Serpent-Hunter | Elden Ring Wiki

Join the nameless king as family....And together we will devour my father for disowning me!

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the only sweaty pvp weapon i can respect since it doesn't rely on a busted ash

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In my opinion, you should be allowed to change the ash of war once you’ve killed Rykard in your world. Like take it to the blacksmith and have him reforge it so it can take the respective ashes for this weapon class. It’s still a good weapon as is with great strength scaling. I just think it would be fun to have different ashes of war to try on it

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can you buff it with spells to give it lightning?

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I land this weapon art surprisingly often in pvp, considering how comically slow it is.

Either they start panic rolling and still get hit by the painfully slow first hit of Great Serpent Hunt, or they wait the first hit out, think that's it and charge you , only to get hit by the optional follow up hit that noone ever expects for some reason.

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Why is this thing so strong? I see it used a lot for challenge runs, and it seems to do crazy damage for what I assumed was a gimmick weapon.

Also it looks like a slightly less cool version of the Dragonslayer's swordspear which is pog

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This would be an absolutely awesome strength weapon if only you could change the weapon art, or if the weapon art kept the beam of light, but it was just smaller and maybe weaker than it is against Rykard.

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I'm gonna get borealis to low health then when someone invades, kill borealis and then use dragonbolt blessing, everybody gangsta till you invade the nameless king.

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Nameless King cosplay inbound

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Surprisingly great weapon. Deals great damage for str builds, has a great moveset and the skill is slow but the slowness works to its favour, as the follow-up is deceptively fast and hits like a cargo train on jet engines, which means a lot of people will get baited by the slow first attack and then get hit by the follow-up when they go in to punish.

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Dear Miyazaki plz, If that pissible- after Rycard defeat serpent hunter become not rare but common weapon with str and dex (something like 40 str and 14 dex) requirenment and (most importante) CHANGEBLE ASH OF WAR.

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this weapon can one cycle elden beast so 10/10

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Really good weapon for str builds, great moveset for PvE and PvP, ash is actually decent (not in PvP) and has literally no requirements to use, only bad thing is how annoying it is to get two but it's perfectly good without dual wielding so it's fine, great weapon

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It's criminal how little representation swordstaves get.

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Hands down best greatspear for strength builds. Massive damage, great moveset and looks fine as hell. Skill is situational but does tremendous damage if you manage to land it, you can bait people into the second part which comes out surprisingly fast. Here's a few interesting things I've noticed while using this weapon: The rolling/crouch attack is different from all the other greatspears, it's the colossal sword poke which is a nice bonus to an already great moveset. Second thing, all of its attacks are considered pierce attacks, even the R2 sweeps and jumping R2 so you'll greatly benefit from the spear Talisman.

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Storm ruler's cooler brother.

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I swear, if one more Host summons me for Rykard just to sleep on this and go long-range with their dinky bow and arrows...
You don't have to upgrade it to get better damage, you don't ever require any attributes to wield it: this was made for all builds. Just pick it up and go to town playing fireman or sumthin.

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this weapon has a followup skill, sadly i learned it after my 10th try :( when you combo the weapon art by pressing the same button again it does like 9K damage sometimes

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Has good strength scaling, looks cool and has no requirements, but afaik its weapon art is useless outside of Rykard's fight, so sadly its mediocre outside of that fight, atleast its not completely useless unlike stormruler

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Seems to have an odd interaction with Radahn where it has the effect of subsequent attacks dealing more damage, similar to how it behaves with Rykard but this doesn't seem to apply to the weapon universally.

Tested on NG with a +10 Serpent Hunter Spear and 37 STR.

Starting from a rolling R1:
Rolling R1: 433 DMG
Second R1: 626 DMG

Starting from a standing R1:
First R1: 567 DMG
Second R1: 581 DMG
Third R1: 626 DMG

Jumping R2:
First R2: 771 DMG
Second R2: 1002 DMG

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They could've given us something like that one attack godrick does where he throws air at you, though since It dissapears in ng+ It would have to be really good to upgrade

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good honest weapon

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Dragonslayer Swordspear!!! :333

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If i didn't got/discard serpent hunter in first walkthrough is it possible to get one on new game plus or it not respawn even if i don't have copy?

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"Serpent Hunter will not be respawned on a New Game Plus". Does it mean if i discard/didn't get it on ng i won't be able to get one in ng+?

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Weapon art is so slow, it should have wind beams outside the boss fight aswell.

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This would have been a cool weapon if we can use its beam mode against serpent type enemies, not with just rykard.

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I wish we could put ashes of war on this thing

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God, I wish they reworked this weapon a bit. Instead of having the "special properties" in every attack (yes, even normal attacks conjure the beam), they can keep it specifically for the WA. That way, they don't need to take away the beam ability entirely after Rykard. It would be a neat weapon with a very cool WA.

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transcends gimmick weapon status by just being so damn strong. kind of an old school weapon in a way, like the black knight halbard from ds1. no flashy weapon arts or broken moveset, just excellent damage and range

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My theory about the weird ghost dude who tells you about this weapon and asks you to slay Rykard is that it's Bernahl's dead brother. If you speak to him after Rykard is killed, Bernahl will say he bears no ill will towards you and then mumbles a prayer to himself, including the line, "I am the recusant Bernahl, inheritor of my brother's will..." "Inheritor" seems to imply that the brother is dead, and that Bernahl is carrying on his legacy. Speculating a little more, Bernahl's unnamed brother may have also been aligned with the manor, and is thus also considered a blasphemer, which would explain why his ghost has not returned to the Erdtree to be reborn and is instead trying to get a random Tarnished to kill the god-devouring serpent. It does seem likely though that he tried and failed to kill Rykard using the mythic god-slaying weapon. This is referenced in the flavor text for the Serpent-Hunter, where Bernahl's brother may have been one of the men looking for a way to kill Rykard and certainly at least carried it into battle.

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The axe talisman and spiked tear can be obtained in Limgrave. Somber smithing stones 1-4 can be purchased from Iji. Somber smithing stones 5-9 can be scavenged between the Volcano Manor and in Dragonbarrow. The Serpent-Hunter can be obtained by collecting the Dectus Medallion, helping Rya, teleporting to the Manor, and performing Godskin skip (in whichever form you like.) The Hero class achieves 40 vigor and 60 strength at level 77. There are many reasons a +10 Serpent-Hunter and its charged attacks are used in speedruns, and it's not just 'cause they're easy to get. It's because they kill everything really, really fast -- if you're good enough.

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who was the npc... ghost? that tell you about this weapon?? I can't find that info anywhere

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If the ash of war could be swapped and magic could enchant it this would be my favorite weapon.

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visions of nameless king

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good weapon with great strength scaling, easily upgraded somber weapon, but the weapon art is terribly slow outside of the boss fight.

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You can get 2 of these if you do this:

You need to invade or get summoned for co-op in the room right before the arena. Then, as soon as the invasion or summon message pops up on screen, run into your arena and grab the Serpent Hunter. You should be able to grab it right before leaving your world (sometimes you'll have a lot more time, depending on internet).

In the other player's world, do what you like - leave right away if you want to, fight them, or help them with the boss because you're a nice and good furled finger. After the session, when you appear back in your world, you'll spawn in the room before the arena. So, run back into the arena and grab your SECOND Serpent Hunter! Have fun :)

What's happening is the game saves your state before entering a multiplayer session, but since you were in a boss arena when the session started, it puts you back outside and respawns the spear, allowing you to grab another.

Credit to u/FuryForged

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does not respawn on new game plus meaning you can only have one copy? unless someone drops it for you yeah?

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if i upgrade it does it do more dmg on the boss fight

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Danm stormruler you really fell off

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It’s the NK sword spear from Ds3

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I’m guessing g there isn’t like. Another less boss reliant version of the weapon? Cause i really dig the look. Looks great.

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This should trigger on seluvis that f***ing snake

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RUN HIM THROUGH.

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OMG, the current glitch of this is a whole new level....

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Is this worth using outside of the boss fight? Especially the Weapon Art.

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I found a way to get two of these. This only works if you have talked to Albus, he gave you the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Right), and you haven't gone back to the Roundtable Hold. Grab the Serpent-Hunter and quick travel directly to the Roundtable Hold. Let Ensha kill you and you will be back in Rykard's arena with the Serpent-Hunter respawned.

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I wonder how long the wind blade is. It looks like a greatsword used by a giant when the blade is fully formed with the wind.

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Good weapon but i wish the skill would be bettter. Its kinda lame

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For those wondering about scaling. With 40 STR, you get 530 AR. With 60 STR, you get 625 AR. With 80 STR, you get 695 AR. Dex scaling is super minor; 80 Dex (from 15) puts me at 712 AR. This is ahead of the Lance, by ~40 something on average, but of course completely void of weapon skills.

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For a pure STR build use the Dragonclaw Great Shield with this. Your ash of war just becomes the shield bash.

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The best looking weapon in the game, IMO. All i wanted was to see it with bloodflame blade doing a giant hunt attack. Hope they consider adding a non unique version as DLC at some point.

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I wish instead of just losing its effect all together its effect would change after killing Rykard with it. Have a piece of Rykard remain on the blade and imbue it with some of his power.

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For some reason half the time I use the L2 attack, it misses and the "beam" just hits the ground. Anyone else have this issue?

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Nah but really, before we get bad gimmick fight and bad gimmick weapon, now we get good gimmick fight but good gimmick weapon without the gimmick, bruh

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Why the hell didn't the ash stay at least the relative same

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The NPC in the manor who mentions this is a nameless ghost who spawns if you collect the item but die/quit and return to the manor before killing Rykard.

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Finally a gimmick weapon usable outside of the boss fight. Has great scaling in str, making it the best great spear for strength builds. The only issue is that the ash of war is abysmal, but it takes so long to use that I’ve actually hit people in pvp who couldn’t recognize the delay.

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I found a way to get a second one without trading but it might have been patched out by now. If you have the blue cypher ring activated when you pick it up the first time and are summoned away, when you get back another one will be there. I have the video if anyone needs it.

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If you dual wield another great spear in Rykard's arena, both spear will gain the Serpent-Hunter's wind effect

Note: the Serpent Hunter must be in the right hand

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Who is the npc in volcano manor that mentions this weapon?

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just something to note for those going to ng+ you don't get a second one

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Terrible gimmick weapon. Don’t waste mats upgrade it

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Strength builds, use this to kill dragons. Dragons are already weak to pierce, the jumping R1 is great for hitting noggins, and A scaling on str helps a lot.

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From loves their Storm Ruler gimmick. This was the most balanced one.

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1) the page says it sells for -1 runes (does that mean it cant be sold?)
2) can it be dropped and traded with players or is it completely impossible to get 2 on 1 character?

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Hey I just used serpent hunter and another great spear (mohgwyns trident) against rykard and got the special effect on both when using dual wielding attacks

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Because I don't see it above, unless I'm blind: The Mimic Tear ash WILL use the special skill.

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would be nice if the ash of war had a small version of the serpent-hunting wind blade to extend the range outside of the bossfight, the ash of war is kinda bad as it is

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For anyone wondering, if you use cheats to spawn in a second one, using both has the exact same moveset as other dual wielded great spears. And no, having two of them wont ban you.

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Looking back at it, the weapon has quite a resemblance to the Nameless King's great spear.

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I have already defeated Rykard on my firsf playthrough, but now on my 2nd playthrough it doesn’t appear in my inventory when I remember defeating him with that weapon the first time

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Real shame this couldn't be infused with an AoW. Love the design and concept. The standard Lance is still a beast with the right infusions, but this bad boy just looks so cool. Makes you feel like a badass swordspear lancer with a fat ass tip. Feel like the Greatspear category really got shafted since all of 'em come uninfusable. Would love to see a standard non-somber version of this in a DLC.

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Never realized how strong this is for a strength build.

Heavy Lance ~ 645 AR
Serpent Hunter ~ 697 AR!!!

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by all means, best ash of war of spears

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Wish it couls be infused because it looks so much like the dragonslayer swordspear

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So if say... The weapon doesn't spawn for a player. Can I drop it for them? I'm asking since it's almost a "key" ítem

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So if say... The weapon doesn't spawn for a player. Can I drop it for them? I'm asking since it's almost a "key" ítem

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Does upgrading it increase the damage of the special attacks in the Rykard fight?

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Are there any weapons that share the same or similar Moveset as this? Used it for Rykard and fell in love with it, such a fun weapon.

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honestly people sleep on this weapon, if you're a strength build this is the best greatspear you can get, only reason to pick a heavy lance is if you want an actual weapon art. It deals more damage maxed out, has a better moveset all around, with the sole downside of being without a practical weapon skill. I hope they patch in the special properties of the serpent hunter to work outside rykards arena with the weapon art, like they did with stormruler in dark souls 3 and how you could throw slashes of wind with it, even though it was less effective outside the arena.

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TOGETHAAAAAAA

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Because of its high Str scaling, I use this on my heavy greatshield character. Strong shield pokes, versatile moveset, and the "lack" of a weapon skill is offset by the fact that I'm 1 handing it basically all the time so my L2 is shield crash instead. Plus it looks so handsome!

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Wish it had some scaling with int or faith so magic builds could get some decent damage out of it too. I'm mostly a melee magic build but that still leaves my STR pretty low compared to pure phys builds. This could have been offset by just letting us use ashes of war on it, even if that means we lose the cool ass WA it already has.

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This actually shreds..!
The Ash of War give so much hyper-armor and damage for FP cost, it's literally like Endure but with a hard hitting attack combo built in.

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Should be noted that there is no way to get a 2nd one of these. Can't drop it, so nobody can give you one, and in NG+, there's a prompt to pick the weapon up, but no item is displayed. If you try the "pick up" option, it does nothing. So no dual wielding 2 for Rykard, ever :'(

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Fully understand why the normal weapon attacks don’t produce the beam of light after the Rykard fight, but not even having a dumbed-down version for the weapon art? Kinda makes the WA useless, which sucks.

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Cannot get second in NG+ just tested that

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For anyone that wants to get 2 of this weapon to dual-wield it. There is a method to do so. For anyone wondering what I mean, you usually cannot obtain a second copy by any means, other than what I am about to cover.

First, you'll need a method of being summoned or invading another world. All you need to do is activate your method and wait outside the fog gate for the message to pop up. The moment you see the message go through the gate and collect the weapon before you are fully summoned/invade their world. Upon returning to your own world, you should find a second Serpent-Hunter waiting in the same location you grabbed the first. Congratulations, you can now dual-wield Serpent-Hunters. Personally, I had my Blue Cipher Ring and Bloody Finger active. The timing can be extremely tight and you’ll know you got it right if the collection box pops up before you transfer to the other world.

Also, for anyone that has already collected the Serpent-Hunter on a character that they want to do this with, don't worry. If you discard, not simply put into your chest, your Serpent-Hunter before going into a new journey (NG+), it will spawn in its original location.

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like what is the point to evin use this afhe boss. thay take away what so special about it. so you can't enchent is damage type or change it ash of war!??? why!!? you left with a useless ash of war attack that the same as it normal heavy. an plain damage type. thay really when here have a god tier weapon an then we going to nerf it right after. ya could of at least let me change it ash of war to something viable.

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One of the best pvp weapons in the game. Long hitstun mixed with several ways to roll catch with a strong crouching attack unique to this class of weapon.

Absolutely the best roll catch weapon in the game.

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I feel like you should get the option to pick one up in your 7th playthrough at least.

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The weapon is very viable in pve if you spam R2s and never use the skill.

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One of the best looking weapons in the game with amazing r2's. A crime that only weapons without AoE infusing get it. Why does fromsoftware hate us sometimes

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Dark Souls 3's Storm Ruler WISHES it was this good outside of the gimmick boss fight.

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Done some testing. The weapon is p good though WA is... well if you do land it, it certainly deals a lot of damage (kinda). Proper timing and spacing are vital if you want to use WA.

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The only strength-only somber weapon?

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Wish you could pick another in ng+ and dual wield it

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+10 has 42 Guard boost and +9 has 45

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Don't even bother with using the ash, R1 and R2 have the special attacks as well and are much more efficient (don't lock you in place for like 5 seconds while charging).

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