Elden Ring - Whips

Whips deliver bleed and poison from outside trading range on a featherweight frame that no one can parry, and nobody carries one to out-damage anything.

Combat

Pros

• Every whip weighs 2.0 to 3.5 and none needs more than 18 Strength, so a whip is nearly free to carry as a second option.
• Whips cannot be parried, a genuine edge against invaders and parry-happy enemies.
• Unlike Torches and Perfume Bottles, whips take the full affinity and Ash of War system, with Heavy, Keen, Quality, Fire, Flame Art, Lightning, Sacred, Magic, Cold, Poison, Blood and Occult all available, so the class can follow whatever stat a character has already invested in.
• Hoslow's Petal Whip drops from two different sources in one playthrough, Juno Hoslow and Diallos Hoslow, which is what makes the powerstanced bleed-whip build possible.

Cons

• Whips cannot perform critical attacks at all, so there are no ripostes and no backstabs, while Flails stay unparryable and keep their critical attacks.
• Poise and stamina damage is the class's structural flaw. At max Standard, Urumi and Hoslow's Petal Whip deal 92, Magma Whip Candlestick and Giant's Red Braid 88, Whip and Thorned Whip 84 and Tooth Whip just 46, while flails run 106 to 122.
• Whips perform poorly against heavily armored enemies.
• Guard boost runs only 15 to 17, topping out on Hoslow's Petal Whip, so blocking with one is not a real option.

Builds

Dexterity is the primary stat, with Arcane added only for a Blood or Occult infusion.

• Strength is close to dead weight here, since the highest Strength requirement in the class is 18 (Giant's Red Braid) and the highest Dexterity requirement is 24 (Tooth Whip).
• The class's peak scaling is S Dexterity, reached only by a Keen Urumi at +25, while a Keen Thorned Whip reaches A Dexterity.
• Faith is a separate branch, and the Magma Whip Candlestick (18 Faith) and Giant's Red Braid (21 Faith) are the only whips that reward it.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc
Hoslow's Petal Whip		110	3.5	10	20	-	-	-
Tooth Whip		109	3	10	24	-	-	-
Thorned Whip		102	2.5	8	16	-	-	-
Urumi		101	3	10	19	-	-	-
Magma Whip Candlestick		72 + 72 fire	2.5	8	16	-	18	-

Notes

• Affinity is the main damage lever. Hoslow's Petal Whip has 276 attack rating and 55 bleed on Standard, 232 and 82 bleed on Blood, 243 and 50 bleed with B Arcane on Occult, and 253 with B Strength on Heavy, while Cold caps at 105 frost and Poison at 95.
• Usable Ashes of War include Raptor of the Mists, Quickstep, Bloodhound's Step, Hoarah Loux's Earthshaker, Royal Knight's Resolve, Divine Beast Frost Stomp and The Poison Flower Blooms Twice. Raptor of the Mists is a strong pick for setting up the powerful powerstanced jumping attack.
• In PvP, Hoslow's Petal Whip deals 432 poise damage on a one-handed charged heavy, 475.2 on a two-handed charged heavy and 475.2 on a two-handed jumping heavy.

All Whips

The table below lists all Whips in Elden Ring.

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Giant's Red Braid		82 24	0 12	53 26	0 12	0 12	100 15	2.5	D 18	D 12	0	D 21	0	1000	Flame Dance
Hoslow's Petal Whip		110 28	0 17	0 17	0 17	0 17	100 17	3.5	D 10	D 20	0	0	0	100	Kick
Magma Whip Candlestick		72 21	0 10	72 36	0 10	0 10	100 15	2.5	E 8	D 16	0	D 18	0	100	Sea of Magma
Thorned Whip		102 26	0 15	0 15	0 15	0 15	100 15	2.5	E 8	C 16	0	0	0	200	Kick
Tooth Whip		109 21	0 16	0 16	0 16	0 16	100 16	3.0	E 10	D 24	0	0	0	200	Painful Strike
Urumi		101 27	0 16	0 16	0 16	0 16	100 15	3	E 10	C 19	0	0	0	200	Kick
Whip		103 25.0	0 15.0	0 15.0	0 15.0	0 15.0	100 15	2.0	D 8	D 14	0	0	0	100	Kick