Standard weapons vs Keen/Heavy/Quality...

[Vvv]

There is something I don't understand...everyone tells me I should make my weapon quality, it's a +7 pike for now and it scales well with D str and D dex, I have 25str and 20dex for now..

Standard = 161+46
Heavy = 147+63
Keen = 147+51
Quality = 134+62

So is the only advantage of specialising your weapon the ability to give it a different ability?

And maybe just later with greater your stats will eventually topple the standard version of the weapon?

Right now, quality build seems inferior to the standard build dmg wise unless I don't understand how it works 🤔

[Grad]

Gradually, as you upgrade your pike to +25 you will see a difference, and hopefully by that time your STR/DEX will be 40/40.

[Enderspoons]

The Quality infusion is for players who primarily invest in both high strength and dex, while Heavy and Keen are for very high strength or dex respectively. If your current build doesn't sound like any of those, changing your weapon's Affinity to a different physical type may not be the way to go for you.

(although, hot tip - get a Holy strike weapon as a backup -- many enemies are weak to especially holy, or can only be seriously harmed by strike damage, and this combo can save your hide if you run into those types of dungeons.)

[DuckHunt]

So, quality lowers the weapons base attack rating more than other scalings but that's because with 40/40 strength/dex it will have the best scaling numbers. Quality won't be worth it with your current stats imo. Check again at 30/30 and it will be strong at 40/40 strength/dex.

[Vvv]

Originally posted by DuckHunt:

So, quality lowers the weapons base attack rating more than other scalings but that's because with 40/40 strength/dex it will have the best scaling numbers. Quality won't be worth it with your current stats imo. Check again at 30/30 and it will be strong at 40/40 strength/dex.

Yeah, I think I will wait a bit before setting it as quality.

[Xengre]

Originally posted by Vvv:

Originally posted by DuckHunt:

So, quality lowers the weapons base attack rating more than other scalings but that's because with 40/40 strength/dex it will have the best scaling numbers. Quality won't be worth it with your current stats imo. Check again at 30/30 and it will be strong at 40/40 strength/dex.

Yeah, I think I will wait a bit before setting it as quality.

Another relevant point in addition to Ender's excellent advice is if the scaling is anything like in Dark Souls 3 then as your upgrade rate gets higher (like +25 vs +7) the scaling may improve (ex. shift from D Str / D Dex > B Str / D Dex, or etc. and this can influence your build and infusion choice meaning one is better at one point but might be worse later). Due to this double dip nature of (IF, Idk yet myself as I am not upgrading weapons in my run to confirm, it does follow this rule in Elden Ring like DS3) then it reinforces don't waste points in Str/Dex early on. Focus on HP/Stamina and any int/faith for your spells/buffs. Get the minimum Str/Dex necessary for your weapon choices but poor your points into HP/stamina (esp HP) as they're far more valuable vs minor damage increase. As you get further into the game and better weapons/scaling improves at higher upgrade rates, aka later in game, by that point you should be done with HP/stamina at a good point and then can poor extra points into Str/Dex as necessary.

[Eventide]

As has been said, it changes the scaling, and having a higher upgrade will also increase scaling on most weapons (like going from B in str to A).

Standard is obvious.
Heavy is str-oriented.
Keen is dex-oriented.
Quality is both.

So basically if you're going str/int you'll likely use heavy or possibly magic (to add int scaling).

The main thing you're looking for on weapon stats is the +XX. That's how much of that is being added to the weapon from your stats alone.

Originally posted by Vvv:

Standard = 161+46
Heavy = 147+63
Keen = 147+51
Quality = 134+62

So here you're getting 63 extra attack power from the heavy. I really wish they'd just show you the total.. If we take those and add them up you'll see:

Standard = 161+46 = 207
Heavy = 147+63 = 210
Keen = 147+51 = 198
Quality = 134+62 = 196

So as of now you're getting more damage from heavy than standard. Later on quality will very likely start to take over though.