Elden Ring - Thrusting Swords

Fast, light, low-stamina pokes you can throw while still guarding, you commit to this class for the status payload and the shield synergy, not for the attack rating.

Combat

Pros

• Can attack while guarding, a property lists as shared only with Heavy Thrusting Swords and Spears, this is the single biggest reason to pick the class.
• Lightest melee class here: Rapier, Carian Sorcery Sword and Frozen Needle all at 2.5, Estoc heaviest at 4.5.
• Best status-per-weapon density of the five: Antspur Rapier 55 scarlet rot and Frozen Needle 60 frost, both innate at +0 (items.json).
• Rapier's 130 critical is tied for second-highest in the entire game behind Miséricorde's 140 (verified across all weapons in items.json).

Cons

• Is blunt about the cost: low damage against health, against poise, and against a guarding opponent's stamina.
• Class-best max-standard physical is Cleanrot Knight's Sword at 267: under Broadsword's 286 and well under Sword Lance's 323.
• Guard boost is 20-24 across the class, with Carian Sorcery Sword's 34 the lone exception.
• Only 8 weapons, and coverage is narrow: one Intelligence option (Carian Sorcery Sword, 16 Int) and zero native Faith or Arcane options.

Builds

Dexterity-primary, and the class rewards a shield in the other hand rather than two-handing.

• Antspur Rapier is the outlier that wants 20 Dex.
• Cleanrot Knight's Sword is the Strength-friendly one (C Str at max standard, 11/13 to start).
• Carian Sorcery Sword is the Intelligence pick, S Int at max standard, and per items.json its strong attacks turn it into a catalyst for Glintstone sorceries.
• The next chunk of damage here usually is not a level: it is an infusion that stacks a second status on top of an innate one.
• 's Antspur page spells out the classic version, infuse it with a Seppuku (poison) or Poisonous Mist (bleed) build to run rot, bleed and poison simultaneously.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Cleanrot Knight's Sword		109	4	11	13	-	-	-	Highest max-standard physical in the class at 267, and the only one that reaches C Strength there, the quality/shield pick. 109 physical at +0 on an 11 Str / 13 Dex requirement, at a 4% drop from Cleanrot Knights.
Estoc		107	4.5	11	13	-	-	-	107 physical at +0 to 262 at max standard, with the class-best guard boost among the plain rapiers at 24. It is the availability pick: Prisoner starting gear, and otherwise sold by the Nomadic Merchant in southern Liurnia and by Patches.
Frozen Needle		99	2.5	11	18	-	-	-	60 innate frost at +0 at only 2.5 weight, and its feint fires a projectile rather than just cancelling, the only feint in the game describes that way. 242 physical, B Dex at max standard. Chest behind the Royal Revenant in Kingsrealm Ruins.
Antspur Rapier		98	3	10	20	-	-	-	55 innate scarlet rot at +0 AND still infusible,. Infusing drops the innate rot slightly. 20 Dex required; drops from Maleigh Marais outside the Shaded Castle.
Carian Sorcery Sword		69 + 69 magic	2.5	10	19	16	-	-	S Intelligence at max standard: the only S in the class, at 131 physical / 131 magic, weight 2.5, guard boost 34 (class high). Its strong attacks make it a catalyst for Glintstone sorceries, so an Int build can melee and cast off one slot. It is the one thrusting sword with no feint.

Notes

• Attack while guarding: shared with Heavy Thrusting Swords and Spears.
• Feint: press dodge while charging a heavy for an alternate animation. Every thrusting sword except Carian Sorcery Sword has it; Frozen Needle's version fires a projectile.
• Dual-wield L1 chains are flurries of several small hits per press: faster status buildup, longer commitment and slower recovery.
• Powerstances with the DLC Main-gauche dagger, not just with other thrusting swords.
• Patch 1.08 reduced crouch-attack speed and PVP poise damage; patch 1.13 increased dual-wield poise damage in PVP.

All Thrusting Swords

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Antspur Rapier		98 47	0 31	0 31	0 31	0 31	100 21	3	D 10	D 20	0	0	0	200	Impaling Thrust
Carian Sorcery Sword		69 34.0	69 48.0	0 24.0	0 24.0	0 24.0	110	2.5	E 10	D 19	D 16	0	0	500	Impaling Thrust
Cleanrot Knight's Sword		109 51	0 34	0 34	0 34	0 34	100 23	4	D 11	D 13	0	0	0	200	Impaling Thrust
Estoc		107 54	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100 24	4.5	E 11	C 13	0	0	0	100	Impaling Thrust
Frozen Needle		99 40	0 40	0 28	0 28	0 28	100 20	2.5	E 11	D 18	0	0	0	100	Impaling Thrust
Noble's Estoc		104 49	0 33	0 33	0 33	0 33	100 22	3.5	D 9	D 10	0	0	0	1000	Impaling Thrust
Rapier		96 45.0	0 30.0	0 30.0	0 30.0	0 30.0	130 20	2.5	E 7	C 12	0	0	0	100	Impaling Thrust
Rogier's Rapier		136 49	0 33	0 33	0 33	0 33	110 23	3.5	E 8	C 17	0	0	0	100	Glintblade Phalanx