Heavy Great Epee ashes?

[Umbro]

Hi, all, praise the Ring.

In another fit of restartitis I have rolled another character, sword-and-board type, no fancy magiques. Using the Great Epee, liking its moveset and the default Ash of war (Impaling Thrust). Just finished Godrick, level 32, iirc.

As far as I understand, I'd better be raising a single (physical, according to the character idea) stat for damage instead of two - STR this time, and adding DEX for quality would lower my damage potential for the most part of the game.

Now, I'm going to make my Great Epee Heavy (it's Standard atm), BUT -
I'm reluctant to lose the current shield-trespassing, poise-breaking effect of Impaling Thrust.
Of all Heavy ashes, I'm considering the Stamp (Upward Cut), but will it be able to poise-break a troll or a golem in two skill hits?
Besides, the Stamp is slashing, while the G.Epee is piercing. Does it change anything?

So: which ash would be the best for a Heavy Great Epee?
Char stats later, if needed.

[John Titor]

Originally posted by Satoru:

...I'm reluctant to lose the current shield-trespassing, poise-breaking effect of Impaling Thrust...

Bernahl sells it, so you can keep it while still adding an affinity.

[Umbro]

Originally posted by John Titor:

Bernahl sells it, so you can keep it while still adding an affinity.

Oh! I never knew it was possible, thanks! Will try it and report asap

[Yal]

There's a number of additional Whetstone Knife upgrades to find that lets you use elements the ashes don't themselves provide, that opens up a lot more options. (E.g. you could use an elemental ash like Sacred Blade or Blood Slash and still pick Heavy affinity once you find the physical whetstone upgrade).

Damage types like slashing and piercing are per-attack, so Impaling Thrust will always deal piercing damage even if you put it on something like a broadsword. (Most weapons only do one type, but e.g. the Estoc has piercing light attacks and slashing heavy attacks)

You can get shield-bypassing effects by either using greases to buff the weapon, or put an elemental ash on it if you want a more long-term solution - most enemy shields don't block elemental damage very well. (One of my favorites is the Eruption ash, which Bernahl sells later on - i.e. when you meet him on Mount Gelmir - fire damage scales with faith AND strength so it works pretty well with a pure strength build)
The best such combos for raw damage are an ash that let you temporarily buff the weapon after activation (e.g. Flaming Strike, Lightning Slash, Sacred Blade), but still picking a physical affinity - that way you get all that physical scaling from your Strength, and higher base damage for the buff to raise.

Poise/posture damage are generally the same for each weapon category but different moves deal different amounts - it differs between weapons but twohanded heavy and jump attacks deal something like 4-7x the poise damage of a one-handed light attack. So even if you lose out on those big hits you've got options, and the jumping attacks of the Great Epee have more range than you'd think!

[Umbro]

Aand done all right, the thrusty ash bought, heavy epee gained For future readers, I got Iron Whetblade from Stormveil Castle, which allows application of heavy, keen, and quality affinities.

Now that I've checked Bernahl's store again, I see why I was confused previously: the Impaling Thrust ash is marked as Keen there.

Originally posted by Yal:

There's a number of additional Whetstone Knife upgrades to find that lets you use elements the ashes don't themselves provide...

- many thanks! Such nuances are to be valued, I shall re-read them now and again, apply it to my chars' conditions to learn it better :)