BEST Spear Guide in depth breakdown and review Elden Ring

[@Chrightt]

I'm gonna add this over here because I know it'll happen (just like how people were asking me where is cipher pata for the claws video). Vyke's War Spear is a Great Spear. It is NOT A spear SPEAR. You want to know how good Vyke's is? Well, the counter question is: What other madness weapons are you going to use instead? Great Spears have a decent moveset too, so if you're running madness build, it's good.

[@JvariW]

I wish you would make a damage calculator for weapons with affinity and ashes. You are the ONLY one I’ve been able to find that actually understands the damage calculation and scaling. Soooo many ppl have it wrong. There are so many variables. We need to be able to find out how to look at these weapons and know which affinity/build they’d be best in and/or what weapon/affinity would be best for our builds. To me it still seems mysterious and surprising which weapons are REALLY the best for a given attribute. It’s not always the best scaling in that attribute. And it just adds when you consider ashes of wars and affinities. Please man. You are the ONLY one. I know it’s a huge undertaking but we need a spreadsheet capable of accounting for all variables. We need the science behind these mechanics

[@JvariW]

I’m late but just commented. Liked. And subbed. Best wishes man

[@BrinkMira]

Weird how it says this comment was posted before the video was uploaded

[@Zorrolord]

is the Tree Spear also a greatspear and thus not mentioned here?

[@graysaltine6035]

Just a footnote about Clayman's and the Heavy/Keen (or Standard) infusions - I think the point is that you _don't_ use magic affinity on it if you're a high INT caster build cos Clayman's can have Scholar's armament cast on it which ends up as more AR ... I think? But obviously you can't buff it if you put the Magic affinity on it. So yeah I realise that adding in sorceries and stuff to the mix is probably beyond the scope of the video (which was great btw) but I thought I'd mention it here as someone wanting to use it might want to actually use one of those affinities!

[@diomeja]

I love listening to smooth, clinical analysis, and then out of nowhere hear "as usual, quality is hot garbage." Gave me a bit of a laugh.

[@Chrightt]

hehe, I was hoping it breaks up the monotony of the analysis for some people.

[@theswillmerchant8843]

Something else worth noting about the short spear for high faith builds: It is the lightest and lowest stat requirement (4 Weight, 10 Strength, 10 Dex) weapon capable of slotting Black Flame Tornado as its Ash of War. Since BFT's damage is only affected by weapon upgrade level, weapon affinity, and faith, it's a great option to have access to it on almost any build, which can be very helpful especially on larger high HP bosses.

[@EvilPineappl]

A shame about 2H spears. IRL you get so much more speed, precision, and range if you're using both hands. It's unfortunate that this game doesn't recognize that. The damage could be similar to 1H to keep the dual spears as the higher damage option.

[@Chrightt]

Hopefully, they will buff 2handing weapons in general :(

[@GaMeRfReAkLIVE]

At least the light attcks should be quicker imo. But they have to keep pvp in mind too

[@EvilPineappl]

@@GaMeRfReAkLIVE Sure, 1H for shields, 2H for speed, dual for damage

[@colorgreen8728]

Death rite spear should really have innate frost damage, as well as it’s weapon art should, it has that ghostflame feel

[@AbyssalPlague]

I feel like any death based weapon should. Hell, *_ALL_* the death spells should too.

[@colorgreen8728]

@@AbyssalPlague exactly!! Totally agree

[@eyegonofcarim]

my go-to channel regarding builds in Elden Ring. So damn good! Can't wait for the Curved Swords video.

[@lemongan]

Hasn't he already done curved swords ?

[@eyegonofcarim]

@@lemongan only the great ones

[@NicolaeCarpathia420]

Curved sword range really needs a breakdown I can’t tell if bandits or grossmesser is longer.

[@tysonovercash6250]

Dude! Your breakdown is INCREDIBLE. I DIG YOUR MATH breakdowns and explaining it all in easier terms

[@Chrightt]

Glad you like them!

[@Velumbra]

Stabby sticks! Love this weapon class regardless of game. Appreciate you taking the time to make this video.

[@Chrightt]

I love spears too, but they don't always appear in games.

[@EvilPineappl]

@@Chrightt The biggest crime of Oblivion and Skyrim: no spears

[@Chrightt]

@@EvilPineappl They still don't have it even in ESO. q_q

[@okonkwojones]

@@Chrightt honestly, what kind of civilization could forget to make a spear? They also forgot about halberds and crossbows and throwing weapons. And levitation (although I think that was because the physics engine kept killing people when they traveled too fast)

[@jaytho8313]

Thanks! Would love to hear your take on halberds - one of the best and most diverse of the weapon classes.

[@GamersOdyssey]

Guardian sword spear ftw

[@danielnolan8848]

Banished knight halbard for int, pebble ash of war in particular

[@jamesnesran2348]

I am partial to the commanders standard nyself

[@Maconviking]

Yay count me in on the discord! Loving your style of content, I’ve watched every video multiple times and taken notes for my own builds

[@Chrightt]

:D Cya there!

[@AceAviations2]

One important thing to note about the Clayman's Harpoon, if you're running equal amounts of Strength and Intelligence (like 40/40 to 50/50) then you'll want to keep the weapon Affinity to Standard instead of Heavy if you're planning to buff it with Scholar's Armament as Heavy is actually worse due to the reduced Magic damage for the better Strength Scaling.

[@lol10801lol]

Surprised to hear no mention of Scholar's Armament for Claymans, since it scales way more with this buff than any other weapon. Was actually the first weapon I beat the game with while being under 125, mimic to spam ranni's moon with lusat and my character with only points in vig/end/int using this spear to push out damage numbers comparable to str/dex build while running a standard (no infusion) spear. The buff also works with Heavy/Keen/Quality and might be a valid option for PvE at 99str/99dex/99int quality build. Also, something to maybe note in the future videos that since Liurnia Academy grace is the main duel arena and it rains A LOT in Liurnia, Lightning weapons are quite a lot better and fire/flame is almost useless since it hits on increased fire res from being wet. Still worse than Keen/Heavy for good stat investments, but might be interesting for faith or int builds with a bit of dex for cast speed, lightning infusion for those might be better than magic/flame.

[@Chrightt]

Scholar's Armament gives the same damage regardless of what weapon you're using, but I get what you mean. This is in my buffs video instead of the spears but definitely worth noting because clayman's is sorta made for magic/cold.

[@Axelux99]

> uses magic and summons > uses mimic tear > brags about beating the game bellow 125 Not trying to be toxic or anything, you do what you want. I just want a little trolling :)

[@elevatedtommypickles1740]

@@Axelux99 who gives a fuck

[@TrueComboKing]

@@Axelux99 Lol, as long as you have fun in this wonderful game then you’re doing it right. That being said, fk scholars armament. Real chads use Unseen Blade. Real talk though….Unseen Blade is REALLY good. I don’t remember the invisible weapon spells being this good in previous souls titles. It truly makes your weapon invisible and the surprise when they get smacked with an invisible sword dance weapon art is hilarious. TLDR - you don’t really need a whole ton of damage buffs. I’ve learned that investing in vigor and possibly a secondary utility stat like mind or stamina is much more useful than extra points in your damage stat. #1 - the weapon art always scales off of the weapon level, so you’re fine on that note and #2 the increase in damage, the higher level your stat of choice goes, really isn’t that much and if you’re doing PvP only then you don’t need all the extra damage. Your opponent will do the work for you by not investing in Vigor and instead investing in pure raw damage, lol.

[@Getsugaru]

A fun trick with the Clayman's Harpoon is to not give it any elemental attunement so that you can then buff it with a grease or spell such as Scholar's Armament (the latter making the Spinning Weapon Art of War terrifying from what I've seen, though I haven't actually crunched the numbers vs. Magic infusion...).

[@nathanielsullivan647]

Since Clayman's Harpoon has a lot of unique things about it and since there are a LOT of comments mentioning it, I felt like it might be useful to some for me to point out the results of my comprehensive theory craft/min-maxing with the weapon (warning: very long, only read if you're interested in hyper-optimization, and you'll need a third-party source like the build planner from the pvp discord to compare scaling ratings for certain decisions): - The only difference between Cold and Magic infusions on Clayman's Harpoon and other weapons is that its Magic AR is proportionally much higher than its Piercing AR; its INT scaling rating compared to other weapons is actually not very exceptional compared to other Magic/Cold-infused weapons, and the raw base Magic AR it has, while better than most weapons with similar reqs, is not as incredibly high comparatively as you may think. This means that if you are using either infusion and/or are going for a pure INT build, while Clayman's is still a decent low-ish req option, it is certainly not the only one considerable if you're looking for better AR. It is also worth noting that Magic/Cold-infused enhanced weapon attack WAs like Loretta's Slash, the follow-up hit of Glintstone Pebble, and the weapon swing of Chilling Mist (Spinning Weapon may also be included, though I'm unsure) all scale with both the AR and the INT scaling rating of the weapon. With that in mind, the best alternative for better WA scaling in my opinion would be Magic-infused Banished Knight's Halberd as (when directly comparing to Clayman's) its reqs aren't much higher (only 2 more points with astrologer), it's scaling rating is roughly 10% better, it has a great poking move set with some variety, and only has ~13 less base Magic AR when fully upgraded and much, much more base Physical AR. - Many will mention its ability to be buffed with Scholar's Armament when it is default or physically infused. This is worth noting for two reasons: 1. this allows you to both increase the weapon's base Magic AR and your spell's AR at the same time and 2. the buff is more efficient due to how split scaling works. To clarify the second point a bit more, resistances affect each AR type individually, and it acts very similarly (though not exactly) to a flat damage reduction, punishing lower values much more than higher values. Since Clayman's already has split scaling and has higher base total AR than other weapons to account for that (normally this wouldn't matter since the calculation would balance things out), you're getting much more value out of the armament buff than you would normally. However, I only recommend this if you are building for max INT and min STR/DEX casters as Scholar's Armament only really beats pure physical scaling when at roughly 70-80 INT and at that point hybrids better than actual hybrids at meta levels. I will also recommend Default scaling for this since it has a much better INT scaling rating than Heavy and Keen (there's a number behind that letter!) AND has higher base Magic AR, so much so that I'd argue the casting speed you get from DEX with Keen is hardly worth it comparatively. In summary, here's the ideal setup for each build: - Best Off-Hand Melee for Pure Caster Builds: if you're using Scholar's Armament, Default-infused Clayman's Harpoon, no competition. Otherwise, your best options would be similar to those Magic-infused WA scaling. - Best Magic-Infused WA Scaling: there's more flexibility for this choice, but I'd recommend Banished Knight's Halberd specifically. Look for lower reqs and weight here, though INT scaling values can be useful for enhanced weapon WAs (WAs that involve an attack separate from the weapon such as Carian Phalanx or the pebble of Glintstone Pebble are only effected by the affinity itself and your INT stat, making the AR and scaling rating on it's associated weapon less important). Thrusting swords and ofc Clayman's Harpoon are solid options as well. - Hybrid DEX/INT or STR/INT builds (meta levels): Cold-infused (aside from un-infuseable) weapons with very high scaling of either physical stat, with much less concern about low reqs. Cold is great not only for the status infliction but for the fact that it does not reduce physical scalings nearly as much as Magic does. Also consider powerstancing since it's overall very strong on many weapons and since status benefits from the increase in attack rate. There's much more flexibility around this, but to provide some examples (not an exhaustive list by any means); Cross-Naginata, Lucerne, and Moonveil are pretty exceptional for the DEX variants; and Clayman's Harpoon, Pike, and Nightrider Glaive are all good choices for STR variants. For builds like this, a 40+/50 split is usually recommended as the elemental AR softcap is extremely efficient comparatively (50 gives you 66% for standard physical scaling and 80% for elementals such as magic) and you don't want to skimp out on sorcery damage. DEX/INT builds that use Radagon's Icon should also consider stopping at 40 DEX and putting further points into INT instead, as further points into DEX will not significantly effect your casting speed.

[@mytsw]

Awesome write-up, though I have a question regarding AoW damage: You claimed that "Magic/Cold-infused WAs like Glintstone Pebble and Carian Phalanx scale off of a weapons scaling rating, not the weapon's AR." However I saw Glintstone Pebble and Phalanx have "isAddBaseAtk" set to TRUE. I will do more in-game testing later but if what you said is true, Magic Dagger will have the highest Pebble combo damage, or if we're talking strictly about Halberds, Magic Vulgar Militia Shotel wins against Banished Knight's with 126.9% Int scaling, right?

[@nathanielsullivan647]

@@mytsw This is true and you do have a point. EDIT: Firstly, as I mention in the next reply, the whole "the scaling rating effects how non-weapon swing WAs scale" is misinfo; this is only true for "enhanced" weapon swing WAs that have a small buff of the matching affinity (Flaming Strike and the follow-up hit of Glintstone Pebble for example), so this strength of Shotel is not as strong as I may have previously suggested. Also, there are a few other things to consider beyond just the scaling rating with a weapon, such as reach, total AR, and (arguably most importantly) move set. Part of the reason why I recommend Banished Knight's over Shotel is because of the fast, long-reach poke basic R1s and slight overall range advantages. I will admit that I have a lot of bias since the poke move set is much more important in PvP, however, given that Shotel's AR is only very slightly better, and given that the R2s of Banished Knight's still swing and can cover what might've been a hole in the move set, I think Banished Knight's still wins out in the end. As for the dagger point, I will refer to the above argument again; daggers have a very large number of drawbacks compared to, well, most other weapons in general: low range, low damage (aside from crits), low stagger potential. For almost all intents and purposes, they are worse straight swords. That being said, when speaking about the Glintsone Pebble combo specifically, it's worth mentioning that the weapon hit part of the attack IS affected a lot by the weapon's AR, which is why weapons like halberds are particularly good choices. While the scaling rating of dagger would have a decent effect on the weapon hit portion, Shotel is not much behind it in scaling rating while also having a MUCH better AR. While still somewhat behind in scaling rating, Banished Knight's difference is *likely* marginal (could be wrong here though) when it's only a

[@nathanielsullivan647]

@@mytsw Oh, and on the datamining thing: I understand why it had that setting for Glintstone Pebble (given the combo), though the Carian Phalanx bit is confusing. The write-up is based on the abundance of info created by the research of the folks in the PvP discord (sooooo many spreadsheets), and this specific bit is in reference to the difference between weapon, "enhanced" weapon, and "bullet"-based WA scaling calculations (the middle having the associated scaling enhance damage a little, while the latter having its own AR. Lastly, after double checking myself, I have learned that the whole "bullet arts scaling with your weapon's scaling" is actually a bunch of bullshit >_>. It was a misremembering/misinterpreting of previous information I've had. Only the affinity, weapon upgrade level, and level of the relevant stats effect bullet art damage... will edit everything accordingly, and sorry for the misinfo! In short, this means that in the case of pure INT builds and builds using bullet magic WAs, there's simply just a little bit more flexibility. The likely place where I got the misremembered info from is the fact that enhanced weapon hit WAs are affected by the scaling rating as well as the weapon's AR, and the former factor is unique to this type of WA afaik.

[@frowningmirror8097]

I was using it two handed, and I don't know if its unique, but it had running roll catches and a backstep attack that was quick and diagonal, I think its one of the best weapons I played around with

[@HalcyonEX]

What's a good spear for faith builds? The guy in the vid didn't cover that unless I missed something

[@GKoopa]

one thing that i think would be worth mentioning is how the spiked spear has a unique damage type for spears (strike on its heavy attacks) it's not very relevant for pvp but it's nice not having to pack another weapon for strike-weak enemies like imps.

[@smoofbrain]

After doing quite a bit of testing and digging around in the game files, I can somewhat safely say that, unfortunately, none of the (spiked) spear's attacks actually deal any strike damage, despite the description stating otherwise. Even to imps, the Partisan and Spiked Spear deal practically identical damage. ___ If there's one thing I've learnt from playing FROMSOFT's games over the years, it's to: "be wary of item description", and to take what they read with a somewhat sizeable pinch of salt. As for other items with, perhaps, rather ambiguous descriptions, the Lucerne and Warpick spring to mind: Lucerne - _". . . its long handle can be utilized to get around an enemy's guard with a sideward sweeping attack."_ Warpick⁽ˢᵗʳᶦᵏᵉ⁾ - _". . . the weighty _*_piercing_*_ ᵇʳᵘʰ attack casually rips through metal armor."_ (≖_≖ )

[@okonkwojones]

That’s a really great tip, thanks!

[@jrodriguez9608]

Wow. That analysis was impressive. Wasn't expecting it to be so in depth. This and the talisman guide(with math!) Just got you a new subscriber. Can't wait to watch more videos. Would LOVE to see your analysis on bows, light vs long vs great or bows vs crossbows would be cool

[@Chrightt]

👍 For sure, and welcome aboard.

[@issun135]

I eagerly await the colossal weapon video. will i be validated in my Golem's Halberd choice or is it just the worst colossal weapon? cant wait to find out.

[@Shmethan]

Hey no matter what it's got style points. And it's hilarious with quickstep

[@SToNeOwNz]

It is in a league of its own, for better or worse.

[@mugetsu_51]

I glad I was able to find your channel I honestly I don’t know why I check other click bait KZbin videos when it comes to the “best” weapons in elden ring when you go in-depth as you do so I hope you get recognition in the future

[@Chrightt]

Thanks! It's quite hard to beat the algorithm as a small youtuber especially because I don't like click-baity thumbnails like "6 secret weapons" or what not as it wouldn't fit the content of the video itself. I can only hope people who are interested in breakdowns will have others link my video :)

[@DW461]

The advantage of the Pike's R2 would actually be a direct counter to a major weakeness of spears: They lose to jumping attacks. That swipe upward would knock people out of the air if they tried to jump at you.

[@palahbutoh]

Love your vids, so damn good. Would love to see a comparison of spells, both sorceries and incantations for range and fp efficiency

[@Chrightt]

I already have the damage %/FP efficiency on my dual wield staff video! Check the spreadsheet linked to it.

[@___.51]

Great video. I wish the pike had a different heavy r2 as well, something that actually made use of it's one redeeming feature. If you know what you're doing the better spacing can be game-changing when clearing certain dungeons and fighting some bosses though. I like the greatshield/pike poke + shabriri's woe for co-op assist. Even though it's suboptimal it's great for drawing and keeping aggro.

[@Chrightt]

Yeah, not sure what the Pike's R2 is supposed to do.

[@TrueComboKing]

Pro tip - Death ritual spear weapon art combined with the mage gravity pull spell is a fun one to pull off. A really pretty looking combo is Rykards Rancor x 2, the founding rain of stars (I forgot the actual name. Not stars of spam. It’s the legendary spell that summons an AoE overhead that shoots a bunch of projectiles directly below it), then the weapon art for death ritual spear followed very fast by gravity pull to pull the enemy into your rykards rancor explosions and the rain of stars AoE. I made a really stupid mage build which was actually fun and slightly effective in PvP. It revolved around creating annoying stage hazards. I had poison mist incantation, frost mist, fia’s mist, the silver mist (super good if you use it with frost mist, it’s impossible to see the silver mist inside the frost mist. I had the multiple projectile gravity pull in my spell slot as well as the founding rain of stars AoE. Once the fight begins, I start off with frost mist which usually gives me some breathing room and if it doesn’t then I follow up with the silver mist followed by the founding rain of stars then poison mist then Fia’s mist and then the multiple projectile gravity pull. I actually deathblighted 4 people and damn does it feel good.

[@SToNeOwNz]

Of all the magic based pvp I've seen spell spam is the worst, i think you're really on to something, this is how it should be played.

[@jolteontrainer]

This dude knows his spacing ;o

[@voxstelarum]

Cross-naginata has been a favorite of mine since the first swing. Really nice analysis

[@nickperri6571]

Perfect timing, I’ve been trying to plan out a few spear builds recently

[@themonarchserupt4051]

been playing a mage build, got a clayman harpoon and got to like 500AR with the magic enchantment spell and minimum requirements in combat attributes, only 40 int yet spears are and have always been great, the greatspears are especially nice for staggers

[@rin-senpai7115]

I dislike how good Cross-Naginata is in power-stance because I love its one-handed and 2-handed moveset so much. Also power-stancing spears looks kinda stupid imo. I still love using it in combination with a shield. Good GC, poking behind guarding and the good 1-handed moveset. Not meta, but more fun to me.

[@Chrightt]

Yeah, powerstancing spears looks funny af.

[@Morden97]

Agreed I don't like powerstancing spears it looks so dumb 😅😅

[@TheKripox]

Shieldpokes is the most meta thing in the game. Honestly, even dual bleed naginatas isnt as powerful as a fingerprint shield with a good poke weapon.

[@mechamahou8467]

@@TheKripox wouldn't the dual bleed overcome the shield tho?

[@TheKripox]

@@mechamahou8467 The problem is that if you attack the shield with your dual spears and he pokes you back, you take a direct hit to the face with potential counter hit damage, and he takes zero direct damage but only bleed buildup. Even if you manage to bleed him in a single hit, you lose the trade, as bleed procs with zero other damage to back them up can't match counter hits, especially if the shield poker has spear talisman. If you can't bleed him in a single hit you obviously get completely fucked, you have to trade 2 times to get a single bleed off. You can't really trade, which immediately puts you at a major disadvantage.

[@Gakusangi]

It's worth noting that the only reason you'd use Clayman's over something like the Cross Naginata or Bolt of Gransax is if you're a mage build (or at least an Intelligence oriented build) and you use something like Glintstone Pebble on it. This combo can be a one-shot kill in PvP pretty easily. The pebble, though short-ranged deal hefty damage and is a guaranteed stun in most cases, at which point you'll follow-up heavy attack into a lunge that should finish off the rest of the target's HP. It's often not very effective as just a spear, but should still deal decent damage thanks to the Int scaling. If you wanna kick it up a level, you can avoid the magic infusion (Is still recommend Glintstone Pebble) and use Scholar's Armament to buff it up to hilarious amounts of damage very easily.

[@Aaron6791ae]

So would the spike spear be a good alternative to run with a Cross Naginata, if you only have one.

[@themonarchserupt4051]

as always nice video id like to add the clayman harpoon is better off with the base version for mages since u can infuse it with the magic weapon spell as well resulting in higher AR also, could u add an image of the respective weapon when comparing the defaultw eapons?

[@Chrightt]

ok, good idea. I'll try this. q_q gonna be a lot more work too ripperoni.

[@alisorvoluntas9790]

This honestly makes me beg the question on what kind of spear I should use for one of the runs I am doing. Said run involves me trying to use ALL Incantations (so It's a Faith focused build with some investment in INT for the Golden Order Incantations and Arcane for the Dragon Incantations). Bear in mind, my faith investment stops at 50. With the rest going to Vigor, Mind, Endurance, and the Physical stats (STR and Dex). But that still concerns me in regards to options. Flame/Sacred don't seem to be all that great on Spears, Inquisitor's Girandole is a bit heavy for my tastes, and the Cleanrot Spear is really only ok. (I know I have better Faith options with Greatspears but still wanted to know how spears fared) Am I just out of luck in trying to use spears with this build? :/ Edit: At the very least, the video has given me some insight for options on my other builds. So thanks greatly for that!

[@Chrightt]

In general, for a faith-focused build I would not use spears as weapons, but... there are Great Spears! Hint* Hint* Ahem* Treespear

[@alisorvoluntas9790]

@@Chrightt Ahhh yes, the illustrious Treespear and its Unique Heavy attack that I hear so much about xD. I did notice that Greatspears in General are better for Faith builds. I just wanted to see if there were options with the less weightier counterparts. Though, to be honest, I have never tried the Treespear before so I might give it a shot now, thanks!

[@LOWB90]

Love this video, keep it up! You are the best source for pure numbercrunch and moveset dmg. I would not have considered moveset dmg until you brought it up in your claws vid

[@thecherries2011]

waiting patiently for the greatsword guide :3 Awesome vids man

[@KAJYT6969]

Welcome back Chright

[@Chrightt]

😘 Thanks for the ranges once again.

[@KAJYT6969]

@@Chrightt always

[@benjaminerickson704]

How does this dude not have more subs

[@arynasabalenka3173]

The Pike's strong attack is good against flying enemies

[@jkomodo]

Thankyou for making these videos! I hope eventually you'll be able to go over all the weapon classes cause it's really REALLY helpful. You gr8 man.

[@Chrightt]

That's the plan!

[@albertobernal2537]

Your content is a first class info source treasure fountain bro! So glad I'm subbed. So good I can't just binge watch the library because keen attention is needed. BTW, the voice makes me think the breakdown is being given by cutting edge AI! 🤣🤣🤣

[@Chrightt]

😂 That sounds better than saying I'm putting you to sleep.😜

[@albertobernal2537]

​@@Chrightt Quit mentioning that bro. If anyone ever suggested your videos are sleep-inducing then that's on them. Being an ex science teacher I can now (finally) freely say: F*** dumb kids and their short attention spans! :P *If by any chance you're reading this: very much looking forward to your Greatspears and Debuffs videos as per Discord. Just go easy and don't burn out, Asian dude! Your work is mightily appreciated! :D (and yes, that's me fishing for a nationality clue :P).

[@BrinkMira]

Hi, it's Afro Chicken from Discord. Your Elden Ring videos are top notch.

[@L0rd_0f_War]

Looking forward to your Greatsword breakdown. Keep up the good work.

[@Koblizzard]

I'm always looking forward to watching these videos, fantastic job man! Some of the best and most in-depth Elden Ring content out there right now. I just recently tried your night sorcerer build (adjusted for RL125) and it's been real solid. Can't wait to get all the weapon classes, or a video showcasing some armor setups which both look good and hit good poise breakpoints.

[@peri5552]

here i am, playing the game more than a year, pretty much always having the spear talisman along with my lightning spears at dex build, finding out it actually doesn’t do anything 😅 great content. so essentially, spear talisman pretty much only shines with heavy/keen infusions. it has always been hard for me to give up lightning because of low lightning defense, unless someone counters with buffs/talismans is very viable, and I’m not saying this because of the AR (AR itself is pretty misleading, split damage is way better in ER compared to DS3, but the magic/holy greases only add around 100, which goes puff due to defense/negation), it just does more damage when you hit someone at 60 dex. I’d like to utilize keen infusion more but most of the time I don’t like bothering with applying weapon buffs/greases, simply don’t have time when fighting or just forgetting it. But for sure, I’ll have my keen cross-nagis to actually utilize the spear talisman now haha. It goes without saying but just to make it clear the stuff I said above are for PvP.

[@jared5200]

I too am just realizing this now. And that's after getting gold rank in arena with several different characters all using spears with either lightning, fire, or sacred infusions. I'm starting to think now, could i have been doing more damage with heavy/keen infusions. Although I do think it's worth considering most players will be using boiled crabs or black flame protection, so the split damage may perform better, or at least similar, in those cases. I'm not really sure. I do know in the rain though, lightning infusions hit like a truck. I've hit players for 1k damage with cross naginatas from a neutral L1 in the rain, so it may be worth having a lightning infusion in the inventory for situations like that.

[@grymgungus3933]

The pike's r2 could be very useful at sniping ancient dragon heads while they're holding them up, but I suppose using Giant Hunt on another spear could do the job as well.

[@nickboening321]

Love your videos! Excited for the best axe videos - I’ve been rocking the warped axe since week one

[@vasconeto8361]

What I get from this video is that Naginata needs to go to the nerf room Way to powerful compared to other spears

[@Chrightt]

Pretty much :(

[@jigdakm]

Agreed. It's the same situation with the bandit's curved sword, although to a lesser degree with that weapon since it doesn't win out in AR by such a large margin by comparison

[@basemendt]

It needs to be toned down a bit and the standard spears need a significant buff imo

[@jackdhammer]

I think nerfing it would make it useless like the other spears. Buffing the unique spears and slightly buffing certain aspects of the others would give you more variety. But seriously, why can't there be one or two weapons in each weapon type that simply outclass the others? They should be late game or locked behind a really tough optional boss or possibly a quest line but nothing wrong with an Excalibur amongst straight swords. And if you say pvp, well that is basically a tournament of champions. The best weapons, spells and gear would only be used anyway. Unless you are like "Let Me Solo Her" and can win with a pot and a club.

[@mechamahou8467]

@@jackdhammer let me solo her used Rob and a blood katana. Literally the most meta weapons I the game. He's good, but let's not pretend he wasn't using the literal best stuff in the game lol

[@theloneant]

Thanks! I love your scientific breakdown on weapons. Looking forward to a breakdown on Thrusting Weapons!

[@deepfriedrobo]

Love all of your videos! So informative and helps me think about builds I want to craft. I would love to see you do twin blades next!

[@Ignawesome]

Great video as always. I already can't wait for the next one!

[@Shrimpiclese]

Thanks for the video @Chrightt , really informative and I learned a lot. Hope to see a Great Spear video soon. Keep up the great work.

[@nextstrayed]

Does the Bolt of Gransax have any faith component to it's scaling, such as on the weapon art? Or is it all in the STR and DEX stats? I would assume the latter since faith wasn't mentioned, but asking just in case.

[@Chrightt]

No problem. It's all str/dex!

[@nextstrayed]

@@Chrightt Ty!

[@samfish2550]

I kinda wish that the spiked spear was a halberd or at least ran as a spear that duel wielded as a halberd just to add some more swing varients

[@itszaque]

Occult naginata and poison spiked spear carried me through late game in March, great combo. I’m mainly hear for the pike as a long range counter poke build is always a blast

[@jojorobmum]

Thanks for these vids. I'm still finishing first playthrough but using these videos to shortlist some weapons for next time through.

[@Chrightt]

np, always enjoy making a new playthrough fun!

[@VoidEternal]

Your mic quality is way better now. Thank you.

[@GorchaxGaming]

is there any easy to understand/compare info about the difference in length between Pike and Lance or Pike and Nightriders Halberd or Pike and The best Heavy Thrust sword. As in, how does the length compare between classes valuevise. If i wanna do a stab poke build and go Str/Lance using blood tax, how does that compare mechanically in range with a Pike with blood tax. I have looked through the specific weaponclass videos, but i have a hard time grasping the difference in length and the value of said length when comparing different weapontypes. In short, HOW much shorter is the lance reach or halberd reach to the pike. (I really really hate the pike heavy).

[@Loverboychad]

Been waiting on this one my guy thanks

[@MrMastrmonstr]

Still waiting on a dagger video but im here for all of it

[@Chrightt]

Might be sooner than you think. 😜

[@Wytooken]

daggers in general need a buff. maybe their moveset

[@gillriet773]

I like the Partisan, I often farm it at the first set of ruins by the stormgate early game. This last time around I got to level 40 without doing much else before I got a pair 😅

[@IdToaster]

Would the altered R2s that Braggart's Roar gives make a 2-handed Pike a little less sad?

[@StructuralIntegrity.]

I really like the cross naginata. My character is dragon communion based with dexterity as an additional offensive stat. Should i go keen with my naginata and buff with bloodflame blade? Or occult with no buff? My stats would be base requirements if occult with 60 arc. If i went keen I'd go 45/45 dex/arc

[@buckingtonhassleshire9136]

great video and exactly what i was looking for

[@Julius_Caesar69420]

What if I infuse the claymans harpoon with a sacred infusion for an int/faith build? I don't like the SoNaF

[@Chrightt]

I think I explained in the video triple-scaling is a really bad idea especially when you're not really gaining much AR. Refer to defense calculations. SoNaF has innately more AR than other straight swords and still kinda sucks to swing around.

[@pannychanman]

Man, I had no idea about the Short Spear charged R2 heavy, I thought it was just a crappy version of Treespear's R2. A 300-style spartan build with Shield Crash would be super fun imo.

[@dragonhearthx8369]

What are your thoughts on the "impaling thrust" AoW? How does it do damage calculations? One thing I have noticed is that it ignores the damage reduction from shields and pumpkin heads.

[@Chrightt]

Have all the data on my discord. Impaling Thrust ignores 85 shield guard value.

[@WildspeakerYT]

I'm testing powerstancing Keen Naginata off-hand and Gransax in main hand, I don't wanna focus too much only on spaming L2 bc when I get close battle without spacing normally I get fcked, and I like a lot the L1 powerstancing attack pattern, I'm having some problems choosing talismans, other than turtle one are kinda flex, shard of alexander, more poise and increase attack when bloodloss in vicinity are my current ones

[@SaturninePlaces]

15:14 Are there even any weapons in the game you would be better two-handing over doubling up on? I can't imagine how the strength boost or moveset change beats out having a second weapon hitting as well... Edit: And these videos are great, but I think the length of most weapons are way too close to even bother comparing. Like, the difference between the longest and shortest spears is like, a foot? IMO the 5% boost to length for many weapons is meaningless compared to the damage and move set of the weapon. Still great to cover though.

[@Chrightt]

Yeah, particularly the heavier weapons are often good 2handed instead of powerstanced because of their weight investment assuming you won't be using the powerstanced moveset much (i.e. colossal swords).

[@AntiTheory]

The Pike is everything I wish the Lance was. The only drawback is the terrible heavy attack.

[@SilverTwinkle]

I wish we could at least infuse the Torchpole with a fire or non elemental weapon art/affinity.

[@nolongeraperson]

Glad to see my first character's weapon of choice came to shine. I slapped Ice Spear on it until I got Spectral Lance and then Occult carried me through the rest of the game. Not only does the lance like to headshot most enemies, it also does ridiculous stagger damage. Which made the naginata a threat at all ranges.

[@qwormuli77]

I hate how much better they made the Nagi in pretty much every way to the other spears. Why do the other ones even exist? It's a bit of a problem with all of the weapon classes or broader niches, to be honest. You pick a weapon hailing from the mythical "land of reeds", you win. Otherwise, pick again. But other than that, thanks for the 20 minutes of very good analysis!

[@noiseagle1593]

hej chrightt! great video as always. do you plan on doing a video about poise and stance break in pve?

[@Chrightt]

I can do one for sure.

[@InsaneCarverUpqik]

the pike is really good in pvp with sword dance, that range roll catches very well XD

[@InMustafar]

Excelente video, I'm curious about critical damage in weapons, why the misericordé still does more critical damage than a better scaling weapon that has less critical multiplier? I'm kind of still confused by the scaling and critical modifiers

[@Chrightt]

The short version is because people think the crit damage modifier is the ONLY thing that modifies crit damage which is wrong. Weapon types have their own base critical damage modifier (daggers are high). Misericorde takes that high modifier and does 1.4x the damage, so it is super high.

[@prins-henrik1530]

Is the 1.08 thrust damage nerf in pvp enough to make flame sacred better on hybrid builds?

[@Chrightt]

Depending on your stat spread, yes.

[@extraterrestrialgoose8738]

I'm late, but can you guard while light attacking with the cross naginata? It has a different light attack so idk

[@Chrightt]

Yes, thrusting weapons can shield poke regardless of their light attack.

[@selfishisaiah610]

If i uae vykes war spear with a frenzy buil is tht any good?

[@Byssbod]

This is an excellent video I look forward to more

[@EazyHelper]

What about vykes spear

[@Asthetxcs3022]

That's a heavy spear😂😂😂

[@IKuzmos]

What about cleanrot spear?

[@lepyramid5730]

Power-stance Pikes have been my go to for my STR build, despite the Cross-Naginatas having overall better AR by a considerable amount even with a heavy infusion. The added range makes it so much easier to roll catch, and to me that is too good to pass up.

[@ulyaoth3579]

Hey can you revisit the Regalia of Eochaid, it's essentially Arcane / Dex but I would like to min/max

[@Chrightt]

I already did it after 1.04 update: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJfHXmNvoptmqpY just check if my guides have the weapon type you're looking for.

[@liztuber]

so would something like a 40 dex/40 int spread for the death ritual spear be efficient for balancing weapon art damage and regular AR? its for sure the coolest looking spear in the game to me and i wanna give it a try sometime

[@Chrightt]

Yes, this would allow it to do decent damage if you're to use it to stab. Just a FYI on the soft cap you'll probably want to aim for 58 dex/50 int when you have enough stat points.

[@liztuber]

@@Chrightt thanks!!

[@willyuhler3417]

Love your vids sir I’ve learned so much! How about a regular curved sword breakdown?

[@Chrightt]

Will definitely be getting there!

[@jamesnesran2348]

can someone explain why quality gets so much shit? I have 40 str 40 dex so how could any other infusion be better?

[@Chrightt]

You can take a look at some of my first few weapon breakdowns or examine the numbers in the video. If you invest into 80 points of stat in str/dex mixed versus just investing 70 points into either str/dex for heavy/keen your heavy/keen will still beat the quality infusion. For PVP meta levels or even sub level 200 PVE progression, this just means that quality is always a crap choice.

[@aeon_genesis]

I have a question: I like RKR AoW, but since it cancels any existing weapon armaments/greases, I thought maybe 80% dmg increase will make split dmg weapons better than pure phys? Or it still won't be enough to make the dmg numbers high enough? Just trying to find the best way to use this AoW since it suits my play style well :)

[@Chrightt]

It doesn't help at all because % dmg increase applies *after* MV check. Critical Boost applies *before* the check.

[@aeon_genesis]

@@Chrightt oh, got it! physical infusions it is, then (at least seems like it). Thanks for the answer!

[@Lyeron]

I quite liked powerstance spears but found Cross-Naginata being the best option almost all the time. Was hoping this would show me something I'd missed, bleh! Nerf Nagi. Justice for the other spears! 😠

[@Sir.Catsanova]

No, just buff the other spears

[@salvadornavarromarttinen1857]

@Chrightt yo! Have you tried claymans spear normal affinity with spinning magic weapon art combined with scholar's weapon enhancement spell. Relatively insane with weapon art build

[@Zopharus]

so since u didnt mention the MV or animation of performing an actualy counter attack, doing the heavy attack after blocking with a shield, i assume its the same across the board for all the spears? otherwise amazing video as always

[@Chrightt]

Yes, as a general rule, guard counter damage is the same per weapon type with like one notable exception only.

[@Tubercollosal]

Amazing analysis.

[@043Tarzan]

I’d love to see a great sword breakdown. I was a huge godskin stitcher fan but I think I’m falling in love with the forked great sword

[@lillonerboi504]

Fast forward to his greatsword analysis😬

[@jgoodall5404]

Unbelievable ask and you shall receive. Thanks

[@cameron818]

Spiked Spear?

[@andremansour6655]

When do u think the pvp version of the night wielder build will be out

[@Chrightt]

Next video

[@andremansour6655]

@@Chrightt ayy can’t wait

[@xenosayain1506]

Hmm. Imma put my preferred and hope they're good. I main partisan for my spears. I like the move set, speed, and low weapon requirements for my spelblade.

[@xenosayain1506]

Mu love also comes from it swipe heavy. Unlocking and throwing that to the side or behind me is awesome when someone tries to roll through or dodged my thrusts. It has saved me numerous times

[@xenosayain1506]

And I was wrong. Didnt even know spiked spear existedXD

[@Chrightt]

🤣 You can give it a try. I think it's better than the Partisan for the most part.

[@xenosayain1506]

@@Chrightt I may. Granted I ended up switching to a dex faith build centered around the guardian swordspear. I can't wait to see you cover halberds:)

[@xenosayain1506]

@@Chrightt the glaive as well. I like the dmg o.ln swordspear, but the moveset of the glaive

[@Chonus]

what does he mean by saying running while blocking helps you not pivot, and this can get you killed?

[@Chrightt]

When you pivot, there is a lag where you stand in place, so even easily strafe-able moves like a comet can hit you.

[@imunoriginal1859]

Any plans for a twinblade guide? Love the vids, very in depth

[@Chrightt]

Coming soon-ish.

[@edxlee]

Clayman's with Scholar's Armament is my goto for my int build, plus the low weight is a plus. Wish i could put scholars on left hand spear too

[@Gohma55]

Best I can do you for is two magic greases. Two hand your left hand weapon and use the grease, then go back to dual wielding and use a grease on that too. Alternatively, you can infuse your left hand weapon with magic and just buff your right hand one, but not being able to buff your left hand weapon with a seal/staff is kinda frustrating, at the cost of being balanced.

[@edxlee]

@@Gohma55 yeah right now my left is magic infused and i just buff my right, o well it would be pretty op if you could buff both i guess

[@tocyounger1062]

Dude... thia is great stuff!!!

[@Chrightt]

Thanks! Check out my other weapon videos if you haven't already yet.

[@rocketsocks3116]

I prefer 2 blood pikes for pvp and 2 occult naginatas for pve. Blood pikes are easier to proc bleed with and you can safely stab people who are using greatswords which are extremely common. They may do less damage but the east bleeds more than make up for it.

[@mechamahou8467]

Why not blood spiked pikes instead?

[@rocketsocks3116]

@@mechamahou8467 the spiked spear already does bleed so its better to infuse it with occult. Theres no reason to put Bleed infusion on a weapon that naturally does bleed, with 50 or 60 Arcane it only does a little more bleed build up for way less damage than occult.

[@mechamahou8467]

@@rocketsocks3116 really? Wow. I always thought double dipping into bleed would just maximize bloodloss potential. Guess I was wrong. Knowing this info really helps, thanks.

[@rocketsocks3116]

@@mechamahou8467 ya, every weapon in the same category will do the same blood loss build up with Bleed infusion regardless of if it had bleed to begin with, so if you're going blood infusion you might as well use whichever weapon has the best move set/reach/damage in its category of weapons. But Bleed infused weapon have terrible damage scaling, so thats where naturally bleeding weapons shine because Occult infusion makes their blood loss scale with your Arcane stat almost as well as Bleed infusion does, but it also makes damage scale with your arcane stat way better and it also doesnt weaken other scaling as badly so you can still get a little use out of your strength and dexterity on an occult weapon.

[@IAmTheHomeDepot]

Can we get an ultra greatsword video? Mainly just the ranges

[@CttrPrfl]

You get runes for hitting stuff with the ribcage spear. I dont think its alot though but might add up if you dont care

[@a1b3do]

1:50 Great video. Not to nitpick, but it looks like the window for counter hits is actually the startup animation, not the recovery. This would to follow the model common to fighting games. Every attack has 1) startup frames, 2) active frames (deals damage to anything in the hitbox), and 3) recovery frames. Based on when the defence values change, counter hits occur when you hit a player during the startup frames (and active frames in the case of trades) of their attack, not the recovery frames.

[@Chrightt]

1:59 No, it isn't. If it was the startup animation you would've seen the VS pierce drop when I was rising on Gransax. I've checked this with the game labels for the moves. The counter hit period happens after the active frames (the part that deals damage). You can see from the bolt of gransax the moment you toss the lightning bolt it turns into recovery frames for the weapon art.

[@a1b3do]

​@@Chrightt It's different for the bolt of Gransax, there's probably unique properties for the startup animation of weapon skills because they are so long and vulnerable already. But for all regular attacks it's the startup and active frames that have reduced defense. That's what a counterattack in general, an intercept. The special property rewards the player for taking a risk, it wouldn't make sense to reward you for hitting someone in recovery.

[@Chrightt]

It's not different for regular attacks. You can try this out yourself if u can click faster or find a slower weapon like a colossal weapon swing. You're taking something from another game and equating it to ER when the ER mechanics work differently. Vulnerability frame for ER appears on the recovery phase rather than the attack phase because they're trying to reward you dodging a move and then counter attacking (especially on bosses) rather than trading a move out (in fighting games) before the enemy's attack can hit you.