Elden Ring: 14 Best Weapon Buffs (2024)

There are many ways to deal damage in Elden Ring, the most obvious being the wide variety of unique weapons. But while the armory of axes, swords, and twinblades is powerful on its own, what if you want your weapons to hit even harder? Well, that’s what weapon buffs are for.

They come in many forms, from consumable items to Ashes of War, and can do more than just damage your opponents, often granting unique effects. It should be noted that this list will ignore buffs that are weapon-specific, since that would quickly just become a list of particularly strong weapons. So, no Moonlight Greatsword or Bloodboon Ritual, for instance. Instead, we’ll be looking at the strongest options you can apply to a variety of weapons.

Updated by Lucas Ellinas on August 11, 2024: There are a lot of ways to buff your weapon in Elden Ring, and the DLC only added more of them. If you want to increase your damage, they are a great choice. To help you make the optimal decision, we’ve included some of the new options from Shadow of the Erdtree to our list.

14 Ash Of War: Sacred Blade

Sacred Blade Skill appears tailor-made to murder Undead enemies, which take massive damage from Holy attacks. The Weapon Skill buffs your weapon with a flat 90 Holy damage, then launches a projectile that also deals Holy damage. The attack will also deal significantly more damage if you hit with the weapon itself while launching the projectile.

The projectile damage scales with Faith, but the buff doesn’t, which means it’s both a great option for non-Faith builds that want to add Holy damage, and can provide additional value to those who invest into it fully. It’s also worth noting that Sacred Blade has received massive buffs in a recent patch, so if you tried this Weapon Skill at Elden Ring’s launch and found it underwhelming, it’s worth giving it a second chance. It drops from a Teardrop Scarab you can find north of the Third Church of Marika, in Limgrave.

13 Ash Of War: Poisonous Mist

As you might expect, the Poisonous Mist Skill Weapon Skill starts by coating your weapon in Poison. It then follows with a heavy swing that produces a cloud of poison which lingers for a short time. If the swing lands, there’s a good chance you will trigger poison almost immediately. And even if it doesn’t, most enemies won’t bother getting out of the poison cloud.

Poisonous Mist is also one of just two Poison-based Ashes of War, and the only option for many weapon types. Poison builds aren’t as popular as those focused around Bleed, but they have their own methods of buffing their power, notably the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation Talisman and the Mushroom Crown. If you want to take advantage of these buffs, Poison Mist might be your best option. You can find it on an island in the southwestern corner of Aeonia Swamp, in Caelid.

12 Ash Of War: Seppuku

Seppuku Skill was the bane of PvP before Bleed builds were nerfed. You stab yourself in the chest, giving your weapon physical attack power and Bleed buildup. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), Seppuku itself was crippled by the nerfs; the amount of Bleed buildup it caused was cut by more than half, and the amount of damage it dealt to you was increased dramatically.

That said, it isn’t completely useless. You won’t be sad to have its Bleed and damage on an Arcane weapon. However, its most useful feature isn’t the buff itself, but rather the supposed downside: when you stab yourself, you trigger Bleed. As a result, you activate the damage buff effects of White Mask and Lord of Blood’s Exultation before the fight even starts, which is especially useful against enemies that are highly resistant or even immune to Bleed. If you want to see if this Weapon Skill still has what it takes, it drops from an invisible Teardrop Scarb directly east of the Freezing Lake Site of Grace in the Mountaintops of the Giants.

11 Ash Of War: Flame Skewer

Using the Ash of War: Flame Skewer coats your weapon in fire, adding 95 Fire damage for 15 seconds and causing you to thrust it forward. It then follows that up with a burst of flame. Unfortunately, it doesn’t knock enemies into the air in the same way Giant Hunt does, although it will still deal significant stance damage if you hit with both attacks.

Flame Skewer is acquired after you defeat Fire Knight Queelign for a second time. He will invade you in the plaza at Belurat Tower Settlement and again in the Church of the Crusade.

10 Ash Of War: Flaming Strike

The Ash of War: Flaming Strike throws out an arc of fire, then follows up with a fiery, lunging sweep attack that buffs your weapon with 90 Fire damage for 40 seconds. It’s both fun to use and punches well above its weight when it comes to damage.

Additionally, while Flaming Strike is strong in PvE, its speed, high damage, and the fact that both the initial arc and the sweep hit in a wide area makes it especially strong in PvP. It’s dropped by a Teardrop Scarab in the graveyard on the cliffs south of Redmane Castle.

9 Drawstring Soporific Grease

It might not be clear from the name unless you have a dictionary handy, but the Drawstring Soporific Grease causes Sleep, one of the rarest status effects in Elden Ring. Many enemies are either highly or completely immune to the status effect but, when it does work, it can make some of the most annoying bosses far more manageable (looking at you, Godskin Duo).

Drawstring Soporific Grease can work on many weapons, but it has particular synergy with the few weapons with Arcane scaling that can also be buffed, such as the Ripple Blade and Ripple Crescent Halberd, since this allows the status effect to scale with your Arcane stat. Used in this way, this item is one of the most effective methods for triggering Sleep in Elden Ring. It can be crafted with Root Resin, String, and a Trina’s Lily once you buy the Fevor’s Cookbook [2] from the Isolated Merchant near the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

8 Black Flame Blade

Black Flame Blade is an Incantation with a requirement of 17 Faith. When used, it buffs your weapon with Fire attack that scales with your Faith stat. More importantly, when you hit an enemy with a weapon buffed by Black Flame Blade, it inflicts a debuff that causes your enemy to lose health for two seconds. The amount is based on their max health, making it more effective the stronger your enemies are. And while the effect doesn’t stack, each hit will refresh it, allowing you to keep it active if you can hit fast enough.

The only thing that really holds Black Flame Blade back is its duration, since it only lasts seven seconds. However, its quick cast time means you can re-up the incantation, assuming you have the FP to use it again. To get this Incantation, pick up the Godskin Prayerbook locked behind an Imp Statue in Stormveil Castle. You can then purchase Black Flame Blade after giving the Prayerbook to either Brother Corhyn or Miriel, Pastor of Vows.

7 Drawstring Messmerfire Grease

They might not be the flashiest choice, but the new elemental Drawstring Greases from the DLC are a pretty dramatic upgrade over the versions from the base game. They give 135 damage of their given element, rather than 110, and last for 25 seconds, more than twice as long as the originals.

Each of them can be powerful in the right situation, although your best bet overall is probably the Messmerfire version, given how easy Fire damage is to buff. Drawstring Messmerfire Grease can be found in the overworld, but you can also craft it after picking up the Fire Knight’s Cookbook [1] in a tent east of the Highroad Cross Site of Grace.

6 Ash Of War: Shriek Of Sorrow

Reminiscent of the Red Tearstone Rings from Dark Souls, the Ash of War: Shriek of Sorrow provides an attack buff that increases the lower your HP is when you use it. You can stack it with other buffs that have similar effects, such as the Red-Feathered Branchsword Talisman or the Twinbird Kite Shield.

If you are doing a level one run or are just fond of a risky playstyle, this is an exceptional tool. You can find the Ash of War in Belurat Tower Settlement. in the plaza where Queelign invades you.

5 Ash Of War: War Cry/Braggart’s Roar/Barbaric Roar

Barbaric Roar Skill , Braggart’s Roar, and War cry all have slightly different versions of the same effect. Barbaric Roar (dropped by a Teardrop Scarab in the Ravine-Veiled Village, in Liurnia of the Lakes) and War Cry (sold by Knight Bernahl) are nearly identical; both buff your damage and give your heavy attacks a unique move set for 40 seconds.

Braggart’s Roar is the most different; it shares animations with War Cry, exchanging some of the attack boost for ten percent damage negation and stamina recovery speed, and an extra 20 seconds of duration. You’ll get it from the Iron Ball weapon dropped by Blackguard Big Boggart. The damage of all three of these Weapon Skills are affected by the Roar Talisman and the passive boost provided by the Highland Axe. With these added buffs, all three of these Weapon Skills can output exceptional damage. Which you choose will come down largely to personal preference.

4 Ash Of War: Flame Spear

The Ash of War: Flame Spear launches a burst of fire forward, simultaneously coating your weapon in flame, adding 95 Fire damage for 40 seconds. The skill will deal more damage if you hit with the weapon itself, and charging it increases the range and damage.

You can find the Ash of War on the sixth floor of the Shadow Keep, where it is dropped by the Fire Knight standing guard at the bridge before you fight Messmer. This knight also drops the Winged Serpent Helm, which increases the damage of this Skill.

3 Bloodflame Blade

Bloodflame Blade is arguably the coolest-looking weapon buff in Elden Ring, coating your weapon in dark red flames for 60 seconds. It’s an Incantation, so you’ll need to invest some stats if you want to cast it, but at just 12 Faith and 10 Arcane, the requirements are extremely low, allowing it to be worked into many different builds.

Like Black Flame Blade, Bloodflame Blade will give your weapon Fire damage based on your Faith. It also causes a similar, but more generally useful, debuff: it causes 40 Bleed buildup over two seconds. This effect will stack, turning any fast-attacking weapon into a hemorrhage machine, even if you have low Arcane. Even better, you can acquire Bloodflame Blade before fighting a single boss; it’s dropped by a Teardrop Scarab northwest of the Rose Church in Liurnia of the Lakes.

2 Ash Of War: Royal Knight’s Resolve

Royal Knight's Resolve Skill is the Weapon Skill of choice for many one-shot builds. It only affects your next successful attack, but it increases the damage of it by a massive 80 percent. When used on a sufficiently strong weapon (often the Giant-Crusher), Royal Knight’s Resolve will instantly kill smaller enemies, and melt bosses.

If your goal is to deal the most damage possible in a single strike, Royal Knight's Resolve is the Weapon Skill you want. The downside is that it’s a pain to get. You’ll have to delve deep into the hidden area of Volcano Manor, past where you find Rya and through a small army of Man-Serpents to find it.

1 Ash Of War: Cragblade

Cragblade Skill is an extremely simple Weapon Skill. When used, it increases the attack power of your weapon by fifteen percent and its poise damage by ten percent. The buff lasts 60 seconds, so you won’t need to recast it except during especially long fights. It allows you to deal increased damage while repeatedly opening up your enemy for critical hits.

The only disadvantage Cragblade really has is that covering your weapon with rocks looks kind of ugly, though your mileage on that front may vary. It drops from a Teardrop Scarab only a short distance west of the Impassable Greatbridge Site of Grace, in Caelid.