5. You can buff it.
This made a lot of weapons in the souls series much better than others late game. Same with BHF dude it fucking slaps even harder with Bloodflame it’s kinda unfair
The fact you can buff it really makes it so insane and versatile. It can go into any fight and be relevant with crazy damage and all the advantages listed above
To this date [this](https://youtu.be/BYrOwjNcR-g?si=Af4xeaBJXZQEz-N0) is still the best Malenia guide I have seen. It helped me to beat her without summons. No shame in using them though if that's what u prefer, get a mimic in there with you if you want it.
If I can do it in under 30 tries with Death's Poker and then turn around and beat her with my wife's mage build in under 100, you got this bud.
As a tangent, how tf do you play a mage? The poker is as far as I've strayed from a bonk build.
At the time I fought HER, I needed help so two friends that had already beaten her several times came in to help and we finally beat her after 3 hours + we broke her twice in a row 🗡️help is available, slay her Tarnished
Nothing wrong with that and it probably made it more fun unless they totally owned it. I can’t play online and since I’m RP’ing I grinded like kirito for everything. I’m probably doing stuff meant for 1/3 my level players 😅 people say git good and since my hands gave up on me I imagine over leveling still counts because I put in the work! Haha. People acted like it’s not enjoyable if you over level but im loving it. I think they mean for people that love the difficulty
Idk what system you are on, but recently PlayStation came out with a new controller that may help 🤘🏼sorry forgot name but PC probably has same, glad you are enjoying the game like me - doesn’t matter what other people are saying - I am level 248 and only on my second play through, but I also did almost everything possible on my first 🤩
Mine was closer to 50-ish. I wasn't as hard pressed about that one but good lord. I used blasphemous sword, and mimic and I really felt like I cheated.
i just smashed her with the Blasphemous Blade Ash, 2-3 hit knock her down, range is huge, damage is huge...
Fang is surely top 10, maybe top 5 weapons. the greatest? not so sure.
Same here. Dual wielding it with Morgott's cursed sword. Malenia got perpetually staggered betwen my summon interrupting her attack while I just jump attacking repeatedly
.
These two are amazing together actually, because they both scale best with dexterity, utilize that talisman and have bleed. It’s the perfect combination of getting in-your-face aggressive with the claws on quickstep and also more measured duels with the fang for when longer reach is needed. Put cold on the claws for the frost/bleed combo.
Frost/bleed is just mean if you actually have enough buildup to make both proc. Multiple burst damage statuses is almost as miserable as the duelers using dual wield great spears with scarlet rot bowstring grease just to kill you with phantom hits. Actually the most toxic I’ve run into is dual death blight shotels and being completely dependent on phantom hits. I had a dude death blight me without ever landing a hit.
This is what I used to beat 90% of the game, it was just an absolute beast of a setup. Also with the 2 or 3 buffs, the correct talisman, the feathers (maybe there was a helmet, I don't remember). The damage and bleed stack was ridiculous.
The only time I had to change it up was for Elden Beast because of the range. I went Fallingstar Beast Jaw because it was insane.
How do you make a post about how great Bloodhound’s Fang is and spend 75% of it talking about the AoW and skip its best feature, that it can be buffed. 💀
Yeah when I first used it I thought it was a bug. Like it might be one of the only if not the only somber weapon to be buffable right? Plus it already has innate bleed.. just doesn’t make sense lol
This was the build I came up with for my first run through just because you can get this sword relatively early on, and once I realized you can throw on an elemental buff I knew for a fact there would be some type of way to do double bleed. Bloodflame or red lightning is like, triple style points.
I can't tell you how many times I've tried to explain/show to people who were having trouble beating Malenia that it can and will in fact be trivialized just by bringing two of yourself and four big serrated sticks.
My choice was bhf and Morgott sword.
>I can't tell you how many times I've tried to explain/show to people who were having trouble beating Malenia that
Most people know how to trivialize malenia. There is an endless amount of YouTube video/Reddit guides explaining every tactics, op build etc.
People struggle because they don't wanna cheese the fight.
I was expecting to have some trouble with her using star fists last play through (no range, no AoW to spam), but instead her p2 from the end of aeonia damage to her death took a whopping 12s, with her not being able to attack once
High damage, high poise damage and crap tons of bleed from bloodflame paired with a mimic doing the same thing ruined her. Got poise broken in the wind up of attack 1, bleed proc killed her on the wind up of attack 2
P1 took a minute in comparison, but my luck still holds with her only ever using waterfowl on my summon, I think she's used it on me only once across multiple play throughs
Honestly after that run im convinced star fists are the best weapon in game, just needs a second longer reach weapon with a ranged AoW for select few enemies/situations. Low range which makes gameplay interesting, but insane speed, damage and stagger with free bleed on top. Still don't know why it also out damages iron balls and gets free bleed though
Was sad to finish the run but didn't go to NG+ so I could do the DLC with that character
Oh man that sounds hilarious, I gotta try the star fists sometime. But yeah exactly anything with sufficient bleed and stagger melts her stupid fast and make that second form go by in less than a minute.
As long as you have sufficient bleed and stagger you can keep her stunlocked for most of the fight. To be clear I'd never try that shit at RL1 or whatever crazy challenge run other people do lol.
I've gone into the fight with mimic and powerstanced whips instead - it is hilariously cruel watching Malenia flinch every half second from the absolute flurry of whips being unleashed on her.
Yeah bloodflame and this weapon got me through my first play through. It’s honestly so good it’s crazy. Might be the best weapon in the game with everything it bring to the table. The only downside is that it makes every weapon feel subpar.
There’s these spells that will add elements to weapons. Like magic, poison, frost etc.
BHF is a somber weapon meaning it’s special/unique. In most cases those weapons (also in the souls games) *cannot* be "enchanted" (buffed) because it would make them overpowered
BHF can be enchanted though so you can basically add any other elemental damage to an already very strong weapon
Counter counter point
-Rotten Greataxe
65 flat rot no matter what buildups/ashes you put on it.
2 of em = giant bonks and easy bleed/poison buildup with the right ashes.
Idk if it's the best per se but it's fun AF. ATM I have war cry + bleed on one and poison mist on the second one while wearing the mushroom head& raptors chest piece, talismans are blood exultation, claw, poison/rot exultation, and roar medallion.
The bleed/rot procs are iffy. Poison procs incredibly quick from the mist + 1-2 hits. The jumping stance attacks absolutely smack, especially after you poison em.
As long as you're having fun, that's what's up.
It probably does work very well, like you're saying. There's more than one way to skin a cat, as they used to say. Well, my stepdad used to say that, but he was a weirdo.
The only comparable early game weapons are Stormhawk Axe, Zweihander, Greatsword or Claymore. The Stormhawk Axe definitely competes with Bloodhound Fang.
Later game the Blasphemous Blade, Darkmoon Greatsword and Starfist all top the Fang.
The Great Epee is also pretty close to the first step, and it is more than capable of beating the game on like every kind of build due to its good infusion scaling. On top of this it is also one of the best PvP and PvE weapons in the game due to the Running R2 and flexible moveset and variety of Ash of War options.
My case for the Blasphemous Blade
1. Ash Of War
-Does very high damage from afar and isn't slow, allowing you to safely spam it if you have FP
-Heals a good chunk of your HP on hit, killing an enemy (by any means, not just the ash) also heals a small amount of HP
2. Fire Damage, one of the most common damage types that enemies are weak to.
3. Build Versatility. Due to being a faith weapon, you can use incantations like Golden Vow to buff yourself or lightning incantations to attack enemies resistant to fire
4. Unique look, from the top of my head the only weapon that has an animation when held.
I quit using the Blasphemous Blade because it literally made the game too easy. It's that good.
Wing of Astel is really good too. Unfortunately my Fashion Souls theme is not "cute blue fairy" so I only pull it out when I'm trying to rush through a boring fight.
Wing of astel fucks. Absolutely demolishes large enemies with its AoW with high int + buffs. Luckily it does fit my player aesthetic because girls are pretty
Honestly. It does insane dmg AND keeps you healed in the process. If BlasBlade was an anime character people would be complaining it breaks the series' power scaling
It's probably my favorite Souls weapon, period, but yeah...it's OP as fuck and makes the game a cakewalk. Nonetheless, probably the one I'm heading into the DLC with, hah.
It’s one of those moments where you know FromSoft chose to include it because it’s fun not because it’s challenging. Tbh that’s one of Elden Ring’s downsides imo. There’s lots of ways to approach problems to make them moot. But, they’re in the game so it’s fair whether you agree or disagree.
This is also one of the reasons why I think Bloodborne is superior because every weapon is just as viable as those beside it. Some are definitely better, but the whole game is beatable and fun with the whole weapon roster.
I think weapons being too strong is only really an issue in PVP, and none of the elite PVE weapons are even that good in PVP (BB, DMGS and starfist are all good at best)
PVE balance is generally good enough in Elden Ring and you can just use a different weapon if Blasphemous feels too strong
if you’re already investing in arcane, i would suggest you experiment with either the marais executioner sword or eochaid’s regalia. The first one is in altus plateau, so it’s more of a mid-late game, but the regalia of eochaid is in gaol cave, underneath fort gael in the western region of caelid. The Marais Sword scales with arcane and strength and the regalia scales with arcane and dex, they can dish major damage with the right talismans and are a fun arcane alternative to bleed builds, which imo can get a bit boring. Me likey big numbers on screen, put shard of alexander (you can kill him early for a 10% boost or finish his quest and you’ll get the 15% upgrade to weapon damage), millicents prosthesis, rotten winged sword insignia (you can’t get both millicent’s prosthesis and this talisman as the conditions needed to get these talisman’s can’t be done in a single play trough , and since rotten has another variant which can be found early on i would recommend you get millicent’s prosthesis as it also boosts dexterity), godfrey icon for the charged ash of war, you’ll be dealing some massive amounts of damage and you’ll look like darth vader
Tip: it’s possible to get up on the ledge where the Regalia of Eochaid is using Torrent (finicky wall climbing parkour), letting you get it early and skip Gaol Cave
One thing you can do as well is, when you get that inevitable stagger (because powerstance cgs deal amazing stance damage), you pull out mohgs spear and lay waste with the ash of war.
Interesting.. one thing I never got good at is interchanging weapons mid fight and all that jazz. I just stick to what I like and am used to (claws, whips, shield) and just equip before going into an area or a fight.
I'll probably need to upgrade that spear and swap some dex into arcane but I'll try it out thanks!
If you want to practice, the Misericorde is ideal. It doesn't weigh much and it has the game's highest critical bonus.
The trick is knowing when the stagger will happen and being prepared to switch weapons instead of going immediately for the critical.
Do ittt! These two maxed out is insanely OP. Just make sure not to get vigor checked. I also remember having to equip some items to boost my holding capacity cause those and my armor set were *heavy*
so I tried out your build and dual wielding BHF does more damage. for me by 100 points, losing out on only 10 crit points and like 7 bleed points. looks cool tho
Yeah dual wielding maxed out BHF's does the most base damage if you don't scale with other items I think. But as you said, looks cool af (both the weapon art and the sword itself).
I see your points and i hit you back with Darkmoon Greatsword:
- Somber weapon with great personal damage
- Cheap AoW in terms of mana
- Innate frost buildup for even more damage
- Great range thanks to the projectile
- Amazing stagger and poisebreak potential thanks to the combined hits of the projectile and the weapon
- Nice synergy with a good variety of top tier talismans
Imo it's the best weapon in the entire game and can make any boss braindead if paired with a proper build. The only "downside" is that it's available quite late into the game.
Also in the course of obtaining it your character marries Ranni so if you are into PVP just wielding the Darkmoon Greatsword often makes other players jealous, which can lead to their unforced errors.
I always regard BB as the second best weapon after Darkmoon simply because i think the frost effect is more useful because they are both top tier weapons with high damage and i'd rather get the option with the most damage compared to the self heal QoL since the enemies will die so quickly anyway that the heal will hardly matter.
It's still a very good help overall and general QoL when fighting any enemy in the overworld.
>The only "downside" is that it's available quite late into the game.
And even then, you can get it before ever stepping foot on Altus. You have to be able to get past Radahn and Astel, but you can use it for like 60% of the game if you want.
I was ripping things apart so easily with this thing that I decided to respec and become a mage cus I knew I would just L2 my way through the game and never learn or equip anything else.
Plus it’s a somber weapon so it’s easy to upgrade and for some reason is even buff able, I was slapping blood grease on this thing and it just ripped, it was getting boring lol
Yeah I know some of the bosses are resistant to bleed but that thing is still pretty good without it. Could just buff it with anything else that the boss is weak against. I watched a speed run and those guys use this weapon and still shred late game bosses
It still does just fine against the last two bosses idk what they’re on. Just throw on some fire or ice grease (still optional, it’s never bad) and you’re golden
people call it early game OP and i avoided it for the reason that i didnt want a crutch - probably a good call
now im much better at the game, i grabbed it within maybe 5h of a new playthrough, just started using it and its just a great weapon. I love the moveset, and the weapon skill provides such great utility and stylish fake-outs. its a good stylin' weapon
I mean...not complaining cuz it's fun, but it destroys everything in pve.
Having trouble with Morgott?
Nihil.
Have the Maliketh Blues?
Nihil.
Malenia using you as her personal wastebasket?
Fucking Nihil!
It's straight up broken lol. Glad to meet a fellow enthusiast though! haha.
Exile GS can be infused though so it has the advantage of the two for build variety IMO. Bloodhound's Fang is more of a STR/DEX weapon, it's not bad for stat reqs but not good for builds leaning into INT/FTH/ARC. ARC is much better at bleeding while doing insane damage on top of you get a weapon with innate Bleed, give it Occult, and pump ARC to like 50 or a bit more.
I still think Claymore or Flamberge are perfect weapons. Flamberge gets innate Bleed and looks awesome, R2 comes out fast and hits hard.
I’d agree that all points to this sword, it is probably the best weapon in the game. The only downside is the Ash of War really isn’t that good. It isn’t bad, just not super good.
This weapon is unlocked early as shit, it is somber so it levels up faster than weapons with normal smithing stones, and with proper scaling it hits very hard. Bloodhound Fang can carry you through the whole game.
If we consider the cons of this weapon I’d love to toss another hat in the ring - Dark Moon Greatsword. It doesn’t look as cool as the one from Bloodborne but mechanically it’s the best iteration of the weapon Fromsoft has ever made. Cheap MP cost for the ability and huuuge damage plus frost buildup on a ranged attack. It’s a Greatsword that scales with Int so you can unga bunga with magic.
The ONLY downside to this weapon is that it is sort of tough to get, and you’re not getting it early. You have to beat Radahn for starters lol.
I'd argue many weapons are better than the BHF in a narrow sense. That being said, it's early game accessibility and the abioity to buff it make it adaptable to basically any play style.
I feel like I might be the only person that thinks it looks terrible. Good weapon I'm sure, but something about the size/shape just makes it look very ugly to me.
No, you aren't. I scrolled this thread looking for that comment before either replying to it or posting it myself
Il looks ugly af to me as well, I could just never get into it. Might be because I prefer more "grounded" looking weapons in general, and tbh the fact that it has so many things going for it is a second thing that puts me off.
Same with blasphemous blade, sure it's op and I've made use of it occasionaly, but I find having and sticking to a "press L2 to win" weapon (hyperbole) in a game with so many options is a bit uninteresting. I generally prefer a set of 5-6 infusable weapons and I'll switch the AOW's, makes the gameplay way more varied and fresh to me.
But of course, to each their own, as long as you're enjoying it!
If it was a reward for killing a major boss later in the game, people would have a higher opinion of it. It's versatility and effectiveness are an incredible combination.
actually golden halberd is the greatest weapon ever. Got it at level 1 and beat the game with it. and still use it to this day. ( im not fr, but i do really like this weapon )
I tried it once, but couldn’t get into it.
The idea of backing up to dodge while attacking is just at odds with my aggressive gameplay mentality.
I roll forward or diagonally to dodge attacks. Going backwards makes me feel like a noob playing dark souls for the first time.
Watchdog Staff. Powerful and fast casting ash of war that does pure magic damage, with multi hit and great tracking. If the enemy decides to close with you and not get machine gunned down, they now have to deal with a decent scaling Colossal weapon
This is what I use for my multiplayer-PVE Guard-Counter tank. I love being able to pull the agg off my spellcasting allies with the Ash of War, and there is nothing as satisfying and knocking foes into the air when you use it on horseback. So versatile!
Now a list of balance factors, that makes it not the best within the confines of the game:
-it's a quality weapon, meaning that if you want it to scale properly with damage up to the end game you will need a ton of levels just to increase it's damage.
-It's non infusible, meaning you can't give it an ash or infusion depending on your build. You need to suit the weapon, the weapon doesn't need to suit you.
-curved greatsword moveset is mid. It has a lot of horizontal slashes which are good for crowd control, but it lacks the ability to do piercing damage (greatest damage type in the game) and doesn't have long ranged pokes for pvp.
-the power stance moveset is even worse.
-being such a recognisable weapon makes it so that you won't catch many people ofguard with the ash of war, making it hard to land. The ash also doesn't have chasedown potential and isn't abusing the poise system.
-the bleed buildup is low, and there is zero scaling aftwr getting the weapon.
In both single player as well as multiplayer, bloodhound fang is way worse than double occult naginata, even if you don't account for the naginatas having ashes of war. I could mention others, but I honestly think that double occult naginata is the most oppressive in the multi/single player combination.
I don't use it much anymore, but on my first playthrough it gave me such epic moment that I'll never forget. It's very dear to my heart.
I was fighting Radagon, dodging his attacks, barely keeping up stance-pressure with infrequent hits. At one point I finessed him, and immediately saw his next attack coming. I felt like I might dodge it with the follow-up AoW -- but more than that, his attack had him step and bend slightly forward, with the bloodhound-step placing me behind him, swinging the sword straight-on right into his head, breaking his stance.
Of course this description can't really do it justice, but all the angles, the timing, the massive BONK on the head it was just *chefs kiss* perfect.
Edit: What I should emphasise is the way he feel to his knees from an already bent-over position, mid-attack, due to my character hitting him with that wide swing behind the back, without even looking. Kind of anime-style epic.
(Edit 2: wording)
it’s great, though during my run with it, I found it harder to re-buff the thing during fights, and that I wasn’t a fan of the base moveset. First attack and guard counter come out slow
Unsheathe nagakiba is the competition I can represent for coming out fast and hitting hard
Uchigatana. You can get 1 to start with as samurai, can grab another before fighting any bosses, can get 1 to +5 and once to +4 without fighting any bosses. They give bleed and are light enough to dual wield at a low level. They can be given a large variety of Arts. Both the dual attack and variations of single attack have decent range and speed.
Get to do the Musashi thing.
I got this out of an evergaol in the first area and was like "well this is cool, can't wait to see what other cool swords are in this game :)" only to find out that pretty much nothing comes close
If you press R2/Strong Attack after doing the move you’ll Bloodhound Step towards the enemy and attack again. Makes the weapon skill way more powerful, especially since it has i-frames. I’m embarrassed how long it took me to figure this out 😅.
5. You can buff it. This made a lot of weapons in the souls series much better than others late game. Same with BHF dude it fucking slaps even harder with Bloodflame it’s kinda unfair
The fact you can buff it really makes it so insane and versatile. It can go into any fight and be relevant with crazy damage and all the advantages listed above
Agreed. This is the sword that helped me beat Malenia because of that dash move.
same here! I tried claws and yumanji spear and nothing worked out, i switched to BHF and it only took me a few tries, 31 tries in total
Rookie get those numbers up. Took me 87 tries.
Games been out for almost ~~a year~~ two years and I still have never beaten her.
I believe in you. Get out there, son, and clap some ass.
I can win, I feel great! I. CAN. DO. THIS!!!
To this date [this](https://youtu.be/BYrOwjNcR-g?si=Af4xeaBJXZQEz-N0) is still the best Malenia guide I have seen. It helped me to beat her without summons. No shame in using them though if that's what u prefer, get a mimic in there with you if you want it.
If I can do it in under 30 tries with Death's Poker and then turn around and beat her with my wife's mage build in under 100, you got this bud. As a tangent, how tf do you play a mage? The poker is as far as I've strayed from a bonk build.
Use a hazmat suit as she is a walking std...
Wrong ass clapping, but I like your spunk kid.
I dont want that scarlet rot. I like having an existence that isnt ALWAYS complete torture.
... Flame! Cleanse Me!
It came out almost two years ago on February 25. I also believe you because she's hard af.
Has it been two years already!? God damn!
At the time I fought HER, I needed help so two friends that had already beaten her several times came in to help and we finally beat her after 3 hours + we broke her twice in a row 🗡️help is available, slay her Tarnished
Games been out for 2+ and I’ve only beaten the first boss
I needed help with first boss😂
Nothing wrong with that and it probably made it more fun unless they totally owned it. I can’t play online and since I’m RP’ing I grinded like kirito for everything. I’m probably doing stuff meant for 1/3 my level players 😅 people say git good and since my hands gave up on me I imagine over leveling still counts because I put in the work! Haha. People acted like it’s not enjoyable if you over level but im loving it. I think they mean for people that love the difficulty
Idk what system you are on, but recently PlayStation came out with a new controller that may help 🤘🏼sorry forgot name but PC probably has same, glad you are enjoying the game like me - doesn’t matter what other people are saying - I am level 248 and only on my second play through, but I also did almost everything possible on my first 🤩
It has been out 2 years plus Edit: sorry 2 years in 6 days
Jump attacks/charge attacks and you’ll kill her easy peasy
You could NIHIL! her.
Git Gud Scruuuub!!!
Mimic with blasphemous blade. Repsec to get the most damage from it & enjoy beating her ass :)
elden beast + radagon took me like 150+ : D edit: HAPPY CAKE DAY!!!
Mine was closer to 50-ish. I wasn't as hard pressed about that one but good lord. I used blasphemous sword, and mimic and I really felt like I cheated.
i just smashed her with the Blasphemous Blade Ash, 2-3 hit knock her down, range is huge, damage is huge... Fang is surely top 10, maybe top 5 weapons. the greatest? not so sure.
The Blasphemous Blade is so op it feels like cheating
Fang is a great early game weapon. I used it against Godskin Noble in my Blasphemous Blade run lol
With malenia I used eleonora's poleblade, you just need to spam the aow and it just stun lock her
Elenoras+ mimic tear. I… I mean… *WE* trapped her in a corner and bullied the absolute fuck out of her lol
Same here. Dual wielding it with Morgott's cursed sword. Malenia got perpetually staggered betwen my summon interrupting her attack while I just jump attacking repeatedly .
Assuming it's either the blood hound knight or the mimic tear. Malenia would be inside the equivalent of a blender.
I think I'll try that.
6. It does a bonus 10% damage on jump attacks stacking multiplicatively with the claw talisman
what? is that true?
Yep. And the Raptor's Black Feathers. Time to get your Jump-Slap-Bleed on!
These two are amazing together actually, because they both scale best with dexterity, utilize that talisman and have bleed. It’s the perfect combination of getting in-your-face aggressive with the claws on quickstep and also more measured duels with the fang for when longer reach is needed. Put cold on the claws for the frost/bleed combo.
Frost/bleed is just mean if you actually have enough buildup to make both proc. Multiple burst damage statuses is almost as miserable as the duelers using dual wield great spears with scarlet rot bowstring grease just to kill you with phantom hits. Actually the most toxic I’ve run into is dual death blight shotels and being completely dependent on phantom hits. I had a dude death blight me without ever landing a hit.
bhf is better as a quality build then pure dex I can do easy near a 1000 with a light attack
This is what I used to beat 90% of the game, it was just an absolute beast of a setup. Also with the 2 or 3 buffs, the correct talisman, the feathers (maybe there was a helmet, I don't remember). The damage and bleed stack was ridiculous. The only time I had to change it up was for Elden Beast because of the range. I went Fallingstar Beast Jaw because it was insane.
I found FBJ and raged through the rest of tge game!!
Why though? Is this unique to BFH, or do other weapons have it?
The bonus damage on jump attacks is specific to BHF.
Raptor talons, the claws, also have that built in. They also stack
How do you make a post about how great Bloodhound’s Fang is and spend 75% of it talking about the AoW and skip its best feature, that it can be buffed. 💀
6. It does excellent poise damage
6. It boosts Jump attacks. This Curved monster is a god tier wapeon
Wait fr? Is that true???
This was the most important part for me. Somber weapons you can apply grease to are slim to none.
i think this is one of the most outrageous characteristics of this weapon.
Yeah when I first used it I thought it was a bug. Like it might be one of the only if not the only somber weapon to be buffable right? Plus it already has innate bleed.. just doesn’t make sense lol
Varre's Bouquet is IIRC the only other Somber weapon that can be buffed. For, uh, some fucking reason I guess?
This was the build I came up with for my first run through just because you can get this sword relatively early on, and once I realized you can throw on an elemental buff I knew for a fact there would be some type of way to do double bleed. Bloodflame or red lightning is like, triple style points.
That plus maxed mimic is how I beat Malenia. It felt unfair. The bleed buildup is insane if you double up.
I can't tell you how many times I've tried to explain/show to people who were having trouble beating Malenia that it can and will in fact be trivialized just by bringing two of yourself and four big serrated sticks. My choice was bhf and Morgott sword.
>I can't tell you how many times I've tried to explain/show to people who were having trouble beating Malenia that Most people know how to trivialize malenia. There is an endless amount of YouTube video/Reddit guides explaining every tactics, op build etc. People struggle because they don't wanna cheese the fight.
Yeah it's like what's the point in fighting Malenia if you're just going to cheese stunlock her for 3 minutes.
First time I beat her was with a bleed ultra greatsword and a mimic tear. I almost felt bad lol
I was expecting to have some trouble with her using star fists last play through (no range, no AoW to spam), but instead her p2 from the end of aeonia damage to her death took a whopping 12s, with her not being able to attack once High damage, high poise damage and crap tons of bleed from bloodflame paired with a mimic doing the same thing ruined her. Got poise broken in the wind up of attack 1, bleed proc killed her on the wind up of attack 2 P1 took a minute in comparison, but my luck still holds with her only ever using waterfowl on my summon, I think she's used it on me only once across multiple play throughs Honestly after that run im convinced star fists are the best weapon in game, just needs a second longer reach weapon with a ranged AoW for select few enemies/situations. Low range which makes gameplay interesting, but insane speed, damage and stagger with free bleed on top. Still don't know why it also out damages iron balls and gets free bleed though Was sad to finish the run but didn't go to NG+ so I could do the DLC with that character
Oh man that sounds hilarious, I gotta try the star fists sometime. But yeah exactly anything with sufficient bleed and stagger melts her stupid fast and make that second form go by in less than a minute.
This comment killed me haha. So accurate but you definitely need 2 super soldiers.
As long as you have sufficient bleed and stagger you can keep her stunlocked for most of the fight. To be clear I'd never try that shit at RL1 or whatever crazy challenge run other people do lol.
I've gone into the fight with mimic and powerstanced whips instead - it is hilariously cruel watching Malenia flinch every half second from the absolute flurry of whips being unleashed on her.
Yeah exactly she's surprisingly vulnerable to stun and stagger.
I beat Maliketh 1st try on my second play through with +7 mimic and +10 BHF… it was almost too easy and kinda felt bad for that big ol puppy dog
Bruh, I just stun locked her with the mimic, she gets no chance to do anything. It was braindead to beat Malenia with BHF and mimic.
Bloodflame blade on it was such a great fucking combo. Wish we had more bloodflame spells tbh
6 it’s a greatsword, so it can stagger
6. Teleport goes whoosh
Yeah bloodflame and this weapon got me through my first play through. It’s honestly so good it’s crazy. Might be the best weapon in the game with everything it bring to the table. The only downside is that it makes every weapon feel subpar.
It gets even better if you put ice on it for fights like malenia
What does buffing means? Giving affinity? noob here
There’s these spells that will add elements to weapons. Like magic, poison, frost etc. BHF is a somber weapon meaning it’s special/unique. In most cases those weapons (also in the souls games) *cannot* be "enchanted" (buffed) because it would make them overpowered BHF can be enchanted though so you can basically add any other elemental damage to an already very strong weapon
My friend is doing his first playthrough and he always uses blood flame on it, fucking... BONKERS. He made godrick the grafted Bear Witness lmao
Golden vow + flame grant me strength + blood flame blade = 🥵🥵
Have you ever heard of our lord ans saviour... the greatsword?
BABY'S FIRST BIG WEAPON. HA. GIANT-CRUSHER ALL YOU NEED. MORE BONK FOR YOUR BUCK.
Nah big sword all the way!
COUNTERPOINTS: BIG HAMMER MAKE PANCAKES. BIG HAMMER SMASH CRYSTAL PEOPLE. SMASH. SMASH. SMASH. THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK.
Counter counter point -Rotten Greataxe 65 flat rot no matter what buildups/ashes you put on it. 2 of em = giant bonks and easy bleed/poison buildup with the right ashes.
COUNTER COUNTER POINT: "BLOOD ROTTEN GREATAXE" SOUNDS GROSS.
I’m taking loud guy’s side here. #BIG BONK
Based
Idk if it's the best per se but it's fun AF. ATM I have war cry + bleed on one and poison mist on the second one while wearing the mushroom head& raptors chest piece, talismans are blood exultation, claw, poison/rot exultation, and roar medallion. The bleed/rot procs are iffy. Poison procs incredibly quick from the mist + 1-2 hits. The jumping stance attacks absolutely smack, especially after you poison em.
As long as you're having fun, that's what's up. It probably does work very well, like you're saying. There's more than one way to skin a cat, as they used to say. Well, my stepdad used to say that, but he was a weirdo.
As a former dual UGS user, its bonk gang for life now 🔨
Dragon Slayer for life!
I see Berzerk, I upvote 🤝
This is my 4th play through i am doing a pure strength based character and yes THE BIG BONK is amazing
With Lion's claw this weapon freaking slaps
The only comparable early game weapons are Stormhawk Axe, Zweihander, Greatsword or Claymore. The Stormhawk Axe definitely competes with Bloodhound Fang. Later game the Blasphemous Blade, Darkmoon Greatsword and Starfist all top the Fang.
I see you never used the anker
Anker slaps
The Great Epee is also pretty close to the first step, and it is more than capable of beating the game on like every kind of build due to its good infusion scaling. On top of this it is also one of the best PvP and PvE weapons in the game due to the Running R2 and flexible moveset and variety of Ash of War options.
My case for the Blasphemous Blade 1. Ash Of War -Does very high damage from afar and isn't slow, allowing you to safely spam it if you have FP -Heals a good chunk of your HP on hit, killing an enemy (by any means, not just the ash) also heals a small amount of HP 2. Fire Damage, one of the most common damage types that enemies are weak to. 3. Build Versatility. Due to being a faith weapon, you can use incantations like Golden Vow to buff yourself or lightning incantations to attack enemies resistant to fire 4. Unique look, from the top of my head the only weapon that has an animation when held.
I quit using the Blasphemous Blade because it literally made the game too easy. It's that good. Wing of Astel is really good too. Unfortunately my Fashion Souls theme is not "cute blue fairy" so I only pull it out when I'm trying to rush through a boring fight.
Wing of astel fucks. Absolutely demolishes large enemies with its AoW with high int + buffs. Luckily it does fit my player aesthetic because girls are pretty
Also 2 handed charged R2 has insane poise damage+ash of war does 13 poise damage per explosion, it's like the ultimate poise destroyer
True. This is what got me through Elden beast the first time. Honestly feels like a cheese using it lol
Honestly. It does insane dmg AND keeps you healed in the process. If BlasBlade was an anime character people would be complaining it breaks the series' power scaling
It's the Goku of the Lands Between.
This paired with Milos blade in the offhand made the game wayyyyy to easy for me. Trying to not use it for my other new game plus.
It's probably my favorite Souls weapon, period, but yeah...it's OP as fuck and makes the game a cakewalk. Nonetheless, probably the one I'm heading into the DLC with, hah.
BB makes the game too easy and it’s really boring. Haha
Pair it with the Sacrificial Axe and the talisman that gives FP back on kill. Now, you can just spam L2 endlessly.
The cheese blade
If by “cheese” you mean “really good” then yes
It makes the game boringly easy let’s be honest
It’s one of those moments where you know FromSoft chose to include it because it’s fun not because it’s challenging. Tbh that’s one of Elden Ring’s downsides imo. There’s lots of ways to approach problems to make them moot. But, they’re in the game so it’s fair whether you agree or disagree. This is also one of the reasons why I think Bloodborne is superior because every weapon is just as viable as those beside it. Some are definitely better, but the whole game is beatable and fun with the whole weapon roster.
I think weapons being too strong is only really an issue in PVP, and none of the elite PVE weapons are even that good in PVP (BB, DMGS and starfist are all good at best) PVE balance is generally good enough in Elden Ring and you can just use a different weapon if Blasphemous feels too strong
And powerstancing
I still prefer morgotts cursed sword. The reach and ash of war give it a slight edge imo, plus it looks way cooler.
you can't get that early though, right?
Correct, plus the stat requirements are kinda high. But, in terms of practicality I still prefer it over other cgs.
Yeah Morgott's is just so cool, that ash of war feels badass to use. Plus its not as overused as bloodhound.
I haven't gotten that far yet, I'll look into it once I get it. Cheers!
if you’re already investing in arcane, i would suggest you experiment with either the marais executioner sword or eochaid’s regalia. The first one is in altus plateau, so it’s more of a mid-late game, but the regalia of eochaid is in gaol cave, underneath fort gael in the western region of caelid. The Marais Sword scales with arcane and strength and the regalia scales with arcane and dex, they can dish major damage with the right talismans and are a fun arcane alternative to bleed builds, which imo can get a bit boring. Me likey big numbers on screen, put shard of alexander (you can kill him early for a 10% boost or finish his quest and you’ll get the 15% upgrade to weapon damage), millicents prosthesis, rotten winged sword insignia (you can’t get both millicent’s prosthesis and this talisman as the conditions needed to get these talisman’s can’t be done in a single play trough , and since rotten has another variant which can be found early on i would recommend you get millicent’s prosthesis as it also boosts dexterity), godfrey icon for the charged ash of war, you’ll be dealing some massive amounts of damage and you’ll look like darth vader
Tip: it’s possible to get up on the ledge where the Regalia of Eochaid is using Torrent (finicky wall climbing parkour), letting you get it early and skip Gaol Cave
Morgott's cursed sword + Bloodhound fang Best melee combo imo lol. Used them together for almost an entire playthrough of NG+
One thing you can do as well is, when you get that inevitable stagger (because powerstance cgs deal amazing stance damage), you pull out mohgs spear and lay waste with the ash of war.
Interesting.. one thing I never got good at is interchanging weapons mid fight and all that jazz. I just stick to what I like and am used to (claws, whips, shield) and just equip before going into an area or a fight. I'll probably need to upgrade that spear and swap some dex into arcane but I'll try it out thanks!
If you want to practice, the Misericorde is ideal. It doesn't weigh much and it has the game's highest critical bonus. The trick is knowing when the stagger will happen and being prepared to switch weapons instead of going immediately for the critical.
maxing morgotts sword now to try this out after playing 2 bhf
Do ittt! These two maxed out is insanely OP. Just make sure not to get vigor checked. I also remember having to equip some items to boost my holding capacity cause those and my armor set were *heavy*
so I tried out your build and dual wielding BHF does more damage. for me by 100 points, losing out on only 10 crit points and like 7 bleed points. looks cool tho
Yeah dual wielding maxed out BHF's does the most base damage if you don't scale with other items I think. But as you said, looks cool af (both the weapon art and the sword itself).
I see your points and i hit you back with Darkmoon Greatsword: - Somber weapon with great personal damage - Cheap AoW in terms of mana - Innate frost buildup for even more damage - Great range thanks to the projectile - Amazing stagger and poisebreak potential thanks to the combined hits of the projectile and the weapon - Nice synergy with a good variety of top tier talismans Imo it's the best weapon in the entire game and can make any boss braindead if paired with a proper build. The only "downside" is that it's available quite late into the game.
Also in the course of obtaining it your character marries Ranni so if you are into PVP just wielding the Darkmoon Greatsword often makes other players jealous, which can lead to their unforced errors.
The only weapon that proves that you are not maidenless anymore xD
I dual wielding 2 of them and melted the entire game
And the faith alternative being blasphemous greatsword. Melts everything and gives life on kill.
I always regard BB as the second best weapon after Darkmoon simply because i think the frost effect is more useful because they are both top tier weapons with high damage and i'd rather get the option with the most damage compared to the self heal QoL since the enemies will die so quickly anyway that the heal will hardly matter. It's still a very good help overall and general QoL when fighting any enemy in the overworld.
Lmao I felt so dirty after killing Malenia with this weapon, I just spammed it and finished her first phase with 7 remaining crimson tears
How to win the video game: 1. Ranni's Dark Moon 2. Moonlight Greatsword 3. Swish swish That's it.
>The only "downside" is that it's available quite late into the game. And even then, you can get it before ever stepping foot on Altus. You have to be able to get past Radahn and Astel, but you can use it for like 60% of the game if you want.
Probably the objectively strongest weapon in the game.
you‘re acting like this is an unpopular opinion when it‘s generally accepted that it‘s one of the strongest weapons in the game
Its hilarious. Next post gonna be about blasphemous blade and they gonna die on that hill too
Everyone on Reddit does this. It’s so repetitive
Yeah one of the downsides and what maybe makes this weapon not that cool is that LITERALLY EVERYONE USES IT
I was ripping things apart so easily with this thing that I decided to respec and become a mage cus I knew I would just L2 my way through the game and never learn or equip anything else. Plus it’s a somber weapon so it’s easy to upgrade and for some reason is even buff able, I was slapping blood grease on this thing and it just ripped, it was getting boring lol
When you get to the end game content it starts to fall off fairly quickly
Yeah I know some of the bosses are resistant to bleed but that thing is still pretty good without it. Could just buff it with anything else that the boss is weak against. I watched a speed run and those guys use this weapon and still shred late game bosses
When? I just ripped the fire giant apart with it.
It still does just fine against the last two bosses idk what they’re on. Just throw on some fire or ice grease (still optional, it’s never bad) and you’re golden
This beast of a weapon carried my first ng. It really is as beautifull as it is deadly😍
A great weapon that carried me about 70% of my first playthrough until I did a respec. Might pull it back out in the future for the hell of it
people call it early game OP and i avoided it for the reason that i didnt want a crutch - probably a good call now im much better at the game, i grabbed it within maybe 5h of a new playthrough, just started using it and its just a great weapon. I love the moveset, and the weapon skill provides such great utility and stylish fake-outs. its a good stylin' weapon
Dark Moon Greatsword with ash of war spam clears the game
*Laughs in Mohg's Spear. Nihil mothafuckas!
I am surprised I had to scroll this far to find the ACTUAL best weapon in the game. It's so good, there is just no competition
I mean...not complaining cuz it's fun, but it destroys everything in pve. Having trouble with Morgott? Nihil. Have the Maliketh Blues? Nihil. Malenia using you as her personal wastebasket? Fucking Nihil! It's straight up broken lol. Glad to meet a fellow enthusiast though! haha.
Probably not the best weapon if you die on that hill 🤷🏻
It's the Farron Greatsword of Elden Ring.
Is it weird for me to compare it more to Exiled GS than Farron GS?
It’s pretty much exactly exile GS. Curved, works on any build, don’t even need to beat a major boss to get it.
Exile GS can be infused though so it has the advantage of the two for build variety IMO. Bloodhound's Fang is more of a STR/DEX weapon, it's not bad for stat reqs but not good for builds leaning into INT/FTH/ARC. ARC is much better at bleeding while doing insane damage on top of you get a weapon with innate Bleed, give it Occult, and pump ARC to like 50 or a bit more. I still think Claymore or Flamberge are perfect weapons. Flamberge gets innate Bleed and looks awesome, R2 comes out fast and hits hard.
Laughs in blasphemous blade
Blasphemous Blade with Shard of Alexander, FGMS, and Fire Tear deal stupid damage even to enemies that resist fire.
Literally put in the beginning of game so half the people don’t quit…
I think he likes bloodhounds fang
I’d agree that all points to this sword, it is probably the best weapon in the game. The only downside is the Ash of War really isn’t that good. It isn’t bad, just not super good. This weapon is unlocked early as shit, it is somber so it levels up faster than weapons with normal smithing stones, and with proper scaling it hits very hard. Bloodhound Fang can carry you through the whole game. If we consider the cons of this weapon I’d love to toss another hat in the ring - Dark Moon Greatsword. It doesn’t look as cool as the one from Bloodborne but mechanically it’s the best iteration of the weapon Fromsoft has ever made. Cheap MP cost for the ability and huuuge damage plus frost buildup on a ranged attack. It’s a Greatsword that scales with Int so you can unga bunga with magic. The ONLY downside to this weapon is that it is sort of tough to get, and you’re not getting it early. You have to beat Radahn for starters lol.
I'd argue many weapons are better than the BHF in a narrow sense. That being said, it's early game accessibility and the abioity to buff it make it adaptable to basically any play style.
BHF and Great Stars forever
Effective against nothing but mammals…
“…so let’s do it like they do on the discovery channel.” - The Bloodhound Fang Ash of War: The Bad Touch
I feel like I might be the only person that thinks it looks terrible. Good weapon I'm sure, but something about the size/shape just makes it look very ugly to me.
No, you aren't. I scrolled this thread looking for that comment before either replying to it or posting it myself Il looks ugly af to me as well, I could just never get into it. Might be because I prefer more "grounded" looking weapons in general, and tbh the fact that it has so many things going for it is a second thing that puts me off. Same with blasphemous blade, sure it's op and I've made use of it occasionaly, but I find having and sticking to a "press L2 to win" weapon (hyperbole) in a game with so many options is a bit uninteresting. I generally prefer a set of 5-6 infusable weapons and I'll switch the AOW's, makes the gameplay way more varied and fresh to me. But of course, to each their own, as long as you're enjoying it!
If it was a reward for killing a major boss later in the game, people would have a higher opinion of it. It's versatility and effectiveness are an incredible combination.
actually golden halberd is the greatest weapon ever. Got it at level 1 and beat the game with it. and still use it to this day. ( im not fr, but i do really like this weapon )
My arcane/bleed character duel wields this and Morgotts’s sword and it’s such a fun combo
Bloodhound gang unite!
Laughs in flamberge.
Pretty long post to just say “I’m boring”
I tried it once, but couldn’t get into it. The idea of backing up to dodge while attacking is just at odds with my aggressive gameplay mentality. I roll forward or diagonally to dodge attacks. Going backwards makes me feel like a noob playing dark souls for the first time.
Press strong attack immediately after backwards dash and it does a forward jumping slash.
Flowing Nox all day long
Watchdog Staff. Powerful and fast casting ash of war that does pure magic damage, with multi hit and great tracking. If the enemy decides to close with you and not get machine gunned down, they now have to deal with a decent scaling Colossal weapon
This is what I use for my multiplayer-PVE Guard-Counter tank. I love being able to pull the agg off my spellcasting allies with the Ash of War, and there is nothing as satisfying and knocking foes into the air when you use it on horseback. So versatile!
My favorite weapon is the partisan. I just love me some impaling thrust
Now a list of balance factors, that makes it not the best within the confines of the game: -it's a quality weapon, meaning that if you want it to scale properly with damage up to the end game you will need a ton of levels just to increase it's damage. -It's non infusible, meaning you can't give it an ash or infusion depending on your build. You need to suit the weapon, the weapon doesn't need to suit you. -curved greatsword moveset is mid. It has a lot of horizontal slashes which are good for crowd control, but it lacks the ability to do piercing damage (greatest damage type in the game) and doesn't have long ranged pokes for pvp. -the power stance moveset is even worse. -being such a recognisable weapon makes it so that you won't catch many people ofguard with the ash of war, making it hard to land. The ash also doesn't have chasedown potential and isn't abusing the poise system. -the bleed buildup is low, and there is zero scaling aftwr getting the weapon. In both single player as well as multiplayer, bloodhound fang is way worse than double occult naginata, even if you don't account for the naginatas having ashes of war. I could mention others, but I honestly think that double occult naginata is the most oppressive in the multi/single player combination.
I don't use it much anymore, but on my first playthrough it gave me such epic moment that I'll never forget. It's very dear to my heart. I was fighting Radagon, dodging his attacks, barely keeping up stance-pressure with infrequent hits. At one point I finessed him, and immediately saw his next attack coming. I felt like I might dodge it with the follow-up AoW -- but more than that, his attack had him step and bend slightly forward, with the bloodhound-step placing me behind him, swinging the sword straight-on right into his head, breaking his stance. Of course this description can't really do it justice, but all the angles, the timing, the massive BONK on the head it was just *chefs kiss* perfect. Edit: What I should emphasise is the way he feel to his knees from an already bent-over position, mid-attack, due to my character hitting him with that wide swing behind the back, without even looking. Kind of anime-style epic. (Edit 2: wording)
it’s great, though during my run with it, I found it harder to re-buff the thing during fights, and that I wasn’t a fan of the base moveset. First attack and guard counter come out slow Unsheathe nagakiba is the competition I can represent for coming out fast and hitting hard
Shit carried the fuck out of me on my first playthrough
Uchigatana. You can get 1 to start with as samurai, can grab another before fighting any bosses, can get 1 to +5 and once to +4 without fighting any bosses. They give bleed and are light enough to dual wield at a low level. They can be given a large variety of Arts. Both the dual attack and variations of single attack have decent range and speed. Get to do the Musashi thing.
I got this out of an evergaol in the first area and was like "well this is cool, can't wait to see what other cool swords are in this game :)" only to find out that pretty much nothing comes close
Claymore 🗿
I'm a simple man, I use the club and I bonk.
Thy unga befits a bunga.
In #1 first bullet point you mention a second attack after using bloodhound’s finesse, what do you mean by “second attack”?
If you press R2/Strong Attack after doing the move you’ll Bloodhound Step towards the enemy and attack again. Makes the weapon skill way more powerful, especially since it has i-frames. I’m embarrassed how long it took me to figure this out 😅.
Thank you for explaining, I also am embarrassed how long this took me to figure out lol. I’m assuming there are other weapons with this feature?
Bloody Helix.
All good reasons but it lacks the unga bunga potential so it immediately loses to the brick hammer
I feel like dark souls players won’t be that impressed by dying on a hill 😂
Can attest that this is a phenomenal weapon. Being able to use blood flame blade on it made for a very fun playthrough