The requirements are a little funky persay.

in the long term is it better to use the cursed or uncured version? in a long running kind of mind frame. which has the best utility overall?

Although it may seem to have AR comparable to that of some UGS's, the split damage means that it is actually slightly weaker than the uncursed ( which is pure phys damage) version (in PvP) at least) as anything with decent phys and mgc defense will lower the damage considerably, and as both damage types will already be lower than other GS's, it will usually come off with less damage per swing. Nice looks though.

Any one else notice that this sword has a strange animation when you parry and riposte a dark spirit?

Hue

So there seem to be some mixed feelings about this weapon. Allow someone who mains this weapon to shed some light on the subject.

So the (Cursed) version does do more RAW Damage, which is only subject to one type of resistance. So yes for PvP the (Cursed) version is superior.

The above version is a fantastic PvE weapon. What this wiki doesn't tell you is that this sword does extra damage to Darkwraiths and the Four Kings. These are some of the highest magic resistant enemies in the game. (It also does extra damage to NPCs and maybe even PC who are part of the Darkwraith covenant.) Speaking from experience the swords extra damage more than off sets the resistance these foes have.

Also you can off set any Vitality or Endurance neglect by killing Lordric anytime before he kills the fire keeper. I normally do it after the Bell Gargoyles boss.

The Ring of Favor and Protection he drops comes in handy when you need more HP and Stamina than your build allows.

Anyone else notice you get more souls per kill only with the two handed R2 of this weapon? Or is that all special weapons

in Dark souls I, if you overkill an opponent by their hp plus a certain margin you get bonus souls. i think you need to do a single hit damage of the enemy hp value + 20%, but I have never tried to specifically measure it. The 2h power attack on any weapon does the most damage, and likely is enough to overkill the enemies you are fighting.

holy aug, pretty huge damage (PvE anyaway) quite a nice moveset and long reach... only flaw i can see is the HEAVY stat investment this thing calls for... the cursed version is better for PvP but this is the better version in general... (unless you're going AotA where you get the REAL sword of Arty)