There are several weapons you can find to use as good early-game weapons in Elden Ring. It all depends on your playstyle, the build you are going for, and other related preferences.
Getting a good early-game weapon early on in Elden Ring will allow you to easily plow through every enemy you come across, including the early-game bosses.
Just keep in mind that your build and stats dictate what weapon you should be gunning for.
Best early-game weapons to use in Elden Ring
Bloodhound Fang (For Dexterity Builds)
The Bloodhound Fang is a curved greatsword that is an excellent option for players going for a Dexterity build in Elden Ring. It can prove to be a very strong early-game weapon thanks to its passive bleed and aerial attack capabilities.
Your strength will dictate its Strength and Dexterity stats, thus its suitability for those builds. The Bloodhound Fang has great reach making it capable of damaging enemy swarms, making up for its slower attack animation.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 18 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to get
The Bloodhound Fang is dropped once you take out Darriwil the Bloodhound Knight. The fight happens very early during your Elden Ring journey, and it prevents the use of Spirit Summons or Co-op help.
The fight takes place at Forlorn Hound Evergaol and you can gain an NPC ally for the fight by interacting with Blaidd in Mistwood Ruins.
Uchigatana (For Dexterity/Intelligence Builds)
The Uchigatana is the perfect starting weapon for those looking to build a dedicated bleed or battle-mage unit in Elden Ring.
After complete upgrades in bleed damage, the Uchigatana becomes surprisingly comparable to the Rivers of Blood Katana which is not obtainable until further along your Elden Ring journey.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 11 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to get:
The Uchigatana is a starting weapon for those of you with the Samurai class, however, others can also obtain it fairly easily. You must head to the Deathtouched Catacombs and search for a corpse that holds the weapon in Limgrave.
When at the Site of Grace, continue along toward the boss door. From there head left and then down the staircase. At the end of the stairway, look to your right to spot the doorway. Continue along this path and take a left, to find the hanging corpse.
Reduvia (For Arcane/Dexterity Builds)
The Reduvia is a versatile dagger that can serve as both a main or side weapon in Elden Ring. Its passive bleed can help make short work of boss battles and allow you to stack up damage. Being a dagger, you can simply switch to it for the bleed effect before switching back to your main weapon.
By building up enough bleed you can inflict Hemorrhage on your enemies, a status effect that is the weakness of most bosses. You can also boost the effect from the Blood loss by leveling up your Arcane stats.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
How to get:
To obtain the Reduvia, you must defeat Bloody Finger Nerijus just outside the Murkwater Cave. In this battle, after a little while, you will be aided by the Samurai Yura so you can easily obtain this weapon.
Sword of Night and Flame (For Intelligence Builds)
If you are building a magic-based character, look no further than the Sword of Night and Flame in Elden Ring. This weapon had to be nerfed because of its power spike but is still an excellent option to get early on.
Truth be told, you can get this weapon early on in the game, but you will not be able to fully utilize it until later.
What makes the Sword of Night and Flame one of the best early-game weapons in Elden Ring is its unique skill which allows you to cast two spells at once.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 12 | 12 | 24 | 24 | 0 |
How to get:
You can find the Sword of Night and Flame at the Caria Manor, where you’ll have to open a treasure chest for it. Head to the previous area in the lower level of Caria Manor.
From there jump from the area marked “Dead End”, onto a building. Now take the stairs down to take you to the entrance leading to the chest.
Grafted Blade Greatsword (For Strength Builds)
This Iron Throne-esque sword is an extremely strong early-game weapon in Elden Ring that scales to your Strength stats making it the perfect option for Strength Builds.
Its Oath of Vegenmce Skill can provide a very useful temporary stat buff and Poise that can increase the effectiveness of your attacks.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 40 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to get:
To obtain the Grafted Blade Greatsword in Elden Ring, head to Castle Morne to fight Leonine Misbegotten. Once you defeat him you will obtain the weapon.
Twinblade (For Dexterity Builds)
The Twinblade is an excellent early-game weapon that once upgraded with Ashes of War, can last you through your entire Elden Ring journey.
The Twinblade benefits from leveling up your physical stats like Dexterity and Strength and gives you a boost in your physical damage output. Its Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom skill can boost your damage stats further giving you a consistently high damage output.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 10 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to get:
Head to the Dragon-Burnt Ruins in Elden Ring. Once there make your way over to the underground cellar and search for a chest. The Twinblades will be found inside.
Claymore (For Strength/Dexterity Builds)
The Claymore Greatsword isn’t strong in one particular stat but it may be the most well-rounded sword in the Elden Ring. It is an excellent mid-weight option that can serve you for a significant chunk of your journey during the early game.
The Claymore benefits from leveling up your physical stats like Dexterity and Strength to give you a boost in your physical damage output.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 16 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to get:
You can find the Claymore greatsword inside a chest in Castle Morne. Once you enter Castle Morne look for a bunch of burning corpses stacked on each other, to your right. The chest will be found inside the building just beyond the mound.
Greataxe (For Strength Builds)
The Greataxe is another early-game Strength-build weapon option in Elden Ring. Its weapon scaling with your strength stat makes it a devastating weapon in terms of raw physical damage output.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 30 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to get:
You must first travel to the Limgrave’s Site of Grace. Now to obtain the Greataxe you will have to hijack a troll carriage traveling across the Waypoint Ruins. The Greataxe will be found by looting them.
You may want to do a quick hit-and-run to avoid much trouble, otherwise, you’ll have to deal with the giants and guards defending the carriage.
Meteorite Staff (For Intelligence Builds)
There is no other better staff for a caster build than the Meteorite Staff in Elden Ring. You will not be able to get it as early as some of the other weapons on this list but make no mistake that the Meteorite Staff can easily last your entire playthrough.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 6 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
How to get:
To find the Meteorite Staff you will have to travel to Caelid. From there you must head to the Street of Sages Ruins and travel southwest. You must loot a corpse found here.
The corpse will be inside the Swamp of Aenoia to the southwest of the Town of Sorcery.
Dragon Communion Seal (For Faith/Arcane Builds)
Finally, a Faith Build early-game weapon in Elden Ring. The Dragon Communion Seal will help boost your Dragon Communion Incantations to significantly improve your damage output from these spells.
Note that this seal scales with both the Faith and Arcane stats but more so with Arcane. So your incantations will benefit more by investing in Arcane.
Stat requirement:
| STR | DEX | INT | FAI | ARC |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
How to get:
To obtain the Dragon Communion Seal, you must head to Limgrave. Now head to the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave and fight the Banished Knight Spirit. Once you defeat this spirit it will drop the seal.
The area will require you to traverse the area by platforming through. Since this may be too difficult a challenge for early-game players, you may wanna do a quick hit-and-run for the seal.
