These weapons will often have unique moves, passives, effects and more, which lend from the soul of the boss the weapon was crafted with. And with such a huge host of bosses in the game, there’s a ton of variety. But which ones are the best, and which fall a bit flat? In this list we’ll be taking a look at every single piece of boss soul gear from DS1, and ranking them all from worst to best.
17. Crystal Ring Shield
It really hurts putting this shield at the bottom of the barrel, because I’ve tried so many times to make it work. But it’s just not good. This int-scaling shield sports a ranged magic attack on its L2 that is completely outshone by literally any other ranged option that an intelligence build readily has access to. Its one saving grace is its immense magic block percentage, rivaling even Havel’s greatshield. How to get: Ascension with the soul of the moonlight butterfly.
16. Greatsword of Artorias (Cursed)
As one of the three Artorias greatswords, this cursed blade is the worst of the bunch. While it may seem passible at first glance thanks to its C/C/C/C scalings, it’s the very point that brings it down. The vast majority of characters will only level up two of these four stats at most, and so the damage return from this weapon will be sub-par at best. To top it off, it has straight-up weird stat requirements, making it a pain to build around. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Sif.
15. Greatsword of Artorias
And alas, the non-cursed variant is not much better. Suffering from many of the same problems as its counterpart, the greatsword of Artorias is still a fiddly mess to fit into a build. However, this one has better scalings on intelligence and faith, and sports a chunk of innate magic damage! But in exchange for this the (already bad) requirements are a bit higher. It’d be a good fit for a character that levels strength, dex, intelligence and faith equally. But this would come at the negligence of other crucial stats like vitality… How to get: Ascension with the soul of Sif.
14. Moonlight Butterfly Horn
Some boss weapons lack the flair of others, and the butterfly horn is one of them. Outside of its pretty design, there isn’t a whole lot to say about this underwhelming spear. Similar to other intelligence weapons like the moonlight greatsword, this weapon deals entirely magic damage, which can render it almost useless against high-magic-resist foes. And while it hits a B-scaling in int, its base damage is low enough that the overall DPS of this weapon is left a bit wanting. For int users seeking something longer range… just cast a spell? How to get: Ascension with the soul of the moonlight butterfly.
13. Great Lord Greatsword
On the subject of underwhelming, next we have the great lord greatsword. Aside from being a really fun name to say, this weapon is severely lacking… While it may have high base damage, the D/D scaling in strength and dex makes it get outclassed by basically every late-game choice. And late-game is when you’ll be getting it, as it’s made from the final bosses soul! Its other upside is invalidated because of this, too – its low stat requirements. Chances are by the time you get this weapon, your stats will be pretty juiced up. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Gwyn.
12. Golem Axe
The hulking golem axe is, for the most part, all bark and no bite. Its decent base damage is let down somewhat by a fairly weak C-scaling in strength, and its high requirements of 36 strength to one-hand means you’d need to invest pretty heavily just to use it effectively. However, its special effect (which exists on its heavy attacks) launches shockwaves at foes- similar to the iron golem himself! This can make it a pretty effective ranged tool for strength builds that would otherwise be limited for long-range options. How to get: Ascension with the core of the iron golem.
11. Smough’s Hammer
Smough’s Hammer is something of a Dark Souls staple – its ludicrous size is honestly comedic. And while it boasts an insane amount of base damage, it’s let down on a few fronts. Firstly, its huge strength requirement of 58 means only the purest of strength pures can hope to use it. And then its slow swing speed leaves you pretty open to counterattack, once your foe easily dodges your attack. To top it off, its sheer mass can actually get in the way of your camera, and inhibit your visibility heavily. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Smough.
10. Darkmoon Bow
Unlike its DS3 counterpart, the darkmoon bow in this installment is actually usable! Interestingly, it scales with faith in DS1, and its base damage values make it a perfectly viable and balanced bow. It also has plenty of range but still fires as fast as a short bow. It’s primarily designed to be used with moonlight arrows, which is where most of the damage will be coming from. But this ammo type can be expensive, and it’s still a very situational choice. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Gwyndolin.
9. Tin Darkmoon Catalyst
The tin darkmoon catalyst is a very unique spellcaster – causing sorceries to scale with your faith, instead of your intelligence. This can be great for hybrids or miracle builds looking to expand their arsenal into something more offensive, but there is a catch: You still need to meet the minimum intelligence requirement for the spells. This means more stat investment, likely at the cost of your other important stats. But for a specific build, it can be very effective. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Gwyndolin.
8. Dragon Bone Fist
There is very little wrong with the dragon bone fist – it’s an incredible strength option. Not only does it boast good base damage for its weapon type, but it also has a passive of granting magic and fire resist once equipped! Its unique moveset features strong uppercuts that bypasses enemy defenses and sends them flying, too! And then to top it off, it reaches S-scaling in strength. So what’s the downside? The range. As you might expect, it’s a fist weapon. So you basically have to be breathing on your foes to hit them. How to get: Ascension with the core of the iron golem.
7. Abyss Greatsword
As the third and final Artorias greatsword, the Abyss is far and away the best of the pack. It sheds its intelligence/faith scaling, allowing quality builds to get great use out of it, and boasts good base damage in the process. It also has a unique moveset of flips and spins, reminiscent of Artorias himself! And its damage gets better and better the more humanities you have – scaling up to 10 humanities adding 80 AR! However, there is a hard negative – it still has those awfully fiddly stat requirements, demanding 18 intelligence and faith. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Artorias.
6. Greatshield of Artorias
Well we’ve looked at all his weapons, so how about his shield? The greatshield of Artorias is one of the best in the entire game – possessing the highest stability of all and a unique passive that blocks status build-ups! This doesn’t include AoE’s or environments, however, so don’t expect to walk through Blighttown unharmed. It’s let down a bit by its elemental defenses, having only 50% magic and 40% lightning, but still sports good dark with 80%! How to get: Ascension with the soul of Sif.
5. Quelaag’s Furysword
The Furysword is an interesting weapon since the majority of its damage is fire, not physical. Naturally, this makes it incredible against some enemies, and near-useless against others, such as demons. Still, it’s fantastic at what it does – with a unique moveset and great B-scaling in dex. It also has the same humanity damage boost that the abyss greatsword has, with 10 held humanities granting a whopping attack buff of 25 physical and 56 fire! It’s a great choice for dex pures, and its low stat requirements make it great as soon as you can get your hands on it. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Quelaag.
4. Dragonslayer Spear
Sorry Smough, but your partner has the better weapon by a long shot. The dragonslayer spear boasts incredible scalings of B/B dex/faith, with a (still good) C-scaling in strength, too! This makes it insane for quality builds who’ve dabbled in miracles a bit, or for dex/faith hybrids who are willing to hit the strength requirement. Its unique moveset sports two special moves, too – a long-range lightning projectile and a charging upwards thrust! How to get: Ascension with the soul of Ornstein.
3. Chaos Blade
The chaos blade is a dex build staple, though its insane power comes at a hefty cost… With a B-scaling in dex, great base damage, huge range, and the humanity damage boost passive to top it off, this katana seems overpowered at first glance. But each successful hit drains your HP, too! It may not seem like much at first, but this self-damage can spell your own demise if you don’t keep an eye on it. Despite this, it’s still likely the most-used dex weapon in PvP, as the damage you’ll be taking is but a fraction of the crazy DPS you’ll be dishing out. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Quelaag.
2. Manus Catalyst
The Manus catalyst is an integral part of the dreaded one-shot sorcery build, and is largely responsible for the bad rep that dark sorceries have. The damage this thing deals is busted. With S-scaling in intelligence and a surprising B-scaling in strength, this catalyst will add a huge chunk of physical damage to your dark sorceries based on your strength stat! This makes it perfect for all sorts of hybrids, and causes it to be even stronger than the OP tin crystallization catalyst when casting dark sorceries! There is a cost, though. Wielding this catalyst will half your maximum spell casts. But how many casts does a ‘one-shot’ build really need, anyway? How to get: Ascension with the soul of Manus.
1. Lifehunt Scythe
And finally our number 1 pick: the Lifehunt. Yes, I’m completely biased here, as this was my weapon of choice back in the days of DS1 PvP. The lifehunt’s huge base damage is bolstered further with a B-scaling in dex, but it’s the insane amount of bleed it inflicts that sets it apart. With some of the highest bleed build-up in the entire game and increased bleed damage, this weapon will proc a bleedout in just a few hits which will shred a whopping 50% of an enemy’s total health! But there’s a catch, similar to the chaos blade: this scythe bleeds you, too. This makes the bloodbite ring basically essential if you plan on actually surviving your own onslaught. But man is the DPS well worth it. How to get: Ascension with the soul of Priscilla.
