Curved swords are an interesting family of weapons within Dark Souls that typically lend themselves to dex scaling and spacing out your foes.
Acting similar to straight swords, they’re fast-swinging mid-range spam machines and are either ‘light’ or ‘heavy’, with the latter having slower but higher-damage attacks.
But like all weapons in DS3, some are meta, and some are… just bad.
So which ones should you keep an eye out for?
In this list we’ll be looking at them all, and ranking them down to the best ones!
15. Rotten Ghru Curved Sword
It shouldn’t be news to you by now that poison is awful – outside of very fringe situations.
And, well… that’s all this tiny weapon does, really.
It has incredibly short range and low base damage, though does hit A-scaling in dex when sharp infused, so if you (for some reason) need a poison build, this is a decent choice.
Throw a rotten pine resin on it to hit some impressive poison build-up, if that’s what you’re into!
How to get: Dropped by Ghru wielding it in Farron or the smouldering lake.
14. Painting Guardian’s Curved Sword
The PGCS just feels like too much work for such a low payoff.
With the shortest range out of all of the curved swords, the knowledge and practice you need to be able to use this weapon effectively is inhuman.
While it may get S-scaling on a handful of different infusions, its base damage is tiny, and when paired with the range it’s a sub-par option.
It can be an effective off-hand parry tool for slower weapons, but the parry frames aren’t the best, meaning more practice!
How to get: Found on a corpse in the beams below company captain Yorshka.
13. Storm Curved Sword
The storm curved sword was my jam back in the day, but on reflection it’s not the best.
It possesses the second highest range of all the curved swords, and a unique weapon skill that deals very high stagger damage, and looks pretty badass too!
But its low base damage isn’t made up by it’s still subpar scalings of D/B strength/dex, so the DPS just isn’t there.
And when it’s transposed from the same soul as the dragonslayer swordspear, it’s hard to justify even owning this weapon!
How to get: Transposition with the soul of the nameless king.
12. Shotel
The shotel is a sickle-like weapon that boasts innate shield-pierce, and good single-stat scaling on dex and elemental infusions.
However, thanks to its lack of flair it’s sadly overlooked – but remains an effective tool for pures and hybrids, nonetheless.
When paired with its multi-hit weapon skill it can really shred through shield users, and it can also parry in the offhand – ready to be swapped to when block spammers come along!
How to get: Sold by Patches.
11. Carthus Shotel
Similar to the shotel, the Carthus shotel possesses that lovely innate shield-pierce, only this time having the ‘heavy curved sword’ moveset and innate bleed!
Thanks to this, the Carthus is often seen as the better shotel, as the innate bleed synergizes fantastically with the multi-hit weapon skill to really build up enemy bleed meters!
And while it may look basic at first glance, the design is brutally badass.
It’s a truly fearsome weapon that’ll send shield users to an early grave.
How to get: Dropped by the skeleton swordsmen that wield it, in the catacombs of Carthus.
10. Crescent Moon Sword
The final of the shield-piercing trio, the CMS has the flair we’ve been looking for!
Also boasting innate through-shield damage, this int/dex hybrid blade is the choice weapon of Leonhard, and has a unique weapon skill in the form of its ‘crescent blade’.
This skill assumes a stance to fire off a beam of glowing moonlight energy!
The damage on this projectile is strong enough to be considered a viable ranged option for dex builds – and a flashy one at that!
It’s a ton of fun to use, and can even be thrown onto a pure dex build thanks to having no base intelligence requirements!
How to get: Obtained by invading and killing Leonhard at the end of his questline.
9. Dancer’s Enchanted Swords
The dancer’s swords have seen a rise in popularity recently, due to its combo ability and unique skill “dancer’s grace”.
This skill, similar to the spinning attack of the boss herself, has you cosplay a blender – spinning repeatedly until out of stamina, chain-hitting any enemies in your path!
Thanks to its surprisingly high base damage and D scaling in all combat stats, this can make mincemeat of many foes.
It also possesses an extremely powerful true combo with L1-L2-R2!
How to get: Transposition with the soul of the dancer.
8. Falchion
The falchion is one of the most popular heavy curved swords, able to fit into any build.
With some of the highest base damage of all curved swords, the falchion has higher range at the cost of a slower swing speed.
It reaches A-scaling in most single stats when infused, though for the early-game, raw is recommended.
This is because it reaches the highest AR of any curved sword when raw, making is extremely strong early-to-mid game!
How to get: Dropped by falchion-wielding skeletons in the catacombs of Carthus.
7. Carthus Curved Sword
The Carthus curved sword is another bleed-inducing entry, which also boasts the third-highest range of all curved swords.
Its heightened base damage is complimented by its decent scalings, allowing this weapon to perform well in all stages of the game.
It also has high bleed auxiliary, but is let down a bit by its increased stamina usage – though this is very minor.
And it reaches A-scalings when infused, making it a great choice for dex hybrids and luck builds!
How to get: Dropped by skeletons using them in catacombs of Carthus.
6. Warden Twinblades
Our first dual-wield entry, the twinblades are an absolute bleed powerhouse, possessing some of the highest bleed of all DS3 weapons!
And its multi-hit moveset and weapon skill make it incredibly easy to proc, too, with a Carthus rouge-slathered warden twinblades proccing bleed in as few as 3 hits!
This makes it crazy for PvP, but also a monster in PvE, where many enemies and even bosses are extremely susceptible to bleeding damage.
How to get: Dropped by grave wardens outside of the cathedral of the deep and inside the untended graves.
5. Scimitar
The unassuming scimitar is actually a dex-scaling monster, reaching an impressive S when sharp infused.
And it doesn’t have awful base damage in exchange, either, making the damage this weapon can deal on dex pures/hybrids absolutely crazy.
When buffed with a spell, the scimitar will utterly destroy any enemy. And for this reason it’s one of the top meta choices for dex in PvE!
How to get: Sold by the shrine handmaid, and dropped by scimitar-wielding skeletons in the catacombs of Carthus.
4. Demon’s Scar
The demon’s scar is a curved sword/pyro catalyst hybrid, dealing entirely fire damage and scaling best with int/faith, at C/C.
Thanks to this, pure pyromancers can use it comfortably as a main-hand weapon without investing any into dex, outside of the requirements!
This weapon replaces its heavy attack with the ability to cast the selected spell, allowing for extremely powerful combos with close-range pyromancies such as black flame or flame fan, which can be weaved into its attacks.
To top it off, it weighs nothing and has increased crit damage!
How to get: Transposition with the soul of the demon prince.
3. Pontiff Knight Curved Sword
The PKCS is often regarded as the strongest meta PvP curved sword in the entire game.
It sports the highest range of all curved swords, D/C scaling, and good base damage.
Its simplicity is what makes it so powerful – with its huge range, the R1 spam is unrivalled!
But it’s not all so simple, as its unique skill ‘frost blade’ further adds to the range with a multi-hit spin that extends the blade hugely and causes frostbite build-up!
Frostbite is an extremely powerful stamina-draining status that can really put foes on the backpedal for the rest of your encounter, so it’s easy to see why this weapon is so strong.
How to get: Dropped by Pontiff knights in the Irithyll.
2. Follower Sabre
Some curved sword diehards will not be happy I’m placing this above the PKCS, but it’s for very good reason:
It looks way better!
No but in all seriousness, this weapon is crazy for PvP and PvE, thanks to its good base damage and A-scaling in every elemental infusion – even dual stats!
And to top it off, its unique skill ‘prying wedge’ utterly murders me every time. I still can’t deal with it, to this day.
The Follower Sabre is a complete powerhouse, and is my personal favorite one-handed curved sword.
How to get: Found on the roots below the bridge in the painted world.
1. Sellsword Twinblades
If you’ve skimmed our PvE weapons list, you’ll know all about these guys.
These stunlock swing-spam kings care not for dodging, blocking, or anything other than the L1/R1 buttons.
Acquirable early-game, easy to use, and downright overpowered.
They perform especially well on dex builds thanks to the A-scaling, and when paired with a buff will completely destroy every enemy, even bosses, in seconds.
Just keep on hammering those attack buttons!
How to get: Starting equipment for the mercenary or found in the road of sacrifices, behind the black knight.
A game animator by trade, Tom’s insight into the game development world gives him a strong appreciation for the art form that is video games. Kicking off at the age of 3 with Spyro: Year of the Dragon on the PS1, Tom’s tastes in games has hardened over the 19 years he’s spent playing them. He now lives for the challenge that titles such as Monster Hunter, Dark Souls, Dead Cells, and many more offer him. Enjoying nothing more than a session of number-crunching game data and another platinum trophy on his PlayStation account, Tom is dedicated to leaving no stone unturned in even the most brutal of gaming content.
