Highlights

• Elden Ring offers a variety of powerful Intelligence weapons, combining melee attacks with magic damage and unique Weapon Skills.
• Loretta's War Sickle and Rosus' Axe are great options for sorcerers, providing strong scaling with Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence.
• The Glintstone Kris and Death Ritual Spear are excellent backup weapons for magic users, offering rapid attack speed and the ability to switch to physical damage when needed.

From Colossal Weapons focused on brute force to more finesse-oriented Dex weapons, there are several powerful styles of play to choose from in Elden Ring. This is especially true when it comes to magic-based weaponry, as the variety of unique effects, and powerful Weapon Skills lend themselves perfectly to Elden Ring's best Int weapons.

While there are comparatively few Intelligence-scaling weapons, the good news is that Elden Ring's Int weapons are mostly superb. Intelligence weapons offer an excellent blend of classic beat sticks and magic-focused alternatives to keep your adventure feeling fresh.

Updated on December 18th, 2023, by Andrew Scariati: With the latest patch, the best Elden Ring Int weapons received notable changes and an addition. Whether you're looking to crush your foes with a group of ghostly axe-wielders or prefer to send ranged slashes of elemental energy at them, these are the best Int weapons Elden Ring has to offer.

16 Loretta's War Sickle

Loretta's War Sickle is a great example of an all-round good weapon. It scales decently with Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, making it good if you don't want to invest too much into the stat, but still want a bit. Also, its long reach makes it reliable in combat, as it puts more distance between you and the bad guys.

Loretta's War Sickle is acquired by defeating Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree, in the very late game.

Like many Intelligence weapons, the War Sickle does magic damage in addition to physical damage. The Weapon Skill, Loretta's Slash, is very good at dealing high damage quickly, making this a good choice for a sorcerer's melee weapon.

15 Rosus’ Axe

A large, rounded axe with a high attack stat, Rosus’ Axe is another unique weapon that fits an Intelligence build well. It hits hard, has some solid range, and while it scales somewhat with Dexterity, its primary focuses are Strength and Intelligence.

This axe is found inside the Black Knife Catacombs, behind a fog gate that's locked by a Stonesword Key.

Rosus’ Axe will work well for those who value their strength stat along with Intelligence, allowing even magic-focused Tarnished to chop up their enemies. What’s more, this axe’s unique Weapon Skill will summon three skeletal warriors to attack your enemies for you. The warriors disappear immediately after they swing, which is slightly underwhelming.

14 Glintstone Kris

An Intelligence scaling weapon serves as an excellent backup to spells in case enemies get too close. The Glintstone Kris is the perfect example of this, given its medium scaling with Intelligence and its rapid attack speed.

This axe is found inside the Black Knife Catacombs, behind a fog gate that's locked by a Stonesword Key.

There is the downside of a low range, but that's kind of the point anyway. Also, if you want to wield it as a main weapon, the Weapon Skill is essentially a spell too. If you're a fan of the Black Knife enemies or just want to role-play an assassin, this is a great choice for you.

13 Starscourge Greatsword

Though he has been nerfed somewhat since Elden Ring launched, Starscourge Radahn is one of the more difficult bosses in Elden Ring. Luckily, his weapons live up to his legacy, as the Starscourge Greatsword — which is two swords — is extremely powerful.

Like many weapons in Elden Ring, one of the reasons the weapon is so powerful is due to its devastating Weapon Skill, Starcaller Cry, which pulls enemies in and then demolishes them. The Poise damage this weapon inflicts is immense and will certainly lead to some staggered foes.

You can trade the Remembrance of the Starscourge for the Starscourge Greatsword after defeating Radahn.

12 Royal Greatsword

One of the more memorable characters in Elden Ring, Blaidd uses this massive and intricate weapon throughout his complex quest line. Not only does it look cool, but the damage itself is cold – literally and figuratively.

You receive Blaidd's sword after completing the quest line, and it lives up to his coolness.

That Weapon Skill, Wolf's Assault, is incredibly strong, though somewhat difficult to land on evasive opponents. Better scaling with Strength than Intelligence keeps it from ranking higher, but the Royal Greatsword is a great weapon for any sorcerers who desire to defeat opponents in style.

11 Death Ritual Spear

The Death Ritual Spear is a uniquely designed spear that scales well with Intelligence, along with both Strength and Dexterity. Having a spear handy as a magic user can come in quite clutch, as it allows you to change over to physical damage from a safe range when magic attacks aren’t getting the job done.

You'll acquire the Death Ritual Spear by beating the Death Rite Bird on the Mountaintops of the Giants.

On top of its solid stats, the Death Ritual Spear comes equipped with one of the game’s most unique Weapon Skills. Spearcall Ritual sees you thrusting the spear into the air, causing some black spears to come raining from the skies, showering your enemies with attacks from afar.

10 Crystal Sword

The Crystal Sword has a beautiful design but isn't the strongest choice for an intelligence-scaling weapon. However, it offers a lot of variety for the mage who wields it, able to be dual-wielded with another intelligence-scaling one-handed weapon like the Carian Knight Sword.

Its Spinning Slash attack consumes very little FP and can be used to ward off multiple enemies in melee range. Additionally, later in the game, if you progress towards Miquella's Haligtree, you'll find a rotted variant of this weapon called the Rotten Crystal Sword, which trades off a small amount of base damage for an application of Scarlet Rot on each attack, a unique debuff for an intelligence-based caster.

It's easy to get early in the game, located in the Village of the Albinaurics, which means you can even dual-wield it with a copy of itself rather quickly on a second playthrough.

9 Sword of St. Trina

One of the lesser-used status effects, Sleep is ironically slept on in Elden Ring. The Sword of St. Trina is one of two weapons imbued with sleep, which is a shame because it can be extremely effective against certain opponents. This is especially true for the Godskin Noble and Apostle bosses.

You'll find the Sword of St. Trina in the Forsaken Ruins in Caelid. Take the Rotview Balcony Site of Grace for quick access.

Aside from its usage against select bosses, the Weapon Skill is effective against large groups, as it releases a mist of sleep across a wide area in front of you. Test this out against the Albinaurics on the cliff in Mohgwyn to see just how effective it can be.

8 Wing of Astel

The Wing of Astel is one of a select few melee weapons in Elden Ring that features good scaling for Intelligence when upgraded fully. This means that this Curved Sword is a perfect choice for any aspiring battle mage who doesn't want to invest stats in other categories.

The Wing of Astel can be found in the underground Ainsel River area, in the Uhl Palace Ruins. It is behind one of the massive, hanging Malformed Star enemies, in a chest.

The strong attack of the weapon also launches a short-range beam, which plays well with the ranged style of most mages. While it's a pain to get, the fun factor is worth it, especially if you don't mind a little parkour.

7 Scepter Of The All-Knowing

If you're seeking something on the heftier side, the Scepter of the All-Knowing is a great choice for your Intelligence build. It scales primarily with Dexterity and Intelligence, with an added bit of Strength scaling as well making for a decently well-rounded weapon.

You'll get your hands on this weapon after defeating Sir Gideon Ofnir late in the game.

The scepter is a rare form of hammer, equipped with both the standard sweeping attacks and a few rare thrusting strikes when running or backstepping. Its Weapon Skill, Knowledge Above All, is also fairly unique, reducing the Magic and Holy resistance of everyone within range, including your character. This is a high-risk, high-reward option for your Intelligence character.

6 Sword Of Night And Flame

Found in the Caria Manor, the Sword of Night and Flame is a legendary armament that scales wonderfully with intelligence. It does require a good amount of Faith to equip; however, it doesn't disappoint in terms of attack power, offering a significant boost to physical, magical, and fire damage.

This weapon can be found in Caria Manor in a locked room behind the east gardens. Be careful of the enemies along the way.

It cannot be equipped with an alternative Ash of War, but its ability, Night-and-Flame Stance, is in a league of its own. In this stance, your light attack is a version of the Azur's Comet spell, and your heavy attack summons a wave of fire that sweeps out in front of you.

5 Fallingstar Beast Jaw

The Fallingstar Beast Jaw is a member of the Colossal Weapon class, meaning it has super slow attacks that are complimented by super high damage. If what you want is a giant stick to bash heads with, while also using a little magic on the side, this is the weapon for you.

The Fallingstar Beast Jaw is dropped by the Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast near Volcano Manor.

Where the Beast Jaw shines is with its weapon art, which will be familiar to anyone transported to the Sellia Crystal Tunnel. It creates a gravity attack directly underneath whatever you are targeting.

4 Death's Poker

Like many of the Intelligence scaling weapons in Elden Ring, Death's Poker does not have particularly good damage scaling with Intelligence. What these weapons also have in common, however, is a unique weapon art that does scale its damage based on the Intelligence stat.

Death's Poker is dropped from a Death Rite Bird near the Southern Aeonia Swamp Bank Site of Grace, during the night.

In the case of Death's Poker, the Ghostflame Ignition Weapon Skill can be used to either send out fire in front of you or cause a large explosion. Both deal great damage, but the explosion is easily one of the most visually satisfying Weapon Skills in the game.

3 Dark Moon Greatsword

A Souls series staple, the Dark Moon Greatsword returns triumphantly in Elden Ring. And what a return it is, as the Greatsword is especially powerful this time around. In addition to dealing superb damage and scaling well with Intelligence, it also deals frost damage.

The Dark Moon Greatsword is acquired by finishing the Ranni quest line.

When combined with the Weapon Skill, which buffs your weapon damage and adds a beam attack to the strong attack, the Dark Moon Greatsword is one of the better choices for a magician's weapon in Elden Ring. If you want one of the most iconic Int weapons ever, then this is the clear choice.

2 Onyx Lord's Greatsword

This curved Greatsword is an excellent Int weapon Elden Ring tries to keep hidden in yet another dungeon with a boss waiting for you. It comes with the bonus of 20 percent extra damage to Gravity-based enemies, much like the Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast you killed to acquire the Fallingstar Beast Jaw.

Acquired via drop from the Onyx Lord boss located in the Sealed Tunnel in the Capital Outskirts.

The speed, range, recovery time, and guard counter speed were improved across all Curved Greatswords in patch 1.09, which greatly benefits this weapon. It maxes out at a lovely B-scaling in Intelligence once it's fully upgraded, making for a wonderful weapon choice if you have the Somber Smithing Stones required.

1 Moonveil

The Moonveil is one of the most prominent weapons in Elden Ring PvP, and that is no surprise. The Moonveil features incredible damage scaling with Intelligence, which means you can reliably attack up close with your sword with rapid attacks, as well as long-range opponents with your spells.

Moonveil is awarded upon killing the Magma Wyrm in Gale Tunnel.

Where Moonveil truly shines, however, is with its Weapon Skill. Transient Moonlight allows you to sheathe the Katana and use either a vertical or horizontal beam attack, both of which deal very high damage. The pattern of sheathing and attacking will take some time to get used to, but it's well-worth the effort.