- For the Dark Souls II variant, see Zweihander (Dark Souls II).
- For the Dark Souls III variant, see Zweihander (Dark Souls III).
The Zweihander is an ultra greatsword in Dark Souls.
In-Game Description
- One of the gigantic straight greatswords.
- As the name suggests, the Zweihander is held with two hands, but its wielder must still be inhumanly strong. It is this great weight that sends foes flying when hit solidly.
Availability[]
Located on a corpse in the graveyard between the Firelink Shrine and The Catacombs behind three Skeletons and one Giant Skeleton.
Characteristics[]
The Zweihander's strong attack is its signature overhead swing. It doesn't deal quite as much damage as the strong attacks of other Ultra weapons, but deals immense poise damage like all weapons in the UGS class, but is slightly faster to swing (the other weapons require a "charge up"). Normal enemies will be immediately smashed into the ground, and almost all bigger enemies will be interrupted. It is one of the only moves in the game that can swing faster than a Mushroom Parent or Crystal Golem can attack, yet is guaranteed to break their poise, interrupting their attack. This makes it an ideal weapon/attack versus those enemies. Like most weapons with large poise-breaking capacities, barely missing an enemy with the strong attack can still cause a stagger.
Contrary to popular belief, Zweihander is NOT a "Strength Weapon" but is a "Quality" Scaling weapon meaning it scales near equally off Strength and Dexterity and will be at its full potential at the relevant stat softcaps.
The overhead swing also has the advantage of a high vertical reach. This makes it a very good weapon to use to cut Dragon tails: most other Ultra Greatswords will require a running attack to swing upwards, and Great Hammers don't reach quite as high. The overhead swing also makes the player dodge certain attacks that reach horizontally.
The Zweihander can be a very strong weapon early in the game due to its close proximity to the starting area and relatively low stat requirement of 16 Strength to two-hand the weapon. Even un-upgraded, its base damage and staggering abilities are formidable for the Undead Burg area.
Resistance Defense[]
Along with Physical and Elemental damage reduction, weapons also have hidden stats that reduce the amount of status build-up while blocking.
| Resistance | Reduction |
|---|---|
|
55% |
|
55% |
|
55% |
|
54% |
Moveset[]
| Attack | Description |
|---|---|
| One-handed Weak Attack |
Performs a sweep attack from right to left. |
| One-handed Strong Attack |
Performs an overarm swing. Smashes some enemies into the ground or staggers larger enemies. |
| Two-handed Weak Attack |
Performs a large sweeping move from right to left. |
| Two-handed Strong Attack |
Performs an overarm swing, which smashes enemies into the ground. Can be repeated. |
| Jump Attack | Executes a jumping overwhelming slash, which breaks the poise and knocks most enemies down. |
| Running Attack | Performs a running overarm swing. |
| Rolling Attack | A forward thrust. |
| Kick | Standard kick. |
| Left-handed Weak Attack |
Block. |
| Left-handed Strong Attack |
Same as right handed weak attack. |
Upgrades[]
Requires: Standard Zweihander, Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Standard Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Zweihander | 130 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +1 (Titanite Shard ×1) | 143 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +2 (Titanite Shard ×1) | 156 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +3 (Titanite Shard ×2) | 169 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +4 (Titanite Shard ×2) | 182 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +5 (Titanite Shard ×3) | 195 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +6 (L. Titanite Shard ×1) | 208 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +7 (L. Titanite Shard ×1) | 221 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +8 (L. Titanite Shard ×2) | 234 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +9 (L. Titanite Shard ×2) | 247 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +10 (L. Titanite Shard ×3) | 260 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +11 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 273 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +12 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 286 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +13 (Titanite Chunk ×2) | 299 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +14 (Titanite Chunk ×3) | 312 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Zweihander +15 (Titanite Slab ×1) | 325 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
Requires: Standard Zweihander +5, Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Raw Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Raw Zweihander (Large Titanite Shard ×1) | 225 | – | – | – | D | E | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Raw Zweihander +1 (Large Titanite Shard ×1) | 240 | – | – | – | D | E | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Raw Zweihander +2 (Large Titanite Shard ×1) | 255 | – | – | – | D | E | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Raw Zweihander +3 (Large Titanite Shard ×2) | 270 | – | – | – | D | E | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Raw Zweihander +4 (Large Titanite Shard ×2) | 285 | – | – | – | D | E | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Raw Zweihander +5 (Large Titanite Shard ×3) | 300 | – | – | – | D | E | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
Requires: Standard Zweihander +10, Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Crystal Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Crystal Zweihander (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 286 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Crystal Zweihander +1 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 299 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Crystal Zweihander +2 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 312 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Crystal Zweihander +3 (Titanite Chunk ×2) | 325 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Crystal Zweihander +4 (Titanite Chunk ×3) | 338 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Crystal Zweihander +5 (Titanite Slab ×1) | 351 | – | – | – | C | D | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
Requires: Standard Zweihander +5, Green Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Magic Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Magic Zweihander (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 147 | 159 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +1 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 156 | 169 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +2 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 166 | 180 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +3 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) | 176 | 190 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +4 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) | 186 | 201 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +5 (Green Titanite Shard ×3) | 196 | 212 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +6 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×1) | 205 | 222 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +7 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×1) | 215 | 233 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +8 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×2) | 225 | 243 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +9 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×3) | 235 | 254 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Magic Zweihander +10 (Blue Titanite Slab ×1) | 245 | 265 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
Requires: Magic Zweihander +5, Blue Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Enchanted Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Enchanted Zweihander (Blue Titanite Chunk ×1) |
196 | 208 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Enchanted Zweihander +1 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×1) |
203 | 214 | – | – | E | E | C | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Enchanted Zweihander +2 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×1) |
211 | 220 | – | – | E | E | B | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Enchanted Zweihander +3 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×2) |
219 | 226 | – | – | E | E | B | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Enchanted Zweihander +4 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×3) |
227 | 232 | – | – | E | E | B | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Enchanted Zweihander +5 (Blue Titanite Slab ×1) |
235 | 241 | – | – | E | E | A | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
Requires: Standard Zweihander +5, Green Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Divine Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Divine Zweihander (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 132 | 160 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +1 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 140 | 171 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +2 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 149 | 181 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +3 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) | 158 | 192 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +4 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) | 167 | 203 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +5 (Green Titanite Shard ×3) | 176 | 214 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +6 (White Titanite Chunk ×1) | 184 | 224 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +7 (White Titanite Chunk ×1) | 193 | 235 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +8 (White Titanite Chunk ×2) | 202 | 246 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +9 (White Titanite Chunk ×3) | 211 | 256 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Divine Zweihander +10 (White Titanite Slab ×1) | 220 | 267 | – | – | D | E | – | C | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
Requires: Divine Zweihander +5, White Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Occult Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Occult Zweihander (White Titanite Chunk ×1) | 178 | 196 | – | – | D | E | – | B | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Occult Zweihander +1 (White Titanite Chunk ×1) | 188 | 205 | – | – | D | E | – | B | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Occult Zweihander +2 (White Titanite Chunk ×1) | 199 | 215 | – | – | D | E | – | B | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Occult Zweihander +3 (White Titanite Chunk ×2) | 210 | 225 | – | – | D | E | – | B | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Occult Zweihander +4 (White Titanite Chunk ×3) | 220 | 235 | – | – | D | E | – | B | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Occult Zweihander +5 (White Titanite Slab ×1) | 231 | 245 | – | – | D | E | – | B | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
Requires: Standard Zweihander +5, Green Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Fire Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Fire Zweihander (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 169 | – | 169 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50.0 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +1 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 182 | – | 182 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50.5 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +2 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) | 195 | – | 195 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 51.0 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +3 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) | 208 | – | 208 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 51.5 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +4 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) | 221 | – | 221 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 52.0 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +5 (Green Titanite Shard ×3) | 234 | – | 234 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 52.5 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +6 (Red Titanite Chunk ×1) | 249 | – | 249 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 53.0 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +7 (Red Titanite Chunk ×1) | 265 | – | 265 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 53.5 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +8 (Red Titanite Chunk ×2) | 280 | – | 280 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 54.0 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +9 (Red Titanite Chunk ×3) | 296 | – | 296 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 54.5 | 50 |
| Fire Zweihander +10 (Red Titanite Slab ×1) | 312 | – | 312 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 55.0 | 50 |
Requires: Fire Zweihander +5, Red Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Chaos Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Chaos Zweihander (Red Titanite Chunk ×1) | 203 | – | 235 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Chaos Zweihander +1 (Red Titanite Chunk ×1) | 214 | – | 248 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 51 | 50 |
| Chaos Zweihander +2 (Red Titanite Chunk ×1) | 226 | – | 262 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 52 | 50 |
| Chaos Zweihander +3 (Red Titanite Chunk ×2) | 237 | – | 275 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 53 | 50 |
| Chaos Zweihander +4 (Red Titanite Chunk ×3) | 248 | – | 288 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 54 | 50 |
| Chaos Zweihander +5 (Red Titanite Slab ×1) | 259 | – | 301 | – | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 55 | 50 |
Requires: Standard Zweihander +10, Titanite and 800 souls per upgrade.
 Lightning Variation |
Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Lightning Zweihander (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 234 | – | – | 234 | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 50 |
| Lightning Zweihander +1 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 252 | – | – | 252 | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 54 |
| Lightning Zweihander +2 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 270 | – | – | 270 | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 58 |
| Lightning Zweihander +3 (Titanite Chunk ×2) | 288 | – | – | 288 | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 62 |
| Lightning Zweihander +4 (Titanite Chunk ×3) | 306 | – | – | 306 | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 66 |
| Lightning Zweihander +5 (Titanite Slab ×1) | 325 | – | – | 325 | – | – | – | – | 70 | 10 | 50 | 70 |
Scaling Percentage Values[]
The following chart lists the scaling percentages when this weapon is fully upgraded. Be advised that:
- Scaling letters are not an accurate indicator of how a weapon scales, players should look at the percentage scaling of a weapon.
- Magic and Enchanted upgrade paths reduce Physical Damage while adding Magic Damage, splitting damage between two types. Strength and Dexterity scaling is drastically reduced while adding Intelligence scaling.
- Divine and Occult upgrade paths reduce Physical Damage while adding Magic Damage, splitting damage between two types. Strength and Dexterity scaling is drastically reduced while adding Faith scaling. Divine adds Divine Auxiliary and Occult adds Occult Auxiliary secondary damage types.
- Fire, Chaos, and Lightning upgrade paths remove all stat scaling and splits damage between two types. Chaos path adds Humanity Scaling.
- Raw upgrade path caps at Weapon Level 10 while drastically reducing physical damage scaling and adding slightly more base damage.
- Crystal upgrade path dramatically increases the base damage of weapons while rendering them unable to be repaired.
- For PvE purposes all weapons will be better on the Standard Upgrade path to +15. This is because the Split Damage of elementally infused weapons is not added together. The values are reduced separately when going through enemy defenses leading to less damage in practice due to the values of each damage type being smaller.
- To learn more about how damage is calculated visit the Damage Calculation page.
| Upgrade Path | Strength |
Dexterity |
Intelligence |
Faith |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard +15 |
60% | 26% | - | - |
Raw +5 |
49% | 19% | - | - |
Crystal +5 |
60% | 26% | - | - |
Magic +10 |
17% | 7% | 62% | - |
Enchanted +5 |
13% | 5% | 60% | - |
Divine +10 |
23% | 10% | - | 61% |
Occult +5 |
22% | 9% | - | 72% |
Fire +10 |
All stat scaling bonuses removed, Fire Damage added | |||
Chaos +5 |
All stat scaling bonuses removed, Fire Damage added, scales off held Humanity up to 10 | |||
Lightning +5 |
All stat scaling bonuses removed, Lightning Damage added | |||
Trivia[]
- The Zweihänder, a relatively modern term for a Bidenhänder, is a Germanic greatsword originating in the renaissance. Its name in German literally translates to "two-hander", referencing the fact that its great weight and length require it to be wielded with both hands.
- The length below the two appendages (the parierhaken) above the crossguard is a blunt part of the blade known as the ricasso, which can be held and serves to shorten the wielders grip. This technique is known as half-swording, and provides better control and leverage when fighting in close quarters.
- The aforementioned appendages are designed to deflect blades away from the hand of anyone using this technique.
Gallery[]
| Ultra Greatswords |
|---|
| Black Knight Greatsword • Demon Great Machete • Dragon Greatsword Greatsword • Zweihander |