I cant decide: Black Knight Sword or a Refined Flamberge

[mitc1111]

both are around +7 right now, and have about the same damage.
My strenght and dex are at 32 right now. Quality build.

And I can't make up my mind which to use and upgrade when I find a slab. The Flameberge seems to have the highest damage of any like-sized sword. BKS has Perseverance, which I'm not clear on. It raises poise for a few seconds, it seems? And it does extra damage against demons I think... but can't be buffed.

Any thoughts?

[Speed Malus]

It not only increases poise, it activates it

[Absolomb]

have you tried out the drakeblood sword?

[Ambugaton]

Can't give you a comparison from experience because I didn't use the flamberge long... but I can tell you my experience with the BKS and why I din't mess with the flamberge long. The extra damage against demons with the BKS is significant, has made a difference up through NG+ in every demon boss and mini boss fight (as an example, against the old demon king using BKS he got staggered contantly, I don't think I even had to roll much, didn't use any estus and no real stretegy, just got under him and spammed R1) I upgraded it to +5 just for those fights, but it's a solid blade with a decent moveset and high AR otherwise, too. With the flamberge, first I found it odd to have bleed on a greatsword, they swing so slowly compared to staight swords or katanas I didn't see it coming into play much, and absent the bleed I didn't see much going for it for my playstyle.. other greatswords seemed more versatile and/or had a higher AR. If I wanted bleed for something that seems to be really weak to it like sulyvahn's pets I would have still gone with the barbed straight sword or a katana even if the flamberge was my main.

Fully upgraded on a 40/40 build the BKS has an AR of 560, vs 517 for the flamberge with refined infusion. And the perseverence is great, lets you actually have passive poise, i.e. poise beyond just when you're swinging the sword, so you can actually get that attack out. The good news is that the slabs tend to come in groups (3 in grand archives, 2 in archdragon peak, 3 in ariandel, etc) and there are enough of them that you can upgrade both and not feel like you've wasted anything.

[mitc1111]

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

Can't give you a comparison from experience because I didn't use the flamberge long... but I can tell you my experience with the BKS and why I din't mess with the flamberge long. The extra damage against demons with the BKS is significant, has made a difference up through NG+ in every demon boss and mini boss fight (as an example, against the old demon king using BKS he got staggered contantly, I don't think I even had to roll much, didn't use any estus and no real stretegy, just got under him and spammed R1) I upgraded it to +5 just for those fights, but it's a solid blade with a decent moveset and high AR otherwise, too. With the flamberge, first I found it odd to have bleed on a greatsword, they swing so slowly compared to staight swords or katanas I didn't see it coming into play much, and absent the bleed I didn't see much going for it for my playstyle.. other greatswords seemed more versatile and/or had a higher AR. If I wanted bleed for something that seems to be really weak to it like sulyvahn's pets I would have still gone with the barbed straight sword or a katana even if the flamberge was my main.

Fully upgraded on a 40/40 build the BKS has an AR of 560, vs 517 for the flamberge with refined infusion. And the perseverence is great, lets you actually have passive poise, i.e. poise beyond just when you're swinging the sword, so you can actually get that attack out. The good news is that the slabs tend to come in groups (3 in grand archives, 2 in archdragon peak, 3 in ariandel, etc) and there are enough of them that you can upgrade both and not feel like you've wasted anything.

Thanks for the info. yeah, i'm leaning towards the BKS now. And it looks like I'm going to be getting some slabs ... the areas you mentioned are where I'm just arriving at.

[mitc1111]

Originally posted by dildofaggins:

have you tried out the drakeblood sword?

No. I can still get it, but do you have to have Faith to use it effectively? My faith is low ... sort of like real life.

[Average Citizen (Not FBI)]

Black Knight Poisesword.

Originally posted by mitc1111:

Originally posted by dildofaggins:

have you tried out the drakeblood sword?

No. I can still get it, but do you have to have Faith to use it effectively? My faith is low ... sort of like real life.

The Drakeblood GS has the same moveset as the Hollowslayer/Mirrah GS, with the added detriment of split damage.

[Ambugaton]

Originally posted by Average Citizen (Not FBI):

Black Knight Poisesword.

Originally posted by mitc1111:

No. I can still get it, but do you have to have Faith to use it effectively? My faith is low ... sort of like real life.

The Drakeblood GS has the same moveset as the Hollowslayer/Mirrah GS, with the added detriment of split damage.

I like the look of the Drakeblood and the moveset (well except that it doesn't have the 2h poke of the hollowslayer), and the AR looks good on paper. Was excited when I picked it up, thought I had found my new main weapon... but I was thoroughly underwhelmed by its actual performance, sadly.

[Ambugaton]

Originally posted by Ariel:

Flamb. The BKS (much like every other heavy weapon) is easily countered with a blood bandit's knife.

The flamerge is just another GS tho. Same basic moveset as the bastard sword with lower AR but has bleed, and I don't think it swings any quicker. How is it any more or less of an answer to the bandit's knife than any other gs?