Black Steel Greathammer
Black Steel Greathammer is a Shadow of the Erdtree great hammer dropped by the Black Knight at the Church of Consolation. It has innate holy damage, accepts affinities and compatible skills, and produces a holy burst after guard counters.
Key Takeaways
Black Steel Greathammer is a Shadow of the Erdtree great hammer built around guarded counterattacks and holy damage, rather than being a purely physical blunt weapon.
Holy great hammer with a guarded-counter identity
Its defining mechanic is a special guard counter that releases a holy shockwave, giving the weapon a defensive offensive option in addition to its normal greathammer attacks.
DLC-area availability
It is obtained in the Shadow of the Erdtree content from a Black Knight near the Church of Consolation, so it is unavailable in the base game alone.
Build requirements include Faith
The weapon requires Strength, Dexterity, and Faith, making it less convenient for a purely physical Strength build than a comparable greathammer without Faith requirements.
Mixed damage has a clear trade-off
Its physical-and-holy damage profile and guard-counter shockwave support Faith-oriented melee play, but holy resistance can reduce the value of its nonphysical damage.
Standard reinforcement and Ash of War flexibility
Unlike a uniquely reinforced weapon, Black Steel Greathammer uses the standard Smithing Stone upgrade path and can be customized with Ashes of War, subject to its weapon-specific restrictions.
Overview
Black Steel Greathammer is a Shadow of the Erdtree great hammer associated with the Black Knights. It is a standard, upgradeable melee weapon whose identity comes from its heavy striking role and innate holy damage, giving strength-focused characters a way to add sacred damage without using a catalyst.
Unlike ordinary great hammers that rely primarily on physical damage, Black Steel Greathammer combines blunt physical attacks with a fixed holy component. It is therefore most relevant to characters willing to meet both its physical-stat and Faith requirements, while its great-hammer moveset still emphasizes committed swings, reach, and stagger potential rather than speed. It is acquired within the Elden Ring DLC and is not part of the base-game weapon roster. The weapon uses the regular reinforcement system and supports the broader customization expected of compatible standard weapons, distinguishing it from unique somber weapons with fixed upgrade paths or permanently locked skills.
Statistics
Elden Ring publishes no 0–100 stat bars, so this page lists the verified requirements, scaling and handling figures instead. Taken from the project's verified weapons database, not from generated text.
- CategoryGreat Hammers
- Damage TypeStandard/Holy
- Primary ScalingStr C
- Weight13
- SkillWave of Destruction
- Str Req34
- Dex Req10
- How to ObtainDropped by Black Knights, Shadow of the Erdtree
- DLCShadow of the Erdtree
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar great hammers
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Steel Greathammer | 34 | 10 | 13 | Str C |
| Great Mace | 24 | 8 | 13 | Str D |
| Smithscript Greathammer | 28 | 10 | 13 | Str C |
| Flowerstone Gavel | 30 | 10 | 13 | Str C |
| Envoy's Long Horn | 15 | 10 | 13 | Arc C |
Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- Shadow of the Erdtree DLC access and entry into the Realm of Shadow.
- Reach Fog Rift Catacombs in Gravesite Plain.
- 01Travel to Fog Rift Catacombs in Gravesite Plain, in the Shadow of the Erdtree Realm. Explore the catacombs until you encounter the Black Knight associated with the weapon.
- 02Defeat that Black Knight to obtain the Black Steel Greathammer as its weapon drop. The weapon is acquired through this enemy encounter rather than from a vendor, quest reward, or chest.
Availability
The Black Steel Greathammer is a Shadow of the Erdtree weapon and is not part of the base-game weapon pool.
Requires Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and access to the Realm of Shadow
Mechanics and Handling
The Black Steel Greathammer uses the committed, close-range pattern expected of a greathammer: broad swings with substantial recovery, strong impact, and limited room for correcting a mistimed attack. Its weight and reach favor fighting inside an enemy’s effective range rather than chasing mobile targets. Jumping and charged heavy attacks are useful for opening stance damage, but require deliberate spacing because the weapon does not recover quickly if the attack misses.
Guard counters and sacred damage
Its defining handling feature is its guard-counter interaction. Successful guard counters with the Black Steel Greathammer add a holy-damage burst to the retaliating strike, giving blocked attacks an offensive payoff beyond the weapon’s normal physical impact. This makes shield-based openings especially relevant to the weapon, although the counter still depends on absorbing an incoming hit safely and does not remove the commitment of the follow-up attack.
Skill and combat rhythm
The weapon uses Endure as its weapon skill. Endure briefly improves poise during its active window, allowing the wielder to commit to an attack or absorb a hit that would otherwise interrupt them. It does not accelerate the moveset or compensate for poor spacing, so the strongest rhythm is to use a guarded opening or Endure window before delivering a charged, jumping, or guard-counter attack.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Its great-hammer moveset gives charged and jumping attacks substantial stance-pressure potential, making it suited to interrupting or staggering enemies that can be safely approached.
- Its shield-oriented design rewards guard-counter play: pairing it with a shield lets the weapon capitalize on the opening created by blocking rather than relying only on uninterrupted two-handed attacks.
- As a DLC great hammer with innate holy damage, it can add holy damage to a strength-focused melee setup without requiring a separate weapon swap.],
- weaknesses
- best_uses
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class and role | Distinctive mechanic | Build and upgrade trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Steel Greathammer | Prayerful Strike weapon skill | Somber weapon with a fixed identity and less affinity flexibility than standard great hammers | — |
| Great Mace | Infusable and compatible with changeable Ashes of War | Standard reinforcement allows broader affinity and skill customization | — |
| Envoy's Long Horn | Bubble Shower provides a distinctive ranged skill | More specialized around its unique skill than the Black Steel Greathammer's close-range healing and attack pattern | — |
| Cranial Vessel Candlestand | Surge of Faith produces a different area-focused attack pattern | Favors fire damage and its fixed skill rather than Black Steel Greathammer's holy profile | — |
Lore and Design
The Black Steel Greathammer’s item text identifies it as a weapon wielded by the Black Knights and describes its black steel as blessed with a coating of ash. This establishes a direct association with that faction in Shadow of the Erdtree, while the ash treatment also complements the weapon’s distinctive holy-focused design. No documented character-specific history, developer commentary, or real-world inspiration is established here.