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For other uses, see Weapon Types (disambiguation).

Weapon types are a property of weapons in Dark Souls II.

All weapons have 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.

List of weapon types[]

Swords[]

Shortsword II

Shortsword

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.
Claymore II

Claymore

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.
Zweihander II

Zweihander

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.
Scimitar II

Scimitar

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.
Murakumo II

Arced Sword

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

Rapier

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.
Uchigatana II

Uchigatana

Katanas
Katanas are the middleground 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 due to their low durability.

Twinblade

Twinblade

Twinblades
Twinblades slash very fast when held in two hands, but are sluggish and difficult to use when one handed. Due to how much they hit, they wear quickly when used on heavily- armored or high health opponents.

Axes[]

Hand Axe II

Hand Axe

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.


Greataxe II

Greataxe

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[]

Spear II

Spear

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 thursting 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.
Halberd II

Halberd

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.
Great Scythe II

Great Scythe

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.
Heide Lance

Heide Lance

Lances
Lances are like spears, except slower and heavier. They, in turn, have considerably higher physical damage and poise damage. But the most outstanding characteristic of lances is their incredibly high damage on counterattacks.

Hammers[]

Club II

Club

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 Club II

Great Club

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.

Other melee[]

Dagger II

Dagger

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.
Caestus II

Caestus

Fist 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 damage, these are the fastest.
Claws II

Claws

Claws
Claws are very similar to Fist Weapons, but have slightly more range and deal slash damage. Some inflict bleed buildup, and since they attack so quickly they are among the best weapons for bleeding people out.
Whip

Whip

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[]

Short Bow II

Short Bow

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

Alonne Greatbow

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

Light Crossbow

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[]

Sorcerer's Staff

Sorcerer's Staff

Staves
Staves are primarily used to cast sorceries or hexes but 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.


Cleric's Sacred Chime

Cleric's Sacred Chime

Sacred Chimes

Sacred Chimes are used to cast miracles or hexes and can also be used as melee weapons when executing their strong attack, inflicting Strike Damage. The hexes that a Sacred Chime can cast are generally area-of-effect spells, though there are a few exceptions.

Pyromancy Flame II

Pyromancy Flame

Pyromancy Flames
The Pyromancy Flame's primary use is that of casting pyromancies. It also deals Fire Damage when its strong attack is used.


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