Raptor Talons
Raptor Talons are paired claws found in Sage's Cave. They combine innate blood loss, distinctive leaping and charged attacks, Quickstep, low weight, and full affinity and Ash customization.
Key Takeaways
Raptor Talons is a close-range claw for Dexterity-focused characters who want rapid paired attacks, innate blood loss, and a distinctive leaping heavy attack.
Claw with innate bleed
Its claw moveset supports fast, aggressive pressure, while its innate blood loss buildup rewards repeated hits at close range.
Distinctive heavy attack
The weapon’s charged heavy attack uses a leaping slash, giving it a different approach option from more conventional claw attacks.
Found in Sage’s Cave
Raptor Talons are obtained from a chest in Sage’s Cave, rather than from a vendor or a guaranteed boss reward.
Customizable progression
It follows the regular reinforcement path and can be configured with compatible Ashes of War, allowing its skill and affinity to suit different builds.
Strong pressure, limited reach
Its strengths are rapid close-range attacks and status buildup; its short reach makes spacing and sustained contact more demanding than with longer weapons.
Overview
Raptor Talons is a standard claw weapon in Elden Ring, built for aggressive close-range play and bleed pressure. Its signature weapon skill, Raptor of the Mists, rewards players who can bait attacks and answer them with a mist-like evasive counter.
Unlike a straight sword or heavier claw option, Raptor Talons keeps its identity around rapid slashing attacks, paired-wielding pressure, and an innate blood-loss effect. It is most useful at point-blank range, where its attack sequence and evasive skill can keep an enemy under continuous threat.
Raptor of the Mists is the weapon’s defining feature. Used at the right moment, it lets the wielder evade an incoming attack and retaliate from a low, disappearing stance. This makes the weapon more timing-dependent than claws chosen only for fast attacks or status buildup.
Raptor Talons is an optional base-game weapon rather than a Shadow of the Erdtree-exclusive armament. Its cave pickup makes it available during normal exploration, while its modest equipment demands allow it to serve as an early or mid-game alternative for Dexterity-focused characters who want a more reactive claw moveset.
The weapon’s main trade-off is commitment to close distance: it offers little reason to remain outside an opponent’s immediate reach, and its effectiveness depends on recognizing attack timings rather than simply repeating its skill. Players seeking straightforward claw damage may prefer a less timing-focused alternative, while evasive duelists can build around its distinctive counterattack.
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.
- CategoryClaws
- Damage TypeSlash
- Primary ScalingDex C
- Weight3.5
- SkillBloody Slash (var.)
- Str Req8
- Dex Req20
- How to ObtainVolcano Manor / loot
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar claws
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raptor Talons | 8 | 20 | 3.5 | Dex C |
| Bloodhound Claws | 10 | 20 | 4 | Dex C |
| Red Bear's Claw | 10 | 18 | 4 | Dex C |
| Venomous Fang | 10 | 16 | 4 | Dex C |
| Hookclaws | 7 | 17 | 2.5 | 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 expansion and access to the Temple Town Ruins area are required. The chest is not tied to a vendor, mission, boss, or known one-time quest choice; no separate stat, quest, or NG+ prerequisite is required.
- 01In the Shadow of the Erdtree area, travel to Temple Town Ruins in western Rauh. Search the elevated ruined structures for the chest containing Raptor Talons; opening this chest gives the weapon as a guaranteed pickup rather than an enemy drop or quest reward.
Mechanics and Handling
Claw Pairing and Reach
Raptor Talons use the paired-claw moveset: attacks produce rapid slashes with both hands when the weapon is wielded in its paired configuration. Their reach is short, so the weapon rewards staying close and attacking from the opponent’s flank rather than trading at the edge of a larger weapon’s range. The fast sequence can apply its innate bleed buildup through repeated contact, but individual hits remain dependent on connection and spacing.
Charged Heavy Attacks
The weapon’s charged heavy attack is its most distinctive handling feature. It commits the character to a forward, raptor-like lunging slash sequence, giving the attack more approach than the ordinary claw swings while still requiring careful timing. Use it after an opening or stagger rather than as a blind approach: a miss leaves the wielder committed at close range.
Raptor of the Mists
Raptor Talons are associated with the Raptor of the Mists skill. The skill briefly places the character into an evasive mist response when timed against an incoming attack, allowing a follow-up counterattack if the evasion succeeds. It is a timing tool, not a passive defensive effect; using it without a threatening attack to evade provides little value and can waste the opening.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Innate blood-loss buildup gives repeated claw hits a status-oriented damage route without requiring an affinity change.
- When two-handed, its claw moveset treats the weapon as a paired set, producing rapid close-range attacks and strong pressure during openings.
- Raptor's Talons provides a distinctive forward-somersault attack, letting the weapon close distance while maintaining offensive momentum.
Weaknesses
- The claw's short reach makes spacing difficult against long weapons, wide attacks, and enemies that punish close engagement.
- Its rapid-hit plan is less valuable against enemies resistant or immune to blood loss.
- Raptor's Talons commits the user to a forward attack, so mistiming it can leave the player exposed.
Best uses
- Aggressive PvE play against targets that can be safely pressured at close range.
- Blood-loss-oriented builds that want a paired claw weapon rather than a single-hit heavy weapon.
- Punishing recovery windows with the weapon skill's forward movement and follow-up attack.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class / role | Key distinction from Raptor Talons |
|---|---|---|
| Hookclaws | A straightforward claw option with innate blood loss and a more conventional moveset. | — |
| Bloodhound Claws | Also supports bleed-oriented claw builds, but emphasizes Bloodhound-style movement through its weapon skill. | — |
| Venomous Fang | Trades Raptor Talons’ bleed-oriented role for innate poison buildup, making it the closer fit for poison setups. | — |
Lore and Design
The item description associates the Raptor Talons with the assassins of Ravenmount and presents their design as avian, evoking the claws of a bird of prey. This establishes a connection to Ravenmount’s assassin tradition, but does not by itself identify a specific historical wielder or confirm a wider relationship to other characters. No documented developer commentary or development history is established here.
Trivia
- Raptor Talons’ name reflects its item description: the claws are fashioned from raptor talons rather than merely styled after a bird. The same description associates the weapon with the assassins of Ravenmount, linking it thematically to the Ravenmount Assassin’s Set and its hooded, claw-wielding imagery.