Elden Ringfeatures a truly impressive selection of weapons, fromStavesandKatanastoColossal Swordsand everything in between. That last category is particularly popular with players who love absurdly oversized weapons that make you look like an anime character. But if Colossal Swords twice as large as your character don’t sound appealing at all, you may want to try some of the game’s Greatswords instead.
Elden Ring: Best Strength Weapons Tier List
Only the strongest Tarnished may wield these weapons.
Greatswords are comparable to many Colossal Swords in terms of stats while also having more realistic proportions. There are exactly two dozen of these weapons available in the game right now, including those added inShadow of the Erdtree. We won’t be ranking all of them today, but we did put together a list of the 10 best Greatswords in Elden Ring. If you’re planning a build that uses a Greatsword as your main weapon, we recommend sticking with one of the ones listed below.
In addition to regular Greatswords, we also took into consideration Light Greatswords - a new category of weapons added in Shadow of the Erdtree - when compiling this list. All three Light Greatswords available in the game are decent weapons, but only one of them was good enough to make our list.
10Banished Knight’s Greatsword
TheBanished Knight’s Greatswordis a simple-looking weapon that’s sometimes overlooked by players because it doesn’t come with any of the bells and whistles found on some of the more infamous Greatswords. But you shouldn’t let its humble appearance deceive you because this weapon has the second-highest Physical damage of any Greatsword in the game and comes with a special moveset that can only be found on two other Greatswords.
The Banished Knight’s Greatsword is a solid weapon for pure Strength builds and STR/DEX hybrid builds. This Greatsword has very low requirements and can be wielded effectively without investing any points into Dexterity. The downside is that the Banished Knight’s Greatsword isn’t particularly long and doesn’t come with a unique skill either, though it can be infused with variousAshes of War. Certainly not the best Greatsword in the game, but it is good enough to make our list.
Weapon Skill
Max Scaling
Max Damage
Stamp (Upward Cut) Skill
9Death’s Poker
TheDeath’s Pokerdoesn’t look like any other Greatsword in the game, or any sword, in general, for that matter. Looks aside, this weapon is a good pick for hybrid builds that incorporate a fair amount of Intelligence in addition to Strength and Dexterity. Having to dump points into three attributes instead of two can be a bit of a hassle but, on the bright side, doing so gets you a weapon that deals Magical damage and inflicts Frostbite buildup.
In addition to dealing a fair amount of damage with basic attacks, the Death’s Poker also comes equipped with a unique skill that gives you access to a medium-range attack and a short-range AoE. To top it all off, the Death’s Poker is also one of the lightest Greatswords in the game. Unfortunately, it’s one of the shortest ones, too. The main drawback here is that this weapon won’t reach its true potential until the endgame. By then, you’ll have access to several other Greatswords that are even better.
Ghostflame Ignition Skill
8Greatsword of Solitude
TheGreatsword of Solitudeis one of the new weapons introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree, and also happens to be one of the best at the start of the expansion. A main selling point of this weapon is that it comes with a better Guard Boost stat than any other Greatsword. Unfortunately, this is also the heaviest Greatsword in the game, weighing in almost twice as much as the Death’s Poker.
Elden Ring: 10 Best New Weapons In Shadow Of The Erdtree
The best of what Shadow of the Erdtree has to offer.
The Greatsword of Solitude is a very good defensive weapon that removes the need to carry around a shield, at least for the most part. As far as its offensive capabilities are concerned, the Greatsword of Solitude’s base damage is a bit on the lower side, however, the weapon makes up for it with excellent Strength scaling and an okay-ish unique skill. There are quite a few pros to using the Greatsword of Solitude, but also some important cons, which is why it only sits at #8 on our list.
Solitary Moon Slash
7Iron Greatsword
Moving on, we have theIron Greatsword, aka possibly the most underrated Greatsword in Elden Ring. The Iron Greatsword is comparable to the Banished Knight’s Greatsword in the sense that it’s a basic-looking weapon that trades flashiness for practicality. There’s no fancy move set, unique skill, or impressive scaling here. However, what the Iron Greatsword does have in abundance is pure power.
Pound for pound, this is the hardest-hitting Greatsword in the game if we’re talking pure Physical damage. The Iron Greatsword hits harder than the Banished Knight’s Greatsword while also being a bit longer and having very similar stat requirements. If you’re looking for a simple, but powerful, piece of metal that you’re able to customize to your liking, there’s no better option in the Greatswords category. It won’t necessarily hold a candle to something like the Blasphemous Blade or Dark Moon Greatsword, but it can still get the job done just fine regardless.
6Sacred Relic Sword
If you’re a big fan of farming, you’re going to love what theSacred Relic Swordhas to offer. The Sacred Relic Sword has long been considered one of the best farming weapons in the game, and with good reason. This Greatsword comes equipped with a powerful unique skill that deletes whole swats of small enemies in only one or two hits. The skill can be buffed in a wide variety of ways, allow you to create a build that revolves almost entirely around it if you wish.
If you remove Wave of Gold from the equation, the Sacred Relic Sword becomes significantly less powerful, but definitely not useless. This is the longest Greatsword in the game and weighs slightly less than the Iron Greatsword. Damage-wise, the Sacred Relic Sword isn’t the best but it’s not the worst either. The extra Holy damage can come in handy when fighting undead, however, it’s not very useful against most bosses. An excellent farming tool, but a bit weak as a weapon compared to our next entries.
Wave of Gold Skill
5Rellana’s Twin Blades
Rellana’s Twin Bladesare a pair of Light Greatswords that can only be obtained in Shadow of the Erdtree. As you can probably tell by now, this is a paired weapon, and a damn good one at that. Rellana’s Twin Blades work similar to the iconicSword of Night and Flamein that they scale with four stats and are capable of unleashing both Magical and Fire attacks with their unique skill. Their basic attacks are infused with elemental damage as well.
Elden Ring: Best Intelligence Weapons Tier List
Fight intelligently as you explore The Lands Between.
The split scaling can be a turn-off for some players, but at least the stat requirements aren’t too bad in the grand scheme of things. If you were already using the Sword of Night and Flame, you’re generally better off sticking with that, otherwise Rellana’s Twin Blades are a good pick for those running complex split-scaling builds. The weapon skill animations are a bit slow, though, and can be difficult to land, so try not to rely on them too much.
Moon-and-Fire Stance
4Ordovis’s Greatsword
We’re finally starting to reach the small handful of Greatswords that can be considered S-Tier status. All the Greatswords on this list are good weapons, but the top four are in a league of their own. The first such weapon we need to talk about isOrdovis’s Greatsword, a lean, mean, killing machine that comes with excellent Strength scaling, decent Faith scaling, a devastating unique skill, and some nice bonus Holy damage.
Much like with the Sacred Relic Sword, the Holy damage is a bit hit or miss since it won’t do much against most bosses. However, it’s important to point out that the unique skill deals mostly Physical damage, and you’ll find yourself using the AoW a lot more than the basic attacks. Admittedly, the weapon is a bit of a one-trick pony, but as long as you have enough FP you can breeze through good chunks of the game just spamming the skill. Not very exciting, but definitely very effective.
Ordovis’s Vortex Skill
3Marais Executioner’s Sword
Marais Executioner’s Swordis the only Greatsword in the game that scales with Arcane, for better or worse. It’s unfortunate that Arcane enjoyers don’t have more options at their disposal but, on the bright side, the one option they do have is top-notch. Marais Executioner’s Swords is one of the nine Legendary Armaments and sports one of the most insane skills in Elden Ring. The skill is technically not unique because it can also be found on theRegalia of Eochaid, but that doesn’t make it any less badass.
Elden Ring: Best Arcane Weapons Tier List
The best weapons for your bleeding, poisoning, and frostbiting needs.
Stats-wise, things could be better. The weapon doesn’t deal as much Physical damage as other Greatswords and there’s no Blood Loss buildup in spite of the Arcane scaling. The weight, speed, and length aren’t anything to write home about either. The Magical damage can come in handy, though. But, frankly speaking, that’s neither here nor there since you can simply use the skill to stunlock most types of enemies and finish them afterward at your leisure. Probably best to avoid trying that with bosses because it won’t work in the majority of cases.
Eochaid’s Dancing Blade Skill
2Dark Moon Greatsword
TheDark Moon Greatswordis not only one of the best Greatswords in Elden Ring, it’s also one of the best weapons in general. If you’re running a STR/DEX/INT build and want to incorporate a powerful weapon into your arsenal, there are few other better choices out there. Even pure INT builds can get away with using this weapon since both its basic attacks and its unique skill scale better with Intelligence. Same goes for the passive ability.
The Dark Moon Greatsword deals less Physical damage compared to other weapons in its class, but it more than makes up for that by dealing a significant amount of Magical damage. The Greatsword also inflicts Frostbite buildup and comes with a unique skill that buffs the weapon and allows it to unleash powerful ranged attacks. These attacks aren’t as powerful as they used to be prior to patch 1.12 but, overall, the Dark Moon Greatsword continues to be a beast of a weapon in spite of that. Not quite as strong as our number one pick, though.
Moonlight Greatsword Skill
1Blasphemous Blade
Blasphemous Blade has long been touted as being one of the best weapons in Elden Ring, and it’s easy to see why. The unique skill alone can carry you through most of the game and then there’s also the fact that this bad boy deals Fire damage and comes with lifesteal. The Physical damage isn’t amazing and the weapon is definitely on the heavier side for a Greatsword, but there are no other real drawbacks aside from those.
Probably the biggest selling point of this weapon is the lifesteal, which comes in the form of a hidden passive ability. Any time an enemy dies in the vicinity, the wielder of this weapon gains a little HP regardless of whether or not they used the Blasphemous Blade to strike the killing blow. Moreover, players also recover a big chunk of HP whenever they hit enemies with the unique skill. The healing even stacks with similar effects from items and other weapons. If you know what you’re doing, you may use the Blasphemous Blade to constantly replenish your health pool simply by fighting enemies.
Taker’s Flames Skill
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware’s groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.
Elden Ring: Best Faith Weapons Tier List
Have faith that some of these weapons will carry you through the entirety of Elden Ring and its DLC.
