Knight's Greatsword
Knight's Greatsword is a rare ordinary greatsword dropped by several armored knight factions that carry it. Its long blade, flowing two-handed light attacks, Stamp (Upward Cut), and affinity freedom support stylish Strength, Dexterity, and elemental builds.
Key Takeaways
Knight's Greatsword is a customizable Greatsword for characters that want broad melee swings without committing to a colossal weapon.
A flexible Greatsword
It uses the Greatsword moveset and deals physical damage, while remaining compatible with Ashes of War and affinities rather than being locked to a unique skill.
Early attribute gate
The weapon requires 16 Strength and 12 Dexterity, making it accessible to many quality or Strength-leaning builds but unsuitable for a low-Strength start without investment.
Enemy-drop availability
Knight's Greatsword is obtained as a random drop from certain knight enemies, so acquiring it depends on farming rather than a guaranteed pickup, quest reward, or vendor purchase.
Reach and commitment
Its sweeping Greatsword attacks offer useful crowd coverage and reach, but their slower commitment makes spacing and attack timing more important than with lighter sword classes.
Standard upgrade path
As a regular weapon, it uses the standard reinforcement route and can be customized with compatible Ashes of War and affinities instead of following a unique-weapon upgrade path.
A middle-ground alternative
Compared with colossal swords, it generally asks for less commitment and weight while retaining broad heavy-weapon attacks; compared with lighter greatswords or straight swords, it gives up attack speed for reach and impact.
Overview
Knight's Greatsword is a standard greatsword in Elden Ring, built around broad slashing attacks and the flexible progression of regular, infusible weapons. It offers a conventional strength-oriented greatsword role while retaining enough dexterity scaling to support mixed physical builds.
Unlike Elden Ring's unique greatswords, Knight's Greatsword uses the regular reinforcement path and can be customized with compatible Ashes of War and affinities. That makes it a practical weapon for players who want to change its skill or damage profile as their build develops, rather than committing to a fixed weapon skill or specialized upgrade route.
Its defining combat trait is its knightly moveset: the light-attack sequence emphasizes wide horizontal cuts that cover space in front of the character. This gives it a different handling profile from greatswords whose attacks rely more heavily on vertical swings or thrusts. The broad arcs are useful against groups and during ordinary PvE encounters, but they still require deliberate spacing because greatsword attacks carry substantial commitment.
Knight's Greatsword occupies a useful middle ground among ordinary greatswords. It is more adaptable than a fixed-skill unique weapon and can serve as a dependable main-hand choice through much of a playthrough, provided the player is comfortable with its slower attack cadence and stamina demands. Its role is therefore defined less by a single special effect than by reach, sweeping coverage, and upgrade flexibility.
The weapon is part of Elden Ring's base-game greatsword roster rather than a Shadow of the Erdtree-exclusive variant. Its regular weapon status also makes it a natural candidate for comparison with other infusible greatswords, especially when choosing between a broader slashing pattern, a thrusting option, different attribute requirements, or a weapon with a fixed special skill.
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/Pierce
- Primary ScalingStr D / Dex D
- Weight9
- SkillStorm Slash
- Str Req18
- Dex Req13
- How to ObtainRadahn's soldiers
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar greatswords
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knight's Greatsword | 18 | 13 | 9 | Str D / Dex D |
| Ordovis's Greatsword | 16 | 15 | 9 | Str E / Fai D |
| Lizard Greatsword | 16 | 15 | 9 | Str D / Dex D |
| Golden Order Greatsword | 13 | 16 | 8.5 | Fai D |
| Godslayer's Greatsword | 18 | 13 | 9.5 | Fai C |
Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- No quest, boss completion, currency, DLC, New Game Plus, or story-progress requirement is needed; only access to the Limgrave location and the ability to defeat the target enemy are required.
- 01Travel to the graveyard southeast of Warmaster's Shack in Limgrave and defeat the Godrick Knight stationed there. The Knight's Greatsword is a random enemy drop from Godrick Knights that wield it, so rest at the nearby Site of Grace and repeat the encounter until it drops; the drop is not guaranteed on any individual defeat.
- 02The weapon is obtained as loot rather than from a chest, vendor, quest, or boss reward. Once acquired, it is available for use immediately; no special pickup interaction or separate unlock is required. This is a repeatable farming route, not a one-per-playthrough reward.
Mechanics and Handling
Knight's Greatsword uses the Greatsword moveset, but its attack presentation differs from the more familiar Greatsword weapon. Its normal attacks commit the character to broad, deliberate swings, so spacing and recovery matter more than simply standing close and chaining attacks. The weapon's reach supports fighting just outside an enemy's immediate body space, although its attacks still require deliberate positioning against small or highly mobile targets.
A distinct knightly light-attack pattern
Compared with the standard Greatsword moveset, Knight's Greatsword is notable for its more diagonal-looking sword swings, particularly in its one-handed light-attack sequence. This gives the chain a different visual coverage and timing from the broad horizontal attacks associated with some other greatswords. The distinction is practical rather than a separate weapon class: it remains a slow, high-commitment greatsword and does not become a fast dueling weapon.
Its heavy attacks are overhead greatsword strikes, with charged heavies increasing commitment in exchange for a stronger hit and better opportunity to pressure an enemy's stance. Jumping attacks provide a way to approach or punish from above, while sprinting and crouching attacks should be chosen according to the opening rather than inserted automatically into every sequence. Two-handing changes the character's handling and attribute use, but it does not turn the weapon into a different moveset family.
Stamp (Upward Cut) and Ash of War flexibility
Knight's Greatsword is supplied with Stamp (Upward Cut). Stamp places the character in a low stance; its follow-up performs an upward slash that can catch an approaching target or launch a committed counterattack. The stance itself is the important part of the skill: it asks the player to anticipate an attack rather than press it as a quick neutral poke.
As a standard reinforcement weapon, Knight's Greatsword can have its Ash of War replaced and can use compatible affinities. Replacing Stamp changes the weapon's tactical identity, so the default skill should be treated as an initial configuration rather than a permanent requirement. Any affinity or skill choice should be evaluated with the character's attributes and intended damage type in mind.
Guarding, status and durability
Knight's Greatsword has no special innate status effect or ammunition/resource cycle to manage. It can be used to guard like other melee weapons, but its identity is offensive; blocking consumes stamina and should not be confused with the dedicated protection offered by a shield. Elden Ring does not use a conventional weapon-durability system, so the sword does not degrade through ordinary combat or require repairs.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Its distinctive diagonal light-attack pattern covers oblique angles well and gives it a different neutral-game feel from greatswords with more conventional horizontal openings.
- Greatsword-class reach and stagger potential make it effective for interrupting many humanoid enemies when attacks are started at safe spacing.
- It is infusible and accepts changeable Ashes of War, allowing its damage affinity and skill to follow the character’s stat plan rather than locking the weapon to one setup.
Weaknesses
- Greatsword swings have noticeable recovery and stamina commitment, so missed attacks are punishable against fast enemies or bosses with narrow openings.
- Its standard attacks still require close-range spacing; the diagonal coverage does not remove the class’s difficulty against highly mobile targets or enemies that attack from outside its reach.
- Because it is a customizable weapon rather than a fixed unique armament, its effectiveness depends on choosing an appropriate affinity and Ash of War; there is no single guaranteed setup for every build.
Best uses
- A strong general-purpose choice for PvE players who want greatsword stagger and reach but prefer diagonal attack coverage.
- Well suited to builds that want to experiment with affinities and weapon skills while retaining a conventional melee moveset.
- Useful against humanoid enemies and other targets vulnerable to committed stagger pressure, provided the player can create enough space to complete each swing.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class and role | Distinctive handling or effect | Build flexibility | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knight's Greatsword | Distinctive slashing moveset with useful reach | Infusible and compatible with changeable Ashes of War | You want a flexible greatsword with a less conventional moveset | — |
| Claymore | Thrusting heavy attack broadens spacing and counterattack options | Infusible with changeable Ashes of War | You value thrust access and an established all-purpose moveset | — |
| Banished Knight's Greatsword | Shares the family’s distinctive slashing approach while differing in overall handling | Infusible with changeable Ashes of War | You want a closely related alternative and prefer its handling or appearance | — |
| Flamberge | Bleed provides an additional status-oriented damage route | Infusible with changeable Ashes of War | Your build benefits from bleed while retaining greatsword reach | — |
Lore and Design
Knight's Greatsword has limited item-specific lore, but its description places the weapon in the hands of knights who served monarchs in an earlier age. This gives it a broad historical association with former royal retinues rather than identifying a named wielder, kingdom, or faction. The text supports reading the sword as part of an older knightly tradition, not as a documented relic tied to a particular character.
Its unusual blade profile distinguishes it visually from more conventional greatswords, although the available item text does not document a named smith, historical event, real-world inspiration, or developer-design rationale. The weapon therefore has modest setting significance: it reinforces Elden Ring's recurring imagery of worn-down royal institutions and inherited martial traditions, but that thematic reading should remain interpretation rather than established biography. No character-specific or faction-specific relationship is confirmed here.