Morning Star

Notes

• With Standard affinity, physical damage scales a little more strongly with Strength than Dexterity. Heavy emphasizes Strength. Occult adds Arcane scaling to both physical damage and the existing bleed, while Standard and Heavy do not gain bleed buildup from Arcane.
• Has 50 innate blood loss buildup on Standard affinity while most normal swings deal Strike damage. This gives you both a blunt option against hard-bodied enemies and bleed against enemies vulnerable to it. Bleed immunity does not remove the hammer's ordinary physical damage.
• The last hit of the normal light chain, running heavy attack, rolling light attack and backstep light attack are thrusts that deal Pierce damage. Those particular hits can benefit from Spear Talisman during an enemy's attack; the ordinary blunt swings do not.
• Comes with Kick, which costs no FP and is useful for breaking an enemy's guard while they are blocking. It is not a damaging hammer swing or a reliable way to interrupt every large enemy. Replace it with a compatible Ash of War if you want a different skill.
• Requires 12 Strength and 8 Dexterity, weighs 5 and has a normal critical rating of 100. Two-handing at 8 Strength lets every starting class use it without spending levels.
• Can use compatible Ashes of War and upgrades with Smithing Stones to +25. Grease or a weapon enchantment can be applied with Standard, Heavy, Keen or Quality affinity; elemental and status affinities prevent ordinary weapon coatings.
• The carriage chest is a guaranteed early pickup. No boss, quest conversation or random enemy drop is required, and you do not need to enter Castle Morne.