Elden Ring - Straight Swords

As the default physical melee class, straight swords carry the widest infusion menu in the game, along with Square Off, an exclusive Ash of War that breaks boss stance far faster than the raw attack rating would suggest.

Combat

Pros

• Square Off belongs to this class alone. Its heavy version breaks enemy stance so quickly that even bosses are open to a critical attack within 2 or 3 hits, and that, more than raw attack rating, is the class's real damage lever.
• Physical damage at max upgrade is the highest among the ordinary infusable weapons in the class, with Broadsword at 286, Lordsworn's Straight Sword at 281 and Longsword at 269.
• Nearly every Ash of War fits, giving the widest build flexibility of the small melee classes.
• Stat entry is cheap. Weathered Straight Sword needs 7 Strength and 10 Dexterity, and Longsword, Broadsword and Lordsworn's Straight Sword all need 10 and 10.

Cons

• Nothing in the class exceeds 119 physical at +0 (Stone-Sheathed Sword), which means less reach and less damage per hit than Light Greatswords or Heavy Thrusting Swords.
• Two-handing is slightly less reliable than one-handing or dual-wielding, so the class effectively wants a shield or an off-hand weapon.
• Guard boost caps at 33 (Crystal Sword, Rotten Crystal Sword, Regalia of Eochaid), against Sword Lance's 42.
• Status is thin and mostly sleep, with 66 sleep on Sword of St. Trina, 42 eternal sleep on Velvet Sword of St. Trina and slight rot on Rotten Crystal Sword, and no native bleed weapon at all.

Builds

The infusion comes first and the sword second.

• For Strength, a Heavy Broadsword reaches A Strength at 246, while a standard Broadsword stays class-best at 286.
• For Dexterity, a Keen Cane Sword reaches A Dexterity (202), as do Noble's Slender Sword, Short Sword and Warhawk's Talon.
• A quality build runs Broadsword at B Strength and B Dexterity with 229.
• Arcane builds get Occult Broadsword at 252 and Occult Lordsworn's Straight Sword at 247, both B Arcane.
• Intelligence builds get Lazuli Glintstone Sword, which ends at 193 physical and 230 magic from a starting point of 13 Intelligence.
• Faith builds get Coded Sword, with A Faith scaling, 208 holy and zero physical, needing only 20 Faith and no Strength or Dexterity.
• The next chunk of damage per level comes from matching the infusion's scaling letter to the stat already being leveled, not from switching swords.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc
Stone-Sheathed Sword		119	5	16	8	-	-	-
Broadsword		117	4	10	10	-	-	-
Lordsworn's Straight Sword		115	3.5	10	10	-	-	-
Lazuli Glintstone Sword		79 + 94 magic	3.5	8	9	13	-	-
Coded Sword		85 holy	2.5	-	-	-	20	-

Notes

• Square Off's light version is the guard-breaking half of the skill and punches straight through blocks.
• One-handed light attacks are wide horizontal swings, good against crowds and evasive enemies, while two-handed light attacks are more vertical and bounce off walls less in tight spaces.
• Movesets vary within the class. Short Sword thrusts on every heavy attack, Broadsword and Cane Sword only slash (with a faster rolling light attack), Warhawk's Talon hits twice on the first heavy, and Lazuli Glintstone Sword and Carian Knight's Sword can block while charging a heavy in exchange for weaker stance damage.
• The class pairs exceptionally well with shields and works well as an off-hand for other weapon types, because its fast, wide horizontal swings cover what other movesets miss.
• Sword of Darkness, Sword of Light, Stone-Sheathed Sword and Velvet Sword of St. Trina belong to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.

All Straight Swords

The table below lists all Straight Swords in Elden Ring.

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Broadsword		117 47.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	100 31	4	D 10	E 10	0	0	0	100	Square Off
Cane Sword		96 41	0 27	0 27	0 27	0 27	100 27	2.5	E 8	D 11	0	0	0	200	Square Off
Carian Knight's Sword		88 36	88 52	0 26	0 26	0 26	100 31	4	D 10	D 10	D 18	0	0	200	Carian Grandeur
Coded Sword		0 13.0	0 22.0	0 22.0	0 22.0	85 58.0	100 27	2.5	0	0	0	B 20	0	200	Unblockable Blade
Crystal Sword		106 44	68 44	0 30	0 30	0 30	100 33	4.5	D 13	E 10	D 15	0	0	200	Spinning Slash
Golden Epitaph		85 25.0	0 15.0	0 15.0	0 15.0	85 40.0	100 30	3.5	D 12	D 10	0	D 14	0	500	Last Rites
Lazuli Glintstone Sword		79 30	94 55	0 25	0 25	0 25	100 30	3.5	D 8	E 9	D 13	0	0	100	Glintstone Pebble
Longsword		110 45.0	0 30.0	0 30.0	0 30.0	0 30.0	100 30	3.5	D 10	D 10	0	0	0	100	Square Off
Lordsworn's Straight Sword		115 45	0 30	0 30	0 30	0 30	110 30	3.5	D 10	D 10	0	0	0	100	Square Off
Miquellan Knight's Sword		105 40	0 28	0 28	0 28	68 40	100 30	3.5	D 11	D 11	0	E 16	0	100	Sacred Blade
Noble's Slender Sword		101 43	0 29	0 29	0 29	0 29	110 30	3.5	E 8	C 11	0	0	0	1000	Square Off
Ornamental Straight Sword		101 42	0 28	0 28	0 28	0 28	110 28	3	E 10	D 14	0	0	0	200	Golden Tempering
Regalia of Eochaid		89 48.0	57 40.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	100 33	5.5	E 12	D 18	0	0	D 15	500	Eochaid's Dancing Blade
Rotten Crystal Sword		102 48	66 38	0 31	0 31	0 31	100 33	4.5	D 13	E 10	D 15	0	0	200	Spinning Slash
Short Sword		102 42.0	0 28.0	0 28.0	0 28.0	0 28.0	100 28	3	D 8	D 10	0	0	0	100	Kick
Stone-Sheathed Sword		119 54	0 33	0 33	0 33	0 33	100 32	5.0	C 16	D 8	0	0	0	100	Square Off
Sword of Darkness		93 26	0 15	0 15	0 15	93 42	100 31	4.0	D 14	E 11	0	E 24	0	1000	Darkness
Sword of Light		93 26	0 15	0 15	0 15	93 42	100 31	4.0	D 14	E 11	0	E 24	0	1000	Light
Sword of Night and Flame		87 36	56 42	56 42	0 26	0 26	100 31	4	E 12	E 12	D 24	D 24	0	1000	Night-and-Flame Stance
Sword of St. Trina		107 39	32 33	0 27	0 27	0 27	100 28	3	D 10	D 12	E 14	0	0	500	Mists of Slumber
Velvet Sword of St Trina		95 37	61 37	0 25	0 25	0 25	100 27	2.5	E 10	D 12	E 14	0	0	500	Mists of Eternal Sleep
Warhawk's Talon		101 42	0 28	0 28	0 28	0 28	100 30	3	D 10	C 16	0	0	0	100	Spinning Slash
Weathered Straight Sword		103 43	0 29	0 29	0 29	0 29	100 27	3.5	D 7	D 10	0	0	0	100	Square Off