Greatswords are the Best Weapon in Elden Ring - Elden Ring All Greatswords Breakdown 

The Golden Order Greatsword shares the default moveset of many other Greatswords, and deals both Physical and Holy Damage. It has an average weight for a Greatsword in Elden Ring, weighing 10, and requires some points in Strength, Dexterity and Faith in order to wield. Pros: Highest Holy Damage of all Holy Damage dealing Greatswords in Elden Ring. Upper middle of the pack of the Holy Damage dealing Greatswords in terms of total Attack Rating. Establish Order does very high Holy Damage, and can be buffed effectively with the Sacred Scorpion Charm and Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear. +20% damage vs. Undead enemies, and prevents Undead resurrection. Cons: It's found extremely late in the game in the Cave of the Forlorn. Very high stat requirements for a Greatsword. Does about 66% Holy Damage, which is not a good damage type vs many challenging end game bosses. Establish Order is not always easy to land because of its long wind up. Conclusion: The Golden Order Greatsword packs a serious punch, but by the time you acquire it, you'll most likely have a comparable or better Greatsword. The fact that it does mostly Holy Damage would seem fantastic, except for the fact that many late game bosses resist this damage type, making it less effective than it should be by the time you have it. The weapon shines around 50 Faith, putting it near the top of total Attack Rating of all Holy Damage dealing Greatswords at this point and onwards. But because the Golden Order Greatsword has such poor Strength and Dexterity Scaling, you'll likely have to play some sort of Jump Attack Power Stance build with it, or a Spellblade type that use the Erdtree Seal in the left hand.

"Wave of gold does not prevent undead resurrection, though it really should." Fextra getting HEATED on this one.

One thing about the Knight's Greatsword: yes, it does slightly less damage than the Banished Knight's Greatsword, but it is also a bit longer.

This series is an awesome idea. The build crafting is my favorite part of the game and this has me thinking about all sorts of options

I finished the majority of the game with the Claymore. Absolutely loved the moveset!

Finally, a nuanced look at weapons rather than just «good/bad»

There's more to the claymore R2 than the range. It's thrusting damage which means it benefits from being a "counter attack" and can get additional bonuses from the spear talisman. Also, the r2 uncharged is faster than any other greatswords r2. As a matter of fact, it's one of the fastest r2s in the game, which is why the claymore pairs so well with storm stomp.

Been running a collosal sword build. As soon as I got Ranni's sword, the temptation to dual wield it with either Rykard's or Bell Bearing Hunter overtakes me. But I shall never abandon my Guts blade ...

You forgot about the Golden Order Greatsword. Other than that, I was waiting for a video like this, nice work.

The Marai's greatsword is a great alternate weapon for arcane builds when facing enemies that do not bleed/rot such as Elden Beast. You don't get great scaling but the ash still does insane damage with the right talismans

Missing your Elden Ring videos Cas, glad to have our ER dose again!

Very good video breakdown of Greatswords. I would just like to add that while Banished Knight Greatsword has slightly higher damage out than Knights Greatsword (with both having the same exact unique two handed moveset), the Knight's Greatsword is one of the longest Greatsword with superior range. These two are also superior to the Iron Greatsword due to their unique two handed moveset (if mostly two handing). And as Fextralife already pointed out, both these Greatswords can be found very early in the game in Limgrave.

Banished Knight greatswords can be game right from the beginning from the two banished knights at the Cathedral of Dragon Communion in Caelid of you can survive the ride there (not hard) and farm the knights there by making running attacks on Torrent. By the time you get two of the swords, you'll probably have a full set of the armor, too.

Great video! I think you are missing the golden order great sword.

You said the Flamberge shares the default moveset of many other Greatswords, but it has a unique R2 attack when held in one hand. It's the only one in the game that does a horizontal swing to the left for its heavy attack animation.

Fantastic breakdown of my favourite weapon class in Elden Ring! Lordsworn and Claymore were the very first weapons I, a Soulsborne newbie, started finally feeling the game with. Kind of wish they game all greatswords a moveset similar to the Banished Knight's, and Flamberge not having Claymore's thrust R2 with such a shape of the blade is an outright crime to me.

Also, for Ordovis' Greatsword, wearing either of the Crucible Knight armor will boost the damage of the weapon skill, as well as the Crucible incantations

You forgot the golden order greatsword!

Amazing content! I actually use greatswords the most, but did it after testing out different weapons and simply liking them over other options. I use one for every situation: those living in death, fire, ice, and plenty of holy.

Hate to be picky or maybe I just missed something, but where is the Golden Order Greatsword? General thoughts; I find the greatswords movesets quite boring and special IMO, the extra reach is nice for shield gameplay but nothing you can't bridge with learning the game better. The reason greatswords can be so great are their WA's. The Executioner's Sword is a boss killer, NG+ especially because of the stat investments (that was explained) - this guide didn't do its damage justice, it's the strength/arcane build comparable to Comet Azur - just shreds bosses that aren't overly agile / active. Also my first playthrough was heavily based around Blasphemous Blade, late game though - and yes, it's a monster.

Wait, are you missed the Golden Order Greatsword?

Absolutely love these breakdowns! Great job man. Banished Knight's Greatsword is my favourite personally. The two handed r1 moveset is great and feels smoother and faster, plus whilst cold infused at +25 I'm pretty sure it's got a C in Str, Dex and Int meaning you can continously upgrade the damage into NG+ 😁

"in this Elden Ring video" hell yeah it's always a joy to watch. This series is an amazing idea! Looking forward to more!

Please add more commentary on how each weapon performs in NG+ runthroughs. While you did mention whether or not a few of the weapons would be viable for NG+, having notes on how EACH weapon is likely to fare is helpful for someone like me who is running through NG+ playthroughs. As always, excellent work! I look forward to your future videos.

Worth noting that the Banished Knight Greatsword is the highest AR of non-unique's other than Iron, but weigh's 2 less than Iron. Depending on Equip load, it might be worth considering for any dual sword builds in offhand if Iron limits armor options

Really cool new serie fextra, the balanced stagger/damage this archtype has is great!! ill consider using one on my next playthrough for sure.

Very well made video! Explains all the info you want, no annoying music or random clips added in good stuff man! 👌🏽

I'd like to add something to the ALABASTER LORD's SWORD based on my own experience. I was playing a "pure INT" build when I came across this sword, with about 80 INT at the time. While its INT scaling isn't very good on paper, the Weapon Skill seems to have much higher INT scaling (it seems like the Weapon Skill scales 100% off of INT) and I would call its damage output at 80 INT 'extremely good'. While I used the weapon for its moveset and stagger damage from time to time, I primarily switched to it for its Weapon Skill.

I was wondering when your next ER Video will be upoaded. But now seeing this 35 min video and thinking about how much effort this probably has been I do totally understand the slight delay! Great Video!

Love the new series. Also enjoy the references to build videos you've already done. And also the mention of the 3 play styles and which weapon fits into which.

Thanks for sharing a new video series! It’s fantastic!😉 Thanks for all the time you’ve spent compiling all of this information.

Thanks as always Fextra, the sheer effort this kind of content takes is appreciated!

Greatswords are definitely better for PVE than PVP, but I think that can be said for most heavy weapon classes. PVP-wise, you definitely want something quicker, so you don't just have to rely on the crouch-poke as your bread and butter. Cool as they are, you might not get much mileage out of a GS in a duel.

Loved this video. Really looking forward to other weapon videos you post. As much as I enjoy the build videos, I think I like this exact structure for weapons and spells even more.

Kudos on these great videos. It’s a ton of work to do all the research AND show relevant clips for each weapon and skill as you talk about them!

Awesome vid, definitely gave me some ideas on greatswords I want to use. Looking forward to seeing other weapon categories, especially twinblades and greatspears.

Even with the high you heap on the blasphemous blade, I feel you barely do it justice: - you didn't mention that in addition to dealing high damage, it knocks down anything Malenia sized or smaller. The crowd control potential is huge - you said it is bad on a spell blade build, but failed to mention it is absolutely stellar on a caster build. A main caster has enough faith and mind that takers flame one shots all normal enemies and is totally spammable. Who cares that the weapon damage is poor if you only ever use the aah of war?

when it comes to curved greatswords, the bloodhound one is really really good since it inflicts bleed and has a great ash of war

With Ordovis, committing to the full crucible knight set up isn’t a bad idea, the extra poise provided by the armor means the weapon art is practically guaranteed in PvP, the ritual shield and sword talismans reinforce the weapon art even further, the aspects of the crucible incantations allow you to spice up your otherwise basic moveset, I’d also throw in Beastial Vitality and maybe the Blessed Dew Talisman to more consistently benefit from the Ritual Talismans, and the crucible great shield allows you to play more defensively to allow your poise to recover. Like you I would also use the Clawmark Seal with Golden Vow, taking Faith no higher than 27 just to meet the requirements for the aspects of the crucible incants, and focusing almost solely on strength.

I know that one day you’ll do a vid for colossal weapons and I can’t wait for you to shine light on the Watchdog Staff! Super underrated with its unique scaling and ash of war. Rly underappreciated

Awesome idea, loved this video can't wait for others, so many different weapons I want them all

Blasphemous Blade can be gotten very early in the game. You can fight Rykard immediately out of the first dungeon before even Godrick. >Kill dragon in Caelid for free runes to level up for stat reqs and enough VIG to survive. Use a bleed weapon (Morning Star or the Uchi, Reduvia if you wanna make Godskin easier, it won't fight back so anything works) >Kill other bosses if you wanna make sure (optional) >Teleport via Raya Lucaria Abductor Virgin to Altus, get to volcano manor (or just get the medallion w/e) >Go through secret path in the room with the dead guy and the false wall, first room in the hallway. >Kill the Foreskin Noble in the Temple of Eiglay, easy if you get the Reduvia from Nerijus and some sleep pots >Kill Rykard with the Serpent Hunter, can teleport out and upgrade the spear first if you want >Bam bingo bango there you go.

Great work! Love this new series. The wait was killing me though but definitely worth it!

I love that elden ring is still popular. Keep the vids coming Fex!

Always been a fan of Marais Executioner Sword. It’s a cool little nod to Slave Knight Gael, has a really cool AoW, and does stupid damage with the right physick and talismans. Overall just looks cool and lots of fun to use.

I just subbed . You are so clear in what your saying and very detailed! Thank you. For your obvious hard work!

This is the most comprehensive and well presented weapon guide so far good sir. Well done!

Awesome breakdown, definitely using this information in trying out some others I didnt consider work checking.

This is a great feature, can’t wait for straight swords and curved swords.

Thanks for this video! I'm now in NG+ and deciding which weapons to farm, all this info is very useful to decide what to focus on.

I was literally thinking about trying these out earlier. Nice video!

Another conn for Ordovis' great sword: you have to make it through one of the hardest caves in the game and defeat the dual Crucible knights! An almost impossible task for most in itself

Really great video, so well made and we'll presented. I'm on my first playthrough, using the unimaginatively names Greatsword (collosal sword) that people seem to think is the sword Guts uses in Berserk. I'd love it if they had actually put the Dragonslayer in this game, either way I'm very happy regardless :) Probably the best game I've ever played!

Heck yeah, awesome series! You pretty much taught me a lot of info that i question about daily but am to lazy to do the research 😄 can't wait for the next episode!

Really excited for the greataxe breakdown. Been looking for one to fit my setup

Been missing these videos. Thanks for your content man. Definitely helped me try out some new playstyles i normally would be too weary to experiment. Keep up the good stuff. Question for everyone: What are your predictions for future dlc/what would you like to see?

I love greatswords and my first two characters use greatswords. One is your Dark Knight build which I've altered a tiny bit by adding a dagger with Golden Vow on it to take advantage of that buff without wasting points into faith. The other I made into what I call the Blasphemous Dragon Knight using the Blasphemous Blade and Dragon Communion Seal. Stats at 50 Faith and 40 Arcane give you 719 AR on Blasphemous Blade and 323 incantation scaling with the Dragon Communion Seal. I lean pretty pretty heavily on Taker's Flame and use Ekzyke's Decay/Agheel's Flame in the Dragon Communion incantations along with Lightning Spear for ranged attacks and Flame, Fall Upon Them for quick AOE situations and Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength for buffing. Very fun build and strong against a good number of bosses, especially Malenia. Took her down on my fourth attempt with this build, which was my second playthrough. I know it's not the most min/maxed build but I wanted to make Blasphemous Blade work in a spellblade situation and this is pretty damn effective for that.

really great series, the details and all your narration are top tear!! ThankYou!

Phenomenal video and exactly the kind of thing I've been looking for, cheers!

Power stance greatswords is the most fun movest of the game. But i wanted power stance to be like on ds 2, where you switch for the double hit moveset when you try to 2-hand your left hand weapon, then you could have the double hit on R1/RB and have a power stance strong attack on R2/RT, this would also allow L1/LB and L2/LT to be attached to both weapon arts, left hand weapon art on L1/LB and right hand weapon art on L2/LT (DS2 didn't have weapon arts, but the power this power stance based on that power stance system but still very different to adapt to weapon arts it would be very cool).

This is the best most thorough video in terms of how to play and build around each weapon. Absolutely love this video and hope you do this for all of them!

I’ve been looking for something like this thank you

Excellent video. I understand a fair amount more and can make my choices now. 10/10 Thank you.

While some Greatswords are "OP" most of them are not and actually have a horrible moveset for PvE or PvP. Especially the ones with not as much reach. A real normal strength human could swing half of the Greatswords more effectively than the moveset you're given. I think they completely dropped the ball with almost all 2 handed swords besides the special ones. My 2 cents.

Glad to see ur getting some videos out, we missed you. Hope things go/keep going well. I know it’s just some rando comment but ur committee loves u.

Absolutely based breakdown. I hope you do these for the rest. I know these take work but this is stuff that will be helpful for so many people just looking to figure out what they need especially early game. Thank you.

Absolutely keep it coming with this series. ❤️

Great video, but you guys skipped the Golden Order Greatsword!

Gotta mention something about holy dmg, mobs and especially most of the bosses in this game have more holy resistance than any other, and fire seems to be the least resisted overall, so take that into consideration as well, cause if you wanna fight Morgott, Elden Beast or Radagon with a holy weapon, you're gonna have a bad time :) even Malenia has 40% holy resistance and 0% to fire :P Also, please stop referring to Leyndell as "Late game" cause that's mid game at best, The mountaintops, Lake of Rot and Farum Azula, the Haligtree and Leyndell after Maliketh are the only "late game" zones.

This is the exact video series I've been waiting for. Can't wait for when you cover straight swords.

Was looking for any resources that mention any unique movesets, this is neat! I didn't know about the unique movesets on the Knight Greatswords and Inseperable Blade, Inseperable Blade looks like it could be my new favorite Greatsword!

Great vid! I've used quite a few. Claymore is probably my fav for early game so far. I haven't given the Iron greatsword a good run yet. Not sure whether to use that or go colossal eventually though since I'm focusing STR...

Thank you so very much for this! This really helps someone new to the Fromsoft souls-games and looking to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the game mechanics and builds, such as myself. Personally, I would REALLY love a shield video which would help me understand under what circumstances and for what reasons I would pick one shield over another, and especially what type over another.

Thanks, just the video I was looking for

Elden Ring was my first soulslike game, lordsworn and bastard sword with jump attack carried me through every fight, loved it.

The claymore carried me in my paladin build (faith/strength) play through. I only changed when I got the blasphemous blade and bubble horn later on. Even then I missed the poking r2 sometimes. It may not be the strongest but I love the claymore for it's move set. Until you get to late game and have lots of crazy options the claymore is a solid choice.

Great video. Is it just me or was the Golden Order Greatsword skipped in this video?

I love how indecisive he is about the best weapon type

This serie of videos is amazing ! I cant wait to see other type of weapons.

I love Greatswords in general. Always have, since I was 12years old. I found them to be really good in ER as well. Thank you for sharing your information and thoughts. This is a very good guide for people who wanna try out Greatswords or even want to get more in depth with them. Thanks!

For my Death themed Int + Fai build I used Helphen Steeple + Gargoyle's Black Blade, Raptor's Black Feathers and Claw Talisman. While not the highest damage/most optimized build the ability to cast pretty much every spell in the game and still do good melee damage made it quite fun!

When I was Swording and boarding, I loved the Flamberge's unique one-handed strong being a wide sweep unlike the other's over head strikes.

Thanks for detailed explanation Fextralife Hope to get Elden Ring+ DLC soon

Please do more of these.

I need this for every weapon class

It would be really cool if you could do a video on fist & claw weapons? Also, as someone that hasn’t played any of the Dark Souls games and isn’t really a gamer but is loving Elden Ring, your videos are incredibly helpful! By chance I fell in love with the Bloodhound’s fang and that’s all I would use, however, I’ve now seen a few of your vids and they’re getting me to branch out and try a few other weapons such as the Colossal Great Sword. Thanks again!

AWESOME video thank you :D this really helps me see what weapons I can use to create my own builds. Cant wait for the colossal weapons Breakdown. Heads up thought the Helhen Steeple marker isnt there

Banished Knight GS is a monster in PvP. It’s fast moveset for combo catches so many people off guard. It also personally feels very rewarding to learn how to mix up its moveset. I’ve beaten most of my opponents using this weapon.

One thing to add. Not all swords in the same class have identical stamina costs for swings. It seems *roughly* related to weapon weight, but there are tables of the exact values for every swing on every weapon, both 1 handed and 2 handed. For example, the Lordsworn Greatsword, although having a lower attack rating, has a lesser stamina cost for most swings in addition to its boosted critical multiplier.

another no bullshit review that gives you 100% of what you want to know. Fantastic!

Can't wait for the next weapon video!

Katana users: Well isn’t that cute BUT ITS WROOOOOOONG!!!

I played my first play through double fisting the bloodhound fang with the jump attack talisman. Run up to the enemy jump attack them and immediately do the bloodhound fangs skill, almost always kills/ knocks every enemy. I don’t know what that has to do with this video but I said it anyways.

Awesome idea and great vid. It's very helpful for new players like me. Thanks, y'all!

I like how you mentioned new game plus advantages . I'm in new game plus and I'm planning to get all endings without game file saving. I use a different build each game and different armor and weapons too.

Greatswords are amazing for PVE. But they're sort of bad in PVP, due to their lackluster moveset.

Golden order greatsword?

Your doing gods work! Thanks for all these clips!

Thank you for the info.

You never considered Reach, yes the Knight's Greatsword does less Damage than the Banished Knight's Greatsword, but it's longer than the Banished Knight's Greatsword One other thing you never considered, Fashion, the Knight's Greatsword looks better than the Banished Knight's Greatsword All this to say that the Knight's Greatsword is actually better than the Banished Knight's Greatsword in every way besides Damage, now if it had the Claymore's Thrust R2 then it would be objectively the best Greatsword in Elden Ring because it would be Elden Ring's version of the Hollowslayer Greatsword from DS3