Elden Ring: Best Fist Weapons And Ashes Of War For Hand-To-Hand Builds

Elden Ring is full of weapons and tools for players who want to create characters modeled after medieval knights, samurai, archers, assassins, priests, or sorcerers, but it also contains a decent list of fist and claw weapons that let players create characters styled after boxers, wrestlers, martial arts masters, and other cool pugilist archetypes. Below are some of best fist and claw weapons in Elden Ring‘s main game world alongside the best Ash of War skills to pair with a pugilist character’s hand-to-hand attacks.

There’s a unique appeal to the contemporary notion of a martial arts hero – a well-trained protagonist who can fight and defeat heavily armed foes with just their hands and feet. In Dungeons & Dragons and similar fantasy RPGs, the archetype of the unarmed “kung fu” warrior is represented by the Monk character class, itself heavily inspired by the mythic/historic martial arts traditions of the Shaolin Temple in pre-modern China. Elden Ring, as a fantasy game heavily inspired by Norse Mythology and the cultures of Medieval Europe, doesn’t give players an option to make Tarnished characters who deal lots of damage with their bare fists and feet. It does, however, contain several gauntlet-like weapons that player character can strap to their hands in order to fight effectively with punching or clawing movements.

Many of the Fist-type weapons found in Elden Ring are styled after the Caestus, a boxing-glove style weapon used by Roman gladiators during boxing tournaments. The Claw-type weapons of Elden Ring, in contrast, owe a lot to the tekagi-shuko claw weapon of Japanese martial arts, the bagh nakhweapon of Hindi martial arts, and the claws of Wolverine from X-Men. All the Fist and Claw weapons in Elden Ring can be powerful and useful with the proper character builds. At the same time, certain Fist/Claw weapons – and certain Ashes of War that can be attached to those weapons – are more useful than others.

Caestus, Spiked Caestus, Katar, & Hookclaws For Elden Ring’s Early Game

Right after creating a new character in Elden Ring and entering the game’s starting area of Limgrave, players can acquire the Katar, a fist weapon modeled after punch daggers from the Indian subcontinent, for free. Simply ride east on Torrent to the Caelid Wilds, head southwest, break into the Fort Gael dungeon, and pick up the Katar weapon from a chest. By sneaking into the late-game Dragonbarrow area (possible by locating a secret teleportation gate north of the Mistwood) and riding west, players can also locate an isolated merchant NPC who sells the Spiked Caestus, a boxing-glove weapon covered with barbs. After defeating Margit, the Fell Omen and entering the gates of Elden Ring’s Stormveil Castle, players can buy the standard Caestus from the Gatekeeper Gostoc NPC and pick up the Hookclaws while exploring.

The Spiked Caestus and Hookclaws are excellent choices for Elden Ring players who feel the best defense is a good offense; both weapons inflict the Hemorrhage status effect, rewarding players who can strike their foes with lots of attacks in a short amount of time. Discounting damage or status effects, the Caestus does weigh less than the Spiked Caestus, while the Katar scales well with Dexterity and has a slightly longer reach.

Bloodhound Claws, Raptor Talons, Star Fist, & Veteran’s Prosthesis For Elden Ring Late Game

Most of the other good Fist and Claws in Elden Ring become available in the mid-game when players gain access to the Altus Plateau area. The Raptor Talons can be found in the Sage’s Cave dungeon, while the Bloodhound Claws are hidden within the secret passages of the Volcano Manor in Mount Gelmir. The Star Fist, a gladiatorial weapon near a Colosseum, can be picked up in Leyndell, Royal Capital. Finally, the Veteran’s Prosthesis weapon, imbued with lightning, can be acquired in the frost-rimed Castle Sol after defeating Commander Niall.

Of the late-game fists and claw weapons in Elden Ring, the Star Fist is a good Hemorrhage-inflicting weapon that scales well with Strength. The Raptor Talons weapon (found with Elden Ring‘s Raptor’s Set) also inflict Hemorrhage and deal extra damage during jumping attacks. The Bloodhound Claws come equipped with the powerful Bloodhound’s Step and can deal damage through an enemy’s shield much like a scythe. Finally, the Veteran’s Prosthesis has the longest reach of all Fist weapons and a fun-looking weapon Skill that unleashes a shockwave of wind and a leaping lightning attack.

Cipher Pata And Grafted Dragon Are Good For Elden Ring Faith Builds

The Cipher Pata and Grafted Dragon are technically early-game weapons, but do require a long-term investment into the Faith attribute before they become useful. The Cipher Pata, a Fist weapon made of glowing runes, can be found after unlocking Elden Ring‘s Roundtable Hold hub area, located in a side room near where the Mad Tongue Alberich NPC invades. The Grafted Dragon gauntlet is one of two weapons players can get after defeating Godrick the Grafted and is modeled after the dragon head this demigod boss grafts to his body in his second phase.

The Cipher Pata, which only scales with Faith, possesses a shield-piercing weapon skill, and weighing nothing, is a great weapon for pure Faith builds in Elden Ring. The Grafted Dragon, unlike most Fist weapons in Elden Ring, doesn’t have a two-handed mode where players can wield dragon-shaped gauntlets in both hands; this niche weapon and its flame-bombarding Bear Witness skill works best when paired with other fist weapons (or the Greataxe wielded by the rune bearer Godrick the Grafted).

In Elden Ring, Roar-Type Ashes Of War Synergize Well With Fist Weapons

After defeating the penultimate boss of Elden Ring, Godfrey The First Elden Lord, players can acquire one of the game’s more potent Ashes of War: Hoarah Loux’s Earthshaker, a ground-slamming attack that staggers enemies with a roar and damages them with a ground-slamming area of effect attack. This Ash of War can be equipped to any melee weapon, but its hand-slamming attack animation synergizes well with Elden Ring‘s fist weapons (and moreover, lets players cosplay as Godfrey in his bare-handed, barbaric brawler, regent-murdering persona of Hoarah Loux).

In general, Roar-type Ashes of War pair very well with most of the Fist Weapons in Elden Ring (and can be boosted if players equip the Roar Medallion). The Barbaric Roar and Braggart’s Roar skills both temporarily boost a player’s attack power and alter the fist weapon move-set to include wild swiping attacks and forward charges. The Troll’s Roar and Beast’s Roar skills, in contrast, grant players access to long-range sonic attacks, letting Tarnished pugilists strike at enemies otherwise beyond the reach of their short-range weapons.

In Elden Ring, Evasion-Type Ashes Of War Synergize Well With Claw Weapons

If Fist weapons in Elden Ring are associated with Strength builds and barbarian brawler characters, then Claws and other Dexterity-scaling Elden Ring weapons are associated with nimble assassin characters. As a mechanical consequence of this, most of the Claw weapons in Elden Ring are equipped with the Quickstep skill, which lets players dodge enemy attacks more easily and carries them closer to enemies distant from their short-ranged claws. The Bloodhound’s Step Ash of War is more potent version of the Quickstep Skill, while the Raptor Of The Mists Ash of War, designed for use with the Raptor’s Talons, work better with a more defensive play-style, letting players leap over any incoming attack and counter with a plunging strike.