How to easily obtain dual Great Stars early in Elden Ring

Great Stars is easily one of the most powerful weapons you can obtain in Elden Ring, going toe-to-toe with some of the most overpowered end-game weapons in the game. On the surface, it might not look all that impressive, both in terms of its damage output and scaling. However, it is an incredibly powerful weapon; perhaps even more so than many players would realize.

With a properly optimized build, you can make the Great Stars work against almost all the bosses in the game. It is so effective against bosses, that it's used by many Elden Ring speedrunners as their go-to choice for their "glitchless all bosses" playthroughs, even after the Shadow of the Erdtree's release.

What's even better is that you can get not one, but two Great Stars pretty early in the game, that too without having to progress beyond Leyndell, or having defeated any of the bosses. Here's a comprehensive guide on how to obtain dual Great Stars early, in Elden Ring.

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Where to find dual Great Stars in Elden Ring?

Location of the Windmill Village in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware)

When Elden Ring was originally released back in February of 2022, you could only obtain a single Great Stars weapon per playthrough. However, in one of the title updates for the game, FromSoftware sneaked in an optional NPC Invasion event. Players can participate in this event to complete White Mask Varre's questline, while also receiving the Great Stars as a reward in the process.

After that update, you could technically get two Great Stars in a single playthrough. What's even better is that you can get both the Great Stars pretty early in the game, even before you fight Morgott the Omen King, or Rennala, Queen of Full Moon.

In addition to that, both the Great Stars are found very close to one another. The first Great Stars can be found inside a chest that's being carried around by one of the roaming troll cavalry across the southern region of the Altus Plateau. And the second one is obtained after defeating Magnus the Beast Claw, by invading the NPC's world.

Location of the Writheblood Ruins in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware)

You can reach the area where you will find both the roaming cavalry and the ruins with Magnus' Invasion sign, from the Windmill Village in Altus Plateau. You can reach the Altus Plateau right after Liurnia of the Lakes. And you can technically reach Liurnia without even stepping foot inside Stormveil and defeating Godrick the Grafted.

Once you make your way to the Altus Plateau, simply keep to the northeast following the first Site of Grace and you will eventually reach the Windmill Village. From the Windmill Village, all you need to do is follow the southwestern path, which will take you to the Writheblood Ruins. Here you will find the Invasion sign for Magnus the Beast Claw.

Defeat Magnus to get the first Great Stars. For the second one, simply keep to the southwestern path from the Windmill Village, and you will find the roaming cavalry. Make sure it's daytime when you head out for the Writheblood Ruins for the cavalry to show up. Defeat the enemies in the cavalry and at least one of the trolls to be able to loot the treasure chest.

You will find Magnus the Beast Claw in the Writheblood Ruins (Image via FromSoftware)

Inside this chest, you will find the second Great Stars. What makes the Great Stars really special, apart from being an incredibly effective Strength weapon, is that it comes with Bleed build-up. And since it doesn't scale with Arcane, you can use the weapon with a Strength-oriented build and it will still retain Bleed (Hemorrhage).