Claymore V Zweihander & Weapon Advice

[Miss Chief]

I keep reading that the Claymore is the best weapon, I don't understand why the Zweihander isn't better, I know it only has D scaling on Dex but even so it dishes out more damage, at least on my spec (see below), I appreciate that might change with the stats. It also has higher Stability so you lose less endurance on blocks etc (something I find a real drain with the Claymore)

I'm not sure I like the great swords at all, I find them sluggish although I am getting used to it, I am currently using the Claymore +10 but also have the Zweihander at +10, I'm finding the Drake Sword isn't really cutting it now so would rather change my style to suit the slow great swords than take longer on the encounter but if there is a better faster weapon then I would be happier any suggestions on a decent damage faster weapon? I'm happy to farm the items to upgrade it as long as I know it's worth it :)

My stats atm are:

Vit: 16
Att: 10
End: 35
Str: 35
Dex: 16
Res: 16
Int: 10
Fth: 9

I intend to pump the next 10 levels into End/Str but after that I will switch and spread them into Dex, Vit & Res.

As you can probably tell I am a Tank/Melee character and this is what I tend to play in all games, I am not likely to put any more Faith/Int or Att unless someone can convince me of it (it will have to be very convincing I am not a fan of casting) I do have a single slot open for pyro casts atm although I have yet to use it ;)

Final note I'm still at Sen's Fortress atm so I don't have the >+10 upgrade unlocked yet.

[Dame Arstor]

NEVER LEVEL UP RES
NEVA
for claymore and zwei(as they're quality weapons) level both str and dex
If you're looking to do a pure tank build,level up str to 50,vit to 40/45,and stamina to 40 or so

[Groen90]

Just where did you read the Claymore is the best?

[Satanic I dieinwar]

I do quite like both, focused my 2nd character onto a Str faith build, and for me well, i use zweihander +15 and Divine Claymore (i know, doesn´t do as much damage, just did it for the catacombs on every NG.

[notFore]

Originally posted by Groen90:

Just where did you read the Claymore is the best?

People who lack in reading comprehension tend to mistake "favorite" with "best".

[Walrus-Sama]

I prefer Zwei-Chan. +15 Normal, +5 Lightning and +5 Chaos are the recommended but depends on stats and preference which one.

[Metro]

There really is no 'better,' it's just a matter of what moveset you prefer. Differences in damage are usually offset by swing speed, attack moves, etc. The Zwei is also capable of doing a lot of poise damage and stunning bosses. If you'll eventually split equal amount of points in STR/DEX either will work. If you're primarily going into STR you might consider one of the weapons that scale better with it like the Man Serpent Greatsword (similar to the Claymore but without the stab) -- it drops from the Snake men fighters in Sen's and has an A scaling in STR.

The Halberd is another decent STR/DEX weapon and is a bit faster than greatswords but it's more of a poke than slash attack. There's also stuff like the Warpick but, as a one hander it's going to have shorter reach. For pure STR there's the Reinforced Club (mostly used for level 1/low level builds with fire/lightning enchants) -- it has B scaling in STR at +6 and does 242 damage (before modifiers) at +15. Short reach but has the benefit of bleed.

Other than that the faster weapons tend to be DEX oriented while the slower ones tend to be STR oriented. DEX weapons also tend to be one-handers/shorter reach (with the exceptions of scythes). Well, there's the Black Knight weapons but those are fairly rare drops.

Also, as mentioned above, never put points in RES. It's a bad stat that delivers little for your investment. Upgrading armor is enough to boost your defensive stats.

[Fashionbeast]

Originally posted by Bakaloid:

People who lack in reading comprehension tend to mistake "favorite" with "best"

I blame youtube and its ilk.

Both big swords profit from STR/DEX distribution on their standard path. Different movesets and swing speeds. Both very poular in PvE and PvP.
Choose one what you like more or upgrade both for different combat siuations.

Burn the Drakesword.

[Miss Chief]

Originally posted by Groen90:

Just where did you read the Claymore is the best?

Well I did a lot of digging a while back when I was looking into this but the site I kept handy was this one: http://techphantomreviewer.com/2013/05/16/dark-souls-top-10-weapons-new-and-improved/

Obviously it lists 2 others as 'better' but I don't have those as yet so I meant the one people tend to say is the best of the weapons currently available to me (I assumed people would have a good idea of what is available to me since I listed where I am in the game).

Originally posted by Bakaloid:

Originally posted by Groen90:

Just where did you read the Claymore is the best?

People who lack in reading comprehension tend to mistake "favorite" with "best".

I have excellent reading skills thank you I wasn't aware people were going to be so pedantic, I will be sure to remember now though :)

[Miss Chief]

Originally posted by Metro:

There really is no 'better,' it's just a matter of what moveset you prefer. Differences in damage are usually offset by swing speed, attack moves, etc. The Zwei is also capable of doing a lot of poise damage and stunning bosses. If you'll eventually split equal amount of points in STR/DEX either will work. If you're primarily going into STR you might consider one of the weapons that scale better with it like the Man Serpent Greatsword (similar to the Claymore but without the stab) -- it drops from the Snake men fighters in Sen's and has an A scaling in STR.

The Halberd is another decent STR/DEX weapon and is a bit faster than greatswords but it's more of a poke than slash attack. There's also stuff like the Warpick but, as a one hander it's going to have shorter reach. For pure STR there's the Reinforced Club (mostly used for level 1/low level builds with fire/lightning enchants) -- it has B scaling in STR at +6 and does 242 damage (before modifiers) at +15. Short reach but has the benefit of bleed.

Other than that the faster weapons tend to be DEX oriented while the slower ones tend to be STR oriented. DEX weapons also tend to be one-handers/shorter reach (with the exceptions of scythes). Well, there's the Black Knight weapons but those are fairly rare drops.

Also, as mentioned above, never put points in RES. It's a bad stat that delivers little for your investment. Upgrading armor is enough to boost your defensive stats.

Thank you, I guess I will stick with the Zwei/Claymore for now then, I'm not keen on the Halberd either I did have a play with it and I think Club is also slow so no great benefit there.

I do have a Black Knight Sword, I guess I could have a look into/play with that and see how it goes :)

[Groen90]

Originally posted by Metro:

There really is no 'better,' it's just a matter of what moveset you prefer.

This pretty much sums it up

[de.lorca]

I use the claymore because it's a big and slower version of the astoras straight sword And i love that wapon and when i get bored since it's stat 50/50 str/dex I can just upgrade a random wapon and have fin with it since I will probably be able to use most of them

[Miss Chief]

Originally posted by Dame Arstor POKEMON:

NEVER LEVEL UP RES
NEVA
for claymore and zwei(as they're quality weapons) level both str and dex
If you're looking to do a pure tank build,level up str to 50,vit to 40/45,and stamina to 40 or so

I wouldn't say I am going PURE tank ;) what I meant was that is generally my play style, Warrior; Sword & Board. Plan was to do 40 in STR & End (I think the benefit drops off beyond 40) then take up Dex/Vit. I wasn't sure about Res so thanks for that, I won't throw any more points in there :)

This is my first toon in DS so bound to make some errors along the way, no doubt I will roll out another once I know my way around ;)

I have been switching armour sets for appropriate resistances/bosses, also I am trying to keep the equip load down so using the cloth/leather with the right resistances for each zone/boss does help on that front although I still tend to use Elite Knight for torso since I am melee.

[Fashionbeast]

Armorwise you could go up into the heavy stuff for face-tanking damage and blocking with a big shield ("Iron Tarkus style")

Medium approach for dodging, blocking and parrying (if you figured the timing out) ("Elite Knight style")

Light armor for dodging everthing or parrying in your way (PvP approach)

The heavier weapons lend itself more to a heavier armor (more poise) style to get some of their attacks through.

[Dame Arstor]

Originally posted by Miss Chief:

Originally posted by Dame Arstor POKEMON:

NEVER LEVEL UP RES
NEVA
for claymore and zwei(as they're quality weapons) level both str and dex
If you're looking to do a pure tank build,level up str to 50,vit to 40/45,and stamina to 40 or so

I wouldn't say I am going PURE tank ;) what I meant was that is generally my play style, Warrior; Sword & Board. Plan was to do 40 in STR & End (I think the benefit drops off beyond 40) then take up Dex/Vit. I wasn't sure about Res so thanks for that, I won't throw any more points in there :)

This is my first toon in DS so bound to make some errors along the way, no doubt I will roll out another once I know my way around ;)

I have been switching armour sets for appropriate resistances/bosses, also I am trying to keep the equip load down so using the cloth/leather with the right resistances for each zone/boss does help on that front although I still tend to use Elite Knight for torso since I am melee.

Usually,tank build uses gr8shields(like Havel's shield*which requires 50 str to use*,Eagle Shield,etc)
If you're going on the melee only path,choose armors that have poise so that you wont get staggered/stunned easily if you got hit when you're swinging.
tanks builds relies on shields and blocks every hit that are going in their way(in short,more blocking,less/nonexistent dodging)
For semi tank build,40 str works quite well

[Clickshe]

Claymore is a bit over used weapon and it is quite easy to predict. While his big brother really requires skill [Greatsword]

I have to say... Astard Sword what I have had been using is just as good as Claymore. Although personally I can say that Astard Sword requires much more skill than Claymore. About 3 weeks experience of using Diving Astard Sword, Divine Falchion and Zweihander (+14) [Using other two depending on situation]

I have to say I have had fun with it.