This is a guide/tutorial on how to kill the 'Dancer of the Boreal Valley' before fighting the 'Abyss Watchers'. Easy and takes about an hour to do and you will be SL 20-25 when fighting the dancer. Find the best places to farm Souls in Dark Souls and learn about the Infinite Soul Exploit. Dark Souls Soul Farming and Infinite Soul Exploit. Wait for the dragon to breathe fire and kill.

• Dark Souls 3 Kill Dragon Early Release

Dark Souls high level difficulty may have given you second thoughts about picking up this excellent title. However, there is a myriad of loot available very early in the game that will help you easily defeat the first few levels. This guide is not for the weak of heart, however, as you will be venturing into dangerous territory filled with foes that can eradicate you with one shot. But gamers that have mastered the run-and-roll technique can amass powerful equipment and souls in as little as 30 minutes. Don’t worry if you die frequently. Concentrate on memorizing the level layout and enemy locations.

After a few tries, you will be flying through previously nightmare-inducing terrain. So my fellow tech gamer, get your running shoes and courage and read on for some early Dark Souls dungeon looting.PreparationYou must reach Firelink Shrine. Choose the Master Key as your beginning gift and make sure your equipment load is at 25% since you will be running past all of the enemies. A weapon is not necessary for most of the guide.

I recommend you start as a cleric.Estoc and Firekeeper SoulFrom the Firelink Shrine bonfire, head down the winding stairs past the Firekeeper and continue down the elevator. You are now in New Londo Ruins. Here you can pick up souls, transient curse X2 and the Estoc, which allows you to attack while shielded. To the right of the elevator is a staircase that will lead you to Rickert of Vinheim, an imprisoned blacksmith and magic seller.

To the left is a bridge leading further into New Londo Ruins filled with ghosts that require the use of a cursed weapon or a transient curse to take damage. Once across the bridge, run past the first ghost and look to the right. There is a walled pathway with a Firekeep soul. You will be attacked and killed immediately after collecting it and sent back to the bonfire.Dragon Crest Shield, Astora’s Straight Sword, Humanity, Spider ShieldInstead of heading towards the bridge to New Londo Ruins, take the tower closest to the blacksmith.

The Master Key will open the door at the top and you will find a soul just past it. Continue to the wooden bridge and take the path to the left with the suspension bridge. You will soon encounter a sleeping dragon guarding the Dragon Crest Shield, Astora’s Straight Sword and some souls. If you quickly pick up the loot and roll twice, the dragon will miss you. Otherwise, you may have to repeat the route twice to collect all the loot.You can avoid the dragon altogether by hugging the cliff and taking the ascending path.

Later in the game you can easily poach the dragon with arrows, magic or fire from this spot. Past the dragon is the Valley of Drakes. Run past both drakes jumping to avoid their lightning breath attack. Do not cross the stone bridge. Instead head up the rocks and into the tower and up the elevator. Continue and rest at the bonfire.

Now that you are rested, let’s go get the loot. Head down to the drakes.

The Spider Shield and Brigand Set are past the drake on the stone bridge. Keep to the left side of the bridge when you run and jump to the loot.

Immediately run while shielded (the cleric shield has high lightning defense) and past the drakes.If you keep going back towards the drake closest to the, now awake, gaping dragon, you will notice a cave next to him (the drake not the dragon). There is a body with humanity in the cave. It’s possible to emerge unscathed from the cave but death by lightning is the likeliest outcome.Grass Crest ShieldThis is one the best shields in the game and can be upgraded with titanite. More importantly, the shield recharges your stamina quickly, an important buff for any character build. The shield is one of the easiest pick-ups in the game. Let’s go get it. The path for the bonfire in the cave leads down to the Valley of Drakes or leads up to Darkroot Basin.

After raiding Valley of Drakes, set your sights on Darkroot Basin. Immediately after the cave ends, head to your right down a short path. The body at the end holds the shield.

Do not dawdle as a halberd-wielding Black Knight is right on top of you. Let him take you out or roll past his attack after getting the shield.Crystal Lizard, Elite Knight Set, BlacksmithThis is a long run with no time allowed for appreciating the scenery. After navigating past the Black Knight, take the meandering path all the way up. It will seem like forever at first but you will end up in Darkroot Garden. On your way, you will pass a jump off for the warrior set and a crystal lizard.

Enter Darkroot Garden and run to the right avoiding the Demonic Foliage. Run to the end of the path and you will see a door with a glowing seal. Just before this door, there is a path to the right. Take it and go through the fog door.

Look to the 2 o’clock position and you will see glowing loot in the trees. This is the Elite Knight Set.As you approach the loot, demonic foliage and a stone warrior will spawn. Do 3 quick backwards rolls after getting the loot and head back towards the area where you crossed the fog door. You will pass a cave with souls guarded by more demonic foliage. You can get it and again immediately roll back and head back out.Keep running as if your life depended on it, which it does. Continue past the path to Darkroot Basin. You will have to evade some demonic foliage and end up in a stone structure with columns.

Inside is a Prowling Demon. This is the toughest non-boss enemy in the game. He will hurl lightning and swing his giant catchpole. Stay to the left as you go up the stairs and into Undead Parish where you will meet Andre of Astora, a blacksmith who can upgrade basic and divine weapons and sells much useful gear. Up one floor from Andre is the bonfire.Zweihander, Winged Spear, Talisman, Homeward Bone, Cracked Red Eye, FirebombsThe Undead Parish bonfire is a hub for Sen’s Fortress, Darkroot Basin and Firelink Shrine. Sen’s Fortress is unavailable at this point.

From the bonfire, head to the highest level and follow the way out. You will end up in a courtyard with 3 undead soldiers guarding a temple entrance. The temple is also full of enemies and Black Iron Tarkus, your first mini-boss, protects a body with a Firekeeper Soul.You will soon return to raid this area but for now, run straight through the courtyard and into the temple. Continue until you see a pair of elevator doors and roll into the open one. The elevator floor has a trigger activating a shortcut. You will be taken down to the lower level with a connection to Firelink Shrine. Follow the stairs down and you will soon see the starting bonfire at Firelink Shire.

Go ahead a rest for a brief repose.Return to face the elevators once again. You will notice you can drop into one of the openings. The drop leads to an inner courtyard with 4 treasure chests containing weapons and important items like the homeward bone 6X and Lloyd’s Talisman 4X.The next section is tricky with a higher than average likelihood of death, which is the reason for resting at the bonfire. Stand at the edge of the opening from the courtyard with the 4 treasure chests.

You will see a pile of bones down and a bit to the right. There are some powerful weapons and souls here but guarded by strong skeleton warriors. They will animate as you approach the piles of bones on the ground.Drop down and immediately start heading down the grass path in between the graves.

You will see the bright glow of souls surrounded by bones. Pick up the souls and continue to the right. You will see another loot glow at the end of the grave marker. Pick up the Zweihander and quickly turn right heading roughly back where you had started. You will soon come upon a very large grave with a giant skeleton and the winged spear. Turn 45 degrees and roll forward twice to evade the swings of the now awakened giant. Continue back up your original path.

You may have to pass and evade the 2 undead skeletons if they did not give chase. Keep going and continue on a 2 o’clock bearing.

You will come up to the edge of the cliff with another guarded grave with souls. Pick them up and suicide off the cliff.Once back at the bonfire, investigate the local area.

You should be able to quickly find humanity and firebombs. There is also “hidden” soul loot. One is located up the stairs past the elevators to the shrine. One is located on the upper level of the flooded temple ruins. The last one is on the lower level outside the temple ruins.

As you head into the area with the skeletons, carefully circle along the left and past the first mural ruins and look to your left.Firekeeper Soul, Halberd, Basement KeyHere is another tricky bit definitely worth the risk. Return to the temple via the elevators. Tarkus may be waiting for you just past the elevator door or further over guarding the body with a Firekeeper soul. He is very slow and telegraphs his swings. Roll or run past him and pick up the loot at the shrine.

Turn around and you should see pews on either side of the temple. Past them are 3 armored undead soldiers with deadly rapiers.Do not run down the middle aisle, as a Sorcerer will snipe you with Soul Spear from the alcove above. Instead proceed down either side of the columns with your shield raised.

As you approach the soldiers, the furthest one will spawn followed shortly by the other two. Some quick turns and rolls should let you progress safely into the front stairs. Take a sharp right and pick up the halberd, then proceed to the large gate where you can find the basement key. You can try running back to the elevator, trip the lever to lower the gate or let one of many chasing enemies kill your avatar.You can stop here. Or continue to Part II if you don’t scare easily. I am glad I was able to help. You can collect 20,000 souls right from the beginning of the game and it should take you about 10 minutes before you can buy the Crest of Artorias.

If you watch my Youtube channel, I have a lore walkthough. The very first part of the very first video shows me getting the Crest quickly (plus the video and sound quality are much better). I actually have “optimized” the early looting run and may post another video but with an emphasis on collecting all of the early weapons as opposed to souls.

Becoming better at Dark souls can be quite a daunting task, even if you’re not a newcomer to the series. That, and the bountiful options in choosing a weapon, compelled me to make this guide. In the previous dark souls, especially dark souls 2, the weapons would become more powerful as you progressed.

In Dark souls 3 however there are some very strong early game weapons that you can find that will remain viable throughout most of the game.I would also like to mention that although some weapons have more damage or a better moveset, skill is also an important factor and it is entirely possible to go through the game without using the most optimal weapon. I also added a rating system, which is inherently subjective. But it will make it easier to compare what i think of these weapons and easier to discuss/ disagree.

I adapted the scaling rating given to weapons as a way to rate the weapons themselves. Though please keep in mind that as not every B scaling gives the same bonuses, likewise there are some nuances to weapons with the same rating.Lastly, when does early game end? When you either beat Crystal Sage or Watchers of the Abyss. Astora Straight swordThis weapon can be acquired early on and besides requiring 10/10 in STR/DEX it also requires 12 FTH.

If you are willing to pour some points in to FTH, or have chosen the Cleric/ Herald/ Pyromancer class, this is one of the two most powerful weapons you can acquire early game.Because of its low stat scaling, infusing it with a raw gem is the way to go. This way you can still buff the weapon with resin or a spell later on. You can get the raw gem early from the lizard near the hollow, possesed by a black mass, on the roof near the second bonfire.Location: In the building below the black mass-infested hollow roll right through the rubbish to where the Lothric knight is standing, follow the path until the end and then drop down. Here, you’ll find a chest with the sword.rating: S Broadswordtrading in range for damage, this straight sword is another great choice for the early game.

While having great base damage it still has very low requirements, making it great for early pyromancy/ magic/ faith builds. Though from my experience it becomes less viable later in the game than the Lothric Knight Sword and Astora’s. Sharp and Refined infusions will yield only a C/C scaling, so i recommend going for a heavy infusion. This will give the sword an A scaling in STR. If you’re not planning on putting points in STR then a raw infusion is a nice second option.Location: In the building below the black mass-infested hollow, take the second room on your left just past the lothric knight.rating: A Irithyll Straight SwordA lot of people seem to like this sword because it looks so cool, and it does, but it is just such an awful straight sword, especially when compared to the other straight swords found early game. Not only does it weigh more, it also does less damage than the Longsword.

To compensate for this it builds up frostbite every time you hit your enemy. Unfortunately your enemies will die before they will ever get frostbitten, atleast in PVE. In PVP, the flashy sword art will make everyone alert to the fact that they can get frostbitten if hit too many times. If that isn’t enough the sword is also a pain to upgrade, requiring twinkling titanite. Honestly if you’re into fashion souls or don’t care about the self-imposed difficulty then go ahead and use this sword, if you’re not then i would avoid this straight sword.Location: You can acquire this sword by defeating the first outrider knight you encounter just before the bonfire at the road of sacrifice.rating: C (it’s still a straight sword) Lothric Knight Sword/ LongswordThe legend returns, albeit in a bit weaker state then it was in DS1. While the longsword has more base damage, the Lothric Knight Sword has a 110 critical bonus instead of the regular 100. This makes it a better choice for the more technical/ experienced player that knows how to riposte and backstab.

With a refined gem they get a B scaling in both STR and DEX. If you are going a STR build you can infuse it with a heavy gem and get an A scaling.Location: Farm soldier/ Lothric knights at the High Wall of Lothric.rating: A Dark SwordNot only tied with the Astora Straight Sword for best early game weapon, but also one of the best weapons in the game.

The A scaling it gives in STR thanks to a heavy gem gives this straight sword amazing damage throughout the game. There’re no tactics involved, just press r1 and everything will die. Not that you will mind since it’s such a stylish weapon (just press R2). It also uses the weapon technique for greatswords which can be useful in certain situations (eg: when being cornered).location: Either talk to Leonhard a second time to get the lift chamber key, kill the one at the poison swamp or kill the two strolling around at the Farron Keep Perimeter.rating: S Bastard SwordA weapon between Greatswords and Straight swords, it has low requirements (only 16 STR) and reasonable stamina consumption (about the same as the Uchigatana, though it does more damage).

It has the same moveset as Greatsword-type weapons, which are know for their wide swings. Another advantage is that it has decent scaling. The only remark i can give on this weapon is that it’s range can feel underwhelming against certain opponents.location: Purchase it from Greirat after you free him in Lothric High Wall.rating: A Claymorewhile definitely not as strong as in Dark Souls 2, it still has an excelent moveset and range to support it. The best infusions are either heavy gem if you’re going for a strength build (resulting in a B scaling), or again going for a raw gem. If you’re adamant on using a greatsword though i would patiently farm the thralls and hope that they drop Flamberge, or buy the Bastard Sword from Greirat. Infusing it with the raw gem still makes it a decent weapon which staggers all but the largest enemies.Location: You can acquire this weapon by running up the stairs before the dragon arives and walking to the far end of the wall opposite of the dragon.

Another option is getting a bow and a ton of arrows and firing away at the dragon until it has 20% health left and flies away.rating: D FlamebergeThe other greatsword you can acquire by farming thralls who carry this weapon -though the drop rate is pretty low. The flamberge not only does more damage, it also has a longer range (excepting the heavy attack) and weighs less, making it superior to the Claymore. In addition it also applies bleed, though in my experience that never occured, and requires a similar stat investment (Claymore). Both the refined gem and raw gem are a good choice depending on your build.

The heavy gem only gives you a C scaling in STR while the refined gem gives a C scaling in both DEX and STR.Location: To acquire it, you’ll need to farm thralls that wield this weapon near the undead settlement.rating: C ZweihanderThe Zweihander is an amazingly satisfying weapon to use, breaking the poise of almost every enemy you encounter and blasting them away with a delayed heavy attack. Looking at the damage and weight of the weapon it seems to lose out on the flameberge -which only does a little less damage. Where it the zweihander really sets itself apart from the flameberge is range, scaling and, considering the weapon-type, low stat investment. The of the Zweihander, and specifically its heavy attack, is huge. Next, infusing it with a heavy gem will result in an A scaling and infusing it with a refined gem will give it B/B scaling, while the highest scaling on a Flameberge is a C scaling. Lastly it requires only 19 STR and 11 DEX to use.location: This is a bit tricky, but you can get it by undead settlement.

After you free Greirat, you can send him to scavenge for more items. After that defeat the Curse-Rotted Greatwood and Greirat will have returned.rating: B Estoc/ RapierAs experienced player are probably aware, thrusting swords can annihilate a boss if used correctly. (Un)fortunately the swords have been balanced a bit and the robflynstone build isn’t that strong anymore (nor are all rings acquireable). The weapons themselves however remain a strong choice, especially the Estoc, for PVP. The low stat requirements make it an excelent addition to player who want to go for INT/FTH builds and defend themselves against pesky invaders.If you want a more PVP-proof build, the estoc with his long range is the way to go.

If bossfights and PVE are your kind of thing, then i would recommend the Rapier, Not only does it have a better scaling, it also has that 110 critical bonus that will make short work of those annoyingly difficult early game bosses (crystal sage anyone?).Location: The rapier can be found on a corpse where you find the first winged knight, for the estoc you either have to start as an assassin or with until greyrat returns from his first trip.rating: PVP: S/B PVE: C/B UchigatanaWeighing 5.5 and only having 116 base damage do not make this a great PVE weapon. The longsword weighs less, uses less stamina and doesn’t require an investment in DEX. This doesn’t mean that it is a bad weapon though. It’s weapon technique allows you to close a gap, as well as parry and incoming attack. Concerning PVP this weapon’s nice moveset and the rework of bleed compared to DS2 make it second only to the Estoc in defending against early invasions.If you’re adamant on using the Uchigatana early game i would infuse it with a sharp gem resulting in a B scaling, which compensates for it’s pitiful damage.

Infusing it with a raw gem, which also boosts damage, will result in a lower bleed build up.Location: Acquired by killing the swordmaster left of the firelink shrine (assuming you’re facing the the entrance of the shrine). Getting this weapon takes no small amount of skill (though he seems weak to gravity) since the swordmaster seems to have infinite stamina when you get close to him. Using pyromancy of magic to kill him is a lot easier than trying to engage him in melee.rating: PVP: A PVE:B Deep Battle AxeA variant of the battle axe infused with a deep gem.

Damage-wise this is the most powerful weapon you can find early game. Unfortunately the game calculates the the total damage in way that disadvantages weapons who deal multiple types of damage, making the seemingly great numbers not so great after all. Besides the still reasonable damage it also boasts an above average moveset. Combined these will make short work of the first few bosses.Personally i recommend using this axe until something better comes along since it will be outclassed later in the game by other weapons. In PVP this weapon’s hefty damage will make people think twice before engaging, though in my experience it loses hard against anyone whose half decent with a katana.Location: Kill the mimic in the tower where the dragon is in High Wall of Lothric.rating: C Brigand axeSimilar to the battle axe in a lot of ways. The key difference being that attacking with a brigand axe feels less like a commitment.

As a consequence the Brigand Axe’s moveset allows for nimble plays while still doing good damage. Other differences are it’s lower weight, negligibly lower damage and less stamina consumption.

I would recommend this over the Battle axe.location: At the road of sacrifices, where you fight the NPC and find Brigand set.rating: B Hand AxeLooking at the hand axe it seems like a lesser version of the battle axe and it absolutely is. After playing with it though you’ll find out that it’s still a decent, albeit mediocre, weapon. It’s light, has low stat requirements and does ok damage, so starting with this weapon isn’t as much a catastrophe as you might think at first. I would not invest any shards or gems in this weapon though, just use it until a better weapon comes along.Location: At the undead settlement where you can find the pyromancer, besides his cage is a corpse with the weapon on it.rating: D Thrall axeLow requirements, lowest damage, shortest range.

“How could a weapon be so shit” you might think when you come across it on your playthrough. It’s actually a great side weapon though.

With its weapon technique, which is the same as most daggers, you quickly engage and back off from a fight. This also goes for PVP where this will catch many unaware to this seemingly harmless weapon.Location: You need it to drop from thralls who carry this weapon at the undead settlement.rating: side weapon Butcher’s Knifedue to its popularity and the fact that you can still acquire it relatively early in the game, i would also like to cover this weapon. It has low starting damage and most of its damage needs to come from scaling, it also weighs (7.0) a lot for a weapon this early in the game -not counting greatswords.

Still the moveset is very swift and the weapon covers a great range which more than makes up for the slight downsides this weapon has. Above that it also recovers very little hp every time you hit an enemy, which increases if you use the weapon technique or its heavy attack. While uninfusable and unbuffable it’s still a very strong choice that will get you through most of the game with relative ease.Location: Drops from the hostile half-naked NPC at the road of sacrifices.rating: A Great MacheteI’m not quick to recommend something that weighs so much (14.0) and requires a reasonable stat investment (24 points in STR, less if you want to two-hand it). But this weapon’s upsides more than compensate for that. Firstly its got great damage and it even has a weapon technique that improves on that damage. Secondly it has decent range.

And lastly it does decent damage to poise which works great with its range allowing you to either demolish the opponent or roll to safety when you’re almost out of stamina. Be careful with that last part though, this weapon requires a reasonable amount of it.location: A rare drop from de giant hollows wielding this weapon.rating: B MaceIn the land of the swords, the mace at doesn’t seem so impressive at first. But take the time learn the moveset and it quickly becomes clear that the mace is a force to be reckoned with. While not as strong as it was in Dark Souls 2, it still is a good early game weapon against armored opponents (lothric knights, vordt, dancer). The difference with straight swords you can find early on is that the moveset is slower and thus you will play more defensive/ tactically.

I wouldn’t recommend using this in pvp though since it loses against the Uchigatana and straight swords and those two are all too common.location: You can buy the mace from Greirat after you free him. You can free him by getting the cell key from the manor with the spear-wielding lothric knight and dogs in it (where you also find astora’s). After that go back to the tower where you kindled the second bonfire and go down to lowest floor. He is at the end of the passageway that the hollow with the halberd is guarding.rating: C Spiked MaceLooking at how destructive the weapon is in the hands of the priest, i was thrilled to see it dropped. Unfortunately us unkindled don’t seem to get as much out of the Spiked Mace. It has reasonable stat requirements, atleast for its weight(16.0) and damage. It also has decent range and a useful weapon technique, but requires a lot of stamina.

It also has an utterly useless bleed effect, since it damage and slowness will guarantee your enemies will never suffer from blood loss -before one of you dies atleast.location: Drops from priest at the undead settlementrating: C ClubFirst thing that will come to mind when using this weapon is that the moveset is just plain terrible. Besides that it has ok damage, low weight and decent scaling. If you enjoy the moveset then this weapon is not the worst you can do.

Infuse it with a heavy gem and you will get an even better scaling.Location: Atop the wall where the dragon breathes fire in High Wall of Lothric.rating: DReinforced Clubthe same as the Club only with a bit more damage and an increase in weight. It also has a bleed effect now. Overall an improvement on the Club.Location: Undead settlement, where the giant shoots his arrows at you.rating: D Lucernea favoutrite among many in this iteration, though in my honest opinion it is surpassed by many of the aforementioned weapons. The advantages of using a lucerne is their range and poise, which allows for easy staggers early on. Despite the interesting moveset there are a significant disadvantages to using the lucern.

Firstly, it’s damage compared to it’s stamina consumption is pretty lacklustre. Secondly the R2 and L2 power attacks do less damage then the normal attack and, worse, despite hitting every enemy in a 360 degree angle often doesn’t stagger them, nor kill them making it a move that will leave you vurnable.

I would still prefer using it instead of the spear though.If you’re adamant on using the lucerne, after all it still looks pretty bad-ass, i would infuse it with a raw gem. Later in the game you will also find better halberds so you can switch over to them when the lucerne inevitably begins to fall behind.Location: On a sidepath etween Vordt of the Boreal Valley and dancer of the Boreal valley boss battles.rating: D GlaiveA variation on the Lucerne, it does more damage but also has a different damage-type. Instead of Standard/ Thrust, you now deal Slashing damage. Against unarmored enemies this will be advantageous against knights and the like it will deal less damage.Location: buyable from greirat after his first triprating: D Halberd/ Red Hilted HalberdHaving the thrusting attacks of spear-type weapons and heavy attacks that sweep make this weapon a force to be reckoned with.

The importance of the moveset can not be overstated because, unlike the lacklustre lucerne, this weapons R1 allow you to poke from a safe distance and just R2 when you get overwhelmed. There are three differences between these two halberds.

Firstly the Halberd has the weapon technique like that of spear-types while the latter increases poise for a short duration. Secondly, the stat requirements are not the same, so depending on your starter class it might be that you favor one over the other.

Thirdly, the damage on the Red Hilted Halberd is somewhat higher (125130).There are still some minor downsides to this weapon: it’s relatively high weight and it’s not-so-great damage.Location: The halberd can be bought from the shrine handmaid and the red hilted halberd can be found in the sewers of the undead settlement.rating: C winged knight halberdThis weapon requires a hefty stat investment this early in the game and also weighs quite a lot (14.0). What do you get in return?

Mostly damage. The damage is certainly noticable: 145 compared to the 125/126 of the halberd/lucerne.

But it also requires more stamina than those other two. The weapon technique is pretty nifty though not that usefull. You don’t move forward by alot with every swing, so you can’t use it in the same way as charge, which limits its usefulness and range.

In light of its downsides, i would advise using the lucerne or halberd instead of this weapon.location: dropped by the winged knight at Lothric High Wallrating: E Spear/ Lothric Knight SpearThe poise change in this iteration affects spears as well. It is no longer as easy as in DS2 to just stonlock enemies from a distance. The new tracking system in this game compensates for that though. Spears in general have a super simple moveset that is quite effective and allows you to turtle it up and take on a few enemies at once with relative ease.

The Spear (weapon itself) is not that impressive however with its lacklustre damage and range. The Lothric Knight spear on the other hand not only looks stunning but the damage, damage scaling and range is also better, giving flashbacks to pate’s spear in Dark Souls 2 only now with less investment in stats.

Dark Souls 3 Kill Dragon Early Release

The only downside compared to the regular spear is that it’s weight is almost double (4.5 8.0). And good luck farming that spear because the Lothric knights are pretty adamant on taking it to their graves.If you want to use a spear, i would still advise you to bring up the patience of farming for the LKS though since it’s that much better. Infusing it with a raw gem if you don’t want to invest too much in to DEX and infusing it with a sharp gem otherwise.Location: The spear can be bought from greyrat, the LKS needs to farmed.rating: spear: E, LKS: A four pronged plowIt has higher stat requirements and higher weight than the spear. What does it have to compensate for these disadvantages?

A pitiful increase in damage (+1 damage, scaling stays the same) and a unusable weapon techinique. The technique is the same as charge, only you’ll fall at the end of it and still be liable to attacks from enemies. This weapon is meant for plowing the field and not combat, leave it to the hollows.location: Drops from hollows carrying this weapon at undead settlementrating: E Partizanbeing my all-time favorite weapon in Dark Souls 2 and seing the return of not only the weapon, but also the flexible moveset, made me hopeful. 5 minutes of using this spear smashed that hope to bits though. The varied moveset and interesting weapon technique simply do not make up for its subpar damage and incompetent range.

You’ll find that often the heavy attack isn’t useful at all since all hollows, except the ones with a broken straight sword, have the same/ longer range than you. Its pokes are also inferior to other spears and even halberd-type weapons. I would ignore this below-average weapon and try another spear or halberd weapon.Location: shoot the corpse near the ramp leading to Cornyx.rating: D Sellsword TwinbladesDespite looking pretty cool and having a modestly interesting moveset, it is an awful weapon. The damage is low and does almost no poise damage, leaves your enemies counter-attacking you while you didn’t even finish your combo. I would avoid these blades at all cost unless you like a challenge.Location: Behind the black knight where you also find Farron’s coal. At the Halfway Fortress bonfire just follow the right wall until you’re at a small gateway, then go left.rating: D ScimitarDespite it’s low damage it has an interesting moveset that’s effective against the early hollows you encounter and good scaling on DEX.

If you plan investing in to DEX this is a good sword the start with. Later on i would switch it out for one of the better curved swords like the Pontiff Knight Curved Sword or the Carthus Curved Sword.Location: sold by the Shrine Handmaidrating: C FalchionThe heavier variant of the scimitar. It has has higher base damage and and higher STR scaling (E vs D) resulting in consistly higher damage then its little borther. One thing noticable in the comparison between the two is that, like the brigand and deep battle axe, the attacks of falchion leave you vulnerable a bit more after each swing. Also, the one-handed heavy attack is uselessly short. If you’re going for a DEX heavy build, then i would take the scimitar since its scaling is so much better than this weapon’s (A vs C when upgraded regularly).location: Drop from Skeletons in the sewer of the undead settlement next to the dilapidated bridge bonfire.rating: D Great ScytheCertainly one of the strongest early game weapons that can be found.

Decent range, decent damage, a great special attack and a fun to use moveset make this weapon a great choice for the early game. Above that it also is a good counter against those pesky shields in pvp and the scaling this weapon gets is also great. Uninfused it still gets a B scaling in DEX, and with a refined gem it gets an A scaling.Location: The weapon can be found in the shack you’ll undoubtedly flee to when being shot at by huge arrows. Go up the stairs and hop onto the ledge and run up to the balcony.rating: A Great Corvian ScytheThe Great Corvian Scythe is very similar to the Great Scythe: it has the exact same moveset and about the same range. The Great Corvian Scythe also differs in a few ways: it has lower base damage, higher bleed build-up and higher requirements.It is the first and third differences that lead me to the conclusion that, with its low drop rate, its simply not worth the effort to farm unless you like the aesthetic more.location: Drops from Corvian sacrifices in Road of Sacrificesrating: A whipThis weapon has atrocious damage and little poise reduction.

Besides that it’s R1 range is incredibly short and in combination with its damage ensures you’ll take a few hits. In all honestly though, Whips aren’t meant as a main weapon and make for perfect side weapons when they apply bleed and poison (notched and spotted whip). PVE-wise i would avoid this weapon as there are better side weapons (notched, poison, daggers, thrall axe) contending for that important second slot. PVP-wise this weapon’s unparryable attacks, weapon technique and moveset make alocation: At the undead settlement before the priest standing on a bridge, is a shack with a corpse holding this weapon.

Beware the ambush though.rating: side weapon Early Boss Weapons Astor’s SpearYou can get this boss weapon by defeating Curse-rotted Greatwood. I wouldn’t recommend it however. The damage is mediocre, needs a heavy DEX investment, and the range isn’t that great. To compensate you can poison your enemies and you get healed by killing enemies. While the second part seems like a good thing for newer players, it can assure you it isn’t. The amount healed is pitiful and, if you play carefully, totally unnecesary.rating: D Hollowslayer GreatswordAnother throwback to a previous iteration in the series.

Weighing less than the Claymore and doing more damage as well makes this a great early game greatsword. There is a caveat however, this weapon requires a hefty investment in DEX and scales well with DEX but not with STR. This is great, albeit a bit unusual, if you wanted a greatsword while investing heavily in DEX. Another downside is that you can only get it after you defeat the Curse-rotted Greatwood while the Claymore is available much earlier, at the start of the game.rating: A Vordt’s Great HammerThe weight(17.0) of this weapon alone is forbidding.

In addation it also requires a hefty investment in STR. If you’re willing to make the investment though this weapon can be pretty good against armored opponents and one shots almost everything until you’ve beaten the Crystal Sage or Watchers of the Abyssrating: D Fire gemA lot of people like to start with a fire gem and infuse their first weapon with it, because of the perceived damage increase it gives. Not only that, the fire damage will also often stagger enemies early in the game. Then why aren’t i recommending to infuse weapons with a fire gem?

Most importantly when you infuse with an element the damage reduction will be calculated two times: once for fire and once for slash/ thrust/ strike damage. The perceived early game damage increase only comes from the fact that the hollows early game are weak to fire.

This is also the reason why i think it is inferior to a raw gem that provides a flat damage increase and gives you the early game damage boost that you are looking for, and is also available early on in the game. Later on, i believe a fire gem will actually gimp your damage, as not only will it do less than a raw/refined/heavy/sharp gem, you also won’t be able to buff your weapon with resins or spells (of which the karthus flame is acquireable just after the Watchers of the Abyss). Another reason, which i think is more justified, is that all the starting items are bad and so choosing the fire gem is not a waste. I don’t think the fire gem is a bad choice, but i do find gold rusted coins more useful. The main reason, other than that you won’t come accross them until you’re in profaned capital, is that they allow you to get the gear you want quickly and withouth farming a certain mob early game.

You want to start your run with an LKS? No problem, just use a gold rusted coin and farm one of the Lothric knights wielding a spear. You could say that this is a matter of chance, but the GRC boosts item discovery so high, that in the 42 times that i used it the most i had to use it to get the gear i want was thrice (and this was for a rare drop).