A new feature in Dark Souls III, Weapon Skills are special moves granted by weapons that consume FP to produce a special effect. In previous Souls games, some of these moves would have been specific to certain weapons, with normal weapons having no unique ability, but in Dark Souls III, all weapons have been given a skill of some sort. In fact, every usable piece of equipment in the game has a skill, including Catalysts, Ranged Weapons, and Shields.
Some are basic maneuvers (such as Parrying with a light shield), others are almost (or entirely!) magical in nature.
Weapon Skills usually don’t define most weapons, as a weapon’s moveset and overall ability still tends to be its most important traits. Weapon Skills do add a lot of flavor, and in some cases, they fill some very useful niches (such as breaking shield guard cheaply and easily).
Keep in mind that some shared skills that appear on multiple weapons have slightly different FP costs, depending on the weapon in question. Check the full equipment charts for specifics.
A great many Weapon Skills are specific to unique weapons, be they Soul-transposed weapons created from boss Souls, or Soulbound weapons.
| Weapon skill | Appears On | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Blind Spot | Corvian Greatknife, Handmaid’s Daggerr | Use against shielded foes to break through their guard by attacking from the side. |
| Bloodlust | Blood Lust | Stain blade with one’s own blood to temporarily grant uncanny sharpness. |
| Chain Spin | Winged Knight Twinaxes, Winged Knight Halberd | Sweep foes in a large spinning motion and use strong attack to continue the motion until stamina is exhausted. |
| Chained Dance | Painting Guardian’s Curved Sword | Execute relentless consecutive attacks while tracing a circle in a unique dance of deadly grace. |
| Champion’s Charge | Gundyr’s Halberd | Hold spear at waist and charge at foe, and use momentum to transition into sweeping strong attack. |
| Charge | Astora Greatsword, Spears, Pikes, Halberd | Hold sword at waist and charge at foe. Use strong attack while charging to extend the length of the charge. |
| Combustion | Pyromancy Flame, White Hair Talisman | Creates a powerful flame in the wielder’s hand. One of the most basic pyromancies, and for this very reason, the flame created is fierce. Works while equipped in either hand. |
| Crescent Blade | Crescent Moon Sword | Assume a broad stance and fire off crescent moon blades. |
| Dancer’s Grace | Dancer’s Enchanted Swords | Unleash the fury of both blades in a dancing spin motion and use strong attack to continue the performance until stamina is exhausted. |
| Darkdrift | Darkdrift | Aim carefully, and pierce with a large forward lunge. |
| Darkmoon Arrow | Darkmoon Longbow | Infuse a readied arrow with Darkmoon essence, granting it magic damage and the ability to pierce shields. |
| Demonic Flare | Demon’s Great Axe | Briefly cause flame within to flare, and smash it upon earth and foes. |
| Ember | Firelink Greatsword | The fading flame momentarily illuminates and launches itself forward. |
| Falling Bolt | Dragonslayer Great Axe, Dragonslayer Swordspear | Hold axe high in air to gather fierce lightning, and smash ground to whip the bolts to the ground. |
| Feast Bell | Eleonora | Hold up axe and wave to emit a solemn chime to temporarily make weapons lacerating, and to restore HP for each hit. |
| Flame of Lorian | Lorian’s Greatsword | Lunge forward to transform smolder into flame, and follow with strong attack to launch flame across ground. |
| Flame Whip | Witch’s Locks | Temporarily coat the whip in fire. |
| Flame Whirlwind | Demon’s Fist | Spin through opponents with abandon, flaming fists outstretched. Using a strong attack while spinning utilizes your momentum to slam the ground with both fists. |
| Frost | Pontiff Knight Great Scythe | Create a bone-chilling frost with each swing of the greatscythe that causes a temporary frost effect. |
| Frost Blade | Pontiff Knight Curved Sword | Execute large spinning motion to imbue blade with frost, and follow through with a strong attack that slashes with a giant blade made of frost. |
| Galvanize | Warpick, Pickaxe | Temporarily boost stamina recovery speed. |
| Gentle Prayer | Talismans | Recovers HP for a period of time, albeit extremely slowly. Works while equipped in either hand. |
| Guiding Light | Scholar’s Candlestick, Cleric’s Candlestick | A candle provides a temporary source of light which reveals additional guidance. Acts as the Seek Guidance spell. |
| Hold | Katanas | Assume a holding stance to rapidly execute a lunging slash with normal attack, or a deflecting parry with strong attack. |
| Impact | Whips | Strike from the left to evade shields and deal a stinging blow that temporarily slows stamina recovery. |
| Kindled Charge | Gargoyle Flame Spear | Hold spear at waist and charge at foe, and use momentum to transition to a fiery strong attack. |
| Kindled Flurry | Gargoyle Flame Hammer | Anchor weapon in earth and use strong attack to launch successive volleys of fire from the tip of the hammer. |
| Leaping Slash | Claw | Perform a forward leaping slash at the opponent’s head. When successful, functions as a head shot, inflicting heavy damage. |
| Lifedrain | Dark Hand | Embrace the victim and steal their HP. Can only be used against humans. |
| Lightning Charge | Dragonslayer Spear | Charge with spear at waist to enwreathe with lightning, then release bolts with final thrust. |
| Moan | Moaning Shield | Offer a gentle prayer to the shield, causing the woman’s face to give out a low moan and attract enemies. |
| Molten Perseverance | Old King’s Great Hammer | Anchor weapon in earth to temporarily boost poise, and use strong attack to repeatedly stab earth to trigger molten explosions. |
| Moonlight Vortex | Moonlight Greatsword | Draw sword back and thrust to unleash torrential moonlight. |
| Morne’s Rage | Morne’s Great Hammer | Stick weapon into earth and emit a powerful shockwave. Also, similar to Perseverance, temporarily boosts poise and reduces damage received. |
| Neck Swipe | Reapers | This attack aims for the scruff of a foe’s neck, and when successful, functions as a head shot, inflicting heavy damage. |
| Oath of Sunlight | Sunlight Straight Sword | Raise the sword aloft when praising the sun to boost attack and damage absorption for self and allies in vicinity. |
| Onislayer | Onikiri and Obadachi | Leap forward and slash mercilessly with both blades, cutting open foes. |
| Pacify | Yorshka’s Spear | With a prayer and an offering of this spear, temporarily wear down enemy FP. |
| Parry | Parrying Dagger, Farron Greatsword, Light Shields, Medium Shields | Deflect an attack when timed properly and follow up with a critical hit. |
| Perseverance | Black Knight Sword, Hammers, Great Hammers, Red Hilted Halberd, Caestus | Temporarily boost Poise. Damage reduced while active. |
| Pharis Triple-shot | Black Bow of Pharis | Swiftly nocks three arrows with finesse after drawing the bow, firing them simultaneously. |
| Profaned Flame | Profaned Greatsword | Temporarily summon the Profaned Flame. Lunge forward and use strong attack to enshroud blade in flame. |
| Puncturing Arrow | Greatbows | Masterfully fires off a great arrow that pierces through all enemies in its path, inflicting damage. |
| Punitive Flame | Immolation Tinder | Punish foes with a flame that blankets the ground. |
| Quickstep | Daggers, Thrall Axe, Manikin Claws | Instantly step behind or around the side of foes. Especially effective when locked on to target. |
| Rapid Fire | Composite Bow, Short Bow | Swiftly nocks arrows with finesse after drawing the bow, allowing for consecutive shots. |
| Ricard’s Lunge and Press | Ricard’s Rapier | Assume a quick stance, lunge forward, and execute a stunning chain attack. Sustain offensive with strong attack. |
| Sacred Light and Flame | Twin Princes’ Greatsword | While in stance, use normal attack to cast Sacred Lothric Light, and strong attack to cast Flame of Lorian. |
| Sacred Lothric Light | Lothric’s Holy Sword | Assume stance to imbue sword with sacred light, and use strong attack to release light together with a great thrust of the sword. |
| Sharpen | Butcher Knife, Great Machete | Sharpening the blade increases HP restored with each successful hit. |
| Shield Bash | All Shields | Without lowering your guard, strike the enemy with the shield to knock them back or stagger them. Works while equipped in either hand. |
| Shield Splitter | Mail Breaker, Estoc, Irithyll Rapier, Arstor’s Spear, Spear | Aim carefully, and attack in a large forward lunge to pierce through enemy shields and inflict damage directly. |
| Spin Slash | Gotthard Twinswords, Curved Swords, Curved Greatswords | Slice into foes with a large spinning motion, and continue spinning to transition into strong attack. |
| Spin Sweep | Partizan, Halberds | Sweep foes in a large spinning motion, and utilize momentum to transition into an overhanded strong attack smash. |
| Stance | Straight Swords and Greatswords, Crystal Sage’s Rapier and Rapier | While in stance, use normal attack to break a foe’s guard from below, and strong attack to slash upwards with a forward lunge. |
| Stance of Judgment | Greatsword of Judgment | Assume stance to unleash dark magic. Use normal attack for a lunging thrust, and strong attack to emit side-sweeping wave. |
| Steady Chant | Heysel Pick, Golden Ritual Spear, Staffs | For a short moment, boost the strength of sorceries. |
| Stomp | Dark Sword, Greatswords and Ultra Greatswords | Use one’s weight to lunge forward with a low stance and increased poise, and follow with strong attack for a spinning slash. |
| Stone Flesh | Havel’s Greatshield | Raise the shield in silent prayer, turning the user’s body into a solid mass of stone. |
| Storm King | Storm Ruler | Assume stance to imbue sword with storm. Most effective when facing giants. |
| Tackle | Crossbows | Lunge into a shoulder tackle, pushing back enemies to create distance. |
| Tornado | Storm Curved Sword | Imbue blade with the wrath of storm in a spinning motion, and follow with a strong attack to bear that wrath upon foes. |
| Unfaltering Prayer | Talismans | Temporarily increases poise while casting miracles, preventing enemy attacks from interrupting prayer. Works while equipped in either hand. |
| Unleash Dragon | Tailbone Shortsword, Tailbone Spear | Thrust the spear to unleash the strength of dragons, similar to an ancient dragon weapon, only with its power tragically faded. |
| Warcry | Axes, Greataxes, Hammers, Great Hammers, Crescent Axe | Let out a spirited warcry that temporarily boosts attack, and enables a crushing strong attack. |
| Weapon Skill | All Shields | Equipping this shield in the left hand allows one to perform the Skill of the right hand weapon. |
| Wheel of Fate | Bonewheel Shield | Thrust out the wheel and give it a good spin, shredding enemies with the outer lining of spikes. |
| Wolf Leap | Old Wolf Curved Sword | Slice into foes with a large spinning motion, then leap out of harm’s way and follow with strong attack. |
| Wolf Sword | Wolf Knight’s Greatsword | While in stance, use normal attack for a low spinning slash, or strong attack to leap forward in a vertically-slashing somersault. |
| Wrath of the Gods | Wolnir’s Holy Sword | Thrust weapon into earth to emit powerful shockwave. |