Claws are some of the fastest weapons inElden Ring. They have lowdamage ratings compared to other weapons, but they are all paired weapons, and have fast attack speeds, making them more viable than many people think.
This is because the fast attack speed, combined with their paired nature, makes them the perfect vessel to deliver a status effect to bosses and normal enemies alike. There are five claws currently in the game, i.e.,Hookclaws,Claws of Night,Raptor Talons,Bloodhound Claws, andVenomous Fang. All of these weapons are decent choices in their own right, but some have better overall potential.
5Hookclaws
The Arms of Justice
Hookclaws are one of the first weapons that players will encounter in the game. They can befound on a corpse at the first level of the wine cellarin Stormveil Castle, and they are good during the early game. They have a fairly low status requirement, and have a high base bleed build up from the get-go.
Out of all the claws in the game,Hookclaws have the longest reach. They can be infused with different Ashes of War, making them quite versatile. They deal the highest damage withFlame, Sacred, and Magic infusions,though it deals a whopping 105 Frost build up on the Cold affinity.
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4Claws of Night
Smithscript Claws
Claws of Night are new claw type weapons that were introduced in theShadow of the Erdtree DLC. Players canobtain these claws by defeating the NPC Invader, Swordhand of Night Anna, in the Finger Ruins underneath the Cathedraof Many Metyr after progressing Ymir’s quest. These weapons are unique in that they have three ranged attacks:the weapon skill, the guard counter, and the heavy attack.
The good thing is that the heavy attack works as a throwing attack even from horseback. The bad thing is that the throwing attack doesn’t deal a lot of damage. TheAsh of War: Scattershot Throwdeals good damage against large enemies and crowds, but it’s not good against small targets. The Bleed build up isn’t the best on this weapon either, but it has both Physical and Magic damage, even though it only scales with DEX.
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3Raptor Talons
Jump and Slash
The Raptor Talons are one of the most interesting claws out of the lot and lend themselves to a very specific build. These can be obtained from a cave on Altus Plateau in the main game, called Sage Cave. The weapon scales primarily with DEX, secondarily with STR, and has a (60) bleed build up.
The most unique thing about this weapon is that it deals10% more damage with jump attacks. Furthermore, it has a unique R2 which makes the player dash forward for an attack, and then jump backwards on the second input. Its unique moveset makes it fun to use, and the innate jumping attack buff makes good for a jumping attack build with theClaw Talisman and Raptor’s Black Feathers.
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2Bloodhound Claws
Ignore Shields, Smash Skulls
The Bloodhound Claws are a late-game weapon that the players can pick up from a hidden room in Volcano Manor. They drop froma Lesser Bloodhound Knightthat can be found in the basement of the manor. The best thing about these claws is the fact thatthey scale incredibly well with STR. They have a decent bleed build up, and they can get a B scaling in STR with the Heavy infusion. When infused with Blood, they will have (80) bleed build up rather than (60), making it an okay choice for bleed builds.
Additionally,attacks from the Bloodhound Claws go through shieldsto some extent, giving the Tarnished an edge against guarded enemies. ItsAsh of War: Bloodhound’s Step, gives the player a small dodge window where they become invisible, letting them cover distance without worrying about getting it. It’s a good movement ability for moving through lava, and can be used to aid in backstabbing stubborn enemies without too much trouble.
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1Venomous Fang
Poisonous Bleed
The Venomous Fangis a powerful poison-applying weapon that players can get from an Abandoned Cave in Caelid. It scales equally with STR and DEX, and has minimal stat requirements, making it suitable for anyone, regardless of their build. This is one of the few weapons in the game that appliesDeadly Poison, a modified version of the Poison status effect that does more damage, but for a lesser amount of time. This makes it perfect for theAsh of War: The Poison Flower Blooms Twice.
Before the DLC, poison was a fairly weak status effect compared to bleed, because of its low damage output in the short term. However, with the addition of an Ash of War that can detonate poisoned targets, it has become extremely powerful in PvE.
The Venomous Fang does have the shortest of all the claws, but its innate high poison build-up makes it perfect for a bleed infusion which would let it scale both buildups at the same time with one stat. Not only will players get hemorrhages every few attacks, they will also get deadly poison. This can be detonated withthePoison Flower Blooms Twice Ash of War, resulting in incredible damage potential with the right talismans.
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