While manyElden Ringplayers swear by their trustyKatanasand outrageously oversizedColossal Weapons, others prefer the simplicity and elegance of the trusty Straight Sword. Much like their historical counterparts, Straight Swords are multi-purpose weapons that provide a good balance between weight, speed, and damage. While they’re very useful even on their own, these types of weapons tend to work better when paired with a shield.
Related:Elden Ring: Best Faith Scaling Weapons
Most Straight Swords are eitherStrength scaling weaponsorDexterity scaling weapons, however, there are a few examples of Straight Swords that scale better with other stats, especially Intelligence and Faith. Thanks to their versatility, Straight Swords work well with pretty much any build, but they are especially strong when combined either with magic or with a shield. Or with a magic shield.
10Ornamental Straight Sword
Stat Requirement
Base Scaling
TheOrnamental Straight Swordis a pretty interesting weapon with a unique moveset. Unlike other Straight Swords, this one turns into a paired weapon when used with both hands. Essentially, you’re getting two weapons for the price of one here. When dual-wielded, Ornamental Straight Swords get a bunch of special attacks and can be imbued with Holy damage thanks to Golden Tempering, their unique weapon art.
While a skill like Golden Tempering is very useful in dungeons and a few other scenarios, Holy damage is overall just not very good in Elden Ring. The sword does have other things going for it, including better-than-average crit and a moveset that allows it to reliably deal both slashing and piercing damage. In addition, it’s also one of the lightest Straight Swords in the game. However, it can’t be infused withAshes of Warbecause of Golden Tampering, which isn’t all that useful once you’ve progressed past the early game.
9Broadsword
The good oldBroadswordis one of several Straight Swords found throughout Elden Ring that don’t come with any bells and whistles and don’t have to rely on any gimmicks to get the job done. This is just one of those reliable weapons that can be acquired very early on and can carry players through most of the game. Provided they remember to upgrade it at a consistent rate, of course.
Thanks to its low stat requirements, the Broadsword is not only a good primary weapon but can also serve as a solid backup weapon for players who primarily focus onSorceriesorIncantations. Square off, the Broadsword’s default weapon art, is pretty basic, but it can be replaced with any number of Ashes of War. The Broadsword’s main drawback is that it lacks a thrusting attack, which makes this particular Straight Sword a dedicated slashing weapon.
8Lordsworn’s Straight Sword
TheLordsworn’s Straight Swordsits somewhere between the Broadsword and the Longsword in terms of stats and effectiveness in combat, though all three of them are virtually identical in the grand scheme of things. The Lordsworn’s Straight Sword has more crit and a tiny bit more range than the Longsword, but has slightly worse scaling. In other words, whether it’s better or worse than its sibling mostly boils down to the player’s stats.
Related:Elden Ring: Best Staffs, Ranked
One thing that makes the Lordsworn’s Straight Sword more attractive than similar weapons is the fact that multiple copies of it can be acquired per playthrough regardless of the player’s starting class. This makes the weapon ideal for powerstancing in the early game. The Lordsworn’s Straight Sword can be infused with Ashes of War and there are plenty offun buildsplayers can make while dual-wielding this weapon.
7Warhawk’s Talon
Warhawks are an absolute pain to deal with the first time you encounter them in Stormveil Castle. It’s no surprise that many players actively attempt to avoid them whenever possible. But if you’re one of those people who enjoys bird hunting, you may end up getting rewarded with theWarhawk’s Talonif you’re lucky enough. This is one of the better-looking Straight Swords in Elden Ring and works particularly well with Dexterity builds.
The Warhawk’s Talon has unique double-swipe heavy attacks that can be chained together to inflict more damage. Players can perform double swipes even when using a shield or a catalyst in the off-hand. The Warhawk’s Talon is comparable to the Ornamental Straight Sword in terms of damage and weight, however, this one is a bit longer and can be infused with Ashes of War. By default, the Straight Sword comes equipped with the Spinning Slash weapon art.
6Longsword
TheLongswordis, for all intents and purposes, a slightly better version of the Broadsword and the Lordsworn’s Straight Sword. The Broadsword hits a bit harder but the Longsword weighs less, has more reach, and can perform the much-beloved poke attack from crouch. Ironically, Elden Ring’s version of the iconic Longsword is shorter than you might expect and doesn’t have any unique movesets either. That’s quite disappointing considering there are countless historical treatises depicting a wide variety of Longsword techniques the developers could have drawn inspiration from. Oh well…
Just like the Broadsword and the Lordsworn’s Straight Sword, the Longsword comes equipped with the Square Off weapon art and can be infused with Ashes of War. If you’re still in the early game and don’t have any good Ashes of War, we recommend pairing the Longsword with a shield to get more value out of it. Alternatively, it’s possible to dual-wield these bad boys but only when playing as a Vagabond since that’s the only class that starts with a Longsword by default.
5Carian Knight’s Sword
Intelligence
FromSoftwareheard you like swords, so they added a sword that transforms into a bigger sword. TheCarian Knight’s Swordis a beautiful weapon with good range, a powerful weapon art, and a unique heavy attack. Well, almost unique. The heavy attack initially puts the player into a block stance before transitioning to a slash attack. The same heavy attack can also be found on the Lazuli Glintstone Sword, but these are the only two weapons in the game that have this move. Therefore,almostunique.
Related:Elden Ring: Best Intelligence Scaling Weapons
Heavy attacks aside, the main highlight here is the unique weapon art – Carian Grandeur. The skill transforms the weapon into a gigantic magical greatsword that crashes down on enemies like a ton of bricks. The skill is similar to the Carian Greatsword Ash of War, however, Carian Grandeur deals more damage when fully charged. Although there are much better options out there for melee-focused builds, this is easily one of the best Straight Swords in Elden Ring for spellcasters who need a reliable backup weapon to fall back upon whenever they run out of flasks.
4Sword Of St. Trina
TheSword of St. Trinacan be a bit hit or miss with a lot of players. The weapon’s stats are pretty average, it doesn’t come with a special moveset, and it’s one of the shortest Straight Swords in the game. All in all, not very impressive. It is very light, but that’s not why it’s on this list. The main highlight here is Mists of Slumber, a unique weapon art that does exactly what it says on the tin. Mists of Slumber causes Sleep build-up on the initial hit and infuses the weapon with a coating that causes additional build-up for the next 30 seconds.
Using the Sword of St. Trina is essentially like having an endless supply of Soporific Grease at your disposal. Some enemies in Elden Ring are highly resistant or even completely immune to Sleep, however, many of them aren’t. Humanoid enemies, in particular, tend to be highly susceptible to this status effect and can be put to sleep with just a few hits from this weapon. Also works remarkably well on Trolls.
3Noble’s Slender Sword
TheNoble’s Slender Swordis best known for being the longest Straight Sword in Elden Ring. Although, depending on how you ask, its real claim to fame is that it’s an absolute pain to farm. The weapon has a lower drop chance than most and can take hours to farm if you’re unlucky. The hassle is well worth it, though, because this weapon combines all the best aspects of Straight Swords into one neat package.
The Noble’s Slender Sword has high crit, great scaling with Dexterity, and is unmatched in terms of reach. Even though it has lower base damage than a lot of similar swords, it can eventually outperform most of them when upgraded correctly. Fire and Lightning infusions tend to work best with this sword, with Heavy being the weakest. The default skill and moveset are identical to those of most Straight Swords, so you’ll mainly want to pick this one over something like a Longsword for its range and scaling.
2Regalia Of Eochaid
TheRegalia of Eochaidis the only Arcane scaling Straight Sword in Elden Ring and looks like something ripped straight out of a Sith Lord’s armory. Alright, so maybe it looks more like a weird oversized Gladius, but it definitely behaves like a Sith Lord’s lightsaber thanks to its weapon art, Eochaid’s Dancing Blade. The skill allows players to charge the sword with energy and fling it forward where it will spin for some time before returning to the user. If it hits a target, it will continuously deal damage while spinning and can break the stance of even the hardiest of opponents.
Related:Elden Ring: Best Arcane Scaling Weapons
Despite the cool-looking particle effects, the damage of Eochaid’s Dancing Blade is almost entirely physical, with a little bit of magical damage thrown in there to spice things up. Because each sword spin is considered a separate attack, the Regalia of Eochaid pairs really well withTalismanslike Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent’s Prosthesis. The Regalia of Eochaid can definitely hold its own even without the weapon art, but it doesn’t deal as much damage as most other Straight Swords if you remove its gimmick.
1Sword Of Night And Flame
It’s rare to see a weapon with no less than four stat requirements, but even though theSword of Night and Flamedemands a lot from players, it also offers a lot in exchange. This powerful Straight Sword has a unique weapon art that gives it not one but two special attacks. One of them summons aComet Azurto Kamehameha the player’s enemies to death while the other one unleashes a wave of fire to burn them to a crisp.
As you might expect, performing a bunch of these attacks will drain a ton of FP in mere seconds, so it’s worth investing some points into the Mind stat if you plan to use the weapon art often. Between the comet and the fire wave, you’ve got both crowd and control and single-target on lock. The best part is that the Sword of Night and Flame is a solid weapon even without its special attacks. Sure, in terms of physical damage, it’s not quite as strong as some of the other Straight Swords found in Elden Ring, but you probably won’t swing it all that often anyway unless you run out of FP.
Next:I Hope The Elden Ring DLC Is A Bit More Like Dark Souls
