What is a raw weapon?

[AkroS]

i was about to upgrade my sword when i saw i can upgrade it to raw, but what changes if i do that?

[Alariel]

Raw gives you a higher base damage, but lowers the scaling.
It is useful early in game, if you don't have high dex / str.
You can compare the changes in your weapon menu, during your interaction with the blacksmith.

Example: my SL 30 char got 24 str. and is playing with a +10 Zweihander.
If I make this Zweihander to raw +5, I get about 20 points more damage.

[space resident]

You get higher base damage in exchange for lower scaling. Great for short term weapon use, not as good for long term.

[ULTRA]

Basically it's the "oh god I flubbed my build but I still wanna repair my weapons" mode

[Washing Machine]

Reduces scaling drastically, more flat base damage. Excellent for early mages, since you probably just want to meet minimum str/dex for whatever weapon, and can just slap Magic Weapon on your silly Longsword.

[Aleccia Rosewater]

Keep in mind that you can only bring a Raw weapon to what is effectively +10 where every other upgrade path goes all the way to +15