Broadsword: The Proof That Dark Souls Is All About Skills, Not Power

I am loving my broadsword. Extremely easy to be overlooked, this is one of the most basic of all straight swords and the starting weapon for the knight class. Just like its name, the sword is broad, almost gladius-like. Its downside are its short range and absence of thrust attack. But I love thrust attack! In fact, my main weapon in Dark Souls 2 was the Drangleic Sword, which power attack is the thrust. And the power attack was pretty much what I used all the time as if it was a regular attack. So I'm not surprised to see that many players have overlooked the Broadsword and go for Longsword instead, in favor of the thrust. Then why am I loving the broadsword instead? Because of the speed; it's perfect weapon for combos. As of now, my broadsword has been ascended to +10.

When I first picked it up, I never thought much about it. It was the only decent weapon available to face the Asylum Demon. After slaying the demon, I was brought to the Undead Burg, where the broadsword took yet the life of another boss, the Taurus Demon, in a rather swift manner. Before I knew it, I began to put some effort and time to upgrade the broadsword. I began to adore its quickness and wide radius of attack, both which allow it to dismember multiple enemies at the same time. In the end, it doesn't matter if it doesn't have the thrust attack, or if it's attack range is short. Eventually, I developed a special skill of wielding it. No thrust attack? Fine, I'll be more tactical: circle the enemies, wait for an opening or go for backstab. Short reach? Cool, then I'll try to get up close and personal with my guard up. Or in the case of giant enemies, I can roll to their back and attack their legs from behind.

The knight admires his sword after it claimed a few more victims.

I can tell you that it doesn't matter if I'll eventually discover a new sword with a base damage higher than my 10+ Broadsword. I will stick to my Broadsword, the weapon that I started with and never left my main weapon slot ever since. True, you can say that it's because I've grown great affection to it, and that if not because of that affection, I would have made a wiser decision and replace it with a much better sword. But the truth is, I've grown comfortable with the Broadsword. I have memorized its movesets. I know it like the back of my hand. I don't see any point of replacing it with any other weapon just because they deliver more power in one swing. What's the point of wielding them if I do not have enough skills to use them effectively? My broadsword may carry a weaker punch in one swing, but I can take out any enemy quicker than I would with any other weapon by putting continuous pressure on them until they perish.

The Broadsword is a proof that in the end, Dark Souls isn't at all about power. It's all about skills.