In this Elden Ring Best Curved Sword and Ranking Guide, we’ll be taking a look at the 15 Curved Swords in Elden Ring, and discussing why you might use them in combat. We’ll take a look at attack power, damage type, length, Weapon Skills, and other factors such as how long it takes you to acquire them, to determine if they are best suited for you. We are doing a guide for all Weapon types in Elden Ring, and these will be updated to reflect those added with Shadow of the Erdtree as well.
Curved Swords in Elden Ring:
Curved Swords are one of the 31 Weapon types in Elden Ring, soon to be 39 when Shadow of the Erdtree releases on June 21st. Curved Swords have a very fast attack speed. It has a fantastic dual wield combos, which means that you can set status effect easily with fast repeated hits. It takes advantage of items that have an effect that increases damage as you hit more – Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent’s Prosthesis, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, and Thorny Cracked Tear. It is an extremely light weapon class, allowing you to wear heavy armor to get more Poise to not get interrupted while attacking.
However, Curved Swords tend to do less damage than every other weapon types except for Fists and Daggers. It also doesn’t have a long reach, compared to weapons such as Twinblades that also set status effects fast.
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The Eclipse Shotel has a unique R2 shared with Shotel and Nox Flowing Sword that doesn’t hit multiple times and cannot be roll cancelled out of, and deals Physical and Holy Damage. It has a light weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 3, and requires some points in Strength and a lot of points in Dexterity and Faith in order to wield.
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Attack Rating: 584
Conclusion: The Eclipse Shotel is almost exclusively a PvP weapon. Not only does it deal damage through Blocks, but Death Flare adds the Death Blight effect to weapon attacks, which kills enemy players instantly if they are struck too many times with it. Death Blight has no effect in PvE. For this reason I’d advise using this weapon only in PvP.
The sweet spot for this weapon is around 50 DEX and 50 FTH, which will get you an ok Attack Rating of around 584 damage, which will increase by a small amount when buffed with Death Flare. The Holy Damage added by this buff increases with your FTH attribute, but by such a small amount, it isn’t worth focusing on.
Death Flare itself deals Holy and Physical Damage with its follow up attack, increasing in damage with STR, DEX and FTH. However, scaling with all 3 Attributes it still only deals mediocre damage, even if built to maximize its damage completely. For this reason, and because it’s difficult to land in PvP, I advise not worrying about this Weapon Skill.
If you’re looking to use this weapon in PvP, I highly advise you pair it with something like Fia’s Mist in order to add more Death Blight build up. Even if you have two of this weapon, you won’t be able to buff both and attack much before you have to rebuff, since Death Flare only lasts about 30 seconds. Once your opponent figures out your strategy, they will simply avoid you until your buffs where off and you will get frustrated. Fia’s Mist will allow you to create pockets they will hesitate to fight in, and is excellent if you are outnumbered since enemy players tend to be very aggressive in this case.
If you absolutely insist on using this weapon in PvE, I’d use it with a Shield for Block Counters, or dual wield it with another Shotel for maximum Block penetration. Make sure to use buffs like Golden Vow or Flame, Grant Me Strength as well, since you’ll meet the requirements for them.
The Scimitar shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical Damage. It has a light weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 3, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Scimitar is outclassed by the Bandit’s Curved Sword, Falchion and the Grossmesser, all three of which can be found very early on in Elden Ring. They all share the same moveset, and all three of these weapons have higher Attack Rating and longer reach, they simply weigh a tiny bit more, which is easily overlooked. If you like the Scimitar, but want more damage, swap to one of these Weapons ASAP.
The only reasons to use the Scimitar are: a) you began the game as a Warrior and have not yet obtained these weapons, b) you really need the extra equip load, or c) you simply cannot be bothered to farm them.
Dual Scimitars is the way to go in my opinion, and they are not a bad choice if you want to create an early game Bleed Build like I did with my Blood Blade Build, but Grossmesser and Bandit’s Curved Sword is an instant upgrade over them, even with the same playstyle.
The Shotel has a unique R2 shared with the Eclipse Shotel and Nox Flowing Sword that doesn’t hit multiple times and cannot be roll cancelled out of, but that deals considerably more stagger damage, and deals Physical Damage. It is the lightest Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 2, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Shotel is one of the weakest Curved Swords in Elden Ring, but it only weighs 2, which is essentially what a Dagger weighs. It can also deal damage through Blocks, and its Charged R2 can stagger regular enemies in one hit, and larger enemies with 2, which is not common among Curved Swords.
You can only obtain one of these weapons in a single playthrough, unless someone drops you a second, so you will have to pair it with another Curved Sword if you dual wield. However, because it has a fairly strong R2 attack, you can also use this weapon with a Shield or in a Spellblade build that casts spells, since R2 doesn’t use the off-hand weapon for its damage.
Sacred/Flame Art make great choices with this weapon since you usually get about 60% or so damage conversion to Holy or Fire, and enemies don’t block 100% of these damage types anyway. This will allow even more damage to slip through when they do because of the nature of Shotels.
The Flowing Curved Sword has a unique multi hit, dancing R2 that consists of a double slash, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 3.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Flowing Curved Sword is rather unique because its R2 and Charged R2 attacks flow together into a sort of rhythmic dance with R2s attacking twice, and Charged R2s attacking 3x. This allows you to chain them together, assuming you don’t get interrupted.
Since you can only get one of these very late in the game in Consecrated Snowfield, and because the damage on it isn’t that great, really the only reason to use this weapon is because of these unique R2s, so you want to learn to use them effectively if you’re using this weapon. Determination and Royal Knight’s Resolve make good choices for Ashes of War since they will boost this damage even further.
Consider using a Shield with this Weapon, or using it with a Seal or Staff in order to cast spells.
The Serpent-God’s Curved Sword shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical Damage. It has a heavy weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 4, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Serpent-God’s Curved Sword is in the middle of the pack when it comes to total Attack Rating and reach, but the reason to use it is because it heals you whenever you kill something with it equipped in either hand. This can come in very handy, particularly because you tend to play aggressively when dual wielding Curved Swords, and can allow you to keep attacking without the need to heal. Each kill heals you for 2.5% of your max HP as well as an additional 25 HP. Having high Vigor will make this more effective.
You can’t get this weapon until Ruin-Strewn Precipice, which is late into the game, but consider swapping out one of your Curved Swords for this one if you need the healing. If healing isn’t an issue for you then don’t worry about it, because this effect doesn’t help you in boss fights where nothing dies anyway.
The Beastman’s Curved Sword has unique jumping light & heavy attacks incorporating spinning multi-hitting attacks, and deals Physical Damage. It has a heavy weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 4.0, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Beastman’s Curved Sword has excellent Strength Scaling, and is in the upper middle of the pack when it comes to Attack Rating, but is shorter than many other Curved Swords. It’s claim to fame is its unique jumping R1 and R2 attacks, that both hit multiple times. This allows you to use it one-handed and get better efficacy out of it than some other Curved Swords, though if you’re going the rapid hit route, which you really should if you’re using Curved Swords, it still makes sense to dual wield in my opinion, making this function cool but not exactly optimal.
You cannot get this Weapon until the very end of the game in Crumbling Farum Azula, so this is likely to be a NG+ weapon in most cases. For this reason I advise using the Heavy Infusion, and placing some points into Faith in order to buff it for maximum damage potential. This would allow you to use a Shield, Seal and one-hand this weapon in the other hand, buffing it as necessary. Then you can make use of the Jumping Attack when needed, but also have access to Spells and Block Counters etc.
The Shamshir shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 3.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Shamshir is in the upper middle of the pack in terms of overall Attack Rating for a Curved Sword, but you can only obtain one per playthrough from Highroad Cave (unless someone drops you one), and both the Grossmesser and Bandit’s Curved Sword outperform it in terms of damage and reach. You can also get two of those weapons, making them a better choice if you like the Curved Sword style of play.
The Shamshir has slightly better DEX scaling than Strength, and as with other Curved Swords makes a great candidate for Dual Wielding. Cold is a great option, since it has the same damage as Keen, but also applies Frostbite.
The Nox Flowing Sword has a unique R2 shared with Shotel and Eclipse Shotel that doesn’t hit multiple times and cannot be roll cancelled out of, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 3.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Rating: 523
Conclusion: Nox Flowing Sword is an interesting weapon that seems designed more for PvP than PvE. This is because it has relatively low Attack Rating for a Curved Sword, and the fact that some of its damage slips through shields isn’t overly useful in many PvE situations. Additionally, its weapon Skill Flowing Form hits for an average amount of damage, but has an incredibly wide and far hit box making it very hard to dodge unless timed perfectly, and some damage from Flowing Form will penetrate Blocks as well, which could lend itself well to PvP. However, it can be used effectively in PvE as well.
This weapon shines at 50 Dexterity, making it a better first playthrough weapon than NG+ or beyond. Once you hit 80 Dexterity you really won’t get too much more damage out of the weapon without serious stat investment, which should put you near the end of Journey 1 or the very beginning of Journey 2.
I’d play this weapon with another Curved Sword, possibly the Shotel or Eclipse Shotel for maximum Block penetration if you plan to PvP. Or you can use it with a Shield for Block Counters, using the Flowing Form Weapon Skill to handle larger groups of enemies effectively because of its very long range, and because Flowing Form causes most enemies to flinch when struck by it. Just make sure to have high Poise, to prevent interruptions, since it has a rather long wind up.
The Mantis Blade has a unique R2 that unfolds the blade extending its range, and deals Physical Damage. It has a heavy weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 4.0, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: At first glance it might seem like there is no real reason to use the Mantis Blade. It has the shortest reach of any Curved Sword, other Curved Swords have more damage, and you can only acquire 1 of them late into the game in Gelmir Hero’s Grave.
However, R2 attacks with this weapon have much longer reach, and you can stagger enemies easily with Charged R2s, which most Curved Swords cannot do except Shotels, and Shotels have much lower damage on average. This allows you to play one-handed, like a Shotel, but deal more damage, while still having great stagger potential.
Consider pairing this a Shield for a Block Counter build that focuses on R2s, or with a Seal or Staff for a Spellblade Build that can still stagger on the regular. Make sure you have high Poise in order to use Block Counters and Charged R2s more easily.
The Falchion shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 3.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Falchion is near the top in terms of Attack Rating for Curved Swords, and it’s not super hard to obtain, dropping from Demi-Humans in Weeping Peninsula and Limgrave. It leans more to the Strength side of things than Dexterity, and excels at the Flame Art and Sacred Infusions, with Magic pulling up a close second.
It only slightly outperforms the Scimitar when set to the Blood Infusion, so it’s not worth swapping them if you have already upgraded your Scimitars, as the reach on the Falchion is only very slightly longer.
Consider dual wielding these with the Cold Infusion for solid damage and Frostbite, or go full Sacred/Flame Art for max damage per hit.
The Grossmesser shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical Damage. It has a heavy weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 4.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Grossmesser has the second highest Attack Rating of all Curved Swords, lagging slightly behind the Bandit’s Curved Sword. It weighs a little bit less and is a little bit easier to farm in Tombsward Catacombs, but it’s also slightly shorter than the Bandit’s Curved Sword too. For this reason I advise using the Bandit’s Curved Sword over this one, if you can spend the time farming them.
Cold is a great option for these weapons, or possibly makin one Cold and the other Fire to create a scenario where you can apply Frostbite multiple times in one Boss Fight. Blood is also not a bad choice, and you’ll get nearly 25 damage more than the scimitar or Falchion with this Infusion.
The Magma Blade shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical and Fire Damage. It has a heavy weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 4, and requires some points in Strength, Dexterity and Faith in order to wield.
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Attack Rating: 617
Conclusion: The damage of the Magma Blade is slightly less than the Fire Grossmesser or Bandit’s Fire Curved Sword, but those weapons have longer reach, require less stat investment (no Faith) in order to wield, and can be found much earlier in the game. This makes Magma Blade only better if you take it into NG+ where the scaling on it will eventually surpass 700 Attack Rating, or if you plan to use its Weapon Skill: Magma Shower.
Magma Shower operates much the same way that Spinning Slash does, but it drops magma on the ground that deals damage to enemies that touch it, boosting its performance over Spinning Slash in many cases. It does both Physical and Fire Damage, which is increased by Strength, Dexterity and Faith. This allows it to remain competitive in terms of Weapon Skills, and makes up somewhat for the Magma Blade’s shorter reach.
Since the sweet spot for this Weapon is about 50 STR, 50 DEX and 50 Faith this is a fantastic weapon for NG+ and beyond. Since it scales much better with Strength you’ll begin there, followed by Faith and finally Dexterity. You can add the Clawmark Seal to any build you make using this weapon because of the high Strength and Faith, which will allow you to cast Incantations somewhat effectively.
Builds that would work well with this weapon are Dual Wielding with another Fire Infused Curved sword for similar damage and scaling. Pairing it with another Cold Infused Curved Sword that will allow you to trigger Frostbite over and over rather easily on Bosses. Or using it with a Greatshield for Block Counters, since you will have rather high Strength anyways, and you only use one weapons when using Magma Shower.
The Bandit’s Curved Sword shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical Damage. It is the heaviest Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Bandit’s Curved Sword is the Attack Rating king of Curved Swords, and unless their is a unique Curved Sword you like more, or you’re specifically going for a status effect build with the Scavenger’s Curved Sword, there isn’t any reason to use other Curved Swords that share the same moveset. It’s also the longest Curved Sword, reinforcing this concept. However, it can take a while to farm from the Skeleton near Church of Pilgrimage.
Two Scavenger’s Occult Curved Swords will outperform two Blood Infused Bandit’s Curved Swords, but you might have to use one if you can’t get someone to drop you a second Scavenger’s, like I did in my Venomous Bloodblade Build.
My recommendation if you plan on dual wielding these weapons is to go for max damage per hit with Fire, Lightning, Magic or Sacred/Flame Art. When combined with Talismans like Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent’s Prothesis or Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, you’ll crank out a ton of damage in a hurry.
The Wing of Astel fires a projectile when using its heavy attack, and fires 2 if fully charged, and deals Physical and Magic Damage. It has a light weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 2.5, and requires some points in Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence in order to wield.
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Attack Rating: 588
Conclusion: Wing of Astel is a fantastic Curved Sword, not only because it has a unique R2 that fires projectiles, but also because Nebula is one of the deadliest Weapon Skills in the game. The Attack Rating is not bad either at 588, particularly when you realize the weapon weights only 2.5.
There is a bit of a dilemma with this weapon though, and this is that the R2 projectiles and Nebula both deal 100% Magic Damage, which only increase with with the Intelligence Stat. However, Wing of Astel does more damage itself if you split your Attribute Points between Intelligence and Dexterity. So you have to decide to which is more important to you: regular attacks and block counters, or Nebula and R2/Charged R2s, and build accordingly.
I chose a more balanced approach in my Nebula Knight Build, but you could just as easily favor Intelligence, and use Wing of Astel in Spellblade sort of Build that can also cast spells. My argument internally against doing this was: If you have Nebula, do you really need magic spells? But that of course is up to you. Just make sure to use Magic Scorpion Charm, Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear and Terra Magica if you can to further boost your damage regardless.
Since this weapon shines around 50 DEX and 50 INT, but scales well up to 80 INT you will be able to take this weapon into NG+ rather easily, particularly because Nebula is such a strong Weapon Skill. Remember that if you use it in a narrow corridor the cluster of stars will group up, and when you use it in open spaces they will fan out.
The Scavenger’s Curved Sword shares the default moveset of most Curved Swords, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for a Curved Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 3.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Conclusion: The Scavenger’s Curved Sword is the only Curved Sword that does Bleed Build Up on hit natively, and is naturally a fan favorite for this reason. Dual Curved Swords work exceptionally well at setting Status Effects due to their running L1 and jumping L1 attacks, outpaced only by Twinblades. You won’t get this one until you get to Mt. Gelmir though.
By setting the Scavenger’s Curved Sword to the Occult Affinity, you still get very solid Attack Rating as well as Bleed Build Up. The downside is that you can only get one in a playthrough unless someone drops you another, so you’ll need to pair it with another Curved Sword if you want to dual wield. Consider using this one in your off-hand with a Bandit’s Occult Curved Sword that uses Seppuku in your right hand. Use the Lord of Blood’s Exultation, White Mask, Millicent’s Prosthesis and Rotten Winged Sword Insignia to devastating results.
If you enjoyed this Curved Swords Ranked Guide, be sure to check out our other Weapon Guides, and also our article on how to Prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree!
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