no intro. no like this like that. no nothing. IMMEDIATLY "The mastodon halberd" I love this guy

I literally finished the entire game with Ice Rapier like hot knife through butter

if rapier #1 for accessibility then mace should be #2

I picked up the rapier during my first playthrough not realising the sheer power that carried me through the game

No love for the standard mace smh... it covers all of the rapier's weaknesses in dealing quick strike damage and has a counter of 120

Rapier is really good and all, but I always try not to oversell it to people new to DS2 because of its lack of crowd control moves.

About Mastodon halberd:
You didn't mention that in order to deal full damage with a halberd you need to strike the enemy with a blade, and not the pole. And Mastodon's Halberd has the widest blade among them all.

video uploaded a few days ago, good to know that dark souls 2 is still alive.

Grand Lance. Baemore and Bandit Axe should be honorable mentions

Estoc carried me through the game and I love it.

Ivory King Ultra Greatsword deserves to be here somewhere, and the rapier is only the best early game, since the espada ropera, ricard's rapier, and ice rapier all out damage

I would like to mention the Helix Halberd too, it's charged attack does insane tones of dmg, and Curved Dragon Greatsword does extremely high dmg for how fast it's moveset is comparatively 🤩🤩

The rapier and craftsman hammer are great options. They can be found fairly early on and they require different materials to upgrade. You pretty much get the best of both worlds.

This came out at a perfect time!  I was looking for a new weapon!

Great video catarina keep it up man

Honorable mention to Lost Sinner's UGS it gets insane AR with raw infusion and later with elemental , its light, sexy, has low req and low stamina usage.

I don't even know how ppls find poke poke fight with rapier fun i started game 2 weeks ago and I love ultragreatswords and great club with coated crystal magic weapon it's so fun with their effects and dmg to play

This was an insanely good video with insanely good information.  It's insane how many insanely good weapons and build varieties are in this game.

Santier spear was so op with old mundane infusion

In my first playthrough, knowing nothing about this game, I just played a big portion of the game with a mace, because I love maces and I found one. I had a bad experience because I was confused hitboxes didn't work and sometimes my weapon didn't seem to hit the enemy while the moveset is this diagonal swings without much reach. I would have to approach regular enemies pretty close up to make sure but then they would sneak staggering attack at me before I am able to fight back.

Later on I realize everyone plays with the rapier. And then I try it and it's brutal. Both longer range and staggering thrust and big damage if upgrade (although mace did some good damage too if you +10 it, but the craftman's hammer is way better).
In one playthrough I also played the whole game with fire longsword you found in the forest of the giants area in a cave. The two handed strong attack is also great reach and stagger enemies. Generally speaking, thrust attacks, two handed and stagger good and long reach so that you reach them before they reach you is great. Few days ago I was replaying and decided to play with winged spear. It's brutal if upgraded and staggers or insta kills most regular enemies. I also play without shield and no aiming.

But if I go back to play with any stupid weapon, now I am good enough with DS2 to handle it properly, even the ones with short reach. Position yourself and wait for enemies to attack then rush to give back your attack. I roll less and position more. I don't try to roll inside enemy attacks to expect the invisible frames and not give a damn about ADP. It's still fun like this.