For those who don't already know, Elden Ring's AI enemies don't fight the same way as human invaders. Turns out other players won't let their enemies take a breath or give them a chance for some cheese tactic. Those expecting their awesome super-OP alpha wolf omega helicopter weapon that will not only kill a boss in one second but also mail some death threats to their funeral might be disappointed in PvP.
Because like most Souls games, Elden Ring has its own unofficial PvP meta. That meta might look vastly different compared to what's being used en masse in PvE (or offline). Simply forcing to use certain weapons for PvP that might have looked great in PvE can be disadvantageous at the very least or lead to some frustrating defeats.
7 Death's Poker
- Weapon type: Greatsword
- Damage type: Physical/Magic with Frost buildup and Black Flame weapon skill
It looks more like a scythe or a curved sword but Death's Poker is surprisingly a greatsword, meaning the swings are heavy and slow. It's valuable in cheesing PvE bosses thanks to its weapon skill which shoots a lingering font of Black Flame. But this attack is easy to avoid in PvP and typically only works great for large targets.
Once players have managed to avoid the Black Flame, there goes Death's Poker's usefulness in PvP. It does deal Frost buildup in its normal attacks but the Physical/Magic split means it doesn't hit as hard as a weapon with only one damage type. Overall, the weapon's perks are all over the place so it's hard to min-max with this kind of weapon in PvP.
6 Blasphemous Blade
- Weapon type: Greatsword
- Damage type: Physical/Fire
Blasphemous Blade is a beast against any Elden Ring AI enemy (minus Abductors and Magma Wyrms) thanks to its weapon skill, Taker's Flames. On its own, it deals amazingly high Fire damage which is then easily buffed and compounded. The problem in PvP is that it's slow.
The windup for Taker's Flames leaves the weapon wielder vulnerable. Sadly, this weapon skill is easy to interrupt and abruptly cancel. Moreover, the Fire projectile travels somewhat slowly which means many agile players will be able to avoid it effortlessly. It can one-shot many players but there's a low chance of that happening in a 1v1 fight and even then, there are better PvP weapons.
5 Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear
- Weapon type: Great Spear
- Damage type: Physical/Fire with Bleed buildup
Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear is a great boss-killing weapon, especially against large bosses. At times, it can even deal more than 10,000 points of damage in just a few activations of its weapon skill. The difference is, those bosses don't evade attacks and don't care much about Bleed procs.
The regular PvP player in Elden Ring will be able to escape this weapon's skill radius and pepper the wielder with some ranged magic attacks. At best, players can use this in PvP as a thrusting weapon while turtling behind a great shield but again, there are faster weapons for that which also consume less Stamina per attack.
4 Godslayer's Greatsword
- Weapon type: Colossal Sword
- Damage type: Physical/Fire
The Godslayer's Greatsword is special due to its speed being comparable with a greatsword while still being categorized as a colossal weapon. The weapon skill also deals high damage to bosses and follows it up with trickle damage from Black Flame. In PvP, this weapon skill can be a hit or miss. Mostly a miss.
The windup is so slow that it's difficult to land both hits of the weapon skill and the second hit is the more important of the two since it deals more damage. The great thing about this weapon skill is the poise boost but any PvP player with a fast Bleed weapon can procure a Bleed proc while this Godslayer's Greatsword's weapon skill is ongoing.
3 Envoy's Greathorn
- Weapon type: Colossal Weapon
- Damage type: Physical/Holy
No one expected a bubble blower to be a weapon of mass destruction capable of killing the most powerful of dragons with nothing but holy foam, but here we are. The Envoy's Greathorn is an awesome weapon for PvE. It's particularly effective against large bosses and enemies since they'll get the brunt of the damage if they catch all the bubbles.
For PvP, don't even bother with this weapon. Its gimmick is easily avoided since all the bubbles blow out in front barely in a 180-degree radius. This will open up the wielders to any backstab. After that, the weapon becomes nearly useless in PvP as it's a slow hammer with less range and split damage.
2 Golden Halberd
- Weapon type: Halberd
- Damage type: Physical/Holy
The Golden Halberd is one of the earliest boss weapons that the players can acquire since it drops from the Tree Sentinel. Turns out it's also one of the best Faith weapons since it deals a split of Physical and Holy damage. Moreover, it provides players with the Golden Vow buff.
That's also one of its weaknesses later on or in PvP. The weapon skill cannot be changed to something more functional or powerful. Hence, the Golden Halberd is best relegated to an off-hand weapon that's used mainly for the buff. For a main hand PvP weapon, it's better to look for something else with an offense-focused weapon skill.
1 Greatsword
- Weapon type: Colossal Sword
- Damage type: Physical
It looks great as the poster boy of Colossal Swords, especially when used with those dual-wielding one-shot builds but that's where the Greatsword peaks. In PvP, it doesn't even classify as one of the most damaging weapons, which is worrisome given the weapon's sluggishness and weight.
Good luck trying to buff up the weapon with Royal Knight's Resolve in PvP or even landing a hit. This thing is slow and is best used for roll attacks or jump attacks against fast and small opponents. On the plus side, players can infuse it with the Bloodhound's Step Ash of War to make dodging easier, but even then, landing a hit with this thing is an ordeal.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.