Elden Ring: 30 Best Strength Weapons, Ranked

Even though some hardcore fans believe that Elden Ring is one of the easiest FromSoftware games (one fan even beat it in an hour!), newcomers to the series have struggled to pass even the first Major Boss. But of course, it wouldn't be a Souls-like game if it didn't mean players would need to die, rinse, and repeat continuously to cleanse the world of the ill-omened creatures.

Fortunately, players have access to powerful god-like weapons that can conquer even the largest foes. One powerful weapon class is that of Strength Weapons, which mostly take the form of Greatswords, Warhammers, and Halberds. With so many options available in Elden Ring, players will need to know which one is the best of them all.

Updated on February 23, 2026, by Mark Sammut: We have added Great Club to the article, as it deserves a mention. Beyond that, we added a section that goes over some basics concerning Strength builds and weapons.

Strength Soft Caps & Scaling Explained

Before we get into the actual weapons, we need to first go over a few basics that everyone looking to create a tank build needs to know. While the Raw Attack Rating is a decent indicator for a weapon's viability, it does not tell the full story, nor should it be used as the be-all and end-all when deciding how to invest your Runes. Therefore, let's go through a few things that you should know.

Strength Soft Caps (Where Returns Diminish)

Most Soulslikes put soft caps on stats, which means that players get diminishing returns after certain points. Elden Ring is quite strict with this aspect, and your character will eventually reach a point when investing more in Strength stops making sense.

Two-Handing Bonus (Hidden Strength Multiplier)

While the soft cap is arguably the most important thing to keep in mind, we should also cover a few other mechanics that are worth understanding. The first is two-handed weapons, which are used by quite a lot of Strength builds. When you two-hand a weapon, the Strength stat is multiplied by 1.5; basically, if you have 40 STR, it will become 60 STR.

Scaling Grades

Honestly, there isn't too much to say here, as scaling is self-explanatory. This mechanic does not matter too much during the early hours of Elden Ring, but scaling has an impact once you upgrade a weapon a few times and the stat exceeds level 30 (or a bit higher, to be honest).

Heavy vs Quality vs Standard Infusion

Affinity greatly impacts Strength scaling.

• Heavy – Boost STR, removes DEX, and is ideal for pure STR builds.
• Quality – Great for hybrid STR/DEX builds as it splits the scaling.
• Standard – Balanced, but generally inferior to Heavy if you are running a predominantly STR-focused character.

High STR builds also tend to favor colossal weapons, great hammers, and ultra greatswords.

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30 Great Club

A Just Reward For Delivering Enough Deathroot

The Great Club is a staple of FromSoftware's Souls games, and it is one of the best STR build weapons in all three Dark Souls. Unsurprisingly, the colossal weapon made its way to Elden Ring, but this version was somewhat disappointing as it didn't offer anything that set it apart or above other options. Fortunately, the 1.09 update changed the Great Club's scaling to also include Faith, which helps make up for the fact that its STR scaling only reaches B rather than A. Consequently, the weapon now delivers both Physical and Holy damage.

Great for breaking poise, the Great Club is nowadays a solid all-around option with little to criticize, and it is one of the best two-handed weapons for STR/FAI hybrid builds. If you go pure STR build, Great Club can get you far, although you will likely replace it during the later stages of the campaign or in "Shadow of the Erdtree."

29 Zweihander

Powerful Colossal Sword

Zweihander primarily scales with Strength and Dexterity in Elden Ring. Although it's considered a Colossal Weapon, Zweihander possesses the lightest weight, which makes it a bit versatile. This is perfect for players who prefer fast and heavy swing attacks instead of the usual three-hits attack that consumes the Stamina bar.

The weapon comes with a Skill called the Stamp (Upward Cut), which can be found in a plethora of weapons in Elden Ring. The Skill basically means players deliver a deadly upward strike that can easily stagger large enemies.

28 Ordovis's Greatsword

Great For Faith Builds

Ordovis's Greatsword mainly scales with Strength and Faith. The former starts with a C at level one and ends with an A at level 10, which provides great damage for Tarnished interested in a STR/FAI build in Elden Ring.

The Unique Skill, Ordovis’s Vortex, allows players to charge the Greatsword and slam it on the ground, dealing with Holy Damage. Keep in mind that the Strength scaling is much better than the Faith one, so Ordovis’s Greatsword is not a bad option as a Strength-based weapon.

27 Marais Executioner's Sword

Eochaid’s Dancing Blade

The Marais Executioner's Sword scales solely with Strength while the rest of the stats stay the same. Upgrading it requires some Somber Smithing Stones, which will allow the weapon's Strength to level up from an average C to a decent B. As for the weapon requirements, Tarnished must have 24 Strength, 14 Dexterity, and 23 Arcane.

The weapon's Skill is the Eochaid’s Dancing Blade, and it allows the weapon to be infused with Arcane and send it toward an opponent in a swinging attack. While the weapon may stagger small or medium-sized enemies, large foes like bosses in Elden Ring won’t be knocked down.

26 Gargoyle's Black Axe

Hunt The Black Blade Kindred

Similar to the Marais Executioner's Sword, the Gargoyle's Black Axe Strength is the only stat that improves, with the remaining stats staying the same. Wielding the Gargoyle's Black Axe will benefit Tarnished who already has an STR/FAI build as it requires 24 Strength, 8 Dexterity, and 22 Faith.

The Axe’s Skill, War Cry, is seen in many other weapons as it’s a handy Skill. Upon unleashing the cry, you will receive a buff and for 40 seconds all the strong attacks will become charge attacks.

25 Troll's Hammer

Useful For Defeating Multiple Foes

Troll's Hammer is one of the most underrated weapons in Elden Ring. Although its Active Skill, Troll’s Roar, is found on other weapons while exploring the Lands Between, the Hammer can be considered one of the heaviest Strength-based weapons among them.

While the skill does allow players to unleash a powerful shockwave that has a high chance of stunning enemies, the Troll’s Hammer's true powers lie in its powerful attack, which will cause heavy damage once the weapon reaches +25. Additionally, maxing out the Hammer will upgrade the Strength scaling from a normal C to a decent B.

24 Great Omenkiller Cleaver

Build Up Blood Loss

The Great Omenkiller Cleaver doesn’t only scale with Strength, it can also cause blood loss build-up in battles. Tarnished can try to use a Blood Affinity Ashes of War on the cleaver, which will upgrade the Strength scaling to B and the bleed becomes even stronger.

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The Wild Strikes allow the user to perform a chain of heavy attacks and, at the end, you can use a normal or a heavy attack. It’s great for building blood loss as players will be swinging at the enemy multiple times.

23 Winged Greathorn

Comes With The Powerful Soul Stifler Ability

As of Patch 1.09, the Winged Greathorn was buffed to have a better speed, range, recovery time, and many more. That doesn’t mean the weapon wasn’t useful before, but it had many disadvantages that may put players in a difficult or vulnerable position.

Other than the heavy damage inflicted by swinging around the Winged Greathorn, Tarnished can take advantage of the unique Skill that debuffs enemies upon contacting the harmful aura released by the Greathorn. The Skill may hinder players since the enemy must pass through the fog to get debuffed, but the results are worth it since the weapon’s damage increases.

22 Serpent-Hunter

Perfect For Attacking

The Serpent-Hunter in Elden Ring is similar to the Storm Ruler in Dark Souls 3. Although it’s possible to use it on other enemies, and it will deal great damage, the Serpent-Hunter is especially effective against the Shardbearer, Rykard Lord of Blasphemy. Although the boss is considered mid to late-game, players can acquire the Serpent-Hunter quite early by interacting with the Abductor Virgin in the lowest part of Raya Lucaria Academy.

One of the Serpent-Hunter’s great features is that the initial Strength scaling is B and later becomes A once fully upgraded. Players can take advantage of such Skill to wield one of the best Strength Weapons in the Elden Ring. While the weapon does scale with Dexterity, the E won’t be upgraded later on.

21 Rotten Greataxe

A Powerful Late-Game Weapon

The Rotten Greataxe is, without a doubt, one of the best-looking weapons in the entirety of Elden Ring, as not only is it massive, but it also looks extremely intimidating with its red and black undertones. Since it's a late-game weapon, it requires a whopping 30 Strength and 10 Dexterity to wield properly. This incredible weapon is dropped by the Rotten Duelist at the north of Ordina, Liturgical Town. The encounter isn’t extremely challenging, especially for players who have leveled up enough, but they should still proceed with caution.

The Rotten Greataxe’s active skill, “Endure”, can temporarily boost players’ poise so they can withstand more damage and still deliver powerful blows to their enemies, a very desirable trait for those building a Strength character. As opposed to the Beastclaw Greathammer, the Rotten Greataxe can be infused with Ashes of War and buffed by magic or consumables. It can also be upgraded by using Somber Smithing Stones and causes Scarlet Rot buildup. Normally, this weapon would not be recommended for those looking to play with a Strength build, as it seems to favor Dexterity more. However, when infused to the Heavy configuration, its Strength scaling goes from E to B, which is a considerable upgrade.