Weapon Analysis: The Heide Knight Sword

Weapon Analysis: The Heide Knight Sword

 Location:

In the arena area of the Forest of Fallen Giants, after the Crestfallen Retreat bonfire, carried by a dejected looking Heide Knight slumped against the tree. 

 

 Stats:

Straight-sword, dealing both physical and lightning damage in both slash/thrust formats. Requiring 11 strength and 10 dexterity, with a C scaling in each, this is an ideal early game weapon. 

 Analysis

I like to think of the Heide Knight Sword as one of the two early game weapons which can supercharge a playthrough. Like its twin, the Fire Longsword, also found in the FoFG and topic of my next Analysis piece, the HKS is extremely powerful in the early game- the bonus lightning damage making armoured enemies (looking at you Pursuer) far, far more manageable. The thing I love about this weapon is its distinctive moveset, as while the small hitbox may take getting used to, the sword is easily swung in close quarters, and is ideal in 1-on-1 encounters. When faced with multiple opponents, the HKS falters in comparison to the Fire Longsword, lacking the sweeping attacks capable of hitting- and stunning- multiple enemies at once. In addition to this, each swing carries more foreward momentum than the average straight sword; excellent for presing the attack but dangerous if left unchecked.

I'll say it now: I love this sword. I used it throughout my first playthrough, and there will always be a spot for it on any build I make. Lightning is a hugely useful effect for a weapon to have- especially on faith builds, where the HKS has a C in lightning scaling. As far as weapon combinations go, I found that dual wielding this sword with another straight sword incredibly effective for a high damage per shot. I also liked using the HKS with a shield, where the fast, narrow strikes allow fast blocking between strikes and minimises opportunities to be hit, especially when the length of the HKS is taken into account. However I found dual wielding this sword inconvenient. The moveset that makes this sword so strong one-handed works against it when held with both hands. The narrow strikes make it hard  to fight multiple enemies at once, and the far slower strikes make it too easy to be overwhelmed. Personally, if you want to 2-hand a weapon, find a greatsword/axe/club/whatever, don't try to adapt a primarily one handed weapon.

If you found this useful, leave a quick comment below and I'll know to keep making these. If not, then no worries- move on guilt free.

Character Creation

Character Creation

Starting Class: Swordsman

"A finely skilled swordsman, fights gracefully, with strong weapons in both hands."

Soul Level: 12

Vigor: 4

Endurance: 8

Vitality: 4

Attunement: 6

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 16

Adaptability: 6

Intelligence: 7 

Faith: 5

I was torn between choosing a Warrior or a Swordsman for this play-through. On the one hand, the Warrior's high starting strength and dexterity would allow me to wield many more weapons, while having more Vigor and Vitality than the swordsman- giving me more Hp to play with. However what swung the decision for me was the Swordsman's higher adaptability and endurance- making it faster and more manoeuvrable in a fight- and it's starting gear. The scimitar +1 and Short-sword +1 are amazing starting weapons, especially when weapon durability is an issue. Both weapons can quickly defeat most early enemies with relatively high damage while also being quick to swing. As a bonus, when the scimitar is held in the left hand, its LT attack becomes a parry. The resulting opportunity for a riposte will usually insta-kill early enemies- once again preserving precious durability. 

 The Swordsman also starts with Wanderer set, which is not only a personal 'Fashion Souls' favourite but also great light armour for rolling and sprinting. I'm aiming to work off the basis that enemies can't kill what they can't hit, so that extra speed will be essential. Hopefully. Otherwise some grunt enemy will get a few lucky hits in and my no death run will be cut short...

Gift:

Yeah... here I wasn't thinking properly, and out of habit and chose the bonfire ascetic and hit Ok, forgetting that in a no bonfire run I'll have no chance to use it... blunder. I could have definitely used the free homeward bone, or the extra healing items, but I won't go through the whole process again for one mistake... I'll just have to live with it I guess. 

The RP bit:

Irrelevant to those of you who just want to read the summaries, but to those who read the narrative sections, my character is, of course, called Orthas. I haven't worked out the details of his background, and to be honest I don't really intend to. If the opening cinematic is anything to go by, new undead in Drangleic can't remember their past anyway. What I do know is that Orthas is more the sneaky, cunning sort than a bruiser. Lots of dodging and diving, parries and evasions rather than soaking up attacks, because who wants to stop an axe with their face?

Onwards...

With this out the way, on to the meat of the run. The challenge starts now- fingers crossed and will keep everyone posted. More pictures will be coming to, on an as-and-when basis. I apologise for the picture quality at the moment- I've order a screen capture addon for my Xbox...

Introduction (Dark Souls 2 Onebro/No death/no bonfire)

Welcome to OrthasOnebro!

About me

Hey all,

Welcome to my blog, which will document my experiences attempting a Onebro, no death, no bonfire run in Dark Souls 2. We all know that this is about as hard as Dark Souls challenge runs get- I may not manage to complete all three challenges, I may not even complete the whole run, but I'll give it my best shot, of course.

Straight up, I'm not a hardcore Souls player, and I'm sure there are countless players with more experience and skill than myself. That said, I've reached New Game ++, and feel that I've reached a stage where I'm looking for something a little more challenging than a casual run. Here's hoping that this is as entertaining for you guys to read, as it is for me to play!

About the Run,

First and foremost, this will be a Onebro run. For those of you who aren't clued in to this sort of Souls challenge, this is a run where I am not allowed to level up. Not once. Not never. The stats I have at the start will have to last me through to the end, so I hope I make the right decision for my starting class...

Secondly, this run will be a no Bonfire run. I won't be allowed to rest at a single bonfire throughout the entire game. That means I can't replenish my Estus flasks, can't fast travel from bonfire to bonfire, can't burn ascetics or other items and have no access to my item box. This will mean that I'll have to be extremely careful- I'll have to choose my route carefully, and budget my Estus flasks wisely. One thing that never occured to me when I went for a no bonfire run- no automatic repair on weapons. This will be a huge problem for me- when my favourite weapon breaks half way through the Gutter, it ain't getting fixed until I find a blacksmith, and chances are that won't be for a very, very long time. 

Finally, this will be a no death run. This is what scares me most about this playthrough- one mistake and its all over. Like I said earlier, I'm no pro player. Therefore if I die, I'm willing to limit myself to five deaths across the whole run, just to make things slightly more achievable, and hopefully to ensure that this run doesn't end only an hour or two after its start...

And if I succeed? An unknown ( and no spoilers please) reward waiting in new game + and a seriously good feeling. I'm definitely pumped to get started!

About the Posts

My posts will be written in two forms- either in a narrative manner from my character- Orthas'- perspective, or if I have there's nothing too interesting, simply a bullet point breakdown of what's happened since the last post.  Please feel free to comment on my posts- I love to read em, and it would be great to know whether people prefer the narrative or the bullet-points. As for a schedule, it'll depend on what I have going on in real life. I hope to have at least one episode up each week, with a few smaller strategy/ general Souls related posts coming up in the meantime.

Anyway, on to Character Creation- my first opportunity to mess up my run... hope you keep reading and supporting- I appreciate it.

Orthas