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Elden Ring‘s diverse collection of weapons grant you the ability to experiment until you nail down a playstyle that suits you best. Even more, many armaments can be wielded as one-handed weapons or two-handed weapons. It’s helpful to know when to use such items one way or the other when you’re progressing through the game’s massive open world. Each method of wielding a weapon offers you access to different attacks, some of which may benefit you in specific situations. In this guide, we’ll share why, when, and how to two-hand Elden Ring’s weapons.
Elden Ring: The Shadow of the Erdtree, the game’s first and only expansion, is out now, and we have dozens of guides to aid you in what many are calling the game’s most challenging section. Use our Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree guides hub to find things like the full world map, the best weapons in Shadow of the Erdtree, how to defeat all of the bosses, and so much more.
How to two-hand weapons
Previous From Software games allowed you to two-hand your weapons by simply holding down Triangle on PlayStation / Y on Xbox. In Elden Ring, however, you’ll need to follow one extra step to switch to and from a two-handed stance. PlayStation users can hold Triangle and press R1 or L1 to two-hand your right or left weapon, respectively. On Xbox, those buttons will be Y and either RB or LB. Just don’t accidentally two-hand your shield, because you can, and it’s embarrassing.
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Why you should use weapons two-handed
There are a variety of reasons to wield a weapon with both hands, but the simplest and most obvious reason is that two-handing a weapon grants you additional attack power. While the damage increase isn’t as significant as you might expect, it’s certainly enough to make it a viable choice when a shield isn’t required. But because you won’t have a shield while in this stance, you’ll want to be certain you’re adept at rolling out of the way of incoming attacks. This can be difficult against certain enemies who use faster or slower windups, so don’t be disheartened if it takes some extra practice.
Two-handing a weapon in Elden Ring also provides you with access to new move sets. For instance, you may have a greatsword that does wide vertical attacks while one-handing it, while holding it with two hands will offer you devastating slamming attacks directly in front of you that can easily break an enemy’s guard. You’ll want to be sure that you’re always using the most viable option based on your surroundings. Using those sweeping attacks in a tight corridor is likely to result in just bouncing your sword off the walls, so maybe try two-handing it for tighter, more forward-focused strikes.
Lastly, two-handing most fist and claw armaments will automatically give you that weapon in both hands, which means you’ll have a dual-wielding move set that can apply some incredibly potent damage to your foes. Nothing lets you live out your Wolverine fantasy quite as much as swiftly mowing through hordes of enemies with a set of deadly claws on each hand.
Now that you’ve got the lowdown on two-handing, check out what you should do first during the opening hours of Elden Ring.
Elden Ring Guides
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