DARK SOULS III HYPE: 3 DEX WEAPONS

THREE DEXTERITY BUILD STEREOTYPES
THAT WILL INEVITABLY CARRY OVER TO
DARK SOULS III & HOW TO BEAT THEM

Regardless of whether you plan to use spells or not, there's always a need for a backup weapon. Nothing is as quick, or resourceful as a solid melee weapon. Most ranged builds find themselves relying on dexterity weapons that are infused with their relevant element, and/or buffing it for extra damage. Eventually, you're going to pick up one of these weapons; and most likely like everyone else, try to use it 'to its fullest potential.' However, that doesn't mean you should pick up a weapon and try to excel at it because its what you want. Play around with everything, and find what play-style is right for you. Although, keep in mind not to fall entirely dependent on that play-style, Or someone will recognize the patterns in your behavior, and do everything in their power to exploit your weaknesses, and annoy you into rage-quitting.

THE PARRY KING
"R3, L2, I'm better than you!"

Although it's a little unfair to lump all parry spammers in with dexterity weapon users, more people than not prefer weapons with high critical modifiers, such as Daggers, Piercing Swords, Spears, Halbards & Lances to pair with their small parrying shields, such as the Manikin Shield, Buckler and Target Shield. Keep in mind that these players may also keep extremely slow and high damage weapons hidden away in their inventory, just for the occasion they succeed a parry. They'll pretty much rely on you to make the first move, or otherwise trick you into believing they've 'accidentally' left an opening for you to attack them. If someone has proven to be effective at parrying, be very careful when you chose to attack and try your best to be both threatening and unpredictable.

THE EDGE-LORD, MASTER OF TRADES
"Glorious Eastern Counter Damage, Multiplied over 1000 Times!"

On top of getting made fun of for being a weeaboo, Katana users are universally chastised for having a quick weapon with medium reach that's difficult to punish, despite doing considerable counter damage. The majority of bad publicity for this weapon comes from its misuse. People with wanton disregard for their own safety will sometimes pick up a Katana for the sole purpose of attempting to interrupt your strikes, or trading blows with you for bonus damage equal to some strength weapons. It may be interesting to experiment with this exotic samurai blade; but you should keep in mind that in this game, it's far more common than you'd expect. Despite the eons of martial arts and discipline that went into refining the expertise of the Katana, characters in Dark Souls swing it around like a glorified kitchen knife. Players with this mentality tend to be extremely aggressive. Staying out of reach of this weapon until your enemy is recovering from lashing out is a quick and easy way to shut them down.

EL ZORRO, GOD OF COUNTERS
"Lesson No. 1, never R1 in anger."

The average Thrusting Sword player is really difficult to counter, save for blocking, dodging or out-reaching them. They're exceptionally difficult to parry, unless they're playing with predictable aggression. This is rarely the case, as more often than not are simply waiting for you to be completely safe to counter-attack and retreat from. You need to play some serious mind games with this player, because their strategy is mostly reactive in nature. You need to create false openings from which you know you can recover faster than they can attack you in order to either evade and punish, or trade damage with. Be very careful when making the decision to trade damage. Depending on the build they are running, it may be very easy for a rapier player to come out on top when trading, especially if they are in their power-stance with two rapiers, the Ring of Blades +2, Flynn's Ring, and the Old Leo Ring.

Keep in touch, because very soon, you'll be getting a post about STRENGTH WEAPONS; so keep posted and make sure to follow @SoulsHype on Twitter for updates on more advice to consider bringing to Dark Souls III.