Elden Ring - Colossal Swords

The stance-breaking class: the biggest attack ratings and the biggest poise damage in the game's sword categories, bought with 15.5-23 weight, a 30-50 Strength bill on most of the roster, and almost no affinity flexibility.

Combat

Pros

• Highest physical ceiling of the three: the Greatsword reaches 401 physical at max standard, against 365 for the best Greatsword and 357 for the best Curved Greatsword.
• Highest stance damage: Watchdog's Greatsword hits 180 on Heavy and Ruins Greatsword 168 on standard, where the Greatsword class tops out near 168 and Curved Greatswords near 164/180 only on Beastman's Cleaver.
• The only S-grade scaling in any of the three classes: Ruins Greatsword reaches S Strength at max standard, and Watchdog's Greatsword reaches S Strength on Heavy.
• Two-handing multiplies effective Strength by 1.5, so the listed Strength requirement is soft, you can wield above your stat sheet.

Cons

• Heaviest class of the three by a wide margin: 15.5 (Zweihander) to 23 (Greatsword, Ruins Greatsword) against 8-15.5 for Greatswords. That is Endurance you are not spending on damage.
• Only 5 of 16 accept Ashes of War and affinities: Zweihander, Greatsword, Watchdog's Greatsword, Troll's Golden Sword, Fire Knight's Greatsword, judging by which weapons appear on 's Heavy/Keen/Quality tables. The other 11 are Somber and locked to their unique skill.
• Steep Strength requirements: 19 at the very cheapest (Zweihander) up to 50 (Ruins Greatsword), with Grafted Blade at 40 and Starscourge at 38.
• Not a single Colossal Sword carries an innate status effect in the extracted data, no bleed, no frost, no rot. If your damage plan runs through status procs, this class cannot supply it.

Builds

Pure or near-pure Strength, two-handed.

• The concrete return: at 80 Strength a Heavy Greatsword reaches 824 attack rating (AR) one-handed and 884 AR two-handed, while Ruins Greatsword reaches 922 AR at 80 Str / 18 Int.
• If you want status instead of raw AR, an Occult Greatsword at 34 Str / 14 Dex / 60 Arc reaches 755 AR, and Blood at the same stats gives 636 AR with 166 bleed buildup.
• The next chunk of damage per level goes to Strength until the 80 hard cap, then Endurance, this class eats equip load, and being over 70% load costs you the roll you need to use it.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Greatsword		164	23	31	12	-	-	-	Highest physical attack in the class at max standard (401) and at +0, and it takes any affinity with ordinary Smithing Stones. records 824 attack rating (AR) one-handed and 884 AR two-handed on Heavy at 80 Strength, 171 stance damage on Heavy, and it is looted from a carriage in Caelid rather than gated behind a boss.
Watchdog's Greatsword		142	22	30	10	-	-	-	Highest stance damage on 's whole set of tables for this class: 180 with Heavy infusion (S Strength) and 164 on standard. It is infusable and drops from Erdtree Burial Watchdogs, so it is repeatable rather than one-per-playthrough, the cheapest route to a dedicated poise-breaker.
Zweihander		141	15.5	19	11	-	-	-	The class's entry ticket: 19 Str / 11 Dex and 15.5 weight, the lowest requirements and lightest weight in the class, bought from the Isolated Merchant in the Weeping Peninsula. Infusable, and 's max Keen table gives it A Dexterity at 319 physical, the class's only realistic Dex option.
Ruins Greatsword		124 + 37 magic	23	50	-	16	-	-	The only S Strength scaling in the class and 922 attack rating (AR) at 80 Str / 18 Int. Its charged strong attack adds a free gravity burst that damages and staggers nearby enemies at no FP cost. Critically, if you miss the 16 Int requirement you lose only the skill and the magic scaling, the physical damage and Strength scaling stay intact, so a pure-Strength build can use it as soon as it finds the Somber stones.
Royal Greatsword		112 + 134 magic	20	26	18	22	-	-	Largest combined attack number in the class at max standard: 274 physical plus 328 magic, with C Str / D Dex / C Int scaling. At +0 its 134 magic is the highest magic damage of any Colossal Sword. It is the Int build's answer here and comes from Blaidd after Ranni's questline rather than from a Remembrance.

Notes

• Two-handing raises effective Strength by 50%, so a listed 40 Str weapon is wieldable around 27 Str two-handed. This is the single most useful fact for getting into the class early.
• Most two-handed moves are un-parriable; the one-handed moveset is slow enough to be parried.
• Stance/poise damage is the class's real job: enemies have a separate stance bar that opens a critical attack when broken, and it resets after 8-20 seconds unless you keep chipping it. Class range at max standard is 120 (Godslayer's) to 168 (Ruins), reaching 180 on Heavy Watchdog's.
• Ash of War access: only 5 of 16 take affinities: Zweihander, Greatsword, Watchdog's, Troll's Golden Sword, Fire Knight's Greatsword. Committing to a Somber weapon means committing to its skill for the run.
• Patch history that changed how the class plays: 1.08 sped up crouch and roll attacks, 1.09 raised attribute scaling and guard-counter speed, 1.14 sped up the uncharged first heavy attack.

All Colossal Swords

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword		154 80.0	46 55.0	0 49.0	0 49.0	0 49.0	100	22.0	D 35	E 10	0	0	D 19	1000	White Light Charge
Fire Knight's Greatsword		147 69.0	0 42.0	44 47.0	0 42.0	0 42.0	100	16.0	D 22	D 18	0	D 12	0	100	Stamp (Upward Cut)
Godslayer's Greatsword		119 63	0 38	77 49	0 38	0 38	100 45	17.5	D 20	D 22	0	D 20	0	1000	The Queen's Black Flame
Grafted Blade Greatsword		162 80	0 48	0 48	0 48	0 48	100 53	21	C 40	E 14	0	0	0	200	Oath of Vengeance
Greatsword of Radahn (Light)		129 65.0	83 47.0	0 34.0	0 34.0	0 34.0	100	20.0	D 32	D 24	E 15	0	0	1000	Lightspeed Slash
Greatsword of Radahn (Lord)		129 69.0	83 42.0	0 47.0	0 42.0	0 42.0	100	19.0	D 32	D 24	E 15	0	0	1000	Promised Consort
Greatsword		164 84	0 50	0 50	0 50	0 50	100 56	23	C 31	E 12	0	0	0	100	Stamp (Upward Cut)
Maliketh's Black Blade		127 68	0 36	0 36	0 36	82 49	100 55	22	D 34	E 12	0	D 20	0	100	Destined Death
Moonrithyll's Knight Sword		124 70.0	80 55.0	0 43.0	0 43.0	0 43.0	100	18.0	D 20	D 14	D 18	0	0	500	Tremendous Phalanx
Royal Greatsword		112 71	134 63	0 44	0 44	0 44	100 52	20	D 26	E 18	D 22	0	0	500	Wolf's Assault
Ruins Greatsword		124 82	37 56	0 50	0 50	0 50	100 56	23	B 50	0	E 16	0	0	1000	Wave of Destruction
Starscourge Greatsword		129 65	83 47	0 34	0 34	0 34	100 52	20	D 38	D 12	E 15	0	0	100	Starcaller Cry
Troll Knight's Sword		124 70	80 55	0 43	0 43	0 43	100 50	18	D 20	D 14	D 18	0	0	200	Troll's Roar
Troll's Golden Sword		155 76	0 46	0 46	0 46	0 46	100 51	19	D 29	D 10	0	0	0	200	Troll's Roar
Watchdog's Greatsword		142 82	0 49	0 49	0 49	0 49	100 55	22	C 30	E 10	0	0	0	100	Stamp (Upward Cut)
Zweihander		141 67	0 40	0 40	0 40	0 40	100 45	15.5	D 19	D 11	0	0	0	100	Stamp (Upward Cut)