Elden Ring - Curved Swords

Curved swords swing faster and weigh less than any other curved blade, so they suit out-tempoing bosses and stacking infused bleed, never trading hits.

Combat

Pros

• Their attack cadence is the fastest of the curved blade classes. Curved swords attack more quickly than many other melee weapons, which makes them excellent against fast-moving opponents.
• Feint attacks are available across the whole class, a built-in mixup that costs no Ash of War.
• Infusion access is the broadest of the curved blade classes. Most curved swords take Heavy, Keen, Quality, Blood and Occult, so the class adapts to any stat spread instead of locking a character into Dexterity.
• This is the lightest class of the curved blades, from 2.0 (Shotel) to 5.0 (Bandit's Curved Sword, Horned Warrior's Sword), against 9.0 to 10.5 for Great Katanas.

Cons

• Poise damage is the lowest of the curved blade classes. Fully upgraded, the class runs from 80 (Dancing Blade of Ranah, Nox Flowing Sword) to 102 (Horned Warrior's Sword), with Beastman's Curved Sword on Heavy the class best at 107, while Great Katanas start at 104.
• The physical attack ceiling is the lowest of the curved blade classes, with Bandit's Curved Sword at 289 fully upgraded against 294 for Katanas, 301 for Twinblades and 379 for Great Katanas.
• Innate bleed is rare, with only Scavenger's Curved Sword (45) and Falx (55) carrying it. Every other bleed build in this class is bought with a Blood infusion, and that costs attack rating, taking Bandit's Curved Sword from 289 down to 242 to gain 82 buildup.
• Guarding is weak. Fully upgraded guard boost runs from 20.9 (Spirit Sword) to 36 (Bandit's Curved Sword), so guard counters are not a real plan here.

Builds

Dexterity comes first, with just enough Strength to meet requirements (7 to 14 covers almost the whole class).

• Past that there are two routes: stay on Keen or Quality and lean on swing speed, or go Arcane with Occult, which reaches B Arcane on every infusable curved sword.
• Intelligence builds have exactly one home, Wing of Astel at B Intelligence.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Bandit's Curved Sword		118	5	11	13	-	-	-	Bandit's Curved Sword has the highest physical attack among curved swords at 118 at +0, with D Strength and D Dexterity and full infusion support, so it adapts to Occult or Blood builds as easily as Quality ones. It ties for heaviest in the class at 5.0, a small price for the top damage, and dual-wielding Skeletons drop it.
Beastman's Curved Sword		113	4	13	11	-	-	-	Beastman's Curved Sword is the Strength curved sword, with C Strength scaling at +0 and the highest poise damage in its class, and its requirements lean on Strength rather than Dexterity, inverting the class norm. A Heavy infusion takes its Strength scaling to A, which makes it the curved sword for a Strength build.
Falx		107	4	12	15	-	-	-	Falx is a paired curved sword with 55 innate blood loss buildup, the highest native bleed in its class, on 107 physical with D Strength and D Dexterity. Revenger's Blade is a dashing dual-blade attack that builds bleed fast, so it brings bleed without spending an infusion on it.
Dancing Blade of Ranah		88	3.5	9	20	-	-	-	Dancing Blade of Ranah is the only curved sword with no Strength scaling, so every point goes into Dexterity, which reaches A at max upgrade. It is a paired weapon, so two-handing equips a duplicate in the off-hand, and the Dancer's Set enhances its skill and heavy attacks. Its poise damage is low and it cannot be infused.
Wing of Astel		65 + 78 magic	2.5	7	17	20	-	-	Wing of Astel is the real Intelligence option among curved swords, with 65 physical and 78 magic at +0 and D Intelligence scaling that climbs to B at max upgrade, at only 2.5 weight. Nebula is its skill, giving a sorcerer a fast, light blade with a magic attack built in.

Notes

• Dual-wield attacks with curved swords deal more poise damage in PvP.
• The uncharged first heavy attack is faster.
• The Blood infusion ceiling is 82 buildup, below the 100 that Twinblades and the Great Katana reach.
• Occult tops out at B Arcane across the infusable curved swords, and the best Occult attack rating belongs to Bandit's Curved Sword at 254, then Grossmesser at 247.
• Dancing Blade of Ranah, Falx, Horned Warrior's Sword and Spirit Sword belong to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

All Curved Swords

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Bandit's Curved Sword		118 48	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100 36	5	D 11	D 13	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Beastman's Curved Sword		113 44	0 33	0 33	0 33	0 33	100 27	4	C 13	E 11	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Dancing Blade of Ranah		88 37.0	0 28.0	0 29.0	0 29.0	0 27.0	100 20	3.5	9	B 20	0	0	0	500	Unending Dance
Eclipse Shotel		77 35	0 25	0 25	0 25	77 50	100 25	3.0	E 10	D 25	0	D 30	0	1000	Death Flare
Falchion		109 42	0 31	0 31	0 31	0 31	100 26	3.5	D 9	D 13	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Falx		107 42.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	100 23.0	4.0	D 12	D 15	0	0	0	200	Revenger's Blade
Flowing Curved Sword		109 42	0 31	0 31	0 31	0 31	100 26	3.5	D 9	D 17	0	0	0	200	Spinning Slash
Grossmesser		115 46	0 34	0 34	0 34	0 34	100 28	4.5	D 14	D 12	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Horned Warrior's Sword		108 48.0	0 36.0	0 36.0	0 36.0	0 36.0	100 30	5.0	D 11	D 14	0	E 14	0	200	Horn Calling
Magma Blade		96 44	0 30	62 44	0 30	0 30	100 27	4	D 9	D 15	0	D 16	0	200	Magma Shower
Mantis Blade		112 44	0 33	0 33	0 33	0 33	100 27	4	D 10	D 12	0	0	0	200	Spinning Slash
Nox Flowing Sword		112 40	0 30	0 30	0 30	0 30	100 25	3.5	E 8	D 15	0	0	0	200	Flowing Form
Scavenger's Curved Sword		105 40	0 30	0 30	0 30	0 30	100 25	3.5	D 9	D 14	0	0	0	200	Spinning Slash
Scimitar		106 40	0 30	0 30	0 30	0 30	100 25	3	D 7	D 13	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Serpent-God's Curved Sword		113 44	0 33	0 33	0 33	0 33	100 27	4	D 13	E 9	0	0	0	500	Spinning Slash
Shamshir		108 42	0 31	0 31	0 31	0 31	100 26	3.5	D 7	D 13	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Shotel		96 37	0 27	0 27	0 27	0 27	100 22	2	E 9	D 19	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Spirit Sword		92 38.0	59 38.0	0 26.0	0 26.0	0 26.0	100 19	2.5	E 8	D 16	D 16	0	0	200	Rancor Slash
Wing of Astel		65 28	78 52	0 23	0 23	0 23	100 23	2.5	E 7	D 17	D 20	0	0	200	Nebula