The gothic world of Dark Souls is rife with tales of epic fantasy and classical tragedy of the highest order. Throughout the series, a central recurring theme is the need to let go of the past. The undead curse itself embodies this, as the curse preys on those who have lost their purpose.

Indeed, Dark Souls III is no exception. The most dangerous enemies in the game are often fallen heroes that have maddened to hollowness, finding themselves unable to let go of their former lives, attacking any newcomer that they see as a threat. Among those are the feared Lothric Knights, but facing them can reap a powerful reward: their Lothric Sword.

RELATED: Final Fantasy XVI Newsletter Strongly Suggests an M Rating

Origins

The Lothric Knights were an order of highly trained and respected warriors, protecting the holy land of Lothric with their refined straight swords and their mounted drakes. How the knights managed to tame and subjugate drakes demands both respect and fear; they worshipped the sun, the source of lightning and bane of dragons, learning to harness its destructive energies to defeat them and make them do their bidding.

Lothric's order of knights forms one of the great three pillars of the king's rule, alongside the High Priestess Emma, whose church is in conflict with the Saint of the Deep and the scholars of the Grand Archives. The royal rings that are sometimes found on the person of each pillar shows just how much authority the Knights of Lothric held in the kingdom's governmental hierarchy.

RELATED: Demon's Souls Looks Gorgeous, But Will It Be the Same Game?

Nature of the Sword

This unethical use of domination and subjugation isn't limited to the enemy dragons, however—in Lothric, slavery is commonplace, and those who wear the Thrall hood are shamed as criminals and sub-humans. Those who use the blade of the Lothric Knights hold not only great power and respect but also command crippling terror and authority over Lothric's subjects.

The vast majority of Knights in the realm of Lothric have turned hollow and insane. As a result, a Lothric Knight will attack any player approaching their vicinity, either out of a sense of fierce territorialism or a subconscious desire to fight a worthy opponent after centuries without war. They roam Lothric tirelessly and fight with unrelenting aggression and precision as if they were never hollow at all.

RELATED: Dark Souls: Every Stat From Least To Most Useful, Ranked

Gameplay

In-game, the Lothric Knight Sword is one of the most versatile and potentially powerful weapons a player can get their hands on, especially since it is a very common item drop from fighting Lothric Knights in the game's early hours. Even if the player misses multiple chances to receive the sword from regular drops, the Thrall thief known as Greirat sells the blade for a mere 4000 souls.

When a player first uses the sword, it doesn't appear to be that much better than a basic Longsword, having only a D in both Strength and Dexterity scaling without infusions. However, when the Lothric Knight Sword is infused with magical gems, particularly the Crystal or Lightning infusions, its potential scaling reaches the S ranks, allowing for massive damage when properly reinforced and bolstered by its effective range.

Perhaps this massive increase in strength via magical infusion is indicative of how the Lothric Knights attained so much power over the drakes. It is a weapon that calls upon the latent power of the gods, and the loss of luster and rust of age in its base form will not be enough to stop an Ashen One with a renewed sense of purpose.

NEXT: Berserk: 10 Things Fans Never Knew About The Godhand