u/abca98

DS1 had two proper scythe weapons, which were packed into the Halberd category: the Great Scythe and the Lifehunt Scythe. There was also the Scythe, but this one was actually the real life bardiche so I'm not going to count it.

LHS's description: Scythe born from the soul of Priscilla, the stark white crossbreed trapped inside the Painted World of Ariamis. Even the Gods feared Priscilla's lifehunt ability, and in the hands of a mortal, its power will turn upon its wielder.

Soul of Priscilla's description:Soul of Priscilla the Crossbreed, trapped inside the painted world of Ariamis. Special beings have special souls. Use the soul of this crossbreed bastard child and antithesis to all life to acquire a huge amount (sic) of souls, or to create a unique weapon.

The LHS had the highest bleed buildup in the game, causing 50 to the enemy and 40 to yourself. It was also one of two weapons (the other being Priscilla's dagger, which you get from cutting her tail) which did 50% of the HP bar as bleed damage when procced, with the normal amount being just 30%.

DS2 and DS3 expanded the category into its own with the Reapers, and all three games feature the Great Scythe:

DS1 description: Weapon with a long curved blade. Converted from a wheat-harvesting tool. The magnificent sharp curved blade instills fear in opponents. Perhaps it is their survival instinct at work.

DS2 Description: A great scythe used to harvest grain. Normally used as a farm tool, not a weapon. It feels almost as if there were power in its giant blade, perhaps drawn from the fears of those hunted by this fearsome thing.

DS3 Description: Attacks with this large scythe, normally used for crop harvesting, are effective at breaking past shields. The magnificent sharp curved blade instils fear in opponents. Perhaps it is their survival instinct at work.

Notice how the three descriptions mention the sight of the blade to be enough to scare those who see it, and how DS2's specifically uses "the fears of those HUNTED". Now, scythes are associated with the Grim Reaper so it may just be alluding to that aspect of popular culture. Priscilla was also banished to the Painted World out of fear so it's unlikely that her figure, powers and weapon would be common knowledge among the regular people of the DS world, given how the painting itself was protected by the Painting Guardians, who themselves have forgotten the reason of their purpose:

Hood worn by the alabaster-clothed guardians of the paintings in Anor Londo. Offer substantial protection versus magic. They have guarded the Great Painting of Ariamis for ages, passing their duty down through generations, but the reason for doing so passed from all memory long ago.

(If someone can clarify if the original japanese wording for the Lifehunt ability and DS2's description seem purposefully similar, I would be thankful).

In DS1, the painted world was isolated. By the time DS3 happens, Anor Londo, and the city at its feet, Irithyll, had gone through several changes. Most importantly, Sulyvahn, who was born and raised in the painting as a sorcerer, left it, not having experienced loss yet. How he could leave it without being attacked by the Guardians is something the game doesn't cover. Perhaps by this point they had stopped existing, or perhaps they would die later, after he found the Profaned Flame and returned to the city with Aldrich. In any case, we see plenty of corvians outside the painting. In DS1 there were Crow Demons, and this time around they are different, probably signifying the passage of time. These corvians spread the word of the Painted World:

Storyteller's Staff's description: Staff of a heretic storyteller who shares tales of the Painted World to forlorn souls. The storytellers, too, are wretched beings with no place to go. Their bodies, souls, and even their staves are all tainted through and through.

Painting Guardian Hood description: Attire of the Painting Guardians, whose forms are described in the mythology of heretics. A smooth pale hood that deters magic. The hunchbacked teller of ancient tales describes unwanted souls who are unwelcome across the lands, and are eventually drawn into a cold, painted world.

So not only has the existence of the Painted World become relatively common knowledge, and more people are entering it (like Friede). Those who speak of it are branded as heretics (by the remaining Old Gods? They were the ones afraid of Priscilla in the first place).

Now we get to DS3, and with the changes in the mechanics, there have also been certain changes to the LHS. Most obviously, because the weapon itself is not in the game. We get a Dark Miracle that shares its name from the soul of Aldrich:

Miracle of Aldrich, Devourer of Gods. Steals HP of foes using an illusory scythe. Aldrich dreamt as he slowly devoured the God of the Darkmoon. In this dream, he perceived the form of a young, pale girl in hiding.

This miracle is weird because it deals dark damage, and therefore it will deal more damage if you go 30INT/30FTH with Caitha's Chime or the Sunless Talisman than if you go for pure faith. However, somewhat uniquely, there are "jumps" in how the spellbuff multiplier is calculated when you go from 30 to 31, 40 to 41, and 60 to 61, that result in the spell dealing and restoring even higher numbers than expected. This only applies to faith though, so you have to choose between the highest damage potential or highest healing potential (or go 30/61 with a dark spell tool and have both).

Now, as for the proper weapons, we have the Great Scythe as mentioned, the Great Corvian Scythe, the Pontiff Knight's Great Scythe and Friede's Great Scythe. And here's where things get strange.

The Great Corvian Scythe causes bleed buildup on both the enemy and the user. It's considered a regular weapon, unlike the OG LHS, which was a boss weapon. It does not have the enhanced bleed damage either.

The Pontiff Knight Great Scythe has bleed buildup, and its skill, Frost, initially causes frost in AoE and then buffs the blade with 65 frostbite buildup for 30 seconds. The Frozen Weapon spell applies 45 frostbite for 60 seconds, but it also costs double the FP, so it's more than worth it. It's upgraded with Twinkling Titanite. It also drops from a single enemy that is placed right in front of the Pontiff's arena.

Finally, Friede's Scythe has innate frost, but not bleed, buildup and a rather unique moveset, which the description explains as the evolution of Friede's former swordmanship, with the weapon itself being chosen because inside the painting it is seen as the symbol of a long-lost home. It IS upgraded with Titanite Scale.

So, to summarise: the regular Scythe mentions triggering its enemies' survival instinct and deals bleed. The Corvian one has the self-buildup. The Pontiff Knight's has bleed and frost. Friede's has only frost, but she uses specifically to occupy Priscilla's space, and the miracle version has kept the name.

How do all of these relate to Priscilla? Well, she did use frost back in the first game, or rather, a primitive form of it. When the battle starts, she becomes invisible after conjuring a blizzard, and afterwards she has a "cold breath" attack that deals direct damage. The reason for the extra damage on the bleed has also been discussed before, and it's generally agreed that is the way the Lifehunt ability is manifested, a power that could threaten the Gods themselves and the reason she was exiled. Now, with the DS3 mechanics, we have all these characteristics split: bleed, frost, lifesteal and dark damage.

Now, if the frost is indeed part of the Lifehunt, it seems like Sulyvahn managed to find a way to harness its power, since he created the two frost sorceries that we find in the DLC, which unfortunately only tell us about how he left the painting rather than how they work. He would then have passed this knowledge to his knights, creating the weapon skill as we know it.

I think it's also worth noting that the PKGS looks more similar to the OG LHS than any other reaper (except for the miracle of course). This makes me think if the Pontiff had it made specifically to signify his triumph over the old Gods and their hidden crossbreed.

And that's all I have to say on the topic. Thank you if you read through all of it.

Hello! These two spell tools are definitely the weirdest ones in their respective category, because they scale with the opposite stat the spells they cast require. That is, Velka's talisman scales with Intelligence but casts miracles, that require Faith, while the Tin Darkmoon Catalysts boosts sorceries, that require Intelligence, with your Faith stat.

At first sight these spells tools will probably make you scratch your head. Isn't it easier to simply level up the main stat regularly so you both fulfill spell and tool requirements and get increased scaling? Well yes, but there are a couple of reasons you may want to spice your build up. Mainly, damage types.

In DS1, INT builds get the Magic and Enchanted infusions, while FTH get the Divine and Occult. These infusions provide split physical and magic damage, even for the FTH builds, and, interestingly, the latter end up with a lower AR, probably to compensate for the bonus from their auxiliary effects. FTH builds also have access to lightning damage from their three lightning spells, so it's mainly INT builds that are stuck with magic damage only.

Alternatives for this are a Pyromancy flame, (but you need 340.500 souls for a full upgrade, which is not a small investment) or the Lightning, Fire and Chaos Infusion. These three do not scale, except for Chaos getting a damage increase for every soft humanity up to 10, and it's also worth mentioning that their damage split is closer to 50/50, while in the scaling infusions the magic damage is greater than the physical, even at minimum stats, and the scaling just makes this more pronounced. The non-scaling infusions are also surpassed in total AR at roughly 35 INT/FTH and minimum STR/DEX requirements.

Let's also quickly note a few special weapons: the Demon's Catalyst has a thrust attack that does split physical and fire damage which scales with INT. The Giant's Halberd, Blacksmith Giant Hammer, Demon's Spear and Dragonslayer's Spear all deal split lightning damage, but only the DSS scales with FTH, and it along with the Halberd have higher physical requirements that make it potentially unfit for a caster build, at least early on, even more so in one that is going at the very least a little hybrid, which leads to the next point: how many levels are too many?

Fromsoft tipically balances "gimmick" equipment with lower numbers, and these are not an exception. Velka's Talisman's 50 INT spellbuff will be outscaled by a dedicated FTH build at just 43 with the Darkmoon Talisman. Similarly, the Tin Darkmoon Catalyst at 50 FTH is outdone by Logan's at 42 INT. As impressively as these hold up at higher levels, the best way to use them is with low requirement spells rather than trying to fit a 36 INT Soul Spear in your Paladin character.

With a mere investment of 16 INT, you can have all four Soul Arrows, Magic & Great Magic Weapon, Magic & Great Magic Shield, all of the stealth and light sorceries, Remedy and Resist Curse. And Dark Orb and Dark Bead, but they don't get a lot of physical damage from the TDC's E scaling on Strength.

For 18 you get Dark Fog, which doesn't scale, and Homing Soulmass, which actually needs 31 INT for five orbs, so I think 16 is the ideal cutoff point. If you really want to cast poison, Pyromancies have it, Toxic, and are free.

On the opposite side, if you are a sorcerer that suddenly feels the call of the Lords, Nito would like to offer you his Greatsword dances. They both require 0 FTH. Yes, even if the lowest Talisman requirement is 10. He really does not care if you believe in him, because he believes in you and your capacity to Gravelord other players. They also provide AoE which is something sorcerers don't have a lot of.

Interestingly, the floor being the lowest, the ceiling is also going to be the highest, because you are going to want 20 FTH to get access to Heal, Great Heal Excerpt, Magic Barrier, Replenishment, Homeward, and, on the offensive side, Emit Force, Lightning Spear, and Karmic Justice. For LS you need to pray at the Sunlight Altar, which has a requirement of 25 FTH unless you coop at least once. I would like to add that for this build I'm using the Moonlight Butterfly's Horn, which despite being a spear has a 0 DEX requirement and pure magic damage. This makes it perfect for a Cleric, which starts with 8, the lowest in the game.

And that's it. Have you guys ever used these spell tools? What has your experience been like?