Dark Souls II - Weapons
The weapon families of Dark Souls II, grouped by moveset, with the named weapons that define each family and the systems that sit on top of them: reinforcement, infusion, power stancing and the four catalyst types. Weapon movesets are fixed per family, so a build is chosen by family first and by nam...
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of 17 entries
· updated 2026-09-15
| Name | Type | Description | Stats | Abilities | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Straight Swords | Straight Sword | The default melee family: fast horizontal slashes, a reliable thrust on the heavy attack and low stamina cost per swing. | Damage Type: Slash / Thrust Scaling: Strength and Dexterity Speed: Fast | Light attack chain of three to four swings Running thrust Two-handed vertical heavy | Starting gear, Majula and Forest of Fallen Giants drops, Heide Knights, Blue Sentinels reward |
| Greatswords | Greatsword | The middleweight two-hand family: longer reach, more poise damage and higher stamina cost than a straight sword, with the Bastard Sword and Claymore as the accessible options and the Drangleic Sword, Mirrah Greatsword and Black Knight Greatsword as the scaling upgrades. | Damage Type: Slash Scaling: Strength or Dexterity depending on the weapon Speed: Medium | Wide horizontal sweep Overhead heavy attack High poise damage | Merchants, boss souls and mid-game drops |
| Ultra Greatswords | Ultra Greatsword | The heaviest blade family, built around huge poise damage and long recovery. | Damage Type: Slash / Strike Scaling: Strength Speed: Slow | Two-hit combo that staggers most enemies Wide sweeping heavy attack Guard break on connected hits | Pursuer and Lost Sinner boss souls, Iron Keep and Crown expansion content |
| Curved Swords | Curved Sword | Fast, wide-arc slashes with a flowing moveset and lower stagger than straight swords. | Damage Type: Slash Scaling: Dexterity Speed: Fast | Curved wide swing chain Running slash Power stance pairing | Merchants, Huntsman's Copse and Shaded Woods drops, Eleum Loyce |
| Katanas | Katana | Long, thin blades with a fast draw slash, high Dexterity scaling and a bleed value. | Damage Type: Slash / Thrust Scaling: Dexterity Speed: Fast | Draw slash Bleed buildup Shield-ignoring attacks (Darkdrift) | Merchants, Iron Keep, Crown of the Old Iron King |
| Thrusting Swords | Thrusting Sword | The precision family: long, narrow thrusts with high counter damage and low stamina cost, ideal for players who fight from behind a shield. | Damage Type: Thrust Scaling: Dexterity Speed: Fast | Counter damage bonus Shield-poking attacks Long-range thrust chain | Merchants, Drangleic Castle and Crown expansion content |
| Axes and Greataxes | Axe | Short, brutal chopping weapons with high poise damage and a slow, committed swing. | Damage Type: Slash / Strike Scaling: Strength Speed: Medium to slow | Heavy overhead chop Poise damage Lifesteal on hit (Butcher's Knife) | Merchants, Gyrm and Black Knight drops, Huntsman's Copse |
| Hammers and Great Hammers | Hammer | The strike family, and the answer to armoured enemies and crystal-based foes who resist slash damage. | Damage Type: Strike Scaling: Strength Speed: Medium to slow | Strike damage against armour High poise break Two-handed overhead smash | Merchants, blacksmiths, Giant memories and late-game drops |
| Spears | Spear | Long-reach thrusting weapons that let the player attack from outside most enemy swing ranges while keeping a shield up. | Damage Type: Thrust Scaling: Dexterity Speed: Medium | Long-reach poke Shield-safe attacking Sweeping heavy attack (Partizan) | Merchants, Heide Knights, Shulva |
| Halberds and Reapers | Halberd | Polearm weapons that hit with the blade on the forward swing and the shaft on the return, so spacing decides the damage. | Damage Type: Slash / Thrust Scaling: Strength and Dexterity Speed: Medium | Sweet-spot damage bonus Wide sweep Bleed and shield-ignoring reaper attacks | Merchants, Syan Knights, Drangleic Castle, Nashandra's soul |
| Whips and Fist Weapons | Whip / Fist | The two shortest-range or lowest-damage families, kept viable by utility. | Damage Type: Strike / Slash Scaling: Dexterity Speed: Fast | Unparryable whip attacks Bleed buildup Fastest power-stance combos | Merchants, Shaded Woods, Crown of the Sunken King (Bone Fist) |
| Bows | Bow | The dedicated ranged physical option, drawn from the quiver with no stamina cost until release. | Damage Type: Thrust (arrow) Scaling: Dexterity Speed: Draw-dependent | Aimed shots Enemy pulling Poison and lightning arrows | Merchants, Forest of Fallen Giants, Dragonrider and Nashandra souls |
| Crossbows | Crossbow | Point-and-fire ranged weapons that need no stat investment to use and can be fired one-handed behind a shield. | Damage Type: Thrust (bolt) Scaling: None (fixed damage) Speed: Reload after each shot | No stat requirement One-handed firing Three-bolt burst (Avelyn) | Merchants, Lost Bastille, Shulva |
| Staves and Catalysts | Catalyst | The casting tools for sorcery and hexes, with spell damage scaling off Intelligence for sorcery and the lower of Intelligence and Faith for hexes. | Damage Type: Magic / Dark Scaling: Intelligence (sorcery), Intelligence and Faith (hexes) Speed: Cast-time dependent | Soul Arrow and heavier sorceries Hex casting Spell use replenishment at bonfires | Merchants, Straid of Olaphis, Shaded Woods and DLC vendors |
| Sacred Chimes | Sacred Chime | The catalysts for miracles and hexes, scaling off Faith for miracles and the lower of Intelligence and Faith for hexes. | Damage Type: Lightning (miracles) / Dark (hexes) Scaling: Faith (miracles), Intelligence and Faith (hexes) Speed: Cast-time dependent | Healing and buff miracles Lightning spear variants Hex casting | Merchants, Blue Sentinels, Dragon Remnants, late-game covenants and drops |
| Power Stancing | Weapon System | Holding two weapons of the same family in each hand with 1.5 times the strength and dexterity requirements unlocks a combined moveset that swings both weapons at once. | Requirement: 1.5x Strength and Dexterity of both weapons Families: Most weapon types pair with their own type | Dual overhead slam Dual sweep combo Full dual moveset on both hands | Unlocked automatically when the requirements are met |
| Reinforcement and Infusion | Upgrade System | Standard weapons upgrade to +10 with Titanite shards, large shards and chunks, while Twinkling Titanite weapons and boss weapons cap at +5 using Petrified Dragon Bones. | Standard Path: +10 with Titanite Special Path: +5 with Twinkling Titanite or Petrified Dragon Bone | Elemental infusions (Fire, Lightning, Magic, Dark) Mundane and Raw infusions Bleed and Poison infusions | Lenigrast and Steady Hand McDuff in Majula and the Lost Bastille |
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