Grafted Blade Greatsword
Grafted Blade Greatsword is a legendary colossal sword rewarded for defeating Leonine Misbegotten at Castle Morne. Oath of Vengeance temporarily raises every attribute and improves poise, making the weapon a powerful early Strength centerpiece and utility buff.
Key Takeaways
The Grafted Blade Greatsword is a unique Colossal Sword built around heavy physical attacks and a temporary self-enhancement skill. Its value depends on meeting a demanding Strength requirement and accepting a fixed, non-infusible weapon setup.
Unique Colossal Sword
It occupies the Colossal Sword class and uses the deliberate reach, weight, and commitment associated with that class rather than a faster greatsword moveset.
Oath of Vengeance defines its identity
Its unique skill, Oath of Vengeance, temporarily raises the wielder’s attributes and poise. This gives the weapon a distinct activation window beyond its normal attacks.
High Strength requirement
The weapon requires 40 Strength and 14 Dexterity, so it is not an early general-purpose choice for characters that have not invested heavily in Strength.
Reward from Castle Morne’s boss
The Grafted Blade Greatsword is obtained by defeating Leonine Misbegotten at Castle Morne on the Weeping Peninsula, making it a fixed boss reward rather than a random enemy drop.
Fixed upgrade and skill configuration
As a unique weapon, it follows the Somber Smithing Stone reinforcement path and cannot be given a different Ash of War or affinity. Its Oath of Vengeance skill is therefore part of the weapon’s permanent setup.
Powerful but demanding alternative to customizable greatswords
Its combination of a colossal moveset, heavy stat demand, and fixed skill suits committed Strength builds. A weapon such as the Zweihander offers a lighter, more customizable alternative for players who value Ash of War and affinity flexibility.
Overview
Grafted Blade Greatsword is a unique colossal sword in Elden Ring, assembled from many blades and defined by its fixed Oath of Vengeance skill. It is a demanding early-to-mid-game strength weapon whose temporary attribute and poise boost gives it a distinct role beyond raw melee reach.
The Grafted Blade Greatsword is a unique colossal sword associated with Castle Morne in the Weeping Peninsula. Its unusual construction—multiple swords braced together into one enormous weapon—is central to both its visual identity and its place in Elden Ring’s weapon roster. It is a base-game weapon rather than a Shadow of the Erdtree addition, and it has no ordinary variant that changes its identity or acquisition context.
In combat, the sword represents the committed end of the greatsword family: its attacks are built around substantial reach, heavy impact, and deliberate recovery rather than rapid chains. That profile makes spacing and attack timing more important than simply selecting the weapon with the highest displayed damage. Its fixed weapon skill, Oath of Vengeance, temporarily raises the wielder’s attributes and poise, giving the weapon a short-duration utility effect that is unusual among colossal swords.
The skill also explains why the Grafted Blade Greatsword can appeal to more than a narrowly optimized strength setup. The weapon still imposes demanding attribute and equipment commitments, but its temporary all-attribute benefit can support a broader melee setup during a difficult exchange. This does not make it a universal replacement for infusible colossal swords: its skill is fixed, its upgrade path is the unique-weapon type, and its handling remains governed by the slow, committed rhythm expected from its class.
Its progression value comes from combining an obtainable regional reward with a distinctive active effect. Players who want interchangeable Ashes of War, affinity experimentation, or a lighter moveset have clearer alternatives elsewhere in the colossal-sword and greatsword rosters. Players seeking a named, lore-associated weapon with a memorable silhouette and a temporary survivability-oriented skill will find that the Grafted Blade Greatsword offers a more specific choice. The page therefore treats it as a unique weapon with a defined combat identity, not as a generic damage upgrade.
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.
- CategoryGreatswords
- Damage TypeStandard
- Primary ScalingStr D
- Weight17
- SkillPrelate's Charge
- Str Req34
- Dex Req10
- How to ObtainGodrick the Grafted boss reward
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar greatswords
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grafted Blade Greatsword | 34 | 10 | 17 | Str D |
| Gargoyle's Blackblade | 26 | 16 | 17 | Str D / Dex D |
| Gargoyle's Greatsword | 26 | 16 | 17 | Str D / Dex D |
| Greatsword of Radahn | 60 | 10 | 15 | Str B |
| Starscourge Greatsword | 30 | 10 | 13 | Str C |
Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- No specific character attribute, key item, NPC quest, or story milestone is required to enter Castle Morne or fight Leonine Misbegotten.
- The weapon is available in the base game; no Shadow of the Erdtree or other DLC access is required.
- 01Travel to Castle Morne in the Weeping Peninsula, the region south of Limgrave. Enter the castle and make your way through its interior and southern grounds to the coastal boss arena at the far end of the fortress; the nearby Beside the Rampart Gaol Site of Grace provides a useful approach point once reached.
- 02Defeat Leonine Misbegotten, the main boss of Castle Morne. The Grafted Blade Greatsword is a guaranteed reward for this boss victory, rather than a random enemy drop, vendor purchase, or quest turn-in. It is added to the inventory when the encounter is completed.
- 03The weapon remains obtainable while Castle Morne's boss is available, so it is not tied to a limited-time NPC quest decision. After obtaining it in a playthrough, another copy requires a subsequent New Game Plus cycle; there is no ordinary alternate recovery route in that same cycle.
Availability
Requires No DLC, difficulty, vendor-stock, or NG+ requirement. The weapon can be used by characters meeting its 40 STR and 14 DEX requirements.
A guaranteed boss reward rather than a priced vendor item; its availability is tied to the base-game Castle Morne encounter, not to a rotating shop or limited-time event.
Requires The DLC is not required to obtain or use the Grafted Blade Greatsword.
The weapon is part of the base-game roster and remains available when playing with the expansion installed.
Mechanics and Handling
Grafted Blade Greatsword handles as a Colossal Sword: its attacks cover substantial space, but each swing commits the character to a comparatively deliberate animation. The weapon is most comfortable when the player has already established distance or created an opening, rather than when attempting to trade rapidly at close range. Its long blade can catch several nearby targets with broad attacks, while the recovery after a missed swing leaves less room for corrective action than a faster weapon would.
The weapon has no ammunition, magazine, reload cycle, or durability degradation. It also has no innate status buildup that defines its attacks. Its distinguishing mechanical feature is instead its fixed weapon skill, Oath of Vengeance.
Colossal Sword attack pattern
The normal attack chain uses broad slashes suited to controlling space in front of the wielder. The heavy attack changes the rhythm to a committed overhead blow, and charging it increases the time spent preparing the strike in exchange for a more forceful hit and stronger interruption potential when it connects. Jumping attacks provide a useful way to bring the blade down while avoiding some of the commitment of a grounded sequence, although they still require deliberate spacing.
The weapon's reach makes the outer edge of an attack valuable: enemies that are approaching can be clipped before they enter their own effective range. Its horizontal coverage is useful against groups, but narrow corridors and uneven terrain can make the large swing path less reliable. Rolling or crouching attacks retain the weapon's heavy-weapon commitment while offering a lower, more direct approach, making them useful for punishing a recovery or closing a short gap rather than replacing the normal chain.
Oath of Vengeance
Oath of Vengeance is a self-buff rather than a separate damaging strike. Activating it raises the sword and temporarily improves the wielder's attributes while also granting increased poise. The animation creates a clear preparation window, so it is best used before an engagement, during a safe opening, or after an enemy has been staggered rather than inserted carelessly into an active exchange.
The skill is fixed to Grafted Blade Greatsword. It is not an interchangeable Ash of War, and the weapon cannot be treated like an infusible greatsword with a selectable skill or affinity. The practical value of the skill therefore comes from preparing the character for a demanding encounter: its temporary benefits can make the next sequence of attacks and defensive decisions more forgiving, but it does not remove the weapon's slow recovery or make every trade safe.
Spacing, stagger, and defense
Grafted Blade Greatsword rewards attacks made from the edge of its reach. Light attacks are generally the safer way to test an opening, while charged heavies and jump attacks are better reserved for predictable recoveries, stunned targets, or situations where the player can absorb the commitment. Its heavy strikes can pressure the poise of ordinary enemies, but the result depends on the target and attack used; the weapon should not be assumed to stagger every enemy or interrupt every boss.
The weapon can be used to guard, but it is not a shield and its defensive performance should not be treated as a substitute for a dedicated blocking tool. It has no parry action. Successful handling is therefore built around spacing, rolls, attack timing, and the poise window supplied by Oath of Vengeance, rather than holding the blade up and waiting for the weapon to negate incoming damage.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Oath of Vengeance gives the weapon a distinctive short-term power window: it raises every attribute and also increases poise while active. That broad bonus can improve damage, survivability, stamina-related capacity, and access to attribute-gated equipment at the same time.
- As a Colossal Sword, it brings heavy stagger potential, broad committed swings, and useful reach for controlling space around groups or punishing large openings. Its attacks can make a single opening more valuable than repeated light hits.
- The skill's all-attribute effect is useful on hybrid characters because it does not require the weapon to be matched to only Strength or only one casting attribute. It can support temporary experimentation with equipment and spells that sit just above the character's normal requirements.
- It is a fixed, distinctive weapon rather than an interchangeable infusable greatsword: the value comes from its built-in skill and its temporary buff, not from choosing among many Ash of War setups.
Weaknesses
- The Colossal Sword class demands commitment. Missed swings leave the user exposed longer than faster sword attacks, and narrow openings or highly mobile enemies can make its normal damage cycle difficult to complete safely.
- Its 40 Strength requirement restricts early use and makes it a poor fit for characters that are not already investing substantially in Strength. The weapon's heavy class also competes with other equipment for equip-load capacity.
- Oath of Vengeance is temporary, so its attribute and poise benefits cannot be treated as permanent character stats. The weapon is less attractive when the build cannot reliably create safe windows to activate and exploit the skill.
- Because its weapon skill is fixed, it cannot be tailored with a different Ash of War for a preferred projectile, stance, buff, or damage setup.
Best uses
- Use it as a PvE boss weapon when a short preparation window can be converted into committed Colossal Sword attacks, especially on a build that benefits from several attributes rather than one damage stat alone.
- Use it for general melee exploration when reach, wide swings, and stagger pressure are more valuable than rapid recovery or low commitment.
- Consider it for hybrid or experimental builds that want Oath of Vengeance to temporarily improve multiple attributes, while treating the skill window as a tactical phase rather than a permanent upgrade.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class and build role | Distinctive mechanic | Skill and upgrade flexibility | Choose it when… |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grafted Blade Greatsword | Oath of Vengeance temporarily raises the wielder’s attributes and poise | Unique skill; fixed weapon configuration rather than an interchangeable Ash of War setup | You want a Strength-oriented colossal sword with a temporary all-attribute and poise boost, and do not need affinity customization. | — |
| Greatsword | No weapon-specific passive or signature transformation | Infusable and compatible with interchangeable Ashes of War, giving it broader affinity and skill customization | You want a customizable general-purpose colossal sword or need to tailor the weapon to a particular damage type or skill. | — |
| Zweihander | Its appeal is its handling profile and customization rather than a unique passive | Infusable and compatible with interchangeable Ashes of War | You prefer a customizable colossal sword and value a less specialized alternative to the Grafted Blade Greatsword. | — |
| Ruins Greatsword | Uses gravity-themed weapon attacks, including a ranged shockwave component in its signature skill | Unique skill and fixed configuration; its effectiveness is tied to a Strength/Intelligence build | You want a colossal sword that supplements close-range attacks with gravity-based skill coverage rather than the Grafted Blade’s temporary attribute boost. | — |
| Starscourge Greatsword | Two copies are wielded when using the weapon with both hands, and its signature skill pulls enemies together before a follow-up attack | Unique skill and fixed configuration; paired behavior distinguishes it from the single-blade Grafted Blade | You want paired colossal-sword attacks and a crowd-control-oriented skill instead of a single weapon with Oath of Vengeance. | — |
Used In
- Leonine MisbegottenDefeating this boss at Castle Morne rewards the Grafted Blade Greatsword.
- Castle MorneThe southern Limgrave dungeon where the Leonine Misbegotten boss encounter and weapon reward are found.
- Somber Smithing StoneGrafted Blade Greatsword uses the Somber reinforcement path and is upgraded with Somber Smithing Stones.
Lore and Design
The Grafted Blade Greatsword is presented as the storied weapon of Castle Morne. Its item description connects it to a doomed land and to a lone surviving champion who was the last to wield it, giving the weapon a history that extends beyond its role as a reward from the Leonine Misbegotten. The description does not identify that champion by name, so the weapon’s former owner should not be equated with Edgar without qualification.
Within Elden Ring’s early Limgrave storyline, the sword is recovered at the end of Castle Morne’s crisis. Its placement ties it directly to the castle’s fall, the Misbegotten rebellion, and Edgar’s duty as castellan, although the game does not establish every detail of the weapon’s prior history. The blade’s name and construction suggest grafting as a visual and thematic motif, but the item text does not by itself establish a connection to Godrick’s grafting or to his faction.
The weapon therefore carries a localized piece of world-building rather than a broad political or historical claim: it is a remnant of Morne’s doomed history, preserved through the champion associated with that land. Interpretations that identify a specific unnamed champion or treat the sword as proof of a wider relationship between Castle Morne and other grafting practices go beyond what the game explicitly confirms.
Trivia
- Grafted Blade Greatsword is one of Elden Ring’s nine Legendary Armaments. Collecting all nine is tied to the Legendary Armaments achievement or trophy, although the weapon itself is acquired independently of that collection objective.