The world of Dark Souls took several cues from the late Kentaro Miura‘s seinen manga, Berserk. Berserk is set in a dark fantasy world following the struggles of a lone mercenary named Guts, a one-eyed, one-armed warrior wielding a massive sword and an arsenal of weaponry who slaughters demons at every turn. The Dark Souls franchise takes a huge amount of inspiration from this manga, from the Guts-like Knight Artorias to the Darksign brand. All three games include some armor pieces that even allow the player to cosplay as Guts.
There are several builds that allow the player to cosplay as Guts through several different armor pieces resembling his manga outfits in a viable (if challenging) playstyle. These are among the best ways to become Guts in Dark Souls 3, relying on Strength and Dexterity for high-risk, high-reward strikes. Every build also has a Blessed Gem-infused Caestus for regeneration and parrying, a Heavy Gem-infused greatsword for high strength scaling and several rings that affect attributes to allow a more genuine Guts playthrough.
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Band of the Hawk
Guts’ armor worn during most of his time with the Band of the Hawk during the prequel “Golden Age” arc is the most mundane and practical-looking of all of Guts’ primary outfits. Consisting of very basic knightly armor lined with underlying cloth cushions and padding, its standout feature, as with all of Guts’ looks, is his huge sword. While this early sword is much slimmer than his much more iconic Dragon Slayer sword, Guts’ mercenary sword is still imposingly long and responsible for his infamous slaying of 100 men.
The majority of Dark Souls 3’s Sellsword armor set greatly resemble Guts’ Band of the Hawk look. The one exception is the helmet, which can be easily replaced with the open-visor Forgotten Knight Helm or be removed to show Guts’ face. The primary weapon is the Astora Greatsword which, while not resembling Guts’ mercenary sword very much, is the closest approximation found in Dark Souls 3.
The Black Swordsman
Guts’ debut outfit and the one he wears for most of the manga until he receives the Berserker armor, the Branded Swordsman look consists of segmented armor that is sometimes covered by his iconic black cape. Having lost his left arm during the Eclipse, Guts has replaced it with a prosthetic that can be converted into a miniature cannon. In this outfit, Guts receives his famous Dragon Slayer sword, a massive slab of iron he manages to wield with great effect despite its size and weight.
Dark Souls fans can cosplay the Black Swordsman using the Undead Legion armor and gauntlets combined with the Alva Leggings, ideally going helmetless. In place of a cannon arm, players can partake in some Pyromancy with the Combustion Art “Chaos Bed Vestiges” to simulate this powerful backup weapon. Of course, the costume isn’t complete without the mighty Greatsword to function as Guts’ Dragon Slayer, with weight to match.
The Berserker Armor
Guts’ current armor and probably his coolest armor yet, the Berserker armor is a dwarven-forged artifact once worn by the Skull Knight and entrusted to the witch Flora. Given to Guts after Griffith’s new apostles invade Flora’s spirit tree, the Berserker armor takes advantage of Guts’ “berserk” fighting style by being instilled with his negative emotions and suppressing his pain and fear. This augments Guts’ already ferocious fighting capabilities at the cost of potentially turning into a feral beast unable to tell friend from foe.
Dark Souls 3 can replicate this awesome armor set with most of the Black Knight’s armor set, topping it off with Morne’s Helm or helmetless to the player’s choice. The Greatsword and Pyromancy Flame return from the Black Swordsman set, but the chosen spell is instead the Power Within, greatly augmenting the player’s defense at the cost of gradually losing HP.
The Beast of Darkness
The inner manifestation of Guts’ rage and bloodlust, the Beast of Darkness acts as Guts’ dark side, influencing him to give in to his hatred and kill his friends to break free from Guts’ mind. Although its presence is always felt throughout most of Guts’ journey post-Eclipse, the Beast takes physical form when Guts dons the Berserker armor. Every time Guts pushes the armor to its limits, the Beast gets closer and closer to corrupting Guts’ mind as the Berserker armor transforms into something more animalistic.
Dark Souls 3‘s Iron Dragonslayer set isn’t a perfect match. Still, the full collection is as close as the player can get to armor that resembles the Berserker armor transforming into Beast of Darkness. This time, the Pyromancy spell is the Sacred Flame, a powerful spell that has the player grab opponents and then blow them up with a fiery explosion–an appropriately savage spell for an equally savage form.
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