In the world of Dark Souls 3, you’ll encounter many foes – and just as many ways of tackling them.
For the player who wants to stay light on their feet, dexterity is your best bet.
Fast, efficient, and deadly, join me today as I rank some of the best dex weapons for all you aspiring ninjas out there!
Note: For this list I’m looking at both PvP and general gameplay, as well as factoring in my opinion.
12. Uchigatana
On the subject of ninjas, our first entry is the Dark Souls staple: the Uchi.
One of the first dex weapons you can get a hold of – and the first katana you’ll find.
The Uchi has good dex scaling, innate bleed status, and a flashy anime weapon skill!
The cherry on top is its lesser stamina consumption when compared to other katanas, meaning even early-game dex builders will get a good amount of swings out of it!
How to get: Dropped by the sword master just outside of Firelink.
11. Old Wolf Curved Sword
Part of the very limited ‘curved greatsword’ weapon family, the old wolf curved sword is a powerful and interesting contender.
While its high dex requirement of 25 is steep for how early it can be acquired, its built-in passive effect increases your attack and restores your hp with each consecutive swing!
Being a greatsword, however, it’s stamina hungry. Meaning you could be left in a sticky situation if you get too bloodthirsty.
How to get: Farm up rank 1 of the watchdogs of Farron by invading other players!
10. Onikiri and Ubadachi
Back to katanas.
O&U is the first dual-wield entry in the list, giving you two swords for the price of one!
Sporting the trademark katana bleed effect and a brutal leaping weapon skill, O&U is an easy entry to the cream-of-the-crop of dex weapons.
Where it falls short, however, is its inability to be used with a shield/parry offhand.
Its weapon skill is easily dodged in PvP, and will leave you open to some fatal counterattacks if poorly timed!
How to get: Dropped by black hand Kamui wielding the weapon himself on the top floor of the grand archives.
9. Drang Twinspears
One of my personal favorite dex weapons: the Drang twinspears, another dual-wielder.
Boasting great range, an awesome moveset, and a fantastic weapon skill for combos and chasing down foes, the Drang twinspears are great for aggressive PvP play.
They also have a fair number of thrust attacks, enabling all sorts of leo ring shenanigans for bonus damage.
There’s nothing sweeter than impaling a foe for a devastating counterattack!
How to get: Dropped by one of the Drang knights in the Irithyll.
8. Farron Greatsword
Ultra greatsword may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think of “fast-paced dex builds” – and you’d be right.
The Farron greatsword’s slow, devastating swings means you’ll need to adopt a more cautious and methodical playstyle.
But what it lacks in agility it makes up for in damage!
It comes with an extremely unique moveset when two-handed, taken straight from the abyss watchers’ guidebook – having you spinning and flipping over massive areas without a care in the world.
Its convenient offhand dagger even comes with a built-in parry.
How to get: Soul transposition with the abyss watchers boss soul.
7. Murakumo
Another curved greatsword, Murakumo is the trademark weapons of Alva the seeker and requires a high 20 strength to be wielded.
Don’t let this discourage your dex-building, however!
The murakumo is the longest curved greatsword in the game. It has an incredible moveset for both PvP and general gameplay, and has fantastic combos with its weapon skill.
The DPS this sword is capable of is truly something to be feared. The unexpected range will catch other players off-guard, too!
It’s also the first weapon on the list to hit S scaling in dex when sharp infused!
How to get: Dropped by Alva just before the Irithyll dungeon.
6. Astora Greatsword
It may surprise you to see another ultra greatsword on the dex weapons list, but the Astora greatsword simply cannot be overlooked.
I mean, just look at the size of that thing.
Requiring only 16 strength to wield and hitting that sweet S scaling in dex, the Astora greatsword could be just what you’re looking for.
It has crazy damage, wide catching swings, and thrust attacks so long you’ll swear you’re hitting people from halfway across the map.
The charge weapon skill can combo beautifully into the rest of its attacks, too. Even one-shotting those unfortunate enough to get caught in its wake.
How to get: Looted from a corpse in the cleansing chapel graveyard at the cathedral of the deep.
5. Chaos Blade
Another Dark Souls classic, the cursed chaos blade is a force to be reckoned with.
Being one of, if not the most damaging katana in the game, the chaos blades reliable moveset paired with its high bleed effect make it an easy-to-learn weapon with great payoff.
There’s a twist, though!
Each swing with this blade will cost roughly 1% of your own HP!
This can be mitigated with tactics such as the sun princess ring or an offhand blessed-infused weapon, but the effectiveness of these methods is not always reliable…
But if you can look past the self-damage, the chaos blade will reward you with DPS in spades thanks to its lovely S scaling in dex.
How to get: In the untended graves, mirroring the location of the Uchigatana-wielding sword master.
4. Sellsword Twinblades
It’s extremely rare to see a starting weapon so high on the list, yet here we are!
The sellsword twinblades, starting weapon for the mercenary class, are a pair of dual scimitars which proved surprisingly popular among dex builders.
This is thanks to their great dex scaling, incredible damage, and nuts stun-lock combos that leave enemies begging for breathing room as they watch their HP plummet.
The aggression that these twinblades allow is truly frightening to behold.
All it takes is one combo and your opponents will be back-pedaling for the rest of the short fight.
How to get: If you didn’t choose mercenary, you can still grab some in the road of sacrifices swamp, behind the black knight.
3. Lothric Knight Sword
It wouldn’t be a top weapons list without including this bad boy.
I swear, there’s nothing it cannot do.
If you’ve been browsing Dark Souls 3 content for a while, you’ve seen this sword before.
With its absolutely crazy damage, easy-to-grasp moves, long range, above-average crit modifier, and S scaling on basically anything it’s infused with, this sword is a staple in so many builds.
If you’re going for a sword-and-board style of play, you simply cannot go wrong with this beauty.
How to get: Dropped by the Lothric knights on the high wall. A lot can be found outside of the dancer’s boss arena. Alternatively, can be purchased from Greirat after his trip to Irithyll.
2. Frayed Blade
A staple dex weapon since its release in the ringed city DLC, the frayed blade comes in with an insane 40 dex requirement.
In exchange for this, you get one of the flashiest and most devastating katanas in the game.
Boasting high bleed and innate dark damage, the frayed blade reaches an A scaling in dex at +5 and deals some fantastic damage.
The flair comes in when looking at its weapon skill, which will have you sheathing your weapon much like many of the other katanas available.
Instead of a boring old parry and a simple slash, however, this katana can unleash either a travelling shockwave of dark magic, or an extremely fast series of swings which will very likely bleed your foe.
And it combos incredibly into the rest of your kit, allowing you to finish off many enemy players in a single rotation.
How to get: Transposed from the soul of Darkeater Midir, if you can beat him…
1. Crow Quills
Finally, at the number 1 spot, we have the terrifying crow quills.
With its S scaling in dex when sharp infused, the damage alone is enough to get you talking.
But it doesn’t stop there.
It has high crit damage, thrusting attacks, long range, fast pokes, an in-built ranged attack, and one of the most unpredictable movesets in the entire game.
Two handing the crows quills will have your character offhanding a collection of thin blades, which can be used to slash at your foes and enables all kinds of brutal combos in your movepool.
They can also be thrown at your enemies by using the weapons skill.
With all these factors, it should be no surprise why the crow quills tops off our list as the best dex weapon in the game.
How to get: On the raised plinth near the rotting village in the painted world. You have to jump from the building on the wall to reach it.
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.
