In honor of Jansports wanting people to back up their opinions with ROCK-HARD LOGIC, I'm going to post my own tier list along with an explanation of why I think good weapons are good and bad weapons are bad.
A+ Tier - Katanas, Thrusting Swords
A Tier - Spears
B Tier - Curved Swords, Straight Swords
C+ Tier - Halberds
C Tier - Greatswords, Scythes
D+ Tier - Curved Greatswords, Axes, Hammers, Ultra Greatswords
D Tier - Fist Weapons, Greataxes, Great Hammers, Whips, Crossbows
U Tier - Bows, Greatbows, Daggers, Catalysts, Talismans, Pyromancy Flame, Shields
Everything in A through C Tier are what I consider tournament-viable. That is, in a hypothetical tournament where you're going to need to beat the best-of-the-best in order to win, you won't be crippling yourself by picking anything from this.
D Tiers are composed of weapons that I do not consider tournament-viable.
U Tier consists of weapons that are hard to place or do not fit anywhere within the tier list for whatever reason.
Weapons are judged by how powerful they are in a build focused around using them.
Explanations (With Art of War excerpts for fun and pretense):
Katanas — You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.
Fast attack speed and recovery makes them difficult to backstab or dodge. Their light attack has a good hitbox that punishes rolls well. Their running attack is arguably the best in the game, giving them a good long-range poke and excellent punish against back-rolls. Bleed combined with good chasing potential gives Katanas excellent pressure against defensive players. Katanas' main weakness is in their neutral game and low damage output. This can be overcome by making careful use of Katanas' safe pokes to chip down opponents while avoiding damage. As long as a Katana user can remain flexible, they will be able to handle any play-style they are faced with.
Thrusting Swords — The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
Control is the theme among Thrusting Swords. The shieldpoke is the core of Thrusting Swords' effectiveness. It is arguably safest attack in the game, being vulnerable only to dead angles and backstabs, and quick enough to avoid both if used well. As well, their strong BS's can discourage BS attempts with the threat of a counterstab. Played defensively, Thrusting Swords can set up a stone wall between them and their opponents. Thrusting Swords also have an oppressive offense. Their one-handed light attack is an excellent back-roll punish, and once you've bullied your opponent into not attacking you, their heavy attack shines as a long-ranged heavy-hitter. They have excellent chasing potential, and when they get in close can force the opponent to continue retreating with shieldpokes and the threat of a strafe BS dominating at close range. Thrusting Swords' damage is very low, forcing them to win via a slow game of attrition, but they come well-equipped to do so. Thrusting Swords' thrive when they are able to suffocate their opponent. A Thrusting Sword user who is adept at using the oppressive toolset at his disposal can make every option his opponent has seem weak, putting doubt and indecision into his mind.
Spears — Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible.
Spears want to spend as much time as possible avoiding any actual fighting. Their enormous range coupled with their fast recovery allows them to harass their opponent from safety. In two hands, they can dole out good damage from a distance, and in one hand they can shieldpoke to defend against chasing and have a presence at close range. Spears can frustrate the opponent with their ability to run away and continue harassing them indefinitely, but they have notable weaknesses. Spears do not have good tools for dealing with shields. The dead angles they have are slow and deal little poise damage, leaving them wide open for backstabs. Their backstab damage is trivial. And at their most comfortable range, they have no answer to blocking. A patient Spear user can still stalemate shield users so hard that they abandon safer play and get reckless against the Spear. The true danger to Spears are opponents who can predict a poke. The shieldpoke has a much slower recovery than most Spear attacks and if used predictably can be easily roll BS'd. The two-handed light attack can be punished by good chase attacks, which will trade favorably with the spear and force it to retreat. For these reasons, a good Spear user must be patient and make sure not to fall into a pattern with their pokes.
Curved Swords — Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset.
Curved Swords are the champions of slugging. All other things being equal, Curved Swords will beat any weapon in close-range attack spamming. Their fast swing speed allows them to tear through poise at an alarming rate and dish out solid damage. In addition to this, their light attacks can easily dead angle, allowing them to attack without the fear of being parried. If that wasn't enough, they are all but impossible to backstab, either by rolling or using poise, once they begin to mash light attacks. All of this comes together to make a weapon with incredible priority at close range. However, Curved Swords have very short range and are completely reliant upon that close-range priority. As well, their damage output is rather low if they cannot land consecutive swings. Because of this they have trouble dealing with weapons that can safely poke them from outside their range and then roll away in time. While Curved Swords' gameplan is simple, they will go the farthest in the hands of somebody who understands well how to time and space attacks. This will allow the Curved Sword user to get into slugging range and to pick a time to attack where they will get to land multiple attacks in succession before their opponent can escape.
Straight Swords — According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.
Straight Swords are versatile weapons that sport many useful attacks. The one-handed light attacks have excellent hitboxes on a fast, horizontal swing. The two-handed light attack has a narrow chopping hitbox, not entirely unlike the Uchigatana's. Their heavy attacks do perhaps the best job of complimenting the light attacks of any weapon class. Where their light attacks lack damage and range, their heavy attacks have good reach and, on a poise-stripped opponent or a counter-hit, can lead into big damage. Straight Swords should be played opportunistically, as they have tools to take advantage of nearly any situation. They have good chasing potential with their one-handed running attack (and the two-handed rolling thrust on weapons that have it), their thrust attacks can deal monstrous damage on a counterhit, and on an unsuspecting opponents whose poise has been stripped, can dish out huge combos before the opponent swap escapes.
Wooh B tier finished.
Last edited by Saturday-Saint on Mon May 13, 2013 4:03 am; edited 1 time in total