You might think Straight Swords would be the most basic of all weapon types in Elden Ring. After all, when imagining a medieval weapon, the simple sword is probably the first to come to mind. However, Elden Ring’s Straight Swords actually have some of the more unique designs in the game.

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These weapons aren’t just strange for the sake of it; they also have the capacity to output significant amounts of damage, both in terms of regular attacks and with their special abilities. Here are the best Straight Swords you’ll encounter while traveling across The Lands Between.

Updated May 26, 2023, by Lucas Ellinas: Straight Swords are one of the most common weapon types in Elden Ring. That’s not especially surprising since they are probably what most people think of when imagining a melee weapon. As a result, while we might well see more Straight Swords in the upcoming Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, there are still quite a few in the base game we didn’t cover on our original list. With this update, we’ve added five more of the best Straight Swords that might pique your interest.

15 Miquellan Knight’s Sword

There are a lot of reasons to dislike the Miquellan Knight’s Sword. While it is one of the longer Straight Swords Elden Ring has to offer, its damage isn’t especially impressive to start with, and about a third of it is Holy damage, which is resisted by many of the game’s toughest bosses. It also can’t be given Ashes of War. That wouldn’t be such a problem if the Weapon Skill it came with, Sacred Blade, was actually unique, but the exact same Skill can be given to better weapons.

The one thing the Miquellan Knight’s Sword has going for it is a unique moveset. The heavy attacks are an upward slash that sends your character a surprising distance forward when charged. That might be good for catching opponents off-guard in PvP, but it’s probably not going to be enough to make it worth using as your main weapon. The weapon’s case isn’t helped by the fact that you can’t get it until you reach one of the last areas of the game, Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. It’s hidden in a bell tower near the Prayer Room Site of Grace.

14 Lordsworn's Straight Sword

The Lordsworn's Straight Sword is a solid all-around Straight Sword. There isn’t anything exceptional about it, but it’s strong in many useful aspects. It can be granted a variety of Ashes of War, and it has decent range and damage for a Straight Sword.

You can also acquire this weapon at the start of the game by farming the Godrick Soldiers you’ll find all over Limgrave, meaning you can dual-wield Lordsworn's Straight Swords right out of the gate. If you want a Straight Sword you can customize to fit a variety of situations, this is a great choice.

13 Longsword

The Longsword is inferior to the Broadsword (which you’ll see later on this list) in almost every way. It’s slightly longer but loses in terms of damage pretty much across the board. There is, however, one interesting exception. At extremely high levels, the Longsword will overtake the Broadsword on the Quality Affinity.

The most notable advantage of using the Quality Affinity instead of one with higher damage in a vacuum is that you can still buff Quality weapons, significantly increasing their potential damage. If you are putting together the best Straight Sword build for New Game Plus and beyond, the Longsword suddenly becomes worth considering. If that's your plan, the weapon is simple to acquire; it's one of the Vagabond class’ starting weapons, and you can also buy one from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold.

12 Crystal Sword

There are two Crystal Swords in Elden Ring: this basic version and the nearly identical Rotten Crystal Sword. The regular Crystal Sword deals more damage, but the difference isn’t enormous. Meanwhile, the Rotten version comes with Scarlet Rot, so you’ll generally be better off using that instead.

That said, if you don’t care about the Status effect, the Crystal Sword is strictly better than its Rotten counterpart. And it can actually deal impressive damage if you invest in Strength and Intelligence. The Crystal Sword can also be found far earlier than the Rotten version; it is located across the wooden bridge in the Village of the Albinaurics, in Liurnia of the Lakes.

11 Noble’s Slender Sword

The Noble’s Slender Sword’s claim to fame is that it’s the longest Straight Sword in Elden Ring. The difference in length between the Straight Swords is relatively small, but if reach really matters to you, the Noble’s Slender Sword is your weapon of choice.

The weapon is at its best on the Keen Affinity, where it performs somewhat competitively with other high-damage Straight Swords. It can be farmed from the Wandering Nobles that wield it across the Lands Between. There are several varieties of Noble, though, so make sure you kill those holding a Noble's Slender Sword.

10 Warhawk’s Talon

The Warhawk’s Talon is an interesting weapon. It can’t compete with some of the best Straight Swords on this list in terms of raw damage output, but the main reason to use this weapon is its unique Heavy attacks. They strike twice in rapid succession, and if you charge the follow-up, it will strike twice as well.

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These hits will cause faster status effect buildup and allow you to take better advantage of any buffs based on attack speed, giving the Warhawk's Talon a different playstyle from other Straight Swords. The weapon drops from the Warhawks that have them attached to their legs. They can appear in a few places, but by far, the easiest place to farm them is in Stormveil Castle.

9 Lazuli Glintstone Sword

The Lazuli Glintstone Sword, the Carian Knight's Sword, and the Crystal Sword are all early-game Straight Swords with innate intelligence scaling; they’re all pretty weird, too. They have better Strength than Intelligence scaling, which makes them strange to use for Sorcerers, and they generally get beaten out in terms of damage by basic Straight Swords that have the Magic Affinity.

Of these, though, the Lazuli Glintstone Sword is probably the best. It has the lowest damage but also the best Weapon Skill in Glintstone Pebble. Its Strength and Dexterity requirements are so low that even the Astrologer class can use it without investing any levels into those stats, making it a great sidearm for a pure Sorcerer. Unfortunately, getting your hands on one can be a bit tricky since you need to farm the Lazuli Sorcerers in either Raya Lucaria or Caria Manor.

8 Golden Epitaph

The unique Weapon Skill of Golden Epitaph, Last Rites, is a worse version of the Golden Vow Incantation in most ways. They both grant an attack buff, but the Last Rites buff is less powerful (although it does add some Holy damage) and doesn't last as long. You can't stack them with each other, either, of course.

However, Last Rights does one thing Golden Vow doesn’t: it gives a massive damage boost against Undead enemies. The Golden Epitaph also has an innate damage boost against Undead and allows you to prevent them from reviving even without the buff. If you’re having trouble against Skeletons or Deathbirds, Golden Epitaph is worth checking out. To get it, you’ll need to use a Stonesword Key inside the Azuria Hero’s Grave in the Capital Outskirts.

7 Coded Sword

The Coded Sword is basically a lightsaber. It’s extremely long, goes through Shields, and isn’t hindered by enemies that Straight Sword attacks would normally bounce off of, like the Miners. The weapon also has a fun Weapon Skill in Unblockable Blade, which extends the blade in a sweeping slash that is, as the name implies, unblockable.

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Unfortunately, the Coded Sword also deals entirely Holy damage, which is resisted by many of Elden Ring’s most difficult bosses. If you are using a pure Faith build, you should have other options to deal with those bosses, but seeing your main weapon become useless is never fun. To get it, head to the Fortified Manor in Leyndell. It's in the room where you would find the Two Fingers in the Roundtable Hold. Like many weapons found in that area, the Coded Sword is easily missable, so be sure to pick it up before you fight Maliketh.

6 Regalia Of Eochaid

The Regalia of Eochaid suffers from a rather unusual problem: it is strictly worse than Marais Executioner’s Sword. Both weapons are used primarily for their Weapon Skill, Eochaid’s Dancing Blade, which thrusts your weapon forward, spinning it like a drill. Unfortunately for the Regalia, the version on the Marais Executioner’s Sword just deals more damage.

That said, being worse than a great weapon doesn’t mean the Regalia is bad. When using buffs that activate with rapid attacks, like the Winged Sword Insignias, Millicent’s Prosthesis, or the Thorny Cracked Tear, you can absolutely shred bosses if you land the weapon skill. You can also find the Regalia significantly earlier than the Executioner’s Sword—which you get by defeating Elemer of the Briar in the Shaded Castle.

5 Rotten Crystal Sword

The Rotten Crystal Sword is one of an extremely limited group of weapons that can cause Scarlet Rot to build up. And it’s even more unique than that since only two such weapons scale with intelligence.

It’s a fairly specific weapon, but your options for causing Scarlet Rot are so limited that the Rotten Crystal Sword becomes a decent option simply by existing. Perhaps its biggest problem is that you won’t be able to get it until the very end of the game; it’s in Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree, guarded by a trio of Rotten Crystalians.

4 Broadsword

The Broadsword is the best non-unique Straight Sword in Elden Ring when it comes to dealing damage. That distinction comes with a few drawbacks; the Broadsword is slightly shorter than most of the game’s Straight Swords and has a slightly different moveset. It lacks a thrust on the Heavy attack, which many people don’t like, although it largely comes down to personal preference.

However, if you just want stats on a stick, the Broadsword is there for you, and it's easy to pick up as well. The Confessor class starts with the weapon, but it can be obtained extremely early by any class if they buy it from the Nomadic Merchant near the Coastal Cave in Limgrave.

3 Ornamental Straight Sword

The Ornamental Straight Sword is one of several paired weapons in Elden Ring, which means you get two swords for the price of one. Its Weapon Skill, Golden Tempering, adds a significant amount of Holy damage and gives you a unique strong attack that causes you to lunge forward and stab repeatedly.

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The Ornamental Straight Sword also has the honor of being the first weapon you can acquire in Elden Ring since it drops from the Grafted Scion that usually kills you at the start of the game. If you don’t manage to defeat them right away, though, don’t worry; you can go back to the starting area by using the Precipice of Anticipation Waygate at the Four Belfries in Liurnia of the Lakes, which is still relatively early in your journey.

2 Sword of St. Trina

The Sword of St. Trina is one of just two weapons in Elden Ring that inflict the Sleep status effect. Since the other is a Torch, the Sword is your best option. Sleep knocks your opponents out for a brief time, staggering them instead if they are resistant to it. And while it’s true that many bosses are completely immune to the status effect, those that aren’t can be trivialized by the effect.

St. Trina's sword also works fairly well in PvP since most of your opponents won’t be stacking resistance against Sleep. You normally wouldn’t expect to find a weapon with such a unique effect until the endgame, but this weapon can actually be picked up rather early by heading to the Forsaken Ruins in Caelid, where it is behind a Stonesword barrier.

1 Sword of Night and Flame

A tool of the ancient Astrologers, the Sword of Night and Flame combines Faith and Intelligence to great effect. Its weapon skill, Night-and-Flame Stance, has two modes: it can create a wide sweep of flame or a beam of magic.

Either option can be powerful if you invest in its respective stat, or you can split your focus and use them both. Of course, once you reach New Game Plus and beyond, you'll have enough levels that you won't need to worry about choosing anymore. And to top it all off, the Sword of Night and Flame can be found relatively early in the game at Caria Manor inside a locked room you'll need to traverse the ramparts to get to.

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