Which Moonlight Sword Is The Best?  

Happy New Year 🥳

I do love the darkmoon we get in elden ring, but nothing will ever compare to the old hunters, release week, everyone online losing their minds over the Ludwig fight and then that masterpiece of a transition to phase 2 with the music and the sword reveal And the weapon itself is great, too

I like the one in ER the most just because it has this MASSIVE quest tied to it that properly gives it the legendary status

Sekiro hands down has the best MLGS, especially the epic cutscene with Mist Noble pulling it out of his butt.

for me bloodborne one is the best one. most fun mechanically and best aesthetically too

In the world of Demon's Souls it makes sense for it to scale off faith because the old one is the source of both faith and magic. It illustrates the contradictory nature of the world that most people of the world don't realize.

8:38 it’s is called DARK MOON because it’s from Ranni. She represents the dark moon and Rennala represents the full moon. I bet the GS Rennala gave Radagon was called Moonlight GS. but it was transformed into golden order GS so we may never know. E: GoldenOrderGS - “Telltale signs betray that this was once the greatsword bequeathed to him by his first wife, Rennala.”

The moonlight great sword is different in Elden Ring because it’s not the moonlight great sword at all, it’s the darkmoon great sword which gives off frost instead of magic. The original moonlight great sword was turned into the golden order great sword by Radagon.

Recently i did another bloodborne playthrough with a heavy focus on farming the best gems in chalice dungeons, and the moonlight sword does crazy damage when fully beefed up. One of my favorite weapons

Dark souls 3 had the tiny Moonlight shotel, would have been cool to rate that one even if its a different class, still has the beam attacks

I am sad DS3's Old Moonlight from Midir is not in this list. That blue turquoise teal color of the Moonlights are so iconic

I really love specifically how the ML sword fits into the lore for the top 2 here. The Moonlight Greatsword usually does have some good lore don't get me wrong, but specifically ER and BB's swords are best to me story-wise. In Elden Ring, there are implied to actually be multiple MLGS that are given out by the Carian Royal Family as marriage gifts. The Golden Order Greatsword was actually a MLGS itself (presumably the Full Moon Greatsword) that Radagon got from Rennala and forged into a golden faith based sword instead. And as such, the time we get the Dark Moon Greatsword for ourselves, from becoming the consort of the Dark Moon Carian, fits well with everything else we know, and also feels like a serious occasion given how long of a questline you actually have to go through to get to this point with Ranni. And in Bloodborne, sure it's a boss drop, which doesn't make it too different from the variants of it transfused from Boss Souls, but it's different in the lore relevance that this is *Ludwig's* greatsword, one that was so legendary it spawned imitators (that you can actually find for yourself!) and he even uses it in the fight once he goes from beast back to man. It's not just "one of Seathe's weird experiments stuck to his ass for some reason, or "this was seathes at some point and now it's yours," or "we found it being eaten by slugs in a poison swamp lmao." It feels like a genuine boss weapon because it's the weapon genuinely used by that boss. It makes it one of the most iconic MLGS in the series in my opinion, (alongside Demon Souls obviously just because Demon Souls has the sheer badass factor.) Really, they both feel like *reveals* when you see them, as opposed to "oh shit, it's the funny sword." It feels like you genuinely put in the work, and *found* them, and they feel like meaningful rewards for the obscure and optional work put in to get them.

in dark souls 1 there is an extra durability ring, and you can repair stuff at your bonfire if you buy the powder kit (tho it consumes souls and you need to go through every item one by one manually which is annoying)

The fact that you can raw the MLGS and use it with mininum stats in ds2 makes it a top tier to me automatically.

5:50 I hear what you’re saying but I like that it’s a faith weapon just to beef up the faith path otherwise it would be pretty barren so it had to be a faith weapon in this game given how much more thing magic users have to play with

Bloodborne's Moonlight is way better, more versatile!

The frost damage on ER makes it a top contender for sure!

"Ranking every Moonlight Greatsword" >Doesn't rank every Moonlight Greatsword What did he mean by this?

The Bloodborne version is my favorite, too. Aesthetically, I’m not a fan of how wide the moonlights tend to be, so being able to swap between the narrower steel blade and the wider magic blade was very nice.

in Bloodborne, not only is the animation fantastic, but the sound! THE SOUND! I loved that weapon and was tragically disappointed when the Elden Ring variant was lame.

I think you forgot about the repair sorcery in ds1, so you basically have infinite uses of the heavy attack if you have that. Sorcery, intelligence, and moonlight great sword go very well together

I love that the ranking wasnt just AR damage. Look, lore, cutscene, quest line, etc. Very cool video

The ER Moonveil is a variant of the Fromsoftware Moonlight. It hasn't always been a greatsword; it's also been a thin, gas powered blade in older Armored Cores.

Great video, thanks for the info/insight. I legit just started a run like this of all games and after only equipping it in DS1 I already scratched that game off my list. The ranking in my head was the same as this video (before watching it)!

You forgot the golden order gs from er, I know it's kinda different, but it's stated to actually be the mlgs but it also does holy damage, and holy damage has been done with the mlgs before (aka demon's souls)

It's definitely between the HMS and the DG for me. I love the HMS for the transformation and moveset. I love the DG for the frost status and the free projectiles after the buff. And you get them as a reward for either beating one of the best bosses or completing one of the best questlines.

8:55 how the godskin apostle dodge- jumped your moonlight beam was preatty epic!

A celebration weapon to the FS games, now fitting for the eves in a ranking video. Happy new year mate, may all blessings be in your path

“You were at my side all along. My true mentor, my guiding moonlight.” - People who mained the Moonlight Greatsword for all of the Souls Games.

I’ve done this! My ranking is pretty much the exact same… but my nostalgia REALLY favors the DeS version. It feels like that’s the Faith answer to offense. I did a similar run earlier in 2023 where I played the Lucerne in every game. Mirdan Hammer in DeS and Church Pick in Bloodborne (a reach, I know). While it got VERY repetitive, I had a great time with it. Elden Ring’s was my favorite just because of the variety of Ashes of War. These runs are really cool, seeing how long-standing weapons change, or what they retain.

The reason why the moonlight greatsword does magic damage is because magic damage has the same source: the Old One, the magic, though, is shaped differently, and you can see that when you need to face the final boss, Sage Freke and Saint Urbain have a completely different interpretation of the Old One if spoken to. PVE wise, I think it’s fine, its magic damage in DeS isn’t resisted by everyone like in DS1, and it’s much better than fire damage resistance wise.

Quick corrections on the ds1 moonlight greatsword, you can repair the sword at the bonfire if you bought the repair box from Andre (and a couple other merchants and/or blacksmiths). There's the wood grain ring which lowers the durability loss on weapons; however I don't remember if that actually affects the moonlight projectile's durability cost

DS2's MLGS is being slept on hard, especially when you compare it on the PvP side of the game, which easily puts it in the top 3 of the Soulsborne series. Unlike the others, you can actually Enchant DS2's MLGS for pure physical damage, allowing it to completely bypass Great Magic Barrier and other creature's Magic resistance. While the beam deals no damage, it makes for an excellent bluff in PvP. DS2 has a very generous cancel window when it comes to cancelling attacks, which allows users to create various feints. It's the only MLGS that can parry. The only real downside to DS2's blade design is that the blade is opaque rather than translucent, which makes it look more bland compared to other versions. While the MLGS in DS2 has a decent Strength and Dexterity requirement, DS2 is also the only game to have armors that have stat requirements, so it's only a minor inconvenience in the long run.

Happy to see the DS3 Moonlight at 3 at least I was super confused too. When people were saying it’s terrible. I think people get so caught up on the scaling being B. When it’s base stats are pretty high. With the Magic Clutch Ring and Dusk Crown you can get an AR of 670+. I was chucking bosses for 1200-1600 HP off of two R2’s or L2’s. Another benefit of the L2 similar to Bloodborne’s is against normal mobs. Many times it will cause them to fall on their back.

This is pretty spot on, and BB's MGS is just...perfection.

Awesome video, bro. Moonlight Greatsword is super iconic in all the souls games.

I think the Elden Ring one is the best. If you are close enough and do a heavy attack, the sword itself and the projectile will connect, dealing insane damage. The only problem I have with it is that I like faith builds more because they are more versatile.

Fun fact about the elden ring moonlight greatsword. There is technically 2. The way I see it the Darkmoon is the 2nd iteration created for Ranni to give to her husband after the original moonlight greatsword which was given to Radagon by Renalla got reforged into the golden order greatsword after he left her.

Amazing video. I have a level 500+ character in blood-borne and the Moonlight great swords endgame scaling is among the best in the whole game, really only out done by Ludwick Holy blade. Its DPS, even with an unoptimised build A.k.a. 27.5 physical damage upgrades gems instead of arcane gems is still pretty insane.

The Bloodborne one just for me is just so unique to me that one time I started a new play just to kill Ludwig early (pain in the ass but did it) so that i could play the entire game with it.

i always have considered sekiro's moonlight greatsword to be the divine dragon's sword

I'm sure someone has pointed this out already so I'm probably just being annoying but in Dark Souls 1 there is a shopkeeper in Undead Burg near the ladder bonfire down a flight of stairs in the tower where the two spear hollows are near the bonfire that sells a repair box for 1,000-10,000 (i dont remember how much) souls that unlocks the ability to repair your weapons and armor when resting at a bonfire. don't know if you knew this but you do now!

Ludwig is the only boss that use the moonlight greatsword and this is why ludwig is one of the best fromsoft boss but he is not my favorite fight in bloodborne

In fact, there is a ring that increases the durability of weapons in Dark souls 1, Shiva of the east sells it in Blighttown after talking to him in the Dark woods garden

I completely agree with this list.

I actually like how the darkmoon stands out amongst the other moonlight greatswords. Helps it feel fresh; after so many years of it being pretty much the same.

Bloodborne's moonlight gratsword is my most favorite, the animations, the ordinary swordt transformation, the speed and moves.

something you missed about the bloodborne version is that the projectile actually has the parry property that bullets have which is awesome

i really liked the ds3 special poke

In DS1 you can buy the Repairbox, which does allow you to repair weapons and armor at a bonfire so you don't have to return to a blacksmith as you stated.

Happy new year my guy!

For some reason, the moonlight blade (BB) scales better with strength than arcane. I would use it on a build with 50 str, 25 dex and 25 arc, or 50 arc if you're planning to go to 150.

part 2 with all the moonlights!!!

we need the ultimate moonlight, using pure int scaling/requirements, having long range projectiles that track well, can aim upward, can be altered at a blacksmith, especially to gain S scaling, gets a wide variety of moves for its beams, has a cold status effect and doesnt eat up durability, just magic/ammo (also cant forget the teal color)

You actually can repair at a bonfire in DS1/R. But you need the repair box sold to you from Andre and then can repair weapons and armor at any bonfire with an additional option.

5:32 the source of magic and miracles in DeS is the same, the only difference is one is from knowledge and research and the other is faith. It was wielded by one who went the faith route so I think it's cool and makes a lot of sense here 👀

Great work

I firmly believe the Divine Dragon's sword is the Moonlight Sword in Sekiro. It's a magic glowing teal sword that fires an arc projectile

MOONLIGHT-07 (ACfA) is one of two non-blue laser blades in the game. in the Moonlight's case, it's purple; the other non-blue is the Dragonfang from Rayleonard.

i hope they add a green OG moonlight greatsword in Shadow pf the erdthree

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the BB MGS use only Physical damage untransformed and only Arcane damage when transformed?

Demons souls is definitely my favorite tbh I hate weapon arts and always having to worry about durability. Plus it looks so cool glowing

The sword used by the Divine Dragon I believe is meant to be Sekiro's version of the Moonlight Greatsword.

Fun fact about the ER Moonlight great sword, the reason it's the "Darkmoon" great sword is because the original Moonlight great sword is the one given to Radagon in marriage to Rannala, but was turned into the Golden Order Great sword after he left her and reforged it. So if you wanna blame someone for the look, blame Radagon lol. Jokes aside, it was most likely because of this, and also for continuity reasons that Ranni's sword was a dark blue hue, since her entire thing is her dark cold moon. As to speculations for what it might have looked like, it might have been a fully ethereal blade... If you look at the Golden Order Great sword, it has no real physical form, made up of essentially the solid golden light and even still is see through. So we were to use this as reference, it probably would have been a really cool great sword made entirely of moonlight.

How do u have solaire’s armor buddy 1:03 Did you do the unthinkable

Honestly you should also have rated the old moonlight spell moonlight shotel and abdullah's Moonblade (each one is technically just a different version of the moonlight sword)

I think Elden Rings MLGS is the best because the cost:benefit ration for it is insane. For a small bit of FP you get an absolute BEAST of a weapon. Frost damage is a powerful status in ER as said in the video, lowers defenses, increases stamina usage (PvP), burst damage every time it procs (like bleed), and can be reset with fire damage (I’m sorry Rusty). The benefits this weapon gives off of such little FP (in comparison to your average FP bar) is insane and is why imo it’s the best version of the weapon.

fiiine, i will play the Moonlight runs again :D

I first tried orphan of kos on my first playthrough with the holy moonlight greatsword it's that good.

I remember the DS2 one pre nerf could be buffed with crystal weapon.

I was having a good time not thinking about how I'm still stuck on Ludwig in my SL1 run and you had to do it to me T.T

Hey i was wondering what armor you used in the Demon souls part of the vid? Pls and thank you 🙏

When Dark Souls 2 released you used to be able to cast Crystal Weapon on the Moonlight GS. And since the magic buffs in DS2 scale off of elemental damage, that thing used would hit like a TRUCK

I agree with this ranking entirely. If the MOONLIGHT in the Armored Core series was included, then I'd put it in 2nd or 3rd place, because overall, it's been the best laser blade in the series. If the Moonlight Sword from King's Field was included, I'd put it in 1st place, because it's always the best weapon in every King's Field game (except King's Field II), it plays an important role in the series, and it's the original Moonlight weapon.

I always found the armored core moonlight blades to be the best. Best in terms of pure use. You need to be running a build in a souls game for moonlight to be good, but you can just throw it into almost any build in AC and it just works.

I could be wrong on the lore but the reason you get it from the dukes dear freja is because the great souls in dark souls 2 are reincarnations or somehow tied to the ones of dark souls 1 that’s why there’s a dragon in freja arena hence being a tie to seath the scaleless

Bloodborne’s is peak. The reveal and lore, the moveset, the versatiliity…man.

The one from King's Field series, of course.

the reason its called the Dark Moon Greatsword is because its Ranni's version. Ranni is about the Dark Moon, with her spell Ranni's Dark Moon, where Rennala and the rest of the Carian royals are about the Full Moon. If we were to obtain Rennala's version of the sword, it would be the Moonlight Greatsword, but Radagon got it and seemingly altered into the Golden Order Greatsword.

It’s extremely disappointing that we didn’t get a “Moonlight Katana” in Sekiro! I’m glad you touched on it though, Moonveil would’ve been sweet

would be cool if the ER moonlight greatsword got the lions claw move for the charged attack and make the projectile vertical

The Sword of Moonlight in King’s Field was so absurdly overpowered

Actually the Holy Moonlight Sword is one of the strongest weapons in Bloodborne, they just made the damage scaling weird. Even though it has A in Arcane, B for Strength, & C for Skill when fully upgraded, it gets the most damage from STR > Skill > Arcane

I like the frosted look more than the teal one for elden

I kinda think that the spiritual succesor to the moonlight greatsword in Sekiro was the sword the Divine Dragon uses. Sure it doesnt look the same but if you see how the boss uses it, its pretty similar.

Agreed with the list. Bloodborne version can be crazy. I farmed a few gems that are 23.6% atk up and 2x21.5% atk up. The attack shows 1,240. The moveset of course is amazing with the transformation attacks.

Moonlight greatsword is birderline synonymous with Ludwig for me, Bloodborne is the goat

4:52 does the remake have the same lock on/tracking problems as dark souls 2?

I love the Moonlight Greatsword!

You use to be able to buff the DS2 mlgs with crystal magic weapon, as well as enchant it, and when you capped int, your R1s got for around 1200 damage. Thing was fckin nutz

In Demon Souls its fth based bcuz its the only one in the souls series thats lore accurate to the weapon. Its actually holy based damage in its core whilst Dark Slayer is all elements aside from holy combined. That alone makes Demon Souls higher on the list as best moonlight. And suckero doesnt have it bcuz its not a soulsborne game and ill die in that factually accurate hill

I still remember the prenerf ds2 moonlight. It only scales with interest so let's make the damn thing buffable with great crystal weapon and spike the magic damage beyond ludacris levels.

Dudes crazy ds1 mgs was awesome, design damage etc, even in ng+

3's ammo is just repair powder, and it has the stab, so number 1. A pretty good weapon regardless too. Bloodborne in 2, feels so smooth but weighty, that was my point of reference playing Switch Axe in Monster Hunter. Feels great but I love the ammo thing of DS3 so behind it. Has an attached other moveset, which is okay. The other moveset is one handed, which is convenient. DS2, 3rd because, for one you can just get more of them if you want which is cute, no stab, but two hand and one hand have different wave orientations. I think but don't know DS3 had that, and Bloodborne had that in I think either long versus short R2 or it was just the second R2 I'm remembering had a different arc. Don't think they had quite the difference of DS2's though, just different diagonals instead of horizontal Vs vertical. Infusable if you like, which Bloodborne's was too. Runs on repair powder but chews through it better than DS3, so it goes here. Elden Ring, 4th, I don't like the weird hold it up and then slice across, it looks weird, feels weird, and the stab is gone, and I did like that stab. Most powerful version of all I think though. No bullet variety at all, it's just horizontals, and it could be me just playing with it on an early version but I didn't like their behaviour compared to other projectiles. DS1: haven't gotten it because Seath is incredibly good at keeping me from his back tail. And Seath is behind crystal cave. DeS: don't have it. I have a ps5 I'm just not paying what I've seen DeS for thus far.

In DS1 there is a durability spell. You can get it from the DLC Princess.

That dodge at 7:51 though.

Dark Moon Greatsword in Elden Ring is fantastic but I do miss the teal color scheme, it just doesn't have the same ethereal and mysterious vibe and instead feels more like a generic cold type weapon. I'm glad it had more of a reason to exist story wise though and I'm assuming it was altered to fit Ranni's questline better for lore reasons.

I thought in DS1 there are two wood rings - one makes your roll into flips, and other decreases your weapon durability loss. It isn’t working with moonlight GS?

youwy itd be cool to see you rank all the shields i know its not too interesting and they all do the same thing and that’s probably why you haven’t done it yet but its just something i think would be cool to see and you could outline all the best shields and ones that you like more idk man just a thought it’s just that you do better gaming and analysis than other youtubers so yea

Some corrections. Dark Souls: You can buy a Repair Box near the start of the game and repair at a bonfire. Demon's Souls: There was no discrepancy between magic and holy damage until Dark Souls 3. Lightning damage didn't appear until Dark Souls. ALL faith weapons and damage-dealing miracles dealt magic damage. It was a shared damage type between Magic and Faith. By your argument practically every Faith weapon in the game should be a Magic weapon.