Elden Ring - Claws

Claws are light, none heavier than 3.0 or asking more than 20 Dexterity, and most bleed by default, which makes them the cheapest way to put 60 to 82 blood loss on a boss without restructuring anything.

Combat

Pros

• Most claws carry innate blood loss, 60 on the Hookclaws, Bloodhound Claws and Raptor Talons and 45 on the Claws of Night, while the Venomous Fang carries 72 deadly poison instead.
• A Blood affinity at max upgrade pushes bleed to 82 on the Bloodhound Claws, Hookclaws and Raptor Talons.
• Requirements are very cheap, at 6 to 10 Strength and 9 to 20 Dexterity, with weight from 1.5 to 3.0.
• The Hookclaws, Bloodhound Claws, Raptor Talons and Claws of Night carry a 110 critical multiplier, better than any colossal weapon or Hand-to-Hand weapon.

Cons

• The attack rating ceiling is small, with the Bloodhound Claws topping out at 242 at max standard upgrade, barely over half of the Duelist Greataxe's 416.
• Reach is the shortest of any melee class alongside Fists, with no safe spacing option.
• Guard boost of 19 to 22 takes blocking off the table.
• The Claws of Night belong to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and are Somber and uninfusable, so a base-game run has an even smaller pool to choose from.

Builds

Dexterity or Arcane both work, and both are cheap.

• For pure Dexterity, Keen +25 gives A Dexterity on the Hookclaws and Raptor Talons (195 and 180 physical) and B on the Bloodhound Claws and Venomous Fang.
• Arcane bleed is the class's real home: Occult Bloodhound Claws give B Arcane, 213 physical and 45 bleed, while Blood gives 204 physical and 82 bleed, so Blood trades about 9 attack for 37 more bleed.
• The Venomous Fang is its own build, since a Poison infusion keeps deadly poison damage while using normal poison duration, and the poison scales with Arcane under Poison, Blood and Occult, pairing with The Poison Flower Blooms Twice.
• Because requirements cap at 20 Dexterity, no claw ever forces a respec, and the next chunk of damage comes from upgrade level, affinity choice and Arcane rather than from meeting a threshold.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Bloodhound Claws		99	3	10	15	-	-	-	Bloodhound Claws are the hardest-hitting claw at 99 physical, with 60 blood loss buildup and a 110 critical rating. Bloodhound's Step lets the wielder move through lava and other slowing terrain without penalty, handy in Gelmir Hero's Grave, and the light attacks ignore half of a shield's damage negation. They can be infused and buffed.
Venomous Fang		97	2.5	9	9	-	-	-	Venomous Fang is the only claw without bleed, building 72 poison that inflicts deadly poison instead. Infused with Poison it keeps the deadly-poison damage with normal poison's duration, and under Poison, Blood or Occult the poison scales with Arcane, so it suits an Arcane build that faces bleed-resistant enemies.
Hookclaws		93	2	8	14	-	-	-	Hookclaws are the earliest claw with 60 blood loss buildup. With a Keen affinity at max upgrade they reach A Dexterity, and a Blood affinity pushes their bleed to 82. At 2.0 weight they can be infused and buffed, so they carry a Dexterity or Arcane run from the early game to the end.
Raptor Talons		86	1.5	6	14	-	-	-	Raptor Talons are the lightest claw at 1.5 weight with the cheapest requirements in the class, yet they reach A Strength with Heavy or A Dexterity with Keen at max upgrade. They keep the 110 critical rating and 60 blood loss buildup, so almost any build can slot them in for bleed and ripostes.
Claws of Night		79 + 51 magic	3	8	20	-	-	-	Claws of Night are the only claw with magic damage, 51 on top of 79 physical, and the only one with a ranged option, since heavy attacks throw the claws as projectiles for no FP. They also have a unique retreating slash, 45 blood loss buildup, a 110 critical rating and C Dexterity scaling, though they upgrade with Somber stones and cannot be infused or buffed.

Notes

• The Claws of Night's thrown heavy attack costs no FP, scales with the Smithing Talisman (and the Axe Talisman when fully charged), and has a unique retreating slash triggered by holding heavy attack and pressing dodge. Its jumping attacks cannot be used while it is one-handed in the off-hand.
• Base physical damage at +0 is 99 on the Bloodhound Claws, 97 on the Venomous Fang, 93 on the Hookclaws, 86 on the Raptor Talons and 79 on the Claws of Night.
• The Claws of Night carry the class's only innate elemental damage, in magic, so every other element in the class is an infusion result.

All Claws

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Bloodhound Claws		99 38	0 22	0 22	0 22	0 22	110 22	3.0	D 10	D 15	0	0	0	100	Bloodhound's Step
Claws of Night		79 33	51 31	0 18	0 18	0 18	110 21	3	8	C 20	0	0	0	500	Scattershot Throw
Hookclaws		93 35.0	0 20.0	0 20.0	0 20.0	0 20.0	110 20	2.0	E 8	C 14	0	0	0	100	Quickstep
Raptor Talons		86 33	0 19	0 19	0 19	0 19	110 19	1.5	E 6	C 14	0	0	0	100	Quickstep
Venomous Fang		97 36	0 21	0 21	0 21	0 21	100 19	2.5	D 9	D 9	0	0	0	100	Quickstep