The community surrounding Dark Souls 3 has widely different opinions on what constitutes the best builds for PvE, the best builds for PvP, and even on things like how useful your sorcery build is going to be when someone's coming at you with a greatsword. The dexterity and strength communities are always at odds with one another on which one is better, mostly because strength fans are tired of getting stabbed in the back by crafty dex users.
One thing remains clear though, whatever way you slice it (pun intended) if you need to crush, smash or pummel something, strength weapons are definitely your best bet. Let's go ahead and rank some of the best fan-favorites now.
Updated by Michael Connor Smith on May 1st, 2020: Weapons are the lifeblood of the gameplay of any Dark Souls title, and there's plenty of choices to make your build around your style of combat. These weapons are split into two main categories being strength and dexterity, made for brutes and strategists alike. With some of the best strength weapons in the series and plenty of them to choose from, it may be difficult to discern the best of the best.
This list was updated to include more strength weapons from the large pool of weapons in Dark Souls 3, as the third game in the series has some of the most potent strength weapons of any other Souls game.
15 Smough's Great Hammer
This should go without saying, but this is the pure definition of a big-boy weapon. This tuba on a stick obviously deals insane damage and is the second most damaging hammer in the game. With a 45 strength requirement to wield effectively, this weapon is one heck of a commitment.
But, as we all know, damage output isn't everything. As expected, Smough's Great Hammer is incredibly slow and it is extremely easy to become overwhelmed by faster opponents. If you're hoping do be as deadly as the infamous Dark Souls boss just by using it, you'll be sorely disappointed.
14 Claymore
One of the biggest advantages the Claymore has going for it is that you can find it extremely early in the game. Despite it being a really heavy weapon, there's not really too much that's incredibly remarkable about it.
While obviously a Claymore is expected to be heavy, the stats it has as such an early game weapon don't really make sense. While it has decent base damage, provided you work your build around the Claymore and infuse it the proper way, it'll work itself out to be a heavy-hitter eventually.
13 Greatsword
If you wanna look like Guts from Berserk which is actually a massive influence on the Souls series, the greatsword is probably your best bet since it's the longest sword in the game. It's comically oversized.
It also gets outdone by the Black Knight Greatsword, one of the reasons the latter is included further up on the list. It almost makes up for itself in that it can actually be buffed, but it's still a close call. If you scale your stats right and make sure your build is suited for it though, the Greatsword can be a very effective weapon since it can get up to 731 AR if you're two-handing the behemoth.
12 Mace
The standard Mace might be perhaps the most underrated strength weapon in Dark Souls 3, as it can wreak havoc in the right hands. The most glaring downside it has is its poor range, making it difficult to combat users with long-range weapons like halberds or greatswords.
The Mace can be buffed and infused, unlike a lot of other weapons on this list, and its weapon art, Perseverance, helps it bypass some of its range issues. It's great at catching rolls and long wind-ups and deals serious damage in the process, so it should definitely not be overlooked.
11 Exile Greatsword
The Exile Greatsword can be picked up pretty early in the game, coming with a pretty disorienting secondary attack called Spin Slash. You wind up in a spinning motion with the sword hitting whatever's near, and finish in an attack with all that momentum behind it.
While the Exile Greatsword is the best Greatsword in the game in terms of damage, all that damage comes at the price of sacrificing your range. The range for this weapon is extremely low compared to a lot of other weapons and as such, that secondary spin attack just might be your best bet for hitting anything with it.
10 Ledo's Great Hammer
Ledo's Great Hammer is ridiculously massive, being even bigger than the one wielded by Smough in Dark Souls. As such, it's not only the heaviest Great Hammer in the game, but it's also the heaviest weapon in the game overall.
The damage that it does doesn't really make up for how heavy and hard to swing the thing is, but it made the list because people seem to really like it, even though you won't encounter it until you're invaded very late into the game.
9 Morne's Great Hammer
No fantasy game is complete without comically oversize weapons, and Dark Souls 3 has plenty of them. It may be confusing trying to pick one of many giant hammers, but we've got you covered. It has a similar damage output to the other hammers on this list, but likely one of the best hammer weapon arts to go along with it.
Great Hammers already have amazing poise, but what if it had a special attack with a massive radius AND super armor? Well, Morne's Rage is just that, and it's fantastic at tanking hits and one-shotting anything nearby...if you can land it, that is.
8 The Dragonslayer Greataxe
This weapon isn't quite as far into your playtime as some of the others on this list, but it's still going to be a while before you get your hands on the Dragonslayer Greataxe, which is why it comes in so far down the list. Unless you're bringing it into New Game+ territory, you're really not gonna get much mileage.
While its 2-handed AR is a whopping 729, it's also, unfortunately, the heaviest Greataxe in the game. The secondary attack is great though, as the Greataxe deals lightning damage scattered at your opponent's feet.
7 Harald Curved Greatsword
The Harald Curved Greatsword is another weapon that can be found exclusively in The Ringed City DLC. The special attack for the weapon is called sever, and when used, you hack maniacally at your opponent's feet.
It also has the auxiliary effects of causing Bleeding, Poison, Frost, and Curse damage. If you manage to get a couple hits off and whoever has the displeasure of defending against you isn't wearing an armor set that has decent resistance to these types of damage, they're going to be down for the count rather quickly.
6 Black Knight Greataxe
Black Knights really like to show off their abilities, and the Black Knight Greataxe's moveset demonstrates that. Other bigger weapons usually use gravity to aid their attacking power by swinging from head to toe, but this weapon strikes from the ground up with nothing but sheer strength and style.
Its moveset also comes along with some terrifying combo potential, able to end opponents in just a few seconds with its impressive damage output. However, if you're caught during your long-windups you're in for a world of hurt, even with its superb damage absorption.
5 Broadsword
No other series emphasizes the mastery of the basics quite like Dark Souls. The Broadsword is found in the first major area of the game and has the potential to carry you until the very end. This weapon can be both buffed and infused, making it a viable option for a variety of different builds.
Its scaling is superb, with a balanced moveset and range to go along with it. As a weapon art, Stance is useful in a lot of situations, but this is a straight sword, after all, so don't be afraid to R1 spam like your life depends on it.
4 The Splitleaf Greatsword
Not only does the Splitleaf Greatsword do massive amounts of damage, but it looks incredible if you're here for the Fashion Souls aspect of the game. The weapon is specifically designed to look like a large leaf. The only negative aspects to the weapon are that you don't get it until really late-game, specifically part of the way through the Ringed City DLC.
Working in its favor aside from its stylish looks, the Splitleaf Greatsword has the highest AR of any halberd class weapon in the game. It can also deflect arrows and bolts easily, which comes in handy if any squirrely dex players are trying to gank you in PvP.
3 Black Knight Greatsword
The Black Knight Greatsword is nothing if not extremely accessible since you can find Black Knights pretty early in the game. If you're using it for PvE combat, given its lore, it obviously has a +20% attack damage bonus against all demon enemies.
Not only that but before a patch was instituted, you could use the Black Knight Greatsword to stun-lock your opponent. While this was indeed a little cheap, it was also very effective.
2 Yhorm's Great Machete
Yhorm's Great Machete is absolutely wild. Not only does it belong to one of the coolest bosses in the game (albeit a disappointingly easy boss), but it has the longest range of any Great Axe in the game.
While it's confusing that it's a Great Axe and not a Great Sword, it kind of makes sense when you realize how big its original wielder was. It can be reinforced but not buffed, and if you level your strength up to 66, the AR goes up to 707, which is the highest of any weapon in the game based on physical damage.
1 Vordt's Great hammer
Vordt's Great Hammer definitely gets points for being a boss weapon that you can obtain after beating who is essentially one of the first bosses in the game, not to mention that it can cause frostbite against either an in-game enemy or an invading opponent.
In addition to being one of the only weapons that can cause frostbite in the game, it'll do so in a mere 2 or 3 hits. You also only need 20 strength to use it with 2 hands, which is about what you'll start out with when selecting most classes.