by RootSec
Spacing is a huge component in the combat of Dark Souls 3. Being able to hit your enemies when they can’t hit you is a great advantage, and can be achieved in a few different ways. One such manner is to use melee weapons of long and deadly nature constructed from wood, metal, bone, and sometimes even rock.
Spears as a weapon type offer a plethora of benefits that give primarily Dexterity builds a versatile arsenal in which to skewer man, beast, and god alike. Either wielded one-handed and paired with a shield or other offhand tools, as well as possibly on their own for maximum piercing power, spears can be some of the strongest weapons in the game.
However, there are a few that specialize in their niche well enough to stand out among their peers. Knowing the difference between them and their boring, weak cousins is as simple as lancing foes and comparing how easily they are impaled.
Updated on April 19, 2021, by Reyadh Rahaman: Spears possess an ideal way to defeat foes in melee range with relative safety granted by their impressive reach, though they also possess other traits that make them awesome combat partners. Spears mostly deal thrust damage, which is excellent against armored enemies or those with thick hides. Plus, they also do better counterattack damage on average than most other weapon types, which lets their wielder trade blows with foes optimally.
10 Yorshka’s Spear
Found not far from its namesake in Irithill of the Boreal Valley, Yorshka’s Spear is unique for a few reasons. Firstly, its attacks can deal thrust and strike damage. For thrusting maneuvers, one will need to use light attacks, and for assaults that deal strike damage, players will need to use heavy attacks that will swing the Spear to slam foes with the crossguard.
This can be useful when facing a foe with high damage reduction to thrusting moves, though, this Spear’s weapon skill can grant an additional trait that is unseen on almost every other weapon. The Pacify skill allows wielders of Yorshka’s Spear to drain FP from opponents with each successful hit, making it particularly useful against spellcasters.
9 Spear
As the weapon given to the Herald starting class, the common Spear is a great weapon that is available to players from the start of the game. It can carry many Ashen Ones through the many perils of the early and mid-game comfortably if upgraded and infused accordingly.
It is all-around average, being the base implementation of what Spears best represent. However, it defines its weapon class graciously; being quick, light, versatile, and capable of excellent damage per second as well as pairing marvelously with many shields or even spellcasting tools.
8 Partizan
While looking very similar to the regular Spear, the Partizan can perform similarly, though with some bonus features that make it a better choice than more basic options. Like Yorshka’s Spear, it possesses wide swings for heavy attacks, though these deal standard damage instead of strike damage.
Its weapon skill, Spin Sweep, is an odd one to see on a Spear as it is usually reserved for curved swords or curved greatswords, however, can be used effectively with the Partizan thanks to this polearm’s long reach (even when compared to other Spears). The wide slashes followed by an overhead slam can be a great way to break a blocking enemy’s guard.
7 Saint Bident
This Spear looks very cool and can be an excellent choice for anyone needing a bit more extra reach, as the Saint Bident is longer than even some weapons from the Spears’ sister weapon class, the Pikes, which usually outclass Spears in spacing potential.
Scaling with 3 stats; Strength, Dexterity, and Faith, can allow quality builds to make particularly great use of this polearm. The weapon skill is the common Charge found on many of its brethren, which is not remarkably but still useable in many situations.
6 Arstor’s Spear
With a sinister reputation and disgusting composition, Arstor’s Spear is a weapon entwined with rotting meat that can poison foes from a moderately safe range while providing a couple of other viable tactics. While its poison build-up is handy, this Spear will also recover the wielder 30 flat HP per enemy slain, which stacks with other health-leeching effects.
On top of this, Arstor’s Spear has the excellent weapon skill Shield Splitter, which can penetrate an adversary’s guard with ease to deliver a devastating blow. It should also be mentioned that the poison build-up also gets around defenses, making the wielder a huge threat for shield-huggers.
5 Golden Ritual Spear
Out of all the melee weapons capable of also acting as a catalyst, the Golden Ritual Spear is arguably the best, for it grants great boons to both those wishing to use it in melee offensives as well as those seeking to slay enemies with spells from further away.
This shorter than average Spear makes up for its lack of reach with excellent damage potential that deals physical and magic damage as well as possessing decent scaling with physical stats and excellent scaling with Faith. Additionally, its weapon skill, Steady Chant, boosts the power of sorceries for a short time to maximize the damage of each spell shot at adversaries.
4 Gargoyle Flame Spear
A heavy torch reinforcing a deadly cone of stone like this is a formidable sight. Especially when one knows of its great potential to slay adversaries for a wealth of reasons. Its high fire damage gets tremendous boosts when used by higher-leveled players because it scales well with Faith and Intelligence.
However, it also does moderate physical damage that scales with Strength and Dexterity, making the Gargoyle Flame Spear one of the few weapons to scale with every major stat; a great choice for a quality build. Furthermore, its skill, Kindled Charge, is a variant of the regular Spear charge that includes a burst of flames to sunder all before it.
3 Follower Javelin
Found in the chilly Ashes of Ariandel DLC, this short and broad spear is unique, and handy, due to a few cool traits. Firstly, it scales primarily with Strength, which is rare for the usual Dexterity-bound polearms. This makes the Follower Javelin a great weapon for quality and Strength builds that want to have a different kind of playthrough.
The skill of this spear makes up for its short reach as it allows the wielder to throw a phantom javelin that does physical thrust damage upon targets from a surprising distance. This is a novel way to pierce foes from multiple ranges without switching weapons that makes this niche armament a fun one to try out.
2 Dragonslayer Swordspear
Transposed from the Soul of the Nameless King, this godly weapon is appropriately powerful as well as unique. Much like its name implies, the Dragonslayer Swordspear functions as both a Spear capable of thrusting attacks and a large sword with sweeping, horizontal slashes. This great versatility enables it to be an excellent weapon in any environment.
It does deal lightning damage, however, not quite as much as one would expect. Its main form of damage is physically oriented and backed by scaling with Strength, Dexterity, as well as a bit of Faith for a small lighting boost. The aspect that makes this mighty cross spear stand out the most is its unique weapon skill, Falling Bolt, which allows one to slam the area in front of themselves with a violent crash of lighting for devastating damage to those in melee range.
1 Dragonslayer Spear
Be sure to collect this treasure from the base of a metal gate at Archdragon Peak if one needs the best spear in the game. With great damage, long reach, and a suitable skill, the Dragonslayer Spear once wielded by the legendary knight Ornstein lives up to its mythic reputation.
Capable of unleashing impressive lighting and thurst damage, players can impale and shock foes from further away than most melee weapons allow. With its Lightning Charge skill, players can rush forward to stab at adversaries viciously while wreathed in electric tendrils for a finishing move that can take foes down in the blink of an eye.
