Executioner's Greatsword | Dark Souls 3 Wiki

One of my favorite weapons in the series. People dunked on this thing a lot early on after release, but honestly after From buffed the FP regen it's just a ridiculously solid all-rounder weapon for STR characters. Constantly gives you just enough fuel to use WAs without having to dip into Ash Flasks, buffable, and the strike damage is a nice plus as well, especially in the Catacombs.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY
the fight against Gael becomes about 500% cooler, thematically, when you mirror-match him with his old sword

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Wearing the hodrick set with this looks sick.

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If you wield this in one hand, Arstors Spear in the other and have Ring of Evil Eye equipped you get heavily rewarded for anything that dies.
6 FP and 67 HP (if the ring is +3) seems pretty great, especially for long journeys and to save your Estus in case of ganks, for example.
These two weapons also compliment each other quite well, greatswords are fantastic in general and stomp is a nice defensive skill, while Arstors Spear has good poking range and the shield splitter skill (the extra poison is nice too).

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This and the Fallen Knight Armor set. Great fashion souls.

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A few tricks to this thing:

1: the mana collection triggers even if you're an invader. Keep an eye out for the little blue circles- if none are showing up, well... chances are the host is camping somewhere. But once they do show up, it means the host has started moving out again.

2: if you can't catch the blue circles, try doing a singular stomp, and take occasional glances at your FP bar. If it's refilled, that means the same thing as before.

3: respawning enemies will refill this as well. This doesn't apply to much, but it's most useful in Cathedral of the Deep, as the graveyard hollows and the Deacons boss all respawn.

4: as a personal recommendation, don't try to use the passive FP for offense. Use it as support, allow it to keep you on your toes. I've found this work by far the best with warmth, as it only takes 9 kills before hou have a full heal primed and ready to go.

5: if there's a lull, or if you get lost, or any other scenario, try carrying this. It'll give you some easy FP while your allies(or enemies) kill things, and once you return to the fray you can remove it.

6: PVE wise, treat the charged R2 on this as your bread and butter- it'll almost always stagger anything it hits. PVP requires a lot more depth, though.

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I literally use this weapon to **** every boss and it works wonderfully I mean it could use some work on the collecting manna thing after each kill but overall good weapon good damage and also good for slapping ***** ass bosses across the face

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favorite great sword for looks alone
I love my blocky swords, but not many games like having them. Only other one I can think of is the durandel from final fantasy 12. This thing just feels powerful to use because of its hefty design.
I mained this on a sorcery Str build, even though there were way better options like the literal sword designed for str sorc builds like the moonlight great sword. Eh, anyways cool weapon. Neat effect that is kinda useful, getting FP on kills. Better options for sure, but it has a special place in my heart for one of my first ever playthroughs in this game.

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Where exactly in the cemetery is this? I'm getting clobbered by zombies looking for it

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Funny thing, I believe this sword, and the fact that it’s wielder Gael, who wears and is later referred to as Red Hood, is a reference to Jan Mydlár. He was an executioner in the 1600’s who famously wore a red hood as he executed 30 or so rebels.

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Literally just change the crit animation on this to a greataxe's and I would be fine with this weapon, that stab just don't look right

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Something that bothers me about this weapon: why is it Strike? This is a sword for executions is it not? Shouldn't it be Slash to help with cutting of heads?
Or is the implication here that the executioner didn't maintain it properly, causing it to go dull, metaphorically reflecting his corruption?

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came here to check out that FP leech effect, and im not sure its super useful to have on the offhand for a pure caster build. at least not on my miracle build where most of my spells are pretty expensive, i imagine its the same for pyromancy and maybe less so for sorcery, it can help mitigate the cost of some spells (assuming you're one-shotting enemies) but unless you're killing multiple enemies with one cast you're not going to recover more fp than you lost, so i don't think this is better than a saint-tree bellvine or a morion blade on the off-hand.

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personally my favorite greatsword, good scaling, has the passive FP regen, a useable moveset, can be buffed and on top of all of it deals strike damage.

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Shame most beginners won't probably use this... this + Gentle Prayer chime = back to full health after a battle with no estus use and very low FP use, if any

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How the hell its quality weapon? D scaling in dex dont give much its a strength weapon with a few more dex requirements.

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that this thing scales so well to just 27 strength, is buffable, does blunt AND gives the passive 6 fp, meaning unlimited buffing and vastly deepened healing on area traversal, is Just Wild To Me

Elden Ring best be having something like the EGS passive on at all times cause god damn do I hate having to carry this thing in my offhand for bottomless heals as a helpful phantom when I stoop to wielding some other, lesser tool

least it's sick as hell to look upon but cmon From I wanna use somem else some time without feeling so diminished god damn

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this is great for a support build

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This weapon is a quality weapon if you dont want to waste a lot of points, is a strike weapon so you'll have bonus damage on some enemies and players.

The AR difference with Claymore is imperceptible and even more by the fact that you'll have bonus damage that the claymore don't.

The only real con is the lack of thrust damage.

Overall is a great weapon.

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for a support build i think is a neat choice

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i only use this thing because the sheath looks so nice

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The reason why from made the durability stat almost non existent is because this would become OP Gael's great sword if broken otherwise every one could have it in early game.

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Pros:
1. dose strike damage
2. Great on the strength builds
3: deals more stamina damage on sheids(I might be wrong)
4: stomp WA can help when trades
5: WA can reset your poise(I might be wrong about this)

6: can be buffed

Cons:
1: can’t be infused
2: Doesn’t have a thrusting R2
3: does a less damage than the Claymore on a strength build.
4: the 6 FP recovery is useless.

Honestly this weapon isn’t that bad, it dose solid damage and it specializes in strength builds, it’s just that most people would rather pick the Claymore or gaels over this.

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Strike Claymore. If I have to explain to you how busted that is... Good luck, skeleton.

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why is this buffable but gaels isn't

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The FP restoration is out of place though. IDK why they would put that on a sword or any non-INT/FTH equipment. It's great people use it for the FP, but I think we should have gotten this as a ring, or at least, an FP counterpart to Sun Princess Ring.

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The unbroken version of Gael tryhard ballerinas' sword. aka, trash casuls' wholesome ganking tool. Oh well both got wrecked by mega skilled pkcs players anyway so I don't really need to hold your hand and lead you to the path of the pro. Casuls will learn it the hard way and pick up the god sword pkcs to git gud.

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An executioner sword that deals strike damage? Gives me conniptions.

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Best hammer in the game.

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I kinda only used this as passive on my caster mage build, handy for clearing full areas since you get access to it way earlier than simple infusion. You don't need to meet the wielding req to get the FP on kill, just sword in offhand or on the back is enough.

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This thing is amazing for the Carthus catcombs

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Fought Gael with it. Staggers him every third hit and is fast and easy on the stamina.

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This weapon is honestly great in invasions for at least one reason: as long as the level is still somewhat full of PvE, you won't need as much Ashen Estus, especially if you pair it with a Simple Infused item.
I could find this especially useful for Caster builds, or any other weapon that relies heavily on it's WA.

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Gaels that can be buffed

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I Just want a Version of This that does Slash damage and can be Infused

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So this sword deals strike and is for executions? Yikes... I don't want to be the person who gets decapitated by that.

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Are skeletons giving you a hard time? Equip this weapon and play Giorno's theme!!!

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one of the best weapons against shields imo, breaks normal shields in 1 hit and greatshields in either 2 or 3 + most people think it's a normal sword when they see it in pvp

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The only assumption i can make for why a greatsword made for beheadings deals strike damage is that the sword has been dulled over time from countless beheadings, but then wouldn't it be also terribly stained with blood?

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"BUT YOU CAN'T USE WA YOU ARE NO MAGE YOU SHOULD BE OUT OF FP THIS ISNT HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PLAY THE GAME!!11!11!" "ahah sword goes woosh woosh"

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"Greatsword of a debauched executioner used for beheadings." "Deals Strike damage" hmm...hmmmmmmm....

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I wish there were more flat head swords in this series. They look so unique

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WHY MUST IT REQUIRE 13 DEX

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I used this on my first playthrough, and wielded absolutely nothing else once I found this. Good times. Pure casters might balk at using this because of its relatively high stat requirements. That's fair, but I can heartily recommend this for hybrid, spellsword builds. I don't recall FP being a problem while using this. (Carthus Flame Arc for the win.) Physical builds should of course also take a look at this, since you can make use of the weapon art without worrying about ashen estus flasks.

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Honestly, this great sword is pretty good with the only major downsides being that it can’t be infused and it does not have a thrust attack, but these weaknesses are countered by its strike damage and its stomp which does fairly good damage with a large aoe. Personally, this greatsword is one of my favorites.

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Hello, skeleton slayer

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Hello Gael's Greatsword but not worn down to the nubs :D Also, recommend this for pve due to 1.) strike damage which nearly everything is weak to 2.) Stomp is good if you're cornered or against multiple mobs 3.) Can be buffed 4.) Reall among the few good strengh greatswords cons - cant be infused - no thrust attacks - fp recovery is not very good, just take a simple shield (literally) - claymore exists but hey, finally something different

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Good for pve casting, otherwise I've really only used it in the catacombs because of the blunt dmg

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This restores FP regardless of if you kill something or not. That includes enemies attacking eachother (like the Darkwraiths and Ghru) and other people killing enemies regardless of if you're on the host's side or an invader. You know, combine this and other FP gaining items with a healing miracle and you will wind up with some really good level sustain.

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The stunlock is real.

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Surprised no one's mentioned that this is also a possible reference to Terminus Est, the sword wielded by the character Severian in "The Book of the New Sun" series of novels. When wielded in-game, there are etchings along the center blade and sides, which is how the sword is described in the books.

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This is obvulosly gael's greatsword before it was used in battle

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Can we just take a moment to appreciate that this beauty deals strike damage?

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Is there a grace time for replenishing FP? Like if I engage a mob of enemies and kill them all at once, will it give me FP equal to the number of kills or will it allow just one instance of FP replenishment at a time?

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I...I made it +10. I don´t know why tho, but I love it.

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Man I had this at +3 and took just one estus in first try to defeat it

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now its my favorite pve weapon - start as deprived so you have 10 int/10 fth, equip this and buff if with carthus flame arc, free +100 ar without any int/fth investment, plus fp is always at full ;)

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Nice for an Ilyn Payne cosplay

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This is a decent greatsword for a PvE quality build. Pity it cant be infused. Can however be buffed, and if you pair it with the Evil Eye ring you can have a very solid infusion of hp and fp over time. Also, for those playing fashion souls, the cross-stitching on the scabbard kind of matches the stitching on the Assassins chestpiece, and the metal of the blade looks decent against the Black Iron helm/gauntlets/leggings.

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A weapon that really holds it's own. Its passive ability to absorb FP per kill really adds up over time when going through stages. Phantoms can kill enemies for you and you still get FP, which is handy. It fairs pretty well against many enemies in the game being a strike weapon, and can also be buffed which is a nice touch. If it didn't have a slightly strict strength requirement, I would recommend it for any character. From a fashion perspective, it has a weared surface, and its sheath is rugged, perhaps armor pieces that's followed suit would be good? I would also have preferred a two-handed greataxe like vertical R2 to fit the theme of the sword, but it's a minor nitpick.

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Surprisingly better than SSS (for me at least).

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Black Iron Tarkus's original weapon.

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I stumbled across this God tier weapon in my first playthrough and was IMMEDIATELY enamored by it. It got me through most of the game, but it came back to me in SK Gael's fight where I used it to whack the***** out of that boi.

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Buff lapp build?

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Was so much better before the nerf. Used to restore 30 fp.

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Not bad, but pretty clearly a pve weapon

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This is actually really convenient to just have equipped with a full caster setup. The passive and a dusk crown ring combined saves a ridiculous amount of FP.

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lol I used this in my first run up to the Dancer and I had no idea that it restored FP. Would've been nice if I had noticed that.

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My new unkindled is named Severian... only cool kids will get this

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Can this not be infused or something or is the page incomplete?

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Crushes Havel fags and onion wannabees I stopped using the weapon because victory is practically guranteed

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My favorite weapon. I didn't start using it until Carthus, but after the knockdown effect on the enemies there and the AR & FP regeneration, I've got it at +9 and it just massacres everything at 40 STR and 25 DEX.

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I use this with a fashion soul I came up with, not very good with It, but I'll take any normal weapon over a meta weapon any day.

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One of the best weapons in the game by far. I remember that this was not supposed to be my main weapon during the first cycle I ever finished on this game, but it still ended up being my most used weapon of said cycle, helping me smash through enemies and bosses until the very end, before the DLCs got out. It was a discovery run on Twitch, but I didn’t record it sadly and I don’t really Twitch anymore, and there is nothing on this chanel, so this is not a shameless plug, just nostalgia and telling you this is one of the greatest weapon.

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Why this page has info on buffing? Buffs give the same amount of damage regardless of weapon, except for Blessed Weapon, and even then it's just percentage based

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You still get the FP from kills when it's sheathed. Great for maintaining your weapon skills for Twin weapons.

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I destroyed champion gyndur with this weapon.
With all other weapons was very challenging battle

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Best weapon in the game

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Everyone says that this is inferior to Gael's greatsword, but if you buff it with dark pine resin, it's much better, and if you use the Wolf ring +3, it lets you poise through most weapons, even ultra greatswords, and since it has great damage, you can basically stunlock anyone who messes with you. What people don't understand, is that this is a trading weapon, and when people underestimate its size and damage, they get f*cked.

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If only you could infuse it.

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"Miyazaki-san, the Executioner's Greatsword is the perfect weapon for casters with FP on kills and simple infusion for FP regen!"

"What?!? We accidentally created a perfect weapon for caster-scum? I must think... Quickly, prevent ANY infusions on that weapon!!"

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Actually, these swords were used in the 17th century, so just after the medieval ages.

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Stunlockstunlockstunlockstunlockstunlockstunlock *deep breath* stunlockstunlockstunlockstunlockStunlockstunlockstunlock

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I like to call it the Weebslayer because it catches rolling katana users and oshko's all of them before they can r1 at all. Die weebs!

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This weapon is completely necessary for fight club if tou want to live past no estus. It's regen is amazing because even though you regain estus when a phantom dies, for certain builds fp is everything and the ashen estus flask doesn't cover the amount you need for fight club and, through lack of fp, you die. This sword helps you sit through fight club without dying because you get fp from fallen enemies, even if your friend Pedro killed them, not you.

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Apparently the only option for a "No Bonfire"-Run, because you can get Estus back through the Pyromancers Parting Flame and the FP needed for that is gained by this sword. It got me through today, 3hrs 59minutes until My little Niece had the dark pigment, 7hrs in total until all bosses were down (cuz a lot of running...).

Had a lot of fun using this badass weapon. My Tip: Reach the Softcap of 28str/13dex and pump all other points in vig/end/vit. Sure you couzld get 30AR, but you could also have very high health and resistances as well as fastrolling with fat armor and seemingly infinite stamina. This weapon isn't designed for high dmg combos. It's designed to whittle down your opponent with every hit until you can execute them... :)

Very underestimated. Much Fun. Such Weapon. Wow.

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I've been having a lot of fun with this in PvP. People underestimate it and, more importantly, they don't understand how it works. This can be your ultimate game winner, because it can really throw your opponent off his game. He doesn't know where your swings are gonna come from and he may not know the weapon art. You can use this advantage to blitz him before he knows what is going on.

While the AR is lower, attacks are significantly faster and have more tracking, and the weapon is excellent for roll catches as you can steer the strike almost to the last second. The FP leeching is also pretty fun, especially in areas where there are lots of squishy nuisance enemies you can harvest, e.g the Ringed City swamp or the Cathedral of the Deep's graveyard. I run a battle cleric build and tend not to carry much blue drank, so it can sometimes end up being helpful.

Also, the weapon itself is pretty. It has an unusual flat tip and there are runes or words engraved in the blade near the hilt.

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Added Softcaps and Scaling information, also added buffing information

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If this is the inactive weapon while you two hand another one, do you still get the fp leech on kills?

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In PvE, this is a fantastic sword. Lets you regen FP on the fly, especially in areas where enemies are in close proximity to each other. Much more reliable than depending on solely simple equipment.
However in PvP, it seems to struggle against other greatswords, ultra greatswords, great hammers, etc. as it has a lower range, only being able to challenge daggers, straight swords, other Executioner's Greatswords, or really anything shorter swords.

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fashion tip: if doing an Iron Tarkus cosplay use this sword instead of the tree trunk Final Fantasy style GS from the swamp area. It has the right size and was even once Tarkus sword in the DS1 concept art.

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very nice to swap to on my faith build during invasions as you can still get fp from the host killing mobs

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Apparently if you dual-wield two of these, two sheaths appear on your back.

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Bonus This weapon is actually looks just like the Executioner's Sword from Germany in the 1600's

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Hurr burr hurr gael weapon broke better than gael not borked weapon.

Clearly we're getting the version that got upgraded to +10

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I don't get it, Gael's sword is the broken blood rusted version of this but its just far better.

They both deal strike damage

Gael's has a better moveset and weapon art

Gael's has better reach and damage

They both deal strike damage

Only difference Executioner's have is that useless fp drain thingy when you kill people. Why Fromsoftware WHY

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It doesn't make any sense how the broken version outshines the actual one in EVERY SINGLE *****ING WAY

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W/ 66 Strength and 24 dex the 2h AR is 527, 1h 495. +10 of course.
Been having a lot of fun with this sword. Love the look of it and that it does strike damage. Strike is very nice against other heavy armored players as those kinds of armors tend to lack strike defense. The moveset is nice and quick, weapon art is badass. You can buff it too. Only drawbacks to this sword are it's range is a bit subpar compared to other weapons, and you cannot infuse it. The FP regen is actually nice if you enjoy using the weapon art a lot when playing through a level, but overall I would have prefered to have it be an infusable weapon instead of this little special ability. I also noticed that when invading as a mad dark spirit, when enemies die in the hosts game you will get the 6 fp. Not sure if thats for dark spirits too or not, but it is a thing.

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This and gael's sword have similar damage. This has the passive FP leech and an ordinary moveset and cool WA while gael's oddly has slightly more range, an notable follow up R2 (2nd R2), and a godly WA that generates some delicious salt.

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gaels weapon is worse, how sad

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Shame this isn't infusable, as the Heavy gem would fit this beast well.

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