There’s so much choice in Elden Ring, it can be tough to make sense of it all. But one of the most important decisions is: which of the huge amount of weapons is the best for you?
What are the best Elden Ring weapons for the early game and late game?
You’re almost constantly picking up shiny new armaments, and each of the best weapons in Elden Ring represent different kinds of playstyles. Whether that’s the fast-paced assassinations of daggers, the unweildy might of greatswords, or the dependable efficiency of regular swords and katanas.
However, while these powerful weapons will get you a long way, as you approach the climax of your time in The Lands Between the trusty weapon that propelled you through the early game might be starting to lose its effectiveness.
So that you’re not underpowered as you approach the late game, we will run through both the best weapons in Elden Ring for the early game and the late game too.
Many of these picks require diverse investment in lots of different stats, with a lot of the most powerful weapons seeming to need a large investment in Faith. But we’ve also tried to find something for everyone, regardless of your allignment.
Or if you’re more a fan of the arcane arts though, we have dedicated pages for the best staffs in Elden Ring and the best spells in Elden Ring – since the playstyle is so different from melee.
What is the best early game sword in Elden Ring? The Great Epee
If you thought rapiers were supposed to be quick and nimble, then you’ve never tried the Great Epee, a powerful thrusting sword you can grab from a chest without even fighting the surrounding enemy camp.
Once you’ve reached the very attainable level requirements of 15 Strength and 16 Dexterity, the Great Epee is a long-reaching, powerful upgrade on your starting weapons with a steam train of a special ability that lets you launch into and deal massive damage to most enemies.
It’s found southeast of The First Step, on the other side of the lake. Go south of the Waypoint Ruins until you reach a Kaiden camp. Just to the left of the entrance you find a treasure chest guarded by a roaming enemy – ignore them, open the chest and grab the sword.
What is the best early game katana in Elden Ring? The Uchigatana
It’s back! The samurai’s starting weapon, the Uchigatana, has long been an early game staple of FromSoftware RPGs, and with good reason. It’s dependable, upgradable, and pretty cool to boot.
If you don’t already have the Uchigatana, there’s another in the depths of the Deathtouched Catacombs in the northern part of Stormhill.
Run through the skeleton warriors that animate as you make your way through the catacombs unless you’re a fan of being mobbed by rattling bones.
At the end of the main path there’s a lever you can pull which opens a side path in the room before the one you just came through. It’s on the left as you backtrack, next to the stairs. Take a left on the other side of the passage and the Uchigatana is in front of you.
What is the best early game greatsword in Elden Ring? Bloodhound’s Fang
The thing about Greatswords is that a lot of them require a huge amount of Strength to wield effectively. We’re talking as much as 30-40+ Strength, which is much more than you have in the early game.
This is why the Bloodhound’s Fang is such a… great … sword. Not only is it a fantastic bleed-damage inflicting weapon with a strong unique ability, but it just needs 18 Strength and 17 Dexterity to equip.
What’s more, it shouldn’t go understated how OP its special ability, Bloodhound’s Finesse, is. You can deal huge damage to all enemy types, including bosses, while nimbly avoid harm yourself. You could happily slay many demi-gods with this weapon and use it for the majority of the game.
To lay your hands on it, make your way to the Forlorn Hound Evergaol, which is the grey circle on the map southeast from The First Step.
You have to loop northeast around the lake to get there, but once you do, interact with the circle and face the boss you find, Bloodhound Knight Darriwil. On death, they drop the Bloodhound’s Fang.
This is probably one of the more difficult fights you’ve undertaken in the game so far – but play on the defensive, punish openings only when it’s safe, and spam any good ashes of war you have unlocked, and you should prevail.
What is the best early game dagger in Elden Ring? Reduvia
Like the sound of inflicting bleeding damage over time, but not lugging something longer than your own body around? Then look no further than the evil-looking Reduvia dagger, which is your reward for completing a fun AI invasion.
On the northern shore of the shallow lake to the east of The First Step, there’s a bridge. Go underneath the bridge and follow the inlet north.
After a short trip, you will see a prompt telling you that you’re being invaded. Defeat the phantom by any means necessary – you don’t have to do it alone, a ronin comes to help so it’s more a tutorial for how invasions work – then you can claim their weapon, Reduvia, for your own.
The only requirement you might not have is 13 Arcane, but this is very easily reachable.
What is the best late game sword in Elden Ring? Sword of Night and Flame
Although it needs diverse investment, the Sword of Night and Flame is a very fun and versatile weapon which can see you through even the toughest tasks.
While its normal attacks combine physical, magic, and fire damage, the real star of the show is its dual special abilites. Here, light attack sends out a powerful magic blast in front of you and heavy attack unleashes a wide-reaching AoE wall of flame.
This comes at the cost of 12 Strength, 12 Dexterity, 24 Intelligence and 24 Faith – which you will likely have to repec for – but it’s unique playstyle could be worth it for you.
Despite its power, the Sword of Night and Flame is quite easy to get from Caria Manor in the northwest of Liurnia of the Lakes. From the Manor gate, follow the path forward and around to the left to get to the house’s lower level Site of Grace.
Next, go up the stairs and bear left on the walkways. Over the side of one of the walkways, you will be able to drop down over the side and onto a nearby roof. From the rooftop, you can descend a ladder and claim the Sword of Night and Flame from a waiting treasure chest.
What is the best late game greatsword in Elden Ring? Blasphemous Blade
Combining Strength and Faith in almost equal measure, the Blasphemous Blade is a hugely powerful greatsword with another stellar special ability. It can be wielded effectively with 22 Strength, 15 Dexterity, and 21 Faith.
Despite being a bit slow to wind up, Taker’s Flames launches a massive column of fire at your enemies, giving you a very strong distance option with surprising range. Not only does it close distance though, but can also be deployed to mow through crowds of mobs with ease.
To add the Blasphemous Blade to your arsenal, you need to complete the events at Volcano Manor at Mt. Gelmir, then swap the soul of the last boss there with Enia the Maiden Husk in the Two Fingers chamber.
What is the best late game Faith weapon in Elden Ring? Winged Scythe
You might have noticed that Faith weapons are quite good. For a long-reaching, less strength intensive and more accessible option, check out the Winged Scythe.
It requires 16 Strength and Dexterity with a chunky 24 Faith and is found underground in the Tombsward Ruins in the northwest of the Weeping Peninsula.
While you will likely be relying on Incantations, the Winged Scythe gives you another powerful and varied melee trick up your sleeve.
What are the best late game strength weapons in Elden Ring? Godrick’s Axe and Grafted Greatsword
If Faith and magic are too complicated for you and you just want to hit things until they fall over, you can get two solid weapons with high strength requirements quite easily.
The giant axe used by Godrick the Grafted can be obtained from the Maiden Husk Enia in the Two Fingers chamber by handing over Godrick’s boss soul.
The Grafted Greatsword, a huge sword literally made out of other swords smelted together, is won from the Leonine Misbegotten boss in the very south of the map. You find them past Castle Morne off the southern tip of the Weeping Peninsula.
What is the best late game katana in Elden Ring? Moonveil Katana
Since the fully upgraded basic Uchigatana is so good, you’re probably most interested in something a bit different to dual-wield it with.
The Intelligence-based magic Moonveil is just that. With good bleed buildup and useful special ability if you wanted to use it solo, the Moonveil is good for handling both single targets, crowds, and any enemies weak to magic.
It needs 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, and 23 Intelligence. To grab the Moonveil Katana, you need to beat the Magma Wyrm boss in the Gael Tunnel south of the Shack of Rotting in Caelid.
From the Shack of Rotting on the western boarder of Caelid, head south a little way and there’s an entrance in the base of the mountain below you. Make your way through the mine, either defeating or avoiding the enemies.
Eventually you make it to a fog gate, but just past it you can also find another Site of Grace to respawn at should you get beaten by the boss. When it’s defeated, you get the Moonveil Katana all to yourself. For more on the treasures you can find in The Lands Between,
The Twinblade is a double-sided sword that caters to strength and dexterity builds, resulting in fast and heavy damage that will give you a large area of effect. The quick strikes can easily overwhelm enemies, allowing you to lay in a lot of damage in multiple hits.
A hybrid Dexterity and Intelligence build is arguably one of the strongest builds in all of Elden Ring since you get the power of sorcery and the physical damage of Dexterity, as well as the benefit of having a very fast casting speed as we.
Elden Ring features an assortment of different types of weapons for all playstyles, and much like other Souls games, these weapons can be found or bought in a variety of locations.
Fists are a type of Weapon in Elden Ring. Fists are equipped on both hands and excel in short-range combat, allowing users to perform fast and rapid attacks that can quickly elminate hostile Enemies.
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