Fists and Claws desperately need their own ashes of war. Like the Katar can use piercing thrust which is really cool but I don't see why they can't just slightly alter the animation so that it's a rushing punch and have that be an AoW for fists/claws. It would help with the range issue that fists especially have (I understand range is the trade off of using them but fists have such little range that you can miss attacks on enemies that your model is literally making contact with).
@@raho500 There are other weapon classes that have unique characteristics and trade offs while still allowing for different styles of play, on top of having access to ashes of war that are fitting for the weapons. All I want is the same treatment for fists.
DkS2 even had critical whip animations. It was an animation shared with the fist weapons; but it at least let whip user's get ripostes and backstabs. At least ER reapers finally got a unique one. On a related note; I still much prefer spear/polearm backstab animations in DkS2 lol
The most interesting stuff here is moveset analysis and especially powerstance moveset analysis. You don’t really pick a weapon class in this, you pick a weapon, but factoring in what your powerstance moveset will look like helps to think about what you want to run, and also what your offhand ash of war options are. So yeah, eg, spears are great because you can put spectral lance off-hand for where it is good and enjoy the powerstance moveset when you want it, etc.
I just did this recently! I put ice spear on the godskin peeler for a ranged option against bosses (as well as for the frost buildup) and I’ve been trying out spectral lance on the guardian treespear with the cross naginata and it’s been fun picking enemies off at a distance.
Colossal Swords would have been so much more fun to use if they had the vertical moveset like most of them did in DS2 and DS3. Something about slamming down a massive fucking sword feels so much better than lazily sweeping it side-to-side. Maybe if two handed was vertical and one handed was horizontal moveset wouldve been cool. Still ny favorite weapon class in the game btw
I find myself using the backstep attack if I desperately need a vertical attack. Definitely not the best, but its something. Honestly I'm just shocked that he ranked our weapon in the top 3. Figured the show startup frames with most of the attacks would keep it out of the top ten.
@@dunefox8 bonefist was my favorite DS2 weapon, something about beating the shit out of everything with over-the-top moves was fun. Its what I used for a majority of my CoC run.
I love how you are the only content creator I see actually giving the glinstone Kris any love. On a pure intelligence build it is one of the strongest weapons in the game.
Yeah fr. They do decent damage if built well but that doesn’t change how mid they are compared to classes that do much more. They’re also boring af, aside from a few unique ones with cool ashes the rest are just whatever
Axes were initially supposed to be the STR alternative to Curved Swords being DEX with Straight Swords being the middle ground of the two, faster then greatswords while still hitting harder then SS’s, the problem is that no game by fromsoft has actually made this work outside of the warped axe and iron cleaver being amazing
if u wanna use an axe i see no reason not to use greataxes? The small axes do suck, but I been running crescent moon axe with sword dance and it is pretty good both pve and pvp, beating katana and greatsword users with this
I personally use claws all the time because you can put parry on them which allows you to easily use parry without giving up on any dps like you would when using a shield in your off-hand. At the same time, impaling thrust is the only AoW you need for fast poise and range and you can easily carry two sets of claws for added versatility due to their extremely low weight. And if you ever need more damage, weapon buffs work wonders because of the claw's extremely fast attack speed. Their recovery is also basically zero it's actually kind of insane. I'm probably a little biased after using them for so long in conjunction with a variety of incantations but I would put them in S tier for their damage and low recovery and because I haven't had any severe issues with the range of the weapon in my playthroughs at least
Executioner's Greataxe is legit the most potent weapon I've found with no apparent downsides whatsoever. Usually each weapon has a boss or enemy type it struggles with, but I legitimately cannot name a time that weapon performed poorly. Fantastic poise damage, good speed, bonus damage on backstabs and ripostes, gets good bleed value if infused with bleed, and deceivingly long range. I've even found Malenia sucks at judging it's distance and you can get away with an absurd amount of basic attacks before she'll correctly space it.
Its a little cringe against big npcs with weird hitboxes but its a minor issue. To force a stagger on some bosses, you have to charge it up, which can be an issue for specific bosses that will input read u and block it
it has the same stance damage as any other Greataxe. Ditto for bleed value. All Greataxes have the same blood loss build-up when infused for blood, assuming they're the same level as each other. But yes it's definitely the strongest of the bunch, and the heaviest, with the longest range. The Butchering Knife (an Axe for some reason) is also really quite good as it heals for 1% each time it does damage, and this includes each bullet from certain AoW like Golden Land etc.
I think that standing alone... this is an excellent ranking, however when you pair them with shields, I think a few of them would shift up the list or down the list. For example, spears, when paired with a shield are absolute bonkers and make the game easy mode. The greatsword/shield combo is top notch as well. I notice you forgot bows and crossbows. I don't really consider them main weapons as well :)
I feel the placement of **Whips** is a bit... Odd. Given that the commentary also doesn't really talk about the **benefits** to them, mostly the weaknesses. Speaking from experience (and I know how this is gonna sound) then Whips are better at staggering enemies when not using **Heavy** or **Charged Heavy** attacks. Their **Light Attack** can stunlock a massive amount of enemies and a fair amount of bosses for as long as you have stamina. Making them extremely good at dealing with single enemies, especially when paired with a shield. On top of that they can handle groups of enemies with their heavy attacks, as they have a wide strike range. That adds up to their **versatility**, a highly underappreciated element of how good a weapon is. While they cannot be used for **Riposte** attacks, they also cannot be **Parried** and they deal **some** of their damage through even the strongest guards. Which is why they don't have Riposte attacks, not because From Software have been incapable of finding a way to implement them. Combine that with their range, low stamina usage and fairly low stat requirements and they are an **extremely** powerful weapon class. Versatile, safe and surprisingly powerful.
@@jstar3382 And they have reach and low stamina cost, meaning you can hit from a further distance away and more frequently. Hence you can deal the same or more damage with the same amount of stamina usage and you can do so with less or equal risk to other weapons given their extra range. Hell the Urumi has one of the best damage outputs for its weight/stamina cost in the game. All is subject to preference though, but a personal opinion doesn't make it a factual one.
Great analysis!!, but Bro you need to have a great sheild with a spear to unlock full its potential. It enables you to block while attacking( such a amazing move) and their counter attacks are just so satisfying deal ton of poise damage. I use to have a great sword but i was getting wrecked in caelid but then i found cross naginata And a golden sheild ( infused with hoarfrost stomp)now no one can stop me.
My personal favorite weapon type are the Claws, specifically the Raptor Talons. I know they have some downsides but they are incredible with Quickstep or Bloodhound Step. Their moveset isn't just quick, but smooth and all their attacks flow really nicely into eachother, something that Dual Daggers don't do well at all. I absolutely loved the Brigand Twindaggers in DS3 and the Claws in this game definitely seem to fill that same niche of sticking to your target and Quickstepping around everything they do while just pumping attacks into them. Also don't underestimate their charge attack poise damage. 3 fully charged heavy attacks is enough to stance-break most targets and they are really fast.
Have you tried Raptor’s Talons with the Endure AoW? Once you get the rhythm of its timing, you never need to dodge again and the consecutive hits destroy everything. I find that using them with Bloodflame and high faith and dexterity is even better than arcane with the occult affinity. And then you can use Black Flame’s Protection for effectively invincibility.
@@Galaka100 I have tried Endure with it and it definitely has a style to it, but I feel like it needs some high regen for it to work (which I suppose plays into high Faith). Combine it with Godskin Swaddling Cloth and any Blessing's Boon/Blessing of the Erdtree. The only issue is I tend to cap out at 150, and once I got into NG+ not getting hit became more important than tanking hits. I can see it still working past 150 though. I 100% agree a High Dex Keen Raptor Talon with Bloodflame Blade is straight up better than Occult. It's AR is just flat out noticeably better and it's Bleed Buildup is also flat out better due to how Bloodflame Blade works and the requirement to cast it is very modest.
I like the whips. Even tho they are not the fastest, they have a tricky movement to them. So many enemies seem to struggle with them, and they work good against shields if i remember correctly. I am going for a dual magma whip build currently.
Great thrusting swords are imo the best in the game, they can stack debuffs quickly, and have high stance damage, working well with all bosses basically, especially since so many things are weak to thrust.
"the whips don't have any unique ashes" the Giants Red Braid has Flame Dance which swings it a bunch of times doing great damage. and the Magma Whip Candlestick has sea of magma which can cover lots of area in magma allowing you to just take over a spot or deal lots of damage to slow bosses.
I have one big disagreement with this list which is that straight swords are really not that great aside from square off being broken. The lack of range is a big problem; light greatswords, katanas and thrusting swords are all preferred mainly due to their superior range. However if you purely use them as a square off machine, then sure they're good.
I’m doing a Juno Hoslow build right now using Dex/Arcane build and I can say Whips with status builds like Frost/Bleed double Hoslow’s Whips combined are nasty. I can’t say Whips are that bad-I just hate I can’t repost attack/critical stab. I’m running Bloodhound’s step as main and Hoarfrost Stomp on my left hand.
My first playthrough Boadsword with square off carried me through everything, I only swapped to beat Malenia's 2nd phase using basically the same strategy but with Greatsword and giant hunt, then I finally beat her
Only heavy thrusting swords and spears qualify for me paired with a great shield. Because Peirce damage is best type of damage and their guard counters are the best.
Colossal and great swords are the only ones on this list that truly trivialize the game in odd ways. Colossal for the extreme staggers and crazy good moveset, and greatswords still stagger decently but with good dps. It almost makes no sense, like they just refuse to balance the stagger portion of those weapons in particular (or for colossal nerfing swing speed).
well on a max level character perspective i have to say redvia deals a shit tone of phys dmg on top of 99 bleed build up so even strong against bleed immune enemys
i can understand the great hammer placement really well i used a poison rot battle hammer with lion's claw and did the godfrey fight on like ng+4 and it was just a complete joke bruh
I personally don't like spears for pve just for the lack of crowd control, but I guess that's where Ash of War and spells come in. not for me I guess. shield poke is strong though.
Dont let em cook, spears suck alone (even with a shield, just use a thrusting sword) and their powerstance moveset is a stamina eater. Also straight swords one handed suck unless you use square off or night and flame stance, they can only be saved by their powerstance moveset. They need to go further down the list
I’m surprised to see Greataxes so high, guess I haven’t been utilizing it to its max potential. Or maybe I just wanted a pure chaotic barbaric style running through the enemies while spinning my axe type beat. Either way I aint changing this weapon till I’m bored of it.
@@youwy i agree but im heavily biased towards the star firsts since i was able to kill radagon before he got an attack off and also elden beast before it got an attack off and all i used was golden vow flame grant me strength blue dancer(no armor) axe talisman and 2 others and stonebarb and twiggy tears
This list seems to be only for bosses. When it comes to general mobs, when you're fighting groups of mobs or elite mobs like Banished Knights and Omens, I'd MUCH rather have a Greathammer, Halberd or Curved Greatsword instead of a Straight Sword, Curved Sword, or Katana. Better AOE, and stagger means you can stunlock an enemy and never need to dodge.
Hammers are way better than that. They are arguably the best weapons in the game for stance breaking- only fists compete. The damage and speed of the R1 chain on the stone club is insanely good. The hammer also has decent range.
Due to the history of deaths that Moonveil and Rivers of Blood still cause and Nagakiba's versatility, I think the katanas deserved a better ranking, but that's just my opinion.👍
I totally disagree with you on the reduvia. Carried me all the way through new game with no problems at all. Bleed procs so fast with that dagger and dual wielding them in journey 2 does insane damage.
I kinda have to disagree with you colossal weapon take, giant crusher and the others make the game easy as hell, I get not liking the moveset, but its made for jump attacks, same with colossal swords. Its quite simple tbh
It's funny that you said Greatswords are the best, cause in my opinion I went on an insane run yesterday with the Blasphemous Blade build I created. It started finishing off Crumbling Farum Zula and beating the BeastClergy Man and his 2nd form in 3 tries and the optional Dragonlord boss in like 15 tries lol. Then I went on to finish the 2nd half of Miquella's Haligtree and destroying Melenia in 2 tries 😂. To top it off I went to the Ashen Capital and stomped Gideon in 1 try, ran thru Godfrey on 1st attempt and and ended my night beating Radogan & the Elden Beast in 3 tries 😂😂😂. My build was centered around the damage output of the sword and taking advantage of its health on hit Ash of War and health on defeating enemies. By the time I ended the games I was close to reaching 1,000 damage per swing while power stancing
tbh i hate greatswords, or big weapons in general, for one simple reason: the way the weapon is hold in the hand. i highly doubt that any knight has ever put the sharp edge of his sword on his shoulder while running. i never liked that. never will 😂.
You say reduvia isn't that great but you deleted Horah from range with 30 fp in 5 seconds. One of the most end game content to date. I don't get that idea at all
Yeah, the spears and thrusting swords come out quick and do good damage, but their movesets are so boring, it makes my heart weep ;-;. It's just "poke, poke, and oh, what's this? another forward poke! so exciting!"
I hear thrusting wepons are so good amd I tey to use them but don't naturally lock on all the time so I miss half my attacks. Great star is low key the most reliable for mw while katanas and greatswords are the sexiest. Great star is so fast, heals, staggers insanely quickly can be infused and has bleed.
Just playing Devil’s Advocate here. I think that great axes got too much love. There are obviously some strong individuals in the category, like the rusted anchor, but I feel the overall category isn’t that great. A few standouts don’t bring the entire category up that much for me. Also, many of the good ones are fairly build dependent, whereas other weapon types are reliable on their own.
Do you get tired of this game? … After 600 hours I find it boring now… After my level 1 run I started playing Sekiro, then Bloodborne, then Diablo 4… I also played the lies of P demo and it was amazing
BB moonlight greatsword was better but ER version was better than ds3 version. No durability cost, frostbite buildup, very beautiful design, the only downside is the basic GS moveset which is a greatsword problem not a Darkmoon greatsword problem.
Know you didn't do it on this vid, but maybe say what you're ranking in your tier lists? Some of us are listening while driving, can't see which one you're talking about. Just saying. o7, and all that.
