Elden Ring best weapons 2024: Tier list, early game, Strength, and more in 1.12
The best of Elden Ring’s arsenal of over 300 weapons.
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Of all the many different unique and exciting items there are to find scattered throughout Elden Ring’s gargantuan open world, few are as exciting to stumble across as new weapons. Many armaments have unique movesets that play nicely with a wide variety of great builds, and when youupgrade them with Smithing Stones, adjust their scaling with infusions, and apply an Ash of War to them to give them powerful special attacks, they become absolutely exceptional. There are also one-of-a-kind weapons with exotic effects and Ashes of War that generally only drop once per playthrough and from a highly specific source, making any with scaling and stat requirements that line up with your character valuable to have on-hand.
In total, there areover 300weapons to collect in the Lands Between, and you’re sure to find plenty of them whether you’re exploring the highest mountaintops or the deepest underground caves. However, with so many arms to choose from, it can be tough to know which ones are actually worth using and which ones you should avoid — either because they won’t be a good fit for your build, or because they simply pale in comparison to better options. This will get even trickier onceElden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLCcomes out, as it’s been confirmed that it will add “over 100” weapons to the game’s sandbox.
To help you navigate this problem and pick some reliable weapons to use, I’ve put together a guide below that goes over all of the best weapons inElden Ring, why they’re good, which types of builds they’re goodfor, and where you can find them in the Lands Between. Also included is a tier list that ranks all 31 weapon classes from S to D, giving you an idea of which archetypes are generally more viable than others.
Elden Ring: Best weapons tier list
Each of Elden Ring’s 309 weapons fit into one of 31 different and distinct weapon classes. Due to the sheer number of available armaments and the minute, granular differences between many of them, I felt that ranking all of them in a tier list individually wouldn’t be very valuable.
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Instead, I’ve chosen to make a tier list that ranks the classes that these Elden Ring weapons fall into. The vast majority of the weapons within each weapon class have similar movesets, damage outputs, and stat requirements, which means that if you can use one of them, you can likely use most or all of the rest. Then, in the sections below, I’ll go over some of the best individual weapons in the game that stand out as top options for specific builds or gameplay scenarios.
Note that every weapon class in Elden Ring can be effective with the proper stat spread and upgrades, even if I’ve ranked them low on the tier list below. If a weapon class is ranked lowly, it simply means that weapons from that class are generally pretty niche and aren’t as widely useful as other weapon types are. Also, since casting tools like glintstone staves and sacred seals are the only weapons you can use to cast sorceries or incantations respectively, I’ve chosen not to rank them against the other classes.
At the top of Elden Ring’s meta are Great Spears, Curved Swords, Katanas, and Greatswords, with all four of these weapon classes offering stellar damage output, top-notch status effect applications (Bleed, mainly), and good range relative to their DPS. Below that, there are Heavy Thrusting Swords, Colossal Swords, Spears, Halberds, Curved Greatswords, and Thrusting Swords, which all deal great damage and boast either excellent range, attack speed, or stagger potential.
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Overall, the worst weapons in Elden Ring are bows and crossbows, as these don’t dish out much damage relative to their equip load weight and often get blocked by shield-wielding enemies. With that said, they can still be worth slotting into a build if you’ve got the equip load headroom for it, and give you range utility in scenarios where it’s helpful (for example, aggroing a single enemy out of a group from afar so you don’t have to fight them all at once).
Best Elden Ring early game weapon: Morning Star
The Morning Star is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and easy-to-use weapons you can get your hands on in Elden Ring’s early game. Not only can the weapon be acquired in just a few minutes after you take your first steps into the open world, but you don’t even have to fight a boss in order to reach it. On top of that, the weapon has extremely low minimum requirements,andit’s capable of building up bleed on enemies for large chunks of extra damage. Also, since it’s in the Hammer class, it doesn’t weigh too much and deals great poise damage. What more could you want out of an early weapon?
You can find the Morning Starin a chest found inside a broken carriage on the side of the road leading to Castle Morne in the Weeping Peninsula region. Watch out for the nearby dog, troll, and misbegotten enemies, as they’ll attack if they spot you.
Best Elden Ring Strength weapon: Lance
The best Strength weapon in Elden Ring used to be the Berserk-style Greatsword, but due to recent nerfs to that weapon’s crouch poke move, the Lance has taken its place. Its relatively low Dexterity requirements mean that players can pump all their points into Strength without having to worry much about the other stat, and with a Strength infusion and upgrades, the Lance gets A scaling with Strength. As a result, it does phenomenal damage, while also giving you the incredible range and poise-breaking power of the Great Spear weapon class. It’s best used with a greatshield since you can poke with it while blocking. Alternatively, it’s also extremely effectivepower stancedwith another Great Spear.
To get the Lance, you’ll need to pick it upoff the top of the northwest ruin structure found on the road going from Limgrave’s Stormhill area to the eastern section of the region. You can do this by jumping off the edge of the nearby cliff and landing on the structure’s roof. The ruin is right by a camp of soldiers, so try to avoid drawing their aggro.
Best Elden Ring Dex weapon: Nagakiba
The Nagakiba is one of Elden Ring’s most versatile Dexterity weapons. Not only does it naturally have good scaling with the stat (it gets A scaling with a Keen infusion), but it has the longest reach of any Katana weapon, high damage, and intrinsic bleed buildup. On top of that, you can put any katana-compatible Ash of War on it that you like, which is always a bonus.
The Nagakiba can be foundin the Second Church of Marika in central Altus Plateau by completing Bloody Finger Hunter Yura’s questline.
Best Elden Ring quality weapon: Bloodhound’s Fang
Quality weapons — weapons that work best with a relatively even split of both Strength and Dexterity — aren’t as effective in Elden Ring as they’ve been in previous Soulsborne-style games. With that said, some of them are still incredibly capable, and the best of these is arguably the Bloodhound’s Fang. This Curved Greatsword ends up with C Strength scaling and B Dex scaling when upgraded and outputs a ton of damage, especially when you use its Bloodhound’s Finesse Ash of War. Its range is fairly long, too, and as a bonus, it also inflicts bleed buildup with every hit.
You can acquire the Bloodhound’s Fangby defeating Bloodhound Knight Darriwhil at the Forlorn Hound Evergaol in southern Limgrave, just before the bridge that leads to the Weeping Peninsula. For more information about this encounter, check out our guide onhow to complete Blaidd’s quest in Elden Ring.
Best Elden Ring Intelligence weapon: Dark Moon Greatsword
The Moonlight Greatsword is in almost every single Soulsborne game released by FromSoftware, and it’s back in Elden Ring as the Dark Moon Greatsword. Despite its fairly high stat requirements, this weapon stands tall as the best armament pure Intelligence builds can turn to when spells aren’t getting the job done.
The base damage is already excellent, but buffing the weapon with its Moonlight Greatsword Ash of War will make it even deadlier. Not only will attacks do more damage and inflict Frostbite faster while the weapon is buffed, but players will also gain the ability to launch devastating frost projectiles at foes with heavy attacks.Post-launch buffsmade the weapon even more potent, as these projectiles can now be launched at a faster pace.
Getting the Dark Moon Greatsword is more difficult than obtaining most weapons, as it requires the completion of a lengthy and dangerous quest. For all the details, refer to our guide onhow to complete Ranni’s quest for the Moonlight Greatsword in Elden Ring.
Best Elden Ring Faith weapon: Coded Sword
If you’re a pure Faith caster and you need a reliable weapon to use in situations where you can’t effectively take your foes down with incantations, you won’t find anything better than the Coded Sword. It weighs almost nothing at just 2.5 weight, and it only requires points in Faith to wield. It also starts off with an excellent Faith scaling value of B, which climbs up to A as you upgrade it. As a result, it does plenty of Holy damage. Notably, it completely bypasses shields as well, making it an effective counter against turtling enemies.
You can get the Coded Swordfrom the throne room of the Fortified Manor in the southwestern section of the Leyndell, Royal Capital area.Note that you can’t come back to this area after defeatingMaliketh, the Black Blade, so make sure to grab the Coded Sword before you do.
Best Elden Ring Int/Faith weapon: Sword of Night and Flame
The Sword of Night and Flame is currently the best weapon for Intelligence/Faith hybrid builds, able to delete most bosses in the game relatively quickly with its devastating Ash of War. Pressing L2 and R1 will make it shoot a devastating beam of sorcery, while L2 and R2 makes it shoot a wide arc of flames that will burn crowds of enemies to a crisp. The physical damage of the sword itself is average at best, but since you shouldn’t be hitting enemies with it often anyway, this isn’t an issue.
The Sword of Night and Flame is locatedwithin a stone tower you have to jump onto from the walkways of Caria Manor, which is located in northern Liurnia of the Lakes. The weapon will be in a chest.
Bes Elden Ring Arcane weapon: Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear
Arcane builds are amongst thebest Elden Ring buildsin the game, and one of the best weapons to use with them is Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear. This trident-like Great Spear dishes out excellent damage, has great range and stance-breaking potential, and can inflict plenty of bleed buildup, too. The Bloodboon Ritual Ash of War is also devastating against large groups of enemies, bosses that have low bleed resistance, or PvP opponents. The weapon’s only downside is that its stat requirements are high, making this a late-game weapon.
To get the Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear,you’ll first need to defeatMohg, Lord of Bloodin his arena, which you can find at the southwestern point of Mohgwyn Palace. Then,take the Remembrance of the Blood Lord and exchange it for the weapon with the Finger Reader in Roundtable Hold.
Best Elden Ring bleed weapon: Rivers of Blood
The Rivers of Blood is the perfect weapon for players that want to deal a huge amount of bleed damage in a short amount of time. This is because the Corpse Piler Ash of War allows you to perform several bloodflame slashes in quick succession, all of which inflict huge bleed buildup. This move is extremely strong in PvE, and even though it was nerfed in PvP, it’s still very effective if you’re able to catch opponents off-guard with it.
To get the Rivers of Blood, you’ll need tokill the Bloody Finger Okina NPC that invades you to the east of the Church of Repose, which you’ll find in the southern portion of the Mountaintops of the Giants.
Best Elden Ring dagger for crits: Misericorde
Whether you’re planning on parrying your foes or breaking their stance, there’s not a better weapon to use for the follow-up critical hit than the Misericorde. This absolute monster of a dagger isn’t that useful in direct combat, but keeping it equipped as your secondary weapon and pulling it out when backstabbing or riposting after a parry or stagger will net you some truly insane crit damage. This is thanks to its crit damage multiplier of 140, which is the highest of any armament. Its Quickstep Ash of War is also useful as an enhanced dodge that can often help you survive attacks that are tough to avoid with standard dodge rolls.
To get the Misericorde, you’ll need touse a Stonesword Key to unlock a room blocked by white fog in the western section of Stormveil Castle. There are two large exile soldiers inside, so be ready for a fight.
Best Elden Ring bow: Black Bow
The Black Bow is the most versatile bow in Elden Ring, and because of that, it’s also the best bow in my view. It has good max range and strong damage (for a bow), and notably, it possesses the moveset of a Short Bow even though it’s part of the regular Bow weapon class. This means you can perform quick shots after rolling or jumping with it, allowing you to stay in the fight even when enemies or bosses are aggressively attacking you. The Barrage Ash of War is also excellent, particularly when paired with arrows that build up status effects like poison or bleed.
You’ll find the Black Bowon a rooftop in Leyndell, Royal Capital, to the northeast of the Avenue Balcony Site of Grace. To reach it, you’ll need to jump from roof to roof in the area.Note that you won’t be able to get this weapon after killing Maliketh, the Black Blade, so make sure to get it before you do.
Best Elden Ring ranged weapon: Jar Cannon
While bows are nice, they’re more of a mid-range tool and aren’t ideal for attacking enemies from afar. That’s where the Jar Cannon comes in, a behemoth of a weapon that has excellent range and damage. As long as you’ve got plenty of greatbolts to spare, you can blow away most basic foes before they even close the distance with this armament. It’s also a great option in multiplayer engagements, as distracted players likely won’t see you firing at them. The reload speed is pretty slow, but as long as you’re careful about when you decide to pull this thing out, it won’t be an issue.
You can get the Jar Cannonby killing Demi-Human Queen Margot in the Volcano Cave, which you can find in northern Mt. Gelmir.
Best Elden Ring staff for sorcery: Carian Regal Scepter
While theMeteorite Staffis better for Elden Ring’s early and mid-game, you should plan on using the Carian Regal Scepter once you reach 60 Intelligence with your sorcerey build. This staff provides some of the highest sorcery scaling in the game without any drawbacks whatsoever, making it the best overall staff for castingElden Ring’s best spells. The fact you need 60 Intelligence to use it means it will take a long time before you can obliterate enemies with it, but the crazy damage you can do makes it worth the wait.
You can obtain the Carian Regal Scepter bydefeatingRennala, Queen of the Full Moonat the end of Raya Lucaria Academy, which is located in northern Liurnia of the Lakes. You’ll then need touse her Remembrance to create the staff by speaking to the Finger Reader in Roundtable Hold.
Best Elden Ring seal for incantations: Erdtree Seal
This is essentially the seal version of the Carian Regal Scepter. It has a high Faith requirement of 40, but when upgraded, it gets S Faith scaling and the highest incantation scaling in the entire game when paired with a pure Faith casting build. While having some seals in your offhand can provide a passive damage boost to certain spells (for example, the Giant’s Seal will improve the potency of Giants' Flame spells), you should always becastingwith the Erdtree Seal to take advantage of its phenomenal incantation scaling. Notably, the Erdtree Seal doesn’t weigh anything, either, making it a great choice for players that want to cast spells without sacrificing valuable Equip Load points.
You’ll find the Erdtree Sealon a corpse in a cell near an Omenkiller beneath the Volcano Manor Prison Town Church Site of Grace.
Other top Elden Ring weapons
The weapons listed above may be the best overall weapons in Elden Ring, but they’re far from being theonlyones you should consider using. There are plenty of other excellent weapons, too, including special armaments that are ideal for hybrid-style builds, highly adaptable ones that work well with a wide variety of playstyles, and more. We’ve listed these weapons below, along with some quick explanations about why they stand out.
Grow your arsenal, brave Tarnished
Now that you know what the best Elden Ring weapons are and where you can find them in the Lands Between, I strongly suggest spending some time to hunt them all down so that you’ve got a huge arsenal at your disposal. Having tons of different weapons to choose from is never a bad thing, especially if you’re planning to experiment with different infusions and Ashes of War or by choosing torespec your stats.
You won’t be able to fully upgradeallof them since there’s a limited number of Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones and Somber Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones per playthrough; save those for the weapons you use the most. Still, that final upgrade isn’tthatimportant, and as long as your stats match the ones a weapon scales best with, you’ll be dealing plenty of damage.
Elden Ring is one of thebest Xbox gamesandbest PC gamesof all time, and I strongly recommend picking it up and beginning a playthrough now if you haven’t done one already. That way, you’ll have plenty of time to experience all of what 2022’s Game of the Year has to offer before the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC launches on June 21. Notably,the expansion is available to preorderon Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Windows PC now, and there’s even a Collector’s Edition with several awesome collectibles included.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree |$37.09 at CDKeys (Steam)
Elden Ring’s upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC will take players to the dark and mysterious realm of the Land of Shadow, tasking them to follow in Miquella’s footsteps and discover what he’s doing there. Get ready for a new map, new bosses, new dungeons, and more.
Also at:Steam ($39.99, PC, Digital)|Xbox ($39.99, Digital)
Collector’s Edition:Bandai Namco Store (€249.99)
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
