In Elden Ring, the Shadow Of The Erdtree expansion brought forth over 100 new weapons to experiment with. With the sheer amount of options available, it can be tricky to discover which weapon will suit your play style. Thankfully, many of the new additions are strong across a variety of builds.
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Faith builds received an overwhelming number of items compared to other builds, which could potentially skew the best weapons to be for Faith. While there were definitely more Faith weapons added, Arcane and Intelligence did receive some love. As such, this list attempts to congregate the best weapons that can be utilized by as many builds as possible, with some notable exceptions.
Related
One of the most popular and effective builds in Elden Ring is a Strength/Faith build, due to its large variety of options and defenses.
10 Star-Lined Sword
For Master Yoda Enthusiasts
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The Star-Lined Sword is a new katana that scales primarily with Dexterity and Intelligence, boasting an incredible Ash of War. Onze's Line of Stars, the unique skill of the demi-human swordsmen, is a 5-hit attack that utilizes a teleport slash for the final hit in the chain. This is excellent for consecutive hit builds, allowing you to reach the maximum buff from the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia quite easily.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Item Location |
---|---|
Star-Lined Sword (Str 10, Dex 23, Int 21) | Obtained upon defeating Demi-Human Queen Marigga, found by going northeast from the Cerulean Coast West Site of Grace. |
With the limited amount of options the Shadow Of The Erdtree expansion gave to intelligence builds, the Star-Lined Sword is a breath of fresh air. However, even though the Star-Lined Sword is a great new option for intelligence builds, it actually scales more with dexterity. If you plan to use the Star-Lined Sword, you will benefit more from higher dexterity than you would with higher intelligence.
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9 Carian Thrusting Shield
Block And Attack Together
The Carian Thrusting Shield is one of the best new options for intelligence builds, coming with innate magic damage and can be infused with other Ashes of War. There are plenty of great options, both defensive and offensive, as it functions as both a shield and a weapon. Shield Crash is amazing if you plan to use it more as a shield, while Chilling Mist is great if you plan to use it offensively.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Ash of War Recommendations | Item Location |
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Carian Thrusting Shield (Str 17, Dex 13, Int 15) |
| Found in Shadow Keep, west of the Storehouse, Back Section Site of Grace, guarded by a Fire Knight. |
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The unique aspect of a thrusting shield is that you can attack while guarding as long as you are two-handing the weapon. This can eat into your stamina bar rather quickly, so make use of the Two-Headed Turtle Talisman to speed up your stamina regeneration. Set up with Chilling Mist for Frostbite buildup, and you'll have a perfect weapon for both exploration and bosses.
The Pearl Shield Talisman is an excellent choice to use with the Carian Thrusting Shield in Elden Ring.
8 Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana
Curse You Bayle!!!
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The Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana is the best weapon in Elden Ring for dragon encounters, of which there is no shortage in both the base game and the Shadow Of The Erdtree expansion. The Ash of War, Dragonwound Slash, does massive bonus damage against dragons, making this weapon an exceptional choice against one of the hardest bosses in the expansion, Bayle the Dread.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Item Location |
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Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana (Str 15, Dex 20) | Obtained upon defeating the Ancient Dragon-Man in the Dragon's Pit. |
This Dragon-Hunter's Great Katana has quite low stat requirements, meaning it can reliably fit into any build when encountering a dragon. This weapon also excels in the penultimate area of the game, Crumbling Farum Azula, the disintegrating city of dragons. Combo Shard of Alexander and the Godfrey Icon to reach comical levels of damage against dragons.
7 Falx
Amazing For Consecutive Hit Builds
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The Falx curved sword, the weapon of the Hornsent, is an absurdly strong weapon for consecutive hit builds and bleed builds, excelling in both PVE and PVP. The Ash of War, Revenger's Blade, can be charged to increase the distance of the lunge, making it a great tool for gap closing. Follow up with a strong attack to unleash a flurry of six strikes, racking up consecutive hits and blood loss buildup.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Item Location |
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Falx (Str 12, Dex 15) | Obtained upon defeating the Hornsent. |
This weapon combos incredibly well with a variety of talismans, such as the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent's Prosthesis, and the Lord of Blood's Exultation. Utilize these three talismans together to massively boost your attack power. This weapon is relentless in the hands of an invader, and can swiftly cut down enemy groups.
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6 Sword of Night
Free Magic Damage!
The Sword of Night is one of the coolest new weapons in Shadow Of The Erdtree, a pure Dexterity weapon with innate magic damage and blood loss buildup. The blade is semicorporeal, allowing it to ignore armor negations. It's Ash of War, Witching Hour Slash, is a jack of all trades. It can be charged to increase its damage, it hits multiple times, and it cannot be blocked. Unfortunately, getting this weapon can be a little convoluted.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Item Location |
---|---|
Sword of Night (Str 11, Dex 20) | Obtained upon using the Iris of Occultation on Jolán, Swordhand of Night at the end of Count Ymir's questline. |
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Once you have progressed through Count Ymir's questline and have defeated him, Jolán will be sitting dejected where you first met her. Using the Iris of Occultation on Jolán will lay her to rest, dropping the Sword of Night. However, if you want to acquire her Spirit Ash instead, use the Iris of Grace.
One Iris of Occultation can be found by defeating an Omenkiller in the basement of the Fort of Reprimand and the other by defeating an Ulcerated Tree Spirit in the flooded area of Shadow Keep.
5 Milady
A Buttery Smooth Moveset
The Milady belongs to a new subset of weapons in Elden Ring called the Light Greatswords. While it can be infused with various Ashes of War, the Ash of War Wing Stance is designed specifically for this weapon. Holding the skill button will put you in a stance with two options: a multi-hit light attack or a piercing jump strong attack.
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Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Item Location |
---|---|
Milady (Str 12, Dex 17) | Found in a chest at the top of a tower to the west upon entering Castle Ensis just past the Troll Knight. |
This weapon is meant to be combined with the new talisman, Rellana's Cameo, which will increase the damage of any stance attacks by 15%. This not only applies to Wing Stance, but other stances as well, such as Moon-and-Fire Stance, Night-and-Flame Stance, and Unsheathe.
If you are using Rellana's Cameo, using other weapons with stance skills can help enhance your build's versatility.
4 Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword
The Fastest Colossal Weapon
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The Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword, a Strength/Arcane colossal sword, lives up to its name as one of the Ruined Forges Treasures. Its Ash of War, White Light Charge, can close gaps incredibly quickly as well as hit incredibly hard for massive magic damage. The standard attacks of this weapon scale vastly more with Strength than Arcane, but the damage from the Ash of War scales more with Arcane than Strength.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Item Location |
---|---|
Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword (Str 35, Dex 10, Arc 19) | Found as the reward in the Ruined Forge of Starfall Past at the end of the dungeon. |
Colossal swords are already champions at breaking poise, but with the addition of White Light Charge, enemies and bosses will be staggered incredibly often. Utilize the Shard of Alexander for increased damage from White Light Charge. This weapon fits wonderfully into Dragon Communion builds, which also break poise incredibly fast with incantations like Dragonmaw and Dragonclaw.
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Utilize the Stonebarb Cracked Tear for additional poise damage.
3 Bloodfiend's Arm
For When The Boss Is Too Hard
The Bloodfiend's Arm has already become infamous for its ability to cause blood loss in one hit with its strong attack. It can be infused with a variety of Ashes of War, but there's really only one option in Royal Knight's Resolve, as this weapon revolves entirely around single-hit attacks. Royal Knight's Resolve provides an 80% damage buff on your next attack that lands, having perfect synergy with the Bloodfiend's Arm.
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Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Ash of War Recommendation | Item Location |
---|---|---|
Bloodfiend's Arm (Str 28, Dex 11, Arc 16) |
| Dropped from a Bloodfiend horde in Prospect Town in Gravesite Plain. |
Because this weapon causes blood loss with every strong attack, the 20% damage buff from the Lord of Blood's Exultation will always be active, making it a mainstay talisman for this build. Utilizing the Axe Talisman for 10% increased damage from charged attacks is also a perfect addition, since there is no reason to use light attacks with this weapon. If you're ever having too much trouble with a boss, slap this weapon on and watch their HP dwindle to nothing.
2 Fire Knight's Greatsword
Innate High Faith Scaling
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The Fire Knight's Greatsword is a new colossal sword that comes with innate higher Faith scaling, meaning infusing this weapon with a Flame Art Ash of War will boost its damage even further than other infusions. The new ashes of war, Flame Skewer and Flame Spear, are both excellent choices for this weapon as they provide a fire coating buff that even outpaces the tried and true Flaming Strike from the base game. Unfortunately, this weapon is not a guaranteed drop and will need to be farmed in order to obtain it.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Ash of War Recommendations | Item Location |
---|---|---|
Fire Knight's Greatsword (Str 22, Dex 18, Fai 12) |
| Dropped from Fire Knights in Shadow Keep. |
Raising your Arcane raises your Discovery, which will help during the farming process. Utilize Silver-Pickled Fowl Foots for an increased chance for this weapon to drop. It can be farmed easily near the Storehouse, First Floor Site of Grace after taking the lift down.
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1 Spear of the Impaler
The Embrace Of Messmer's Flame
The Spear of the Impaler is the remembrance weapon of the boss Messmer the Impaler, one of the hardest bosses in the Shadow Of The Erdtre expansion and the entire game. The Ash of War, Messmer's Assault, is a multi-hit attack that coats the spear in flame, rapidly slashing and stabbing foes, finishing the combination by thrusting the spear into the ground, forming dozens of spears around you. The skill has three parts, meaning it can be extended or ended early depending on your situation.
Weapon Name & Stat Requirements | Item Location |
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Spear of the Impaler (Str 14, Dex 35, Fai 18) | Exchange the Remembrance of the Imapler with Finger Reader Enia in the Roundtable Hold to obtain this weapon. |
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This weapon synergizes with successive hit builds and fire damage builds, two of the strongest tools in the game. Strong attacks with the spear will also throw it, giving it plenty of ranged potential. It can also be thrown while on horseback. Try this weapon with the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia to embrace your enemies in Messmer's Flame in Elden Ring.
Video Credit: Lost/ChaseTheBro/Caspahz/YouTube
Elden Ring
RPG
Action
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment , From Software
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer