Why is the claymore better than the drake sword?

[Jimmidyjimjam]

It seems like experienced DS players advise the claymore more than the drake sword because it has greater potential since it ends up being stronger after upgrading it. I've upgraded it to +5 and it still inflicts less damage than the drake sword. How much do I need to upgrade for it to be worth it and why wouldn't upgrading the drake sword be better?

[LarsenB]

If you open a weapon detail screen, you'll see a section named 'Param Bonus', which is what commonly known as 'Scaling'... see here[imgur.com]

The Drake Sword has all "-" which means it has zero scaling, which in turn means that the only way to increase its damage is upgrades; once you have that sword at +5, the maximum for that item, it will never deal more damage than 300, no matter how your build progresses.
Note that in the ATK section it only has one value in the left column

The Claymore has C C in STR and DEX, which means that, in addition to the upgrades, for every point you put into STR or DEX, the damage will increase by a percentage (in the ATK section you'll see two columns, XXX +YYY, where +YYY is the bonus granted by scaling). 'C' is an average scaling, there are weapons with greater coefficient, but it's on two stats, so it's combined... when people talks about "quality builds" they refer to a build based on weapons that uses double scaling on those two stats

The Claymore starts with a lower base damage than the Drake Sord, so early on it may seem lacking, especially if you character has low STR and DEX, but it will very soon pick up and render the Drake Sword obsolete

[nomoreblues]

drake sword has very little reach and very poor moveset variety. Try to hit something first to even apply this "high" dmg (hich is lower as it seems cause scaling)

[Hunubul]

Originally posted by nomoreblues:

drake sword has very little reach and very poor moveset variety. Try to hit something first to even apply this "high" dmg (hich is lower as it seems cause scaling)

It can't be lower as it seems. If you have good stats, the claymore will display higher damage, thus the drake swords damage will be as low as it seems. There is no illusion about damage.

[SimianSwing]

Originally posted by The Frog Who Ate Ponion:

Originally posted by nomoreblues:

drake sword has very little reach and very poor moveset variety. Try to hit something first to even apply this "high" dmg (hich is lower as it seems cause scaling)

It can't be lower as it seems. If you have good stats, the claymore will display higher damage, thus the drake swords damage will be as low as it seems. There is no illusion about damage.

Ignore The Frog Who ATE Ponion @nomoreblues. He/she/it is an illusion

[nomoreblues]

Originally posted by SimianSwing:

Originally posted by The Frog Who Ate Ponion:

It can't be lower as it seems. If you have good stats, the claymore will display higher damage, thus the drake swords damage will be as low as it seems. There is no illusion about damage.

Ignore The Frog Who ATE Ponion @nomoreblues. He/she/it is an illusion

you're all illusions toying with my fragile mind

the only thing that's real is anor londo hosts hitting phantoms with drake swords like a toy truck.