Reasons to use Raw Ember

Hey Guys,

Looking for all the good reasons to use the Raw ember. If you're going to say it has no use, don't post; it's not true and it'll just waste space here.

Assumptions:
No BB glitch.
Could be anyone, from a new player to a veteran.

I know a few things I've used Raw weapons for in the past, here's a short list:

Low level runs: getting a Raw spiked club/battle axe is very effective until you can grab a lightning weapon. Makes for more grinding of large shards, but if you're struggling the extra damage can be definitely worth it. Same with a Raw handaxe.

Entry level bow:
A Raw Longbow gets a C scaling in STR instead of E (just looked it up on the wiki and I believe the wiki is wrong; need to verify this). This can greatly help a new player in PvE that is using a str build. Being able to target and not rely on lock on can help pull enemies, or take out enemies out of range of a crossbow. It's also lighter.

New Players:
New players don't know where everything is. If they're going for a Faith build, they may have no idea where a Divine ember is, or the Astora Straight Sword, or any other faith based weapon. With low scaling stats, Raw is easily accessible and can assist them in their journey.

What other reasons could you use a Raw weapon for?

The base damage along with the already moderate DEX requirements mean a +15 Bow will out damage a +5 Raw bow.

Considering how easy it is to get the Enchanted Ember and Andre tells you where the Divine Ember is (sort of), and you have to have a Large Ember to do this, I always felt like Raw weapons were a trap. They have no value as the game continues. Even for low level runs, a +10 isn't much worse, and can be turned into so much more.

If Raw got to +10, it may have a point, but I don't think it has a real benefit, at all.

Raw Weapons are pretty useless man...

I don't agree with anything you said. Raw Weapons suck. Normal +6-+10 it's better. More damage and better scaling. It's useless to use a raw weapon because the scaling it's too low, that it would make a waste your points on DEX or STR.

Also saying "new players doesn't know where other embers are blah blah" it's nonsense. The Large Ember it's the one that allows Raw weapons, and at the time it allows Normal. There is no reason to choose Raw over Normal.

Doesn't matter if the guy it's a newbie, in my first playthrough I didn't know what was better so I upgraded my Battle Axe to Raw and it did decent damage, but I noticed that it just wasn't enough and my STR points almost didn't add any damage.. So I decided to descend it to Normal +5 and then upgrade it to +10. IT. SUCKS. PERIOD.

Only guy I can think of using it it's completely newbie guys who doesn't know that normal it's better.

I may be incorrect, it's been a while since i've even thought about Raw, but couldn't Raw be good because it's got a smaller strength scaling to every weapon but lowers scaling on other stats so it can give lower level new players a better weapon for low scaling stats? I always assumed it was mostly meant for lower players tbh.

A +15 weapon has more base damage and scaling than a +5 Raw.

ICEFANG wrote:A +15 weapon has more base damage and scaling than a +5 Raw.

But doesn't raw take Large shards to upgade? As I said, it's been a while since i've thought about Raw as an option so if i'm wrong i'm sorry. But I assumed it took large shards and would have good base damage for lower levels without the requirement of Anor Londo, OR partial new Londo. With easier upgrade materials as well. It's so much easier to access I assumed that it'd just be meant for Lower levels who want to upgrade their weapons without the ability to access the better upgrade paths.. like +15..

It does, but since its a waste, you have to downgrade it later to get it to +15, and its not much better than +10, and plus 10 can be turned into lightning, boss, crystal, and +15, it has more potential.

ICEFANG wrote:It does, but since its a waste, you have to downgrade it later to get it to +15, and its not much better than +10, and plus 10 can be turned into lightning, boss, crystal, and +15, it has more potential.

But did you know that when you first went through the game ?

ssss_2_is_pwnage wrote:I may be incorrect, it's been a while since i've even thought about Raw, but couldn't Raw be good because it's got a smaller strength scaling to every weapon but lowers scaling on other stats so it can give lower level new players a better weapon for low scaling stats? I always assumed it was mostly meant for lower players tbh.

This.

It's a weapon path for people who are still low in the stats department. Trust me, even a slight difference in damage can make a huge difference for people stuck around the Undead Parish, and who haven't discovered the Drake. But by the time you hit Blighttown, you should have found a better wep.

Back Lot Basher wrote:

ssss_2_is_pwnage wrote:I may be incorrect, it's been a while since i've even thought about Raw, but couldn't Raw be good because it's got a smaller strength scaling to every weapon but lowers scaling on other stats so it can give lower level new players a better weapon for low scaling stats? I always assumed it was mostly meant for lower players tbh.

This.

It's a weapon path for people who are still low in the stats department. Trust me, even a slight difference in damage can make a huge difference for people stuck around the Undead Parish, and who haven't discovered the Drake. But by the time you hit Blighttown, you should have found a better wep.

I used my Raw Halberd till sens where I found the lightning spear, most people use their original weapon of choice until that point unless they know better. =\

No but I am not an idiot and I knew right away that scaling is better than slightly better damage and no scaling.

ICEFANG wrote:No but I am not an idiot and I knew right away that scaling is better than slightly better damage and no scaling.

I had no idea about scaling until I beat the game I finished the game through 3 times before I did anything with the community in any way shape or form. I did all playthroughs on my first build (in total, 6) with my trusty chaos Flamberge with 28 vit no FAP ring. You don't have to be an "Idiot" to not understand it. I played a lot of Demon's Souls but never once did I know a thing about scaling. I just used weps I liked haha.

ssss_2_is_pwnage wrote:

ICEFANG wrote:No but I am not an idiot and I knew right away that scaling is better than slightly better damage and no scaling.

I had no idea about scaling until I beat the game I finished the game through 3 times before I did anything with the community in any way shape or form. I did all playthroughs on my first build (in total, 6) with my trusty chaos Flamberge with 28 vit no FAP ring. You don't have to be an "Idiot" to not understand it. I played a lot of Demon's Souls but never once did I know a thing about scaling. I just used weps I liked haha.

Maybe we (because I share some thing with ICEFANG) knew that because we played many RPGs or just because we played Demon's Souls. At least that's my case.

Maybe. I didn't play Demon's Souls. I saw the scaling and considered it; for the longbow I'm sure the wiki is wrong and that the scaling goes from E/S to C/C. I was going for str, a tiny bit of dex, and end/vit. So for the Longbow (not other weapons) I made it Raw.

I want to do some number crunching on it to see if it's a decent early game weapon for a str build; for a crappy player (me) pve before learning the game, a bow does wonders. Pulling enemies can really help.

ChizFreak wrote:

ssss_2_is_pwnage wrote:

ICEFANG wrote:No but I am not an idiot and I knew right away that scaling is better than slightly better damage and no scaling.

I had no idea about scaling until I beat the game I finished the game through 3 times before I did anything with the community in any way shape or form. I did all playthroughs on my first build (in total, 6) with my trusty chaos Flamberge with 28 vit no FAP ring. You don't have to be an "Idiot" to not understand it. I played a lot of Demon's Souls but never once did I know a thing about scaling. I just used weps I liked haha.

Maybe we (because I share some thing with ICEFANG) knew that because we played many RPGs or just because we played Demon's Souls. At least that's my case.

Demon's Souls was my first real RPG, never did I think of weapon scaling, only damage output. In Dark Souls, I didn't know either. I found out later, it's because of the lack of experience and the lack of desire to find out :p I just don't agree with calling somebody an idiot because they didn't understand scaling their first playthrough in the game? That is all I was really saying with that haha.

I never played Demon's Souls beyond 1-2. I wanted to have a spear, and after I saw it, I wanted the Dragon Slayer Spear. I was using the lightning spear, and feed frampt the +10 spear I had. The comparison was the first time I really had something to compare to scaling. The lightning had better power, but the DSS had more scaling. I knew that if I continued to level, I was probably 65 or so, that it would be stronger.

It's only good if you only want to increase Vit/End until you get a good scaling weapon. It's good before going to Blightown after getting some shards at the Depths. Then you can stick with raw +5 till you drain the water at New Londo. I'm sure raw +5 is stronger than normal +10 at base stats.

I use a raw weapon for low level invasions. Gives me a reasonably powerful weapon for that level.

WyrmHero wrote:It's only good if you only want to increase Vit/End until you get a good scaling weapon. It's good before going to Blightown after getting some shards at the Depths. Then you can stick with raw +5 till you drain the water at New Londo. I'm sure raw +5 is stronger than normal +10 at base stats.

Raw is stronger then +10 until you have +35 in a C scaling stat.
It's painfully easy to surpass raws potential.