The Critical Damage stat that you get with your weapons is pretty self-explanatory in Elden Ring. It is a modifier that determines how much damage you can deal in one critical attack.
Although the potency of this stat may vary from weapon to weapon, some of them will prove to be the best critical damage weapons to use in Elden Ring, owing to their higher critical damage scaling.
There are a lot of different situations in Elden Ring where enemies are considered to be vulnerable, allowing you more room to land critical attacks. Hence, understanding how critical damage works in Elden Ring can play a huge role in the outcome of your battles.
How Critical Damage works in Elden Ring
Although many different weapons have different damage types ranging from Fire Damage to Bleed Damage, Critical Damage is one such type that is common to all weapons in Elden Ring.
The Critical Damage stat that you see on a weapon is a modifier that helps determine how much critical damage you deal with a critical attack. This means that the higher the Critical Damage stat you have with a particular weapon, the higher damage it deals with a critical attack.
Understanding this concept helps you make builds around this stat, which mainly depends upon your parrying/riposte and your weapons’ crit scaling.
There are various situations in Elden Ring where you can perform a Critical Attack to deal Crit Damage to enemies. These include:
- Backstabbing, or attacking enemies from the rear
- Parrying/Riposte enemies
- Attacking enemies inflicted with the Sleep status
- Attacking enemies with a broken Stance
- Attacking enemies off their horse (enemies which are usually on horseback
It is important to understand that backstabbing enemies gives the least amount of crit damage compared to most while parrying enemies gives a relatively larger amount of crit damage output, which makes parrying important to consider for crit-based builds.
Additionally, while performing a critical attack, you are considered temporarily immune to any sort of damage there is, including fall damage – no matter how big of a fall it may be.
Although using critical attacks and hence dealing critical damage to smaller enemies can usually finish them off pretty quickly, using them effectively in boss battles can be vital to success.
That, however, will mostly depend on how proficient your weapon is with the Critical Stat.
Highest Crit weapons to use in Elden Ring
Although all weapons can deal Critical Damage, there are a few selected weapons that have the highest crit stat in Elden Ring – and are hence the best to choose for builds revolving around this stat.
Most weapons usually start with 100 Critical Damage Stat but scale differently with upgrades. However, some weapons are more proficient with the critical damage output.
Consider the Lordsworn’s Greatsword and the Erdsteel Dagger, for example. The former deals less critical damage compared to the latter on a riposte, even though they have the same Critical Damage stat of 110. Daggers usually deal the highest amount of Critical Damage, while Whips deal none at all.
This is why most of the weapons on this list are daggers. Greataxes like the Rusted Anchor and the Executioner’s Greataxe are also highly proficient with the crit damage in Elden Ring, Lastly, Thrusting Swords are also very good choices for high crit weapons.
5) Black Knife
The Black Knife is a dagger with one of the most highest crit weapon stat in Elden Ring, although not as much as the rest, i.e. 110.
This weapon mainly scales with Faith and Dexterity, and although it doesn’t deal that much standard physical damage, the Blade of Death skill that it has lets it rank amongst the top weapons in this list.
The Blade of Death skill that comes with this weapon allows it to fire red, blade-like projectiles at a slightly farther range, which not only deals damage itself but also debuffs the enemies and cuts down their HP by a substantial amount.
You can then use the debuff on your enemies to your advantage and continue landing critical attacks, tearing down their HP bar bit by bit.
To wield this weapon, you have to fulfill the following stat requirements:
- Strength: 8
- Dexterity: 12
- Arcane: 18
Moreover, you can get this weapon fairly early on in Elden Ring. All you have to do is defeat the Black Knife Assassin to receive the Black Knife as a drop. This enemy can be found at the Sainted Hero’s Grave in Altus Plateau.
4) Executioner’s Greataxe
Pump the crit numbers up a bit and you have the Executioner’s Greataxe next up on this list, with a base Critical stat of 115. This is a huge axe that deals a ridiculous amount of damage, although being a tad bit slow compared to the rest of the weapons.
What makes this weapon special is its War Cry weapon skill, which greatly increases your attack damage temporarily by converting your strong attacks to charging attacks.
Moreover, aside from its high crit stats, this weapon also has the potential to make one of the best Strength-based builds in Elden Ring owing to its scaling with Strength, as well as Dexterity.
The base requirements you have to fulfill to wield this weapon are as follows:
- Strength: 34
- Dexterity: 8
Executioner’s Greataxe can also be obtained pretty early on in Elden Ring. To get the Executioner’s Greataxe, you must farm the skeletons that possess it. These skeletons can be found in the early game regions, like at the Church of Irith Graveyard in Liurnia.
3) Dagger
Yes, this is a dagger weapon that is named just Dagger in Elden Ring. It also happens to have the third-highest Crit stat in the game – 130, which makes it one of the best crit weapons to use in Elden Ring.
Although this weapon has a comparatively shorter range and standard physical damage compared to other weapons, it makes up for it with its insanely fast speed and high Critical Damage.
Moreover, this weapon doesn’t have that high of a stat requirement to wield either, which means that you can start using this weapon from the beginning of the game. You can even obtain another one to dual-wield this weapon and infuse it with a large number of Ashes of War to make it even better.
The stat requirements for the Dagger are as follows:
- Strength: 5
- Dexterity: 9
There are numerous ways you can obtain the Dagger in Elden Ring. The simplest way is to purchase it from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold. Alternatively, you can also try killing the enemies wielding it, like the Highwaymen in Murkwater Cave or the Foot Soldiers in various areas.
2) Rapier
The Rapier is a Thrusting-Sword type weapon with a base Critical stat of 130, clashing with the Dagger. Although it has the same crit stat as the former weapon, it is slightly better due to its superior range and a higher standard physical attack damage stat.
This weapon also comes with the Impaling Thrust weapon skill as opposed to the Dagger which has Quickstep. This skill can be used to pierce through the enemies’ guard.
This weapon has a bit higher stat requirement compared to the Dagger, which is as follows:
- Strength: 7
- Dexterity: 12
You can also purchase the Rapier from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold. The only problem is that you can only obtain one of them in a single playthrough without the NG+
1) Miséricorde
Miséricorde holds the top rank in this list. It is a dagger that has the highest crit stat in Elden Ring – 140. This is perhaps the best crit weapon in Elden Ring owing to its high stats, which work best in breaking your opponents’ poise and landing critical attacks.
Not only does it have the highest crit stat, but it also has a decent standard physical damage stat of 96, which makes it usable as a secondary weapon. If you’re using it as a primary weapon, however, you will want to use it mostly for a crit-based build.
It also comes with the Quickstep ability like the Dagger, but has a larger range combined with the increased base damage, outshining it in more than one way.
This weapon also has a pretty low amount of stat requirements to wield, which are as follows:
- Strength: 7
- Dexterity: 12
Obtaining the Miséricorde in Elden Ring is fairly simple. All you have to do is to loot it from the Stormveil Castle. You can find it next to the room with the Grafted Scion but will need a Stonesword Key,
