Elden Ring - Great Spears

The longest reach in the game bolted to a shield: but only two of the ten accept an Ash of War, so you commit to this class for one specific weapon, never for flexibility.

Combat

Pros

• Same attack-through-guard property as Spears but with far more attack rating (AR) behind it: Lance 301 and Messmer Soldier's Spear 298 physical at max standard.
• Best guard boost of the four classes: Serpent-Hunter 50 at +0 and 55 at max, with 72 physical guard absorption, it is effectively a shield you attack with.
• Longest reach of any melee class here; describes it as 'extraordinarily long'.
• Real Strength ceiling on the infusible pair: Lance and Messmer Soldier's Spear both reach A Str at max Heavy (277 and 274 physical), and Serpent-Hunter reaches A Str at max standard (271) with zero stat requirements.

Cons

• Only Lance and Messmer Soldier's Spear can be modified with Ashes of War; the other eight have fixed skills. This is the single biggest reason not to commit to the class.
• Slow and expensive per swing: 's max-standard stamina column reads 146 for Serpent-Hunter, 128 for Mohgwyn's and Siluria's Tree, against 68, 88 across the whole Spear class.
• Heavy: 7.5 (Barbed Staff-Spear) up to 12 (Serpent-Hunter), with most sitting at 8, 10.
• Uniform light attacks. all great spears share the same light attacks: only the heavies differ, so moveset choice is thin.

Builds

Pick the weapon first, then the stats.

• Str/Quality: Lance or Messmer Soldier's Spear, A Str at max Heavy (277 / 274), B/B at max Quality (241 / 239).
• Pure Str with no stat tax: Serpent-Hunter needs nothing to equip and records 694 attack rating (AR) one-handed and 747 two-handed at 80 Str / 12 Dex.
• Arcane: Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear (27 Arc), where Arcane beats Strength despite both showing C because physical AND fire both scale off Arcane.
• Faith: Barbed Staff-Spear (22 Fai, A Fai at max standard, 210 physical / 210 holy).
• Dex/Faith: Spear of the Impaler wants 35 Dex and 18 Fai, the steepest Dex bill in the class.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Lance		123	9	20	14	-	-	-	Highest max-standard physical in the class at 301 and one of only two great spears that accepts an Ash of War, so it is the only entry that can be re-pointed at a different build later. Found on a corpse northeast of Warmaster's Shack in Limgrave, available immediately. flags that despite the weapon description, there is no damage bonus for mounted attacks.
Messmer Soldier's Spear		122	8.5	19	16	-	-	-	DLC. The other infusible great spear, and the more accessible one: a 2% drop from Messmer Soldiers near Moorth Ruins rather than a boss reward. 298 physical at max standard, A Str at max Heavy (274), A Arcane at max Occult (263). Shares its R2 chain with Treespear.
Serpent-Hunter		111	12	-	-	-	-	-	Zero stat requirements in every attribute with B Str at +0 rising to A at max standard; records 694 attack rating (AR) one-handed and 747 two-handed at 80 Str / 12 Dex, plus the class's best guard boost at 55. It cannot be sold, dropped, infused or buffed, and it is picked up inside Rykard's arena, so it is a boss-fight tool that happens to be a strong Strength weapon afterwards.
Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear		96 + 62 fire	10	24	14	-	-	27	The Arcane payoff: 55 innate bleed, longest weapon in its class per, which records 707 attack rating (AR) with 90 bleed buildup at 34 Str / 14 Dex / 60 Arc. Its skill Bloodboon Ritual hits through walls and objects and adds a flat 30 AR of fire regardless of stats for roughly 17 usable seconds. Remembrance of the Blood Lord, so it is a late pivot.
Barbed Staff-Spear		86 + 86 holy	7.5	14	18	-	22	-	DLC. The best Faith scaler here: A Fai at max standard with a 210 physical / 210 holy split, and records 726 attack rating (AR) one-handed and 732 two-handed at 14 Str / 18 Dex / 80 Fai. Lightest great spear at 7.5. Guaranteed drop from Jori, Elder Inquisitor at the end of Darklight Catacombs.

Notes

• Attack with a shield raised, as with Spears.
• Only Lance and Messmer Soldier's Spear are infusible. Everything else has a fixed skill, check this before you commit levels.
• All light attacks are shared class-wide. Heavies split four ways per: thrust (Lance, Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear, Bloodfiend's Sacred Spear), horizontal sweep (Vyke's War Spear, Serpent-Hunter, Siluria's Tree, Barbed Staff-Spear), double poke (Treespear, Messmer Soldier's Spear), thrown projectile (Spear of the Impaler).
• Patch 1.14 increased the attack speed of the uncharged first heavy attack for every great spear except Serpent-Hunter.
• Treespear is the exception to the Somber pattern: normal Smithing Stones, no infusion, but weapon buffs work, doubling Faith scaling with Bloodflame Blade / Electrify Armament / Order's Blade on a Faith build.

All Great Spears

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Barbed Staff-Spear		86 42	0 31	0 31	0 31	86 45	100	7.5	E 14	E 18	0	C 22	0	1000	Jori's Inquisition
Bloodfiend's Sacred Spear		115 40	0 25	0 25	0 25	0 25	100	8	E 22	E 12	0	0	C 13	200	Bloodfiends' Bloodboon
Lance		123 57	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100	9.0	D 20	D 14	0	0	0	100	Charge Forth
Messmer Soldier's Spear		122 56	0 35	0 35	0 35	0 35	100	8.5	D 19	D 16	0	0	0	100	Impaling Thrust
Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear		96 55	0 38	62 38	0 38	0 38	100	10	D 24	E 14	0	0	D 27	1000	Bloodboon Ritual
Serpent-Hunter		111 72	0 42	0 42	0 42	0 42	100	12	B 0	E 0	0	0	0	Unsellable	Great-Serpent Hunt
Siluria's Tree		90 51	0 36	0 36	0 36	90 55	100	10	D 27	E 13	0	D 20	0	500	Siluria's Woe
Spear of the Impaler		85 48	0 32	102 32	0 64	0 32	100	9.5	E 14	C 35	0	D 18	0	1000	Messmer's Assault
Treespear		122 55	0 35	0 35	0 35	79 45	100	9.5	D 15	D 22	0	D 18	0	500	Sacred Order
Vyke's War Spear		103 52	0 33	66 45	0 33	0 33	100	8	E 16	C 20	0	D 18	0	500	Frenzyflame Thrust