Beasthood pellets are what got me through the orphan of kos, the chikage hunter in the church, and a few other bosses in my first run.
In my current playthrough i got the beast claw as soon as i could (rush to forest to get the item from patches, then amygdala for the chalice, then pthumerian dungeon level 3 to get the materials needed for ailing loran, then loran level 2 for the weapon, and be super overlevelled when i got back to the forest). And it's got innate beasthood when transformed. It doesn't have as great burst as my kirkhammer, but if you give me even 3 hits, it out damages the hammer because beasthood is so good. It might be one of my favorite weapons now, after blades of mercy, church pick, and amygdalan arm. And i haven't even gotten the rune to change its moveset yet!