Weaponsupporting

Horned Warrior's Sword

Horned Warrior's Sword is a rare Shadow of the Erdtree curved sword dropped by horned warriors carrying the paired blades. Two-handing deploys the pair, while Horn Calling summons upward-driving horns for close area pressure.

Importance

supporting

Elden Ring · weapon

Key Takeaways

Horned Warrior's Sword is a Shadow of the Erdtree curved greatsword built around innate holy damage and a fixed horn-based weapon skill. Its unusual skill and somber reinforcement path distinguish it from more customizable curved greatswords.

DLC weapon with a specific pickup route

It is exclusive to Shadow of the Erdtree and is obtained as a drop from a Horned Warrior in Belurat, Tower Settlement; it is not a standard base-game weapon.

Holy damage and Faith investment

The sword deals physical and holy damage and requires Faith alongside its physical attributes, making its offensive profile different from purely physical curved greatswords.

Unique storm skill

Its fixed weapon skill, Horn Calling: Storm, calls on the horned warriors’ storm-themed power for a distinctive area attack rather than allowing a freely selected Ash of War.

Somber, non-infusable progression

Horned Warrior's Sword follows the unique somber reinforcement path, and its fixed skill means players cannot reshape it through ordinary Ash of War or affinity selection.

Strongest as a specialized holy curved greatsword

Its combination of curved-greatsword reach, innate holy damage, Faith scaling potential, and a distinctive skill gives it a clear role for builds that can support those attributes.

Less flexible than infusable alternatives

Compared with customizable curved greatswords, it trades affinity and skill flexibility for its built-in holy damage and Horn Calling: Storm, so it is less adaptable to other damage or status setups.

Overview

Horned Warrior's Sword is a unique Curved Greatsword from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Its defining feature is Horn Calling, a fixed weapon skill that turns the weapon's horn-themed identity into a distinctive attack rather than leaving it as a purely visual motif.

Horned Warrior's Sword belongs to the Shadow of the Erdtree weapon roster and is associated with the horned warriors encountered in the expansion. It uses the Curved Greatsword moveset, giving it a heavier close-range role than a standard curved sword while retaining the class's sweeping attacks. The weapon is therefore aimed at characters who want broad melee coverage and a more deliberate attack rhythm, rather than the rapid hit cadence of lighter curved weapons.

Its main point of distinction is Horn Calling, the weapon's fixed skill. The skill calls on the weapon's horned theme during its attack sequence, giving the sword a dedicated identity that cannot be reduced to its ordinary class moveset. Because the skill is tied to the weapon, this is a defined package rather than an interchangeable Ash of War platform; the sword should be evaluated as a Curved Greatsword with a built-in special attack.

The weapon occupies a late-game expansion context rather than the early progression of the base game. It can be obtained from a Horned Warrior in Belurat, Tower Settlement, but the acquisition belongs to the DLC's exploration and enemy-reward structure rather than a general base-game vendor pool. That context matters when comparing it with base-game Curved Greatswords: access, upgrade planning, and build testing all occur after entering Shadow of the Erdtree.

For players choosing between similar weapons, the relevant question is not simply whether another Curved Greatsword can deliver comparable ordinary attacks. Horned Warrior's Sword is the more specific choice when its fixed skill and horned-warrior presentation fit the intended playstyle; a more customizable alternative may be preferable when changing Ashes of War or affinities is central to the build. Its role is consequently defined by the combination of class, DLC availability, and fixed skill rather than by a universal claim of superiority.

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.

Category
Straight Swords
Damage Type
Slash
Primary Scaling
Dex D / Fai D
Weight
5
Skill
Barbaric Roar
Str Req
12
Dex Req
16
Fai Req
10
How to Obtain
Dropped by Horned Warriors, Shadow of the Erdtree
DLC
Shadow of the Erdtree

Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.

Compared to similar straight swords

Weapon	Str Req	Dex Req	Weight	Primary Scaling
Horned Warrior's Sword	12	16	5	Dex D / Fai D
Moonrithyll's Knight Sword	12	16	5	Dex D
Broadsword	12	11	4.5	Str D / Dex D
Inseparable Sword	10	18	4.5	Dex C
Cleanrot Knight's Sword	13	20	5.5	Dex C / Arc D

Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.

How to Obtain

Before you start

Shadow of the Erdtree access and entry to the Realm of Shadow.
Reach Belurat, Tower Settlement and the Small Private Altar Site of Grace. The weapon is not tied to a quest, vendor stock, or one-time reward, and no NG+ requirement is established.

01Travel to Belurat, Tower Settlement in the Realm of Shadow and defeat the Horned Warrior carrying a sword. The weapon is an enemy drop rather than a chest, vendor purchase, quest reward, or boss reward.
02The drop is not guaranteed, so rest at the Small Private Altar Site of Grace to respawn the enemy and repeat the fight until the sword is awarded. Additional copies can be farmed from eligible sword-wielding Horned Warriors.

Availability

Base game without Shadow of the ErdtreeUnavailable

Horned Warrior's Sword is DLC content and does not appear in the base-game weapon pool.

Shadow of the ErdtreeAvailable

Requires Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and access to its game world

No vendor price or separate progression-tier restriction is established for this weapon.

Mechanics and Handling

Horned Warrior's Sword uses the curved greatsword moveset: its normal attacks favor broad, sweeping cuts rather than the tighter thrusting patterns of a straight sword. The swings can cover space in front of the wielder and catch nearby targets, but their commitment makes spacing and attack timing important. Its handling is therefore better suited to controlled openings and groups at close range than to repeatedly trading quick blows with fast enemies.

Curved Greatsword Handling

The light-attack chain is built around sweeping slashes, while the heavy attack provides a more committed alternative for punishing larger openings. Jumping and running attacks extend its usefulness for closing distance or striking during movement, but they do not remove the weapon's reliance on deliberate timing. The sword's reach and wide arcs help against clustered targets, while narrow spaces or highly mobile opponents can make its attacks easier to avoid.

Horn Calling

Horn Calling is the weapon's fixed skill and cannot be replaced with another Ash of War. It summons a whirlwind of horned spirits around the blade. The skill can be followed with a normal attack to send the summoned whirlwind forward, giving the weapon a ranged pressure option that its ordinary slashes do not provide. The follow-up is most useful when an enemy creates distance or when approaching directly would be unsafe; it should not be treated as a substitute for the sword's close-range attacks.

Status and Weapon Constraints

Horned Warrior's Sword does not have a weapon-specific passive status effect to manage, so its distinctive value comes from its curved greatsword moveset and Horn Calling rather than innate bleed, poison, or another buildup. As a unique weapon, it follows the Somber Smithing Stone reinforcement path, and its fixed skill limits the customization available on infusible weapons. No firearm-style ammunition, magazine, reload, or durability loop defines its handling.

Upgrades and Variants

Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses

Strengths

The curved greatsword moveset gives it broad sweeping attacks, making ordinary swings useful against groups and enemies approaching from slightly different angles.
Its unique Horn Calling skill adds a spectral horned-warrior attack, giving the weapon a distinctive ranged extension to its close-combat pressure and an additional way to punish an opening.
It suits hybrid physical-and-Faith characters rather than requiring a purely physical weapon setup.

Weaknesses

As a curved greatsword, it commits more heavily to attacks than a straight sword or katana, making missed swings easier for agile enemies to punish.
Horn Calling has an execution commitment and consumes FP, so repeated use is less practical for players with limited Mind or poor opportunities to safely cast the skill.
Its unique weapon skill and Somber reinforcement path reduce the customization available to an infusible weapon with interchangeable Ashes of War.

Best uses

Use it for PvE encounters where sweeping attacks can catch clustered enemies and the Horn Calling skill can add pressure from outside the blade's immediate contact.
It is a natural choice for a Faith-oriented melee build that wants a distinctive curved-greatsword moveset without giving up a weapon-specific skill.
Use the skill selectively against recovering or committed enemies; relying on it continuously is less effective when FP or safe attack windows are limited.

Compared With Similar Weapons

Compared With Similar Weapons
Weapon	Class and role	Distinctive mechanic	Build flexibility
Horned Warrior's Sword	Fixed Horn Calling skill creates a spectral-horn shockwave	Unique weapon with a fixed skill and reinforcement path	—
Beastman's Curved Sword	Conventional curved-sword moveset with a changeable Ash of War	Infusible, making it more adaptable to different attribute builds	—
Falx	Innate blood loss and the unique Revenger's Blade skill	Unique weapon with a fixed skill; favors builds that support repeated attacks	—
Scavenger's Curved Sword	Innate blood loss with a standard, customizable skill setup	Infusible and compatible with status-focused affinities	—

Lore and Design

The Horned Warrior's Sword is tied directly to the Horned Warriors of the Realm of Shadow. Its item description presents the blade as a coarse, heavy weapon fashioned from a broken horn, linking its physical form to the horned warriors rather than to an identified real-world sword tradition.

The same description places the Horned Warriors among the most ancient of the divine beasts and connects their strength with the Crucible. It also refers to their mastery of the divine beast dance, giving the weapon a clear association with that faction's martial and religious identity. These details are explicit item-lore relationships; the description does not establish a named individual wielder or provide documented developer commentary about the weapon's design.

Trivia

Horned Warrior's Sword is a separate weapon from Horned Warrior's Greatsword, not a shortened name or upgrade stage. Both are Shadow of the Erdtree weapons associated with the horned warriors, so their similar names should not be treated as evidence that they are variants of one item.