How FromSoftware Can Redeem Elden Ring’s Underwhelming Weapons – Hot

Elden Ring has a wide variety of weapons players can choose to use depending on their build, but while there are plenty of great ones, there are also bad weapons that could use a buff in a future update. FromSoftware can still save these underpowered weapons by changing the weapons scaling or skills, and there’s also the chance that new items could be added that would pair well with some the game’s less-used weapons.

The amazing thing about Elden Ring and previous Soulsborne games is that players can make builds off all the weapons in the games, from the simplest whip to the mightiest axe. Even the weakest and weirdest Elden Ring weapons will have players dedicating their time to using them, and depending on a player’s play style, some Elden Ring weapons may end up better to use than others. This makes the topic of bad weapons in Elden Ring heavily debated, and based mostly on individual opinion.

Despite this, there are a number of weapons in Elden Ring that need to be better because they currently are lacking in overall usability. This is a shame, as some of these weapons have interesting designs that FromSoftware can still do something to make better than they are. And if FromSoftware cannot make that specific weapon better, they could always add a better weapon to the game that is based on the bad version.

Elden Ring’s Vulgar Militia Saw & Shotel Have Bloodborne Vibes

The Vulgar Militia Saw is a halberd weapon dropped by enemies outside Bestial Sanctum in Elden Ring‘s scarlet rot-covered Caelid. While it does cause blood loss buildup and does decent damage, this weapon can be easily outmatched by other blood loss weapons in Elden Ring. It is a shame it has no lasting value because it looks similar to Bloodborne’s Saw Cleaver.

The Vulgar Militia Shotel is another halberd weapon that can be farmed in the same area as the Militia Saw. It has a cool design, and the hook blade does allow it to ignore enemy shields, but the Militia Shotel has the same problem as the Saw: it cannot keep up with other halberds in the game despite the decent dexterity scaling.

The Briar Greatshield Of Elden Ring Needs Better Bleed

While this is technically a shield, the Briar Greatshield is disappointing. This item is dropped by Elden Ring’s Elemer of the Briar, the boss at the Shaded Castle in the Altus Plateau. This castle can be frustrating because of the high amounts of poison, the Lesser Cleanrot Knights that patrol the castle, and the two Revenants that ambush the player, making this eventual reward all the more disappointing.

The reason the greatshield doesn’t live up to its promise is that it blocks 93% of physical damage; for a greatshield, one expects that it should block 100%. The shield does cause 70 bleed damage, but only when players use the bash skill. It would be more interesting if the bleed buildup happened when blocking enemy attacks, as such a passive bleed buildup could easily make up for the lesser block percentage.

Elden Ring’s Zweihander Is A Colossal Weapon Without Any Distinguishing Features

Zweihander is a famous weapon, having been in previous Souls games. However, like in previous games, the Zweihander is not good. In Elden Ring, the traveling Isolated Merchant in the Weeping Peninsula sells the weapon. The Zweihander is a colossal weapon that scales in strength and dexterity, but it has the lowest attack rating. It has an interesting move set, and players can infuse it with Ashes of War, but there are better colossal weapons in the game.

Elden Ring’s Eclipse Shotel Is A Cool Weapon That’s Overly Situational

The Eclipse Shotel is a strange weapon for this list because it has decent physical damage. If a player equips the weapon in both hands, they can deal some serious damage to enemies and other players. However, the exciting part of this weapon is the infliction of Death Blight, but after a patch, the Death Blight buildup is very slow, and most in-game enemies are immune to it in the first place. Even for PvP encounters, invaders are generally killed before Death Blight can be triggered.

Fixing this mechanic in a future update doesn’t seem likely, either for Elden Ring‘s Eclipse Shotel or other Death Blight weapons and skills. Given that the mechanic seems mostly to have been changed to affect PvP balance, trying to fix it further could cause a domino effect of imbalances. For a weapon with such a cool design and lore, it’s a shame that what should be its coolest feature ends up a disappointment.

Elden Ring’s Omen Cleaver Is One Of Its Worst Greatswords

The Omen Cleaver is a curved greatsword that scales in strength and dexterity. There is a chance that Omen enemies will drop it. The earliest Omen enemy players can find in Elden Ring is in the courtyard of Stormveil Castle, near the Liftside Chamber site of grace. If players can get this curved greatsword early in Elden Ring, it can be a perfectly reliable weapon, though it lacks anything particularly special; it has no effects, no buffs, and no unique skill. Players can find better curved greatswords in the game overall, leaving this one as more of a cool design than a functional option.

The Torchpole Is A Great Concept Elden Ring Doesn’t Flesh Out

The Torchpole is one of Elden Ring‘s most straightforwardly named items, being quite literally a torch on the end of a pole. The weapon has good range, inflicts small amounts of fire damage, and lights up dark areas, but it is a lackluster weapon overall, despite the interesting concept. When fully upgraded, the Torchpole does adequate damage, but there are stronger, more versatile spears in the game. Infusing or buffing the weapon is impossible, and players cannot change the weapon’s skill.

Since it has such an interesting design, it would be cool to see different versions of the Torchpole. Since there is a Ghostflame Torch in Elden Ring, seeing a Ghostflame Torchpole would be fun for players to experiment with, or perhaps even an actual spear based on the Torchpole that does better physical and increased fire damage while lighting up the darkness.

The Axe Of Godfrey Is One Of Elden Ring’s Biggest Disappointments

The Axe of Godfrey is, unfortunately, quite bad, in stark contrast to its sleek design. This colossal weapon becomes available when players turn the Remembrance of Hoarah Loux in at the Roundtable Hold. Despite being the weapon of Godfrey, First Elden Lord, and a late-game item, the scaling just isn’t good enough. When fully upgraded it only gets a C in strength and a D in dexterity. A late-game colossal weapon that belonged to such an important character in Elden Ring’s lore should be able to do a lot better.

Overall, while plenty of the game’s weapons can be useful in the right circumstances and more weapons could be added in the future when Elden Ring DLC actually releases, these particular items are, at least for the time being, just not going to be worth it for most players. With any luck, FromSoftware will be able to take another pass at them in the future, giving players more and better options to expand their builds.