Any fans of the Washing Pole?

I dabbled with an elemental WP a long time ago, nothing serious.  But having recently completed a Quality build, I took it for another spin.  With 28/40, that weapon does some nice damage, and the reach...holy crap.  I used the Leo ring and took on the black knights in the Kiln, and man does that thing lay some hurt if you get the timing right.  With a slice or a thrust, it feels so versatile.

Actually, this brings up a question:  with the Leo ring, what conditions give you the damage boost?  Is it when you get in a quick strike while the enemy is in the middle of a wind-up (i.e. interrupting his attack)?  Or does blocking, then counter attacking get the bonus as well?

only interrupt

lonewolf wrote:only interrupt

Not totally true, I have an unpatched version on my 360 and I block with a shield and stab with a estoc and get counter damage.

there's counter dmg and there's instability dmg.
instability dmg is when you hit an enemy when he's running, recovering from a roll/attack etc. this can be achieved with all weapons and dmg types, casts etc.
counter dmg is what gets boosted by the leo ring and is an exclusive trait to piercing/thrusting type attacks. only physical dmg is affected and you have to hit the enemy in the windup of his attack or just when he strikes (trading).
using it on a katana is gimmicky at best imo.

xenon_nobelium wrote:using it on a katana is gimmicky at best imo.

The reach on the WP gives it a huge advantage over most swords.  Short of using a long spear like the pike, this move seems to give you the best shot at getting this kind of interruption from safe range.

ring slots are VERY valuable! sacrificing one to improve the dmg on only 2 moves and only IF i manage to hit the enemy in that tiny timeframe is simply not worth it in my book.
now belive me i had alot of fun with the leo ring on several different builds and loadouts (quality estoc, quality luzern, dex silverknightspear, str pickaxe...note that all of theese have piercing attacks exclusively) and know quite well how strong it is, BUT there are several better rings and higher ranking priorities (mostly poise...which is propably the direct trade-in)

leo ring is good but its not worth using with a katana i would rather use a wolf or clorante ring

xenon_nobelium wrote:ring slots are VERY valuable! sacrificing one to improve the dmg on only 2 moves and only IF i manage to hit the enemy in that tiny timeframe is simply not worth it in my book.
now belive me i had alot of fun with the leo ring on several different builds and loadouts (quality estoc, quality luzern, dex silverknightspear, str pickaxe...note that all of theese have piercing attacks exclusively) and know quite well how strong it is, BUT there are several better rings and higher ranking priorities (mostly poise...which is propably the direct trade-in)

Those are all fair points, and don't misunderstand me...I'd never endorse choosing the Leo over some of my other favorites like Havel or Wolf.  I was just pointing out that the weapon itself does offer a bit of versatility for a Quality build.

I don't have the greatest timing in the world, so even taking advantage of this would be dicey at best.  I do like a weapon with good reach, though.