What Skill Does the Most Damage in Elden Ring?
As a hardcore fan who has put over 300 hours into Elden Ring, I get asked this question constantly by new players diving into the Lands Between. And the answer might surprise you! While colossal weapons like the Heavy Giant-Crusher can reach the highest attack ratings, the Bloodhound‘s Step skill offers unparalleled utility. Today, I‘ll break down the absolute hardest hitting options for both weapons and skills. Let‘s get to smashing!
Weapons – Heavy Crushers Crush PvE, PvP
When it comes pure damage numbers, you can‘t beat ultra great hammers and their outrageous strength scaling. Here are the top contenders:
| Weapon | Attack Rating |
|---|---|
| Heavy Giant-Crusher | 947 |
| Prelate‘s Inferno Crozier | 918 |
| Ruins Greatsword | 857 |
| Heavy Greatsword | 874 |
As you can see, the Giant-Crusher dominates the field with its S-tier strength scaling and 97 strength requirement. Charging R2s from this behemoth regularly deal 5000+ damage even to end game bosses!
While the Giant-Crusher‘s unparalleled attack rating takes the #1 spot for single hits, the Prelate‘s Inferno Crozier deserves a mention with its unique flame explosion skill. By stacking damage buffs, it can potentially one shot groups of players in PVP!
Skills – Bloodhound‘s Finesse Reigns Supreme
Now in terms of skills specifically, Bloodhound‘s Step stands in a league of its own. This Ash of War allows you to teleport a short distance instantly, enabling incredible mobility. Timed well, it allows you to completely avoid enemy combos and retaliate!
Bloodhound‘s Finesse simply has no rival for keeping you alive. Even bosses with huge sweeping blows can be consistently dodged. And it works wonders against the onslaught of Rivers of Blood in PVP!
Some argue that Bloodhound Step promotes "overly passive" play. But used aggressively, it amplifies your damage uptime rather than reducing it. Simply put, nothing can match it defensively or offensively. It has rightfully earned a reputation for being extremely potent by the community.
Of course, Bloodhound‘s Step doesn‘t actually increase your damage. For that, we have to look at utility skills and weapon effects:
Royal Knight‘s Resolve
This skill allows you to follow any attack with a damaging explosion after a brief delay. The damage scales with your weapon‘s attack rating! By two-handing colossal weapons, you can hit for upwards of 8000 additional damage. This skill single-handedly enables one-shot builds.
Sword Dance & Giant Hunt
Both these skills do percentage based damage, scaling off enemy maximum HP. Against bosses and mini-bosses, you can chunk off 15-20% of their health bar per use! Combined with the damage buff stacking method below, you can fell any foe with 2 casts.
Flame of the Redmanes
One of the most broken Ashes in PVE, Redmanes enables consistent staggering and poise breaks. Even on big enemies and bosses with high poise, you can keep them permanently stunned with this skill. And once they‘re posture broken, use a powerful riposte or weapon skill to punish! This is hands down the easiest way to bully your way through the game with melee.
Damage Buff Stacking – Multipliers Galore!
Let‘s say you want to hit the damage cap on every swing. Here are the essential combinations for multiplying your strength to insane levels:
- Royal Knight‘s Resolve or Golden Vow for a +80% weapon buff
- Clawmark Seal‘s Bestial Sling for another +30% buff
- Lightning/Flame Grant Me Strength for +20% all damage
- Golden Greatarrow for +10% Physical
- Thorny Cracked Tear in your physick for successive attack buff
- Host level vitality boost in co-op play
With all these stacked simultaneously, your attack rating will be boosted over 25x times! Capable of deleting any boss in seconds flat. Now that‘s how you smack stuff real good!
Of course in PVP, one shotting players is considered poor form. But for PVE, this is the ultimate domination strategy on higher NG+ cycles!
The PVP Meta Level Conundrum
The community remains torn on what level is ideal for PVP duels and fight clubs. The previous "meta standard" was level 125. However, increasing stats costs make it hard to create varied builds at 125. Many argue 150 is now preferable:
Level 125
- Allows focused, specialized builds
- Potentially too few attribute points for hybrids
- Dominated by Rivers of Blood
Level 150
- Enables more flexible hybrid builds like battle mages
- Higher damage thresholds reduce 1-shot potential
- Increased build variety beyond pure melee
The debate rages on, but my vote is for 150 as the new standard. Lower levels box you into the same few powerful builds, reducing creativity. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
So there you have it – want massive damage numbers? Giant crushers have you covered. But for generically good skills, it‘s all about Bloodhound‘s finesse. I hope this breakdown gives you ideas for your next overpowered PVE or PVP build. Now get out there, Tarnished!
