First introduced in King’s Field,FromSoftwarehas made it a tradition to include the Moonlight Sword in almost all their games. The sword appears in different forms for each FromSoftware series, and it generally appears as a large, blue, magical sword that is capable of unleashing crescent-shaped beams of energy at enemies.
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Moonlight Swords are exceptional blades that are often some of the most powerful weapons in FromSoftware games. They are rarely easy to obtain, with many requiring you to know how to obtain them before even starting a game. It can be annoying, but the weapons are almost always worth the hassle. There are over 20 different versions of the sword, and while all of them are great, there is a handful that stands above the rest.
10Dark Moon Greatsword - Elden Ring
Elden Ring’s Dark Moon Greatsword is a large sword obtained bycompleting Ranni’s quest line. Beautiful and powerful, the sword is loved by casters and warriors alike. On top of scaling with intelligence, the Dark Moon Greatsword also causes frost build-up whenever it hits.
When using the sword’s weapon skill, Moonlight Greatsword, the Dark Moon Greatsword gains an additional 65 magic damage and 15 more frost build-up. The power attack for the weapon also changes, giving the melee weapon the ability to fire a blue crescent-shaped beam at enemies. While the ability to fire an energy beam is common for Moonlight Swords, the Dark Moon Greatsword’s frost build-up and beautiful VFX make it a memorable version of the Moonlight.
9Holy Moonlight Sword - Bloodborne
Obtained after defeating Ludwig, The Holy Blade, the Holy Moonlight Sword stands out in many ways inBloodborne. A rather dull-looking one-handed sword that can transform into a glowing two-handed greatsword, the Holy Moonlight Sword is the perfect weapon for hunters wanting to play an Arcane build.
Like other Moonlight Swords, the Holy Moonlight Sword is capable of firing energy waves at enemies. These waves require Quicksilver Bullets to use but can do massive amounts of damage if you have dumped your stat points into Arcane. The sword is a nice change of pace from the many saw-orientedweapons of Bloodborneand the attention to detail on the patterns of the blade helps it stand out from the other Moonlight Swords in the Souls series.
8Moonlight Sword - 3D Dot Game Heroes
3D Dot Game Heroes is a quirky little game on the PlayStation 3. Developed by Silicon Studio, the game was published in Japan by FromSoftware in 2009. The game is an homage to classic action role-playing games like TheLegend Of Zeldawith a 3D pixel twist.
The Moonlight Sword in 3D Dot Game Heroes can only be obtained by doing a questline called Game Design, which is a reference to FromSoftware’s Armored Core series. Upon completion of the quest, you’ll be given the sword and what a sword it is. Besides doing massive damage, the Moonlight Sword takes up most of the screen when swung. It is ridiculously overpowered but fits perfectly for an already silly game.
707-Moonlight - Armored Core 4/Armored Core: For Answer
The fourth generation ofArmored Core’s Moonlight laser blade, the 07-Moonlight is a beast of a weapon. Unlike in other entries of the series, the 07-Moonlight isn’t difficult to obtain. In both Armored Core 4 and Armored Core: For Answer, the weapon is obtained by defeating specific NPC pilots.
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In previous generations of the series, it was common for the Moonlight laser blades to have longer range and higher damage than other laser blades, but the 07-Moonlight takes it a step further. When activated, the purple blade that appears is larger than the Next itself, making it much more viable in combat than the previous generations of the weapon.
6Moonlight Sword - King’s Field 3
Appearing in King’s Field 3 (or in North America, King’s Field 2), this version of the Moonlight Sword has two forms. The initial form of the weapon is the same as it appeared in the previous King’s Field entries, having a long translucent blue blade and a gold hilt and hand grip.
After defeating King Alfred, the sword transforms, gaining spiky red and gold additions to the grip and hilt. The weapon also gains a new magic attack that fires lightning bolts along with the energy wave. The ability to upgrade the sword is a nice touch that helps make obtaining this Moonlight Sword feel more rewarding than it did in the previous King’s Field games.
5Large Sword Of Moonlight - Demon’s Souls
While not the most powerful version of the Moonlight Sword, the upgraded graphics of the PlayStation 5Demon’s Soulsremake takes the Large Sword of Moonlight from a pass to a slash. The original version of the sword was almost identical to the King’s Field 2 Moonlight Sword and lacked the ranged energy slash.
While the Demon’s Souls remake didn’t give the Large Sword of Moonlight the ability to perform ranged attacks, it did do an excellent job of giving the sword a makeover. Gone is the boring translucent blade, replaced instead with a more solid crystal-colored blade with a magical glow. The glowing trail left by each weapon swing does a great job of reminding you that the sword does pure magic damage, something that earlier Souls games failed to do.
4Moonlight Greatsword - Dark Souls 2
Dark Souls 2 is the black sheep of theDark Soulsgames, and its Moonlight Greatsword is no exception. Obtained through a lengthy questline (or just by killing the questline NPC), the Moonlight Greatsword in Dark Souls 2 is the only Moonlight Sword in the Souls series that can be customized.
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Normally, unique weapons in Souls games can only be upgraded, but not modified. This version, however, allows you to infuse the sword as if it were any other weapon, meaning you may change the damage type from magic to fire or lightning. You can even add status ailments like poison, all while retaining the sword’s ability to launch the iconic magical beams with a heavy attack, making it one of the strangest versions of the Moonlight Sword.
3Moonlight Sword - King’s Field: The Ancient City
King’s Field: The Ancient City’s Moonlight Sword is a stunning iteration of the weapon. It takes a while to get the sword, requiring you to collect a janitor’s key ring worth of keys, but it is all worth it to get this overpowered weapon. What makes this version of the Moonlight Sword stick out besides its icy blue blade is its magic attack.
Like all Moonlight Swords in King’s Field, the sword is capable of shooting a beam of magical energy at your enemies. Only, in this instance, after an initial beam is fired, the beam breaks into several other beams that form a moving fence of magical death. It’s a spectacular sight to see, and it’s a shame that the attack doesn’t show up in other FromSoftware games.
2MLS Bazooka - Metal Wolf Chaos
Metal Wolf Chaos is… chaos. Developed and published by FromSoftware, the game is the answer to the question, “What if we took Armored Core and made it American?” The game is full of big guns, explosions, and cheesy dialogue.
As for the Moonlight Sword, unlike Armored Core where they created amech-specific versionof the weapon, FromSoftware decided to be more obtuse in Metal Wolf Chaos and simply added a giant version of the King’s Field sword that functions as a bazooka. It’s ridiculous to see but makes sense as the game also lets you use a giant soap bubble gun and an American flag grenade launcher called the Super Bowl.
1X099 Another Moon - Armored Core: Verdict Day
The rarest of all the versions of the Moonlight, the X099 Another Moon laser blade is barely searchable online. Only available for the Japanese version of Armored Core: Verdict Day, the only way to obtain the weapon is by having pre-ordered Armored Core: Last Raven Portable for the PlayStation Portable.
The X099 itself is a version of the X100 Moonlight and LB-66 Moonlight laser blades, but instead of a blue laser, it has a dark purple laser. It does one and a half times more damage than the other laser blades, and when used the blade looks like an ominous purple cloud. It is unlikely that there will ever be another Moonlight as rare as the X099 Another Moon, which is a good thing since it’s a shame that it’s too rare to encounter and appreciate.
