Jesus, why does the Golden Halberd overpower every other weapon

[Amins]

Playing around with several two-handed giant weapons. Colossal swords, greatswords, great hammers. But none of them come even close to being as strong as Golden Halberd. You get that thing at the very start of the game and yet it's both faster and does way more damage than any other weapon, even several levels below everything else. Sure, holy is resisted by most late-game bosses, but the physical damage on that thing is still staggering. Excellent moveset, too.

The only real downside is that the weapon skill you're stuck with sucks.

[bigbiggaboo]

It has high AR but that's all it has going for it, I would argue it has the worst of the 3 halberd move sets. Also there are way stronger weapons in terms of damage and poise damage.

[⛧Vinn⛧]

My weapon of choice in my very first playthrough. Power stance holy halberds and it was so good lmao

[Amins]

Originally posted by bigbiggaboo:

It has high AR but that's all it has going for it, I would argue it has the worst of the 3 halberd move sets. Also there are way stronger weapons in terms of damage and poise damage.

I don't know, maybe other weapons of similar size have better scaling later on, but Golden Halberd is just great right out of the gate with very little need for stats or upgrades. Wide sweeps for taking out groups and heavy vertical chops for massive stagger.

Sure, maybe there are better weapons depending on circumstance, but Golden Halberd is just all around great, and it's a real shame that most weapons of greater size and lower attack rate don't even come close to doing similar damage. I wanted to play around with Godslayer Greatsword, but it was pathetically weak in comparison despite needing almost twice the amount of Faith and being significantly more difficult to acquire.

What other comparable weapons would you say would be better and by which factors?

[Lynfinity]

Originally posted by Amins:

I wanted to play around with Godslayer Greatsword, but it was pathetically weak in comparison despite needing almost twice the amount of Faith and being significantly more difficult to acquire.

Three counterpoints:

1. It's a DEX weapon, so if you're not making it your main stat, of course the damage is going to be lacking
2. It sacrifices a bit of damage to have faster swings. All in comparison to other Colossal Swords.
3. The main star of the show is its Weapon Art. Difficult to land against mobile enemies, but when you do, it's one of the most powerful things in the game. Whoever you hit with that giant blackflame blade is gonna feel it.

Actually, fourth counterpoint:
4. If you stick with the Golden Halberd, chances are you're going to level up your FTH for some incantations anyway, so 20 FTH is child's play.

[bigbiggaboo]

Originally posted by Amins:

Originally posted by bigbiggaboo:

It has high AR but that's all it has going for it, I would argue it has the worst of the 3 halberd move sets. Also there are way stronger weapons in terms of damage and poise damage.

I don't know, maybe other weapons of similar size have better scaling later on, but Golden Halberd is just great right out of the gate with very little need for stats or upgrades. Wide sweeps for taking out groups and heavy vertical chops for massive stagger.

Sure, maybe there are better weapons depending on circumstance, but Golden Halberd is just all around great, and it's a real shame that most weapons of greater size and lower attack rate don't even come close to doing similar damage. I wanted to play around with Godslayer Greatsword, but it was pathetically weak in comparison despite needing almost twice the amount of Faith and being significantly more difficult to acquire.

What other comparable weapons would you say would be better and by which factors?

If we are talking early game a zweihander or the Greatsword(colossal sword) with sacred blade would be a better alternative as a physical/holy beat stick imo. Blasphemous blade is another str fth weapon that is disgustingly overpowered due to its ash of war. You could also duel wield some bleed weapons if you wanted very high dps. Also if your focus is stance breaking than ash of war spamming/ charged heavies from something like the great club(another Str/Fth weapon) is the way to go.

[Count von Bunnyhopven]

Golden halberd is amazing in the early game because most of its damage is base damage and thats whats important when you have no stats to boost it. In the end game its not that much stronger than anything else due to its weak scaling.

You also cant put any cool weapon art on it so thats just boring.

[Count von Bunnyhopven]

Originally posted by Amins:

Originally posted by bigbiggaboo:

It has high AR but that's all it has going for it, I would argue it has the worst of the 3 halberd move sets. Also there are way stronger weapons in terms of damage and poise damage.

I don't know, maybe other weapons of similar size have better scaling later on, but Golden Halberd is just great right out of the gate with very little need for stats or upgrades. Wide sweeps for taking out groups and heavy vertical chops for massive stagger.

Sure, maybe there are better weapons depending on circumstance, but Golden Halberd is just all around great, and it's a real shame that most weapons of greater size and lower attack rate don't even come close to doing similar damage. I wanted to play around with Godslayer Greatsword, but it was pathetically weak in comparison despite needing almost twice the amount of Faith and being significantly more difficult to acquire.

What other comparable weapons would you say would be better and by which factors?

I think godslayer greatsword was great when the game released because it was faster than the other ultra greatswords. But now they have boosted the speed of the other UGS in a patch so now the difference in speed is almost negligible.

[Amins]

Originally posted by Lynfinity:

Originally posted by Amins:

I wanted to play around with Godslayer Greatsword, but it was pathetically weak in comparison despite needing almost twice the amount of Faith and being significantly more difficult to acquire.

Three counterpoints:

1. It's a DEX weapon, so if you're not making it your main stat, of course the damage is going to be lacking
2. It sacrifices a bit of damage to have faster swings. All in comparison to other Colossal Swords.
3. The main star of the show is its Weapon Art. Difficult to land against mobile enemies, but when you do, it's one of the most powerful things in the game. Whoever you hit with that giant blackflame blade is gonna feel it.

Actually, fourth counterpoint:
4. If you stick with the Golden Halberd, chances are you're going to level up your FTH for some incantations anyway, so 20 FTH is child's play.

For context, 35 Strength, 35 Dex, 20 Faith (+5 to all stats with Godrick Rune. + another 5 to Strength and Dex with Radagon Soreseal). Golden Halberd still does way more damage than Godslayer Greatsword and has a far faster attack speed. Admittedly, I haven't messed with Queen's Black Flame much, but the few times I've tried it, it really didn't feel like it did much and the windup is absurdly long that I just can't imagine many situations where it would be more viable than just wacking an enemy with standard attacks.

I could do some more experimentation end-game when I have the materials available to properly upgrade multiple weapons, but I feel this wouldn't be the ideal way of testing for a normal playthrough. Which just comes down to that issue with the game being so stingy with upgrade materials that you can't properly experiment as you play.

The point I'm trying to make is that Golden Halberd is just so absurdly strong early to mid game that it seems to make most similar weapons (Keyword: Similar. It's really not worth comparing Halberds to Fists) feel not worth investing in. Especially considering how early and easy it is to acquire.

[Count von Bunnyhopven]

Originally posted by Amins:

Originally posted by Lynfinity:

Three counterpoints:

1. It's a DEX weapon, so if you're not making it your main stat, of course the damage is going to be lacking
2. It sacrifices a bit of damage to have faster swings. All in comparison to other Colossal Swords.
3. The main star of the show is its Weapon Art. Difficult to land against mobile enemies, but when you do, it's one of the most powerful things in the game. Whoever you hit with that giant blackflame blade is gonna feel it.

Actually, fourth counterpoint:
4. If you stick with the Golden Halberd, chances are you're going to level up your FTH for some incantations anyway, so 20 FTH is child's play.

For context, 35 Strength, 35 Dex, 20 Faith (+5 to all stats with Godrick Rune. + another 5 to Strength and Dex with Radagon Soreseal). Golden Halberd still does way more damage than Godslayer Greatsword and has a far faster attack speed. Admittedly, I haven't messed with Queen's Black Flame much, but the few times I've tried it, it really didn't feel like it did much and the windup is absurdly long that I just can't imagine many situations where it would be more viable than just wacking an enemy with standard attacks.

I could do some more experimentation end-game when I have the materials available to properly upgrade multiple weapons, but I feel this wouldn't be the ideal way of testing for a normal playthrough. Which just comes down to that issue with the game being so stingy with upgrade materials that you can't properly experiment as you play.

The point I'm trying to make is that Golden Halberd is just so absurdly strong early to mid game that it seems to make most similar weapons (Keyword: Similar. It's really not worth comparing Halberds to Fists) feel not worth investing in. Especially considering how early and easy it is to acquire.

Its not just the AR that is bad with the Godslayer greatsword. It also have worse motion values. For example: A twohanded R1 attack have a motion value of 114 with most UGS. For the Godslayer it only have a motion value of 105.

[Sonnenbank]

Well Bloodhound Fang can also be aquired very early and its a lot stronger
I managed to take it with level 23 and +2 Rapier weapon from Hound Evergaol in the starting area

Serpent Hunter is probably the strongest weapon of the base game in case you are a skilled player on the gamepad and can be aquired without any fighting about 25minutes into the game. ( you would have to know the secret of how to get to valcano Manour from Raya Lucaria Academy though to get there this early)

Golden Halbert is a good weapon but there are far better weapons in the game.

[Old Captain Yon]

Halberds in general are prob the best weapon class. They got it all: slash/pierce/standard variants, hyperarmor, reach, godlike running pokes, even a shield-piercing weapon (shotel). 3 different movesets. I honestly can't stand the regular halberd moveset bc it feels so clunky compared to pokey or slashey moveset. Still, a very good weapon. One sad thing is built-in aow but halberds in general are very good

[StarlightAsh♡]

If you like strong weapons may I introduce you to star fists :)

[Count von Bunnyhopven]

Originally posted by StarlightAsh♡:

If you like strong weapons may I introduce you to star fists :)

They are not that great. Bloodhound's claws does the same thing and is a straight upgrade in range and bleed.

[StarlightAsh♡]

Originally posted by Count von Bunnyhopven:

Originally posted by StarlightAsh♡:

If you like strong weapons may I introduce you to star fists :)

They are not that great. Bloodhound's claws does the same thing and is a straight upgrade in range and bleed.

The star fists are not for the bleed, they do strike damage rather than slash damage, and they are really good if used right, doing massive amounts of poise damage meaning you can stagger almost any enemy including bosses in only a few r2's

[Old Captain Yon]

Originally posted by StarlightAsh♡:

Originally posted by Count von Bunnyhopven:

They are not that great. Bloodhound's claws does the same thing and is a straight upgrade in range and bleed.

The star fists are not for the bleed, they do strike damage rather than slash damage, and they are really good if used right, doing massive amounts of poise damage meaning you can stagger almost any enemy including bosses in only a few r2's

Star fists are cool but they require extensive use of heavy attacks, get no hyperarmor (unless endure) and most importantly have short reach. Many weapons are very good in the game so yeah, a matter of preference