Elden Ring - Weapons

Elden Ring spreads its weapons across dozens of classes, with shields in several more. Every one of them is a different answer to the same question, and the game never says which answer is right.

A weapon is not just a damage number. It carries a moveset, a scaling spread across the eight attributes, a skill that can usually be swapped out, a weight that eats into the equip load, and often a status effect that does more work than the raw attack power ever will. Holding the interact button while pressing attack two-hands it, and Strength scaling then counts for half again as much.

Damage

Four levers, roughly in the order they pay:

1. Upgrade level. A weapon at +25 is a different weapon from the one first picked up. Nothing else on this list comes close.
2. Affinity. Re-cutting a weapon Heavy or Keen moves its scaling onto the stat being leveled, and often turns a D into an A.
3. The stat the weapon scales in. Leveling Strength on a weapon that scales D in Strength is close to wasted.
4. Status. On a bleed or frost weapon the status bar kills faster than the attack rating does, and status buildup ignores how tanky the target is.

Weapon Classes

Fast and light. Daggers earn their place through ripostes, status and carrying a free Ash of War, not through swinging. Straight swords are the default physical class with the widest infusion menu. Curved swords swing fastest and weigh least. Thrusting swords poke from behind a raised shield for very little stamina. Claws and fists are the cheapest entry in the game, and a Caestus asks 8 Strength, 8 Dexterity and 1.5 weight.

Heavy and stance-breaking. Colossal weapons and great hammers are taken to stagger, not to trade. Colossal swords carry the biggest sword attack ratings and the biggest poise damage. Greataxes get most of the way there for less weight and less Strength. Greatswords are the generalist of the big classes, with real reach and hyper armor at 8 to 15.5 weight.

Reach. Spears are the cheapest way to keep a shield up and still deal damage. Great spears have the longest reach in the game. Halberds sweep and thrust in one moveset and hold the pure-Strength ceiling of the polearms.

Status. Katanas are the bleed class: most of them come with blood loss out of the box. Twinblades land every swing twice, so they fill a status bar faster than anything with comparable attack rating. Whips apply status from outside trade range and cannot be parried. Reapers all bleed and all punch through shields.

Ranged. Light bows are the only ranged class that fires out of a roll or a sprint. Bows are the archery main hand and the only one where leveling Dexterity really pays. Greatbows break stance. Crossbows have no scaling at all, which makes them the offhand every build can use the moment it meets the requirement. Ballistas hit hardest of anything in the game and are slow enough that every hit has to be earned.

Casting. A glintstone staff is the only way to cast sorceries and a sacred seal the only way to cast incantations. Both weigh almost nothing, both are useless as melee, and for staves a single number, sorcery scaling, decides which one wins at a given Intelligence.

Builds

• Strength: colossal weapons, greataxes, great hammers, colossal swords, halberds
• Dexterity: katanas, curved swords, thrusting swords, bows, twinblades
• Quality, both: greatswords, straight swords, spears, axes
• Intelligence: glintstone staffs, and any weapon re-cut with a Magic affinity
• Faith: sacred seals, and Sacred or Flame Art affinities
• Arcane: bleed weapons on an Occult affinity, where Arcane drives both damage and buildup

Upgrades

Ordinary weapons take Smithing Stones and run to +25. Each tier of stone covers three upgrades: two stones for the first, four for the second, six for the third. Ancient Dragon Smithing Stones are the exception and are spent once, taking a weapon from +24 to +25.

Special weapons take Somber Smithing Stones instead and stop at +10, one stone per level with a new tier of stone for every level. Those are the unique weapons, and the trade is a shorter ladder for a weapon that already does something no other weapon does.

Smithing Master Hewg at the Roundtable Hold and War Counselor Iji both do the work, for runes on top of the stones.

Scaling

Every weapon grades its scaling in each attribute from E up to S, and that grade is what decides whether leveling actually makes the weapon hit harder. A D in Strength is a rounding error; an A in Dexterity is most of the damage.

Grades move with each upgrade. A weapon sitting at D/D at +0 can be at B/C by +25, so judging a weapon at the level it was found is how good weapons get left in the box. The attack power figures in every table on this wiki show the base value and the upgraded value together for exactly that reason.

Ashes of War

Ashes of War are the reason a build is not locked to whichever weapon happens to scale right. Each one carries a skill and a native affinity, and applying it to a compatible weapon replaces the skill and can re-cut the scaling: a Heavy affinity pushes it toward Strength, Keen toward Dexterity, Magic and Sacred toward the casting stats.

They are slotted rather than consumed, so an Ash can be taken back off at any time. The affinity change needs a whetblade, and the work is done at a Site of Grace or by Hewg.

The catch is the one that catches everyone: a weapon upgraded with Somber Smithing Stones cannot take an Ash of War at all. Unique weapons keep their own skill, permanently.

Melee Weapons

Ranged Weapons and Catalysts

Bows and crossbows take ammunition rather than stamina, and the two catalyst classes are what turn Intelligence and Faith into damage: a glintstone staff casts sorceries, a sacred seal casts incantations.

Shields

Shields are graded by guard boost and by how much of each damage type they cut. A greatshield stops almost everything and pays for it in weight; a buckler stops far less and parries far better.