Want to know about Elden Ring weapon arts? Most of the armaments in Elden Ring feature a unique weapon art, which functions the same as skills in Dark Souls III. Weapon arts give players additional action on their armament, ranging from performing a lunge attack to summoning lightning to attack nearby enemies. These skills can drastically affect how you approach enemies, and the weapon scaling can be altered to match your most used stat points.
Many weapons come with default weapon arts, but you can use Elden Ring Ashes of War to change the skill on most weapons. Some of the best Elden Ring weapons come with unique – and powerful – weapon skills that can’t be changed. It’s also important to note that certain Ashes of War can only be used on specific types of equipment. Picking the correct weapon art is vital to perfecting your Elden Ring build, giving you the upper hand against Elden Ring bosses.
Best Elden Ring weapon arts list
The best weapon arts in Elden Ring are:
Black Flame Tornado
Polearms and Twinblades – spin your swords above your head before launching them into the ground, summoning a tornado made out of black flames. Default skill of the Godskin Peeler and also dropped by the Godskin Duo in Crumbling Farum Azula.
Blood Blade
Small and medium swords – fling a spectral dagger made of blood towards an enemy, damaging the opponent and forcing bleeding damage. Dropped by Teardrop Scarab near Erdtree-Gazing Hill.
Bloodhound Step
All melee weapons – allow you to become invisible and move faster while dodging. Dropped by Night’s Cavalry on the bridge in front of Lenne’s Rise Tower.
Carian Retaliation
Some light and medium shields – swing the shield to dispel incoming magic, transforming them into retaliatory Glintblades. Sold by Pidia and also found in western Liurnia.
Flame of the Redmanes
All melee weapons – generate a burst of flames in a frontward arc. Dropped by Teardrop Scarab near Fort Gael in Caelid.
Golden Land
Greataxes, Warhammer, and Colossal weapons – after a power-up, unleash a blast of sacred energy in the form of gold darts, following up with a sweeping strike. Default skill of the Great Club, and also be found in the Deeproot Depths.
Hoarfrost Stomp
All melee weapons – stomp the ground to spread a frozen ice shard mist on the ground outwards to a certain point. The mist applies the frost status effect. This is the default skill for the Icerind Hatchet, but you can also get it from an invisible Teardrop Scarab in Caria Manor.
Lions’ Claw
Swords, Axes, and Hammers – somersault forward and strike your enemy. Default skill of the Claymore weapon, but also drops from Lion Guardian in Fort Gael.
Magma Guillotine
Magma Wyrm’s Scalesword – leap forward with the sword in both hands before smashing it into the ground, blasting a stream of magma. Default skill of the Magma Guillotine.
Night-and-Flame Stance
Sword of Night and Flame – hold the sword up and prepare to cast one of two spells: use a normal attack to cast the Night Cormet sorcery, or use the strong attack to attack with a burst of flames. Default skill of the Sword of Night and Flame.
Ordovis’ Vortex
Ordovis’ Greatsword – swing your sword to charge up a powerful energy strike, dealing area-of-effect damage to nearby enemies. Only found on Ordovis’ Greatsword.
Parry Skill
Daggers, curved and thrusting swords, fists, claws, and small and medium shields – perform a parry at the exact moment an enemy hits you with a melee attack to break their stance. Sold by Knight Bernahl and Twin Maiden Husks.
Seppuku
Swords and some thrusting polearms – plunge the blade into your stomach to stain it with blood, which increases the weapon’s attack power and increases the chance of inflicting the ‘Bleed’ status effect. Dropped by an invisible Scarab found around the edge of the Freezing Lake, in the far north of the map.
That’s everything you need to know about some of the best weapon arts in Elden Ring. For more Elden Ring tips, we recommend our guide on how to unlock the horse in Elden Ring, what you need to know about Elden Ring Great Runes, and Elden Ring Golden Seed locations. While the Elden Ring DLC has just been announced, it’s still some ways off, so here are some of the best PC games available to play while you wait.
Contributions by Christian Vaz and Joe Robinson.