Elden Ring Best Early Game Weapons: Location, Stats, & Upgrade

Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring

Pick up any FromSoftware video game, and you’re bound to come across videos and posts on the internet that detail the multiple routes you can take towards becoming overpowered – forcing easy mode, as they say. The concept of forcing easy mode is still well and alive in Elden Ring, all the more, I would say, because it is an open-world game that does not shackle your progress to certain linearity. While you start your long epic journey in Limgrave, you can easily venture off into the much harder, mid-game continent known as Caelid if you’re not careful. However, rather than turning back at the first sign of danger, you will find yourself rewarded if you carefully explore such an area.

So without further ado, let’s look at Ten Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring that you don’t want to miss out, starting from Limgrave upt till the Lake of Lunaria.

Related: Elden Ring Best Early Game Armours

Limgrave

Lordsworn’s Greatsword

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

The Lordsworn’s Greatsword is one of the Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring. It is one of the best greatsword, commonly praised for having the highest critical modifier on any greatsword i.e. 110 that players can easily come across well within the first hour of the game. Complementing its early attainment, it only requires 16 strength and 10 dexterity to wield, a requirement that can be easily met if you choose the Hero class at the start.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	136	0	0	0	0	110	-
Guard	65	35	35	35	35	-	42
	Str	Dex
Scaling	D	D
Requires	16	10
Greatsword	Standard / Pierce
Stamp (upward cut)	FP 5 (- 8)
Wgt. 9	Passive -

The Hero class comes with 16 strength and 9 dexterity, completing 95% of the requirement automatically – all you have to do is level up dexterity once and you’ll be good to go! Fortunately, you also meet Melina at the exact location where you find the greatsword, so you can level up right after obtaining it.

Upgrade and Build Affinity

The Lordsworn’s Greatsword naturally possesses a D scaling in both strength and dexterity, already giving an impression of being best used on a quality build – but hold your horses! Apart from accepting Smithing Stones as upgrade material that reinforces it to +25, don’t forget that it allows infusions with ashes of war. This makes such an early game weapon surprisingly versatile, opening the door for poison, bleed, and even occult infusions.

However, if you’re looking to use this bad boy at its best, I would recommend a quality infusion that improves both its strength and dexterity scaling to a whopping B-tier! In a nutshell, at +25 reinforcement with a quality infusion, the Lordsworn’s Greatsword achieves a whopping 268 physical damage.

Weapon Art and Location

The Lordsworn’s Greatsword comes with the Stamp (Upward Cut) weapon art, which is something you’ll commonly see on other greatswords you come across later in the game. Upon activation, your player will assume a tight low stance, bracing for incoming attacks and countering with a robust upward cut, sending your enemies flying. If this weapon art is not your type, remember that you can always change it up later in game through infusing with suitable ashes of war.

As far as the weapon’s location is concerned, once you enter the Gatefront Ruins and the Godrick military camp in front of it, sprint to the Site of Grace on the left. Once you talk with Melina and level up your dexterity by one, make your way to the nearly black carriage on the back of which there will be a chest. A Godrick soldier will guard it, so after stealthily taking him down, reward yourself with the Lordsworn’s Greatsword!

Twinblade

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

The Twinblade is an exceptional weapon that was widely popular in the network test, to the point that even then, people called it one of the Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring. While I wasn’t privileged enough to partake in it, every other streamer I checked on was using this beast of a weapon, making it, without a doubt, one of the best early-game weapons in Elden Ring. Finding this weapon was truly a pleasant surprise as the last time we saw twinblades was Dark Souls 2, which was good while ago!

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	119	0	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	45	30	30	30	30	-	30
	Str	Dex
Scaling	D	D
Requires	10	18
Twinblades	Standard / Pierce
Spinning Slash	FP 6 ( - 12)
Wgt. 7.0	Passive-

Regardless, the weapon requires 10 strength and 18 dexterity to wield, which in my opinion, is very reasonable. Moreover, don’t be intimidated, for if you choose a dexterous class like Warrior (10 strength and 16 dexterity) or Samurai (12 strength and 15 dexterity), you’ll meet these minuscule requirements in no time!

Upgrade and Build Affinity

The Twinblades, despite being a dexterity-based weapon, actually comes with a natural scaling of D in both strength and dexterity. Both of these scalings, similar to the Lordsworn’s Greatsword can be significantly escalated through smithing stone reinforcement and ash of war infusions. Just remember that when you’re upgrading, your smithing stones should match with the current level of the Twinblade; so if it’s at +13, you’ll need Smithing Stone [4] to bring it to +14.

While the Twinblade possesses decent affinity with strength, one can not help but run this killer on a quality build; through infusing with a quality ash of war, it achieves a B scaling in both strength and dexterity! Other than that, if you’re feeling a little adventurous, the Twinblade makes for a pretty good auxiliary build too, such as frostbite, poison, and bleed. My recommendation would be to go bleed purely because of how overpowered it is in the game.

Weapon Art and Location

The Twinblade comes with the Spinning Slash weapon art, which is seen on a wide range of weapons such as curved greatswords, halberds, and even straight swords such as the Warhawk’s Talon. Upon activation, your player will spin ferociously, slicing any enemy that comes into contact with your maneuver before finishing things off with a heavy attack. While you can switch out for a different weapon art through an ash of war infusion, I’d strongly argue for Spinning Slash’s self-sufficiency.

As far as the weapon’s location is concerned, you can get this fairly quickly if you know where it’s located because, unlike the Lordsworn’s Greatsword, you don’t naturally come across it at the start. Anyways, make your way to the Dragon-Burnt Ruins just on the right of the First Step Site of Grace. Here, you’ll need to make your way down a set of underground stairs and open the chest to get the Twinblade. Do note that there are two underground stairs here, and you need to go to the one which is not guarded by enemies and is fenced, such that you’ll need Torrent to jump over to it.

Winged Scythe

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

The Winged Scythe is one of the strongest weapons you can get very early in the game if you’re running a faith-related build. It’s a sacred scythe that resembles a pair of white wings that come with 105 natural holy damage, something that would make any incantation-use drool. Moreover, even as a melee weapon, it passively causes bleed, albeit 55, but nonetheless, makes the idea of a faith-bleed build very viable! Why would I not list it as one of the Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring?

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	87	0	0	0	104	100	-
Guard	30	25	25	25	55	-	30
	Str	Dex	Faith
Scaling	E	D	D
Requires	16	16	24
Reaper	Slash
Angel's Wings	FP 17
Wgt. 7.5	Passive (55)

The Winged Scythe demands its users to invest 16 attribute points into strength, 16 into dexterity, and a massive 24 in strength. Therefore, if you want to use this weapon as quickly as possible, I would highly recommend going Confessor as your starting build since it comes with 12 strength, 12 dexterity, and 14 faith, giving you a reasonably good headstart overall.

Upgrade and Build Affinity

Despite demanding 16 strength off you, the Winged Scythe oddly comes with a natural scaling of E in strength, D in dexterity, and D in faith – the possibilities of a strength/quality build are already looking pretty grim. But as I said before, this weapon is something I would mainly recommend for incantation users. Regardless, its scalings can unfortunately only be improved through reinforcement as it does not support infusions with ashes of war.

As far as reinforcement is concerned, the Winged Scythe requires Somber Smithing Stones as upgrade materials. These are a tad bit rarer than ordinary Smithing Stones and can reinforce your weapon upto +10. Moreover, similar to Smithing Stones, they also require your weapon’s current level to match with the Somber Smithing Stone you’re trying to upgrade it with. To make it simple, if your Winged Scythe is at +8, you’ll need Somber Smithing Stone [9] to level it up to +9.

Weapon Art and Location

The Winged Scythe, being the first unique weapon on this list of Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring, comes with its own weapon art known as Angel’s Wings. Upon activation, your player will leap into the air and set light to the scythe itself before crashing down on the enemy below with a deadly strike. This is particularly effective on NPCs as anyone who gets hit by this weapon art is disabled from using Flasks of Crimson Tears for a short time.

The weapon itself is found in the Tombsward Ruins in the Weeping Peninsula. It is quite a trek from your starting bonfire, so follow the red path I’ve drawn on the map for you to get to as quick as possible. Once you’re there, make your way down the underground stairs similar to what you did for getting the foregoing Twinblades, and open the chest to get the Winged Scythe. Do bear in mind that two NPCs will guard this chest, but you can easily evade them to get your hands on the chest!

Reduvia

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

The Reduvia is one of the most unique looking armaments on this list of Best Elden Ring Early Game Weapons, exhibiting a completely different vibe with its distinctive, jagged appearance. It is one of the few daggers in Elden Ring that are built towards maximizing bleed, to the point where its weapon art is also quite bloody. Furthermore, it has a unique stat requirement, demanding 5 strength, 13 dexterity and 13 arcane to use.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	79	0	0	0	0	110	-
Guard	38	22	22	22	22	-	16
	Str	Dex	Arc
Scaling	E	D	D
Requires	5	13	13
Daggers	Slash / Pierce
Reduvia's Blood Blade	FP 6 ( - 6)
Wgt. 2.5	Passive (30)

But don’t be intimidated by seeing arcane as a stat requirement! You can quite literally breeze through this stat requirement if you go with Bandit as your starting class. On top of having a Great Knife, a Shortbow and a Buckler (amazing parry tool), Bandit comes with 9 strength, 13 dexterity, and 14 arcane, meaning you can use Reduvia the moment you get it!

Upgrade and Build Affinity

The Reduvia comes with an interesting scaling of E in strength, D in dexterity, and D in arcane. These scalings do improve quite a tad bit once you reinforce the weapon to its maximum, that is +10 with Somber Smithing Stones, where the stones themselves must be compatible with the Reduvia’s current level. Other than that, there isn’t much to do upgrade-wise as the Reduvia does not allow for infusions with ashes of war. However, this dagger can be enchanted with magic or boosted with consumables, so hope is not all lost.

I would really just recommend using it for critical attacks (backstabs and ripostes) and as a bleed weapon. Passive bleed is the only benefit this weapon has to offer, which given how viable the auxiliary effect is in the meta right now, is not a bad bargain for one of the Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring. Statistically, it comes with a base bleedof 51, which peaks at 93 at +10 reinforcement, a C scaling in dexterity, and B scaling in arcane!

Weapon Art and Location

The best part about Reduvia is its unique weapon art that neither be found on any other weapon nor exists as an ash of war, known as Reduvia Blood Blade. Upon activation, your player will slash the air with this dagger, emitting bloody blade-like projectiles that cause bleed build up. What’s more, it only costs 6 FP to use and can be used in quick succession – happy spamming!

As far as the weapon’s location is concerned, it is dropped from Bloody Finger Nerijus, an invading NPC phantom you encounter outside the Murkwater Catacombs located in the ravine towards the north-east from Agheel Lake. You need not to engage with him as he is of a higher level and will give you a hard time – just stay patient and Bloody Finger Hunter Yura, a friendly NPC will eventually come to your aid. Once he joins the fight, you can overpower Nerijus and get his amazing dagger!

Bloodhound’s Fang

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

The Bloodhound’s Fang is, hands down, the Best Early Game Weapon in Elden Ring which you can get in Limgrave that will carry you much into the later parts of the game. However, at the same time, it is also the only weapon on this list that requires you to beat a boss to get, which in my opinion is pretty doable! Regardless, it is a solid bleed-inflicting curved greatsword that requires you to invest 18 attribute points into strength and 17 into dexterity, a quality weapon through and through.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	141	0	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	68	36	36	36	36	-	44
	Str	Dex	Arc
Scaling	D	C	-
Requires	5	18	17
Curved Greatsword	Slash
Bloodhound's Finesse	FP 8 ( - 12)
Wgt. 11.5	Passive (55)

While you can choose any starting class from Hero, Warrior and Vagabond, I generally recommend Vagabond for quality-based weapons. This is because Vagabond comes with a well-balanced stat distribution i.e. 14 strength and 13 dexterity. It’ll take a little bit of farming to meet the Fang’s requirement, but you’ll definitely be there by the time you beat the boss!

Upgrade and Build Affinity

While a quality-based weapon, the Bloodhound’s Fang does lean towards dexterity (being pretty lightweight), coming with a natural scaling of D in strength and C in dexterity. Being a boss weapon, you may rightfully expect it not to accommodate ash of war infusions, which you’re spot on about! However, it does allow for reinforcement up to +10 with Somber Smithing Stones and, interestingly enough, can be buffed with the Scholar’s Armament sorcery for some reason.

At maximum reinforcement, the Bloodhound’s Fang achieves a C scaling in strength and a B scaling in dexterity on top of physical damage of 345. Remember that this number is calculated without accounting for the scaling bonus, so you can imagine how much AR this weapon can achieve on a dexterity or quality build! Last but not least, let’s not forget that it also inflicts passive bleed, which is simply a cherry on top we all should appreciate.

Weapon Art and Location

The Bloodhound’s Fang is best known for its flashy, yet effective weapon art, Bloodhound’s Finesse, which is also unique. Upon activation, your player will slash upwards with high velocity, using a somersault to fall back and create space; this maneuver is perfect for quickly cutting your enemy and getting away, creating decent distance between you and your foe. Furthermore, you can follow the somersault up with a heavy step-based attack.

As far as the weapon’s location is concerned, the Bloodhound’s Fang is dropped from the Bloodhound Knight Darriwil boss found at the Forlorn Hound Evergoal in southern Limgrave, just before you enter the Weeping Peninsula. Beating the boss early is quite doable, and I would highly recommend keeping your shield up when not attacking as he is quite agile. Moreover, when he does attack, try to attack only once, or he will punish you for getting greedy!

Caelid

Meteorite Staff

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

If you’re a sorcerer reading this guide and wondering when I’ll talk about staves, the wait is over! The Meteorite Staff is one of the most sought-after staff and if you don’t already have it, keep reading because, spoiler alert, it’s the only weapon on this list of Elden Ring Best Early Game Weapons that come with a natural S-scaling! That too, at the cost of just 6 strength and 18 intelligence!

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Sorc	Boost
Attack	39	0	0	0	0	100	262	-
Guard	28	17	17	17	17	-	-	17
	Str	Int	Arc
Scaling	D	S	-
Requires	6	18	-
Glintstone Staff	Strike Damage
No Skill	FP -
Wgt. 4.5	Passive Boosts Gravity Sorcery

You can meet the Meteorite Staff’s requirements very quickly by going Astrologer as your starting class as it comes with 8 strength and  16 intelligence – just 2 more intelligence, and you can use an S-grade staff! This staff is significantly better than the basic Astrologer Staff you start the game with, a C-grade stave at best.

Upgrade and Build Affinity

The Meteorite Staff comes with a natural scaling of D in strength and S in intelligence, making it the best early game glintstone staff available in the game without a speck of doubt. As far as upgrading is concerned, the stave is the only weapon on this list that does not allow for infusions and reinforcements, which is quite reasonable when you think about it. How much would you want to upgrade an already S-grade glintstone staff?

While it seems like FromSoftware has given sorcerers a cheat code, this really means that the Meteorite Staff will only last till mid-game. It will not keep up with the much better glintstone staff you find later in the game, such as Lusat’s Glintstone Staff, Azur’s Glintstone Staff, and the Carian Glintblade Staff. Rest assured, it is a beast of a catalyst early, so you should get it right off the bad!

Weapon Art and Location

As Glintstone Staffs do not come with a skill of their own but instead cast a wide array of spells, I’ll quickly get to the burning question: where do you get the Meteorite Staff from? It’ll be quite a journey, but keep up! First, after getting Torrent, make your way to the Dragon-Burnt Ruins. Remember when I talked about two chests in this area (Twinlade), one being guarded and the other not? Well, you’ll need to open the other, more guarded chest and upon doing so, you’ll be engulfed in a white mist that will warp you to Sellia Crystal Tunnel.

Once in the Sellia Crystal Tunnel, observe stealth and make your way out of here as it is a pretty high-level area! Walk down the downward slope into the small little tunnel which will lead you to a ladder and the area’s Site of Grace. After resting, exit the tunnel and head north into the Swamp of Aeonia, into the Street of Sages Ruins. Here you’ll find the Meteorite Staff and the Rock Sling gravity sorcery, which I highly recommend also grabbing as the staff specifically boosts gravity sorceries.

Meteoric Ore Blade

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

Despite its name, the Meteorite Ore Blade is actually a katana – did you think I would make a list of the Best Early Game Elden Ring Weapons without talking about at least one katana? Regardless, this katana, being forged out of meteorite, similar to the preceding meteorite staff, leans more towards the magical side as per its origin. Therefore, as far as its stat requirements are concerned, it demands 15 strength, 14 dexterity and 18 strength to use – not bad.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit
Attack	112	72	0	0	0	100
Guard	50	45	31	31	31	-
	Str	Int	Dex
Scaling	D	D	E
Requires	15	18	14
Katana	Slash / Pierce
Gravitas	FP 13
Wgt. 7.5	Passive(50)

While you may think Samurai is the way to go because Samurais wield katanas, statistically, you can wield the Meteroric Ore Blade much more quickly if you went Prisoner instead. This is because Prisoner comes with 11 strength, 14 dexterity and 14 intelligence compared to Samurai, which only comes with 12 strength, 14 dexterity, and 9 intelligence. Thus, Prisoner is generally more suited for melee-sorcerer weapons.

Upgrade and Build Affinity

The Meteoric Ore Balde comes with a natural scaling of D in strength, E in dexterity and D intelligence, a rather odd combination of scalngs in my opinion. Furthermore, these scalings can only be improved through special reinforcement via Somber Smithing Stones, a much rarer kind of Smithing Stones. Unfortunately, that is as far as it can go in terms of upgradeability. Neither can it be infused with ashes of war, nor can it be enchanted or boosted with magic and consumables, respectively.

But this is still an excellent early game katana nonetheless and can be a fierce combo with a standard katana like the Uchigatana. While the Uchigatana is a pure physical weapon, the Meteorite Ore Blade inflicts magic damage, where it can peak at 176 along with 274 physical damage at +10 reinforcement. Last but not least, being a katana, it also inflicts bleed and that’s always a nice thing to have!

Weapon Art and Location

The Meteoric Ore Blade, having its origin tied to meteorites and gravitational sorcery, unsurprisingly comes with a weapon art known as Gravitas. Upon activating, your player will slam the katana into the ground to create a strong gravitational field that will pull enemies towards it and inflict damage simultaneously! While not unique, this weapon art does exist in the form of an ash of war if you’re interested in using it on another weapon.

As far as the weapon’s location is concerned, make your way to the Street of Sages Ruins in Caelid (as discussed in the preceding Meteorite Staff), and from here, make your way to the Caelid Waypoint Ruins highlighted on the map. Once there, walk into the underground tunnel using the stairs and sprint straight for the door ahead – there will be many enemies before the door, and right now, your top priority should be getting the weapon. You may not be able to leave alive, but at least you got that epic katana!

Greatsword

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

While many doubted the re-appearance of the original Greatsword, many did not waver and firmly believed that FromSoftware would honor the death of Kentaro Miura by adding Gut’s Greatsword to the game. The amazing thing is that FromSoftware did add it to Elden Ring and made it very early obtainable, easily making it one of the best early-game elden ring strength weapons out there.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	164	0	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	84	50	50	50	50	-	56
	Str	Int	Dex
Scaling	C	-	E
Requires	31	-	12
Colossal Sword	Standard
Stamp (upward cut)	FP 5 ( - 8)
Wgt. 23	Passive -

The Greatsword, being a heavy ultra greatsword, reasonably demands its wielders to have 31 strength and 12 dexterity. While this may be intimidating, it should be fairly easy to achieve if you chose Hero as your starting class which comes with 16 strength and 9 dexterity. However, do keep in mind that two-handing any weapon increases your strength by 50%, so you can two-hand the Greatsword at 21 strength and 12 dexterity perfectly well! While you may think one-handing is better, let me remind you that this is an ultra greatswords that are usually meant to be two-handed.

Upgrade and Build Affinity

Despite being an ultra greatsword, the Greatsword is an astonishingly versatile weapon. It comes with a natural scaling of C in strength and E in dexterity, already giving off strength vibes. Furthermore, these stat scalings can be improved both through reinforcement with Smithing Stones (which go uptil +25) as well as infusions with a wide variety of different Ashes of War.

The Greatsword works well with most builds, even auxiliary ones such as frostbite where, with a Cold infusion at +25, it achieves a B scaling in strength, a D in dexterity and a D in intelligence while having 153 frostbite! On the other hand, a Sacred infusion can achieve both 310 physical and holy damage, an eye-opener for incantation users. However, the Greatsword is best utilized on a pure strength build. It achieves an A scaling with strength upon a heavy infusion, enabling it to reach some of the highest damage numbers anyone has ever seen on a strength weapon.

Weapon Art and Location

The Greatsword comes with the generic ash of war you commonly see on regular greatswords, namely Stamp (Upward Cut). Upon activation, your player will tightly grip the Greatsword and assume an air-tight stance, bracing for impact from incoming damage before returning the favor with a powerful upward cut. If this is not your cut of tea, which I understand entirely since players usually look for something with a little more oomph on ultra greatswords, you can switch it up with an ash of war.

As far as the Greatsword’s location is confirmed, getting it can be quite a dangerous task if you’re not stealthful. Regardless, make your way to Street of Sages Ruins in Caelid (refer to the two weapons above), and from there you need to head left towards the Caelem Ruins. On the outskirts of the Ruins, you will see a black caravan guarded by ferocious beasts. I would recommend using summons to distract those beasts for a brief moment until you can sneak up on the back of the caravan and loot the Greatsword from its chest.

Lake of Lunaria

Carian Knight Sword

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

The Carian Knight Sword is a straight sword you’ll often come across in the hand of Carian Knights, albeit it does not exactly drop from them. Regardless, while you may think of throwing it on your quality build, let me remind me that Carian Royalty are half sorcerers, meaning this straight sword is also one to be used by melee-sorcerers. You realize this the moment you read that it requires 10 strength, 10 dexterity, and 18 faith to wield properly.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	88	88	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	36	52	26	26	26	-	31
	Str	Int	Dex	Faith
Scaling	D	D	D	-
Requires	10	18	10	24
Straight Sword	Standard / Pierce
Carian Grandeur	FP 26
Wgt. 4.0	Passive -

Given how quickly you can find this bad boy, it’d be best to try to use it right away by choosing Astrologer as your starting class as it comes with 8 strength, 12 dexterity and 16 intelligence. From that point, all you need to do is level up strength and intelligence, and you’ll easily be able to wield the Carian Knight Sword, making it one of the Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring for melee-sorcerers.

Upgrade and Build Affinity

The Carian Knight Sword comes with a natural scaling of D in all three stats, strength, dexterity and intelligence. This makes it a very flexible weapon as far as build fitting is concerned because you can throw it on pure strength, dexterity or intelligence build, although you’d be better off marrying it with intelligence to capitalize off its magic damage. Unfortunately, the sword does not allow for infusions with ashes of war or enchantment with magic and consumables.

Therefore, as far as the weapon’s upgradeability is concerned, all you can do is upgrade it using Somber Smithing Stones, making sure that the stone tier coincides with your weapon’s current level. Moreover, at +10 reinforcement, apart from 215 physical and magic damage, the Carian Knight Sword achieves a C scaling in strength, tying things back to my recommendation of running it on a strength-intelligence build.

Weapon Art and Location

The Carian Knight Greatsword, despite its shortcomings, significantly impresses its wielders by entertaining them with its unique weapon art known as Carian Grandeur. Much like the Carian Greatsword ash of war or sorcery, this weapon art transforms the sword into a magic greatsword before striking down on your enemies. The weapon art costs 26 FP to use and is chargeable, increasing its power and range threefolds.

As far as the weapon’s location is concerned, first, you need to enter the Lake of Lunaria region, which you can get to without needing to defeat Godrick. There is a shortcut to it from the Stormhill Shack Site of Grace, where if you head up into the windy hills, you’ll come across a broken bridge – at the end, you’ll see a small descent which you can take to venture into the Lake of Lunaria.

Then, you need to traverse past the lake segment towards the Foot of the Four Belfry Site of Grace (follow along the red line, and you’ll find it). Once there, ride up the road ahead, and you’ll find a Giant convoy carrying a black caravan. Just attack one of the giants to make them stop and sneakily loot the chest at the back of the caravan to get the Carian Knight Sword!

Sword of Night and Flame

Stat Requirement and Class Recommendation

The Sword of Night and Flame is outright the most late-game weapon you can obtain pretty early in Elden Ring, to the point that it will make clearing out Limgrave a walk in the park. Being arguably the best of the Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring, it is not astonishing to see that its stat requirements reflect that all good things require sacrifice. This straight sword requires 12 strength, 12 dexterity, 24 intelligence, and 24 faith to use, being the first and only weapon on this list with requirements in all four attributes.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	87	56	56	0	0	100	-
Guard	36	42	42	26	26	-	31
	Str	Int	Dex	Faith
Scaling	E	D	E	D
Requires	12	24	12	24
Straight Sword	Standard/Pierce
Night-and-Flame Stance	FP - (26 32)
Wgt. 4.0	Passive -

Due to the weapon’s hefty requirements, I would recommend going Confessor as your starting build as it will speed up the process like no other class can. Confessor does not overshoot strength and dexterity, coming at you with 12 strength, 12 dexterity, 9 intelligence, and 14 faith, allowing you to focus solely on the latter two attributes.

Upgrade and Build Affinity

The Sword of Night and Flame comes with a natural scaling of E n both strength and dexterity and D in both intelligence and faith, clearly preferring magic over physical attributes. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about that as its scalings can not be adjusted since it does not allow for infusions with Ashes of War. How, while its scaling does improve through reinforcement, I would recommend fitting it onto either a strength-intelligence or strength-faith build to maximize its potential.

As far reinforcement is concerned, though, the Sword of Night and Flame requires Somber Smithing Stones to upgrade, as you may have guessed from its uniqueness. These upgrade materials are pretty rare to find but can be purchased off certain blacksmith NPCs such as War Counselor Iji. Anyways, at +10 reinforcement, the Sword of Night and Flame achieves a D scaling in both strength and dexterity and B in both intelligence and faith, on top of 213 physical damage and 137 magic/fire damage.

Weapon Art and Location

The best part about the Sword of Night and Flame is its insane weapon art, Night-and-Flame Stance. Upon activation, your player will horizontally hold the sword; here, you can use a normal attack to cast the Night Comet sorcery or a strong attack to perform a sweeping maneuver and set everything in your path ablaze. This is one of the main reasons players venture off into a difficult area like the Lake of Lunaria early in the game!

In order to get this sword, you need to venture past the area from where you obtain the Carian Knight Sword, making your way to the Caria Manor. From here, hug the left wall and make your way across the garden, avoiding those creepy hand-like creatures because they’ll probably one shot you. Regardless, enter the small build on the left and activate the Manor Lower Level Site of Grace. From here, proceed to the rooftops from where you need to jump off to the left at the first intersection. From here, proceed down the ladder to find yourself a chest containing the Sword of Night and Flame!

While Elden Ring is a pretty difficult game and features some of the hardest bosses Soulsborne veterans have ever seen, FromSoftware have been a little forgiving with this title in two ways. First, by making this an open-world game, you are not bound to a linear progression, meaning you can always venture off into other parts of the continent and level up. In order words, if you find yourself struggling with a boss, you need not to beat them right there and then as you can easily backtrack and do some dungeons and optional side bosses to level up and become strong enough for a more viable rechallenge.

Other than that, FromSoftware has also intricately placed some very good weapons that people usually encounter a little later into the game in spots that can be reached quite early if you know what you’re doing – I’ve got you covered there with my list of the Best Early Game Weapons in Elden Ring. In a nutshell, in Limgrave you should definitely not miss out on the Lordsworn’s Greatsword, the Twinblade, the Winged Scythe, the Reduvia, and most importantly, the Bloodhound’s Fang. If you’re feeling brave enough, you can also go for the Meteorite Staff, the Meteoric Ore Blade, and the Greatsword in Caelid or the Carian Knight Sword and the Sword of Night and Flame in the Lake of Lunaria. Happy hunting Tarnished!