Deathknight's Longshaft Axe
Death Knight's Longhaft Axe is a unique Shadow of the Erdtree greataxe rewarded by the Death Knight in Scorpion River Catacombs. It combines physical and lightning damage with Blinkbolt: Long-hafted Axe, a lightning dash followed by a leaping cleave.
Key Takeaways
Deathknight's Longshaft Axe is a Shadow of the Erdtree great axe built around lightning damage and rapid repositioning rather than Ash-of-War customization.
Lightning great axe with a fixed identity
It is a unique great axe with physical and lightning damage, a fixed Blinkbolt skill, and a Somber Smithing Stone upgrade path rather than standard affinity and Ash of War options.
Blinkbolt supplies mobility
Blinkbolt teleports the wielder forward in a flash of lightning and leads into an attack; its strong-attack follow-up performs a lightning-infused spinning slash.
DLC and boss availability
The weapon requires Shadow of the Erdtree and is obtained as a reward for defeating the Death Knight at Fog Rift Catacombs.
Strong when movement matters
Its defining advantage is combining great-axe attacks with Blinkbolt’s gap-closing movement, giving the weapon a more active approach tool than a conventional fixed-skill great axe.
Commitment remains a limitation
The weapon retains the deliberate commitment typical of a great axe, so Blinkbolt improves approach and positioning but does not remove the risks of close-range attacks.
Distinct from the Twin Axes
Unlike Death Knight’s Twin Axes, this weapon is a single long-hafted great axe: its identity centers on heavier, more deliberate attacks paired with Blinkbolt rather than paired-weapon pressure.
Overview
Deathknight's Longshaft Axe is a unique greataxe in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, built around the Death Knight's lightning-infused mobility rather than a conventional weapon skill. Its defining feature is Blinkbolt, which lets the wielder surge forward before striking, giving this heavy weapon an unusually active opening tool.
As a named DLC weapon, Deathknight's Longshaft Axe is a specialized reward rather than a standard greataxe variant. It belongs to the Death Knight weapon set and is associated with the Death Knight encountered in Fog Rift Catacombs. That context places it in the Realm of Shadow's early-to-middle exploration rather than in the base game's ordinary weapon progression.
The axe's identity comes primarily from Blinkbolt. The skill moves the wielder forward in a lightning-like burst and follows that movement with a downward axe attack. This gives the weapon a way to close distance or begin an exchange that ordinary greataxes generally do not share, while retaining the deliberate commitment expected from a heavy melee class.
Compared with a conventional greataxe, the Longshaft Axe is therefore less dependent on simply walking into range before starting its attack sequence. Blinkbolt can help create an engagement, punish an opening, or reposition the user, but it does not remove the weapon class's need for timing and spacing. The axe remains a close-range weapon whose value depends on committing safely to its attacks.
The weapon is most distinct for players who want a heavy melee option with an integrated mobility attack, rather than a greataxe selected only for its normal attack chain or interchangeable Ash of War options. Its fixed, characterful skill also makes it a more specific choice than an infusible greataxe: the attraction is the combination of weight, reach and Blinkbolt's movement, not broad skill customization.
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.
- CategoryHalberds
- Damage TypeSlash/Frost
- Primary ScalingStr D / Fai D
- Weight9.5
- SkillGhostflame Ignition
- Str Req16
- Dex Req18
- Fai Req10
- How to ObtainDropped by Death Knights, Deeproot Depths
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar halberds
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deathknight's Longshaft Axe | 16 | 18 | 9.5 | Str D / Fai D |
| Gargoyle's Halberd | 18 | 15 | 9.5 | Str D / Dex D |
| Ripple Crescent Halberd | 14 | 18 | 10 | Dex C |
| Smithscript Cirque | 13 | 20 | 10 | Dex C |
| Loretta's War Sickle | 10 | 20 | 8.5 | Dex 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 ownership and access to the DLC area.
- Sufficient progression to reach Fog Rift Catacombs in Gravesite Plain.
- 01Enter Fog Rift Catacombs in Gravesite Plain, within the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and progress through the dungeon to its boss arena.
- 02Defeat the Death Knight at the end of Fog Rift Catacombs. The Death Knight's Longshaft Axe is a guaranteed reward from this encounter rather than a random enemy drop.
- 03Collect the weapon from the defeated boss's reward. The encounter can be completed once per playthrough; the axe becomes obtainable again in a subsequent New Game Plus cycle. No quest, vendor purchase, or separate key item is required.
Availability
Requires Shadow of the Erdtree expansion
This weapon is DLC content and is not available in the base game.
Requires Shadow of the Erdtree expansion required
Mechanics and Handling
Blinkbolt creates a gap-closing attack window
Deathknight's Longshaft Axe is defined in play by its unique weapon skill, Blinkbolt. The skill rapidly moves the wielder forward in a flash of lightning before delivering its attack, allowing the axe to begin an engagement from outside ordinary close-range spacing or to punish an opponent after they create distance. Because the movement is part of the skill rather than a passive movement bonus, using it commits the weapon to an attack sequence and should be timed around an opening rather than used as unrestricted traversal.
The follow-up extends the skill into a jumping strike
Blinkbolt has a follow-up attack input: after the initial blink, a normal attack produces a lightning-infused jumping attack. This gives the skill two distinct uses. The first activation is the approach and initial strike; the follow-up is an additional offensive commitment that can carry the attack farther into an enemy's recovery window. Players should avoid treating the second input as automatic, since retaining control after the blink can be preferable when the target moves, blocks, or is no longer vulnerable.
Long-handled axe spacing and commitment
Outside Blinkbolt, the weapon uses a long-handled axe moveset. Its attacks are close-range swings with meaningful animation commitment, so spacing remains important even though the skill supplies an unusually strong approach tool. The weapon is better suited to deliberate openings, retaliation, and pressure after a successful approach than to repeatedly trading through enemy attacks. Its reach and the forward movement of Blinkbolt complement each other, but neither removes the need to manage recovery after a missed swing.
No separate ammunition or reload loop
The Longshaft Axe has no ammunition, magazine, or reload behavior. Its special attack is governed by the Elden Ring skill system instead: Blinkbolt consumes FP and is limited in practice by the character's available FP and the skill's recovery and attack commitment. The axe's distinct lightning attacks should therefore be evaluated as part of a melee rotation, not as a ranged weapon substitute.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Blinkbolt gives the weapon a built-in gap-closer, letting its wielder rapidly enter melee instead of relying only on a normal approach.
- The weapon deals both physical and lightning damage, giving its attacks a lightning component alongside the axe’s physical damage type.
- Blinkbolt’s follow-up attack extends the skill into a spinning, lightning-charged strike, giving the weapon a distinctive punish option after closing distance.
- Its Strength-and-Faith-oriented requirements suit hybrid melee characters who want a great axe with an intrinsic lightning theme.
Weaknesses
- As a great axe, it demands more commitment than faster weapon classes; missed swings and poorly timed skill entries can leave the wielder exposed.
- Its split physical/lightning damage is checked by two defenses, so resistant targets can reduce the benefit of its elemental component.
- The fixed Blinkbolt skill limits the customization available on infusible weapons, including changing the skill or affinity to suit a different build.
- Its Strength, Dexterity, and Faith requirements make it less convenient for characters focused solely on Strength or solely on Faith.
Best uses
- Use it in PvE when a fight presents clear openings for Blinkbolt’s forward movement and follow-up attack.
- Use it as a Faith-leaning melee option when the build can meet its requirements without sacrificing the rest of the loadout.
- Choose it for aggressive close-range play where mobility and a distinctive weapon skill matter more than fast, low-commitment attacks.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class and role | Distinctive feature | Build or use-case difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Death Knight's Twin Axes | Shares the Death Knight weapon theme and Blinkbolt identity, but uses paired axes rather than a long-hafted weapon | Prefer the Twin Axes for dual-wield pressure; the Longshaft Axe is the better comparison for a single large-weapon setup | — |
| Greataxe | Conventional weapon skill and damage profile provide a simpler baseline than the Longshaft Axe's distinctive lightning-themed skill | Prefer it when standard weapon customization and a less specialized moveset matter more than the Longshaft Axe's unique identity | — |
| Rusted Anchor | Its distinctive attack profile and customizable weapon-skill options make it less tied to the Longshaft Axe's fixed special weapon identity | Prefer it for a more conventional heavy build or when flexible Ash of War selection is more useful than the Longshaft Axe's unique skill | — |
Used In
- Death KnightThe Death Knight encountered in Fog Rift Catacombs drops Deathknight's Longshaft Axe.
- Fog Rift CatacombsThis dungeon contains the Death Knight encounter associated with the axe's acquisition.
Lore and Design
The Death Knight’s Longhaft Axe is tied to the Death Knights, former personal guards of Godwyn the Golden. Its item lore presents their loyalty as enduring beyond Godwyn’s death and their own transformation into corpse-like beings. The axe’s lightning is associated with the ancient dragon cult, linking the weapon to the broader dragon-worship tradition rather than presenting it as ordinary military equipment.
The weapon’s signature skill, Blinkbolt, reinforces this identity through lightning-infused movement and attacks. That mechanical association supports the weapon’s documented connection to the Death Knights, but the available lore does not establish a separate creator, real-world inspiration, or explicit development history for the axe. Interpretations about why the knights continued serving Godwyn, or about the weapon’s exact place in the ancient dragon cult, should remain distinct from the item’s stated lore.