History GameBreaker / DarkSouls

** While its stability is not as high as Greatshield of Artorias, the Silver Knight Shield comes very close. In exchange, however, it is only a medium shield, thus it has lower weight and is still able to parry. It also have a better lightning damage reduction than Greatshield of Artorias.

* Because pyromancy doesn't scale with any stats other than Attunement slots, it's very common for low-level griefers to bring in a fully upgraded pyromancy flame and a powerful spell like Black Flame or Fire Tempest, allowing them to wreak havoc against equally low-level players. Most beginners have a hard time countering this sudden leap in power, let alone have the reflexes to dodge them if it's their first time.
* From DarkSouls2 there's the Bonfire Ascetic Giant Lord Infinite Loop. Basically, you can level up your character very quickly by using Bonfire Ascetics at The Place Unbeknownst bonfire, then fighting the boss, taking the bonfire Ascetic from his level, then repeating the process. After +7, the number of souls, and the difficulty, of the boss stop increasing. At +7, you get 350k souls a pop, enough for a level up, even at level 300. Plus, there's a pickup for two twinkling titanite just a little ways past the tree leading to the boss, so you can get enough twinkle to upgrade any rare armor you like... including Havel's armor, the best defensive armor in the game. With enough patience, you can upgrade all your stats to 50 within a few hours, allowing you to create a character able to handle any situation.

* From DarkSouls2 there's the Bonfire Ascetic Giant Lord Infinite Loop. Basically, you can level up your character very quickly by using Bonfire Ascetics at The Place Unbeknownst bonfire, then fighting the boss, taking the bonfire Ascetic from his level, then repeating the process. After +7, the number of souls, and the difficulty, of the boss stop increasing. At +7, you get 350k souls a pop. Plus, there's a pickup for two twinkling titanite just a little ways past the tree leading to the boss, so you can get enough twinkle to upgrade any rare armor you like. With enough patience, you can upgrade all your stats to 50 within a few hours.

* Because pyromancy doesn't scale with any stats other than Attunement slots, it's very common for low-level griefers to bring in a fully upgraded pyromancy flame and a powerful spell like Black Flame or Fire Tempest, allowing them to wreak havoc against equally low-level players. Most beginners have a hard time countering this sudden leap in power, let alone have the reflexes to dodge them if it's their first time.

* Lightning Weapons do considerably damage of a type most armor provides little protection against and require no stat investment past whatever is needed to wield the weapon. These characteristics make them the preferred weapon type for low-level invaders, as well as players who prefer investing heavily on other stats.

* The [[{{Portmanteau}} Zaphander/Chaoshander]] Build. Just enough Strength to use the Zweihander sword two-handed (16), upgrade it to +5 Lightning (for the aforementioned armor piercing) or +5 Chaos (for higher attack ratings), combine with Havel's Armour (highest poise) or Giant Armor (highest physical defense and second-highest poise) and a Grass Crest Shield on your back for stamina regen. You suddenly have a MightyGlacier that can keep swinging ''forever'', with armour that negates the disadvantages of the sword's slow swing speed. Mix in a couple of rings, you've got a LightningBruiser. This can be achieved before level 30. The player can then put the next 50-100 levels purely into Endurance, to boost stamina and equip load, Vitality to boost health; and a dash of Attunement to use Great Combustion. Again, pretty much universally hated for being generic, bland, stupid-easy to play and frustratingly popular. A number of its components were nerfed in v1.06, but it can still be very annoying.

* [[CastingAShadow Abyss spells]], specifically Dark Bead (a fast-casting, multi-projectile spell that easily lands multiple hits up close and spreads over akin to a shotgun), Black Flame (Great Combustion dealing [[UpToEleven even greater stamina drain]]), and Pursuers (a Homing Soulmass variant that's significantly more persistent, and isn't stopped by the Silver Pendant, which is ''[[{{Irony}} made]]'' to counter Abyss spells). Since you can only obtain them through ''[[DownloadableContent Artorias of the Abyss]]'', they can also be considered as BribingYourWayToVictory.

* Lightning Weapons, which tend to penetrate most armour and have high damage, requiring no stat investment past whatever's needed to wield the weapon. These characteristics make them the preferred weapon type for low-level invaders, as well as players who prefer investing heavily on other stats.

* The [[PortmanteauCoupleName Zaphander or Chaoshander]] Build. Just enough Strength to use the Zweihander sword two-handed (16), upgrade it to +5 Lightning (for the aforementioned armor piercing) or +5 Chaos (for higher attack ratings), combine with Havel's Armour (highest poise) or Giant Armor (highest physical defense and second-highest poise) and a Grass Crest Shield on your back for stamina regen. You suddenly have a MightyGlacier that can keep swinging ''forever'', with armour that negates the disadvantages of the sword's slow swing speed. Mix in a couple of rings, you've got a LightningBruiser. This can be achieved before level 30. The player can then put the next 50-100 levels purely into Endurance, to boost stamina and equip load, Vitality to boost health; and a dash of Attunement to use Great Combustion. Again, pretty much universally hated for being generic, bland, stupid-easy to play and frustratingly popular. A number of its components were nerfed in v1.06, but it can still be very annoying.

* Before a patch that reduced its overall usefulness, the Iron Flesh Pyromancy was known to turn boss battles into a cakewalk due to the massive increase in physical defence and poise, with the added effect of making light and medium attacks bounce off the user. And since it's a simple passive effect without any stat adjustment, you don't need a high Intelligence stat or a maxed-out pyromancy flame to enjoy it.

* Because pyromancy doesn't scale with any stats other than Attunement slots, it's very common for low-level griefers to bring in a fully upgraded pyromancy flame and a powerful spell like Black Flame or Fire Tempest, allowing them to wreak havoc against equally low-level players. Most beginners have a hard time countering this sudden leap in power, let alone have the reflexes to dodge them if it's their first time.
* Giantdad, by far one of the most used and most hated builds. It combines the bare minimum of stats to use Giants Armor which has some of the highest defense in the game, the aforementioned Chaoshander to deal very high damage, Grass Crest Shield for a huge increase to stamina regen, and most importantly, the Father's Mask and rings to make it all light enough that the player can still move around at top speeds. It all comes together to create a LightningBruiser that's very hard to hit, can tank a surprisingly high amount of damage, stunlocks you easily, and deals a great deal of damage.

* Because pyromancy doesn't scale with any stats other than Attunement slots, it's very common for low-level griefers to bring in a fully upgraded pyromancy flame and a powerful spell like Black Flame or Fire Tempest, allowing them to wreak havoc against equally low-level players. Most beginners have a hard time countering this sudden leap in power, let alone have the reflexes to dodge them if it's their first time.

* Lightning Weapons, which tend to penetrate most armour and have high damage requiring no stat investment past whatever's need to wield the weapon. becoming the number on weapon for most low-level invaders and players who prefer investing heavily on other stats.

** Similarly, you can apply the same buffs on a hard-hitting weapon like the [[AnAxeToGrind Demon's Greataxe or Dragon King Greataxe]], and increase the damage output [[UpToEleven even further]] with [[MightyRoar a roar]] from the [[ScaledUp Dragon Torso Stone]] as well as getting your health down to 20% in order to activate [[TurnsRed the Red Tearstone Ring]], with an optional buff from an allied white phantom's [[StatusBuff Channeler Trident's dance]]. Stacking all of these together can [[OneHitKill oneshot]] nearly every enemy in the game. Even some DemonicSpiders that are well into [[HarderThanHard New Game+7]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH4EY68yVzk&t=59s Even]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-DS3D39cSc&t=3m30s some]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKnJeZ8xRGc&t=1m12s bosses]].

* Before a patch that reduced its overall usefulness, the Iron Flesh Pyromancy was known to turn boss battles into a cakewalk due to the massive increase in physical defence and poise, with the added effect of making light and medium attacks bounce off the user. And since it's a simple passive effect without any stat adjustment, you don't need a high Intelligence stat or a maxed-out pyromancy flame to enjoy it.

* Before a patch that reduced its overall usefulness, the Iron Flesh Pyromancy was known to turn boss battles into a cakewalk due to the massive increase in physical defence and poise, with the added effect of making light and medium attacks bounce off the user. And since it's a simple passive effect without any stat adjustment, you don't need a high Intelligence stat or a maxed-out pyromancy flame to enjoy it.
* Giant Armor: While extremely heavy, it's also relatively easy to obtain (bought from the giant blacksmith in Anor Londo at very good prices), relatively easy to upgrade (Twinkling Titanite, also sold by the same blacksmith), and fully upgraded, offers better overall defense than even Havel's armor. It is, far and above all others, the best tanking armor in the game.

* Before a patch that reduced its overall usefulness, the Iron Flesh Pyromancy was known to turn boss battles into a cakewalk due to the massive increase in physical defence and poise, with the added effect of making light and medium attacks bounce off the user. And since it's a simple passive effect without any stat adjustment, you don't need a high Intelligence stat or a maxed-out pyromancy flame to enjoy it.

In true multiplayer tradition, basically ''everything'' moderately good counts, and ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' is no exception.

* Tranquil Walk Of Peace, a miracle slowing enemy movement speed to a crawl. Was pretty much universally hated before its nerf -- now it's lamented how useless its reduced range makes it.

** [[CoolSword The Sword]]; [[DiscOneNuke obtainable early on]], high damage for its weight and requirements, and, like other weapons of its category, stunlocks players that underestimate its power.

** [[AnAxeToGrind The Greataxe]]; while it's obtained far later than its brethren, it's extremely powerful, and it swings much faster than other axes, allowing for quick combos that stun enemies before they can break out of it.

* [[CastingAShadow Abyss spells]], specifically Dark Bead (a fast-casting, multi-projectile spell that easily lands multiple hits up close and spreads over akin to a shotgun), Black Flame (Great Combustion dealing [[UpToEleven even greater stamina drain]]), and Pursuers (a Homing Soulmass variant that's significantly more persistent, and isn't stopped by the Silver Pendant, which is ''[[{{Irony}} made]]'' to counter Abyss spells).
* The [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe Greatshield of Artorias]] for defense. Even with its average elemental defense, this shield boasts the highest stability in the game, blocks nearly every status effects (save for Curse) and doesn't require as much strength to use as Havel's Greatshield. When equipped, a mook's attack can barely chip ''one-tenth'' of the player's stamina bar and most boss-level physical attacks (minus elemental attacks and some very few particular special moves)- Artorias' triple backflips, Smough's hammering, Ornstein's spearing, you name it - which can break defense in two hits, become scratches on its surface without costing much endurance. When equipped with Havel's Ring for equipment load increase and Cloranthy Ring for stamina regeneration, the player can take on literally every hit in a boss fight while slowly chips off the boss' health bar, making the fight a battle of attrition needing little efforts and skills to win. Dark Souls fandom has good reason to believe that had Artorias been with his greatshield in his encounter with the player, we would have been toasted.

** ''Dead-angling'', where you circumvent an opponent who has their shield ''up'' with an attack which is likely to hit their unprotected sides ''without even trying''. Of the better weapons to abuse this somewhat questionable strategy, none are more dangerous than the [[SinisterScythe Great Scythe]], which also causes ''bleed'' damage to keep the pressure on your unfortunate victim.
** ''Turtling'', in which you use a [[BladeOnAStick spear]] or [[RoyalRapier rapier]] and hide behind your own shield (heavens forbid you if you're using [[GameBreaker Artorias' Greatshield]]) to poke your opponent to death. This strategy got slightly nerfed in a patch which increased the stamina drain when doing thrusting attacks with your shield up.
** ''Backstab fishing'', where the player does ''nothing'' but wait for their opponent to leave an opening, allowing them to abuse the added invicibility frame of the backstabbing animation, made even worse if they use the Hornet Ring for increased critical hit damage.

* The Iron Flesh Pyromancy is easily this: At the cost of incredibly reduced speed, you get incredibly high defenses and increased poise, and any light and medium melee attack that connects immediately bounces off you. This means that you can immediately counterattack for absurd damage without the risk of getting staggered by anything other than the hardest hitting attacks in the game. This can turn the several boss battles into a farce, since they will deal severely reduced damage against you, and this spell makes many fast moving, melee based enemies far simpler to defeat: you can let them all come to you. In spite of being severely nerfed in a patch, it's still one of the better pyromancies you can afford from Laurentius. And since it's a simple passive effect without any stat adjustment, you don't need a high Intelligence stat or a maxed-out pyromancy flame to enjoy it.

* All of the Black Knight weapons have a ridiculously broken aspect in one way or another, with the common one being additional damage against demons (this turns nearly every Lost Izalith enemy into cannon fodder) and excellent strength scaling. To wit:

In true multiplayer tradition, basically ''everything'' moderately good counts, and [[Videogame/DarkSouls Dark Souls]] is no exception.

In true multiplayer tradition, basically ''everything'' moderately good counts, and [[Videogame/DarkSouls Dark Souls]] is no exception. Click [[Videogame/DarkSouls here]] to go back to the main page.

In true multiplayer tradition, basically ''everything'' moderately good counts, and [[Videogame/DarkSouls Dark Souls]] is no exception.

* The Iron Flesh Pyromancy is easily this: At the cost of incredibly reduced speed, you get incredibly high defense, and any melee attack that connects is instantly treated as if responded to with a parry. This means that you can immediately counterattack for absurd damage. This can turn the final boss battle into a farce, since he is incredibly vulnerable to parry counterattacks, and this spell makes many fast moving, melee based enemies far simpler to defeat: you can let them all come to you. In spite of being nerfed, it's still one of the best pyromancies you can buy. And since it's a simple passive effect without any stat adjustment, you don't need high int or a strong flame to enjoy it.

** All the above are not so bad compared to stacking Poise and using any weapon (usually a GameBreaker like the Claymore) that can easily stunlock low-poise opponents, a strategy otherwise known as ''poise race'', where the fight usually degenerates into which player can break the other's poise first and stunlock them into oblivion.

* Some weapons perform better than what their stats might suggest. For example, the [[DiscOneNuke Black Knight Halberd]] and its axe counterpart have great stat scaling (the more you strength you invest into your stats, the better), with the former having hidden counter modifiers that can be amplified with the Leo Ring (i.e. [[TechnoBabble striking the opponent while they are about to hit you with an attack will activate a huge counterattack against them]]), while the later swings much faster than other weapons in its category, allowing for combos that usually deplete the enemy's health in record time.

** All the above are not so bad compared to stacking Poise and using any weapon (usually a GameBreaker like the Claymore) that can easily stunlock low-poise opponents, a strategy otherwise known as ''poise race'', where the fight usually degenerates into which player can break the other's poise first and stunlock them into oblivion.
* While a rare drop early on, the Black Knight Sword is an incredibly powerful weapon: in addition to great scaling and low stat requirements, it also has an attribute shared by all Black Knight weapons: it does bonus damage against chaos demons. That's right, it does bonus damage to Taurus Demons (which is also a boss), Capra Demons (also a boss), and all of the other enemies in Lost Izalith. Pretty much anything with Demon in it's name, or associated with Chaos will take additional damage on top of the weapon's already high damage. If you get this weapon early, you will be very difficult to stop.

** All the above are not so bad compared to stacking Poise and using any weapon (usually a GameBreaker like the Claymore) that can easily stunlock low-poise opponents, a strategy otherwise known as ''poise race'', where the fight usually degenerates into which player can break the other's poise first and stunlock them into oblivion.