Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree: Best New Straight Swords, Ranked (2024)

Elden RIng: Shadow of the Erdtree, is a wonderful continuation to the world of the Lands Between and all it contains. The base game broke records and made players fall in love with its often grim, yet sometimes beautiful aesthetic, entertaining combat, complex and interesting NPCs, magical items, and deadly bosses.

That said, the new DLC has pushed the envelope even further by introducing new characters, obstacles, various armor sets, incantations, and weapons, including curved swords, colossal weapons, staffs, shields, and much more. There's a wide arsenal of weapons to choose from in the Land of Shadow, regardless of players' character build or combat preference. Unfortunately, those who like to fight using Straight Swords might find Shadow of the Erdtree's selection a bit lacking in quantity compared to other weapon types that seem to have received more love. Thankfully, the few choices available are amazing; here are the best new Straight Swords in Shadow of the Erdtree.

4 Sword Of Light

Physical Damage: 93

Scaling primarily with Faith, and secondarily with Dexterity, and Strength, the Sword of Light doesn't have the typical Straight Sword Stat distribution players would expect to see in a Soulsborne game. However, that shouldn't be taken as an indication that the weapon is bad; in fact, it's quite the opposite. The Sword of Light Straight Sword is a variation (or an evolution) of the Stone-Sheathed Sword, which can be acquired at one of 3 Altar locations: Fog Rift Catacombs, Ancient Ruins of Rauh, and Ruins of Unte.

Once players have the Stone-Sheathed Sword, they must go to the altar at the Ruins of Unte, which is only accessible after throwing a Hefty Furnace Pot at the deactivated Furnace Golem blocking the entrance. This weapon requires a hefty 24 Faith Stat to wield properly, which many Dexterity or Strength-based players might not have, so some Tarnished wishing to harness its power might have to reallocate some attributes.

One of this sword's greatest perks is that it not only deals Physical damage but also Holy damage, making it great for fighting enemies susceptible to it. By using its Special Skill, "Light", players can produce a strong shower of rays of light that deal Holy Damage and also boost it by 20% for 60 seconds.

3 Sword of Darkness

Physical Damage: 93

The Yin to The Sword of Light's Yang, the Sword of Darkness is also a variant of the Stone-Sheathed Sword. This weapon shares the exact same stats as its Light counterpart, including scaling, requirements, weight, and damage type dealt. The Sword of Darkness can't be infused or buffed with Ashes of War and requires Somber Smithing Stones to upgrade.

If players have already transformed the Stone-Sheathed Sword into the Sword of Light and wish to change it to the Sword of Darkness, all they have to do is go to one of the swords' altars and make the change. An upgraded Sword of Darkness will retain its levels if converted to its Light counterpart, so players can transform it without worrying about losing their weapons' Stats.

Similar to its sister sword, The Sword of Darkness has a Special Skill, called "Darkness", which casts a long, smoky, dark shadow that surrounds enemies, dealing Holy damage and reducing Holy damage negation in foes; a great asset to have for any Tarnished with a Holy build.

2 Velvet Sword Of St. Trina

Physical Damage: 95

Few Straight Swords in Elden Ring look as elegant and intimidating as the Velvet Sword of St. Trina. This beautiful rapier has a long, thin blade, and its handle is carefully adorned with a metal hand guard that any of the Three Musketeers would be honored to have mounted on their blade. This Straight Sword not only deals a decent amount of Physical Damage, but it also deals Magic Damage and has a Critical Damage booster of 10%. It's also wonderfully light, as it only weighs 2.5.

Found inside a cave network located northwest of the Fissure Cross Site of Grace, the Velvet Sword of St. Trina scales primarily with Dexterity, and secondarily with Strength and Intelligence. Its Special Skill, "Mists of Eternal Sleep", casts a purple mist in front of the Tarnished, which will put most enemies under a deep sleep spell that they won't ever awake from, no matter how many times players strike them.

1 Stone-Sheathed Sword

Physical Damage: 119

Wrapping up this list of the best new Straight Swords in Shadow of the Erdtree is the Stone-Sheathed Sword. Much like Eve is to Vaporeon, Flareon, or Jolteon in Pokemon, this weapon is the base variant of the Sword of Light, and the Sword of Darkness. As opposed to its evolved versions, though, the Stone-Sheated Sword doesn't deal any additional Elemental Damage; however, it deals an additional 26 points of Physical Damage and has better Strength and Dexterity scaling.

This suggests that, contrary to the Light and Darkness versions of this weapon, the standard Stone-Sheathed Sword is better suited for players who don't care about Elemental Damage and just want to slash away at enemies. This Straight Sword's Special Skill, "Square Off", doesn't rely on complex Holy Damage attacks, but rather on vicious upwards slashes and forward lunges that can break enemies' guards. It should also be noted that, like the other variants of this weapon, the Stone-Sheathed Sword will also keep any upgrades made to it after transformation.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Platform

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

Released

June 21, 2024

Developer(s)

FromSoftware

Genre

Soulslike , RPG