In this Elden Ring Best Heavy Thrusting Sword and Ranking Guide, we’ll be taking a look at the 4 Heavy Thrusting Swords in Elden Ring and discuss 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.
Heavy Thrusting Swords in Elden Ring:
- Godskin Stitcher
- Bloody Helice
- Great Epee
- Dragon King’s Cragblade
Best Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring – Ranked
Heavy Thrusting Swords are one of the 31 Weapon types in Elden Ring, soon to be 39 when Shadow of the Erdtree releases on June 21st. Heavy Thrusting Swords have a long reach, which allows you to attack or start your attacks from afar so you’ll hit enemies first before they can hit you. They also deal thrusting damage, which means you can also deal counterattack damage. You’ll gain additional damage when your attack hits an enemy in the middle of an attack animation. You can also use Spear Talisman with this effectively, as you’ll always be doing counterattack damage while using Heavy Thrusting Swords.
This weapon type also allows you to use feints so you can dodge enemy attacks when you’re charging up an R2 attack. It also allows you to block and attack at the same time, allowing you to turtle with a Greatshield. You can also fight enemies more easily even if you’re not familiar with their attack patterns. Lastly, the R1 combo is fairly fast, allowing you to keep staggering enemies so you can continue attacking them.
However, as stated above, Heavy Thrusting Swords deal almost exclusively thrust damage. This means that if you are fighting an enemy that resists this damage type, you either have to use another damage type in some way or endure a long fight with them.
PROS
- Fairly long reach
- Counter attack damage
- Allows you to use feints
- Allows you to block and attack at the same time
- R1 attack chain are fairly fast
CONS
- Deal almost exclusively thrust damage
Dragon King’s Cragblade – #4 Best Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring
The Dragon King’s Cragblade shares the same moveset as the Bloody Helice and has a wider arc on the backward sweep feint attack, and deals Physical and Lightning Damage. It is the Heaviest Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 8, and requires some points in Strength and a lot of points in Dexterity in order to wield.
PROS
- Second longest Thrusting Sword, just shorter than the Bloody Helice
- Thundercloud Form is an exceptional Weapon Skill
- Highest Attack Rating of all Heavy Thrusting Swords
CONS
- Not found until near the very end of the game
- Thundercloud Form has an extremely high FP cost
Attack Rating: 743
Conclusion: The Dragon King’s Cragblade has the highest damage of all Heavy Thrusting Swords, doesn’t weigh much, and has the second longest reach of all Heavy Thrusting Swords, losing to the Bloody Helice by a small margin. However, it does have split damage between Physical and Lightning, making it less effective in some cases.
Its weapon skill: Thundercloud Form hits like a truck and can be used from a modest distance by holding down L2. This is not a charged attack however, and is therefore not boosted by Godfrey Icon, though Shard of Alexander and Warrior Jar Shard do affect it. You can actually navigate while moving through the air while holding L2 though, allowing you to change directions and maneuver around obstacles. This allows you to cast it safely behind cover and move into an enemy that you don’t have line of sight on.
The sweet spot for this weapon is at minimum STR requirement and about 50 Dexterity, but it scales well all the way up to 80 DEX. From this point you’ll increase STR, which scales ok up to 50, but not well after this point. This allows you to use this weapon in NG+ effectively, but you may have difficult in the second half of NG++ and I don’t recommend going further than NG++ with this weapon.
Because this is primarily a Dexterity weapon and cannot be buffed it doesn’t lend itself well to hybrid builds that spell cast. Instead you should focus on the strengths of the weapon, which are it’s weapon skill, the fact that you block and attack simultaneously with it, and that it deals relatively high damage for its weight.
This will allow you to use Block effectively as well as Block Counter well, with a slight investment into STR to get a Greatshield like Icon Shield or another with low STR requirement. Use the Curved Sword Talisman to boost your Block Counter damage, and consider using Carian Filigreed Crest and Assassin’s Cerulean Dagger to help manage your FP due to Thundercloud Form’s high cost.
Great Epee – #3 Best Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring
The Great Epee has an R2 that slashes allowing you to hit multiple enemies more easily or mobile targets, and deals Physical Damage. It is the lightest Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 6.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
PROS
- Lightest of all Heavy Thrusting Swords
- Can be found extremely early in the game in a chest in Limgrave
- The R2 attack is great for groups of enemies or enemies with weird hit boxes or that move constantly
CONS
- Shortest of all Heavy Thrusting Swords
Attack Rating:
- Fire/Lightning – 690
- Sacred/Flame Art – 677
- Magic – 674
- Heavy – 631
- Cold – 630
- Keen – 624
- Quality – 588
- Blood/Poison – 513
Conclusion: The Great Epee is the go to option for those wishing to use a Heavy Thrusting Sword from the very beginning of the game, but it is the shortest one. It deals similar damage to the Godskin Stitcher, even it it’s slightly less with most Infusions, but it has a different R2 attack that can be useful for cleaving through multiple enemies, or hitting fast moving targets that Thrust Attacks are likely to miss.
You’ll have the highest Attack Rating with the Fire or Lightning Infusions, followed closely by Sacred/Flame Art and Magic. Heavy outperforms Keen, but only by a small amount, making either option perfectly viable, and Cold is somewhere in between them as another good option.
Because Fire, Heavy and Cold are all good options, I’d highly recommend going the STR route and using this weapon with a Greatshield for Block Counters, as well as turtling behind the shield while attacking. You can use a nasty combo of Block Counter followed by a quick L2 if you’re using the Impaling Thrust Ash of War to stagger almost anything, leaving you open for a Critical Attack. Use Shard of Alexander, Curved Sword Talisman, Dagger Talisman and Ritual Sword Talisman to boost your damage when setup this way.
Bloody Helice – #2 Best Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring
The Bloody Helice shares the same moveset as the Dragon King’s Cragblade and has a wider arc on the backward sweep feint attack, and deals Physical Damage. It is the Heaviest Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 8, and requires some points in Strength, Dexterity and Arcane in order to wield.
PROS
- Longest Heavy Thrusting Sword by a tiny amount
- Does Bleed Build Up on hit
- Dynast’s Finesse is a top tier Weapon Skill
CONS
- Not found until Altus Plateau
- Lowest Attack Rating of all Heavy Thrusting Swords
Attack Rating: 586
Conclusion: The Bloody Helice has the lowest Attack Rating of all Heavy Thrusting Swords, but it is the longest of the bunch. It has an exceptional weapon skill in Dynast’s Finesse that allows you to spin through enemy attacks via i-frames, and follow up with devastating R2s that are affected by Warrior Jar Shard and Shard of Alexander. It also has very high native Bleed Build up on hit, allowing you to rip off huge chunks of HP, while also buffing yourself with things like White Mask or Lord of Blood’s Exultation.
Dynast’s Finesse provides you a means to dodge much more effectively than rolling, and is unaffected by equip weight, allowing you to stack Armor to the moon and not have to worry about fat rolling. However, it consumes more Stamina than a normal roll, and you will need a huge investment in Endurance in order to be able to use Dynast’s Finesse at will, so when using this weapon do not skip placing points into this Attribute. Additionally, the Green Turtle Talisman and Viridian Amber Medallion can also help with Stamina management.
The sweet spot for this weapon is around 50 Arcane, 30 Dexterity and minimum Strength. It scales very well with both and Dexterity from this point forward though, making it a particularly good weapon for NG+ and beyond, and you’d be wise to take both of these up to 80 before placing points into Strength.
Since the Bloody Helice has fantastic Arcane scaling, the Dragon Communion Seal is a viable pairing if you wish to sling some spells too. This issue here is that unless you dedicate some points to Faith, you’ll have a very limited selection, since most Incantations require Faith in order to cast. This means you would be limited to Blood or Dragon Incantations simply because you won’t have the needed Attribute points to meet the requirements for this weapon, pump Arcane and pump Faith. However, if you decide to play Journey 2 or 3 with this weapon you’ll be able to accomplish this much more easily.
I recommend focuses on the use of Dynast’s Finesse when using this weapon, as I did in my Bloody Ballerina Build. Stacking Stamina so that you can use it when ever you want, and slotting Lord of Blood’s Exultation and Shard of Alexander for increased damage. Focus Arcane and Endurance for best results.
Godskin Stitcher – #1 Best Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring
The Godskin Stitcher has a charged R2 that thrusts twice not unlike Rogier’s Rapier, and deals Physical Damage. It is one of the lightest Heavy Thrusting Sword in Elden Ring, weighing 7, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
PROS
- R2 is great for status effects or for Talismans like Winged Sword Insignia
- Second Highest Attack Rating of all Heavy Thrusting Swords
CONS
- Second shortest Heavy Thrusting Sword
- Not found until halfway through Volcano Manor
Attack Rating:
- Fire/Lightning – 700
- Sacred/Flame Art – 686
- Magic – 682
- Keen – 641
- Cold – 633
- Heavy – 627
- Quality – 599
- Blood/Poison – 519
Conclusion: The Godskin Stitcher has the second highest Attack Rating of all Heavy Thrusting Swords, but loses out to the Great Epee if you’re going the Heavy route, and it is slightly longer. It’s a great choice to apply status effects because of its charged R2 attack that hits twice rapidly, particularly Bleed since this can be applied multiple times per fight easily.
Fire and Lightning are the highest Attack Rating, with Sacred/Flame Art coming in second and Magic a close 3rd. Keen actually outperforms Heavy with this weapon, though not by a huge amount, and Cold is another viable option if you want that status effect. The Blood Infusion puts you at 519 Attack Rating, which is about 65 lower Attack Rating than the Bloody Helice, though you do attack more rapidly with R2. So it’s a choice of damage over bleed build up, and of course the freedom of Ash of War if you don’t like Dynast’s Finesse.
I recommend going the Blood route and using something like Seppuku to further increase your Bleed Build up with your R2 attacks, playing similarly to the way my Crimson Duelist Build plays. However, note that you must fully charge the R2 to get 2 strikes, which makes it a bit more challenging to pull off. Also, you don’t always need to use the charged R2, so don’t get carried away trying to always trigger it. Sometimes an R1 chain or R2 followed by an R1 is more than enough, and usually after a Charged R2, you can follow with another regular R2 to trigger Hemorrhage.
Use Talismans like Lord of Blood’s Exultation, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent’s Prosthesis and the Axe Talisman to boost your Attack Power higher, and use the White Mask if you want further damage. Make sure you have high Poise so you can trade hits when spamming charged R2 attacks.
If you enjoyed this Heavy Thrusting 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!
