Iron King Hammer or Smelter Sword?

[Mordy]

Starting to get tired of my Lightning Heide Greatlance +10, thing is too one tone, straight hits and if my target twitsts even little, whoops, i hit the air and not the enemy i am targeting.

So my solution is to go bigger (or play something else and that's not an option!) and since i never really used boss weapons, figured now is as good a time as any.

Wiki paints a pretty picture of both weapons and everyone likes fire but to limit the materials farming, kinda have to settle for one or the other.

So opinions, feedback, feelings.. is there anything that makes one superior to the other?

[TrueArchery]

To make it short, the hammer has more damage, but less reach. Obviously they share different movesets. That's it. It's pretty subjective.

[Snippy The Rat]

The Smelter Sword also does slash and the Hammer does strike, obviously. I myself prefer strike weapons because they work better on armored enemies, which are usually the more challenging ones.

[Аkiminator]

iron king hammer has common GH moveset which is much more cool than smelter's one imo. infused dragon tooth / drakekeeper hammer does more dmg, but amazing r2s definately worth it

[King Robert Baratheon]

I think the hammer looks way cooler and I bet it does more poise damage but the smelter sword is probably the more efficient weapon because well it's a sword. If you learn how to properly use a greathammer moveset then you'll be a beast in PVE (I doubt anyone has ever use an iron king hammer in pvp but it's not impossible).

[Mordy]

Originally posted by TrueArchery:

To make it short, the hammer has more damage, but less reach. Obviously they share different movesets. That's it. It's pretty subjective.

Went and got both weapons, tried the movesets out and Hammer having less reach is an understatement, i thought ultra weapons being heavy hitters with actual reach but this thing has less than certain onehanded weapons and that's supremely disappointing.

Originally posted by Snippy The Rat:

The Smelter Sword also does slash and the Hammer does strike, obviously. I myself prefer strike weapons because they work better on armored enemies, which are usually the more challenging ones.

Strike is good, kinda leaning towards the hammer or at least leaned till i found out the thing has range issues.

At least it'd be less seen, as never noticed anyone using it, Smelter Sword (the red one) a few times, but never the hammer.

Originally posted by Summer:

iron king hammer has common GH moveset which is much more cool than smelter's one imo. infused dragon tooth / drakekeeper hammer does more dmg, but amazing r2s definately worth it

Is it worth using though?

Coolness factor aside, how competetive is the damage vs other hammers? We talking bastard sword to claymore difference or Fume Sword to longsword kinda difference?

As while i don't really care if the weapon i chose deals non-optimal damage, but if it's Fume Sword kinda disappointment, then rather go with the other stuff.

Originally posted by Knight's Honor:

I think the hammer looks way cooler and I bet it does more poise damage but the smelter sword is probably the more efficient weapon because well it's a sword. If you learn how to properly use a greathammer moveset then you'll be a beast in PVE (I doubt anyone has ever use an iron king hammer in pvp but it's not impossible).

Sword certainly looks nicer (need to go get the blue version sometime..), but i've always wanted to roll with a hammer, but so far haven't found the weapon, build or character to do so.

Repurposing my faither though seems like a good place to start!

[estrogen demon]

If you just do pve, use whatever you think is fun. For pvp, neither of these options are a good pick

[Mordy]

Originally posted by combat_wombat56:

If you just do pve, use whatever you think is fun. For pvp, neither of these options are a good pick

And what is the favored pvp weapon exactly?

Seem to recall katanas being popular, but is there a ultra weapon that is thought to be above others?

[Safarel]

Originally posted by Mordy:

Seem to recall katanas being popular, but is there a ultra weapon that is thought to be above others?

Zweihander. Cos' legend never dies.
Murakumo.
Crypt Blacksword.
Also i'm in love with large club.

[estrogen demon]

All ultra weapons are bad. Drakekeeper's greataxe is the least ♥♥♥♥♥♥ of them. Best weapons right now are most spears, katanas, ice rapier, warped sword and some straightswords.

[King Robert Baratheon]

Originally posted by combat_wombat56:

All ultra weapons are bad. Drakekeeper's greataxe is the least ♥♥♥♥♥♥ of them. Best weapons right now are most spears, katanas, ice rapier, warped sword and some straightswords.

This guy is the epitome of what's wrong with the souls community. He sounds like came straight over here from Dark Souls 3. Naturally dex weapons are stronger in pvp but strength builds can destroy people in pvp if you do it right. All too often I get invaded by or invade someone who I see dual wielding greatswords (usually with light or practically no armor) and I get destroyed. Not my ideal image of a strength build (a poise monster that just steamrolls over puny dex users like this guy) but it's still seems to be strong in pvp.

[estrogen demon]

You're an idiot if you think that someone competent will get hit by a dual wield greatswords, or any ultra weapon for that matter. Not if you play on reaction. What's wrong with the community is the fact that they have the scrub mentality and are misinformed about a lot of things. Sounds like you've never fought anyone good so you think that all weapons are equal. Mindgames and parry baits are the only real way to play. Also, judging by your name, you probably get salty when people hit you mid gesture.

[Mordy]

Originally posted by combat_wombat56:

All ultra weapons are bad. Drakekeeper's greataxe is the least ♥♥♥♥♥♥ of them. Best weapons right now are most spears, katanas, ice rapier, warped sword and some straightswords.

Spears?

Ice Rapier i also recall being kinda hot a long time ago but maybe the old trends are swinging back again.

Originally posted by Knight's Honor:

Originally posted by combat_wombat56:

All ultra weapons are bad. Drakekeeper's greataxe is the least ♥♥♥♥♥♥ of them. Best weapons right now are most spears, katanas, ice rapier, warped sword and some straightswords.

This guy is the epitome of what's wrong with the souls community. He sounds like came straight over here from Dark Souls 3. Naturally dex weapons are stronger in pvp but strength builds can destroy people in pvp if you do it right. All too often I get invaded by or invade someone who I see dual wielding greatswords (usually with light or practically no armor) and I get destroyed. Not my ideal image of a strength build (a poise monster that just steamrolls over puny dex users like this guy) but it's still seems to be strong in pvp.

Ultras seem too punishable to be worth bothering with in pvp, though i guess if you know what you are doing, any weapon can be made to work, just depends how much effort one wants to put into it.

At any rate, doing the same thing i always do, getting totally stuck between weapons which eventually leads into me playing something entirely else.

It is such a shame there's no strict faith ultra, with lightning damage, as that would make selection easy unless of course it was clunker like the Fume Sword (how i wish that thing was better than it is..).

[estrogen demon]

Spears are incredibly good. Especially bident and dragonslayer spear. They have a ton for range, great tracking and can trade with pretty much anything. Also good moveset. Ice rapier will always be the best. Superior to any other thrusting sword. Unmatched ar paired with low requirements and the best one handed running attack in the game. It also takes infusions very well, and loses almost no physical dmg when infused. Pvp comes down to who leaves themselves vulnerable first. Basically every move you make with a ultra weapon is very easy to punish with a meta weapon. Any weapon can be made to work if you're facing bad players.

[King Robert Baratheon]

Originally posted by combat_wombat56:

You're an idiot if you think that someone competent will get hit by a dual wield greatswords, or any ultra weapon for that matter. Not if you play on reaction. What's wrong with the community is the fact that they have the scrub mentality and are misinformed about a lot of things. Sounds like you've never fought anyone good so you think that all weapons are equal. Mindgames and parry baits are the only real way to play. Also, judging by your name, you probably get salty when people hit you mid gesture.

I have that name just because i'm going for the knight's honor achievement in dark souls 1 you a**hole (stupid a** dark souls 1 makes our steam name our character name for when we do co-op, invade, or get invaded). I never gesture when I invade I just try to kill the host as fast as possible.

[TrueArchery]

Originally posted by Knight's Honor:

This guy is the epitome of what's wrong with the souls community. He sounds like came straight over here from Dark Souls 3. Naturally dex weapons are stronger in pvp but strength builds can destroy people in pvp if you do it right. All too often I get invaded by or invade someone who I see dual wielding greatswords (usually with light or practically no armor) and I get destroyed. Not my ideal image of a strength build (a poise monster that just steamrolls over puny dex users like this guy) but it's still seems to be strong in pvp.

Well he's belonging to the "tryhard"-crowd, undeniably, but he isn't "poison to the community" or anything...
Actually, I just came to say that the Bident and Estoc are the only "strength"-weapons which are really good in PvP. If you destroy people by dualwielded Greatswords, it isn't a strong build, but a weak opponent.
A poisemonster with some slow stick is beaten to death by anything faster + twohanded that isn't spelled ladle or ivory straight sword.

Originally posted by combat_wombat56:

Ice rapier will always be the best. Superior to any other thrusting sword. Unmatched ar

To be fair, several thrusting swords are stronger (uninfused at least). I always thought the good people prefer it because of its length.

Originally posted by Mordy:

Ultras seem too punishable to be worth bothering with in pvp, though i guess if you know what you are doing, any weapon can be made to work, just depends how much effort one wants to put into it.

It is such a shame there's no strict faith ultra, with lightning damage, as that would make selection easy unless of course it was clunker like the Fume Sword (how i wish that thing was better than it is..).

No, it honestly mostly depends on your opponent. Of course, if you play like a noob its not gonna work, but in average player vs average player matches you can usually make it work well enough.

The Lost Sinner's Sword goes extremely well with infusions due to very high base damage. It's best to just ignore the AR and (negative) scaling because it doesn't have an impact on the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of damage that thing causes. Drawbacks are the arguably worst ultra-moveset, less-than-average reach and 30 selfdamage per hit, but it's also very light, doesn't cost much stamina and doesn't require a specific build to work (12 Str 18 Dex twohanded iirc).

The Fume Sword is actually quite decent, good moveset and best reach of all straight swords, but the damage isn't that high unless you're high-leveled and double-buff. You're exaggerating a bit here.

The Iron King Hammer is at high stats the strongest greathammer (AR-wise) just behind the sacred chime one. The damage is very gud even at not-that-high stats. The R2 has the most lingering hitbox I've ever seen for any special attack. It's worse than Smelter-specials.