Best Axe in Elden Ring - Ranking All 13 Axes
Feb. 27, 2024Best Axe in Elden Ring – Ranking All 13 Axes
In thisElden Ring Best Axe and Ranking Guide, we’ll be taking a look at the 13Axesof Elden Ring, and discussing why you might use them in combat, as well as Ranking them and telling you which are the Best Axe. We’ll take a look at attack power, damage type, length, Weapon Skills and other factors such as how long it takes you to acquire them, to determine if they are best suited for you. We are doing a guide for all Weapon types in Elden Ring, and these will be updated to reflect those added withShadow of the Erdtreeas well.
The Best Axe in Elden Ring:
Axes are one of 31Weapon typesin Elden Ring, soon to 39 when Shadow of the Erdtree releases on June 21st, and they are one that is overlooked by many players. There are reasons for that, such as Axes being a bit shorter than other weapons that attack at about the same speed, they don’t tend to have native status effects on them like many other weapon types, and their dual wield attacks are not synced so you cannot dual wield this weapon type vey effectively (usually).
However, there are some great things about Axes in Elden Ring too, and that’s that they have a wide variety of movesets or attack patterns compared to other weapon groups, so you can pick an Axe based on its moveset alone. Almost all Axes in Elden Ring can be found in the first 1/3 of the game or so, so you can put your build together rather quickly. And, some Axes can attack rather quickly, even faster than other Axes.
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With those things being said, let’s get into the Axes themselves, including the Unique Axes, or the Axes that can’t be Infused at Sites of Grace. We’ll do them in order from worst to best Axe in Elden Ring.
TheIcerind Hatchetshares the default attack of other Axes, though faster than other Axes, and deals Physical Damage. It is the second lightest Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 3, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power:583
Conclusion: The Icerind Hatchet has a lot going for it. It attacks faster than most Axes, it’s extremely lightweight, it’s the only axe that does Frostbite on hit, and it can be found pretty early on in the game with a horseback ride into Liurnia of the Lakes. However,it does have the lowest Attack Rating of all Axes.
It’s weapon skillHoarfrost Stompdoes 100% Magic Damage, can set Frostbite rather easily and it relatively cheap at 10 FP, though its damage is rather low for a weapon skill. Dexterity does increase the damage of this skill, but not by as much as you would think. This makes optimizing the damage of this weapon rather tricky since boosting Magic Damage does nothing for normal attacks, and boosting Physical Damage does nothing for Hoarfrost Stomp.
The sweet spot for this weapon is at about 55 DEX and minimum STR. It scales fine up to 80 DEX, at which point you would switch to STR, making it very well suited for a first playthrough and maybe Journey 2, but not much further than that.
I’d likely use this weapon with a Medium or lighter Greatshield for Block Counters, using Hoarfrost Stomp when facing many enemies or difficult ones to kill.Ritual Sword Talismanis not a bad pairing with this weapon since it will boost both Hoarfrost Stomp and regular attacks as long as you maintain full HP, andMillicent’s ProsthesisorRotten Winged Sword Insigniaare not bad because it attacks so quickly.
TheHand Axeshares the default attack of other Axes though it attacks faster than most other Axes, and deals Physical Damage. It is the third lightest Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 3.5, and requires some points inStrengthandDexterityin order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Hand Axe isNOTthe deadliest Axe in Elden Ring because it has neither excellent damage nor reach, but it does have thelowest requirements of all Axes, attacks faster than most Axes, and can be purchased very early in the game from theNomadic MerchantinEast Limgravefor 600Runes.
Quickstepis neither a great nor poorAsh of War, and can certainly be used to position yourself behind enemies to keep attacking, but is not consistently useful when fighting regular enemies out on landscape. I suggest replacing it with a more offensive Weapon Skill when you can get one.
Infusion-wise Magic comes in at 642 Attack Rating, with Sacred and Flame Art at 637, and Fire and Lightning just behind that at 636. Keen and Heavy are pretty much the same Attack Rating, with Cold just behind.
I’d play this weapon with aGreatshieldtaking the Heavy or Cold Infusions, using something likeSword DanceorWild Strikesfor Ash of War when needed. UseWinged Sword Insigniaor similarTalismanswhen facing Bosses and spamming R1 attacks since it attacks quickly.
TheForked Hatchetshares the default attack of other Axes but attacks more quickly, and deals Physical Damage. It is the lightest Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 2.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Forked Hatchet is one of only 2 Axes with native status effects, the only one that causesBleed, and the only one that can still be infused. It’s theLightest Axe in Elden Ring, attacks very quickly and can be found rather early fromImpsthat wield it. The downside is that it has the second lowest Attack Rating of all Axes.
Much like with the Hand Axe, Quickstep is neither a great nor poor Ash of War, and I highly recommend swapping it out for something more offensive that you can use regularly. Sword Dance or Wild Strikes are both valid options, particularly Sword Dance due to how short the Forked Hatchet is.
Infusion-wise Magic comes in first at 609 Attack Rating, with Sacred/Flame Art at 586, and Fire/Lightning at 579. Keen outperforms Heavy 545 to 530, with Cold out performing both, making it a great option for dual status effects.
I’d run this weapon with a Shield and Cold Infusion trying to applyFrostbiteandHemorrhage. Utilize Wild Strikes and highPoiseArmorto prevent interruption, or use Sword Dance to gap close compensating for the short range of the weapon.
TheCelebrant’s Cleavershares the same moveset Iron Cleaver, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for an Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 4.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Celebrant’s Cleaver is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand it has decent Attack Rating for an Axe, it attacks rather quickly, its Charged R2 Attack can be used quite effectively with a bit of practice, and it grants 10 Runes per hit. On the other hand it is located a decent ways into the game,it can take a really long time to farm, and it’s the second shortest Axe. Additionally, the Iron Cleaver has the same moveset, so you if you like the moveset but don’t want to wait, you have a much earlier option.
It’s weapon skill Wild Strikes is pretty good, especially if you have decent Poise, and it can kill many enemies easily. But just like the Iron Cleaver, you may find you use the Charged R2 more, since it’s a lot safer, so you may want to swap this for something like Determination or Royal Knight’s Resolve.
I’d play this weapon with a Shield or Greatshield for Block Counters, leaning to the STR side of things for easier Shield use. This means Fire, Cold or Heavy infusion wise, and I’d be sure to use the Axe Talisman to further boost Charged R2 attacks. Use Determination or Royal Knight’s Resolve to buff the damage of these attacks for even more success. And Winged Sword Insignia and similar Talismans also work well against bosses due to the high attack speed of your R1 attacks.
TheBattle Axeshares the default attack of other Axes, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for an Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 4.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Battle Axe is a very well rounded Axe in Elden Ring. TheHero Classbegins the game with it and you can get it very early on inRoundtable Holdif you didn’t begin as a Hero. It has better than average reach for a an Axe, and its in the upper half of Axes in terms of Attack Rating.
It’s weapon skill Wild Strikes is pretty good, especially if you have decent Poise, and it can kill many enemies easily.
Infusion-wise Magic comes in first at 688, with Flame Art/Sacred coming in second at 683, and Fire/Lightning coming in at 676. Heavy outperforms Keen by about 26 Attack Rating, which isn’t a huge amount, and Cold outperforms Keen as well.
I’d play this weapon with a Greatshield using Block Counters and using Wild Strikes to dispatch difficult to kill enemies andBosses. Go Heavy, Fire or Cold for good Strength scaling that allows you to meet the requirements for better Shields more easily.
TheJawbone Axeshares the default attack of other Axes, and deals Physical Damage. It is one of the heavier Axes in Elden Ring, weighing 5.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Jawbone Axe is not a bad Axe, nor is it a great one. It does have higher Attack Rating than most Axes, it has excellent STR scaling, and it can be farmed rather early fromAncestral Followers. It also deals Strike Damage instead of Slash Damage, giving you a different damage type should you need it. However, it’s only in the middle in terms of range, and the Battle Axe is nearly identical when it comes to damage, range and weapon skill, and is even easier to get.
It’s Weapon Skill War Cry is not a bad early game weapon skill, but there are better options. I’d recommend changing this for something else when you can.
Infusion-wise Magic comes in first at 698 Attack Rating, with Sacred/Flame Art just behind at 693, and Fire/Lightning at 687. Heavy outperforms Keen by a mile with 674 AR to 622, and Cold is not bad at 660.
Like most Axes, this weapon plays well with aShieldor Greatshield (since high STR), Block Countering as needed.
TheSacrifical Axeshares the default attack of other Axes, and deals Physical Damage. It is one of the heavier Axes in Elden Ring, weighing 5.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Sacrificial Axe is one that you will find in a number ofBuilds, but rarely is it the focal point of the Build, and it’s typically used in the off-hand to refund FP whenever you kill an enemy. However, it’s actually a pretty good weapon in its own right because you can get it very quickly inWeeping Peninsulaby killing theDeath Rite Bird, and it has pretty good Attack Rating for an Axe. The one downside is that it’s pretty short length wise.
It’s weapon skill Wild Strikes is pretty good, especially if you have decent poise and can kill many enemies easily.
Infusion-wise Magic comes in first at 711 Attack Rating, with Sacred/Flame Art at 706, and Fire/Lightning at 694. Heavy outperforms Keen 659 to 623, with Cold outperforming Keen.
I’d play this weapon with a Shield of some sort (assuming it’s my main weapon and I’m not just using it for its buff), and pick an Ash of War like Sword Dance that pulls you forward to make up for its lack of short range. Additionally, Sword Dance only costs 6 FP for the first attack, allowing you to use it nearly free on trash enemies if you kill them afterwards.
TheRipple Bladeshares its light and strong attacks with the Warped Axe, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for an Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 4.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity and a good amount inArcanein order to wield.
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Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power:653
Conclusion: The Ripple Blade is a rather unique weapon, sharing its native Arcane Scaling with theRipple Crescent Halberd, and is excellent for Builds that use theDragon Communion Sealto castIncantations. It’s one of the longest Axes in Elden Ring, and has decent Attack Rating.
However, it’s claim to fame is how well it synergizes with Blood,PoisonandSoporific Greases, since these take into account the native Arcane Scaling, making them more effective on this weapon, and the Ripple Crescent Halberd, than every other weapon in the game.
It’s weapon skill Wild Strikes is phenomenal, especially when paired with Greases, and can be used to set status effects or deal damage very easily. But it’s Charged R2, after an R2 is particularly amazing, as it hits twice quickly, allowing you to finish off enemies fast, and take advantage of the Axe Talisman effectively.
The Sweet spot for this weapon is around 55 or so Arcane, but it scales very well up to 80, where it drops off significantly. Since it has no other scaling, it lends itself much better to a first playthrough or maybe Journey 2, but not much further than that.
I’d play this weapon with a Shield in the offhand with the Dragon Communion Seal as a back up to cast Incantations with. Buff with Grease for hard to kill enemies and Bosses, but other wise just use Incantations to buff with when not facing them. Make sure to use the Axe Talisman to take advantage of the weapons unique Charged R2 attacks.
TheRosus’ Axeshares the default attack of other Axes, and deals Physical and Mage Damage. It is one of the heavier Axes in Elden Ring, weighing 5.5, and requires some a decent amount of Strength andIntelligence, and some Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power:722
Conclusion: Rosus’ Axe is a lot better than some would think. It’s the longest Axe in Elden Ring, it has the second highest Attack Rating of all Axes when unbuffed, and it can be found somewhat early on in the game. It’s biggest downsides are that it has split Physical and Magic Damage (2/3 Physical and 1/3 Magic), which really isn’t that bad, and that it’s weapon skill can be somewhat difficult to pull off sometimes without getting hit.
It’s weapon skillRosus’s Summonsdeals significant damage, but it has a very long wind up and isn’t cheap, making it difficult to use against hyper aggressive enemies or all that frequently.
It deals both Physical and Magic Damage, in the same ratio as the weapon itself, and which makes it hard to boost its damage as effectively as some other weapon skills sinceExalted Fleshonly effects part of its damage, andMagic Scorpion CharmandMagic Shrouding Cracked Tearonly affect an even smaller portion of its damage.
The sweet spot for this weapon is at about 55 Strength with minimum requirements in both DEX and INT. However, the weapon scales decently up to 80 STR and 50 or so INT. Take STR up first and then INT, unless you want to meet the requirements for some spells, or wish to make a Spellaxe sort of Build.
Out of the Unique Axes, Rosus’ Axe makes a solid candidate for a hybrid build that also spell casts since it has high Attack Rating and deals some Magic Damage anyway. And even though you cannot change the Axe’s weapon skill, you might not need to use it that often, especially if you are casting spells with your FP and just using it to melee with high Attack Rating.
TheStormhawk Axeshares the default attack of other Axes, and deals Physical Damage. It is one of the heavier Axes in Elden Ring, weighing 5.5, and requires a decent amount of Strength, and some Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Rating at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power:643(763when buffed)
Conclusion: The Stormhawk Axe is deadly. Not only does hit have the highest Attack Rating among Axes (when buffed withThunderstorm), but its also one of the longest and you can acquire it pretty early on in the game. The downside is that it can be missed early on if you don’t know what to do.
Thunderstorm is a great weapon skill that not only deals high damage, but adds 120 Lightning Damage to your weapon for 40 seconds. However, you will likely only use it very situationally on hard to kill enemies and Bosses because it is expensive at 19 FP, and even more expensive if you follow up twice at a total FP cost of 43. And even though its damage is very high for a weapon skill, it does very little Stance Damage, meaning you will need high Poise and a good opening to pull off both follow ups without being interrupted.
The sweet spot for this weapon is at about 55 STR and 45 DEX, but it scales decently up to 80 in both stats, making it excellent for Journey 2 and beyond. Prioritize STR early on for more damage, and to help meet the requirements for Shields you may use.
Because you will have a good amount of STR with this Weapon, I highly recommend using it with a Greatshield and No Skill so you can Thunderstorm whenever you want, while Block Countering the rest of the time. BothCarian Filigreed CrestandAssassin’s Cerulean Daggercan help keep the cost of Thunderstorm manageable early on in the game when you have lower Mind and fewer Flasks, so I highly recommend using one or both of them.
Again, make sure you have high Poise Armor too, so you can use Thunderstorm without interruption, and note that Winged Sword Insignia, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent’s Prosthesis nor theThorny Cracked Teartrigger from Thunderstorm’s use.
TheHighland Axeshares the default attack of other Axes, and deals Physical Damage. It has an average weight for an Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 4.5, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Highland Axe is a fantastic Axe for several reasons. First, it’s the only Axe with 110 Critical, making it ideal for Block Counter Builds that utilize Axes. Second, it’s the second longest Axe in Elden Ring. Third, you can find it inStormveil Castle, which is not too far into the game. And finally, it buffs Roar Attacks passively as long as it’s in either your left or right hand, even if you are two-handing a right-hand weapon.Note that this does not effect Dragon Breath Spells.
It’s weapon skill, War Cry, is fitting for the weapon the Highland Axe. War Cry boosts Physical Damage and Strength Scaling for 40 seconds, while also converting the Charged R2 Attack of the Highland Axe into a running attack. The damage dealt when buffed with War Cry is then amplified by the Highland Axe’s passive feature.
Infusion-wise Magic comes in first at 682 Attack Rating, with Sacred/Flame Art coming in second at 678, and Fire/Lightning coming in third at 668. Heavy outperforms Keen 618 to 598 at this level, and Cold outperforms Keen.
I’d recommend using this weapon with a Greatshield and leaning into Block Counters because of the increased Critical Damage of this weapon. Having a weapon skill that does good Stance Damage is also a good idea, likeStampUppercut, or sort of like my Gladiator Build.
TheIron Cleavershares the the same moveset with the Celebrant’s Cleaver, and deals Physical Damage. It is the second heaviest Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 6, and requires some points in Strength and Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Iron Cleaver is a a very strong candidate for a hybrid build, with its high Attack Rating, rapid attack speed, and fantastic Charged R2 that can gap close from a decent distance away. It can also be found fairly early on in the game by farmingMisbegotteninCastle Mourne. The downside is that it is very short for an Axe, making it easy to miss enemies.
It’s weapon skill Wild Strikes is pretty good, especially if you have decent Poise, and it can kill many enemies easily. However, you may find you use the Charged R2 more, since it’s a lot safer, so you may want to swap this for something like Determination or Royal Knight’s Resolve.
Infusion-wise Magic comes in at a substantial 728 Attack Rating, making the weapon a great choice for Sorcery users, and surprisingly Heavy comes in second at 690 Attack Rating, outperforming Keen by a huge 52 Attack Rating.
I’d play this weapon as some sort of hybrid STR/INT Build or, just go the INT route and cast spells while using it to melee as needed. If STR/INT you can buff the weapon withScholar’s Armament, and if you went pure INT you can use something like Royal Knight’s Resolve to buff Charged R2 damage. And I’d be sure to use the Axe Talisman to further boost Charged R2 attacks. And Winged Sword Insignia and similar Talismans also work well against bosses due to the high attack speed of your R1 attacks.
TheWarped Axeshares its attack pattern with the Ripple Blade, and deals Physical Damage. It is the Heaviest Axe in Elden Ring, weighing 7.5, and requires a lot of points in Strength, and some in Dexterity in order to wield.
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Attack Ratings at level 150 with optimal stat spread for highest Attack Power with each infusion:
Conclusion: The Warped Axe is arguably the go-to Axe if you’re just looking for raw damage. It has the highest Attack Rating of all Axes when unbuffed, it’s one of the longer Axes in Elden Ring, it has the same Bleed and Frostbite build up of Greataxes, and it can be found relatively early in the game by farmingCliffbottom CatacombsinLiurnia of the Lakes. However, it does have the highest stat requirements of all Axes.
It’s weapon skillWar Cryis a bit strange on this weapon. War Cry boosts Physical Damage and Strength Scaling for 40 seconds, while also converting the Charged R2 Attack of the Warped Axe into a running attack. However, one of the unique things about the Warped Axe is it’s second Charged R2 attack that hits twice, so I don’t see why you would want to overwrite this with War Cry. I highly recommend changing the Ash of War to something else because of this.
Infusion-wise Fire/Lightning tops the list at a whopping 745 Attack Rating. To give you some idea, theGreataxe, which has the highest damage of all Great Weapons in Elden Ring has 810 Attack Rating with the Fire Infusion, and attacks much more slowly. Magic comes in second at 722, and Heavy third at 714 Attack Rating. Heavy outperforms Keen which only has 668 Attack Rating, so you definitely want lean into the STR scaling of this weapon.
Definitely play this weapon with a Greatshield for Block Counters since you’ll have high STR anyway, and make sure to use theAxe Talismanto take advantage of the weapons unique Charged R2 attacks.DeterminationorRoyal Knight’s Resolveare not bad choices to further boost R2 Attacks and Block Counter damage.
If you enjoyed this Axes Guide, be sure to check out our other Weapon Guides, and also our article on how to Prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree!
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
