Top 10 Best Dark Souls 2 Weapons [2023] - VeryAli Gaming (2023)

The Dark Souls series is known for being unforgiving. One way through which FromSoftware tackles that is by providing their players with a number of weapons, all of which are unique and have their own perks and features. Dark Souls 2 is no exception. Today we will cover the best dark souls 2 weapons. We hope you find this guide useful. For more Dark Souls guides, consider checking out Dark Souls 3 Best Heavy Armour Sets.

Best Weapons In Dark Souls 2

Dark Souls 2 weapons range from Melee weapons, to ranged weapons. The weapon types go from Ultra Greatswords to Curved Swords to Hammers. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the variety this game offers when choosing a weapon to play with.

The type of weapon you choose is crucial too for it determines your playstyle which ultimately defines your Dark Souls experience. Here we will go over what we believe to be the 10 best Dark souls 2 weapons. This list covers many different kinds of weapons, we hope this helps you with deciding your weapon of choice.

Blue Flame

Blue Flame

Blue Flame is one of the best mage build weapons in Dark Souls 2. It is a sword/Staff combo that scales with Intelligence, Strength and Dexterity. It can be upgraded to +5 using twinkling titanate. You can acquire it from Leydia Pyromancey in the Undead Crypt as a drop.

It requires a Strength level of 13, a Dexterity level of 15 and an intelligence level of 12. However, its intelligence ranking of C makes its scale the highest with intelligence. Its moveset consists of quick slashes and an R2 attack that can cast spells. It can be buffered with resins, unlike staffs and other catalysts. It is a great weapon for Beginner mages, melee-focused Mage builds and pure Mage builds. Infusing it with raw removes scaling, making it output a lot of spell damage even at low intelligence levels. On the contrary, pure Mage builds should infuse it with magic, making it scale extremely well with Intelligence.

It is an exceptional PvE and PvP weapon. Its quick moveset and ability to cast spells really fast makes it a great all-rounder for all mage builds. It is a weapon that can serve well in both close and long-range encounters. It is also a great weapon for melee builds to transition intro Mage builds and vice versa.

Zweihander

Zweihander is a legend among the Dark Souls community. This weapon can make the top weapons list for all 3 Dark Souls games and no one would argue. You can acquire the Zweihander through a chest near the Dull Ember in Iron Keep. It can also be dropped from the Ducal Spider in Brightstone Cove Tseldora. The base Zweihander requires a strength level of 24 and a dexterity level of 12. This also happens to be one of the greatest early game Dark Sousl 2 weapons and a great option for beginners looking for a good strength weappon.

You can upgrade it to +10 using titanate. With a Strength and Dexterity of 40, the Zweihander deals a lot of damage. You can later infuse the Zweihander with gems to add elemental powers, with the lightning infusion being a favourite among Dark Souls 2 players.

The Zweihander excels at both PvE and PvP, but we would recommend maining it for your PvE runs purely because there are better PvP alternatives. The very high damage output, long-range and relatively quick moveset which can clear up a lot of space makes it ideal for PvE. All in all, the Zweihander is one of the finest quality weapons in Dark Souls 2 (and the Dark Souls series in general).

Uchigatana

A legend among the entire Souls community, Uchigatana had to make this list. This is one of the finest Katanas and Dexterity weapons in Dark Souls 2. You can acquire the Uchigatan from Steady Hand Mcduff for 5,000 souls after getting the Dull Ember. It can be upgraded to +10 using titanate.

The Uchigatana has a fine moveset consisting of slash and thrust attacks which will definitely make you feel like a samurai while cutting through literal skeletons. It requires a dexterity rating of 16 and a strength rating of 10, making it a Dexterity/Dex focused quality weapon. With level 40 Strength and Dexterity, this weapon outputs massive damage per second. Its moveset is quick and requires minimal stamina. Popular infusions for the Uchigatana are Lightning and Dark.

While a decent enough PvE weapon, PvP is where the Uchigatana shines. Its slick moveset, consisting of quick R2 and R1 attacks, makes it a nightmare for PvP players facing it. The low stamina consumption will let you dodge in and out of your opponent’s range after executing a barrage of attacks. While a fine weapon on its own, the Uchigatana, combined with another Katana such as the Washing pole, will lead to some of the greatest combos in Dark Souls 2and will cut through PvP opponents in seconds.

Heide Lance

Heide Lance

Arguably the most underrated weapon in the game, Heide Lance is a lance-type weapon with a great moveset that is both a great early and late-game option. You can acquire the Heide Lance through Heide knights.

You can upgrade the Heide lance using Twinkling Titanite, which is also one of its drawbacks. It also causes lightning damage like every other Heide weapon. Its moveset is largely dependant upon thrust attacks, making it effective against single, large enemies.

It requires at least 18 Strength and 12 Dexterity. You can later infuse it with the Boltstone for increased lightning damage that scales with Faith. With a high strength and Faith levels, the Heide Lance will be outputting a lot of damage with a great moveset.

Heide Lance is a weapon that works great for both PvP and PvE. Its quick-hitting time and high damage thrust attacks make it a great weapon that will tear through PvP and PvE opponents. It does have a slight learning curve so we would’ve recommend it to beginners for PvP, but once you’re comfortable with its moveset, it will serve as an exceptional weapon for all sorts of encounters.

Greatsword

Another weapon that may be found in top weapon lists for all 3 Dark Souls games. The Greatsword is one of the greatest strength weapons in the Dark Souls series. You can acquire the greatsword in multiple ways.

The easiest one would be to purchase it from the head of Vengarl for 5,000 souls. You can pick it up from a chest from a treasure chest near Gavlan in No Man’s Wharf. You can also find it dropped by the greatsword wielding red phantom outside the Executioner’s Chariot boss area.

The Greatsword required a Strength level of at least 28 and a minimum Dexterity level of 10. We recommend a strength level of at least 40 to maximize this weapon’s potential.You can upgrade it to +10 with titanate. Its moveset consists of slash and thrusts attacks, making it good for both singular enemies and groups, and it is usually two-handed. We do not recommend infusing this weapon for this weapon is best served as a pure strength weapon that deals a lot of damage. Since is the most basic among all ultra greatswords, it is a great weapon for beginners and players with no Ultra Greatsword Experience.

While you will come across a fair number of PvP players using the Greatsword, we recommend using it exclusively for PvE, the PVP learning curve for this weapon is steep. The slow hitting time makes it easy for opponents to avoid getting hit., you will have to time every hit perfectly. To contrast this, the slow but hard-hitting attacks, coupled with its range means you will be cleaning multiple enemies in a few hits in enemies.

Oh, and it also happens to look a lot like Guts’ sword from Bersek, making it a very popular fashion souls weapon (check out our Guts build guide if you’re interested).

Black Knight Greataxe

Another underrated weapon, the Black Knight Greataxe is both a very beautiful and a very powerful weapon. You can acquire this weapon through a chest in Iron Keep. After pulling a level near the Ironhearth Bonfire, you can access a ladder that will take you to the chest that contains the Balck Knight Greatsword.

You can upgrade the Black Knight Greataxe using twinkling titanate and requires 40 Strength and 18 Dexterity. The moveset primarily consists of very powerful slash attacks. One underrated aspect of this weapon is how aesthetic it is, going well with all strength/heavy amrour builds.

It does, however, have a slight learning curve due to its slow hitting time. You will be clearing ads in mere seconds once you get used to it. We recommend using this weapon for pure strength builds, with a strength level of 45-50. The Black Knight Greatsword serves as a great PvE and PvP weapon.

Moonlight Greatsword

Another icon of the Souls community, the Moonlight Greatsword is a weapon that has appeared in every game in the Soulsborne series and has been an exception weapon in all of them. This is one of the best weapons In Dark Souls 2 for sorcerer/mage builds. You can get it from weaponsmith Ornifex for the Paledrake soul and 10, 000 souls.

The Moonlight Greatsword requires a Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence level of 18 and has a moveset similar to that of Ultra Greatswords consisting of Slashes and Thrusts. It can be upgraded to +5 with Petrified Dragon Bone. The R2 attack shoots a magic projectile that scales with Int and causes a lot of damage but uses up durability.

While it is a great weapon, we recommend it for Mage builds only. Yes, it can be enchanted to become a melee weapon but we recommend using any of the other ultra greatswords in this list for melee builds. This is easily one of the greatest weapons for mage-type builds. Its relatively lightweight and damage that scales with intelligence makes it a very good option for mage builds. It is a solid PvE and PvP weapon.

Fume Ultra Greatsword

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Fume Ultra Greatsword, better known as FUGS would make this list. FUGS is up there with the Holy Moonlight sword as being one of the most iconic weapons in the Dark Souls 2 universe.

This weapon is even more relevant in Dark Souls due to the fact that you get it by fighting the Fume Knight, arguably one of the greatest bosses in the series. You can purchase FUGS from Ornifex for trading the Fume Knight soul and 25,000 souls. FUGS requires a strength level of at least 40 and a dexterity level of 30, making it a late-game weapon. It is one of the greatest strength and quality weapons in the game.

It is also extremely heavy and almost exclusively used two-handed. You can upgrade it to +5 using the petrified dragon bone. Its moveset consists of thrusts and slashes and it is one of the hardest hitting weapons in the entire game.

This is another weapon that has a learning curve owing to its slow hitting time and heavy weight, which is why we would not recommend it to beginners, but after getting used to the FUGS, you will stick to it for a couple of playthroughs at the least. This is a great PvE weapon, the best strength weapon according to many. We would not recommend it for PvP players though for its heavy weight and slow hitting time makes it easily exploitable, much like the greatsword, especially because Dark Souls 2’s PvP is full of Katana and Rapier players.

Rapier

This may come as a surprise, but hear me out. The Rapier is an early game weapon that you can purchase from Blacksmith Lenigrast for 1,000 souls. It has a ridiculous moveset damage per second, it melts through bosses and ads while consuming minimal stamina, and it does not require a lot of stats to begin with.

The Rapier is the best dexterity weapon in Dark Souls 2. The one drawback of this weapon is that it isn’t the greatest-looking weapon in the game, especially when put against the other weapons in this list. If you learn to ignore that, however, you get a weapon that can easily take you through ng+7.

The rapier requires 5 Strength and 12 Dexterity and serves as a great pure Dexterity and Quality weapon. You can upgrade it to +10 with titanate. Its quick moveset consists of thrusts and slashes, and looks very good when executed.

While it may not have the highest damage per hit, its quick moveset means you get ridiculous damage per second. It also consumes very low amounts of stamina, making it great for all sorts of encounters, especially bosses like the Fume Knight that require a lot of dodging.

The Rapier also happens to be a top tier PvP weapon, and one that is bound to annoy opponents once they see it. Its quick moveset, high parry damage and low stamina consumption makes it one of the greatest weapons for PvP focused players. The Iced Rapier often made the meta for Dark Souls 2’s PvP, and for good reason.

Sacred Chime Hammer

Ask a group of Dark Souls 2 vets about the best dark souls 2 weapons and quite a few will pick Sacred Chime Hammer. You can grab this Hammer by trading in the soul of Velstadt with Weaponsmith Ornifex. You can upgrade it to +5 using Petrified Dragon Bone. The weapon deals insane damage and has a strike-focused moveset. It requires 40 Strength, 12 Dex, Faith and Intelligence. The double-handed heavy attack triggers a number of affinity orbs that strike your foes, causing dark damage.

With a high strength level, this weapon is one of the hardest weapons in Dark Souls 2 . There isn’t much to say for the Sacred Chime Hammer, everything about this weapon is near perfect, from its slick moveset, to the way it looks to the insane damage output it yields.

It is great for both PvP and PvE. While its slow hitting time might make it seem like a PvE-only weapon, affinity makes up for that in PvP. Affinity means PvP opponents will keep their distance, helping you time your hits.All in all, if you’re looking for a flat-out OP weapon, look no further than the Sacred Chime Hammer.