The Reapers of Dark Souls 2 are a type of polearm weapon that consists of large sickles and scythes. They have great reach and usually deal enough damage to warrant their somewhat slow attack speed and odd hitbox.
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If the Bearer of the Curse is skilled enough to consistently land hits with a Reaper's sweet spot (the bladed portion), they can cut huge chunks out of their foe's HP bar. All that is required are moderate or high Strength and Dexterity stats, for such weapons are unwieldy; requiring both power and speed to be used effectively.
9 Great Machete
"Great" is an awfully generous term to use for this makeshift weapon that is clearly just a machete on a stick that has been secured by a chain. With understandably low durability comes low damage, making this Reaper the worst out of the entire weapon class.
At the +10 Regular upgrade, the Great Machete receives 250 physical attack with B-tier scaling in Strength and D-tier in Dexterity, making it more suitable for a Strength build, though is also outclassed in this regard by some other Reapers.
8 Full Moon Sickle
A sinister implement, according to its item description, it is designed specifically to cause massive bleeding to those it slices. The Full Moon Sickle is not only the Reaper with the 2nd highest bleed build-up per hit but one of the best overall for inflicting this sanguine status condition.
However, due to its slow swing speed, it can't make as great use of this trait as some curved swords or the much-loved katanas. If one chooses this armament, they should infuse it with Bleed to maximize the potential of the one thing the Full Moon Sickle is good at. Reaching +10 will grant 259 physical attack along with a staggering 230 bleed build-up per slash as well as E-tier Strength scaling and C-tier Dexterity scaling.
7 Crescent Sickle
This spear with a semicircular hook is a great weapon for those seeking to deal both physical and magic damage. Its great reach, a quality all Reapers share, allows the wielder to out-space enemies and is ideal for a sorcerer, whose natural Intelligence and affinity for magic damage are well matched to this weapon.
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The Crescent Sickle, upgraded to the max of +10 along after a Magic infusion, gets 129 physical attack and 201 magic attack as well as triple scaling: E-tier in Strength, D-tier in Dexterity, and B tier in magic damage.
6 Great Scythe
Aptly named, the Great Scythe can cut enemies to ribbons, though does not possess innate bleed build-up despite its counterpart in other Dark Souls games sometimes doing so. In fact, even the Bleed infusion isn't worth doing as the weapon's attack speed does not allow for frequent hits and the max 140 bleed build-up it can acquire via upgrades is not very viable on such a slow weapon.
Therefore, those seeking to make this their primary armament should upgrade it along the Regular path, for at +10, it gets 260 physical attack, E-tier scaling in Strength, and an awesome A-tier scaling in Dexterity.
5 Scythe Of Nahr Alma
This scythe is a solid polearm for those wishing to inflict dark damage in addition to the physical kind, as it innately deals both. It acts very much like the Great Scythe, though the Scythe of Nahr Alma is simply geared more towards hexer builds.
Players should definitely infuse this Reaper with Dark to bring out its true potential, for, at +10, it gets 117 physical attack as well as 156 dark attack and triple scaling: E-tier in Strength, C-tier in Dexterity, and C-tier in dark damage.
4 Silverblack Sickle
Hexers would be the best suited to use the Silverblack Sickle as well, for it possesses innate dark attack that would scale well with the stats of a dark spellcaster. It is significantly shorter than most other Reapers, though still has the range of a relatively long curved sword, and should be wielded as such. Having slightly faster attack animations than its brethren is also a boon.
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Players using this weapon should take the Dark infusion path, and once they reach +10, the Silverblack Sickle will attain 96 physical and 189 dark attack, in addition to C-tier Strength scaling, D-tier Dexterity scaling, and B-tier dark damage scaling.
3 Scythe Of The Forlorn
Easily recognizable for being the same weapon wielded by The Forlorn, a sinister being born from Aldia's numerous sins on his quest to achieve immortality. The Scythe of the Forlorn is a weapon only available in Scholar of the First Sin that appears solely on console versions of the game.
This scythe gains power as one's hollowing increases, making its already nice stats even better the more decrepit the player's body becomes. The best infusion for this by far is Bleed, as not only does this path push the weapon's innate build-up even higher, it also increases dark damage scaling with remarkably little loss to the base attack stats. The +5 upgrade for this Reaper attains 201 physical attack, 67 dark attack, and a colossal 235 points of bleed build-up per slash. It also receives nice scaling; E-tier in Strength, B-tier in Dexterity, and B-tier with dark damage.
2 Bone Scythe
Acquired after trading the Covetous Demon Soul to Straid of Olaphis, the Bone Scythe is actually made from the spine of the demon whose soul was traded to obtain it. Despite the many wicked edges, it is not one of the Reapers that have bleed build-up, instead heavily favoring Strength builds with excellent damage and the highest scaling with this stat out of the whole weapon class.
At the +5 Regular upgrade, it achieves a huge 325 physical attack and scales purely with an awesome A-tier in Strength for an attack rating higher than the majority of other Reapers as well as other polearms in the game.
1 Scythe Of Want
An appropriate armament for anyone who wants power, reach, and frequent victories. The Scythe of Want can be obtained from Weaponsmith Ornifex by trading the Soul of Nashandra, meaning that it is a weapon only available in New Game+ and beyond.
It cannot be infused, though certainly upgraded, and after it reaches +5, the Scythe of Want gets 260 physical attack on top of 200 dark attack as well as decent scaling bonuses in Strength (D-tier), Dexterity (B-tier), and dark damage (C-tier).