Upgrade or get new weapons?

[Stealth]

So this is my first souls game so idk how it works. I started as a samurai. Do I keep the katana and upgrade it or do you just get better katanas later on? Do you just save those upgrade stones for end game weapons or is that not how it works? Is armor the same story?

[(TFW) Doc. Miyagi]

find a weapon you like and upgrade, in ds3 i was still using a claymor which is nothing special at lv 600, and if you find something else amazing and switch then you have a good backup when facing a certain type of enemy.

[[-iD-]]

weapons are usually pretty balanced out in these games, go with what you enjoy playing. try everything if you want, you will still have access to your first weapon any time.

[Ozurie]

Originally posted by Stealth:

So this is my first souls game so idk how it works. I started as a samurai. Do I keep the katana and upgrade it or do you just get better katanas later on? Do you just save those upgrade stones for end game weapons or is that not how it works? Is armor the same story?

Hard to say if there are more katanas, likely 1 or 2 but I can't say for sure in ER. If you enjoy the Katana playstyle, I'd just continue through the game as far as you can until an upgrade is desperately needed. Most of the upgrade items are farmable anyway so there isn't really any 'wasting'. Armor is also playstyle. If you want to facetank most stuff, wear full heavy armor, if you want fast rolls, wear light armor. There's more depth to it than that of course, certain armor has more resistance to certain elements (especially shields) so a lot of armor can just be considered situational. For the most part though, any armor/weapon works.

Also worth noting that weapons can come from any source really. Mobs at the beginning drop weapons, they can be in chests, they can be hidden in the world, they can drop from bosses etc.

[Stealth]

Ok so it's not like other RPG's where you are swapping your weapon for a higher level one every 30 minutes. You upgrade to improve scaling and a starter weapon can be viable at end game right?

[RealDealBreaker]

Originally posted by Stealth:

Ok so it's not like other RPG's where you are swapping your weapon for a higher level one every 30 minutes. You upgrade to improve scaling and a starter weapon can be viable at end game right?

There are usually a few weapons that are noticeably better than the others in that class of weapons (i.e., there are a few great axes that are the best, a few swords, a few polearms, etc.) but there are generally fewer weapons total in a souls game than other RPGs. You will usually want to upgrade to one of the 'better' weapons for the weapon type you like but as long as you aren't upgrading every weapon you come across, you will have plenty of materials to upgrade a few different weapons without having to really grind.

[River]

Almost all weapons have unique niches and movesets. Basically, you can find a weapon you like and upgrade it until it can stack up to enemies as you progress. There's a few joke weapons that are supposed to be bad for people that want a challenge, and occasionally weapons that just fill a niche better, but overall it's just what feels good for you to use.

[Stealth]

Originally posted by RealDealBreaker:

There are usually a few weapons that are noticeably better than the others in that class of weapons (i.e., there are a few great axes that are the best, a few swords, a few polearms, etc.) but there are generally fewer weapons total in a souls game than other RPGs. You will usually want to upgrade to one of the 'better' weapons for the weapon type you like but as long as you aren't upgrading every weapon you come across, you will have plenty of materials to upgrade a few different weapons without having to really grind.

Ok cool. Thanks.