Greatsword +15 |
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325 | ![]() |
100 | ||||||||||||||||
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245(265) | ![]() |
44 | ||||||||||||||||
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312(312) | ![]() |
200 | ||||||||||||||||
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325(325) | ![]() |
12.0 | ||||||||||||||||
Requirements & Bonus | |||||||||||||||||||
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28 | 10 | – | – | ||||||||||||||||
Auxiliary | – | ||||||||||||||||||
Weapon Type | Ultra Greatswords | ||||||||||||||||||
Attack Type | Regular / Thrust | ||||||||||||||||||
Enchantable | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||
Special | No |
*When infused with Magic: 245 physical dmg/265 magic dmg, with Fire: 312 physical dmg/312 Fire dmg, with Lightning: 325 physical dmg/325 Lightning dmg
Greatsword is a Weapon in Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered.
One of the gigantic straight greatswords. Very few have what it takes to wield this incredibly heavy, damage-dealing monster."
"A favorite of the Knights Berenike, known for their heavy armor, and Black iron Tarkus."
How to Get / Where to Find the Greatsword
- Sold by the Crestfallen Merchant in Sen's Fortress for 8,000 souls.
- Rarely drops from Berenike Knights, found in Undead Parish, Sen's Fortress, and the Painted World of Ariamis.
- In Anor Londo, found on a body to the left of the Painting of Ariamis.
Hints and Tips
- Give to Frampt to receive 50 souls.
- Despite beeing called Greatsword, this Weapon is not a Greatsword type, but a Ultra Greatsword type.
- This unheralded and rarely used weapon is surprisingly effective in experienced hands. Like other ultra greatswords it significantly affects a victim's poise, particularly when used 2-handed, allowing its user to disrupt spell casts or other melee attackers. When used two handed it will stagger someone in one R1 swing unless they have 77 poise or higher. The R2 thrust attack, when used two handed, staggers almost everyone.
- Moveset is quite similar to the claymore and straight swords such as the balder side sword, with some variation in charge moves and other attacks. Enjoys significantly increased range and damage, at the cost of slower attack speeds and increased weight and stamina costs.
- Slow attack speed increases the risk of being parried, as long windups permit opponents to land parries based on visual cues even with PvP lag (in other word, opponents do not need to guess when you may swing, as they can see the windup and still get a parry attempt off even with network lag). Utilizing the weapon's long range and reach to maintain distance with one's opponent is an effective counter to being parried.
- R2 thrust attacks benefit from Leo ring counter damage bonuses. This includes the effective and surprisingly quick roll-R1 stab.
- Sprint attacks are surprisingly powerful, particularly when used 2-handed. The overhead smash attack while sprinting will stun or more often completely flatten an opponent, disrupting whatever they were doing and often allowing time for a follow up attack. The overhead swing has a related impact AoE that can stagger or knockdown people even if they are not directly injured by the swing, and has a number of interesting applications (for example, it can knock the Anor Londo winged demons clear out of the air even if it does not hit them outright).
- Best used without lockoff, including on sprint attacks, as slow swing and recovery times can encourage backstab attempts by others. Wide swing arcs while locked off can be very effective at punishing and sometimes flat out killing backstab attempts with a single swing.
- High stamina cost requires high Endurance and encourages the use of other items such as the Ring of Favor and Protection for its stamina bonus, and stamina recovery boosting items and equipment.
- Surprisingly effective at blocking when used in two hands, making two handed builds with a Grass Crest Shield or Sanctus shield worn on the back fully viable even at low stat levels, given that it only requires 10 dexterity and 28 strength (further subject to the two-handing strength bonus). Its elemental damage reductions also benefit from the elemental type of the weapon. For example, a lightning greatsword +5 receives 70% lightning damage reduction when blocking, better than most shields!
Youtube relevant videos:
Greatsword Upgrade Table










Overview table for all Upgrades at regular, max and threshold levels. Click on the tabs to see individual upgrade paths in detail. Use this table to quickly compare performance
Regular Upgrades are performed by Andre of Astora at the Undead Parish.
Regular +6 requires a regular +5 weapon and to hand in the Large Ember. Regular +11 requires a regular +10 weapon and to hand in the Very Large Ember.
Regular Reinforcement Scales 66% for Strength and 26% for
Dexterity to increase your AR.
To reach max, you need: 12,000 souls, 9 titanite shards to +5, 9 large titanite shards to +10, 7 titanite chunks to +14 and 1 titanite slab to +15
Crystal Upgrades are performed by the Giant Blacksmith at Anor Londo.
Crystal Upgrades require a regular +10 weapon and to hand in the Crystal Ember.
Crystal Reinforcement reduces weapon Durability by 16, but increases base damage. It scales 60% for Strength and 26% for
Dexterity to increase your AR.
To reach max, you need: 4,000 souls, 8 titanite chunks to +4 and 1 titanite slab to +5
Lightning Upgrades are performed by the Giant Blacksmith at Anor Londo.
Lightning Upgrades require a regular +10 weapon, but no special Ember is required.
Lightning Reinforcement removes all scaling but adds Lightning Damage.
To reach max, you need: 4,000 souls, 8 titanite chunks to +4 and 1 titanite slab to +5
Raw Upgrades are performed by Andre of Astora at the Undead Parish.
Raw Upgrades require a regular +5 weapon and to hand in the Large Ember.
Raw Reinforcement increases base damage whilst reducing stat bonuses. Scales 66% for Strength to increase your AR.
To reach max, you need: 4,000 souls, 10 large titanite shards
Magic Upgrades are performed by Rickert of Vinheim, found in New Londo Ruins.
Magic Upgrade +1 requires a regular +5 weapon. Magic +6 requires a Magic +5 and to hand in the Large Magic Ember
Magic Reinforcement adds Magic Damage and an Intelligence bonus. The weapon can no longer be buffed with Magic Weapon. Scales 17% for Strength, 7% for
Dexterity and 62%
Intelligence to increase your AR.
To reach max, you need: 8,000 souls, 10 Green Titanite Shards to +5, 7 Blue Titanite Chunks to +14 and 1 Blue Titanite Slab to +15
Enchanted Upgrades are performed by Rickert of Vinheim, found in New Londo Ruins.
Enchanted Upgrade +1 requires a regular +5 weapon. Enchanted +6 requires a Enchanted +5 and to hand in the Large Magic Ember
Enchanted Reinforcement increases the Intelligence bonus at the cost of base magic damage. The weapon can no longer be buffed with Magic Weapon. Scales 13% for Strength, 5% for
Dexterity and 60%
Intelligence to increase your AR
To reach max, you need: 4,000 souls, 8 Blue Titanite Chunks to +4 and 1 Blue Titanite Slab to +5
Divine Upgrades are performed by Andre of Astora at the Undead Parish.
Divine Upgrades require a regular +5 weapon and to hand in the Divine Ember. Divine +6 upgrades require a Divine Weapon +5 and to hand in the Large Divine Ember.
Divine Reinforcement adds Magic Damage and Faith scaling. Scales 23% for Strength, 10% for
Dexterity and 61%
Faith to increase your AR.
To reach max, you need: 8,000 souls, 10 Green Titanite Shards, 7 White Titanite Chunks and 1 White Titanite Slab
Occult Upgrades are performed by Andre of Astora at the Undead Parish.
Occult Upgrades require a Divine+5 weapon and to hand in the Dark Ember.
Occult Reinforcement reduces the base damage but increases Faith scaling. Scales 22% for Strength, 9% for
Dexterity and 72%
Faith to increase your AR.
To reach max, you need: 4,000 souls, 7 White Titanite Chunks and 1 White Titanite Slab
Fire Upgrades are performed by Blacksmith Vamos in The Catacombs.
Fire Upgrades require a regular +5 weapon. Fire+6 requires a Fire+5 weapon and to hand in the Large Flame Ember.
Fire Reinforcement adds Fire Damage but removes all scaling bonuses from the weapon.
To reach max, you need: 8,000 souls, 10 Green Titanite Shards, 7 Red Titanite Chunks and 1 Red Titanite Slab
Chaos Upgrades are performed by Blacksmith Vamos in The Catacombs.
Chaos Upgrades require a Fire+5 weapon and to hand in the Chaos Flame Ember
Fire Reinforcement reduces Fire Damage but adds a bonus based on the Humanity you hold.
To reach max, you need: 4,000 souls, 7 Red Titanite Chunks and 1 Red Titanite Slab
- Anonymous
Anyone know how much strength and dexterity is needed to wield this thing one handed without stumbling
- Anonymous
That thing was too big to be called a sword.
Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a large hunk of iron.
- Anonymous
Looks more like a big glaidus than the Guts's pre-Dragonslayer sword.
- Anonymous
Ahh, the times when this beast actually looked like the Berk 'word.
- Anonymous
Weird how it's just called flat "Greatsword", kinda confusing since it's an Ultra-greatsword, couldn't it have been called "Black Iron Greatsword" or something more unique like that? Just to spare people the confusion
- Anonymous
It's funny how much weight this thing gained in the later games compared to Ds1, went from being the second-lightest Ultra Greatsword, and one of the thinnest ones with an emphasis on thrust attacks, to being a comically huge and wide sharpened 8ft long lump of metal that could hardly even be called a sword that just smashes things into tomato paste by virtue of it's sheer weight and GIRTH
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
This is actually my favourite weapon in the game. I know people love the claymore/zwei, but the two-handed R2 chunky poke is lovely. You still get the pancake slam from the jump attack. Rolling poke is nice to have, too. With all the thrusts you can also pair it with Leo Ring.
I also think the greatsword looks better here than in later games, where it grew to absurd sizes.
identical to Zweihander in damage stats and scaling, slightly higher requirements and 2 extra weight, along with a later point of acquisition. However I personally consider it better for the heavy attack, which is the main difference between the two. The straight thrust with different damage typing is better than the overhead slam in certain situations. The Zwi's pancaking overhead is certainly useful, but the stagger and counter damage from the Greatsword's thrust is fantastic and the ability to jump pancake means this option is slightly more versatile. If you're using mainly r1s, the zweihander will be the better choice for the lower weight, but the heavy thrusts make this a worthwhile alternative for those who prefer using that style of attack.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I like the fact that an ultra greatsword is called "Greatsword"
- Anonymous
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- Anonymous
Greatsword VS Zweihander? Thinking of using an ultra greatsword and the other three take a while to obtain.
How to self-destruct in PVP, STEP ONE: One hand this lightning and Chaos Zwei. Step 2: watch casuals cry.
- Anonymous
Don't get me wrong, this thing's amazing, but I mainly carry it around as a toothpick.
- Anonymous
Just like the author here I adore this weapon. Made the switch from zwei and never went back.
- Anonymous
The person that wrote this article must've reeeeeeeallly liked this weapon
- Anonymous
Nice weapon to upgrade to Lightning + 5 at Anor londo With Black Iron Build
- Anonymous
I don't know what you guys think but I prefer Black Iron build with +10 Flame Greatsword and Grass shield than Giant dad build. My stat is 32 strength 20 dex ( So I can use Dragonslayer Greatbow and Black Knight Halbert ) , 33 endurence, 10 attunement and what left is vitality
- Anonymous
I killed more backstabbing **** kickers with this than the plague. Listen, no one with any sense will just let a zwei pancake them. But they will think someone who offers their back is easy prey until they find out it’s free aimed and they’re stunlocked to death - either because they don’t know toggle escape or they’re just shocked to get caught out like that. And the thrust. This thing with a Leo ring just rinses a Manus. And if you catch someone with it in pvp - very rare- they are ****ed.
- Anonymous
As a big beefy too-heavy-to-carry-around sword enjoyer, I must say that I do in fact enjoy the Greatsword. And yes, I do in fact use the full Tarkus set 99% of the time. And yes, I do in fact fat roll as well.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Didn't like it at first.. now one of my favorites ultras in all 3 for various reasons... You can't go wrong with a weapon simply called GS.. Ds3s is best though, actually lives up to it's simple name stating it's "the great sword"
- Anonymous
Man I wish it would be this slim in DS3. I just wanna be Tarkus in it so bad. DS1 superior.
- Anonymous
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The perfect choice for every adventurer with an inferiority complex or a much too small thing in his pants.
- Anonymous
Whomever wrote this article has an unhealthy obsession with the word "surprisingly".
Pretty comparable to the Zweihander. Unfortunately, the higher strength requirement makes it generally less applicable than the Zwei.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
This or Zweihander? Going for a high poise/high damage build. Planning on some Black Iron/Havel armor and a greatshield. But I’m stuck between these weapons.
- Anonymous
Put the great sword in the right hand and a parry dagger in the left. You can easily kill people in two or three hits. It might not have the range of the zweihander. But if you be a little more careful that’s not a big problem. And of course it’s good for catching backstab fishers which is THE meta.
- Anonymous
This sword is really good if you’re being teamed up on. It’s also amazing for catching backstab fishers. 10/10 would recommend.
- Anonymous
Everybody mentioning Berserk but not the fact that this thing is actually a giant roman gladius
- Anonymous
Used my only remaining Slab to make it +15 and never looked back. Running 2-handed 90% of the time. Love the thrusting moveset. Once you start pommeling foes into the ground and single-sweeping through packs of enemies its hard to go back to lesser tools. But where this particular sword really shines - are long reaching powerful thrusts. This will outright stagger and kill larger foes in 2-3 solid hits. It takes some practice to time your thrusts right. Target locked side-roll + quick thrust move is devastating in PvE. Only time had to switch was on Gwyn, the weapon is way too slow for him. Stabbed him to death with my trusty Halberd on a first try though.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I love doing a tarkus build in ds1 and ds3, it’s fun to play and the black iron set looks so good. Playing it in ds3 and I love it. Ds1 you need 36 end to mid roll with full tarkus’s and black iron great shield and great sword. Only difficulty in the run is getting the great sword early from the undead parish, however you can ditch it and wait till sens Fort (or glitch to get there early) and buy it and upgrade it to lightning in anor londo. This build is super op, and lasts the whole game. If you want this method works if you wanna use zweihander, maybe tarkus has a kid with a zwei. Idk but I love that build for pve
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I have play with this weapon in DS2 and DS3 but as I'm replaying the first one I'm a bit surprised by how small it is.
- Anonymous
Slightly better than the zweihander, surprised I don't see it as much in the remaster. Same swing speed and virtually the same moveset, but with slightly more range for slightly more stamina and weight.
- Anonymous
Honestly, the fact that this weapon, called the Greatsword, is classified as an Ultra Greatsword when there is actually a weapon type called Greatsword makes me irrationally upset
- Anonymous
That thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a large hunk of iron.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I never found a better punisher for backstab fishers in DS. With this weapon if you master free aim, you WANT to show your back to them - only to flip around and stunlock them to death pronto. It will kill most of them in short order if they don't toggle escape. If they do toggle escape - well, they still got lit up - in your black iron armor and grass crest shield, you will have to be unpredictable and you'll have more margin for error. Just stay out of parry range and be unpredictable. Leo ring will one shot folks if you roll stab with a counter. A warpick was my preferred swap out if someone got too close - again, with the leo ring, the thrust damage is evil.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
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- Anonymous
- Anonymous
This, Black knight Armor, Metal Pig head and Avelyn combined, crafts the true guts. If only it were bigger, and then we could have the true resemblance of the size of the GODLY DRAGONSLAYER.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Too bad they changed it appearence in Ds2 and 3. This sword looks so great in DS1.
This thing can rock your socks off in pvp. People don't use it much these days if they ever did and that free aimed two handed swipe will wreck a backstab fisher's***** fast.
- Anonymous
Back when it was reasonably sized.
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