Weapons are your soul mates in Dark Souls. You can’t survive without knowing the strength and weaknesses of the weapon you are going to use against your enemies. You need to know to what extent you can use a particular weapon in Dark Souls before it would require reinforcements.
You should know the life of your favorite weapon and which character stats you need to improve to effectively use certain weapon or before you will be able to use certain weapon. You should know which NPCs/enemies/bosses drop weapons and how you can get these weapons in easiest possible ways.
You should know how you can upgrade your weapons to increase its effectiveness and damage against your enemies. If you want to all these, continue reading. For more help on Dark Souls, read our Walkthrough, Armor Location, Class guide and Items guide.
Dark Souls Weapons and Reinforcements
Below are all the weapons, divided by categories and reinforcements you can use to upgrade those weapons.
Daggers
Dagger
It is a lightweight weapon which won’t require much strength to use it and would allow you fight fast. Another important aspect is that, you would be able to move pretty quickly. Sorcerer starts with Dagger. You can also buy it from the Male Undead Merchant for 300 souls.
Jagged Ghost Blade
You can find this weapon after defeating the male ghosts in New Londo. You can inflict damage to ghosts through this.
Ghost Blade
You can have this weapon by killing the female ghosts in New Londo.
Bandit’s Knife
You will start with this weapon if you choose the Thief Class. It’s also a rare drop from Undead Assassins.
Parrying Dagger
A dagger that is very effect in Parrying. You will find it in Valley of Drake and New Londo Ruins.
Priscilla Dagger
You need to cut-off Priscilla The Crossbreed’s Tail for it to drop.
Swords
Straight Sword Hilt
It’s a broken sword so don’t expect much damage and range. You will be given this sword at the start of the game in the Undead Asylum.
Broken Straight Sword
It drops from Zombies and Infested Ghoul.
Broadsword
You get the Broadsword if you choose the Knight Class. It’s a standard short blade sword in the game. You can buy it from the shop of Andre of Astora for 1000 souls.
Shortsword
Hunted starts with Shortsword. You can buy it from the shop of male Undead Merchant for 600 souls or slay an armored zombie to get it.
Longsword
One of the weapons you will find very easy to use. Starting equipment for Warrior. You can buy it at the shop of Andre of Astora for 1000 souls. It also drops from Undead Soldier with Sword and Undead Soldier with Spear.
Barbed Straight Sword
It drops From Knight of Thorns and Kirk.
Straight Sunlight Sword
It drops from Solaire of Astora.
Balder Side Sword
You can get it from Red Cloaked Knights in Undead Parish.
Sacrifice Sword
Music Ceremonial Sword in the Demon Souls has a new name and that is, Sacrifice Sword. Everytime you attack an enemy, it places Voodoo Wan Fire, to recover HP.
Holy Sword
It’s a powerful sword that you can get early in the game.
Astora’s Straight Sword
You will find it in front of the Poison breathing undead dragon in Flying Dragon’s Valley.
Sword of the King of the Tomb
It’s the sword of Wang Kin and is dipped in deadly poison so you know that your enemies will suffer.
Moonlight Great Sword
If you target the tail of Seath the Scaleless, you will have this sword eventually.
Silver Knight Straight Sword
It drops from the Silver Knight.
Drake Sword
It will drop when you cut off the Hellkite’s tail. You may get it but you won’t be able to use it for long, since it will loose its effectiveness eventually because it doesn’t scale with any stat. Good starting weapon but that’s that. You can trigger a shockwave attack by pressing R2 but no know that it will affect your weapon’s durability, reduces its life.
Krag Demon Sword
I won’t go into history of the creation of this weapon but do know it direct flames at your target when you swing it. It has a high attacking power and fire attribute. It is light weight, easy to use, and great weapon against daemons.
Large Crystal Sword
You can’t repair it because its Crystal can be easily damaged against powerful foes though it does pack a punch.
Sword of the Moon
It’s a rare dragon weapon and has a unique overhead swing like drake sword but deals 40 durability everytime you use it.
Bastard Sword
There is always a Bastard Sword and this one is no different.
Claymore
It’s your standard large two-handed sword with a straight blade.
Sword of the Human Serphant
It’s an old rusty single blade weapon.
Zweihander
You will find it in the Graveyard area, next to one of the large skeletons near Firelink Shrine.
The Demon Panga
One of the finest swords in Dark Souls, does its magic against muscle.
Sword of the Arutoriusu
Created with Wolf Soul – +10 Great Sword Giant Sword series.
Sword of the Arutoriusu (Holy)
Created with Wolf Soul, but you can upgrade it to +5 on top of +10 hit of the sword.
Black Knight Sword
The Sword dark as the Night. It is part of the Black Knight’s ominous equipment.
Stone Greatsword
It is dropped by the stone giants in the forest. Stone Greatsword inflicts a gravity state to the players and monsters alike when you attack, due to an inherent spell.
Great Sword of the Black Knight
Great weapon to confront chaos demon – it is the sword of the black knight, Wander Lodhran.
Dragon Greatsword
You will get after cutting off Ancient Stone Dragon Tail. It adds fire resistance and is one of the rare dragon weapons in the game.
Crystal Great Sword
You can buy it in the depths from Domhnall of Zena.
Great Lord Greatsword
The great Gwyn wields this sword.
Curved Swords
Scimitar
Small curved sword, choose Wanderer class and you will start with it.
Server
Good attack and restores HP with each hit.
Shotel
Falchion
Jagged Edge of the Ghost
It is dropped by the ghost of small Rondo, 300 Bleeding stat.
Uchigatana
Beautiful sword, cuts in style and bleeds the enemy but does get nicked rather easily.
The Washing Pole
Laido Sword
Cuts the enemy in an instant. Named after Speed of light slashing technique, lai. Only the master swordsman deserve to use it. OK, you can also in this game.
Chaos Blade
This evil Sword inherits the will of fire.
Murakumo
Giant curved sword forged using special methods in an Eastern Land. It requires extreme strength, dexterity and stamina to wield. It is dropped by Giant Sword Skeletons in Tomb of the Giants.
Queelag’s Furysword
Piercing Swords
Rapier
It’s a small Rapier.
Estoc
It’s a large Rapier.
Penetrates Armor
Sword that with its stiff thorns can pierce any armor.
Kens Thorn Ricard
In the memory of famous Recard Prince, behold his weapon decorated with Ornate Rapier.
Kens Beruka Thorns
A Sword made of spines to take the sins of the church goddess Beruka. So you know, you will be blessed by her powers when fighting.
Dark Souls – Axes
Hand Axe
Common Axe used by Pyromancers.
Dragon King’s Great Axe
You get it when you Cut off the Gaping Dragon’s tail.
Gargoyle Tail Axe
Axe of the Black Knight
Demon’s Greataxe
You can attain it after defeating Taurus Demon.
Dragon King Greataxe
You need to cut off Gaping Dragon’s tail for this one.
Black Knight Greataxe
A pretty effective weapon against against the chaos weapons.
Blunt Weapons
Club
Offensive blunt force weapon.
Reinforced Club
You can reinforce this club by ores.
Mace
Offense blunt force weapon.
Morning Star
Nothing beats an old classic Hammer with s
Skull Lantern
It lights the way in the tomb of giants. You can use it as fire damage strike weapon.
Demon’s Great Hammer
The Hammer wielded by the Asylum Demon. You will get it when you defeat
Dragon Tooth
A weapon created from Dragon’s tooth. You will find it Anor Londo, by revealing a hidden door in a fireplace.
Great Club
The weapon is pretty effective for leaping attacks that fall above the head.
Fist Weapons
Cestus
Claws
Fist of the Keel
Dark Hand
It is a weapon assigned to members of the Dark Wraith Covenant. When you equip this weapon, your right hand becomes the fist weapon with special effects while your left hand guards you by becoming the shield.
Pole Weapons
Winged Spear
Long Spear mostly used by Knights, gets this name because it has wings like protrusions on its tip.
Halberd
It’s a standard pole weapon.
Crystal Halberd
In Anor Londo, it drops beside the statue of executioner smough near the first bonfire.
Pike
This spear has longest range in non-projectile weapons. It is traditionally carried by group of soldiers.
Ornstein’s Spear
You will get this spear when you kill 2nd stage Ornstein and take its soul. Take it to the smith with +10 spear and 5000 souls.
Titanite Catch Pole
It can be obtained from Titanite Demon.
Black Knight Halberd
It’s black battle scythe and it is part of the Black Knight’s ominous equipment.
Giant’s Halberd
It can be yours when you defeat the giant sentinels in Anor Londo.
Partizan
A useful spear with a broad tip.
Channeler’s Trident
In Seath the Scaleless’s castle, you can get it by defeating those priest like enemies.
Lucerne
It’s similar to the Halberd but has a hard beak-like protrusion.
Ranged/Projectile Weapons
Short Bow
Very useful weapon to lure enemies.
Composite Bow
In New Lando Ruins, you can find it on the far side edge of the church where you drain water.
Dragonslayer Greatbow
Dragonslayers carry this bow and its size is big enough that you need to anchor in the ground before using.
Sniper Crossbow
Carim snipers often use this bow. You need high dexterity level to use it.
Avelyn
Can be found in Seath the Scaless’ castle. You will have to drop down onto a bookcase in the middle room to open a chest on top of it.
Black Bow of Pharis
If you drop down from the archer in Darkroot garden, you can have it right before the cat NPC in the first ruined tower.
Blood Dripper
It’s a weapon that cannot be blocked and deals heavy damage.
Whip
It’s a leather whip, virtually ineffective against armor and tough scales, does deal good damage against enemies with exposed skin.
Ibaramuchi
It causes bleeding, up to 300.
Spada Lunga
It’s a large throwing sword and deals high damage.
Catalyst and Talismans
Pyromancy Flame
It’s a catalyst for fire spells and is part of the starting equipment for the Pyromancer. Other players get it when they rescue the trainer form the Depths.
Catalyst For Fire Spells
There is another Catalyst for fire spells in Dark Souls.
magician’s Catalyst
It’s a starting equipment for Sorcerer. Other players get when they rescue the trainer from the lower Undead Burg.
Sorcerer’s Catalyst
It can be used for sorceries and attune sorceries at the bonfire.
Demon’s Catalyst
You can use this catalyst as fire weapon.
Talisman
A Talisman for miracles.
Ivory Talisman
You can obtain it by defeating Reah of Thorolund in The Duke’s Archives after she hollows. The Talisman is believed to caste miracles of gods.
Sunlight Talisman
It’s a medium for casting God Spells. It is created by Solaire of Astora, the Knight of Sunlight
Izalith Catalyst
Can be used for fire attacks.
Tin Banishment Catalyst
It can inflict small physical damage in contrast to other catalysts.
Craft/Make Weapons
There is a mechanics behind creating new weapons in Dark Soul and you have to understand that before you can create some for yourself. Game is already very difficult and if you are stuck with some basic weapons then it is going to be an impossible thing to complete.
Now one of the most important NPC character in Dark Soul is going to be Blacksmith. He is going to be the one crafting weapons for you and also modify them. Blacksmith can:
- Teach you gestures
- Talk to you
- Upgrade your weapons
- Accept unique divine embers that unlock new upgrade paths for weapons
- Sell you items, including important quest items
- Repair your equipment
You will find blacksmiths in various locations of the map. And if you have the right items they can upgrade any of your equipment.
Dark Souls Weapon Reinforcements
Weapons in Dark Souls can be reinforced by different crystals or titanite, which enables players to change the weapons’ stats like damage type but do know that reinforcing a weapon can also make their damage dependent on a different character stat.
So, before you Reinforce your weapons, make sure you have the required character stats to use the reinforced weapon. If you want to find out more about these crystals or titanite used to reinforce these weapons, read our Dark Souls Items guide.
Strongest Weapon
It’s standard reinforcement, which upgrades power and decreases stat scaling. Requires +5 Weapon stat. Go to Undead Burg with Titanium Chunk for this reinforcement.
Crystal Weapon
It reduces the endurance to a greater degree and you have to keep the reinforced weapon in good condition or you will loose it permanently since you can’t repair it. It requires +10 Normal weapon stat. Go to Anole Rondo with Titanite Chunk for this reinforcement.
Lightning Weapon
It removes stat scaling and adds lightening effect to the weapon. Requires +10 Normal Weapon. Go to Anole Rondo with Titanite Chunk for this reinforcement.
Raw Weapon
It’s a poison reinforcement and requires +5 Holy Weapon stat. Go to Undead Burg with White Titanite for this reinforcement.
Magic Weapon
Increases magic scaling to greater degree and with slight increase in strength scaling but reduces Dexterity scaling. Requires +5 Normal Weapon. Go to Anole Rondo with Green Titanite for this reinforcement.
Enchanted Weapon
It increases magic stat scaling to A rank and requires +5 Magic Weapon stat. Go to Anole Rondo with Blue Titanite for this reinforcement.
Divine Weapon
It adds Magic and Faith scaling and decreases Strength/Dexterity scaling. Requires +5 Normal Weapon stat. Go to Undead Burg with Green Titanite for this reinforcement.
Fire Weapon
Removes stat scaling and adds fire effect. Requires +10 Normal Weapon. Go to Catacombs with Green Titanite for this reinforcement.
Chaos Weapon
Requires +5 Fire Weapon. Go to Catacombs with Red Titanite for this reinforcement.
Ores
These items serve the upgrade purposes – Reinforcement Ores.
Titanite
It is used for the upgrades including normal, raw, thunder, and ice. Its variants include Shard, Large Shard, Chunk and Pure.
Green Titanite
It can be used to upgrade magic, fire and divine. Large Shard is another variant.
Blue Titanite
It can be used for magic and enchant upgrades. Chunk
and Pure are the other variants.
White Titanite
Divine and Occult upgrades can be done by this ore. Its variants include Chunk and Pure.
Red Titanite
It can be used for Chaos and Fire upgrades.
Demon Titanite
Weapons upgrades are possible via souls. You can have them from Titanite Demons (as the name suggests).
Twinkling Titanite
Can be used to upgrade items which otherwise won’t be possible.
Dragon Scale
You can use this ore to upgrade dragon weapons.
Best Weapons
In Dark soul, we have picked a few of the best weapons that we recommend you to aim for in Dark soul.
Zweihander
You will find it in the Firelink Shrine right next to a grave before the Catacombs. You will be able to acquire this weapon very early on in the game but it is going to be long companion for you because of the amount of damage its attacks have. It doesn’t look like a powerful weapon but it has a very large amount of raw damage and you can use it against bosses as well. It will even be able to block boss attacks if you swing it. Now as this is a heavy weapon so you might not be able to run to the fullest and dodging, swinging will take a huge toll on your endurance.
Balder Side Sword
It will be dropped in Undead Parish by Balder Knights. It is a rare weapon to find in a drop and an unexceptionally long straight sword with a build focused on dexterity. It also has the most versatile and best moveset. Due to it’s large size it has a huge range and will be very helpful in fighting bosses and the amount of moves you can make, its every attack can be followed up by another attack. When upgraded to dexterity level A you will even be able to do some extra damage. It is by far the best weapon we have seen in the Dark Soul.
Uchigatana
It will be dropped by Undead Merchant on Undead Burg. It is a light weight very quick and good damage dealing weapon and it also has a very versatile moveset. Now it can also be upgraded to dexterity level A and after that this is a very deadly weapon. One thing that you will have to keep in mind is that it is a fragile weapon and you will have to repair more often than any other weapon.
Boss Weapons
Now you can craft even special weapons called Boss weapons, these weapons can be crafted by harnessing and using Boss Souls. We have made a list of all the boss weapons in Dark soul.
| Moonlight Butterfly | Moonlight Butterfly Horn | Requires +10 Thrust Weapon (Spears, Rapiers) |
| Moonlight Butterfly | Crystal Ring Shield | Requires +10 Shield |
| Iron Golem | Golem Axe | Requires +10 Axe Weapon |
| Iron Golem | Dragon Bone Fist | Requires +10 Fist Weapon |
| Quelaag | Quelaag’s Furysword | Requires +10 Curved Sword (Scimitar, Falchion etc.) |
| Quelaag | Chaos Blade | Requires +10 Katana (Uchigatana, Washing Pole etc.) |
| Ornstein | Dragonslayer Spear | Requires +10 Thrust Weapon |
| Smough | Smough’s Hammer | Requires +10 Hammer |
| Sif | Greatsword of Artorias | Requires +10 Broken Sword |
| Sif | Cursed Greatsword of Artorias | Requires +10 Sword / Greatsword |
| Sif | Greatshield of Artorias | Requires +10 Shield |
| Gwyndolin | Darkmoon Bow | Requires +10 Bow |
| Priscilla | Lifehunt Scythe | Requires +10 Halberd |
| Artorias | Abyss Greatsword | Requires +10 Sword/Greatsword/Ultra Greatsword |
| Manus | Manus Catalyst | Requires any Catalyst |
| Gwyn, Lord of Cinder | Great Lord Greatsword | Requires +10 Sword/Greatsword/Ultra Greatsword |
This is all from Dark soul weapons guide for now.
