Rusted Anchor
Rusted Anchor is a greataxe dealing pierce damage, rewarded for defeating the Scaly Misbegotten in Morne Tunnel. It combines heavy counter-hit potential, Barbaric Roar, and full ordinary affinity and Ash customization.
Key Takeaways
The Rusted Anchor is a strength-oriented greataxe with an unusual piercing attack profile and a roar-based weapon skill. Its value comes from combining greataxe poise damage with counterattack-friendly damage typing, rather than from exceptional flexibility or reach.
Piercing greataxe identity
Unlike the slash-focused profile common to many greataxes, the Rusted Anchor uses piercing attacks, giving it a distinct interaction with counterattack effects and damage-type defenses.
Defeated in Morne Tunnel
The weapon is obtained by defeating the Scaly Misbegotten in Morne Tunnel, making it an early-game reward rather than a permanent vendor purchase.
Strength-focused requirements
Its requirements favor Strength, so it is most naturally suited to strength-led melee characters rather than low-investment Dexterity builds.
Barbaric Roar skill
Barbaric Roar provides the Rusted Anchor's defining weapon-skill option, rewarding deliberate attacks and giving the weapon a more aggressive follow-up pattern.
Committed greataxe handling
The Rusted Anchor retains the deliberate swing commitment of its weapon class, so missed attacks and poor spacing are meaningful limitations despite its strong close-range pressure.
Customizable standard weapon
It follows the regular reinforcement path and supports Ash of War and affinity customization, allowing its damage profile and skill setup to be adapted to a build.
A role-focused alternative
Compared with other greataxes, the Rusted Anchor is most compelling when piercing damage and counterattack opportunities matter more than choosing a conventional slash-oriented moveset.
Overview
Rusted Anchor is a standard greataxe in Elden Ring, obtained from an optional early-game dungeon boss. Its heavy weapon frame is paired with a thrusting attack profile and the Barbaric Roar skill, giving it a different role from many conventional greataxes.
The Rusted Anchor is a base-game greataxe associated with the Scaly Misbegotten. It is a regular weapon rather than a legendary or remembrance armament, so its place in progression is defined by accessibility and customization rather than a unique upgrade system. It can enter a character’s arsenal relatively early, but its substantial strength demand makes it more relevant to strength-focused characters than to general-purpose starting builds.
Its defining distinction is the combination of greataxe commitment with thrusting attacks in its moveset. That gives the weapon a different spacing and damage-profile consideration from greataxes whose attacks are primarily broad slashes. The distinction matters most when choosing between close-range weapons with similar weight or strength requirements: Rusted Anchor is not simply an interchangeable greataxe, because its attack angles and damage type can change which openings are comfortable to punish.
Rusted Anchor also begins with Barbaric Roar, a weapon skill that supports an aggressive, close-range style. The skill reinforces the weapon’s identity as a deliberate melee option rather than a passive stat stick, while the weapon’s standard reinforcement path leaves it within the normal upgrade and Ash of War ecosystem. It therefore offers more customization than a fixed-skill unique weapon, although the best affinity and skill depend on the character’s attributes and intended damage profile.
The weapon is found in the base game, not Shadow of the Erdtree, as the reward for defeating the Scaly Misbegotten in Morne Tunnel on the Weeping Peninsula. That route places it among Elden Ring’s optional early weapons: it is available before many later-region alternatives, but obtaining it requires clearing a dungeon boss rather than buying it from a vendor. Players comparing it with other greataxes should focus on attack pattern, thrusting access, skill flexibility, weight, and strength investment rather than treating raw attack value as a universal ranking.
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.
- CategoryGreataxes
- Damage TypePierce
- Primary ScalingStr D
- Weight20
- SkillAnchor Shot
- Str Req30
- Dex Req8
- How to ObtainDeeproot Depths chest
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar greataxes
| Weapon | Str Req | Dex Req | Weight | Primary Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rusted Anchor | 30 | 8 | 20 | Str D |
| Executioner's Greataxe | 30 | 13 | 18 | Str D |
| Vulgar Militia Saw | 23 | 13 | 15 | Str D |
| Great Omenkiller Cleaver | 26 | 9 | 15 | Str D |
| Longhaft Axe | 22 | 12 | 14 | Str D |
Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- Access to Morne Tunnel in the base game; no specific quest, NPC, DLC, or NG+ requirement.
- 01Travel to Morne Tunnel in the Weeping Peninsula, in southern Limgrave. Progress through the tunnel to its fog gate; the Rusted Anchor is not purchased from a vendor or found as a normal corpse pickup.
- 02Defeat the Scaly Misbegotten at the end of Morne Tunnel. The Rusted Anchor is a guaranteed reward from this boss on defeat. The tunnel and boss remain accessible after the first visit, so the weapon is not missable; it can be obtained once per playthrough and is available in the base game without a DLC gate.
Mechanics and Handling
Rusted Anchor uses the Great Axe moveset, but its damage behavior sets it apart from most weapons in that class. Its attacks are treated as piercing attacks rather than the standard slashing damage associated with axes. That makes spacing and attack timing especially important: the weapon is most effective when its committed swings connect during an opening instead of being traded indiscriminately.
Piercing attacks and counter-hit timing
The anchor’s long, weighty swings require the user to commit before the hit lands. Its piercing damage gives attacks the counterattack property associated with thrusting weapons, so strikes made while an enemy is in an attack animation can benefit from effects that increase thrust counter damage. This does not make every exchange favorable: the weapon remains slow enough that missed swings leave a meaningful recovery window, and its reach should be used to punish an opening from outside the opponent’s immediate range.
Great Axe moveset and spacing
Light attacks are broad, deliberate swings suited to catching targets in front of the user, while the heavy attack provides a more committed hit with greater interruption potential when the opening is safe. Running, jumping, and crouching attacks give the weapon more practical options than its basic standing chain, particularly against enemies that approach in a straight line. The anchor is less comfortable in cramped spaces or against agile targets that can circle during its recovery.
Barbaric Roar
Rusted Anchor begins with Barbaric Roar as its weapon skill. The roar temporarily improves the weapon’s attack performance and changes its heavy-attack behavior into a more aggressive follow-up sequence. The altered heavies are strongest when the first hit has staggered or otherwise committed the target; using the full sequence against an enemy that can retaliate can leave the wielder exposed. Because the skill is an Ash of War rather than a passive property unique to the anchor, its availability and the weapon’s default skill should be considered separately when planning an upgrade or affinity setup.
No innate status or special resource loop
Rusted Anchor does not rely on an innate bleed, poison, frost, or similar buildup effect. Its distinctive mechanical identity is instead the combination of piercing attacks, Great Axe commitment, and Barbaric Roar’s altered heavy attacks. It has no ammunition, reload cycle, or separate resource loop beyond the FP and stamina demands of using its skill and attacks.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Its piercing attack profile is unusual for a greataxe, allowing it to benefit from the counterattack rules associated with piercing damage rather than relying only on the class’s typical damage profile.
- Barbaric Roar provides a self-buff and changes the weapon’s heavy-attack behavior, giving the Rusted Anchor a more aggressive charged-attack option when the player can safely commit.
- As an infusable greataxe, it can be adapted to different physical affinities and Ashes of War instead of being locked to a single upgrade configuration.
Weaknesses
- Greataxe attacks are comparatively committed and stamina-intensive, so missed swings leave less room to react than faster curved swords, spears, or straight swords.
- Its large size and heavy weapon class make spacing important; narrow openings and mobile targets can punish attacks that are started too early.
- The piercing advantage is most relevant when attacks connect during an enemy’s recovery or active attack, so it does not automatically improve every matchup or replace careful timing.
Best uses
- A strength-focused melee setup that wants greataxe reach and stagger potential while exploiting piercing counterattacks.
- Charged-heavy-attack play after using Barbaric Roar, particularly against enemies whose recovery windows are long enough to justify the commitment.
- A flexible physical weapon slot for players who want to change affinity or Ash of War as their attributes and build requirements develop.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class / role | Damage profile | Skill / flexibility | Why choose it over Rusted Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greataxe | Primarily slash damage | Barbaric Roar; infusable and buffable | A more conventional greataxe moveset and damage profile if piercing attacks are not important | — |
| Executioner's Greataxe | Primarily slash damage | Spinning Slash; infusable and buffable | A strong choice for players who prefer its attack pattern and critical-hit specialization | — |
| Crescent Moon Axe | Primarily slash damage | Barbaric Roar; infusable and buffable | Offers a comparable roar-based setup while keeping a conventional slash-oriented profile | — |
| Great Omenkiller Cleaver | Primarily slash damage | Wild Strikes; infusable and buffable | Better suited to sustained close-range pressure when the Rusted Anchor's piercing attacks are not the priority | — |
Used In
- Scaly MisbegottenDrops the Rusted Anchor when defeated in Morne Tunnel.
- Morne TunnelThe Limgrave dungeon where the Scaly Misbegotten boss and the Rusted Anchor acquisition are found.
Lore and Design
The Rusted Anchor’s item text identifies it as a weapon used by the Misbegotten. It describes the anchor’s multiple prongs and considerable weight as practical weapons, reinforcing its blunt, improvised character without assigning it to a named figure or documenting a specific historical event.
Beyond that association, the game provides little weapon-specific lore. The Rusted Anchor is presented as a repurposed maritime object rather than as a named heirloom or ceremonial weapon. Its resemblance to real anchors does not, by itself, establish a documented real-world inspiration or developer design intent.
Trivia
- The Rusted Anchor is an unusual greataxe because its attacks use the pierce damage type rather than the slash damage commonly associated with the class. This gives it a distinct interaction with effects that reward thrusting attacks, including the Spear Talisman. Its design also matches its name directly: the weapon is an oversized, rusted ship anchor repurposed as a melee weapon, rather than a conventional axe head.