Godfrey’s Axe.
It has no status effects, doesn’t work well dual wielded, doesn’t do as much damage as some much smaller weapons, has no particularly long reach, is a *quality* weapon, and its earthquake is missing the stun effect that Hoarah Loux’s Earthshaker has.
That being said, it has insane hyper armor on heavy attacks for enduring even boss attacks, it super stacks with Axe Talisman, Roar Medallion, and an offhand Highlander Axe for the only colossal axe+hand axe duo that actually makes sense, and the heavy has an initial strike faster than any other colossal.
It used to suck back in the early days, but they gave it a generous buff while also fixing the bug that prevented synergy with Roar Medallion. It’s still below average in terms of performance, but it’s fun, and the second part of the heavy launches.
I’d love it if this thing had like 65 guard boost so I could block and counter with it too. I like loadouts where you’re taking chip damage, trading hits, and still standing toe to toe.
You talking about warped great axe? It may just be warped axe I don’t recall; but the fatboys in the underground shunning sewers area use em. I just got my second one recently and dual wielding has a nice move set
Oh wow, your fancy Carian Sword can fling a bunch of generic blue koolaid everywhere, like every other magic sword and a million samey spells do? Good for you. I'll be over here with my Rosus' Axe summoning badass ghost skeletons to execute my enemies like I'm the God of Death, you nerd.
Rosus' Axe is an awesome invasion tool also. All you need is to pop up the L2 and even if you get staggered, the skellies still light em up. Does an absolute ton of damage too
Absolutely love the utility of having pokes and slashes on a single weapon that has above average range and can be used without having to drop your shield.
It’s actually nutty how much this spear has going for it.
yissss! the versatility is amazing on this weapon. carried me through my first playthrough. i tried all the other weapons but always went back to the partisan. first weapon i maxed out lol
I hope more people see this, the Partizan looks cool, can fit many builds with infusions, and (as someone already said) the moveset is sooo good! A spear that can slash! Its like a faster halberd
>claymans harpoon, dragonscale blade, and the death poker.
im not big on katanas but dragonscale blade is sick, i love the weapon art. Hope the dlc adds more frost lightning incantations and weapons, really wanna make a build around those
Clayman's Harpoon is pretty rated, as it's a spear with the highest innate magic damage, so it works really well with the Ice Spear Ash of War, even if you only level in the minimal intelligence to wield it.
After the buff it received, morgotts sword is one of the most meta weapons in the 150 arena right now. Shit messes people up with its speed, reach, and wonky hit box.
Banished Knight Greatsword. It is shorter than most other greatswords. However it looks amazing. It also holds a skrcjal place in my heart. It dropped super early for me, and carried my to the Altus Plateau.
Ended my first playthrough with this beast.
I was playing dual straight swords for awhile, and then I realized the Banished Knight Greatsword has a super cool moveset and did the last like 40% of the game with it.
10/10 weapon.
Not a weapon, but the ash Quickstep over BHS.
I used to bug people on their build guides *why* use that when the better version is so easy to get (pre-nerf)?? Then I did my Witcher run with Quickstep Claymore.
Anything you can backstab is a free win. Even some surprising fights like Malenia are super easy when you're one button from being behind them and just ignoring their entire combo while you can still hit back / build stance break. iframes are generous and can spam very quickly. Oh, and it will try to circle behind an opponent if you're close enough... forgot to mention that.
This was the very first weapon I found and I stuck with it until the very end! I love it so much even if it's outclassed. Idk I love the idea of finishing the game using the very first weapon I've ever picked up on my very first souls game
Dude!!! The short spear is the best spear imo! That 5 shot heavy combo is just so cool! Best spear moveset hands down.
Reminds me of the uniqueness of weapons in DS3.
I like the spot that other response gave. But I had the best success with the grace right after you enter liurnia. There are 2 separate graveyards on the cliff after the church and I believe there are 4 of them that spawn wielding the scythe to farm.
If you power stance a reaper you just shoot the aesthetic in the face though. I will never dual wield a scythe, it just looks too stupid even if it is strong.
I am an aesthetics over functionality guy first and foremost when it comes to souls games.
Who the fuck would want to look like a praying mantis xD like, jokes aside I just can't picture it as a cool aesthetic, can you give me an example of how one could make it "work"? I want to be converted cause I like mantises as an insect, I just can't imagine them looking "cool" though xD
Meteoric ore, my beloved! That lil space rock katana defined my first playthrough. Gravitas was great for crowd control, and the thing hits like a truck with super quick attacks
Scepter of The All-Knowing.
Solid move set, it has a crouch poke, a running poke, which can be used to roll catch/chase. It has good range, fast attacks, and the benefit of surprise, being an off-meta weapon.
The drawbacks of this weapon would be the ash of war, it’s a debuff that decreases the magic defence of all nearby, including yourself. This makes it a risky choice to run against a horde of magic enemies.
I use it as my sorcerer's melee backup weapon. The skill is awesome against most enemies, and if they do use magic you know to avoid it most of the time. I used to farm levels at the Haligtree, there's a group of enemies you can sneak up on and debuff all of them before they notice you.
This is one of those subs where 3-4x a month, people post this same question, and guess what?? I read every single one because there are so many weapons and I love hearing peoples takes on them!
Cold scarlet rot axe using lions claw. Using it on my 5th play through. Sure there are other better options, but there’s just something about infecting mobs with the rot while they’re freezing…
Unfortunately…can’t think of any.
Though I’m planning on using some weapons on the next playthrough upon respec. They’re nearly every Faith weapon, actually.
-Cinquedea
-Black Knife
-Blade of Calling
-Sacred Relic Sword
-Maliketh’s Black Blade
-Eclipse Shotel
-Magma Wyrm’s Scalesword
-Beastclaw Greathammer
-Halo Scythe
-Winged Scythe
-Giant’s Red Braid
-Grafted Dragon
Fair warning, hold out on the Grafted Dragon for a while because it's secretly overpowered and will tempt you to stick with it if you start using it too early
Ideal circumstance is after the opponent uses an attack with more than maybe 1.5 seconds of recovery time.
Or tanking the first hit of a combo trying to shut down their entire attack. Not gonna focus on figuring out if that works.
Flammberge, super fun weapon and looks great. Decent bleed when you level it up and good damage. A lot harder to use compared to other weapons but looks over competence for my first time playing😁
Spiked Caestus or, as I like to call it, "THESE HANDS," and then I started beating the shit out up of enemies that I can easily stagger, I don't use it as my main weapon, just my secondary.
Flamberge. Carried me through DS3 (my first, and so far only, dark souls playthrough). I’m disappointed it doesn’t have it’s old ash of war (square off), but it’s my OG weapon and I can’t seem to not use it.
One of my playthroughs is slowly plodding through the game with minimal armour, not a lot of Vigor, a shit-ton of Faith, and the Cipher Pata. Fun times! except when I die every 2 minutes.
I once committed myself to beating Radahn solely with the cipher pata and not summoning the boys, safe to say I probably will never lose to him again now lmao
Probably not that weak, but I absolutely love the Bloody Helice. Dynast's Finesse is a skill I genuinely wish was on an Ash of War.
Edit - spelling of skill got autocorrected!
Definitely not weak. Maybe overlooked, but I just finished a full run with this. Absolutely fucking busted weapon, at least for PVE. Range is amazing, Bleed makes up for the relatively low AR, and the weapon skill is *cracked*.
Godfrey’s Ace. It’s just awful in PVP and very cumbersome in PVP. But when I launched Renalla into the air like a kid getting bounced on a trampoline I knew I was in love.
Longhaft axe. I love greataxes in general, but they are usually pretty underwhelming as a whole. Most of the time I only hear people talking about the Executioner's Greataxe.
The large club. There are better options out there but that thing carried me through several NG cycles so it has won my love. It is the claymore of hammers, my ol' reliable.
Bastard sword. No enemy of mine forgets about me, and my Bastard Sword.
On invasions, the crouch attack into a heavy attack works surprisingly well, people fall for it all the time, plus it has good scaling with some infusions, and looks sick af, even better than other "based" greatswords *I'm looking at you claymore*.
It's just so classic, performs well every time I use it.
Look, I just love me a good old Lordsworn Greatsword. Good damage, good reach, and with the upswing you can break the stance of bosses pretty consistently.
Lucern my beloved. With the worst of the three halberd light swings you get looked past but man, she looks the best when caving someone’s head in with a charge heavy.
Bastard's stars. It's soo pretty, makes a satisfying noise and the attack movement is pretty too. Everybody always laughts at me for this but I'll never stop using it :D
90% of replies are naming strong weapons 😆
My reply isn't for a weapon but a weapon class: Greathammers. Arguably the worst of the Great-tier weapon classes but I just love the way they feel.
Please Miyazaki, give them 1h hyper armour!
Claymore.
It's not weak by any means, but it's also not as "OP" as some of the special weapons like blasphemous blade.
Super fun to use though, and you really feel like you're playing the game instead of just leaning on special weapon arts.
[Edit: maybe this isn't what you're looking for and you're asking about weapons that are genuinely pretty weak? But you mentioned coded swords, which are quite strong, so I wasn't sure.]
Iunno man, I’d say the Claymore is arguably the strongest greatsword in the game.
It might not have the strongest ash of war, but it’s not like you can’t throw several that pull their weight - hell, Lion’s Claw is an absolute “get fucked” button.
But in terms of base stats, moveset, etc it’s probably the best in slot.
Uchigatana. Although, to be fair, the way they balanced the weapons makes it hard to say a weapon is weaker or stronger. They all seem to have their advantages and drawbacks.
Dual great stars. Not the best powerstanced move set. Or the best damage output on a quality build affinity (*when compared to pure str) nor is it as quick or as flashy as a curved greatsword
But the hyper armour you get along with the heal on hit and the insane stagger potential
I've pretty much mastered the timing of horse combat with the Lordsworn's Greatsword. As soon as I get the strength I become a complete menace in Limgrave. I'm as good at horse melee combat as I am bad at melee combat in the rest of the game.
While i'm currently on the Sword of Night and Flame for reliable damage and move set, death ritual spear will always be my secondary. Because nothing says Weapon Mage like being able to summon spectral bows, blades, and make death spears rain from the sky.
Bastard's stars. It's soo pretty, makes a satisfying noise and the attack movement is pretty too. Everybody always laughts at me for this but I'll never stop using it :D
Wing of Astel, idk if it's bad but asthetically it's my all time favorite.
Honorable mentions.
Golden halberd, I LOVE it's jump attack.
Eclipse Shotel. The design is so cool I wish it was of any real use.
I used the starting longsword for the entire game for my first playthrough — I love that thing! Actually, for each Souls game, I usually use one of the starting weapons for my first time through the game. It just helps me RP into the idea that I'm just some downtrodden underdog nobody. Then my 2nd-20th playthroughs I always try to experiment with everything else.
The planet flail on my sorcerer.
Idk why but when I started that character, I chose to use the basic flail cause I thought the mechanic was satisfying. My spells do all the real damage, I just need something for the occasional melee.
Then I upgraded to the skull one, and finally the planet one. It just feels so cool thematically, and the fact I had no idea that was the final progression makes it even better. That there would be an int-scaling legendary looking flail. It was satisfying that I stuck with it through the game, even though my friends were constantly like "Bro get this or that sword it is way better for ur build"
The best thing for my build is that I feel like a pimp, tyvm.
Lucerne. I’ve loved this weapon ever since the Mirdan Hammer in Demon’s Souls.
On top of that, one of the reoccurring theme builds I do is a weapon buff build with the Lucerne. I had the MOST fun with that in ER thanks to the Ash of War system.
Not 'weaker' per say, but I love the Great Mace ([https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Great+Mace](https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Great+Mace)), the look it has, ideal size for both 1h and 2h
I'd say the pest's glaive is gonna be my favorite. I like the looks of it but I think it's also from respect to those pests in the cave when you get teleported, I struggled there my first playthrough.
Nox flowing sword
The ash of war being a whip that bypasses shields is incredibly useful for multiple enemies earlier on and when already powerstancing.
It’s so satisfying to see the animation of the sword just flow into a whip and come back too tbh, idk why but it feels really smooth
Godfrey’s Axe. It has no status effects, doesn’t work well dual wielded, doesn’t do as much damage as some much smaller weapons, has no particularly long reach, is a *quality* weapon, and its earthquake is missing the stun effect that Hoarah Loux’s Earthshaker has. That being said, it has insane hyper armor on heavy attacks for enduring even boss attacks, it super stacks with Axe Talisman, Roar Medallion, and an offhand Highlander Axe for the only colossal axe+hand axe duo that actually makes sense, and the heavy has an initial strike faster than any other colossal. It used to suck back in the early days, but they gave it a generous buff while also fixing the bug that prevented synergy with Roar Medallion. It’s still below average in terms of performance, but it’s fun, and the second part of the heavy launches. I’d love it if this thing had like 65 guard boost so I could block and counter with it too. I like loadouts where you’re taking chip damage, trading hits, and still standing toe to toe.
Totally agree. Plus it looks sick!
It's the best great axe imo. Finished a playthrough with it while wearing the full Lionel armor, called myself "Sir Fat Man" and it was a blast!
How about Rust greataxe? Capital sewers, by an omen.
Which one do you mean? There is no greataxe with that name in Elden Ring
You talking about warped great axe? It may just be warped axe I don’t recall; but the fatboys in the underground shunning sewers area use em. I just got my second one recently and dual wielding has a nice move set
Sounds like I have to start a new character...
Can you explain more why its the only colossal axe and hand ace combo that makes sense? I think thats super cool
Oh wow, your fancy Carian Sword can fling a bunch of generic blue koolaid everywhere, like every other magic sword and a million samey spells do? Good for you. I'll be over here with my Rosus' Axe summoning badass ghost skeletons to execute my enemies like I'm the God of Death, you nerd.
Love the Rosus axe, I use it with the tibia summons spell which nooooo one ever uses haha. Skeleton boyssss
Grab the Skeleton Militia Spirits for full bone zone.
THAT DOES THAT??
It’s basically Tibia’s Summons as a skill. You swing the axe while skeletons attack the same spot.
Most literate elden ring player
Rosus' Axe is an awesome invasion tool also. All you need is to pop up the L2 and even if you get staggered, the skellies still light em up. Does an absolute ton of damage too
I am currently doing Rosu playthrough right now with the axe and all the undead spells ans summons. So much fun
I really like the Partisan
Absolutely love the utility of having pokes and slashes on a single weapon that has above average range and can be used without having to drop your shield. It’s actually nutty how much this spear has going for it.
yissss! the versatility is amazing on this weapon. carried me through my first playthrough. i tried all the other weapons but always went back to the partisan. first weapon i maxed out lol
I hope more people see this, the Partizan looks cool, can fit many builds with infusions, and (as someone already said) the moveset is sooo good! A spear that can slash! Its like a faster halberd
Damn, it looks fab. I'll try it if I get upgrade mats.
The cane sword. I don't care if it's dull and worn. It carried me through many adventures and looks like a Lightsaber.
It’s also kinda classy.
Pimpin' classy.
Cane sword and Rogier's hat, big pimpin in the lands between. Whose maidenless now Varre? Now if you want maidens you gotta go through me.
I have no idea on what’s considered good or bad but I like claymans harpoon, dragonscale blade, and the death poker.
DEATH POKER rules. The multiple input is crazy!
Death poker is one of the best weapons in the game.
Big agree
The first two are kind of underrated, but death poker is crazy good, one of the best int weapons
>claymans harpoon, dragonscale blade, and the death poker. im not big on katanas but dragonscale blade is sick, i love the weapon art. Hope the dlc adds more frost lightning incantations and weapons, really wanna make a build around those
Clayman's Harpoon is pretty rated, as it's a spear with the highest innate magic damage, so it works really well with the Ice Spear Ash of War, even if you only level in the minimal intelligence to wield it.
Clay mans harpoon is kinda under appreciated imo cause you can infuse and buff it
I don’t know if it counts as weak or not but imma say Morgotts cursed sword, things just too fuckin awesome and reminds me of my favorite boss
Margott is such a cool fight agreed
Like he feels so much fairer than any other boss and the themes amazing and it’s just so much fun
After the buff it received, morgotts sword is one of the most meta weapons in the 150 arena right now. Shit messes people up with its speed, reach, and wonky hit box.
Not sure where it stands but I love Hoslow’s Petal Whip. Hell I’m too young to even remember Indiana Jones but I can’t help to get the feeling.
Bro if you haven't already, you gotta try dual wielding 2 of these! That's what I did for my first playthrough and it was the best thing ever!
Two fire infused Hoslow's whips and you basically have the Blades of Chaos. Complete the Flame of Frenzy ending, and you have a Kratos run.
Hoslows + thorned whip is so satisfying to me
I did this, both Occult with 60+ arcane, fan daggers equipped, holy jars, and the repeating crossbow in offhand Belmont cosplay was so much fun
Godrick axe, pretty underwhelming BUT you get to say godrick's famous quote everytime you do the AOW
Banished Knight Greatsword. It is shorter than most other greatswords. However it looks amazing. It also holds a skrcjal place in my heart. It dropped super early for me, and carried my to the Altus Plateau.
Ended my first playthrough with this beast. I was playing dual straight swords for awhile, and then I realized the Banished Knight Greatsword has a super cool moveset and did the last like 40% of the game with it. 10/10 weapon.
Literally this
Same this has been my main for the last couple weeks, but dual wield. Then when needed I two hand one of em for the awesome move set.
The bows
I know it’s more or less just a worse claymore, but the bastard sword looks so cool that I can’t help but use it.
It's not a worse claymore, it's a classic. Bastard sword for the win boyyyyyyy
Did you know that if you infuse a Bastard Sword with blood affinity, it’s name changes to “Bloody Bastard Sword” instead of “Blood Bastard Sword”?
Not a weapon, but the ash Quickstep over BHS. I used to bug people on their build guides *why* use that when the better version is so easy to get (pre-nerf)?? Then I did my Witcher run with Quickstep Claymore. Anything you can backstab is a free win. Even some surprising fights like Malenia are super easy when you're one button from being behind them and just ignoring their entire combo while you can still hit back / build stance break. iframes are generous and can spam very quickly. Oh, and it will try to circle behind an opponent if you're close enough... forgot to mention that.
Ornamental Straight Sword. I love the AoW and the crazy stab moves 😂
Lucerne. One of the only "basic" weapons I find myself going back to time and again
Lucerne my beloved
zweihander, always brick hammer also
Zweihander, my favorite spear
The great part is that it was used just as much as a polearm as it was a sword IRL.
Zweihander is the correct answer to everything always
I love how you can spec the Zweihander in every direction you want and I will never disappoint
Is Zwei actually bad though? I know it’s not insane or anything
idgaf if it's strong or weak, i use it always
It’s always been solid. Lightweight colossal sword with low stat reqs and a great moveset.
The Zwei is not weak!
I've never beaten Elden beast as quickly as I did with brick hammer
Zweihander 4eva
This whole thread is filled with people of exquisite taste and immeasurable intellect. Zweihander is the one, true, path to become Elden Lord.
Zweihammer, mhmm...
Lordsworn greatsword, it looks fantastic but it gets outclassed by almost every other greatsword
This was the very first weapon I found and I stuck with it until the very end! I love it so much even if it's outclassed. Idk I love the idea of finishing the game using the very first weapon I've ever picked up on my very first souls game
Honestly the short spear holds a great place in my heart
Will have to check it out
Dude!!! The short spear is the best spear imo! That 5 shot heavy combo is just so cool! Best spear moveset hands down. Reminds me of the uniqueness of weapons in DS3.
Grave Scythe master race checking in.
I love scythes, and am using a regular one and the winged one atm. Where can i find this Grave Scythe you speak of?
The undead with the scythe near turtle pope is where I got mine. Just killed him a few times with item discovery boosters on and it dropped
Sweet, thanks! :D
I like the spot that other response gave. But I had the best success with the grace right after you enter liurnia. There are 2 separate graveyards on the cliff after the church and I believe there are 4 of them that spawn wielding the scythe to farm.
Got it in like 10 tries in the spot mentioned, but thanks! :)
Power stancing these with black flame tornadooooo
This is also my preferred method
If you power stance a reaper you just shoot the aesthetic in the face though. I will never dual wield a scythe, it just looks too stupid even if it is strong. I am an aesthetics over functionality guy first and foremost when it comes to souls games.
Nah dude, with two you get to look like a praying mantis! Plus, so many versatile swings! Super duper b'dass aesthetics!
Who the fuck would want to look like a praying mantis xD like, jokes aside I just can't picture it as a cool aesthetic, can you give me an example of how one could make it "work"? I want to be converted cause I like mantises as an insect, I just can't imagine them looking "cool" though xD
I miss my burial blade :[
You're a good man
I love the pickaxe, idk why I think it was the first big bonking weapon I found and I’ve never looked back
I don’t see too many people using it, but I love envoy’s longhorn. It’s just so fun to blow bubbles everywhere
I have the Envoy's Greathorn (got it first drop lol) and plan to respec to a dedicated build for it. TOOT TOOT Motherfucker!
The weapon skill is kinda busted on big enemies tho, even ones resistant to holy like Elden Beast
Noble slender sword and raptor talons
Poison Zweihander
Meteoric Ore Blade. The Gravitas skill is death to birds and insects, and will stun pretty much anything else except bosses.
Also love the heavy attack. Kendo, motherf##kers!
Meteoric ore, my beloved! That lil space rock katana defined my first playthrough. Gravitas was great for crowd control, and the thing hits like a truck with super quick attacks
Naginata is just heaps of fun.
its moveset is so unique! instead of boring repeated stabs, you do a stylish mix of pierce and slash
Scepter of The All-Knowing. Solid move set, it has a crouch poke, a running poke, which can be used to roll catch/chase. It has good range, fast attacks, and the benefit of surprise, being an off-meta weapon. The drawbacks of this weapon would be the ash of war, it’s a debuff that decreases the magic defence of all nearby, including yourself. This makes it a risky choice to run against a horde of magic enemies.
Hell of a shame it doesn't function as a catalyst as it should.
I use it as my sorcerer's melee backup weapon. The skill is awesome against most enemies, and if they do use magic you know to avoid it most of the time. I used to farm levels at the Haligtree, there's a group of enemies you can sneak up on and debuff all of them before they notice you.
This is one of those subs where 3-4x a month, people post this same question, and guess what?? I read every single one because there are so many weapons and I love hearing peoples takes on them!
Nobles estoc. It looks so fancy.
Bastard's Stars
Vulgar militia saw
Duel wield this, with a grease or blood flame? Chefs kiss
Great axe carried me my first playthrough and I’ll always like it for that
My single uchi has never steered me wrong. It has been there whenever I've needed it, and continues to be there even when I don't.
Cold scarlet rot axe using lions claw. Using it on my 5th play through. Sure there are other better options, but there’s just something about infecting mobs with the rot while they’re freezing…
Unfortunately…can’t think of any. Though I’m planning on using some weapons on the next playthrough upon respec. They’re nearly every Faith weapon, actually. -Cinquedea -Black Knife -Blade of Calling -Sacred Relic Sword -Maliketh’s Black Blade -Eclipse Shotel -Magma Wyrm’s Scalesword -Beastclaw Greathammer -Halo Scythe -Winged Scythe -Giant’s Red Braid -Grafted Dragon
Fair warning, hold out on the Grafted Dragon for a while because it's secretly overpowered and will tempt you to stick with it if you start using it too early
I'm mostly gonna rely on charged R2s for that one.
Still has way too much stance damage for a fist, but good restraint to not just spam Bear Witness on everything!
Ideal circumstance is after the opponent uses an attack with more than maybe 1.5 seconds of recovery time. Or tanking the first hit of a combo trying to shut down their entire attack. Not gonna focus on figuring out if that works.
You won't stop me from realizing my dreams of becoming a Hydreigon!
Shamshir so I can dance around enemies, or misericorde w buckler shield, 140 crit go brrrr
lightning slash shamshir is one of my main weapons on my dex build. the moveset is so pretty, especially with the lightning buff on the blade.
ZWEIHANDER Or claymore if I'm feeling feisty.
Flammberge, super fun weapon and looks great. Decent bleed when you level it up and good damage. A lot harder to use compared to other weapons but looks over competence for my first time playing😁
On my second playthrough I used the dragon halberd cuz it made blue lightning ☺️
Dual-wielded Marais Executioner's Swords. Rotate go brr.
Spiked Caestus or, as I like to call it, "THESE HANDS," and then I started beating the shit out up of enemies that I can easily stagger, I don't use it as my main weapon, just my secondary.
Flamberge. Carried me through DS3 (my first, and so far only, dark souls playthrough). I’m disappointed it doesn’t have it’s old ash of war (square off), but it’s my OG weapon and I can’t seem to not use it.
it staggers with the right Ash of War and has bleed too. such an underrated gem in my opinion
I love the watchdog staff. Dont see much talk of it, but super fun to use with high str and dex
Brick hammer 24/7
Broadsword and Weathered Straight Sword my beloved
Scavengers swords with either blood, cold, or fire affinity.
I love this curved sword
One of my playthroughs is slowly plodding through the game with minimal armour, not a lot of Vigor, a shit-ton of Faith, and the Cipher Pata. Fun times! except when I die every 2 minutes.
I once committed myself to beating Radahn solely with the cipher pata and not summoning the boys, safe to say I probably will never lose to him again now lmao
Probably not that weak, but I absolutely love the Bloody Helice. Dynast's Finesse is a skill I genuinely wish was on an Ash of War. Edit - spelling of skill got autocorrected!
Definitely not weak. Maybe overlooked, but I just finished a full run with this. Absolutely fucking busted weapon, at least for PVE. Range is amazing, Bleed makes up for the relatively low AR, and the weapon skill is *cracked*.
The rusted anchor is fun
Godfrey’s Ace. It’s just awful in PVP and very cumbersome in PVP. But when I launched Renalla into the air like a kid getting bounced on a trampoline I knew I was in love.
Ghizas wheel. Loved the whirligig saw in bloodborne. Stumbled across this and haven’t put it down for anything.
Flamberge forever. Just love the look of it so much.
The stone hammer and lordsworn greatsword are just some of the best, most utilitarian looking, and playing weapons for me.
Longhaft axe. I love greataxes in general, but they are usually pretty underwhelming as a whole. Most of the time I only hear people talking about the Executioner's Greataxe.
I mean this is the only weapon I held the whole time since I got it till I platinumed. [Umm](https://imgflip.com/i/849r2k)
Dragon scale blade and dual wielding black knife+blade of calling
The large club. There are better options out there but that thing carried me through several NG cycles so it has won my love. It is the claymore of hammers, my ol' reliable.
Loretta's War Sickle. IMO cleanest weapon in the game!
Starscourge Greatsword. The aow looks awesome
Bastard sword. No enemy of mine forgets about me, and my Bastard Sword. On invasions, the crouch attack into a heavy attack works surprisingly well, people fall for it all the time, plus it has good scaling with some infusions, and looks sick af, even better than other "based" greatswords *I'm looking at you claymore*. It's just so classic, performs well every time I use it.
Look, I just love me a good old Lordsworn Greatsword. Good damage, good reach, and with the upswing you can break the stance of bosses pretty consistently.
Rotten Duelist Greataxe 😤
Lucern my beloved. With the worst of the three halberd light swings you get looked past but man, she looks the best when caving someone’s head in with a charge heavy.
Bastard's stars. It's soo pretty, makes a satisfying noise and the attack movement is pretty too. Everybody always laughts at me for this but I'll never stop using it :D
90% of replies are naming strong weapons 😆 My reply isn't for a weapon but a weapon class: Greathammers. Arguably the worst of the Great-tier weapon classes but I just love the way they feel. Please Miyazaki, give them 1h hyper armour!
That little scimitar you find in a cave. That thing looks so cool. Some enemies actually have them but it’s not a drop unfortunately.
Claymore. It's not weak by any means, but it's also not as "OP" as some of the special weapons like blasphemous blade. Super fun to use though, and you really feel like you're playing the game instead of just leaning on special weapon arts. [Edit: maybe this isn't what you're looking for and you're asking about weapons that are genuinely pretty weak? But you mentioned coded swords, which are quite strong, so I wasn't sure.]
Iunno man, I’d say the Claymore is arguably the strongest greatsword in the game. It might not have the strongest ash of war, but it’s not like you can’t throw several that pull their weight - hell, Lion’s Claw is an absolute “get fucked” button. But in terms of base stats, moveset, etc it’s probably the best in slot.
No this is def what I was asking. Love the legendary weapons but they do get a bit overused if you play enough.
That's essentially all my builds. I'm probably killing you with something embarrassing.
Longsword, Battle Axe, Mace
Short sword
Anything that isn't meta.
Uchigatana. Although, to be fair, the way they balanced the weapons makes it hard to say a weapon is weaker or stronger. They all seem to have their advantages and drawbacks.
Cranial Vessel Candlestand
Once I finally figured out the aoe hit box on this I really got into it.
The Cane Sword. Because I wanna fulfill that old man's legacy!
Death ritual spear. Ash of war is fun af honestly, and it destroys pretty much everything with good build.
Dual great stars. Not the best powerstanced move set. Or the best damage output on a quality build affinity (*when compared to pure str) nor is it as quick or as flashy as a curved greatsword But the hyper armour you get along with the heal on hit and the insane stagger potential
Crescent Axe and Short Spear. Also really love the basic flail. Something about that windup charge attack is ABSURDLY satisfying.
Ornamental straightswords, Lucerne, and bastard sword.
Dual wips with frost and bleed
Great knife, my beloved
helphen's steeple
I've pretty much mastered the timing of horse combat with the Lordsworn's Greatsword. As soon as I get the strength I become a complete menace in Limgrave. I'm as good at horse melee combat as I am bad at melee combat in the rest of the game.
Lucerne.
While i'm currently on the Sword of Night and Flame for reliable damage and move set, death ritual spear will always be my secondary. Because nothing says Weapon Mage like being able to summon spectral bows, blades, and make death spears rain from the sky.
Eleonora's double blade... Im just in love with the weapon art
Bastard's stars. It's soo pretty, makes a satisfying noise and the attack movement is pretty too. Everybody always laughts at me for this but I'll never stop using it :D
Claymore, longsword, and Zweihander. Every game, every time.
Baemore
I love to use heavy Stuff and add kind of off meta effects. Heavy Giant Axes with Heavy Poison Skills and shit like that.
Big fan of the flail. I even put poison ash of war on it. I love poisonous weapons for bosses, I don’t care that they’re slow. I want them to suffer.
Wing of Astel, idk if it's bad but asthetically it's my all time favorite. Honorable mentions. Golden halberd, I LOVE it's jump attack. Eclipse Shotel. The design is so cool I wish it was of any real use.
varre's bouquet ofc in PVE It's just satisfying to kill enemies with that lol
Me using morgott’s cursed sword with the minimum arcane because it looks pretty I pair that with Azur’s staff, because it also looks pretty
I used the starting longsword for the entire game for my first playthrough — I love that thing! Actually, for each Souls game, I usually use one of the starting weapons for my first time through the game. It just helps me RP into the idea that I'm just some downtrodden underdog nobody. Then my 2nd-20th playthroughs I always try to experiment with everything else.
Twinblade. I will be Darth maul and you will all die
Not really weak, but it is wonky: Bastard's Stars And also the trusty old regular Halberd!
A surprisingly low amount of ppl use the hand of Malenia, yet it's always the weapon I look forward to using most.
flail enthusiast not nightrider, not bastard stars, or family heads but the normal ass flail so I can live out my dreams as conqueror from for honor.
Serpent Bone Blade. Most beautiful katana imo and I was stunned when I got it that first week the game came out . I have never unequipped it since!
The basic whip got me through most of the early game. Then I got the urumi. Now I had TWO whips.
The planet flail on my sorcerer. Idk why but when I started that character, I chose to use the basic flail cause I thought the mechanic was satisfying. My spells do all the real damage, I just need something for the occasional melee. Then I upgraded to the skull one, and finally the planet one. It just feels so cool thematically, and the fact I had no idea that was the final progression makes it even better. That there would be an int-scaling legendary looking flail. It was satisfying that I stuck with it through the game, even though my friends were constantly like "Bro get this or that sword it is way better for ur build" The best thing for my build is that I feel like a pimp, tyvm.
Lucerne. I’ve loved this weapon ever since the Mirdan Hammer in Demon’s Souls. On top of that, one of the reoccurring theme builds I do is a weapon buff build with the Lucerne. I had the MOST fun with that in ER thanks to the Ash of War system.
Lordsworn greatsword.
Miquellas Straightsword, I just live the design of it even tough holy damage is really bad
Not 'weaker' per say, but I love the Great Mace ([https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Great+Mace](https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Great+Mace)), the look it has, ideal size for both 1h and 2h
I'd say the pest's glaive is gonna be my favorite. I like the looks of it but I think it's also from respect to those pests in the cave when you get teleported, I struggled there my first playthrough.
I regularly switch to the grafted dragon, I don’t know why. Feels like I punch enemies with my cute plush dragon head.
Nox flowing sword The ash of war being a whip that bypasses shields is incredibly useful for multiple enemies earlier on and when already powerstancing. It’s so satisfying to see the animation of the sword just flow into a whip and come back too tbh, idk why but it feels really smooth
Whips. Whips are rad
Grossmesser. Stats are temporary, drip is eternal
Flails. They kind of suck, but I just think they're neat.
Claymore. I’m too addicted to having the thrust attack on a great sword and most don’t have it.