Poisoned Hand
Poisoned Hand is a Shadow of the Erdtree fist weapon with innate deadly poison and an equipped attack boost triggered when poison or Scarlet Rot occurs nearby. Its fixed skill reinforces close poison pressure.
Key Takeaways
Poisoned Hand is a Shadow of the Erdtree fist weapon built around poison proximity and a fixed poison-focused skill, rather than broad Ash of War customization.
Poison-focused fist weapon
Poisoned Hand is a close-range fist weapon with innate poison buildup and a passive that increases its attack power while poison is present nearby. Its value therefore depends on maintaining or creating a poisoned state during combat.
Its skill reinforces the same plan
The weapon has the unique Palm Blast skill, which projects poison at close range and can also poison the wielder. This gives the weapon a way to activate or support its poison-based combat loop.
DLC and dungeon availability
Poisoned Hand is found in Shadow of the Erdtree, inside Bonny Gaol. It is a pickup rather than a normal base-game weapon, so access to the expansion and the dungeon route are essential acquisition conditions.
Best suited to poison-oriented play
Its passive and skill make it a natural fit for builds that deliberately apply poison or fight near an existing poison source. The same specialization limits its appeal when a build cannot reliably maintain that condition.
Fixed skill, unique reinforcement path
Because Poisoned Hand has a unique skill, it does not function like an ordinary infusable fist weapon with freely interchangeable Ashes of War. Its progression follows the Somber reinforcement path instead of the standard reinforcement path.
A fist rather than a claw alternative
Compared with poison-oriented claw options such as Venomous Fang, Poisoned Hand uses the fist weapon class and centers its identity on nearby poison and Palm Blast rather than simply adding poison to a claw moveset.
Overview
Poisoned Hand is a Shadow of the Erdtree fist weapon built around close-range poison pressure and a self-poisoning combat skill, making it a specialized alternative to more conventional fist weapons.
Poisoned Hand belongs to the fist weapon class and is defined less by broad versatility than by its poison-focused identity. Its attacks build poison, while its distinctive skill, Deadly Poison, makes the wielder's own poisoned state part of the weapon's intended combat pattern. That gives the weapon a risk-and-reward role rather than treating poison as a minor additional effect.
The weapon is most relevant to characters that deliberately support poison interactions. A player using it without a way to manage or exploit poison can still use its close-range moveset, but will not be engaging with the feature that separates it from ordinary fists. Its value therefore depends on whether the build can turn self-inflicted poison into an advantage instead of treating it only as a drawback.
As downloadable content equipment, Poisoned Hand occupies a later progression context than the base-game fist roster. It is not presented as a universal replacement for every fist weapon: conventional options such as Caestus or Star Fist appeal to different damage, status, or handling preferences. Poisoned Hand instead gives the fist class a more specialized poison-centered option for players willing to build around its condition.
The weapon's defining decision is how aggressively to commit to that poison loop. Its short-range attacks require the usual close-quarters spacing of fist weapons, but the poison interaction can reward sustained pressure when the surrounding build supports it. For a general-purpose melee setup, its specialized behaviour may be less convenient; for a poison-oriented setup, that same specialization is the reason to consider it.
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.
- CategoryFists
- Damage TypeStrike/Poison
- Primary ScalingDex D
- Weight2.5
- SkillPoisoned Hand Skill
- Str Req8
- Dex Req10
- How to ObtainDropped by poison-themed enemies, Caelid
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar fists
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poisoned Hand | 8 | 10 | 2.5 | Dex D |
| Madding Hand | 10 | 10 | 2.5 | Arc D |
| Veteran's Prosthesis | 8 | 15 | 3 | Dex C |
| Spiked Caestus | 7 | 10 | 2 | Dex D |
| Star Fist | 12 | 8 | 3.5 | Str E / Arc D |
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 is required.
- No specific quest, boss defeat, vendor interaction, or NG+ cycle is required. The weapon is a fixed pickup in Belurat, Tower Settlement rather than a random drop.
- 01Travel to Belurat, Tower Settlement in the Gravesite Plain, within the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. Reach the settlement's lower sewer area and enter the poison-filled section beneath the main settlement; the Poisoned Hand is picked up from a corpse there.
- 02The corpse pickup is guaranteed: Poisoned Hand is not a vendor purchase, enemy drop, quest reward, or boss reward. Collecting it does not require defeating Belurat's area boss, although reaching the lower section requires exploring the settlement and following its route into the sewer area.
Availability
Poisoned Hand is not part of the base-game weapon pool.
Requires Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and access to the Realm of Shadow
No purchase price or vendor-stock condition applies; it is obtained as a world pickup rather than bought from a vendor.
Mechanics and Handling
Poisoned Hand is a close-range fist weapon whose handling is defined by very short reach, rapid commitment, and poison-based pressure rather than spacing. Its normal attacks are compact punches that work best when the target is already within striking distance; the limited reach makes whiffing especially costly against mobile enemies or opponents with longer weapons.
The weapon’s poison synergy is not merely a damage-type label. Poisoned Hand has a passive attack-power benefit while poison is present nearby, so its performance improves in encounters where poison is already active. The effect is conditional: it should not be treated as a permanent increase to every attack, and it does not by itself make the weapon’s raw physical output universally superior to other fist weapons.
Poisonous Fist
Poisoned Hand’s unique skill, Poisonous Fist, is a short-range poison-focused attack that reinforces the weapon’s intended rhythm: enter close range, apply or support poison pressure, then continue attacking while the poison condition is relevant. It does not solve the weapon’s reach problem, so activating it from outside punch range or against a rapidly retreating target can leave the attack poorly positioned.
The skill is most useful when its poison interaction can be maintained rather than treated as a single burst of damage. Its exact value depends on whether the target can be poisoned and whether poison is already active nearby; enemies resistant or immune to poison remove much of the weapon’s distinctive advantage.
Close-range handling
Poisoned Hand has no long-reaching thrust, projectile, or broad weapon arc to compensate for its fist-class range. Approach, positioning, and attack commitment therefore matter more than with many larger melee classes. Its compact attack pattern can stay on a nearby target, but it should not be expected to control space or safely interrupt attacks from outside punching distance.
The weapon is still a melee armament rather than a dedicated defensive tool. Its value comes from landing repeated close attacks and exploiting the poison condition, not from blocking or parrying-specific bonuses. Two-handing follows the normal handling rules for fist weapons; it does not turn Poisoned Hand into a longer-range weapon.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Innate poison buildup gives its close-range attacks a status-pressure role rather than relying only on direct weapon damage.
- Its Contagious Fury skill provides a temporary attack-power enhancement, with stronger effect when poison or rot is present nearby.
- As a fist weapon, it supports rapid close-range attack strings and can be paired with another fist weapon for powerstanced attacks.
- The poison-and-rot interaction gives it a natural place in setups that deliberately spread those statuses around the player or target.
Weaknesses
- Fist reach is short, so maintaining contact and spacing is more demanding than with longer melee classes.
- The weapon's status-oriented advantages are less relevant against enemies that resist or cannot be afflicted by poison.
- Contagious Fury is most valuable when poison or rot is already part of the encounter or build; outside that context, part of its specialization is underused.
- Its close-range moveset offers little help against targets that punish sustained melee contact or remain difficult to reach.
Best uses
- Poison-focused PvE setups that can apply poison consistently and keep the weapon inside its preferred engagement range.
- Rot- or poison-supporting encounters where the nearby-status condition can improve Contagious Fury's attack enhancement.
- Aggressive fist play built around rapid attack strings, status buildup, and powerstanced pressure rather than long-reach spacing.
- Short-range fights against susceptible targets where repeated contact lets its innate poison buildup contribute meaningfully.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class / role | Distinctive mechanic | Build flexibility | Best comparison use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poisoned Hand | Innate poison buildup and a poison-related attack-power effect | Specialized around poison and close-range pressure | For poison setups that want a fist moveset and poison synergy | — |
| Star Fist | Innate bleed buildup with a heavy-hitting fist moveset | More naturally suited to bleed-oriented builds | For close-range physical pressure when bleed is preferred over poison | — |
| Dane's Footwork | Distinctive kick-based moveset rather than conventional fist attacks | Supports a broader skill and affinity approach than Poisoned Hand | For players who value moveset variety and spacing tools over innate poison | — |
| Venomous Fang | Innate poison buildup with claw attacks | A poison alternative that uses claw powerstance behavior | For poison builds that prefer claw range and paired-claw attacks to fist attacks | — |
Lore and Design
Poisoned Hand’s lore is deliberately narrow. Its item description presents the weapon as a human hand afflicted and transformed by poison, turning bodily corruption into a close-range weapon. The description does not establish a named owner, faction, or major historical event, so broader connections to Elden Ring’s poison-related characters or groups would be speculative.
Its design reinforces that premise rather than identifying a documented real-world inspiration: the weapon retains the shape of a hand while making poison the defining visual and mechanical theme. The result is a grotesque, literal interpretation of a fist weapon, consistent with the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion’s recurring use of altered bodies and disturbing relics. That thematic reading is supported by the weapon’s presentation, but it should not be expanded into an unstated origin story or developer-intent claim.