Claymore or Longsword

[Jurras]

I am looking to try and play dark souls for the first time and want to do something very simple and straight forward. I was thinking of going a knight and was think of using a shield + a longsword or a claymore but I dont know which one is best for someone who just wants an "easier", in terms of dark souls, time the first run of the game. Which is the better of the two, again I want something a total noob could use and nothing too complex or late game.

[Chris]

The longsword is the starting weapon for the knight and it's literally one of the best weapons in the game. There's really no reason not to use both weapons since they both benefit from investing in a strength + dexterity "quality" build.

The longsword is great for mowing through groups of enemies and the claymore is great for maximizing damage against bosses where you may only get the opportunity to hit once or twice between dodging attacks.

[Jurras]

ok so kinda use longsword for general enemies and use claymore for bosses then? Another question. I hear armor is kinda worhtless in dark souls 3, should I just kinda stick with the starter knight set or just ditch it for something lighter?

[Darth Invader]

Either of those weapons will do, but it's best to pick one and go with it. Upgrade materials are few and far between early on, so picking one of those swords and sticking with it is a better idea for all enemies.

As for the armor, it is situational. If you're fighting a bunch of magic casters, wear some magic defense, etc. Other than that, not much of an impact, unless you're going full-on tank.

Happy killin'!

[pyr0kid]

fellow nooblet here, longswords are a great overall sword, i kickedass with one for the first few hours of the game. i sent you a friend req incase you need a hand with anything, i got loads of time and im fine with getting draged in to help out. dark souls and good company mix well. :)

i would write a longer post but its 2 am here, sorry for being off topic as hell.



tldr: longswords are good, if you need help or have a question just msg me, i got time.

[Demon of Razgriz]

Just to let you know. I just beat the game using the starting Knight Armor and the Longsword that I made Heavy. I did use Yhorm's Greatshield when I could and before that I was using other shields. I did make sure I stayed under 70%, but you can do that with a few points in Vitality (I think thats the equip load one). Or, you could use a ring like Havel's if you wanted.

Armor was most definitely not useless, just make sure you stay under 70% so you don't fat roll.

[Turbo Lover]

I used the longsword and knight armor till I found the astora straight sword and sunset armor and beat the game my first and second playthrough. I just pumped as much skill points into vigor and endurance as I could till I hit 40/40 as that really helped.

[Pablo]

Just don't let Daddy know that you leveled dex.

[Deverti]

Originally posted by Chris:

...
The longsword is great for mowing through groups of enemies and the claymore is great for maximizing damage against bosses where you may only get the opportunity to hit once or twice between dodging attacks.

exactly the opposite imo, lol

more range and poise dmg/general dmg for groups with the claymore

and higher flexibility for easier dodging with the straight sword for single targets, likely more dps anyway

[Jurras]

ok so dumb question 40/40 is the whole strength/Dex scaling thing for a "quality" build right? If i am using the starter knight stats and armor is there anything that I should focus on alongside the 40/40?

[Deverti]

lvl up to 120-130, get 40/40 vigor and endurance, stay below 70% equip load

everything else doesnt matter much and is about gitting gud, lol

[Jurras]

so wait it is 40 strength, 40 dex, 40 vigor, AND 40 endurance? wont that be like level 160?

[Deverti]

eg, if you start as deprived you got 10 points in each stat at lvl 1...you got more points than your actual sl^^

just make sure you have a min of 35 vigor/end, the 40/40 str/dex, throw the spare stuff into vitality and you ll be perfectly fine playing melee

[Chris]

Originally posted by Tanks608:

ok so dumb question 40/40 is the whole strength/Dex scaling thing for a "quality" build right? If i am using the starter knight stats and armor is there anything that I should focus on alongside the 40/40?

Quality builds are pretty straight forward and effective. Best thing to do in my opinioin is infuse your weapon with a Raw gem so you can maintain high health and stamina and still deal damage, then switch over to a Refined infusion when you have more points in STR/DEX.

[Loren]

Longsword is the way to go. Claymore is not too bad but in DS3 it is kind of meh.

I too recommend quality build. It is the best build for first playthrough. It is straight forward and effective. It will help you decide which weapon you like.

Check Lothric Knight Straight Sword if you like longsword. It is a longsword with superior qualities and moveset. It drops from the knights before the boss at Lothric High Wall. IMHO it is the best straight sword in the game. It is also fun to use for a straight sword.

Building quality will be like this: Start with knight or warrior. Make str and dex minimum for your chosen weapon. Then infuse that weapon with raw. After that don't raise str and dex yet. Pump endurance and vigor. (Health and stamina) when you hit 40 in each start raising str and dex to 40 also. When you start that change your favorite weapon's infusion from raw to quality.

[Darth Invader]

Originally posted by Tanks608:

ok so dumb question 40/40 is the whole strength/Dex scaling thing for a "quality" build right? If i am using the starter knight stats and armor is there anything that I should focus on alongside the 40/40?

40 str 40 dex is considered a quality build, but "scaling" is a letter grade a weapon has that depicts how well a weapon strengthens, or "scales" with a particular stat. From a weapons perspective, it can scale with 4 different attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Faith.
The letter grades applied to the weapon begins with an excellent grade of S, then A, B, C, D, and finally ends with a so-so scaling of E.
A weapon can scale with any combination of grades and those 4 attributes, so if you pumping skill points into strength you'll want the weapon to have at least a c "scale" in strength, etc, etc.
Hope this helps, now go kill some already dead stuff!!!