Best halberds in Elden Ring
Swing your way to greatness with the best halberds in Elden Ring.
The best halberds in Elden Ring let you cleave your way through enemies, utilising their superior range and damage to cut through crowds of foes and bring down FromSoftware's formidable Elden Ring bosses. Halberds are a prime weapon choice for characters who like using their Strength and Dexterity to land forceful, punishing blows on their enemies.
Halberds benefit from a varied moveset, incorporating sweeping slashes that can clear through groups of enemies alongside thrusts, pokes and stabs when focusing on felling a single foe. This kind of versatility makes them some of Elden Ring's most satisfying weapons to use, particularly for those after a Quality Elden Ring build.
This guide will detail the best halberds in Elden Ring, explaining where you can find each weapon in The Lands Between, the minimum stats required to wield them and how to make the most of each halberd.
Best halberds in Elden Ring
Offering faster attacks and less demanding requirements than Elden Ring’s best colossal weapons, but with greater reach and damage than more conventional swords and axes, halberds are a recommended weapon type for players who enjoy delivering mighty strikes to their enemies while keeping them at arm’s length with extended reach.
Many halberds are focused on Strength and Dexterity, making them highly suitable for pure Strength or Quality characters, though some augment their raw physical power with magical effects bolstered by points in Faith, Intelligence and Arcane, allowing for some adaptability in your build.
While halberds may not have the immense strength of some of Elden Ring’s best weapons, their varied move set - including swinging strikes against crowds and focused stabs when one-on-one - and balanced attributes make them a favourite weapon for many players. So read on below for our top picks for the best halberds in Elden Ring.
Golden Halberd
The Golden Halberd is technically one of the first halberds you can find in Elden Ring - although whether you’ll be able to acquire it is a very different point. The weapon is dropped by the mounted Tree Sentinel encountered in Limgrave shortly after exiting the very first area of the game, but first-time players will likely need to go away and level up before being able to defeat the formidable opponent.
You’ll need a few levels regardless, as the Golden Halberd requires a massive 30 Strength, along with 14 Dexterity and 12 Faith, to wield. That investment gives you one of Elden Ring’s most powerful halberds, able to deliver massive physical damage alongside its holy damage - boosted by further scaling of Strength and Faith.
That huge damage can be increased even further by using the Golden Halberd’s weapon skill, a variant of the Golden Vow incantation that temporarily boosts the player character’s damage while reducing damage they suffer from enemy attacks.
Guardian’s Swordspear
The Guardian’s Swordspear is a classic halberd, focusing on pure physical strength obtained through Strength and Dexterity. You’ll need just 17 Strength and 16 Dexterity to wield this halberd, with Dexterity builds particularly benefitting from further damage scaling at higher levels.
The Guardian’s Swordspear can be obtained by defeating the Guardians of the Minor Erdtrees around The Lands Between, though you may need to take down a few before it finally drops. The fetching weapon gains notably more power with more points in Dexterity, which can be increased even further by infusing it as a Keen weapon, making it easily one of the best halberds for Dex-based characters.
While its default Spinning Slash weapon skill isn’t especially notable, it can be swapped for another Ash of War. Attacking with light attacks is often effective by itself, thanks to a different moveset from many other halberds that allows for a more versatile approach to fights, true to its ‘swordspear’ name.
Commander’s Standard
Another halberd that favours pure Strength builds, the Commander’s Standard requires 24 Strength and 14 Dexterity to wield, before scaling best with additional points in Strength. Wrapped in a war flag, this halberd is acquired by defeating Commander O'Neil in Caelid’s Aeonia Swamp.
The halberd’s eye-catching design lends itself to its one-of-a-kind weapon skill, Rallying Standard. The Tarnished holds the halberd aloft, unfurling its banner, in order to buff themselves and any nearby allies with additional attack power and damage resistance for 30 seconds.
The unique ability makes the Commander’s Standard an excellent pick for Strength-based characters looking to boost their attack and defence before getting stuck into combat. With great range, a strong weapon skill and high physical damage, it’s an easy recommendation for melee builds.
Nightrider Glaive
The Nightrider Glaive is obtained by defeating one of the mounted Night's Cavalry riders who appear once the sun sets on The Lands Between. The rider close to Liurnia of the Lakes’ Bellum Church will leave you this lengthy weapon suited to cutting down foes while riding on Torrent, which is just as deadly on foot.
26 Strength and 10 Dexterity are needed to wield the Nightrider Glaive, before typically scaling best with additional Strength - making it one of the best halberds for Strength-based characters, while also catering to Quality builds.
The Nightrider Glaive shares its default weapon skill, Spinning Slash, with many halberds. We’d recommend swapping it out quickly, though, with its combination with the Flaming Strike Ash of War - which sets the halberd ablaze before performing a sweeping strike - becoming a popular loadout for many PvP invaders.
Vulgar Militia Saw
You’d be mistaken for thinking the Vulgar Militia Saw might have been misplaced from FromSoftware’s previous game Bloodborne due to its grimy gothic design akin to the Saw Cleaver, but it’s instead one of the most distinctive halberds in Elden Ring. The crude-looking sawblade is one of the best halberds for inflicting Blood Loss on your enemies, building up a significant amount of Bleed alongside its physical damage. You can augment the weapon further by infusing it with Blood to almost double its Bleed build-up, too.
The Vulgar Militia Saw has lower stat requirements than many other halberds, asking just 15 Strength and 13 Dexterity of players before they can wield it effectively. It then scales its damage with both, with a slight preference to Dexterity, making it a good pick for Quality builds investing equal points.
To obtain the Vulgar Militia Saw, you’ll need to hunt down one of the Vulgar Militiamen enemies brandishing the weapon. They can be found in Caelid’s northern area of Dragonbarrow, as well as less frequently in Liurnia of the Lakes and other areas around the map.
Gargoyle’s Halberd
Recalling the powerful halberd weapon of the same name in Dark Souls, the Gargoyle's Halberd similarly ranks as one of the best halberds in Elden Ring.
As in Dark Souls, you’ll need to slay the Valiant Gargoyle in Leyndell, Royal Capital, close to the 'West Capital Rampart' Site of Grace. Make sure you defeat it before defeating Maliketh in Crumbling Farum Azula, as you won’t be able to obtain the weapon once the city is transformed into the Ashen Capital.
Requiring 26 Strength and a comparatively miniscule 10 Dexterity to wield, the Gargoyle's Halberd unsurprisingly favours Strength when it comes to scaling its base damage, with extra Dex also providing a modest boost to its attack power. The Gargoyle's Halberd suffers from shorter reach in comparison to many other halberds, but benefits from some of the most effective Strength scaling of any weapon, especially if you infuse the arm as a Heavy weapon. Its default Spinning Slash weapon skill can also be replaced with another Ash of War, allowing you to cater the powerful weapon to your character’s play style.
Need more help? Jump back to our list of best Elden Ring builds or our Elden Ring walkthrough.