Best weapons in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, ranked

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree introduced countless weapons, mostly as parts of entirely new weapon categories. Of course, not all are fantastic, so we’re here to take a look at which Elden Ring DLC weapons are the best.

Best Elden Ring DLC weapons

FromSoftware probably spent most of its development time designing the DLC’s arsenal, as there are 103 new weapons players can choose from. We’ve singled out 10 greatest examples of sheer power, perfect for almost any build and combination you might have opted for. Here are our picks for the best Elden Ring DLC weapons:

10) Dryleaf Arts

• Scales with: Strength (C) and Dexterity (C)
• Ash of War: Palm Blast
• How to get: Defeat Dryleaf Dane.

The Martial Arts weapons added in the DLC immediately found a massive audience. The Dryleaf Arts in particular are fantastic for quality Strength-Dexterity builds, but can also work with a mixture of any stat as the weapon can be given any affinity you want. We believe this is the best Hand-To-Hand Art weapon in the DLC.

9) Red Bear’s Claw

• Scales with: Strength (C) and Dexterity (E)
• Ash of War: Red Bear Hunt
• How to get: Defeat the Red Bear at the Northern Nameless Mausoleum.

Sticking to the “fist weapons,” we have the Red Bear’s Claw, a relentless Bleed-inflicting pair of claws whose sole mission is to butcher anything that comes in their way. With this weapon you will be on the offensive frequently and constantly mashing those attack buttons. The Red Bear’s Claw attacks quickly, inflicts a ton of Bleed, and does immense damage with little trouble. The Ash of War also adds to the beastly nature of this weapon and can shred the enemy’s health bar.

8) Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword

• Scales with: Strength (B), Dexterity (E), and Arcane (D)
• Ash of War: White Light Charge
• How to get: Clear the Ruined Forge of Starfall Past

The Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword is an incredible weapon for Arcane users. While its regular swings are tied to Strength scaling and are your average Greatsword attacks, where this weapon truly shines is the Ash of War. Charging it up and releasing the massive ball of energy deals incredible damage to bosses and players alike. Though it’s a bit slow, hard to land, and takes a while to get the hang of, this Ash of War is easily among the top damage dealers in all of Elden Ring.

7) Star-Lined Sword

• Scales with: Strength (D), Dexterity (B), and Intelligence (D)
• Ash of War: Onze’s Line of Stars
• How to get: Defeat Demi-Human Queen Marigga at Charo’s Hidden Grave

The Star-Lined Sword is essentially Moonveil on steroids. It does more damage, has a better Ash of War, and is overall a better weapon even if it has similar scaling. For Int/Dex players, the Star-Lined Sword is the perfect option. Being a Katana, it inflicts Bleed by default, and when topped up with huge Magic damage (easily improved with Talismans), you’ve got quite the weapon on your hands. It can be obtained early in the DLC and help you take down its toughest bosses.

6) Lightning Perfume Bottle

• Scales with: Dexterity (C) and Faith (C)
• Ash of War: None, can be Infused
• How to get: Explore the Cerulean Coast

If it weren’t for a recent Elden Ring patch, the Lightning Perfume Bottle would have been much higher on this list. When infused with the Rolling Sparks Ash of War, the weapon could one-shot pretty much any boss in the game, including the final one. That has been nerfed now, unfortunately, but the weapon remains nonetheless powerful with its regular attacks. Wall of Sparks is now also a viable Ash of War option, making the Lighting Perfume Bottle still a usable and formidable weapon for Dex/Faith players.

5) Greatsword of Solitude

• Scales with: Strength (A) and Dexterity (E)
• Ash of War: Solitary Moon Slash
• How to get: Defeat the Blackgaol Knight at the Western Nameless Mausoleum

Seeing how challenging the boss is, it’s no wonder he drops such a fantastic weapon. For raw Strength users, this is perhaps one of the best weapons in the entire game. It can stagger bosses with ease and allow you to wreck them without breaking a sweat. The Ash of War is also fantastic, especially in PvP encounters, due to how unpredictable it can be. Paired with something like Rakshasa’s or Death Knight Armor Sets, the damage output becomes genuinely mind-boggling, making this weapon that much greater.

4) Rellana’s Twin Blades

• Scales with: Strength (C), Dexterity (C), Intelligence (C), and Faith (C)
• Ash of War: Moon-and-Fire Stance
• How to get: Defeat Rellana and use her Remembrance at the Roundtable Hold.

Rellana’s Twin Blades are among the best weapons in the entirety of Elden Ring. Suited well for quality builds where stats are evened out, it does a variety of damage and exploits the weaknesses of any given enemy, boss or otherwise. Its Stance is also incredibly powerful, especially if you equip Rellana’s Cameo that boosts all types of Stance damage so long as you hold it for a while.

3) Euporia

• Scales with: Strength (C), Dexterity (C), and Faith (B)
• Ash of War: Euporia Vortex
• How to get: Explore Enir-Ilim.

Euporia is one of the best-designed weapons in the history of Souls games and its gameplay is reminiscent of Bloodborne. It incentivizes relentless attacking and combat since to use its Ash of War you need to charge it up. Charging the weapon also increases its Holy damage output and, when the charge is full, adds a whole new effect to the Ash of War. It can dish out massive damage and stagger enemies with relative ease, and since most enemies are weak to Holy damage in Elden Ring, it becomes that much more effective at taking them down.

2) Bloodfiend’s Arm

• Scales with: Strength (C), Dexterity (E), and Arcane (C)
• Ash of War: Endure
• How to get: Defeat the Bloodfiends at the top of Prospect Town.

The Bloodfiend’s Arm is the perfect weapon for Strength-Arcane builds and does massive damage both with its regular swings and its brutal heavy attacks that unleash tons of Bleed build-up in a single hit. It can be upgraded with regular Smithing Stones and Infused or given any affinity under the sun, though the Occult affinity boosts the Arcane scaling to S. When infused with Fire or Holy it can have incredible base damage paired with the heavy attack’s Bleed. It’s capable of staggering even the final boss in only a few heavy hits (as well as triggering Hemorrhage).

1) Backhand Blade

• Scales with: Strength (C) and Dexterity (C)
• Ash of War: Blind Spot
• How to get: Loot from one of the covered graves in Gravesite Plain.

The absolute best weapon in the DLC is of course an unassuming blade found in the very first area you visit. Upgraded with standard Smithing Stones, it is an absolute beast. However, the Backhand Blade only starts to really shine once you grab the Swift Slash Ash of War from the Hornsent quest. It gives you literal lightning-speed attacks that do incredible amounts of damage and can easily stack Bleed or other effects with only a few clicks. Most of your fights will boil down to mashing your Ash of War attack as much as possible. When paired with skill damage-increasing Talismans, such as Shard of Alexander, the damage output reaches unprecedented highs.