Best new weapons in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree has some truly fantastic new weapon types. Sure, there are dozens of familiar weapon archetypes, so why not try something new? The weapons we've picked here all feature a new typing - whether Perfume Bottle or Great Katana. They're all powerful, in one way or another. Naturally, this is our personal opinion, and yours may vary.

That’s one of the great things about Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree - no matter how you want to play, there’s something for you. That’s never been more apparent with the addition of these incredible new weapon types in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. But which stands out from the rest? Let’s find out.

NOTE: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.

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Which of the new weapons is most satisfying to use in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree?

1) Milady

Few weapons are as fun to use as Milady is. (Image via FromSoftware)

We’ve talked about Milady in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree a few times, and it’s not hard to see why - it’s one of the best weapons around. While it doesn’t have the best Ash of War, it’s an amazing Light Greatsword - which might be my favorite new weapon type of all.

It’s a Light Greatsword and scales with Dexterity, and on top of that, it’s not at all hard to get. You can pick it up almost as soon as you arrive at Castle Ensis. It’s got a really satisfying, easy-to-use moveset, and is all-around just a terrific weapon. If you want to stomp early, this is a solid idea.

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2) Rakshasa's Great Katana

The Great Katana class of weapons is incredibly fun to use. (Image via FromSoftware)

A blood-red Great Katana, it’s a fantastic Strength/Dex scaling Great Katana. Sure, you have to best Rakshasa for it, and that fight is a little out of the way, but it’s worth seeking out. I’m a huge fan of the broad Weed Cutter skill. On top of everything else it does - like Bleeding! I’m a huge fan of Bleed builds, to be honest.

Rakshasa’s Great Katana also has a really great set of attack animations, which makes it a popular new weapon in Elden Ring Shadows of the Erdtree. Personally, between it and the Dragon-Hunter’s Great Katana, I chose this because I like Weed Cutter over the jump slash. They’re both pretty fantastic, but only one could make the cut.

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3) Backhand Blade

The Backhand Blades deliver style and lethal efficiency. (Image via FromSoftware)

Backhand Blades bring so much to the game. From simply being one of the best new weapons in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, they have amazing attack animations, and an awesome design and style, but they also do something many other weapons in the game don’t: Give you a new way to stay alive.

Blind Spot is an amazing sideways dash, and you can use it to ignore your enemies’ guard. It does exactly what it says, it attacks your enemies’ blind spot.

However, you can also use this in an offensive manner. While it’s amazing, in that it completely bypasses blocking, it’s going to thrill Dark Souls 3 fans - it’s pretty much the same skill you had back then. There are other weapons in this type in the game, but I think the first ones are the best ones.

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4) Lightning Perfume Bottle

Even if this gets fixed, it will still be one of the best Perfume Bottles. (Image via FromSoftware)

While, in general, I’m a huge fan of all the perfume bottles, I think Lightning Perfume Bottle might be the most potent. Right now, it appears to be bugged because if you look down while using it, it deals a ridiculous amount of damage (~10K damage).

If you’re going to go with a Perfumer build, it’s one of the best choices, due to it having incredible lightning damage. Not many foes have lightning resistance, so you can use this to great effect in many battles.

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5) Rellana's Twinblade

Wielding two swords for the price of one - this one's worth the effort. (Image via FromSoftware)

When it comes to pure style, Rellana’s Twinblade is one of my favorites, that’s for sure. I’m also a huge fan of Light Greatswords, but this one has one of the best Ash of War abilities around the Moon-and-Fire stance. You can utilize either huge fiery AOE strikes or a series of broad attacks.

You either get ranged magic slashes with light attacks or big fiery strokes with heavy attacks. When you’re going two-handed in Elden Ring, you also get to wield both swords at once! How rad is that? It’s easily one of the best weapons in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree for that alone.

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Check out our other Elden Ring guides:

• How to get overpowered early (SOTE)
• Best Strength-Faith build (SOTE)
• Best Great Katana build (SOTE)
• How to obtain Wing Stance (SOTE)