Summary
Elden Ringallows players to embody a wide variety of fantasy archetypes, from barbarian bruisers to wise mages. But what if you want to play as a musketeer, or a flamboyant fencer? Well, Elden Ring has you covered there too. Thrusting Swords are both stylish and extremely fast, especially when dual-wielded, making them great for status buildup and damage in general.
This list also includes the Heavy Thrusting Swords, since there are only six in the game, and all of them are strong enough to make this list. Heavy Thrusting Swords are longer and hit harder, but they are also slower than their smaller counterparts.
Updated on July 15, 2025, by Lucas Ellinas:The Thrusting Sword and their Heavy counterparts did well in Elden Ring’s DLC, getting three new options. To help you decide which are worse considering, we’ve added them to this list, along with the last Thrusting Sword from the base game.
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Dexterity
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The Noble’s Estoc can be a pain to farm for; unfortunately, it isn’t really worth the effort. It drops from the Wandering Noble enemies that wear the feathers in their caps at a frustratingly low drop rate.
This weapon is longer than the regular Estoc, which can be relevant in certain cases but underperforms it in basically every other way. It is also beaten out significantly in terms of length by the Cleanrot Knight’s Sword, so its sole defining feature isn’t even that great.
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Of the Heavy Thrusting Swords, four can be given unique Ashes of War. When comparing them, theGreat Épéedoesn’t fare especially well. It is quite short, and does less damage than its counterparts in most circumstances.
One thing the Great Épée does have is the advantage of availability. All the other Heavy Thrusting Swords appear at around the midgame or later, but the Great Épée can be found in the starting area, Limgrave. If you head directly east from the Agheel Lake South Site of Grace, you’ll find a campsite. Inside is a chest containing this weapon.
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TheRapierhas poor damage when compared to other Thrusting Swords and is the shortest of them, but that doesn’t mean it’s useless. It has the highest critical damage modifier of any weapon outside of the Dagger and the king of critical damage, the Miséricorde. If you are trying to create a riposte build while using something closer to an actual weapon, the Rapier might be for you.
It’s also simple enough to get, although no one would blame you for missing it; you have to buy it from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold.
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Unsurprisingly, theFrozen Needlecauses Frostbite buildup, which is one of the biggest reasons to use it. That said, there are other weapons that can be more effective at inflicting the status effect, and you have to take the Frozen Needle’s low overall damage and reach into account. One unique feature the Frozen Needle does have going for it, though, is that it also has an option for ranged combat.
The Frozen Needle’s Heavy Attack launches a frosty projectile a short distance in front of you. Critically, this ability costs no FP, so it’s perfectly viable even if you don’t invest levels into Mind. This unique feature makes the Frozen Needle far more appealing than its damage numbers might suggest. You can find it on the road to Caria Manor, right before you reach War Counselor Iji for the first time. It’s guarded by a Royal Revenant in the Kingsrealm Ruins.
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Rogier’s Rapieris a middle of the road Thrusting Sword when it comes to damage and length, but it has a secret weapon: its unique heavy attack, which thrusts twice in rapid succession. Thrusting Swords are already fast attackers, but having such a quick strike on your heavy attack means Rogier’s Rapier can punch above its weight.
The weapon is, unsurprisingly, the signature sidearm of Sorcerer Rogier. He’ll gift it to you at Roundtable hold after you defeat Godrick the Grafted. When he does, it will already be upgraded to +8, saving you some Runes and Smithing Stones, which you probably won’t have a surplus of at that point in the game.
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Intelligence
As you might expect for a Magic weapon from the DLC, theCarian Sorcery Swordcan be found in Castle Ensis. However, to get it, you will need to reach Scadu Altus, then head left to the waterfall and drop back into the Castle from there.
This weapon is valuable less for its stats and more for its unique ability to cast Sorceries with its heavy attacks. In a post-launch patch, the Sorcery scaling received a massive buff, which made it somewhat usable, although it will still be outdone by most other Staves.
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Faith
Queelign is a rather unpleasant NPC who invades you on multiple occasions in the Land of Shadow. You can find his true self in the Shadow Keep, and his weapon,Queelign’s Greatsword, can be acquired by giving him an Iris of Occultation.
The weapon is rather unique among both the regular and Heavy Thrusting Swords in that it deals a split between Physical and Fire damage. And while its high Dexterity requirement does indeed result in A scaling, it also gets an A in Occult, making it a versatile option for Arcane builds, although it faces strong competition in that area from the Bloody Helice.
If you give Queelign the Iris of Grace instead, you’ll get his Spirit Ash rather than the sword.
The second of the Heavy Thrusting Swords on this list, theGodskin Stitcheris a better version of the Great Épée in most scenarios. Both can be given unique Ashes of War, but the Stitcher its longer (though still a decent amount shorter than the two unique Heavy Thrusting Swords) and deals more damage in most cases. And as an additional bonus, it has a relatively unique heavy attack. Like Rogier’s Rapier, it thrusts twice in rapid succession, though only when charged.
If you want a versatile Heavy Thrusting Sword, the Godskin Stitcher is the weapon you should opt for. It’s dropped by the Godskin Noble in the Temple of Eiglay, a part of the secret area of Volcano Manor.
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The Cleanrot Knight’s Sword is the longest of the regular Thrusting Swords. It’s also the most damaging of them on many of the affinities. The best option is the Heavy affinity, which makes the Cleanrot Knight’s Sword one of the fastest options for Strength builds.
The one problem with this weapon is that, unlike every other sword on this list, you will need to farm for it. Specifically, you’ll have to kill Lesser Cleanrot Knights. you may find them all across the Lands Between, but they are most common in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, the Shaded Castle, and the Swamp of Aeonia.
When it comes to damage, theEstocis one of the better Thrusting Swords. It’s also among the longest, and performs extremely well on the Keen Affinity, as well as the status-causing Affinities: Cold, Poison, and Blood. And the status effectiveness, combined with Thrusting Swords’ innate speed when dual-wielded, leans into what is perhaps the biggest benefit of the Estoc: it is one of the only Thrusting Swords you can find two of during a single run through the game, and by far the easiest to get since you don’t need to do any farming.
The Prisoner class starts with an Estoc, but any class can get two of them without much effort. you’re able to buy one from Patches, and another from the Nomadic Merchant sitting next to the Liurnia Lake Shore Site of Grace in Liurnia of the Lakes. If you are trying to create a status effect build that doesn’t rely on Curved Swords, the Estoc is a great choice.
