As a mechanic that was exclusively used in Dark Souls 2, “powerstancing” makes a wonderful comeback in Elden Ring. By using any two weapons of the same type, the Tarnished is able to use a set of attacks that is both significantly stronger and particular to each weapon type.
Consequently, there are two primary factors in determining the best power stance combinations: the efficacy of a weapon type’s moves, and how well each weapon complements the other. Out of a wide variety of weapons—and possible weapon combinations—to choose from, here’s a list of the best weapons to powerstance in Elden Ring.
10/10 Katanas: Moonveil Katana & Rivers of Blood
Any player who plays PvP knows this combination of weapons all too well. These katanas are widely considered to be some of the best in their weapon type; although they do not necessarily complement each other well (aside from their compounded bleeding effect) their respective strengths still stack on top of each other.
Specifically, the Moonveil Katana deals physical and magical damage, with B scaling in both Dexterity and Intelligence. As its name suggests, Rivers of Blood causes significant blood loss, alongside dealing physical and fire damage. With this combination, a Dexterity/Intelligence build can deal considerable, quick damage of different types; given the combo’s primary focus on bleed, bleed-resistant enemies can counter these weapons while taking fire, magic, and physical damage.
9/10 Straight Swords: Sword of Night and Flame & Sword of St. Trina
The Sword of Night and Flame was considered the meta melee weapon during the opening months of Elden Ring’s release—for good reason. When fully upgraded, this sword has D scaling for Strength and Dexterity with B scaling for Intelligence and Faith; in other words, this is an incredible melee option for any spellcasting build.
Similar to the katanas, a Dexterity/Intelligence build can produce a solid power stance when the Sword of Night and Flame joins the Sword of St. Trina. With C scaling for Dexterity and D scaling for Intelligence, the Sword of St. Trina does not contribute a massive amount in terms of raw damage; it can supplement this relatively low amount of damage, however, with its tactically effective Skill, Mists of Slumber.
8/10 Curved Greatswords: Morgott’s Cursed Sword & Bloodhound’s Fang
Morgott’s Cursed Sword is a solid choice for Dex builds and an even better choice for any Tarnished who wants to privilege fashion over pure, mechanical optimization. With a bleeding effect coupled with a bleeding skill that has a medium range and width, this weapon can slowly do considerable damage to any boss fight. Bloodhound’s Fang is available in the early game and can last well into the late game.
Bloodhound’s Fang can scale Strength up to C and Dexterity up to B, dealing significant physical damage. In conjunction with Morgott’s Cursed Sword, the overall bleeding effect can be immensely powerful. Although these are “greatswords,” the Bloodhound’s Fang has a Skill, Bloodhound’s Finesse, which makes this combination highly mobile, especially in consideration of its damage output. The major drawback of this combo, however, is that the Cursed Sword is primarily there to look good and contribute some bleeding effects to the work that the Bloodhound’s Fang is doing.
7/10 Twinblades: Eleonora’s Poleblade & Godskin Peeler
Twinblades are an excellent choice for those who want high DPS—and those who want to look as cool as possible doing it. Eleonora’s Poleblade deals a moderate amount of physical and fire damage that is augmented by the sheer amount of hits that this weapon will likely be able to pull off. The Weapon Skill, Bloodblade Dance, can deliver those quick, devastating blows in quick succession.
There are two possible routes to go with the Godskin Peeler, depending on player preference: a Blood upgrade or a Keen upgrade. With the Blood upgrade, this power stance will deal a wild amount of bleeding buildup per hit. With the Keen upgrade, a Dex build would benefit from the A scaling on Godskin Peeler alongside the C scaling on Eleonora’s Poleblade. The major drawback here is the dependency on DPS; if there is no opportunity to string together some attacks, then this power stance is not nearly as effective.
6/10 Curved Swords: Wing of Astel & Bandit’s Curved Sword
Yet another power stance that benefits from Dexterity and Intelligence, Wing of Astel provides the Weapon Skill and magic damage, while the Bandit’s Curved Sword provides the raw damage. The Weapon Skill, Nebula, shoots several projectiles in a wide swath in front of the caster; after a moment, the projectiles explode on the ground, doing effective magic damage in the form of AoE.
Without much physical damage, the Wing of Astel is complemented well by the Bandit’s Curved Sword. With a Magic upgrade, this power stance could double down on magic damage for Intelligence heavy builds; conversely, a Keen upgrade could considerably increase the physical damage of this weapon, finishing off enemies affected by a recently cast Nebula.
5/10 Halberds: Commander’s Standard & Dragon Halberd
Many of the preceding weapon combinations have been Dexterity and Intelligence oriented; halberds, however, are all about Strength. The Commander’s Standard has solid Strength scaling—B when fully upgraded—but the main component is the Weapon Skill, Rallying Standard. This Skill effectively increases the overall attack and defense of the caster (and any nearby allies).
With a pure Strength build in mind, the other weapon will provide the raw damage. The Dragon Halberd has the best physical attack power among the other halberds, making it an apt choice. This power stance combo is a high damage dealer with solid range; the major flaw in this approach, however, is that this power stance only utilizes physical attacks, making it relatively easy to counter.
4/10 Great Spears: Vyke’s War Spear & Treespear
This power stance combo is best suited for a Dex/Faith build. Vyke’s War Spear offers B scaling in Dexterity and C scaling in Faith—solid overall. Both the passive ability and the Weapon Skill, Frenzyflame Thrust, inflict madness damage on enemies; although this is highly effective (especially in PvP) the madness effect is also applied onto the user.
The Treespear works well with Vyke’s War Spear, since the former also scales with Dexterity (C) and Faith (D). Notably, the Treespear inflicts holy damage in addition to the usual physical damage. On one level, this adds some nice variety to damage types; on another level, this also makes the Treespear effective in certain PvE scenarios, like fighting Those Who Live With Death.
3/10 Colossal Swords: Ruins Greatsword & Starscourge Greatsword
Unsurprisingly, using Colossal Swords requires a Strength build—these swords in particular would benefit from mild leveling into Intelligence, as well. With a massive S scaling in Strength and a modest D scaling in Intelligence, the Ruins Greatsword is enough of a weapon on its own. Wave of Destruction, the associated Weapon Skill, issues forth a medium-range beam of magic, dealing devastating damage.
The Starscourge Greatsword is a less-extreme version. Utilizing D scaling in Intelligence and Dexterity alongside B scaling in Strength, the Starscourge Greatsword offers increased magic and physical damage to the Ruins Greatsword. As relatively slow weapons, these Colossal Swords can be interrupted by quicker, poise-breaking attacks.
2/10 Colossal Weapons: Prelate’s Inferno Crozier & Giant Crusher
Aesthetically, any Tarnished could do better than equip the Prelate’s Inferno Crozier; in terms of damage output, however, the Prelate’s Inferno Crozier and Giant Crusher are among the best in their class. These both require Strength builds, of course. Unlike the other combinations, both of the weapons in this set can be upgraded to any particular damage subtype.
As such, this combination is highly mutable, allowing for builds that are high in Strength and any other attribute of a player’s choosing. Like the other Colossal weapons on this list, the only major drawback to these weapons is the relatively slow attack speed, but a careful playstyle can easily make use of this power stance’s incredible damage.
1/10 Reapers: Halo Scythe & Winged Scythe
A Dex/Faith build is required to effectively power stance with these weapons. When fully upgraded, they both have C scaling in Dexterity; the Halo Scythe has D Faith scaling, whereas the Winged Scythe has C Faith scaling. These are not exactly high—what, then, makes it among the best power stance combinations?
To start, they both have a passive of 55 Hemorrhage buildup in conjunction with their dual physical/holy damage. The modest damage scaling can be deceiving as well, since the different damage types stack surprisingly higher than most of the preceding entries. The Weapon Skill for the Halo Scythe, Miquella’s Ring of Light, is a tracking projectile that is excellent for most PvE encounters. By contrast, the Weapon Skill for the Winged Scythe, Angel’s Wings, is a two-hit attack: an upward thrust, followed by a long, sweeping lunge. With medium to long range dynamics, multiple damage types, and adaptability for different situations, this power stance is absolutely one to consider using.
