"Is It Good?"

Not so much a trading thread as a "player help" thread I guess.

I've picked up a few drops recently that I don't know what to do with, figure somebody else out there has had the same problem. If anybody has questions about an item or armor they've found, feel free to piggyback and ask here.... if someone's the wiser and knows something about the equipment (like for instance "Don't bother upgrading your witch's set, Logan's gear is better") we the hopelessly lost would much appreciate the word of advice. I mean we all know that with weapons at least, numbers don't tell the whole story -- there's range, speed, moveset, and other crap.


So. On to my drops.


1. Catch Pole. Wasn't even trying to pick it up, it just fell off a demon on my way to the Tomb of Giants. Somewhere somehow I got it in my head that this was a special kind of weapon that was good for something, but I can't really gauge it without sinking a million years into demon titanite farming. Any good?

2. Painting Guardian Sword. I dunno if it's rare, or if I'm just unlucky and it just looks cool. But two of them fell out of a dead guy and I tried them on -- I don't have the stats to use them yet, but the moves look epic. Figured maybe I could turn 'em enchanted or something and do awesome things with them.... or not? Any good?

3. Parrying Dagger. Got it a long time ago but didn't bother trying to upgrade it until very recently... First, when it comes to parrying does it have any advantage over, like, a shield? Second, how (if at all) should I upgrade it to maximize its effectiveness as an offhand, really-only-there-for-parrying weapon? Or should I be stabbing with it too? Or should I be wasting my time with it at all?

4. Any Medium Shield that Isn't Black Knight Shield. I busted a Black knight shield +5 and it's beautiful, but lacking in side-effects. I've got several other shields lying around..... should I upgrade all of them? Just a few? Just stick with the black one and forget the rest? Screw shields altogether, just use the parry dagger and some common sense?


That's it from me for now, but if anyone else has Q's, like I said, pile on. Thanks in advance.

1. the catch pole is pretty rare. A lot of people will farm it for ages. I'm not completely sure but I think its worth it for INT builds, has decent scaling and the moveset is alright. If anything you could trade it for something to someone who needs it.

2. They're not rare, I had about 10 of them on one character. If you can duel wield them in pvp you get major style points. They're actually rather useless except for the bleed effect.

3. I love this thing. The parry is a bit slow but it gives you a larger window to execute the riposte. If you can master it its wonderful. If not you're better off with a shield.

4. Shields all depend on situation. If you know in advance what damage you're going to encounter then you know what shield to use. If you want to be ready for anything I'd recommend upgrading a few shields that cover all kinds of damage. Example Crest shield, Black Knight shield and Effigy. This gives you magic, fire physical and lightning resistance. Each one specializes in one or two of those. For pvp however you rarely know what kind of damage you'll encounter. If I'm using a shield I use the darkhand, 80% reduction of all damage, the stability sucks but if you're blocking a lot of hits you're probably going to die anyways.

Hope this helps.

that's awesome man, thanks.