Introduction to the Shadow of the Erdtree Weapon Metas
Welcome, Tarnished, to the ultimate Elden Ring weapons tier list guide for the massive expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. FromSoftware’s DLC has completely upended the traditional meta, introducing over 100 new weapons spanning entirely new weapon categories like Light Greatswords, Backhand Blades, Perfume Bottles, and Beast Claws. Navigating this colossal arsenal can be overwhelming, especially when deciding which Somber Smithing Stones and Regular Smithing Stones to invest your hard-earned resources into.
Whether you are progressing through New Game Plus or stepping into the brutal challenges of the Shadow Realm for the very first time, knowing which gear dominates the DLC weapon tier list is essential. In this comprehensive guide, we will break down the absolute best offensive tools, categorize them by overall performance, and help you craft a devastating PVE build or PVP meta loadout. Prepare your character, stock up on upgrading materials, and let us dive straight into the rankings.
---
Understanding the Tier System for DLC Arms
Before we look at the specific rankings, it is important to understand how we evaluate the effectiveness of these armaments. A weapon’s placement on a new Elden Ring weapons tier list guide depends on several critical factors: raw damage output, moveset versatility, poise damage, status buildup potential (like bleed and frost), and how easily it can stagger tough boss enemies.
We also take into account the Ash of War compatibility and innate scaling. Some gear shines due to a broken signature weapon skill that clears rooms instantly, while others earn their top-tier status through lightning-fast recovery frames and incredible hyper-armor. Let us examine the tier breakdown we use throughout this guide:
- S-Tier (The Meta Definers): Absolute powerhouses that trivialize major boss encounters, offer incredible utility, or feature overpowered skills.
- A-Tier (Strong & Reliable): Excellent choices for almost any scenario. They deal fantastic damage and fit seamlessly into specialized builds.
- B-Tier (Niche & Situational): Fun to use and effective in specific situations, but hampered by slow animations, poor scaling, or limited range.
- C-Tier (Underwhelming): Generally outperformed by alternative options, requiring massive buffs or specific setups to feel viable.
---
S-Tier: The Absolute Best New Elden Ring Weapons
If you want to breeze through the toughest encounters the expansion has to offer, you need to be wielding equipment from the top tier. These picks define the current Shadow of the Erdtree meta and provide incredible advantages in both crowd control and single-target boss annihilation.
Milady (Light Greatsword)
The Light Greatsword category is arguably the greatest gift FromSoftware gave to dexterity and quality builds, and Milady sits proudly at the absolute peak. This weapon combines the sweeping, graceful elegance of a thrusting sword with the devastating impact of a standard greatsword. Its neutral attacks flow seamlessly into one another, creating a mesmerizing dance of steel that punishes aggressive enemies.
When paired with the Wing Stance Ash of War, Milady transforms into a poise-breaking monster. The heavy follow-up from this stance closes distance instantly and deals massive stance damage, allowing you to consistently stagger bosses and land critical ripostes. It scales phenomenally with Keen, Quality, and Occult affinities, making it a must-have for any serious dexterity build.
Blind Spot Backhand Blades
For players who prefer blinding speed and constant aggression, the Backhand Blades are unmatched. In particular, the standard variant infused with the Blind Spot skill offers ridiculous defensive utility while maintaining relentless offense. The skill allows you to instantly side-step an incoming attack while simultaneously slashing the enemy from their flank.
This innate iframe-heavy movement paired with rapid-fire multi-hit scaling makes the Backhand Blades top-tier contenders for PVP and PVE. Slap a Bleed affinity on these babies, and you will watch boss health bars melt away under a relentless storm of status procs.
Bloodfiend's Sacred Spear
Strength and Arcane builds received an absolute masterpiece in the form of the Bloodfiend's Sacred Spear. While its physical requirements are demanding, the payoff is astronomical. This heavy spear features heavy innate blood loss buildup that scales dynamically with your Arcane stat.
When used with heavy guard-counters or charged heavy attacks, it causes immense stance damage. Furthermore, combining it with the Moghwyn's Sacred Spear playstyle or standard heavy thrusting attacks lets you stunlock even heavily armored enemies. It is hands-down one of the most reliable boss killer weapons in the entire expansion.
---
A-Tier: Highly Versatile and Powerful Choices
While not quite as broken or universally dominant as the S-Tier options, A-Tier armaments are phenomenal choices that can easily carry you through the entire game. They offer specialized advantages and incredibly fun playstyles.
Rellana's Twin Blades
Rellana's Twin Blades are a visual spectacle, combining light greatswords into a dual-wielded stance that deals both magic and fire damage. While the stat requirements are notoriously steep—demanding investment in Intelligence and Faith alongside Strength and Dexterity—the sheer variety of moves available makes them a joy to master.
The unique stance allows you to unleash wide magical waves or sweeping fiery arcs. While they can feel slightly slow against hyper-aggressive bosses, mastering their rhythm rewards you with incredible elemental damage output and supreme crowd-clearing capability.
Greatsword of Solitude
For lovers of traditional strength builds who want a fresh weapon, the Greatsword of Solitude is a fantastic heavy weapon. It boasts a sleek, imposing design paired with high physical damage and excellent guard counters. Its signature skill, Solitude Slash, covers a surprising amount of distance, lets you tank through incoming light hits thanks to hyper-armor, and delivers a devastating downward slam.
It scales exceptionally well with a Heavy affinity and feels like a spiritual successor to some of the heaviest hitting gear from previous titles. If you want a reliable, hard-hitting sword that does not rely on status effects, this is your go-to option.
Shadow Sunflower Blossom
Colossal weapons received some quirky and powerful additions, with the Shadow Sunflower Blossom standing out as a premier Faith-strength choice. Scaling primarily with Faith and Strength, this massive floral club delivers crushing strike damage while boasting a unique, beautiful aesthetic.
Its skill allows you to summon bursts of golden light that track targets and deal holy damage, making it uniquely effective against undead and certain late-game bosses. The heavy attacks have incredible reach for a blunt weapon, letting you knock down formidable foes with ease.
---
B-Tier: Niche, Fun, and Situational Gear
The B-Tier contains weapons that are certainly viable and a lot of fun to experiment with, but they suffer from specific drawbacks such as long recovery animations, awkward hitboxes, or reliance on very narrow build parameters.
Perfume Bottles (Madness and Fire Variants)
When Perfume Bottles were first revealed, the community expected them to completely break the game. While certain builds initially exploited unintended multi-hit scaling (which has since been balanced via patches), standard perfume bottles remain a uniquely fun, albeit niche, weapon class.
They excel at applying elemental status effects quickly due to their wide-area mist attacks. However, their short range and low base physical damage mean you will struggle against enemies with high elemental resistances. They are incredible for staggering groups of lesser mobs, but require careful positioning during major boss fights.
Beast Claws
Beast Claws offer a feral, fast-paced playstyle that lets you leap around the battlefield like a wild animal. The leaping heavy attacks close distance remarkably fast and feel incredibly satisfying to execute.
Unfortunately, their overall damage scaling falls off slightly in late-game areas compared to Backhand Blades or standard twinblades. They are fantastic for Dexterity-Strength hybrid builds focusing on aggressive close-quarters combat, but they require precise timing to avoid getting swatted out of the air by heavy boss attacks.
---
C-Tier: Weapons That Need Buffs or Specific Setups
C-Tier gear represents the underperformers of the expansion. While every weapon in Elden Ring can theoretically beat the game in the hands of a dedicated master, these options require an unreasonable amount of support to shine.
Certain Carian Sorcery Swords
While light greatswords as a whole are fantastic, a few specific magic-focused variants struggle to balance their casting utility with physical melee damage. Their split-damage scaling often results in lower overall output unless you run a min-maxed intelligence build with specific talismans.
They are far from unusable, but if you are looking for pure efficiency, you are much better off sticking to standard physical light greatswords infused with magic or cold through ashes of war.
---
Tips for Upgrading and Maximizing Your New Arsenal
Acquiring the best armaments is only half the battle; you also need to upgrade them correctly to survive the brutal damage scaling of the Shadow Realm. Follow these essential tips to maximize your combat effectiveness:
- Scadutree Blessings Are Key: Before worrying too much about weapon upgrades, make sure you are collecting Scadutree Fragments scattered across the map. These provide essential attack power and damage negation buffs exclusive to the DLC area.
- Match Your Affinities: Pay close attention to letter scaling. If your chosen gear has an 'S' scaling in Dexterity once upgraded, ensure you apply a Keen affinity to maximize your damage output.
- Experiment with Ashes of War: Many new armaments allow you to swap ashes of war. Do not be afraid to test different skills to find a playstyle that matches your dodging rhythm and combat preferences.
By following this definitive Elden Ring weapons tier list guide, you will spend less time experimenting with underwhelming gear and more time conquering the hardest challenges FromSoftware has ever created. Choose your weapon, upgrade your stats, and claim your throne as Elden Lord.
---
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is currently considered the best weapon in the Elden Ring DLC?
A:Currently, items like the Milady Light Greatsword, Backhand Blades, and the Bloodfiend's Sacred Spear dominate the S-Tier due to their incredible movesets, high status buildup, and exceptional stance-breaking capabilities.
Q: Can I use the new DLC weapons in the base game of Elden Ring?
A:Yes! Once you acquire any new weapon from the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, you can freely use it anywhere in the base game, including against early-game bosses and in New Game Plus runs.
Q: How do I get Light Greatswords in Elden Ring?
A:Light Greatswords can be found early in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. For example, Milady is located in Castle Ensis, sitting inside a chest at the top of one of the towers.
Q: Are Perfume Bottles still good after recent patches?
A:While unintended damage scaling bugs were fixed, Perfume Bottles remain great for applying status effects quickly and dealing area-of-effect elemental damage against groups of smaller enemies.
Q: Do new DLC weapons require standard or Somber Smithing Stones?
A:It depends on the specific weapon. Standard weapons like Milady and Backhand Blades require regular Smithing Stones (1 through 8), while unique boss weapons and special armaments require Somber Smithing Stones.
Q: What stats should I focus on for the best Shadow of the Erdtree builds?
A:Dexterity and Strength remain exceptional for physical melee builds, while Arcane has received incredible buffs thanks to new status-scaling options. Faith builds also have fantastic hybrid choices like Rellana's Twin Blades.
