u/abca98

Hi! I'm posting this so it can be used as a quick reference for anyone who is wondering which weapons can or cannot be buffed and/or infused instead of having to check the wikis weapon by weapon.

First of all, if the weapon is upgraded with regular titanite, it can be both buffed and infused.

Second, if the weapon is upgraded with Twinkling Titanite, scales, demon titanite, or is one of the two crystal weapons, in 90% of cases the weapon cannot be buffed nor infused. The exceptions are these, which CAN be BUFFED, but NOT INFUSED.

#Twinkling Titanite:
Silver Knight Straight Sword, Stone Greataxe.

#Dragon Scales

Obsidian Greatsword, Dragon King Greataxe, Dragon Tooth, Dragon Bone Fist.

#Crystal Weapons

(Do not mistake for Crystal infusion!) Crystal Straight Sword, Crystal Greatsword.

#Demon Titanite

Nothing.

DS1 does not have many exceptions to the rules but I think it's convenient to have this so it can be found easily on google search. If I made any mistakes please tell me and I will edit the post.

I'm posting this to have a quick reference instead of having to go through the wiki pages of every weapon in the game next time I (or someone else) get this doubt.

A common strat in DS2 to pump up your damage is to infuse your weapon (tipically with lightning) and use a buff (Dark Weapon more often that not) given that damage calculation favours this playstyle and most weapons can be subjected to it. So of course, I decided to check if there are any exceptions to this rule, that is, weapons that cannot be infused, buffed or both at the same time. I did not include weapons that can self buff, like Sir Alonne's katana or the Watcher and Defender Greatswords. The list is as follows:

Mytha's Bent Blade: Cannot be buffed, cannot be infused. Deals both poison and toxic buildup.

Umbral Dagger: Can be buffed, cannot be infused. When using guard breaks or when powerstanced, it causes toxic buildup. So use a rotten pine resin on this one, combine it with Mytha's (it's only a couple of areas later) and go make Nito proud.

Ivory Straight Sword: Cannot be buffed, cannot be infused. This may surprise you, but despite being a ligthsaber and requiring 40 DEX this has 0 scaling with either that or INT. You may want to attune Repair though, because it breaks after 25 swings, 50 with the right ring.

Majestic Greatsword: Cannot be buffed, can be infused. A strange weapon that despite requiring 25/25/20/20 does not have split damage nor INT/FTH scaling (unless you decided to infuse it, of course). If you are using it, it's because of the left hand moveset anyway.

Ivory King's Ultra Greatsword. Cannot be buffed, can be infused. At 30/30/8, this is more of a quality (55%/40%/15%) weapon with a little magic damage sprinkled on top. Use it two handed for the giant laser beam.

Fume Ultra Greatsword: Cannot be buffed, but can be infused. Solid pick for Bonk enjoyers, this actual slab of iron (28 weight units, paired with the King's UGS for the heaviest in the category) behaves like a greatshield when two handed, requires 40/30 and is one of the few weapons in the game with S scaling in strength (105%/15%)

Chariot Lance: Cannot be buffed, cannot be infused. Good strength scaling, and can bleed naturally.

Dragonslayer Spear: Cannot be buffed, cannot be infused, split lightning damage, relatively low STR requirement in a weapon that favours DEX/FTH, and a special attack that shoots a lightning bolt.

Smelter Sword and Aged Smelter Sword: cannot be infused, cannot be buffed. STR weapons with a little elemental flavour. You know about the powerstance double kaboom.

Notched Whip: Cannot be buffed, cannot be infused. The only one in this category with such restrictions. At least it has the highest bleed buildup, as if that's any consolation in DS2.

And that's it. Hope this list helps you if you ever decide to start a new playthrough with "absolutely no buffs whatsoever".

If it can multihit at least it would also be a decent boss killer, but if not, it would be an overly specialised tool with a heavy cost.