Weapon Types (Dark Souls III)

Weapon Types are a design and classification of weapons in Dark Souls III.

All weapons have fit into a weapon type that aids the player in determining the basic functionality of that weapon. Weapons of the same weapon type have similar forms of attack.

Swords

 * Straight Swords


 * Ordinary swords with a balance of slashing and thrust attacks. Some straight swords cannot thrust, but do more damage to make up for the lack of versatility.


 * Greatswords


 * Larger swords suitable for two-handed usage; slower and more powerful than normal swords. Their wide swing radius is suitable for catching agile opponents.


 * Ultra Greatswords


 * Very large blades that more or less require two hands to use accurately. These weapons have to hit; if they miss, the user is open to heavy counterattacks. Ultra Greatswords do the best counter damage of all the really heavy weapons.


 * Curved Swords


 * Curved Swords have shorter range than other swords but are slightly faster. They are well-suited to confined spaces against lightly armored enemies who will be unable to dodge or block the rapid attacks, but their Slashing-orientated movesets are ineffective against heavier armor.


 * Curved Greatswords


 * Larger and more powerful than normal Curved Swords, designed for two-handed use. Slower than Greatswords, but faster than Ultra Greatswords.


 * Thrusting Swords


 * Thrusting swords in general have a thin blade, like the Rapier. Obviously, they focus on thrusts, and as such have trouble against enemies who dodge to the side often. It's advised to adopt a patient counter-attack style while using this weapon. Thrusting swords tend to be fragile, but not quite as fragile as katanas.


 * Katanas


 * Katanas are the middle-ground of both range and speed, and they tend to do very high damage on counterattacks. All katanas can slash and thrust. However, they break very quickly.

Axes

 * Axes


 * Small axes are very similar to the straight swords that only slash. The main difference is that axes mainly do damage based on strength, while the damage of straight swords depends on both strength and dexterity.


 * Greataxes
 * Although greataxes are as slow and unwieldy as the other types of heavy weapons, they are mostly very light in comparison to ultra greatswords and great hammers. However, greataxes generally have the shortest range of all heavy weapons. In terms of damage, they are very similar to ultra greatswords.

Polearms

 * Spears
 * Spears are excellent weapons for tactical combat, as most spears' one-handed light attacks can be used while still blocking and their range is impressive. However, their thrusting attacks only have a small hitbox so they are easily dodged. Spear players must take special care to let down their shield to recover stamina and avoid a guard break. Spears are best used to hold position in a narrow corridor and are a poor choice for agile or small enemies. Although spears mostly do thrust damage, their rolling attacks actually deal strike damage, making them very effective against heavily armored enemies. As this weapon type is a polearm, one must hit with the tip of the spear to deal maximum damage, and so this requires players to maintain their distance from the enemy.


 * Pikes
 * Pikes, much like their shorter cousins, can be used to inflict thrust damage from behind a shield. They are typically heavier and inflict more damage than spears. As with other weapons that can attack from behind shields, care must betaken to ensure the player does not exhaust their stamina resulting in a guard break.


 * Halberds
 * Halberds are polearms that deal slashing attacks. Some halberds cannot thrust, but the ones that can thrust can also attack from behind a shield, similar to spears. They are slower than Spears, but their slashing attacks allow use against a wider range of enemies. As with polearms like spears, halberds are most effective when the tip or blade of the halberd hits the enemy.


 * Reapers
 * Reapers were originally meant for farming, not combat, so a warrior who intends to use a reaper in combat must be very skilled with it to prevail. All reapers deal slashing damage, and similar to other polearms in the game, deal the most damage when the blade hits the enemy. It may be possible to ignore an enemy's shield when attacking if the attack is landed well.

Hammers

 * Hammers
 * Hammers generally do more physical damage and poise damage than axes or straight swords, but their attack animations can be slightly awkward to hit with. For the most part, hammers do strike damage and depend totally on strength. Since hammers deal strike damage, they are most effective against heavily-armored targets.


 * Great Hammers
 * Great hammers boast the highest poise damage in the game, along with decent range. Their strike damage combined with their high poise damage in general makes them incredibly good against large, heavily armored enemies. However great hammers do not do extra damage on counterattacks.

Daggers

 * Daggers
 * Daggers have short range, but are extremely rapid and have high critical potential. They are best-suited towards tactical fighters with a penchant for counters and backstabs. Daggers have both slashing and thrusting attacks.

Fist

 * Fist & Claw Weapons
 * As they are merely covers for the hands, Fist Weapons have the shortest range of all weapon types. They are also extremely rapid. Fist Weapons do very little damage on critical attacks. Out of all the weapons that deal strike and slash damage, these are the fastest.

Whips

 * Whips
 * Whips have very low durability, but have considerable range and have a rather huge and unpredictable hitbox, making them more suited to PvP.

Ranged

 * Bows
 * Bows must be held two-handed to attack, and in this stance the Block button allows manual aiming.


 * Greatbows
 * Greatbows do far greater damage than normal bows, however they are heavier and have a slower draw speed.


 * Crossbows
 * Crossbows do better damage than bows for a character with low strength and dexterity, but they have no strength/dexterity scaling. Unlike bows, crossbows do not need to be held in two hands; doing so merely lowers the strength requirement.

Spell Catalysts

 * Staves
 * Staves are primarily used to cast sorceries. They can also be used as melee weapons when executing their strong attack. Most inflict either Strike or Thrust, damage but most are only worth using as weapons for the purpose of breaking inanimate objects in the character's way.


 * Talismans
 * Talismans are used to cast miracles and can also be used as melee weapons when executing their strong attack, inflicting Strike damage.


 * Sacred Chimes
 * Sacred Chimes are used to cast Miracles and can also be used as melee weapons when executing their strong attack, inflicting Strike Damage.


 * Pyromancy Flames
 * The Pyromancy Flame's primary use is that of casting pyromancy and also deals Fire damage when its strong attack is used.