Elden Ring: 10 Best New Weapons In Shadow Of The Erdtree (2024)

Shadow of the Erdtree introduced a ton of new content to Elden Ring, including around 100 new weapons. That’s more than you’ll find in the base game of a lot of other open-world RPGs, but for Elden Ring as whole, that's merely a drop in the bucket. Having so many options to choose from can be a bit overwhelming, but don’t worry because we’re here to help.

Whether you’re just starting out your first adventure in the Realm of Shadow or are already on NG+++ and want to experiment with some weapons you’ve never tried before, you came to the right place. This list ranks the best weapons in Shadow of the Erdtree based on a combination of stats, skills, and viability in both PvE and PvP, though we did focus on the former a little more than the latter. We did our best to keep things as varied as possible, but just like with the base game, some weapon types are simply better than others.

10 Greatsword of Solitude

The Greatsword of Solitude is a very good weapon you can get your hands on early on in the DLC provided you can defeat the Blackgaol Knight in the Western Nameless Mausoleum. The Blackgaol Knight is a surprisingly difficult enemy to defeat considering you can encounter him literally 5 minutes after stepping foot into the Realm of Shadow. But if you do manage to beat him, you’ll be handsomely rewarded.

Even though the Greatsword of Solitude is at the bottom of this list, it’s still a very solid weapon with impressive Strength scaling and a decent unique skill. It’s a pretty basic weapon compared to some of the others on this list in that it only deals Physical damage and doesn’t come with any tricks that allow you to one-shot enemies. But sometimes all you really need is a simple and reliable weapon without any bells and whistles. That’s exactly what you get with the Greatsword of Solitude.

9 Igon’s Greatbow

Igon's Greatbow is arguably the best ranged weapon added in the DLC. On paper, this Greatbow doesn’t seem to inflict as much damage as some of its counterparts, such as the Golem Greatbow or even the standard Greatbow . However, this weapon more than makes up for its underwhelming base damage with an Ash of War that has the potential to almost double its DPS. In addition, the Greatbow deals even more damage when paired with Igon's Harpoon .

Ranged weapons in Elden Ring continue to be weaker than melee ones even after the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, which is why we can’t place Igon’s Greatbow higher on this list. But if you’re adamant about playing a ranged build or want a good secondary weapon, this is the best the DLC has to offer. The weapon is particularly good at dealing with dragons, but only if you’re using Igon’s Harpoons, which you definitely should.

8 Staff of the Great Beyond

Shadow of the Erdtree only added two new staves to the game and let’s just say that one of them is quite a bit better than the other. The Staff of the Great Beyond works very similar to the Prince of Death's Staff but requires fewer points into Faith before it starts getting good. Up until around 50 INT/FTH, the Staff of the Great Beyond is the best catalyst in the game for hybrid magic builds. After that, you’re better off switching to the Prince of Death Staff.

Much like its counterpart, the Staff of the Great Beyond is noteworthy because it can be used as a catalyst for both Sorceries and Incantations. Being able to quickly switch between the two types of spells without having to worry about swapping catalysts is a fantastic quality-of-life improvement indeed. It also makes it easier to integrate a weapon into your build if you’re going for a spellblade playstyle. But while the Staff of the Great Beyond is overall more useful than Igon’s Greatbow or the Greatsword of Solitude, it’s far from being the best weapon in Shadow of the Erdtree.

7 Anvil Hammer

The Anvil Hammer is a deceptively powerful Colossal Weapon you can acquire in the starting area by exploring the Ruined Forge Lava Intake. At first glance, you might be tempted to give this one a wide berth because of the high stat requirements. If you do manage to meet the requirements, however, you’ll quickly find that there are plenty of advantages to using a weapon that scales with no fewer than four stats.

Pound for pound, the Anvil Hammer hits harder than any other Colossal Weapon in the DLC, as well as most of the Colossal Weapons found in the base game. The Physical damage is actually not particularly impressive, but the Anvil Hammer more than compensates for that by inflicting a good amount of Fire damage on top. The main thing that prevents the Anvil Hammer from competing with the top dogs is its unique skill. Smithing Art Spears isn’t a terrible skill, but its slow speed and short AoE make it difficult to land. The Anvil Hammer is still a solid weapon, but there are better ones still to come.

6 Fire Knight’s Greatsword

The Fire Knight's Greatsword is what you get when you take the Zweihander and make it better in pretty much every way. This one comes with better Physical damage at roughly the same length and weight while also dealing some Fire damage with every hit. Naturally, that means you’ll need to invest some points into Faith in order to get the most out of it, but that’s not a huge hassle in the grand scheme of things. By the time you get your hands on it, chances are you probably have enough stats anyway. The difficult part is getting it to drop in the first place.

The Fire Knight’s Greatsword doesn’t come with any major drawbacks, but it is one of those weapons that only works well in the hands of an experienced player. Newer players might turn their nose at the fact that the Fire Knight’s Greatsword doesn’t come with a flashy unique skill but, trust us, it doesn’t need one. The weapon can be infused with a wide variety of Ashes of War that will make it just as good, if not better than almost any weapon added in the DLC.

5 Putrescence Cleaver

The Putrescence Cleaver is one of the strangest weapons added in the DLC, which is really saying something considering we’re talking about Elden Ring here. Despite being listed as a Greataxe, this thing looks more like the spine of a twisted creature you’d expect to find in Bloodborne. Speaking of spine-twisting, this weapon’s unique skill looks primarily designed to deal damage to your own character’s back rather than your enemies. But we would be lying if we said it wasn’t fun to use in spite of how hilarious it looks.

Weirdness aside, the main reason why the Putrescence Cleaver stands out is because this is an Arcane-scaling Greataxe that inflicts Frostbite buildup along with Magic damage. Not just that, but it also deals Slashing damage whereas most other similar weapons deal Standard damage. Overall, a great weapon that suffers from being so strange that it can’t fit into most builds. But if you’re willing to work around it, you’ll find that the Putrescence Cleaver has a lot to offer indeed.

4 Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword

Speaking of strange weapons, next up we have the Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword , another Arcane-scaling weapon with Magic damage instead of Bleed. The Strength scaling and overall damage are a little better on this one, but it comes with lower Arcane scaling and no Frostbite buildup. The Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword is heavier but has better range than the Putrescence Cleaver. In other words, the two weapons are fairly evenly matched.

The main reason why we placed the Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword above the Putrescence Cleaver is the unique skill. Although we enjoy the ridiculousness of Spinning Guillotine, White Light Charge is simply a more reliable skill. Granted, the fact that it doesn’t inflict Lightning damage in spite of what the animation might suggest can be confusing at first. But once you get used to that, this bad boy can easily carry you through the entire expansion.

3 Backhand Blade

The Backhand Blade is an underrated weapon that’s remarkably powerful given how basic it looks. This isn’t one of those iconic oversized weapons that cover half your screen and allow you to do a backflip while shooting lasers out of your eyes. Its raw stats and scaling aren’t anything to write home about either. So why did we place it so high up on this list then? Simply put, this is a superb weapon in spite of its simplicity provided you’re running the right build and playstyle.

The Backhand Blade’s main selling points are its moveset and Ash of War. Blind Spot can easily catch most enemies off guard and has quickly become one of the go-to skills in PvP. In addition, you can overcome the underwhelming base scaling with the proper infusion. Keen has the best scaling but Flame, Cold, and Lightning are all viable options too. The main thing to remember here is that the Backhand Blade is primarily a PvP weapon, and it’s very good at what it does. If you’re more into the PvE side of things, there are definitely better options out there.

2 Spear of the Impaler

The Spear of the Impaler is one of those rare boss weapons that lives up to expectations. At this point, it’s a common video game trope to kill a difficult boss only to find out that their weapon is 10 times weaker when you’re using it. Admittedly, this Great Spear is more devastating in the hands of Messmer the Impaler , but it certainly doesn’t feel like a wet noodle when you’re wielding it. Quite the contrary.

In addition to dealing more Fire damage than pretty much any other weapon in the game, the Spear of the Impaler comes with an absurdly powerful unique skill that instantly makes short work of small enemies while also dealing heavy damage to bosses. Since Messmer’s Assault is considered a Fire Knight skill, you can boost its damage even more by wearing the Winged Serpent Helm . As an added bonus, the spear doubles as a ranged weapon and can be thrown both while on foot and while on horseback.

1 Rakshasa’s Great Katana

Katanas have always been some of the best weapons in FromSoft games, and that proud tradition continues in Shadow of the Erdtree as well. Now, one could make an argument for why the Spear of the Impaler is the best weapon in the DLC, and we wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that. However, we do think Rakshasa's Great Katana is superior in a couple of key areas that elevate it slightly above the Spear of the Impaler in our book.

Rakshasa’s Great Katana has relatively low stat requirements, comes with a powerful unique skill that costs next to no FP, inflicts Blood Loss buildup, AND features a unique R2 poking attack. This Great Katana is more or less just a bigger version of Rivers of Blood , but without the Arcane scaling. A bleed weapon that doesn’t scale with Arcane is quite unusual, however, that was probably a conscious decision made to prevent the weapon from being downright broken. But the real kicker here is that Weed Cutter can be spammed incessantly as long as you have Stamina, essentially allowing you to stunlock enemies.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

4.5/5

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.

Base Game

Elden Ring

Platform(s)

PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S

Released

June 21, 2024

Developer(s)

FromSoftware

Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment, FromSoftware

Genre

Soulslike, RPG

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

File Size PlayStation

16.502 GB