Flails | Elden Ring Wiki

I'm just gonna say it. From Soft should give them the speed of a strait sword but the delay of a hammer.

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Flails are great for PvE. Rock them with a great shield and a solid ash like flaming strike, and you will find move of the game trivialized with it's great guard counter, innate bleed, and decent poise damage.

However, if you are interested in running into PvP with these, it can work, but while you're up on mt. effortest trying your best, a good player with most other weapons will be all the way down at the bottom in comparison, chilling at meta mc donalds while outranging, outdamaging, and outtrading you most of the time.

TLDR; Case example of "If you want to hate your build, play PvP"

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Flails are trendy now but for the wrong reasons thanks to that infamous chainsaw glitch. I wish From would have given these weapons the same moveset of the kusarigamas that the Vulgar Militia use, hell, I wish we could get that kusarigama too and turn this game into Nioh...

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tfw can't move around slightly during the charged R2 animation
why even live

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Mah flaehl… bring mi mah flael…

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Step 1, only use this as a dex build. Step 2, use the nightrider flail. Step 3, either give it an elemental buff if your int/faith is high or use bloodflame or the frequently forgoten, bleed grease (40 bleed instantly instead of over 4 sec). Step 4, use 1 handed when playing defensively (to use shield/spells) and 2 handed when agressively (to benefit from hyperarmor when going on the offensive)....Step 5, try to play like it's a spear, aiming to hit with the furthest hitbox to deal bonus damage. Step 6, don't only use a flail. switch to other weapons so you have other options in combat. Step 7, switch to flails/whips when meeting an opponent always parrying you or if they are weak to strike damage...Step 8, only do heavy attacks on opponents blocking or to stance break them (only PvE)

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I rush towards anyone using infusable flails in arena until I’m sure they aren’t trying to chainsaw me. If they bow or don’t block then backstep to start chainsaw glitch then I just bring out an off meta weapon. Sorry any flail users in arena but I’ve been chainsawed way too many times there.

Note for those who don’t know what chainsaw is: It’s a glitch where you use the ghiza’s wheel ash on serpent hunter with Rykard fight range. This can be done with a frame perfect input while switching between a spinning chain flail and serpent hunter. That is why I’m always a bit scared seeing two handed flail in arena.

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nobody:

flail users:

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Prolly the worst weapon class now that 1.10 exists. Passive poise is gone yet people consistently passive poise my flail (glitch?) and so many weapons now have hyper armor that gets bonus defense against your triple headed flail. A naked man was poising my flail through hyper armor. Oh and the damage was never great even before hyper armor was made obnoxious. I do more damage with a dagger.

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Innate bleed, extra damage for free via sweet-spot, moderate reach, good stagger damage, S strength for Chainlink, and A dexterity for all non-somber. AoW's are kinda bad though. Kinda slept on.

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Yea they kinda suck. Even with sweetspot mechanic (+12.5% dmg) they are meh. Also they deal slightly less poise dmg than hammers. You're usually better off using morning star or spiked club, or if you're fine without bleed stone club is pretty good, on both dex or str builds

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Dex strike damage. Literally the only reason to carry one.

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why tf spinning chain has no hyperarmor at any of its parts? -.-

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From please give me dat Spinning Chain ash of war. You can't hate flail enthusiasts this much.

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I lost to someone who was AFK while fighting with this.

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They created this weapons category just to please the Father Ariandel boss

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Flails seemed to be intended primarily as a way to give Dex characters access to a source of strike damage, what makes this funny is that even in this role they are outclassed by hammers.
A keen morning Star at 80 Dex is only slightly worse than a keen night rider flail, and a lightning morning Star is straight up better. And that's just comparing a hammer with innate bleed, as for some reason the Stone Club gets a really impressive ar when Keen.

I am glad Flails were added, but sad they are so underwhelming with almost no identity.

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Can't spell flail without fail

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Tried powerstancing, I used war cry because the charged R2 is so ass. Also the planets flail is top tier drip.

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Fun fact, apparently these weapons have a sweetspot mechanic around the ball of the weapon

Quite funny how these small weapons have a sweetspot mechanic (which makes sense in a way?), but spears, halberds, and greatspears always do the full amount of damage regardless of which part is hitting

So if you notice your flail's damage being inconsistent sometimes, try hitting from further away

Have fun with this knowledge :)

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This is the ultimate troll on new players. "Oh my god I got this awesome new weapon! I'll pump my dex to use it! It's going to be amazing" followed by: "This thing f'ing sucks! I should have picked mage build. Now I will level Int and keep my vigor at 10 because I'm dying anyway!"

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Why do 3 out of the 5 flails (which are bludgeoning strike weapons) inflict bleed, when the many of the slashing swords don't?

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this weapon class charged r2 has really a really big damage modifier compared to hammers (closest weapon class out there), sadly charge time is super long and there's no hyper armor, when the quicker mace's charged r2 has it.

knwoing this weapon class's huge stance damages, maybe there's something to do with endure and assassin's crimson dagger to simulate an hyperarmor and just heal back after you crit.

The big pro about it is just that it looks dope

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The dual-wielded running attack is so slow that you can punish it with a colossal sword by just rolling once and poking.

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Maybe they're not the best but gosh darn is it fun to swang that thang

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What flail would be good for a faith build? And also shield a shield aswell?

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Surprisingly viable if you swap to serpent hunter in the middle of the spinning chain ash.

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At this point I would be satistied if From at least give this class a considerable faster charged attack, since expecting a larger range and hitboxes feels delusional. It's a joke than even colossal hammers (Great Club, Prelate's) charged R2 come faster than flails. Another fix could be to give the R2's some hyperarmor and reduced damage while charging.

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Is it just me, or would a great flail weapon class be cool?

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I don't remember if they used to spin indefinitely, when you charge a mounted attack, but they don't anymore (maybe I didn't test both R1 and R2??) - BUT!! I feel like this is still the most reliable weapon to farm wildlife animals, if you're the type that has a compulsion to stock up on homemade arrows and golden feet in every playthrough, like me.
A perfect and very productive way to endure that obligatory monthly phonecall from your mother :D

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The whole point of adding a chain was to get more powerful strikes. So why the hell does these do less damage than hammers? Was being unparriable such an advantage that these needed to be slow, short and weak?

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A full dual-wielded r1 chain couldnt stagger a person wearing the bullgoat chestpiece. These truly suck ass.

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These are appearantly longer than the longest hammers.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTQILtI-Y6o

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Love the game and all the weapons, but still I must ask.... did they hire crackpots to implement these?

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say what you will about them as weapons. the sound design is peak

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There should have been a natural holy one. 'Cries in crusader'

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Powerstance has some hefty sound design and really impactful swings, very cool

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they weigh too much for what they are

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the charged heavy attack has a weird mechanic where it ramps up in damage with every spin of the chain. not like its remotely useful, but its cool

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so strange that you can't keep the spinning chain ash of war if you want an infusion, especially when other weapon arts would be better on other weapons for slow continuous attacks, like wild strikes or spinning strikes

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mfw the weapon designed the strike around guards doesn't strike around guards

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The range of flails is deceptive, don't rely on the graphic they provide.

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Hope we get one with a sick R2 in the DLC.

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More like Fails, am I right.

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we need the nagakiba of flails that has 3x the length

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charged attack is total cheeks, other than that its good

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Long time Souls player and I do love seeing something new. I always felt that flails are a good PVE weapon, not so great for PVP... Unless you like doing a lot of jumping R2's, rolling R1's, and sprinting R2's. Best to use the Storm Caller Ash of War, to stun lock foes, proc bleed and toss them on the ground for hilarious effect. Which is also a good way to handle minor bosses as well.
Excellent for mounted combat... you can ride under a dragon proc bleed, ride back out to bait an attack, ride back and proc bleed, rinse, repeat, ect....
I honestly don't feel they deserve the hate they get. They aren't a strength weapon, which the community has always preferred. They have a high stat requirement which is annoying. They could be lighter, faster, do more damage.. sure, sure... but you can finish the game with any weapon so big deal! I like them:P

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idk why they can be parried during weapon arts, it makes no sense

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Add rice flail!

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Anyone else find it weird that in a weapon class with 5 weapons, the two unique ones are both Int weapons? It's not as bad as Reapers being 50% Faith weapons, but still, it's a strange choice.

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These were bad before but they are average now. Pretty decent pve weapon especially if you decide to build around sweet spot. My only problem with then is the charged attack having to reason to take this long.

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spin2win

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1 whole frame. thank you for blessing us lord miyazaki

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My beloved bastard's stars got buffed!!!!

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Literally worst than its real life version where its handle is as long as spear. If they insist making it short, the swing speed should atleast as fast as nunchucks.

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Very slow. I don't really like to **** on weapons in general but this class just has slow combo and slow charged attacks.

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If you're going to make a weapon class have low ar, poor reach, and no hyper armor, at least make it a little faster.

I'm not about wait until the dlc drops for my heavy attack to come out and do a whopping 200 damage. That's just not right, Michael Zaki.

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They should have just dropped the L for a more accurate description of the weapon class. You are gonna get a lot of L's anyway if you try to pvp with them.

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Flails appear to have some sweet spot thing going on. They do more damage on most basic attacks than hammers with the same AR unless you hit with the very end of animation. I tested this on both dual wielded and one handed light attacks and jump attacks. This mechanic would explain why they made the base AR lower than similar weapons.

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it would be nice if flails could use axe ashes of war too, sword dance flail would be fun

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4 of these have innate bleed build up, plus a multi-hitting weapon art at base, plus the ability to re-infuse, and they still suck.
Well it's a good lesson that every factor is important in a situation.

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What I would do for this weapon class is improve the 1 handed light attacks and reduce the weight of all flails, to make them a good choice for lightweight builds or as a sidearm to accompany other weapons

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hammers but worse in every way. its redeeming quality is its ash of war, which you can't even take advantage of fully because on no infusions

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at least they do strike damage for the 2 enemies that are weak to it

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Judging by how over half of these are found in limgrave i think its safe to assume these were implemented early on and then completely forgotten about

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fromsoft, who the hell uses dual flails?

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slow? check. low AR? check. poor range? check. bad moveset? check. yup, this is one of the elden ring weapon classes of all time

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The power stance is alright now but the 1h and 2h lights and heavy lack range and speed for their damage. I get they can't be parried but only like 250 dmg on someone with around 30% damage negation just feels bad man when they don't even attack that quickily.

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I am seriously baffled that they didn't buff flails in 1.08. Both hammers and axes got speed and range buffs, yet flails were untouched.

(Yes I am aware the dual moveset was buffed)

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Dual flails are actually fairly strong now. I like having stamp upwards cut on the main hand for some pocket poise.

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the powerstanced version is.... kinda weirdly good now? i was rollcatching with it a lot

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make it so that it does tripple status buildup and we are good

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This weapon was literally designed to wrap around shields. Why doesn't it chip through shields like the shotel???

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the only kind of dex build i can respect. total gigachad weapon class.

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As of 1.07 (10/14/2022), there is still no Spinning Chain Ash of War.

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Horseback heavy attack is my favorite attack in the game. Just hold r2 and it hits them with every spin on the wind up, and nearly guarantees a stance break once the big swing comes in at the end, if they even live through it. Great for damage on crowds of mobs too, just gallop through them spinning your flail like an idiot and you'll hit all of them.

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Imagine if From created a great flail that was two-handed

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need to be faster to make up for poopoo damage and rang

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Flails are bad for many reasons and needs more than a buff to make them even on par with other weapons.

1. Lack of dexterity shields, forcing players to invest into strength when there can be dexterity shields.

2. Out of 5 flails there's only ONE that uses strength, Chainlink Flail, which is behind a rare drop making which makes point 1 much more annoying. Outshined by Morning star.

3. Flails are outshined by the mace's moveset which is nothing to brag about since it's one of the worst in the game unfortuantly. Morning star will beat flails anytime because it can thrust forward as well as hit horizontally, giving it a much more diverse moveset. It's heavy is also faster to use AND the strength requirement for Morning star allows anyone to get a 100 % blocking shield as long as you have the required stats for Morning star.

4. Bad moveset, it doesn't even try to hit enemies' heads even though most flails were made to do so, except for when you do a guard attack. But the horse combat reflects just that and considering people enjoy the horse combat with makes me suspect were supposed to be able to use horses in Co-op AND in some boss fights allowing flails to actually be useful.

5. Heavy attack is way too slow, bad range and not usable at all against anything that is moving away from you

6. The unique flail called Bastard's Stars is outshined by Wing of Astel and for some reason does not have a special heavy attack like Wing of Astel do. Only good thing it has is it deals strike damage.

7. Flails cannot swing their weapons at the same time as blocking.

Ya know what a flail can do but what a mace cannot do as easily? Swing the weapon around your head simultanously as you are guarding with your shield to scare away foes since it will give a free headshot to enemy, basically killing them most likely instantly. This alone would make it justifiable for the flail to use dexterity since it would require dexterious hands to do both at the same time without hitting yourself in the face.

But as right now I don't find flails to be dexterous except for when you're on the horse. If flails = dexterous according to Fromsoftware by spinning the weapon on the side of your body giving any enemy a free opening on you is dexterous idk what the hell they were thinking.

Make Flails great defensive tools and Maces great offensive tools!

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If you can get around 50 dex and either 50 int or 50 Faith with the regular flail or nightrider flail, you can use electrify armament or scholars armament with magic/lightning physic tears to make its ar go over 700 without infusing the. This allows you to use its unique ash of war and it not suck so much.

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You know how hammers are terrible in this game?
Imagine if they were even worse.

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When Dual-wielding two flails, I enjoy the extra effort the character puts into the swings, like he's REALLY angry.

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Is it just me or do these things look comically tiny? Idk if it's just because i'm too used to using bigger weapons, but the flails look ridiculously small in your hands.

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its a crime you cant infuse this with its default ash

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having trouble with parry spammers? you have a life and therefore no time for training "perfect timing skills" and "how to mash 10 different buttons at once without taking your eyes off the screen" all of that while becoming a 500 pound blob? well my friend, here's the perfect R1 R1 R1 solution for you, now you can have a life AND a chance of winning a lot of battles as well. enjoy ;)

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I actually don’t feel like flails are in a horrible spot, although I know that others do. The main buff I want them to get is better range, particularly to make their guard counter attack hit smaller enemies more consistently. One of the selling points of flails is that their guard counters do increased damage/poise damage and swing pretty quickly, but that’s negated if it’s just whiffing. To me, increasing their overall range and/or making the guard counter attack hit more consistently would almost feel like more of a patch fix than a buff and I think it’s well deserved.

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Literally just Dex hammers that can’t be parried. Hell, even their powerstance animations are just taken from hammers.

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of all the weapon classes, these probably need the most buffing. sure they can't be parried, but that is the extent of the pros they have.

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Spinning Weapon is actually a fantastic substitute for Spinning Chain. It can even keep Malenia staggered indefinitely if you hit her with it.

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My flail... Bring me my flail. Ahh, Friede. What stops thine ears?

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why does this class of weapons exist?

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Damn i wish spinning chain could be used on infusions -.- Literally the only thing that separates flails from hammers is this skill

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Should get a damage boost when on horseback as a historical nod

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Greatflails!

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These are underrated weapons. The scaling isn’t too high and the AR never gets crazy but the guard counter, poise damage, bleed build up, and Ash of war make up for it. The guard counters do solid damage and high poise damage and spinning chain can deal massive amounts of damage. One stagger and spinning chain can knock off half a bosses health bar. It’s mounted horseback heavy attack may also be the best in the game. Don’t sleep on flails, hit for hit they arent amazing but with all aspects combined they can be a very strong weapon.

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Wish flails had a more unqiue, spinning move set that takes advantage of their weird design rather than just the basic axe/hammer move set.

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I just had a neat idea for a flail. Nunchaku! Just keep the normal flail R1s, maybe give it a unique R2 and charged R2 and a unique stance ash of war that works like Square Off so you can have two different attacks. It could definitely work.

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Class really deserved it's own moveset. :/

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MAH FLAIL, BEING ME MAH FLAIL

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There is no kusarigama wielded by those midget Vulgars? What a disappointment.

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