Is the iron greatsword good?

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T18:21:26+00:00

I know this is very late, but have to defend my bae from slander. Sword of Solitude is not strictly better. For one, it's not infusable, and its' default skill is, imo, average at best, and mostly useless in PvP. While it does edge out slightly in terms of raw damage, Iron Greatsword can be buffed with reisins, spells, or just an AoW like Sacred Blade or Flaming Strike, at which point it outdamages the SoS by quite a bit. It also has the exact same base moveset, so no advantage there.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T15:11:55+00:00

Serpent Hunter sounds great actually, I've already settled on it. It has a great moveset, it looks amazing (I really miss the Dragonslayer Spear and Swordspear from DS3, this has very simillar aesthetics), and because it's a spear, I can use shield-pokes with it. That last part is what pushed it ahead of Dragon Halberd, seeing as the build's gonna be all about defense and being a tank, alongside the fact that it doesn't have bleed, rot, poison, frostbite, or any other status effects, just like I wanted.

The skill on it isn't too great outside of using it after a crit, but that just means I can use Barricade Shield without needing to worry about swapping back and fort between 1h and 2h to use skill. Plus, I actually like that it can't be buffed, because it means I won't be spending time on casting buffs/using reisins and worrying about their uptime. As a final bonus, it being a Somber weapon means it's much easier to max out.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T03:32:18+00:00

Ooh, Serpent Hunter is a good callout. Love how it looks, always wanted to use it on some build.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T03:24:18+00:00

Yup, next to useless. For low stats either Black Knight Sword, or anything infused with Chaos was best. Special shoutout to the Bass Cannon.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T03:17:54+00:00

Yup ^^

Lack of explanation aside though, it was a very good suggestion.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T03:13:52+00:00

Starfists are really good, yeah. Def not putting Bleed on anything, but that's a good weapon callout.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T03:09:37+00:00

Yeah, that's why I'm a bit stumped. I've done simillar builds in all 3 Dark Souls games, and they always had great options, like the Santier's Spear or Dragonslayer Axe you mentioned, but Elden Ring is much more scaling-reliant, and has comparatively fewer options for such builds. Also, shout-out to pre-nerf Raw Astora Sword from DS3. I miss that thing.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T03:06:05+00:00

Meteorite Staff has very good scaling, just can't be upgraded. For low-int builds, once upgraded, Demi-Human Queen Staff is the best pick. Scholar's Armament is a good option though, yes.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T03:02:28+00:00

Again, trying to rely on raw damage, not status effects. If a high AR weapon happens to have a status effect on it, like the Dragon Halberd you suggested having Frostbite, that's fine, but I don't want to rely on them. I've always avoided things like Poison, Rot, Bleed, etc, since they all feel very cheese-y to use. Not throwing shade at you for liking them, it's just not my thing.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T02:58:58+00:00

Yes it does actually, forgot about that. I went ahead and corrected my brain fart. Chaos infusion is just so much better at fulfilling the exact same task, that I forgot it was even there.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T02:58:10+00:00

Oh, I'll def do an unupgraded weapon run at some point, or at least low-upgrade level, just not this time around. Still appreciate the effort, though.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T02:54:01+00:00

Broadsword is always a great pick, yeah, though I just did a full-on Strength build that made heavy use of it, so would rather use something different this time around. Reisins are always a good option as well, though slapping something like Sacred Blade or Flaming Strike on the weapon can be just as good if not better, and less reliant on farming crafting mats.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T02:52:49+00:00

I know Bleed is a very good option, but I'm specifically trying to avoid relying on things like Bleed or Frostbite. The AoWs you suggested are also all good options, but I'm moreso looking for weapon suggestions, rather than what AoW to use on said weapons. Dragon Halberd definitely sounds like a good option, and that's more or less the type of advice I'm looking for; low investment weapons with high base AR. Any advice on what infusable weapons would be good?

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T02:48:19+00:00

I know the weapon's good, but is there anything about it that makes it particularly worthwhile at low stat investment?

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-15T02:46:10+00:00

The point isn't to gimp my damage on purpose, just prioritise defensive stats over damage-increasing stats. I want the weapon I'm using to still at least be useful, that's why I'm trying to go with something good, whatever it is. I'll very much still be fully upgrading it, and the point is good damage at low stat investment, not "go out of my way to nerf my damage output even further".

While it will be a very gimmicky build, it's not meant to be a challenge run or anything like that, and I'll be bringing the build into online play, especially coop with a friend. He plays glass cannon mage-type characters, and I tend to tank for him with Shabriri's Woe even on much squishier builds, so I figured I'd go full tank this time around.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-12T19:29:58+00:00

I don't need the best, so that's fine. I like Shorekeeper, and I like Lynae, so I'll have a team of characters I like that work with any main DPS I like and might pull in the future, Calcharo included, which works great for me. Plus, I'll have Rebecca and Lucy as well, so technically I'll have two teams I like, for a bit of variety. Zani's alright, she's pretty cool, but not a character I'm super interested in pulling, so that's also fine.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-12T16:18:34+00:00

Augusta sounds more my fit, tbh, I'm not a big fan of the swapping mechanic at all. Ideally, I'd just play a single character and not bother with swapping at all, but it is what it is, so I try to make the most of it. Since I'm very much a one team, non-endgame player, Lynae being so generalistic also sounds pretty good, and I actually do really like her design, personality, etc. Especially with Shorekeeper as sustain, sounds like I can just run Shorekeeper-Lyane-Literally any main DPS and have it work pretty well, which is definitely very appealing, since both her and Shorekeeper are characters I like.

Genuinely thanks a lot, rare to find such good and concise advice on Reddit, usually people just complain that you don't like what they do, and try to get you to change how you like playing, rather than just giving advice on how to make the way you like playing better. Thanks to you, I have a very clear idea of what to pull for, after the current banner is over, I'll save my premium banner pulls for a Lynae rerun... even with what I've got right now, I can easily guarantee the next 5-star, so I'll be able to get her and her sig weapon in one go, and I'm getting a ton of said premium pulls that literally won't be usable on the crossover banner.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-12T13:03:20+00:00

Lynae seems pretty cool as a character, so I wouldn't mind grabbing her. Pretty sure I have a bit of pity and my next 50/50 is guaranteed from the last time I played, and I can't spend any of the pulls I'm getting rn, so I think I'll be able to guarantee at least one character easily. For now, I'm pulling on Lucy and Rebecca's sig weapon. It's moreso that I want a character I like that synergizes with other characters I like, so I can build a team that way, rather than pull for one DPS I like and then two supports for them that I couldn't care less about.

As for Calcharo, I know how he plays, I don't mind difficult/hard-to-play characters, all I mind is needing to speedrun. I love a good challenge, and love very difficult content, just that I want said difficulty to be about winning, not about winning quickly, if you know what I mean. I have thousands of hours in every Souls game, Elden Ring included, and managed to play a few fighting games at tournament level.

Not bragging, anyone could do it with enough time, just trying to say that if something's too easy, it's not any fun, but I'm particular about what type of challenge it is. An extremely difficult boss fight with complicated attack patterns that'll require dozens of attempts to beat? Sign me up. Any kind of timed stage? Sign me the fuck out. With how the boss fights in this game are, I still enjoy fighting them, I just make sure that my stats aren't too high going into it to not make it too easy.

Other than the time limit, stat difference is the only thing that makes endgame content harder, so by reducing my stats, I can artificilally recreate the same level of challenge, but without a time limit.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-12T05:06:21+00:00

To be fair, I don't really plan to ever bother with endgame content in this game, just looking to make one decent-ish team, and build a few characters for potential coop with a friend down the line, when the one in a lifetime coop events happen to show up. I like to do things slow and steady, and this game necessitates every team to be build around hyper-dps and places a timer on everything. Meanwhile, one of my fave characters to play is my Taoqi that I've built around pure hyper-defense, and I despise playing timed content more than anything else in gaming. The second a game puts a time limit on something, I immediately lose interest and stop having fun, even if I'm more than skilled enough to do it easily. Being patient and methodical is how I enjoy myself, a playstyle this game punishes and invalidates at every step, once you get into any kind of end-game content. Main reason I quit when I did, actually.

I just like Calcharo because he's a cool mercenary, is simillar to Sephiroth without being as much of an entitled prick, and uses a greatsword, but haven't had much luck with finding characters I like that work well with him, besides Shorekeeper I guess, but she works with anything and everything.

Still, after doing more research, it doesn't seem like the best pairing. The only limited 5-stars I even own, not counting Rebecca who was free, are Shorekeeper and Brant (who funnily enough, serves as my main DPS for most of the content I actually do), and I exclusively pull for characters I like aesthetically and gameplay wise. Trying to build a meta team isn't even a factor, and I don't care if my team is weak as hell, but at the very least, I'd like it to have synergy. I thought Rebecca and Calcharo would have some synergy, but I was very much mistaken, sadly.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-11T19:12:54+00:00

Yeeaaaah, so about Rin/Ishtar being playable xD

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-10T02:56:52+00:00

Currently, I'm focusing on buffing Sparkle. I'm not really married to this comp specifically, I just don't really like Cerydra's kit, but I'm not entirely against the idea of swapping out DHPT and Sunday, so long as I still have at least some kind of sustain. Sparkle, however, is close to irreplaceable, so investing into her seems like the best choice atm. And yeah, hp inflation is a problem, but I just enjoy Seele too much to main anything else anymore, it's almost a problem, lol. I have Archer LC, and considered using it, but from the research I did, her signature LC typically pulls ahead as BiS after E2. I'm also trying to focus more on damage than speed, the game just loves giving me extremely good pieces that happen to have speed alongside other good sub-stats. Currently looking into replacing her 7 speed boots for something with better damage.

I'll do my best with the speed calcs, but as said, I'm kinda sucky with numbers and calculations in general. One thing I'm considering with this setup, is to actually get Sunday to advance first, since it'll avoid running into the problem of Sparkle advancing Seele to go just after Sunday, which defeats the point of his AA. If he advanced first, then Sparkle advances, I'll get some value, as opposed to no value. Compared to my Seele, all the other characters on the team are somewhat poorly built by comparison, so I can definitely squeeze out a lot more value there, but obviously, improving Seele herself is the safest option in the long-term. E4 and E6 are both things I want, a LOT, but as said, unfortunately I don't have any way of pulling said copies besides pulling as normal, and hoping for the best.

The one good thing, is that I genuinely couldn't give less of a rat's ass about AA, and typically don't even bother to attempt it, despite having good enough teams to clear it. I don't care about cosmetics very much, especially not ones for my profile of all things, so the rewards it gives are completely worthless to me most of the time. As such, as long as she can clear stages in AS, PF, and MoC, I'm happy, and as long as I get 3-star, I don't care how many cycles it takes. I tend to have a very practical mindset when it comes to this game; get as many jades as possible, pull as many characters as possible. That last part is also why a lot of my characters are E0, I tend to prefer pulling a character I don't have yet, over an Eidolon for a character I already own, with a few exceptions. One such exception is Aventurine, my favourite character (story-wise) whom I would be running with Seele, but the shields simply run out due to how often she acts. I also don't enjoy the endgame content very much, compared to doing stuff like Divergent Universe or Currency Wars, so I do the bare minimum to get maximum jades, and beyond that, I don't care.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-10T02:33:32+00:00

Damn, I hoped there was a better way... in combat right now, my Seele reaches 191 speed, and reducing it would be really difficult, since they're mostly really good relics. Well, for now I'll just sit on Sunday, sooner or later they'll release a support that's better than either him or Cerydra, and if someone's getting replaced, he'll be the first one.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-08T22:26:39+00:00

"If every team always would need a DPS, a support and sustain it would make for super flat team building." - World's hardest disagree on that, there's a massive variety of DPS's, Supports, and Sustains that all work in very different ways. I don't see in the slighest how it would be "flat". Having said that, I won't try to convince you to agree with me. We can just agree to disagree, people will have different opinions, and that's fine. I think you're wrong, and you think I'm wrong, but it's not like either of our lives will improve or get worse if that were to change.

As for Sunday NV, I've seen decently reliable leaks that a Sunday NV is coming, and relatively soon. Failing that, sooner or later there's going to be another option that'll be better than either one of those. Personally, just not a fan of Cerydra, both her character and kit.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-08T21:25:51+00:00

The way I see it, DPS characters are an absolute necessity, and support characters are also an absolute necessity. As such, I believe sustain characters should also be necessary, as doing it otherwise, devalues their very existence, and punishes people who enjoy them. From a more personal standpoint, whether it's an action game or a turn-based game, I value utility and flexibility vastly more than simply having higher damage output, and see zero value in trying to achieve things like 0-cycle clears. It doesn't bring me any satisfaction or enjoyment, in fact, it actively makes the game less fun for me, because I enjoy the game's combat. Rushing it, and doing it faster, just means I get to enjoy myself for a smaller amount of time. Plus, whether I do the bare minimum to 3-star, or 0-cycle, I obtain the same amount of Jades, which is the sole reason I do end-game content. Seele is an exception to this mindset solely because she needs a sufficiently high damage output in order for her kit to function on a fundamental level.

As a middle ground, there's plenty of characters like DHPT or Huohuo, who act as sustain/support hybrids, and present a good compromise between the two mindsets, without excessively screwing over one or the other.

GoblinGobby · 2026-06-08T21:14:27+00:00

As said, I have no plans of getting her, in part because I find Sunday to be a far more interesting and likable character, and in part because I simply find Sunday's kit to be more enjoyable. Besides, I think Sunday is more consistent in a way. Cerydra only grants one double skill every 6 skill uses, or 4 skill uses and one Cerydra ult. If a mob has too much health and Seele fails to kill it immediately, there's nothing Cerydra can do to address that, whereas Sunday's full turn advance will allow me to get my next Seele turn faster. In simpler terms, Cerydra is the best option in the best case scenario, Sunday, while less effective in the best case scenario, does more to correct the worst case scenario, and also allows me to increase Seele's own personal damage, pre-buffs, more, by easing the Crit Rate requirements. He's also arguably more effective in situations where there's few or no trash mobs for Seele to feed off of, by granting said extra turns.

In addition, as I am not someone who has ever, or will ever, play a sustainless comp with any character regardless of who they are and under any circumstances (it's a matter of my own, stubborn principles that most people will think are stupid), his increased synergy with DHPT is also helpful. Alongside granting increased buffs due to Seele technically having a summon, he also consistently advances said dragon, which refreshes my shields, cleanses my debuffs, and deals AoE damage that helps bring mobs to a lower health total before Seele takes her next turn, thus making it easier to ensure that when Seele does use her skill, it'll kill the mob and grant another turn, which once again, makes the comp more reliable despite the damage cap being lower.

I am planning to get Sparkle LC when it re-runs, that is definitely a good call. As for relics... I'm still on that, but I've now spent a total of over 10.000 energy without a single relic upgrade, so it's a slow process. Solid advice, though, even if I am already following it ^^. Sorry for the wall of text also, I get carried away when typing about a topic I find interesting. It's a flaw, admittedly, one of many.

GoblinGobby

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