BloodBlade22 wrote:Thanks for the replies everyone! The explanation of weapon upgrades answered many questions I have been having- thanks alot for that zodicus.
On the subject of upgrading weapons- what weapon should I upgrade? I am liking the longsword alot for its mix of quickness and length, but is that worth upgrading past +5? If not, can you maybe suggest some item bases that are worth the resources to upgrade (that are similar to the longsword style)? Also, I plan on doing the same to a 2hander weapon, something used solely to pound bosses faces (or more likely their butts) with.
As Doughboy said, it's more about what you are comfortable with or like than what approaches objective "best". If you like the longsword, though, both the claymore (on the dragon bridge) and the bastard sword (bought from Andre the blacksmith) are more or less larger versions with heavier attacks. The claymore gets a similar thrust, too, although the bastard sword does not.
Here's some decent guidelines about how different weapon classes are best used:
Straight swords are the fast weapon of choice for mixed strength and dexterity builds, because a lot of them scale well with both stats. There are some exceptions, such as the Silver Knight Sword and Balder Side Sword, that scale with dexterity much more powerfully, though. This class of weapon does every task well, but no task at peak efficiency, so these weapons require you to adapt to your adversaries.
Curved swords are very similar to straight swords in damage and speed, but they tend to focus on dexterity over anything else. Some of these have a bleeding effect that knocks off about 30% of an enemy's health if you hit them in quick succession with a few attacks. You essentially use these adaptably, like straight swords. The differences are quite minute.
Thrusting swords scale with dexterity above all else, but are otherwise the inversion of curved swords. They also allow you to attack from behind a shield without dropping your guard, making them excellent for intercepting an enemy's attack from safety. The cost of their combination of high speed, decent damage and guarded attacks is how limited they are when it comes to staggering enemies -- expect to be zipping in and out of range with these a lot, since you'll seldom be able to chain attacks courtesy of an enemy getting stunned.
Greatswords are the heftier versions of straight swords, usually requiring a higher stat investment to use in the first place. That said, they deal high damage, are quicker than you'd expect, and are some of the most efficient weapons in the game for stunning your enemies. These can be used very offensively, especially in two hands, since you can rush in, strike, and count on your attacks stunning an enemy and opening them up to more attacks. These are up for a nerf in the new content, but that just means they've gone from "stupidly overpowered" to "good". For the most part, greatswords scale well with both strength and dexterity, like straight swords, so a variety of builds can get good use out of them.
Curved greatswords are similar to the regular sort, except they tend to have more "contained" attack animations and include a bleeding effect. These weapons are reasonably rare, and I think there are only three types in the entire game. These weapons tend to have high strength requirements, but to scale predominantly with dexterity, making them good choices for builds that use a considerable amount of both stats.
Ultra greatswords are slow, sure, but they're also
huge, which means they have range. And you can use that range to attack while an enemy is out of distance but making an approach, allowing them to fall into your range as they attack and thereby mitigating the slow speed of the weapon. These weapons then hit hard, stun like no-one's business and have lovely sweeping attacks. Good for high strength characters, but characters that also have good dexterity will get some extra juice out of the likes of the zweihander. Use these weapons if you absolutely must hit for maximum impact at a long range, but forget them if you prefer to get into an enemy's face.
Axes and hammers stun as effectively as regular greatswords, but with less damage and more speed. Their animations often leave you quite vulnerable if you miss, but they scale well with strength and have very, very low dexterity requirements, making them stat-efficient weapons choices if you want to invest points elsewhere. Their lack of versatility and their tendency to make you vulnerable are necessary downsides to what are otherwise highly efficient weapons.
Great axes and great hammers are the heavier equivalents of ultra-greatswords; they hit harder and stun just as effectively, but have a less versatile set of moves. These are the weapons of choice for players who just want to maximise their raw damage at the expense of everything else, and they allow you to both push your own offense and cruelly punish enemy mistakes. Just be careful -- like the regular axes and hammers, these weapons make you a sitting duck while you recover, so choose your attacks wisely.
Spears are much like thrusting swords in that they can attack from behind a shield, but they tend to have higher stat requirements and deal more damage. Their extreme length also allows you to defend yourself aggressively -- you can attack and stagger enemies from quite a distance away and with great speed, so you can control battles very easily. These aren't the engines of destruction that greatswords are, but in a similar fashion, they allow you to combine your offensive and defensive measures into a single action.
Halberds are where the axe and spear weapons classes meet. They tend to have wide, powerful cutting attacks that strike at long distance, and the default halberd has a very useful thrust, too. These weapons tend to have strength requirements along the lines of greatswords, but scale better with dexterity -- again, making them good for mixed stat characters. Much like spears or ultra-greatswords, you use halberds to control a fight by moderating distance and keeping circumstances in your favour. The difference is that halberds hit harder than spears and faster than ultra-greatswords, arguably making them more versatile.
Daggers are all about the critical damage, with only a couple of exceptions. These weapons do pretty tiny damage and don't have much stun potential, but they hit quickly and a ripose or backstab is going to do the damage of a much larger weapon. The Bandit's Knife and Priscilla' Dagger both have bleeding effects on them, which can be quite deadly combined with their high speed. Daggers can be very useful backup weapons for the right builds, but you might be in trouble if they're all you've got.
Fist weapons and whips? Hah. Don't even bother.
by BloodBlade22 Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:47 pm
