Post on the Coronavirus

Hey folks, I hope you are all doing well during these worrying times with the outbreak of the global pandemic that is the coronavirus or Covid 19 as it is properly known, which has devastated the world health wise and economically aswell. 

As for myself so far I've been fine and symptom free for now and it helps to take vitamins each day as I've been taking fish oil/cod liver oil capsules for the last 5 years or so on a daily basis, so I'm hoping this will stand me in good stead against the virus as it has helped fight off alot of colds and viruses in the past. 

So, its a pretty challenging time for everyone and I am following the guidelines like others by just staying at home, washing my hands (at least 30 times a day, which I realise might not be enough!) and keep safe distance from people when I am out which right now is quite seldom.

As for doing any future posts well I will still be doing them but I must admit I have been distracted by these events lately and I have been mostly revamping old posts, which I admit is mainly out of laziness to do newer ones! However I will continue to do more posts even if they are revisits of older ones from my blog and I also will still do a few top 10 lists just to break it up a little, especially the Dark Souls/Bloodborne games which I have been hugely addicted for almost two years now! So, the posts might not be that frequent but they will appear on the blog sooner or later.

Anyways that's it from me as its just a quick post (for a change!) and I hope you all take care during this crisis and fingers crossed we can return to normal and in the forthcoming months.

Till then the next one its bye for now and stay safe!

Top 10 Most Underrated Dark Souls Trilogy Weapons Part 2: No's 5-1

So, time now to continue my list of the pick (or my pick) for the most underrated weapons in the Dark Souls game series, which of course will cover the trilogy of Souls 1-3.  Again though just to say that these are just my personal choices and some of them might even not necessarily be considered as being underrated as such but I do see them that way as they aren't possibly the most used ones.

And with that said let's countdown and see which weapons made it into the top 5...

5. Millwood Battle Axe (Dark Souls III)

So, at No.5 is the Millwood battle axe that is another DLC weapon from the Ashes of Ariandel DLC and its a pretty damn weapon in its own right and one I have commonly used in my playthroughs of Souls III.

As to why this axe is actually very good is because it has excellent strength scaling and goes up to A making it more solid than some of the other axes in the game. Other than that of course, the moveset of this axe is pretty similar although it does feature a pretty exagerrated war cry that features a big leap forward that sets it apart from the usual warcry you would get from other axes and even clubs. I also think the design of the axe is really cool although I have to say you seem to get a shrunk down one in comparison to the big ones the Millwood knights use when you encounter them in the DLC!

Apart from that there is a not a great deal else to say about this weapon other than it is a pretty solid battle axe with a cool design and excellent scaling and that's all you need from an axe in Dark Souls really and as such its worth a spot on here at No.5.
 
4. Gargoyle Halberd (Dark Souls)

So, at No.4 is infact one of my favourite weapons from the entire trilogy and that is the Gargoyle Halberd that features in the original Dark Souls and in short it kicks ass.

I don't necessarily imagine that it isn't that under-used a weapon in the series but at the same time I don't see it as the most used either, so this is a kind of on-the-fence weapon here. However amid all the more popular halberds such as the Black Knight Halberd and Lucerne (well maybe!) this thing still kicks the butt of them all and its a crying shame it wasn't brought back into the sequels.

As to why the Gargoyle Halberd is so good well for me its a few things, first off it has fairly low strength requirements at 16 strength and it weighs fairly light aswell at just 6 kilos. Not only that, the GH also has a great moveset with its vertical slashes and a powerful overheard running smash and best of all is its strong spinning attack. Being a halberd, it also has great range so its even good for fighting enemies at a distance and keeping them at bay. In fact I would have to say that its the Gargoyle Halberd's moveset that sets itself apart from alot of other halberds in the game.

The GH is also unique in that adds resistances to your character every time you equip it as adds additional poison, bleed and toxic resistance when select it. Now I must admit when you see the icons continually pop up when you select the halberd, it is a little distracting at first but you soon get used to it I guess.

But despite this niggle, the gargoyle halberd is a terrific weapon and dare I say also a bit underrated as it was not even brought back into the sequels that would probably be testimony of that in itself as it sure deserved to be as its range, light weight, moveset and power were hard to beat and as such deserves its spot at No.4.

3. Follower's Sabre (Dark Souls III)

At No.3 is this dex weapon, which can be found in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC and its a pretty good weapon overall although you need to be careful where you find it as you can get easily knocked off the maze of large branches when doing so!

The sabre itself looks pretty cool and its an elegant curved sword and one of the best things about the weapon is its weapon art, which features a spinning chain attack combo that looks elegant as much as it probably hurts! But honestly this is a pretty solid weapon and its definitely one of the better DLC weapons to be found in Ariandel, which despite being one of the weakest DLC's by far in the series, it still has some cool weapons to be found.

The only snag I have with the sabre is to kind of to do with its moveset in a way as the attacks are performed out at a strange height, which makes it more awkward to deal with enemies on the ground i.e. crawling ones or even just attacking enemies at a lower angle. I believe was also nerfed for PVP reasons, so doubtless it won't do the damage it once did on its initial release, which kind of sucks however it doesn't bother me too much.

So any snags aside, the sabre really is a pretty nice weapon with a very cool moveset and elegant looks and its worth taking a second look at if you overlooked it before and so it deserves a spot on here at No.3.

2. Partizan (Dark Souls II and III)

So at No.2. is this underrated gem of a spear, which you might not necessarily see alot of people use online (or maybe I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me on this one) but for me its always been a weapon I've enjoyed using in the games, particularly the sequels.
So, what makes Partizan such a good weapon? Well, for me I like the design of it with the almost triangular tipped blade that makes it pretty distinctive and above all else its moveset is really good as it combines the standard thrust attacks with horizontal slash attacks, which makes far more versatile than most spears. 

Now the reason why I left out the original Dark Souls game for the Partizan is because I really felt that the damage with that spear is wofeully mediocre in the first game and it left me pretty disappointed. But in the sequels this weapon does very well and kicks some good ass at its best in the second game where the damage output at +10 is the best of the three games. Dark Souls III the damage isn't quite as good as on Souls II but its still an improvement over the original and you can also infuse with sharp gems to increase its dex performance.

However for me, the Partizan is one of the weapons in the game that doesn't seem always get the appreciation it deserves and it remains one of my favourites in the series and as such sits here as the runner up.

So at No.1 the most underrated weapon (imho) in the Dark Souls series is...

1. Hand Axe (Dark Souls 1, 2 & 3!)

Yep at No.1. is this little beauty, the hand axe. This surely is a weapon that must often be overlooked and yet for its size and weight, this thing is massively OP! (well within reason!).

Yes, the hand axe really is weapon you should overlook at your peril because even in its weapon descriptions in the series, particularly in the 3rd one it states the weapon is more powerful than it appears...and it sure is! In fact I felt this weapon outstripped several other weapons I used in Dark Souls III alone for damage, which left me amazed at how good it is!

Another big bonus of this weapon is to do with its speed as its moveset allows for you to perform pretty quick damage and being an axe you can also do some backslashes with it, which are always a change up from the usual backstabs you get in the series. It often can be considered as being used as a off-hand weapon rather than your primary weapon but hell this thing is so good it could even be considered as a main weapon!

Effectively speaking, I would suggest however this axe is at its best in the sequels as it seems to have been given a bit more power and zest over the axe in the original but I figured I would include original Souls for it aswell. It also get's the warcry boost in Dark Souls III that allows to inflict more damage so from that perspective, its worth considering using it in DS3 the most over the previous two games.

However all that said, the hand axe is a great little weapon in the Souls series and its light weight, surprising power and fast moveset make is a formidable weapon in its own right. Sure there are much more powerful weapons in the game but this thing for what it is just kicks ass and deserves the spot for most underrated weapon in the Souls trilogy.

So, that's it for now and I'll be back soon with another post of some variety of other.

Till then its bye fer now! 

Top 10 Most Underrated Dark Souls Weapons Part 1: No's 10-6

Well, figured it was time for a new post of sorts and this one is based on more Dark Souls content and I thought I would do another weapons themed one and the theme this time is the most underrated weapons.

Now, for this list I will be looking at weapons purely from Dark Souls 1-3 and I will not include Bloodborne or Demon's Souls for that matter (mainly because I have never played the latter). So, given the vast array of weapons in these games it will be tough to narrow them down to the more underrated ones but I will certainly try my best to do so and they are of course based on my own opinions, so feel free to disagree.

Anyway with that said let's gear up and take a look at these underrated weapons of choice from the wonderful world of Dark Souls...

10. Butcher Knife (Dark Souls III)

So, to kick off we have the Butcher Knife at No.10 which is classed as a strength weapon and its one we have seen in the previous Dark Souls games but here its got its own little special skill, which I will mention below.

As for the Butcher knife in the game, you obtain fairly early on as you need to kill a madwoman to get your hands on it and after that you can go round kicking ass with it. As for its special skill I mentioned, this knife can be sharpened to allow more damage but not only that it can be used ro regain your lost health in a rallying way just like Bloodborne did. It also has a pretty nifty overhead smash for its strong attack, which is a nice change up from other weapons although this had always been part of its moveset.

You could however argue that the Butcher knife isn't really a true strength weapon as such as there many other strength weapons that can out-do it damage wise and despite its A scaling it doesn't quite cut it next to alternate options.

Despite this though, I still think the Butcher Knife is a very solid weapon in Dark Souls 3 and its cool added feature rallying health and the sharpening effect are nifty features that make it an interesting arm of choice and one that deserves the first spot on the list at No.10.

9. Iaito (Dark Souls)

So, at No.9 is Iaito from the original Dark Souls, which is a katana that can be found in the Blight town area of the game and even though I loath and detest going through upper Blight town in general, its still worth it to get this great weapon.

And the reason I see Iaito as being underrated is that it probably get's lost in a sea of so many katanas in the series with the likes of the Uchigatana and Washing Pole getting much more attention yet this one just has a pretty cool moveset which is very similar to the others but it does have a more unique foward quickdraw. The Iaito can also deal out some pretty nasty bleed damage (if that's your thing in Dark Souls) and I found it was tearing up even the likes of the Royal Sentinels on a high dex build making a pretty potent weapon.

In fact I would also say that the Iaito is the first and really only katana in the series I have taken to using in the Souls series with also maybe the Blacksteel katan in Souls II just behind. But for me this weapon just feels alot more satisfying to use than most katanas and I almost feel like its the go-to weapon for me alone when its comes to dex builds.

So, with that all said, I definitely think Iaito is a great and most underrated weapon in the series and one I would definitely recommend checking out in the original game.

8. Large Club (Dark Souls III)

So, at No.8 is the Large club from Dark Souls III and I put this on here because I loved using this in a recent strength build playthrough of the game and I also think it probably plays second fiddle to its bigger brother, the Great club but this is is still an excellent alternative. I also think the strength requirement for this weapon is also quite reasonable at just 22 strength and you can two-hand it around 15 (but I might be wrong on that but I was able to two-hand it at 15).

As for why this weapon for me is so good comes down to the moveset being pretty simple but very effective with its two-handed vertical swings and most fun of all is its strong attack, which is an overhead smash where you leap off the ground and perform the smash. I also felt that is weight requirement is fairly reasonable too at just 10 kilos in this game but the great club is only kilos more right enough. I also prefer Souls III version over the original Souls one because I preferred it not having a built-in effect, which it did in Souls I with poison.

In fact when I first played with the large club, I was looking for an ultra-great sword at the cathedral of the deep but decided to go with this instead and was glad I did as it was a better alternate for me at the time having never used the clubs much before this.

So for me, the large club is definitely an underrated weapon and sits comfortably on the list here as it offers alot and may not get the love it may deserve from the fans who would probably favour the more powerful great club.

7. Battle Axe (Dark Souls II)

So, at No.7 is the Battle Axe from Dark Souls II, which actually be obtained very easily in the game from Lenigrast the blacksmith near the start.

Now I have to admit I felt that the battle axe in the original Souls was pretty underwhelming simply because I didn't like the moveset as it was pretty basic and under-developed as were quite a few weapons in the original. However here, the battle axe's moveset has been much improved as you can now perform better slash attacks and it also has a pretty good downward strike as its strong attack, which is great for dealing with crawling enemies.

I also feel that the battle axe infuses pretty well with lightning and works well in cleric builds and I have often used it as that in Souls II as my primary weapon for faith builds. Also with the battle axe you get that pretty cool critical attack that is shared by clubs and maces and the player can push an enemy to the ground and finish them with an overhead smash (sorry if I sound like I'm advocating violence here!). I also felt that this weapon consumes less stanima than the popular bandit axe in the same game and of course its stat requirements are lower making it a bit more accessible to use  

So, while the battle axe might appear a fairly obvious choice of weapon, its not necessarily the most popular given the vast array of weapons to choose from but here the battle axe is as good as it ever was and it deserves it spot on at No.7.

6. Quakestone Hammer (Dark Souls III)

So, at No.6 to round off part of the list is the Quakestone hammer from Dark Souls III, which featured in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC. Now we all know the Ariandel DLC isn't the best regarded by any means but it did feature some pretty cool new weapons and among them was this beast, the Quakestone hammer.


Now, I have to admit I wasn't really previously much aware of this weapon until a recent playthrough of Dark Souls III where I did a strength build and was looking for a new weapon to try and this dropped from one the knights of Millwood and this thing basically can wreck just about anything! And I think its safe to say the coolest thing about this weapon (well just about) is its strong attack, which performs massive slam into the ground that causes a big quake that knock enemies off their feet! Combine this with the typical but pretty satisfying hammer moveset and you are onto a winner with this one.

Now, I do have to say that the only drawback for me with this weapon is that it cannot be buffed or infuse because of its special quake strong attack and as a result it can only improve with strength scaling, which in a way limits it a little. However, despite that I still think this weapon can certainly deal out some pretty solid damage all the same.

So, for me the Quakestone Hammer is definitely a weapon worth a look and if you are doing a strength build, then I would give it a go and it deserves its spot on here at No.6.

OK, so that's it for the Part 1 and I wil see you in Part 2...

Till then bye for now!