Released in 2009, FromSoftware’s Demon’s Souls—the first title in its legendary Dark Souls franchise—raised the bar for in-game equipment design. Now, with 2020’s remake of the modern classic, a new generation of players have the opportunity to take up arms against the demonic forces that rove through the Kingdom of Boletaria.
With stunning designs, dozens of individual stats, and a clever mix of perks and debuffs, it can often be difficult for players to choose which weapons to use in their playthrough. While there is no weapon that works in all scenarios, there are numerous weapons that rise above their peers in terms of utility. For any player warring through Bluepoint Games’ remake of Demon’s Souls, be sure not to miss these outstanding weapons.
Scraping Spear
While its damage-dealing stats aren’t anything impressive, a weapon’s greatness is not always about raw numbers. No weapon in Demon’s Souls makes this case better than the Scraping Spear. This weapon, forged from the soul of the Phalanx Demon, possesses the unique ability to degrade the durability of enemy weapons and armor.
Even low-level players can benefit from this spear’s ability. Though they may not be able to inflict physical damage on enemies if they are below the Scraping Spear’s utility level, they can still inflict its durability damage and reduce the effectiveness of enemy armor and weapons, making even the most tank-like foes more manageable.
Crescent Falchion
While plenty of other weapons can be imbued with the benefits of the crescent upgrade path by giving Blacksmith Ed Darkmoonstone, a Crescent Falchion can be found very early on in 4-1, meaning that in-the-know players need only defeat the Phalanx boss in 1-1 to gain access to it.
The Crescent Falchion isn’t well-suited for all builds, but it’s a must-have for players focusing on magic. The weapon scales very well with the player’s magic stat, and it will also allow players to passively regenerate mana while it is equipped.
Ritual Blade
For an ax of its stature, the Ritual Blade’s weight rating is only 10, making it easily usable by most players regardless of their character build. Though its damage output dwindles mid-game once the player beings upgrading other weapons, the Ritual Blade is a powerful early game tool, particularly for players who invest in strength and endurance stats in the game’s first stages.
Stylistically, the Ritual Blade resembles the sword used by Yhorm the Giant in Dark Souls 3 and bears the distinction of being the only weapon on this list that is new to the 2020 remake of Demon’s Souls. Players who purchased the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game gain access to this mighty ax through Stockpile Thomas at the Nexus.
Adjudicator Shield
Encountered in a ruin roughly halfway through 4-1, the Adjudicator Shield, while not a weapon in a traditional sense, is an excellent complementary piece for builds that aren’t excessively reliant on parrying or dexterity. Classified as a large shield, it’s not practical in all situations, and it doesn’t even negate one-hundred percent of incoming damage.
However, the Adjudicator Shield passively heals 2HP per second when equipped, and this increases by one second every time the shield is upgraded. This is extremely useful and can either mitigate health drained as a result of debuffs or help conserve the use of healing items in between combat encounters.
Claymore
The Claymore is an early-to-mid-game staple in most FromSoftware games, and Demon’s Souls is no exception. Sold by a vendor in 1-2, the Claymore is categorized as a Large Sword and can be purchased very early on, although its strength requirement of 20 means that builds that don’t emphasize the stat will probably miss out on it.
A giant sword capable of broad, sweeping strikes that can hit multiple enemies, it’s perfect for taking out the dregs of Boletaria early on. Repeated attacks will also allow players to plow past an enemy’s guard, albeit at a significant stamina cost.
Dragon Bone Smasher
One of two weapons occupying Demon’s Souls Very Large Swords category, the Dragon Bone Smasher is, as the name implies, a massive weapon forged with the intent of aiding in battle against dragons. With a strength requirement of 30 and B scaling in that stat, it’s an excellent mid-to-late game weapon for strength builds, though, ironically enough, it’s not all that useful against the Dragon God due to the puzzle-like design of the fight.
The Dragon Bone Smasher can be found just after entering the Dragon God boss arena, but it requires pure white world tendency to find.
Penetrating Sword
As the weapon of choice for the ultra-challenging Penetrator boss, fans of Demon’s Souls undoubtedly understand how devastating this versatile blade can be. Featuring a balanced weight to damage ratio, the Penetrating Sword’s great strength resides in its unparalleled reach and high-damage thrusting attack.
Like other piercing weapons, this sword scales with the player’s dexterity, making it an unlikely but effective choice for character builds that focus on strength and weapon finesse. In combat, this massive blade feels like an unusual mix between slashing, thrusting, and polearm weapons, so players should make sure to familiarize themselves with its diverse attacks before running headlong into a horde of demons.
Meat Cleaver
Featuring a design that looks inspired by Pyramid Head’s sword from the Silent Hill franchise, the Meat Cleaver packs a hefty punch in its oversized blade. Belying its sword-like appearance, this weapon is actually classified as a “Large Hammer” in the game and can only be created by imbuing a mace, war pick, or Great Club – a fan-favorite weapon in the Dark Souls series – with the soul of the Adjudicator Demon boss.
This crude blade also has the added benefit of restoring 1% of player health with every successful strike, making it a mechanical antithesis to Demon’s Souls’ assortment of weapons that hurt the wielder.
Great Axe
Players should not be fooled by the common appearance of the Great Axe. Despite its utterly unmemorable design, it is a powerhouse of damage output with light stamina depletion. Indeed, when it is scaled and upgraded, the Great Axe is capable of as much damage as one of the s0-called legendary axes in the game, all while requiring less stamina to wield.
These axes can be found dropped by Axe Soldiers at the Gates of Boletaria and with hidden loot in the Smithing Grounds and Tunnel City. For players new to Demon’s Souls or the larger Souls series, the Great Axe is an essential component to success in the early stages and scales well with the player throughout the game.
Large Sword Of Moonlight
A fan-favorite weapon that appears in each game of the Dark Souls series, the Large Sword of Moonlight doesn’t disappoint in the Demon’s Souls remake. It deals magic and physical damage to its targets, making it one of the most versatile weapons in the game despite its relatively slow speed.
What makes this glowing sword so powerful, however, is its ability to ignore all shield defenses, due to the fact that its blade is made entirely of enchanted light. This also gives the Large Sword of Moonlight an exceedingly high durability rating of 900, allowing players to cleave to their heart’s content without needing to repair the blade. It also possesses an unparalleled defensive quality of being able to block almost all incoming magic damage.
Magic Sword “Makoto”
It’s a staple of games in the Dark Souls series to feature high-tier weapons that, when equipped, drain the player’s health in exchange for higher damage output. This is seen in the Mortal Blade from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and the Chikage, one of Bloodborne’s best trick weapons, among numerous other examples. The Magic Sword Makoto is one such weapon, which consumes 1% of the player’s overall health for every second it’s drawn. This quality can be easily offset, however, with buffs granted through rings and spells.
While it’s true that there are other katanas in the game that do not sap player vitality, these blades pale in comparison to Makoto’s damage potential. Aside from its basic damage output, the Bleeding status effect Makoto inflicts on enemies deals 10 points of damage per second alone, easily ranking it among the best blades the Demon’s Souls remake has to offer.
Blueblood Sword
When Blacksmith Ed has a Pureblood Demon’s Soul and a Broken Sword at his disposal, he’s capable of producing the Blueblood Sword – an unusual weapon that has echoes of a Dark Souls fan-favorite weapon, the Moonlight Greatsword, in its design. This blade deals equal parts physical and magic damage but uniquely scales this damage with the player’s Luck stat.
Most players won’t focus on this stat until NG+, making this sword most useful in the hands of experienced players. It also features a higher-than-average durability rating of 400, making it one of the longest-lasting weapons in the game.
Uchigatana
Strength builds may seem more attractive to newer Demon’s Souls players, but the speed and stamina afforded to well-planned dex users make certain builds formidable, particularly in PvP engagements. The Uchigatana, which is guarded by the Vanguard Demon in 4-1, may not seem particularly appealing at first, but, when properly leveled, it can be extremely effective.
The Uchigatana also features a fairly versatile move set that’ll afford skilled players plenty of options in combat. It’s arguably at its best when upgraded with Sharpstone, which unlocks its highest damage and scaling abilities.
Morion Blade
Despite its metal appearance, in-game lore describes the Morion Blade as being smithed from the marrow of Storm Beasts. Crafting this legendary sword requires the soul of the Storm King and a standard sword that has been upgraded to at least level 8. With a base attack rating of 210, this two-handed greatsword is capable of dealing tremendous damage despite its inability to accept buffs.
The Morion Blade truly shines, however, when its wielder is below 30% of their maximum health. At this point, the sword’s damage output increases by a stunning 60%, giving the player an enormous advantage in combat provided they can manage their health. Though the mechanics of this weapon aren’t the most user-friendly, series veterans should have no problem getting ample use out of this sleek sword.
Northern Regalia
This regal weapon is actually two swords in one – Soulbrandt, wielded by the game’s primary antagonist, King Allant, and Demonbrandt, sealed away with Old King Doran, who is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous NPCs in the Dark Souls series.
Most notably, this unique weapon scales with the player’s Character Tendency, determined by their choices to ally with the forces of good or evil throughout the game. Whichever path the player chooses, if their Character Tendency has reached its maximum state, the sword will attain a stunning Attack Rating of 540, which puts most other weapons in Demon’s Souls to shame.
