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There are two main melee stats in Dark Souls that govern physical damage — Strength and Dexterity. While one can definitely opt to increase only one of these stats, investing in both can result in some better builds for certain weapons. For players who are seeking out a great weapon to go with this build, here are the best Quality build weapons in Dark Souls.
Updated March 23, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: Dark Souls is a game where a player’s build takes precedence over everything else. Players need to have an idea of the build they’re willing to pursue before they start investing their hard-earned stats into their character. One of the many builds that players can opt for is a Quality Build, which makes the most of both Strength and Dexterity to let players maximize the total damage they can deal with weapons appropriate for this build. The best quality weapons in the game are mentioned below.
15 Composite Bow
Ranged weapons might not make for the most interesting combat in the game, but they sure do trivialize and simplify certain encounters that might be giving players a tough time. Generally, the first bow that players will stick with for the long haul is the Composite Bow… as long as they run through the threats in New Londo Ruins and quickly pick up this weapon.
The bow scales with both Strength and Dexterity, and lets players pick off enemies from afar. Given how threatening certain enemies are at melee range, the Composite Bow does a great job of letting players pick and choose their fights.
14 Dragonslayer Greatbow
After a while, the damage done by most bows will start becoming rather unimpressive, making most encounters tedious for a build focusing on ranged weaponry. Thankfully, the Dragonslayer Greatbow is here to make combat fun again.
Upgrading this weapon will allow players to wreak absolute havoc on their enemies with this amazing bow. Its ranged attacks hit like a truck and can down most enemies in just a few hits… if not one shot!
13 Murakumo
The Murakumo is easily one of the most underrated weapons in the entire game. It’s a shame that more people don’t take advantage of this massive curved sword, which looks incredible and has a pretty nice moveset as well.
Unfortunately, the only guaranteed drop for this weapon comes from killing Shiva of the East, a rather important NPC. For a weapon that scales mostly with Dexterity, players need a pretty high Strength stat of 28 to wield it effectively in the game.
12 Great Scythe
The Great Scythe is one of the best weapons in the game and a favorite of many players. The weapon hits like a truck and scales really well with Dexterity.
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In fact, the scaling of this weapon is so good with Dexterity that most people don’t even consider it to be a Quality weapon. However, investing a few points in Strength will go a long way in ensuring that players can maximize the damage that is done by this amazing weapon.
11 Lifehunt Scythe
Most people will have heated debates about the effectiveness of the Great Scythe over the Lifehunt Scythe. While the former might have a greater reach, the excellent Bleed buildup of the Lifehunt Scythe puts it in a class of its own.
Just makes sure to weak equipment that prevents self-Bleed buildup as well. Using this weapon without any Bleed resistances is pretty much asking to get killed for no reason time and time again.
10 Washing Pole
The Washing Pole might not be the first weapon that anyone thinks of when it comes to choosing a good Quality build weapon, but this katana is still a great option regardless. This weapon is quite similar to the Uchigatana, so players who are used to that legendary weapon can opt for this counterpart if they’re pursuing a Quality build.
At the maximum upgrade of +15, the Washing Pole gets D-tier scaling in Strength and C-tier scaling in Dexterity. This isn’t very impressive, however, this weapon’s reach and speed allow it to be deadly with even minimal boosts. 225 physical attack is not a figure that should be dismissed either.
9 Caestus
The Caestus is easily one of the more unique weapons on this list, essentially functioning as a dark fantasy knuckleduster of sorts. Good scaling in both Strength and Dexterity, coupled with a fast moveset, makes the Caestus one of the more entertaining weapons to use in Dark Souls. Dual-wielding two Caestus weapons have become quite popular in Dark Souls, and people who decided to pursue this particular course of action will find themselves more than amazed by how different the game feels.
C-tier scaling in both melee stats allows this fist weapon’s 165 physical attack to gain a moderate boost to its offensive rating. In combination with its rapid light and heavy attacks, as well as its wickedly swift parry speed, this grants its wielder great potential in combat.
8 Bastard Sword
The Bastard Sword might — ironically enough — be mostly forgotten when it comes to choosing a proper sword in Dark Souls, but there’s no denying the validity of this weapon for people who are pursuing a Quality build.
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That being said, the Bastard Sword is certainly one of the faster greatswords in Dark Souls — even though its highest-damaging attack is extremely slow — and is a great pick for a person to finish their playthrough with. At +15, this big blade gets C-tier scaling in both Strength and Dexterity that, despite being average, adds a decent boost to its substantial 262 physical attack. Its wide, sweeping light attacks are excellent for dealing with multiple foes at once and its overhead slam for a heavy attack is great to use in tight confines as well as to stagger most common enemies.
7 Warpick
The Warpick is easily one of the most underrated and underappreciated weapons in the entire game, and it’s easy to see why this is the case once a person starts using this weapon. With the second-highest reach of any hammer weapon and decent scaling with both Strength and Dexterity, it must be said that the Warpick is an easy recommendation for any player pursuing a Quality build.
With C-tier scaling in Strength and D-tier in Dexterity, it is geared a bit more towards beefier players, though this does not stop its maximum physical attack of 227 from allowing Quality builds to decimate a foe’s health bar. As opposed to every other hammer in the game, the Warpick does thrust-type damage, meaning that it is the only weapon in this class that can take advantage of counterattack damage for even bigger hits on enemies in the middle of an attack animation.
6 Flamberge
The Flamberge is one of the safer weapons that players can use if they don’t want to experiment too much with their moveset. It’s a reliable weapon in both PvE and PvP scenarios, and can definitely make one’s journey with Dark Souls way easier once people are more familiar with the moveset.
The Flamberge is a bit odd for a greatsword in that it scales better with Dexterity, achieving B-tier in this stat at the maximum Regular upgrade level. It does get D-tier scaling with Strength, which allows it to be usable for Quality builds. As its item description and undulating blade imply, it can cause massive bleeding to adversaries for a bonus way to maim and massacre opponents.
5 Great Lord Greatsword
It goes without saying that the weapon of the final boss in the game was bound to make an appearance on this list, especially given the amazing scaling of said weapon with both Strength and Dexterity. The Great Lord Greatsword isn’t available for a person’s first playthrough, which is quite a shame since this greatsword is easily one of the more fun weapons to play around with.
As a boss soul weapon, it can only be upgraded to +5 and cannot be infused, however, it doesn’t need more than that to be a tool for utter devastation. The D-tier scaling in both Strength and Dexterity adds a minuscule boost to the attack rating, though its physical attack more than makes up for this with a tremendous figure of 384. This is one of the highest physical attack stats in the entire game.
4 Longsword
It boggles minds that one of the best weapons in the entirety of Dark Souls can be achieved from the very start if the player chooses the Warrior class. The Longsword is easily one of the most reliable weapons in Dark Souls and a great weapon for anyone pursuing a Quality build. The weapon is fast enough to land two hits and then roll away from any danger, leaving the enemy with no clue as to what happened. It’s one of the most beloved weapons in the entire game, and it’s easy to see why this is the case.
This straight sword’s combination of attack speed and relatively high damage for its weapon class make it a prime choice for Quality builds since it also gains C-tier scaling in both melee-oriented stats. 200 physical attack grants each swing of this blade sufficiently high damage per second that can see a player from the start of the game to the end without needing any other armament.
3 Demon’s Spear
Technically speaking, most spears and halberds are quite viable with a Quality build, and this entire list could’ve been populated with weapons under these categories. However, none of them even come close to the brilliance of the Demon’s Spear. The sheer amount of damage this weapon can do with a few quick hits simply puts it a cut above the rest of the spears and halberds present in Dark Souls. Its serviceable scaling with Strength and Dexterity makes it a perfect weapon for people pursuing a Quality build.
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Dealing split damage, comprising 150 physical and 180 lightning attack, this is polearm excellent to get past the defenses of enemies with high physical damage reduction. Its thrusts also make it great for getting more damage on foes in the middle of an attack animation for great counterattacks. The C-tier scaling in both Strength and Dexterity is a great boon for Quality builds.
2 Zweihander
It would be impossible to talk about weapons that are compatible with a Quality build without mentioning the absolute monster that is the Zweihander. The fact that this weapon is available fairly early in the game, coupled with the sheer damage it can deal with every hit, makes it one of the best weapons in Dark Souls by a country mile. In fact, the only weapon that is arguably better than the Zweihander is another popular greatsword.
C-tier scaling in Strength and D-tier in Dexterity gives a small yet appreciated boost to this two-handed sword’s 325 physical attack. Its moveset is very similar to the Bastard Sword in that its light attacks unleash great sweeps in front of the wielder while the heavy ones bring this massive blade down upon the skulls of foes in a monstrous overhand smash.
1 Claymore
One doesn’t need to give this legendary weapon an introduction — anybody who’s played Dark Souls will attest to the fact that the Claymore is the best greatsword available in the entire game. The moveset is incredibly entertaining, the damage is massive, and the weapon is available really early on in the game. Basically, the Claymore ticks all the boxes when it comes to being a great Quality weapon in Dark Souls.
The C-tier scaling it gets in both Strength and Dexterity are decent damage modifiers to this greatsword’s 257 physical attack. What sets it apart from similar greatswords like the Zweihander is that the Claymore has both thrust and slashing attacks that make it extremely versatile and viable in pretty much every area in the game. Huge range, moderate speed, and solid damage grant this mighty blade the title of the best Quality build weapon in the whole game.
Dark Souls was released on September 22, 2011 and is available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
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