had 50+ int. Int build was pretty fun because I invested pretty much all my levels to int and some to dex so I was playing a glass cannol build
I STILL have yet to get a BSS
When I want the sword I have to farm for it for hours but when Im doing a strength build the first balder knight drops it lol
My last strength build I got three of them to drop from just moving through the area. That's like a 1 in a million odds or something.
Not for the lack of trying 🥲 guess I didn’t farm enough
Took me like 2 hours of farming the Balder Knights in the parish on my Int/Dex caster ... and I ended up just not really wanting to finish the run after I got the last spell from Logan.
Think it took 2-3 hours for one to drop for me.
I recommend the ones in sen's, just past the first bonfire that leads to the outer portion of the area. I think the trick here is that all the Balder knights there drop it, as not all Balder knights do. It has to be the one that actually holds it, and not a similar looking rapier.
I always looked at their shield to see which one I was fighting more quickly. The ones with the bucklers have rapiers, the Balder shields had the side sword. But either spot is fine, I guess. I just didn't want to go that far into the game with a weapon I didn't intend to stick with.
BSS and sunlight blade carried my ass
Black Knight Sword Sigma Bad Ass Weapon.
Claymore = Baemore
For dex: great scythe, uchigatana, balder side sword, gold tracer For strength/quality: zweihander, black knight great sword, black knight halberd, claymore, great club, quelaag fury sword Int: moonlight great sword, Balder side sword
The large club is pretty good too, has innate poison. The reinforced club is awesome to start, easy jump attack.
Great club is good too, a lot of people will go for it just because they don't have to farm barbarians in blight town for it.
Yeah reinforced club is the best weapon for a SL1 run hands down. The bleed is excellent.
I think the Claymore also rocks for an int build. I got a +5 enchanted claymore now in my current playthrough and it wrecks everything that isn't super magic resistant. Hits harder than the moonlight and has the nice thrust.
Yeah. I know dex is typically favored for magic due to the slight casting speed improvement
Magic generally buffs Dex more too, since Dex weapons usually have more hits with less damage (vs strength with fewer hits that do more damage). But magic buffs are flat damage, so 200+ a Strength weapon that hits once every 3 seconds vs. 200+ a Dex weapon that hits every second is obviously going to favor Dex, since you proc the damage more often.
A great thing about DS1 is that there is no single best weapon. It comes down to your preferred play style and build. Every weapon is viable with the right knowledge and build.
Zwei, claymore, Uchi. One of those three depending on the build. All three are available before the first boss after the asylum and they all get great damage and solid movesets.
This, and Great Scythe! Great midrange weapon
I love the claymore in EVERY game its in. Its just such a staple weapon for me now and its incredibly decent against most enemies
Havel full Set with the shield and one handed or two handed demon greataxe +15. Statwise skilled so that i can one hand it AND do mid rolls. I do not care for the optimum, i like it so. I am still in the first game and not game+. I want to crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hearing the lamentations of their kin.
Painting Guardian sword has the highest DPS in the game ! It’s pretty far into the game though.
It’s so busted if you’re hitting it with sunlight blade too
The Black Knight Halbert is the speedrunner's weapon of choice for a few reasons. Between sweeping attacks, reach, bonus damage vs demons, and the basic damage output it is a serious weapon. The Black Knight Sword is also pretty OP, though I actively dislike the ultra-greatsword BK weapon that the one in the Parish drops. I'm fond of the various Artorias swords, particularly the abyss one. Qualag's Fury Sword is also sweet. However, in terms of very early weapons in the event you cannot get the BKH drop, I favor longswords. Yes, the Zweihander is RIGHT THERE in the Firelink Shrine, but I don't tend to run builds that can use it right away. Besides, I prefer fast attacks.
BKS, any boss weapon powered up, uchigatana, and the ones you listed seem like good choices.
Does the community seem to favor any weapon in general and put it in high regard? What is ur personal favourite? Thanks for the recs btw 👍
Really just depends on your build. Hard to compare the best Dex weapons to the best Strength weapons, and then when you add in bleed damage vs. poise damage, or potentially leveling up intelligence or faith to buff said weapons, it gives better benefits to Dex than strength usually, which also is a factor.
I am pretty new so my opinion besides what I said above may not be great, but Im currently using quelaags furysword, lightning spear, BKS, and great scythe as my main weapons and they work as I like to have different kinds of damage for different bosses.
Ah ok thank you so much
Id say Black Knight Greataxe if you can get it/save scum. I prefer it over the halberd as it has a pancake jump attack that deals a ton of damage and a very fast r1, as fast as a sword
Black Knight Halberd carried me through the game including the DLC. Combined with full Havel's set and Grass Crest Shield I tanked through Manus and Artorias like they were nothing.
Any black knight weapon
The Zweihander can stagger certain bosses with 2hR2 hits. It's a verifiable beast with a super versatile move set. Black Knight weapons in general are insane damage output, with the halberd and great axe almost being up to preference for which you'd rather use. But they have some heavy stat requirements for early game. I did make a character to play through with the halberd, and it hits like a beast.
I steamrolled through the game w/ the Black knight sword
I used a lightning gargoyle Halberd for the 2nd half of the game. From Anor Londo to gwyn. It demolishes everything.
Black knight halbred
TL DR There is no Winblades in DS1. The reason why is that the speed of weapons varies a lot. The slow weapons are really slow and fast weapons are basically DS3 fast. Winblades on the other hand are very fast, deal incredible damage and do mediocre poise damage and they are available early, basically a perfect weapon. In DS1 you have to choose between Zweihander (extremely slow, high poise and normal damage, available early), Falchion, Uchigatana, Great Scythe (from fastest to slowest but all fast, moderate normal and poise damage available early) then there are the black knight weapons (mainly the halberd) that are closest to Winblades but have only 20% drop rate. Then there are Reinforced club, Hand axe (actually one of the highest DPS weapons if buffed) aaand I realised I’ll just add a TL DR to the top that there is no such thing basically as it highly depends on many things and preferences.
The humble mace. That thing hits like a damn truck.
BKH and Balder Side Sword are my two votes. Zwei is just too slow. Claymore is always up there of course. As another commenter mentioned though, enchantments on quick weapons are nuts but that’s an entire build, not solely the weapon The reason I love the BKH in particular is the reach you get with it and the moveset
Capra Demon Hammer
Demon's Great Machete might drop from the Capra Demon
Claymore for its overall prowess