Carian Knight's Sword

carian knights sword straight sword weapon elden ring wiki guide 200px
attack power elden ring wiki guide 18Attack
Phy 88
Mag 88
Fire 0
Ligt 0
Holy 0
Crit 100
guarded damage negation elden ring wiki guide 18Guard
Phy 36
Mag 52
Fire 26
Ligt 26
Holy 26
Boost 31
attribute scaling elden ring wiki guide 18Scaling
Str D
Dex D
Int D
attributes required elden ring wiki guide 18Requires
Str 10
Dex 10
Int 18
Straight Sword Standard / Pierce
Carian Grandeur FP 26
Wgt. 4.0 passive effects elden ring wiki guide 18Passive -

Carian Knight's Sword is a Straight Sword in Elden Ring. The Carian Knight's Sword scales primarily with IntelligenceStrength and Dexterity and is a good Weapon for dealing Magic Damage from the sorcerous battle skills that it wields. 

 

Straight sword embedded with a blue glintstone. 
Weapon of knights sworn to Carian royalty.

These knights' swords could serve as catalysts, letting them wield sorcerous battle skills. Despite numbering fewer than twenty, this power made them a match for even the champions of gold in battle.

 

Where to Find Carian Knight's Sword in Elden Ring

The Carian Knight's Sword weapon can be found at the following location:

 

Elden Ring Carian Knight's Sword Notes & Tips

  • This weapon has a unique heavy attack that can block attacks before its slash comes out. Charging the heavy attack will further extend the time the weapon can block before slashing. Unfortunately, this attack does not work with the Curved Sword talisman. (Only this sword and the Lazuli Glintstone Sword have this move).
  • Blocking any attack with this weapon's heavy attack will never put you into stun, unless the move you have blocked completely drains your stamina
  • After brief testing with the spectral version of the Troll Knight below The Four Belfries, 2-handing this weapon will increase this weapon's guard boost by 10%, just like any other weapon. This does include this weapon's heavy attack and this does stack with the Greatshield Talisman.
  • Weapon SkillCarian Grandeur.
  • This weapon cannot be infused with Ashes of War.
  • Can't be enchanted with Magic nor boosted by Consumables.
  • Carian Knight's Sword can be upgraded by using Somber Smithing Stones.
  • Sell Value:  er runes 13 200 Runes.
  • NOTE: As of Patch 1.08Straight Swords poise damage has been reduced only on PVP.
  • NOTE: As of Patch 1.09, the scaling values of this weapon were changed. Please refer to the Upgrades Table of this weapon below. Additionally, the running attack speed, first attack speed and speed of guard counter of straight sword has increased. The attack recovery time has also decreased.
  • Other notes and player tips go here

 

Moveset & Videos in Elden Ring for Carian Knight's Sword

One-handed moveset:

  • Light Attack is a 5-hit combo of diagonal and horizontal strikes ending in a diagonal downwards slash from right to left
  • Strong Attack is a diagonal slash from right to left, followed by a slash from left to right on the second input
  • Charge Attack is a downward slam, followed by a slash from left to right on the second input. During the charging animation, the character blocks with the weapon, which reduces damage like blocking with the weapon normally would
  • Running Light Attack is a horizontal slash from left to right
  • Running Strong Attack is a downward slam
  • Backstep Light Attack is a diagonal slash from left to right
  • Rolling Attack is a thrust 
  • Jumping Light Attack is a horizontal slash from right to left
  • Jumping Strong Attack is a downward slam

Two-handed moveset:

  • Light Attack is a 5-hit combo of diagonal and vertical strikes ending in a diagonal downwards slash from right to left
  • Strong Attack is a diagonal slash from right to left, followed by a slash from left to right on the second input
  • Charge Attack is a downward slam, followed by a slash from left to right on the second input. During the charging animation, the character blocks with the weapon, which reduces damage like blocking with the weapon normally would
  • Running Light Attack is a downwards slash
  • Running Strong Attack is a slash from right to left
  • Backstep Light Attack is an uppercut slash
  • Rolling Attack is a thrust
  • Jumping Light Attack is a horizontal slash from right to left
  • Jumping Strong Attack is a downward slam

Left-handed and power-stance moveset:

  • Left-handed Light Attack is a 5-hit combo ending in a downwards slash
  • No rolling, backstep, running or jumping attacks exist in the left-handed moveset
  • Power-stance Light Attack is a cross slash with both weapons, followed by a dual horizontal slash, followed by two staggered thrusts, ending with a diagonal downward slash from left to right
  • Power-stance Running Attack is a thrust with the left weapon, followed by a slash with the right weapon
  • Power-stance Backstep Attack  is a thrust with both weapons
  • Power-stance Rolling Attack is a horizontal sweep from left to right with both weapons
  • Power-stance Jumping Attack  is a cross slash with both weapons

Mounted moveset:

  • Light Attack is a three-hit combo of up-and-down slashes
  • Strong Attack is a single uppercut slash
  • Charge Attack holds the sword close to the ground, dealing continuous damage, and ends with an uppercut slash

 

 

Carian Knight's Sword Upgrades in Elden Ring

Please see the Upgrades page to understand the weapon bolstering process.

Requires regular reinforcement with Somber Smithing Stones.

This upgrade can be enchanted with Magic or boosted with Consumables.

  Attack Power Stat Scaling Passive Effects Damage Reduction (%)
Carian Knight's Sword Phy Mag Fir Lit Hol Sta Str Dex Int Fai Arc Any Phy Mag Fir Lit Hol Bst Rst
Standard 88 88 - - - 45 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 31 15
Standard +1 100 100 - - - 49 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 31.31 15
Standard +2 113 113 - - - 54 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 31.62 15
Standard +3 126 126 - - - 58 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 31.93 15
Standard +4 139 139 - - - 63 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 32.24 15
Standard +5 151 151 - - - 67 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 32.55 15
Standard +6 164 164 - - - 72 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 32.86 15
Standard +7 177 177 - - - 76 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 33.17 15
Standard +8 190 190 - - - 81 D D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 33.48 15
Standard +9 202 202 - - - 85 C D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 33.79 15
Standard +10 215 215 - - - 90 C D D - - - 36 52 26 26 26 34.1 15

 

 

Elden Ring Straight Swords
Broadsword  â™¦  Cane Sword  â™¦  Coded Sword  â™¦  Crystal Sword  â™¦  Golden Epitaph  â™¦  Lazuli Glintstone Sword  â™¦  Longsword  â™¦  Lordsworn's Straight Sword  â™¦  Miquellan Knight's Sword  â™¦  Noble's Slender Sword  â™¦  Ornamental Straight Sword  â™¦  Regalia of Eochaid  â™¦  Rotten Crystal Sword  â™¦  Short Sword  â™¦  Sword of Night and Flame  â™¦  Sword of St Trina  â™¦  Warhawk's Talon  â™¦  Weathered Straight Sword



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    • Anonymous

      So iahve tested the damage of the weapon art on the troll next to the chuch at Mistwoods.

      Stats:
      Strength: 69
      Dexterity: 26
      Intelligence: 50

      Buffs & Talismans:
      -Magic Shrouding Cracked Tear
      -Golden Vow
      -Flame Grant me Strength
      -Starscourge Heirloom
      - Godfrey Icon

      Without the Incant buffs and wonderous physics flasks I get an AR of 698. Fully biffed it´s 963 AR.
      With all buffs and fully charged the weapon art dealt 3729 damage to the troll.


      • Anonymous

        Yea. The weapon art has higher scaling on lordsworns straightsword at 2.4 instead of 1.8 and must be set up by stance breaking your opponent or luring them into it. And stance breaking is hardly an issue for the amazing Carian Knight.

        • Anonymous

          Amazing sword but the weapon art is hard to pull off against fast moving targets BUT it hits like a truck if you get an opportunity to fully charge it. It´s also super beautiful imo.

          • Anonymous

            Real strange design choice to give the unique R2 with block frames to the 2 swords with some of the worst block rating in the weapon class with 35 physical block. Lazuli glintstone sword and carian knight sword are the straight swords that are least able to benefit from this R2 but they're the only weapons that get it.

            • Anonymous

              I'm happy to report that the extreme versatility of this weapon's split damage and high base AR doesn't falter even vs Glintstone Miners (aka miners with their extreme resist to non-strike physical damage, BUT ALSO with increased resist to magic damage), because the increased magic resist of Glintstone Miners isn't very extreme, so the magic damage portion of this weapon still successfully bails out the physical portion enough to make glintstone miners easy to kill with this weapon. This weapon is super duper versatile.

              • Anonymous

                Oh also it's worth emphasizing that its best blocking stat is its magic block (52). The other magic sword that shares the same R2 (the Lazuli Glintstone Sword) has even better magic block (55), but anyway, both swords are therefore good in a funny way for blocking a spell to the face and then R2ing the caster, although in most cases you could usually just dash/roll attack them and clobber them without getting hit. Also, speaking of the Lazuli, that's a decent (and attractive) offhand weapon to pair with this one if you wanna use the dual wield moveset, but overall I'd recommend the Crystal Sword instead (for offhand with the Carian mainhand on a relatively strength oriented build) because it has significantly higher total AR, better physical damage, and better Strength scaling). All in all I'm happy that this wacky array of magic swords that I thought were all pointless are actually quite strong.

                • Anonymous

                  Much better sword than I've been giving it credit for if you're looking for a sword to 2-hand that will work vs anything. It has better reach that the Longsword or Broadsword and it has GOOD split damage: Its high base damage really helps make up for the intrinsic flaw of split damage, and I've found that the split but high damage can work great for clobbering both highly magic resistant targets (like Rennala) and highly physically resistant targets (like Miners). It's super versatile and it's also super easy to upgrade as a Somber weapon. And if you get a stagger then you can drop its charged Skill on the target for big funny damage (or just riposte for also pretty big funny damage because split damage is good for criticals). For context, its STR/DEX/INT scaling values at max upgrade are 0.63, 0.47 and 0.58 respectively, meaning it overall scales best with Strength. Messing with the numbers in an AR calculator, it looks like 20 int is better to have than 18 int but after that you can focus on Str for a while and also get some dex. 39 Str, 19 Dex and 20 Int seems to hit good softcaps efficiently for that RL (assuming 2 handing), not sure what the next set of values is for higher softcaps. As far as how it compares to a Magic Longsword/Broadsword, they're better for dealing Magic Damage on an int build but they have poorer physical damage and also worse reach and also worse total AR, so this is more versatile and overall better if you're trying to use it as your absolute main weapon instead of spellcasting. This also has better total AR than a Fire or Lightning broad/longsword, for reference.

                  • Anonymous

                    Combine the heavy with the guard boost talisman and around 34 endurance and you will be able to block one of any attack that's not a colossal in pvp and also hit the attack!

                    • Anonymous

                      This sword is absolutely fire, the best straight sword I've come across so far in my several playthroughs. Good damage, good attack speed, the unique heavy makes it easier to break stance, and using the skill when the enemy is stance broken usually finishes em off. The skill is especially useful for finishing off mobs as well if you make some distance, runs them down like a truck.

                      • Anonymous

                        Best staight Sword in my opinion. It has the best reach and on a character with equally maxed out stats, it´s R1 does more demage than that of the Sword of Night and Flame. The Weaopon art, although highly specialized, can two-shot a lot of bosses, if buffed and timed correctly. Just remember: you don´t have to charge it up three times. One charge is enough to do a hefty amount of demage and knock back most enemies.

                        • Anonymous

                          Best staight Sword in my opinion. It has the best reach and on a character with equally maxed out stats, it´s R1 does more demage than that of the Sword of Night and Flame. The Weaopon art, although highly specialized, can two-shot a lot of bosses, if buffed and timed correctly. Just remember: you don´t have to charge it up three times. One charge is enough to do a hefty amount of demage and knock back most enemies.

                          • Anonymous

                            Everybody here is saying that the skill sucks, but with 60 int and Godfrey's Icon, I'm getting over 2000 damage a hit when fully charged. Yeah, charging it up requires some skill and you can't use it against everything, but it's still really good.

                            • Anonymous

                              People saying this is bad for pvp... smh. Stick to your greatspears if you cant figure out how to use it. Its one of the longest swords, R2 is one of the best rollcatchers in the game and breaks everyone's poise almost every time.

                              • Anonymous

                                The charged R2 has a slower release than uncharged, which means people can easily avoid your counterattack if you hold for too long. I hope they remove that.

                                Rather than more damage, I would prefer if they gave this weapon a specially high guard boost and make Carian Grandeur usable. This weapon has the potential to be the most fun spellblade weapons in the game with tons of timing mixups, but it's just too weak.

                                • Anonymous

                                  Give the charged R2 attack better poise damage, give intelligence scaling a C and it’ll be in the top 5 straight swords in the game.

                                  • Anonymous

                                    The reach and unique strong attacks are super super cool, but the sadly lacking poise damage and only-OK scaling leave it rather wanting. 10/10 fashion, but only 6/10 in actual combat (in my opinion, obviously. It's worth giving it a try. You might like it more than me.)

                                    • Anonymous

                                      Fashion wise it is unmatched. Great for PvE. Okay for PvP but not setting the world on fire, almost impossible to win against min-max tryhards but had some really fun invasions with this beast. 10/10

                                      • Anonymous

                                        This is the highest damage straight sword for Int characters followed by the magic broadsword, the Lazuli and the crystal sword.

                                        Since the R2 and AOW are pretty trash, it makes a good offhander paired with a gb phalanx magic broadsword.

                                        • Anonymous

                                          Don't bother with R2s in PvP - guard boost is so awful, that anything bigger than Dagger R1 will break your guard.

                                          • Anonymous

                                            Was decent until the guard change, now in pvp if you try the r2 you are getting parried lol trash in pvp but guess it's fine for a pve build

                                            • Anonymous

                                              The heavy attack is why you use this. Weapon has some niches and is very attractive. Not very useful in PvP since anyone that lets you fully heavy attack can be beaten with anything.. in pve though this is quite useful and grandeur is more useful than pebble which the other sword with the heavy attack... High poise DMG and raw dmg especially against bigger enemies where you can target the head with ease

                                              • Anonymous

                                                Take a standard longsword, throw carian greatsword or carian grandeur on it and make it magic, it will deal more dmg. since it got a better magic scaling. idk.. ontop of that its lighter and has less stat requirements.

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  I find it disappointing that a fully upgraded Carian Knight's Sword does less WA damage than a fully upgraded Miséricord with Carian Grandeur AoW and Magic affinity (99 INT char). From my testing on the giants in Limgrave the dagger gets at least 300 more damage out of a fully-charged WA!

                                                  I'm planning a new playthrough and noting that you can pick up the sword with much less effort than grabbing the dagger, getting the whetblade, getting the AoW for the dagger, etc. it's too bad that an investment in somber stones doesn't pay off :( In my opinion the sword looks sexy af so I'd rather have it (for fashion alone) but the dagger seems better on paper, with the AoW only being considered.

                                                  Anyone disagree or find anything different in their testing?

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    will powerstance super well with any cold straight sword based on the stat spread needed to get the most out of this weapon

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      The one thing that let's this weapon down is its low scaling across the board. You'd expect it to have at least a B in INT considering the lore behind it.

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        Wouldn't the heavy attack be really good for stance breaking enemies without being interrupted? I should test this, but imo I feel like people really sleep on this feature. I know I can just get more poise, but I like my fashion, so I'm looking for ways to stance break reliably.

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          If you’re looking for a Int sword for your spellsword, just use a Magic Longsword.

                                                          Carian is longer, but has worst scaling in Int, meaning that the skill will do less damage. The same skill can also be put into the Longsword, basically making this thing useless outside of looking cool.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            I powerstanced this with a nobles slender sword most of the game and so far i only had to break out the dark moon greatsword for Malenia. Still gotta do Farum Azula, but the R2 combo with the buff hits like two minivans. I'm gonna bully Ghidorah.

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              Slap carian grandeur on a longsword or lordsworn straight sword so you don't have to put up with the lame heavy attack.

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                Give it slightly better INT scaling, nerf the STR scaling a little bit, and give it better guard boost. All this sword needs, wouldn't break anything.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  This weapon's moveset is great for PvP, but it's dogwater for PvE. You can get the weapon skill as an ash of war too, so there's not really a good reason to use it. The only way to make the weapon work is running str/int, but dex/int makes more sense for magic damage builds because dex lowers spell casting speed and there are some really viable weapons that scale much better with dex and int like moonveil. It really sucks cause I love the moveset, but it just doesn't do the damage that's necessary in late game. It is worth while to pick up if you've just started the game tho.

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    Ash of War of this thing can attack through walls and floors, so you can cheese a lot of otherwise tough enemies.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      This thing works well with many different builds. Str/Int for very high base damage, high End for the most advantage from guarded R2s, pure int still has ok damage with insanely strong skill and addition of spells. I have 20str20dex60int and 20end and i have above 600 attack one handed, never feel like I lack damage, I have enough stamina to safely guard and retaliate from a single great class of weapons' attack (not R2 or jumping tho), the skill hits like a truck and spells make the build very versatile.

                                                                      • Quick tip: if a player keeps attacking after their first attack hits you, you can press R2 to immediately block and slash.
                                                                        Also because the block comes out instantly, you can completely react to colossal sword pokes

                                                                        • Yeah the guarding heavy is a mostly pointless gimmick but this thing does good damage and has hella style so just pack a shield with it so you have an actual blocking apparatus.

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            bruh im just saying, there is a rolling button so blocking is always a worse option unless you are build for it(greatshield) or fishing for parries(small shield)
                                                                            The whole point of this weapon is to Heavy(block) -> Counter, which is kinda like a parry but with lesser stakes
                                                                            This would have been good if this weapon didn't do **** damage and have **** absorption

                                                                            Compare this to the Valorheart in DS3 which was based on similar concepts, that weapon have 60 physical absorption, which is double the absorption of this weapon

                                                                            TLDR: This weapon had great potential in PVP and skill ceiling, but is ruined by extremely poor stats

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              Gosh darn weird sword. Only sword that blocks when charging a strong attack, except like other straight swords, has none of the stats made for blocking. 34 guard boost is nothing, and combining two-handing with greatshield talisman barely scrapes 40ish if my understanding of how this works is correct. That's awful, that's below several no-upgrade small shields. Normally I wouldn't mind chip damage, but it also only blocks 1/3 of a hit. Like, block-on-heavy is such a cool idea, and I agree some risk is good for this kind of thing, but the numbers are so low that I'd rather pick a weapon with hyper-armor on heavy attacks and eat all the damage if it meant saving my stamina.

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                Pairs well with the Dragonbolt Blessing Incantation. While blocking with its charged attack the buff will cause enemy strikes to bounce off you instead of following through. Issue is this does require 21 FTH for an INT build sword.

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  Two handing it with the shield talisman gives you decent stability and you can counter colossal greatsword crouch pokes using the strong attack, the blocking frames start since you press r2 so you have to use it like a deflect to be able to swing your sword and hit them before they recover

                                                                                  • This or the Lazuli Glintstone Sword are essentials for a single-sword, no shield no 2H weapon run. The heavy attack on this moveset blocks enemy strikes - It's not a good block by any means but a serious boon when you have no other blocking options.

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      Recently I've seen few very skilled guys in pvp using this sword and it kind of makes me happy, cause that amazing weapon deserves recognition, but on the other hand i liked it, when i was the only one using it, even before the patch thag sped up carian grandeur. Anyway, my favourite straight sword in entire fromsoft's history. R2 is just fantastic, guard frames on an attack is something very useful at times and you definitely can make a higg endurance build to rely on it a lot, weapon skill on high int hits like a truck, i like the animation of a knockdown and with 3 stages it can mess people's roll timing. On top of that the sword looks so good.

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        On a pure INT build you get more AR on a magic longsword. But on an INT focused mixed build (mine is 16 STR, 22 DEX, 60 INT) it has higher AR. I'm not sure about the difference in damage for the weapon art though. I think that still leans towards magic greatsword.

                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                          I think people maybe aren't using this sword in an effective way and mistake it as subpar. It's a great weapon. The AR is good, the AoW is amazing to use -- at the right times. Lots of veteran souls players tend to dismiss new mechanics that encourage more diverse gameplay like guard counters, blocking, stance breaking, etc. This weapon really shines when used with these new mechanics.

                                                                                          To anyone who finds themselves underwhelmed by the Carian Knight's Sword, I say give it another chance. Use a shield, use guard counters to break stances, then charge up the AoW. Even charging to the second stage is worth it. If you have high intelligence, it'll hit harder than a critical hit during a stance break.

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            It's disappointing how the description states that the Carian knights use this weapon to cast sorceries, but it can't. This sword would have been amazing and unique if its weapon art would just cast sorceries like a Glintstone staff, so that magic knight builds could use sword, shield and magic at once. Now it's just a normal sword, albeit a very pretty looking one.

                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                              I kinda wish this scaled more with Int and less with Strength - I have the same issue with the Miquellan knight sword and faith.

                                                                                              • 40 vigor, 99 endurance, 21 strength and dex, 18 int.

                                                                                                Does a neat 472 at +8, not the most viable way to play but the reason for that 99 endurance is because that charge r2 is block, practically hyperpoise you can treat it like it's hyperarmor.

                                                                                                I found out that playing with the highest permenant stamina of 211 is pretty fun, get to really play with the guard counters and with the carian knights sword, you get to play with the charge r2, because it's a block and the sword only has a gb of 31, you can't really utilize it against enemies with high poster damage but with 211 stamina oh boy you can enjoy the flavor of the r2.

                                                                                                Planning on doing pvp with this gemick build because I could probably catch people off guard with the r2 because they wouldn't expect someone with 211 stamina in the meta pvp lvl range, wouldn't win but like there is no point in taking pvp seriously.

                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                  CKS WS+Magic Scorpion Charm+Shard of Alexander+Godfrey Icon+Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear=Excalibur Weapon Skill.
                                                                                                  Hits for 4376 when fully charged at 80 INT on the Wandering Nobles in Raya Lucaria Academy, and for 2917 on Malenia. You can bump that up with Stealth+Terra Magica for a total 7089 damage on the WN and 3938 on Malenia (minus stealth), although it's difficult to remain in the circle in most fights.

                                                                                                  Excalibur WS+Altered Carian Knight Armor+Banished Knight Gauntlets+Cuckoo Knight Greaves+Bun Hairstyle=Decent Saber Cosplay.
                                                                                                  Consider adding the Altered Commoner's Headband to avoid nakedness (while preserving the bun hairstyle visible, which is nigh perfect with the tragic exception, of course, of the missing ahoge) and trying on the Banished Knight Greaves instead (I can't stand the duck-looking shoes, personally), to increase poise and damage absorption. Good options for the remaining talisman slot are Ritual Sword Talisman or Red-Feathered Branchsword (to squeeze more damage out of the WS if you want to play around with your HP), Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Crimson Amber Medallion or Blessed Dew Talisman (for that Saber tankiness) or Bull-Goat's Talisman to help alleviate the issue of being interrupted mid swing.

                                                                                                  As a nice touch I noticed, high INT (and some Mind) investment mimics Saber's mighty Magical Energy, Magical resistance, and of course, Noble Phantasm stats. Don't forget to yell "EKUSU... KARIBA!" when finishing off an enemy with Excalibur for maximum dopamine release.

                                                                                                  As an aside, this weapon's WS is not the ultimate iteration of the Excalibur WS proper: if you're willing to sacrifice the beautiful looks of this sword and upgrade to the greatsword tier, a Magical Claymore with the Carian Grandeur AoW beats it in terms of raw damage with 3184 damage on Malenia with the same set up (4298 with Terra Magica), plus it deals way more posture damage, being able to open Malenia for a riposte on two consecutive swings (CKS's WS didn't do it even after three), which are extremely easy to land given she's so passive and the first swing will knock her to the ground. Dragons and creatures that take extra damage to the head will also be open for a critical after the second consecutive fully charged hit, and most humanoid enemies will be knocked down after even an uncharged hit, allowing you to chain them (this last part applies to CKS's WS too). I also went through the trouble of verifying if it did more damage when applied to a different sword (it didn't on Lordsworn's Greatsword), whether it was viable with a Cold Infusion instead (probably, AoW WS does less damage but still does slightly more than CKS WS, and you have to factor in Frozen status effect and the extra damage derived from it. WS does not build up frost, however) and whether going all the way up to 99 INT was worth it (not really, biggest damage difference I could note was about 100 on Malenia when inside Terra Magica).

                                                                                                  A couple other points of interest: Carian Grandeur (both CKS and the AoW version) appears to scale solely with INT, which is why I didn't bother mentioning the Strength or Dex stats, but you should pay attention to those if you're trying to make a build that doesn't lean entirely on the WS. That also means it's not affected by purely physical damage modifiers, and it probably explains why the AoW version does more damage than the CKS WS: an infused magical weapon has better INT scaling, which is somewhat funny and tragic. It does the same damage all across the swing, unlike DS3's Dragonslayer Axe WA that did more damage if the weapon connected. It also does way more damage than backstabs if you're sneaking up on enemies, and even crits if you get a chance to riposte them.

                                                                                                  As part of the challenge of trying to make the WS shine, I beat the game by spamming it non-stop against everything I came across and was pleasantly surprised by how viable it became after the latest patch (and a bit of finnessing with the talisman set up): it bodies most humanoids, destroys several bosses (including Malenia), and kicks ass all around, due in no small part to Elden Ring's enemies' tendency to having long wind ups before attacking and it's impressive range that can allow you to hit from relative safety, although it is tragically weak against big enemies that spam fast attacks like the giant birds in Caelid that can prevent you from getting a hit in entirely.

                                                                                                  A closing remark regarding the issue of poise/hyperarmor I see thrown around often: it's not nearly as bad as you might think. It's bad! But not nearly as bad. Building up to 30ish poise and throwing on the Poise talisman will allow you to resist up to a couple of small hits (like a dog's) without getting interrupted, and a single one from medium sized enemies and bosses (like Malenia or The Godskin fellas), although it'll still get interrupted by big enemies and bosses (like the bears or dragons). Alternatively, really heavy armor can make you capable of resisting even some big hits without getting interrupted. The biggest issue I've found with getting hit mid swing, funnily enough, appears to be a glitch: a lot of the time your character manages to resist the attack and continue the animation, but has their aim modified slightly, resulting in them hitting NEXT to the enemy and missing them, which is horrifically frustrating since it leaves you vulnerable and has no chance of trading, which just means wasted HP&FP and potential death. This seems to happen mostly with fully charged hits while getting hit by medium sized enemies, and it still has a chance to connect if they're close enough their hit box is still in the way. The only way I found to deal with this is not locking on and instead free aiming the attack, which stops it from having its trajectory changed.

                                                                                                  If that issue were to be fixed and/or the hyperarmor/poise was improved, this wouldn't just be my favorite Weapon Skill in the game, it might legitimately be one of the best. As it stands, however, it's still really solid, and most of all, incredibly fun to use.

                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                    Yall are sleeping on thus weapon. I've been mercing nights calvary with it 2 shot the north lernia (spelling) 3 **** the artus plateau one (spelling) and took 3.5 swings of the WA to take out the tree spirit by volcano manor. Also the charge up is so fast that you can reliably sneak it in fights alot more than other WA not to mention the tracking is superb on the down swing. If your charging and the enemy gets behind you don't worry because you will 180 degree cleave that sob trying to be sneaky

                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                      Absolutely lovely looking sword, one of my favorite looking weapons in the game.

                                                                                                      Just a shame Carian Grandeur is absolutely miserable to use. It's awesome looking but actually pulling off the full swing is an accomplishment in and of itself.

                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                        I really hope fromsoftware change this weapon's behavior and let us change it's Ash of War for our own desires.
                                                                                                        this weapon is a waste content that lack flexibility and reason to enjoy.

                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                          anyone know what the weapon art of Carian knight sword scales off of? INT only or all 3 stats?

                                                                                                          moderator pls approve me

                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                            Why does everyone automatically assume any weapon with the slightest degree of a intelligence scaling is a pure int weapon? This sword is obvious quality int weapon and in that specific build, it's pretty good in terms of damage. But even after the buff, Carian Grandeur sill sucks (I suggest adding hyper armor)

                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                              Just give the weapon art some hyper armor, and I'd argue this would be one of the best straight swords in the game.

                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                One of my favorite straight swords. Strong war art and you can also block while charging your heavy attack.
                                                                                                                I would actually love to see a weapon line of Carian weaponry with the unique property of being able to guard while performing heavy attacks on all of them. Haha! Players would hate trading with great/colossal weapons as you'd have defensive stance followed up with hyper armor swings.

                                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                                  I think this sword is fantastic, you can thrust with crouching r1 and the guarding while charging r2's makes trading with enemies far more viable, the weapon art is incredibly satisfying to use post buff, capable of staggering most enemies with 1 or 2 fully charged swings, highly recommend

                                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                                    I don't think this sword is super bad, I think people just want it to be something other than what it is just because it looks nice. It has pretty decent base damage, low requirements, and though the AoW is not unique, it hits hard and is not difficult to land when used judiciously (so long as you don't get greedy with the charges). You can get some additional gains on the weapon art with Godfrey's Icon & Alexander's Shard, but even without those upgrades it's pretty good. The guarding R2 is interesting, but IMO too niche with too little damage reduction to be a selling feature.

                                                                                                                    The scaling ain't gonna make anyone get up and sing, but IMO the base damage makes this a respectable sidearm for a mage character focused primarily on INT. If you want a straight sword with better INT scaling, the regular ol' Longsword with Magic Affinity looks like it has B scaling on INT. Or you could go for a true hybrid build and just use enchantment spells with whatever dex/str sword you like with a Keen/Heavy/Quality Affinity.

                                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                                      Just beat Radahn using this stylish thing in right hand and Carian Glintstone Staff in left (Im doing full Carian set Magical knight character). Choking a 900+ HP at lvl 3 charge WA feels pretty good! And surprisingly this sword has a pretty good range in one hard (bigger than Uchigatana for example). Did know about thee buffs for spells and WA in 1.04 before checking this page so i assume Carian Grandeur was too slow and low-damage but now its pretty enjoyable to use.

                                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                                        With the buff to carian granduer, this sword is now an amazing option for any spellblade. With 40/60 str/int, sitting at 702 AR 2h and grandeur hits for upward of 3k fully charged. With Godfrey Icon, Alex shard and magic scorp, im hitting Ordovis for 2.1k plus stagger. All that with Straightsword moveset, blocking r2 and 4.0 weight. Straightsword lovers rise up

                                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                                          Much better after patch. Charges faster and hits harder than sword of night and flame's magic skill but doesn't require faith.

                                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                                            the the charging block mechanic is really interesting and wouldve been cool if it was implemented to some big weapons, also it is able to block a crouching/rolling colossal poke and the chip dmg is considerably low for a sword since it's not a shield

                                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                                              the heavy attack block makes this incredibly unique and basically a baby version of the FUGS from DS2, and despite not being a catalyst as the description says, the default Ash on this makes it versatile, power stancing this gives you access to a sneaky block that lets you get in hits you wouldnt normally be able to get in otherwise, at the cost of a great deal of stamina of course, but its hella satisfying, and the Ash gives you an EXTREMELY powerful but slow attack which is absolutely destructive and builds up an insane amount of stagger on enemies if you land it, which is even MORE satisfying.

                                                                                                                              Id dare say this is the most satisfying straight sword in the game, if you want versatile early-game weapons, this one is an absolute must.

                                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                For as slow as the skill is to charge, the range should be much higher. Like at least twice what it is now. Good luck ever getting it off without getting murdered or just missing because they weren't close enough.

                                                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                  If this was a catalyst like the description says, it would actually be a good weapon, but instead it's kinda useless. There are way better weapon arts out there than Carian Grandeur, so you're better off using a weapon that can be infused. Looks pretty though.

                                                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                    One of the things that would be marvellous for this weapon... would be to use all the set of the summoned Caria's greatsword in its ash of war ( minus the cold one, of course, since it ain't an official carian magic ), to truely make it unique !

                                                                                                                                    It would still be predictable, but situationally more rewarding, both in PvE, and I'd like to believe in PvP : level one, for the basic extended sword, the "Carian Piercer" magic . . . Level two, a bigger sword, the "Carian Greatsword" magic . . . And level three, no change, the biggest sword for punitive manouvers, the Carian's Fall. Since the scaling ain't that good to begin with, and lorewise the carian Knights were said to outmach the best soldiers of the Altus Plateau, it would be more than welcome to make them true runic knights with full mastery of this type of magic. Not sure it would make the sowrd a god tier armament, it ain't my objective, but at least more decent regardless of the situation... Hell, if only it could be buffed with other magic, I would have offered a secret combo with Frozen Armament to add to the 3rd level of the weapon an Adula's Moonblade effect . . . . . . . ok no, that would probably be beyond OP, but for the rest... ?

                                                                                                                                    Any way we can send regards and ideas to the balancing team ? ( there's lots to do on this side, but, to throw an idea in the bucket ? )

                                                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                      I hope they'll patch in a buff for this weapon or a rework. Allow changing the ash of war or just outright buff its ash of war to be unique (faster charge, lower cost). This is obviously a fan favorite weapon what with it's amazing design but it's so frustrating that it's in the 90% of ash of war locked straight swords/weapons.

                                                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                        It would be so cool if you could use all the "Sword" Spells with this sword especially since in the description it says that it can cast spells.

                                                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                          For the people saying that the WA on this is a stronger version that you can charge to level 3: no, it is not. Carian Grandeur is chargable to level 3 always, either on this weapon or on the Ash of War you get from Caria Manor. You guys are thinking of Carian Greatsword, which is the version that can only be charged for 2 levels.

                                                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                            Broadsword +6 2 Hits heavy charged stagger a bear, easy to pull off
                                                                                                                                            Carian Sword +4 5 or more hits, no stagger, takes long enough to get you hit and prevent you from charging the attack.

                                                                                                                                            In short, poise damage on this thing seems abysmal by comparison. Just stick to magic infused broadsword if you're looking for stuns and not looking to trade that off for the ability to dual wield a staff and sword while still having some kind of block.

                                                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                              In a PvP setting and while at 10 DEX, 52 INT, and 40 STR, the skill, at each corresponding charge, does ~900, ~1100, and ~1500 dmg.

                                                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                                honest to god thought that the npc was cheating, turns out this sword can block and attack at the same time.

                                                                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                                  Don't look at scaling, look at the actual damage output from the weapon. This sword has worse scaling than Moonveil but damage is better. You can say that Moonveil has better Weapon Art and I can see that but Carian Granadeur when executed properly with good timing is devastating it's just harder to use and more situational. This weapon is really good just need more "git gud" factor.

                                                                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                                    I killed everyone around the two giants. Then tried to open the box but it just didn't work so I guessed I'd have to kill the two giants. When I moved in front of them near the water they stopped and kneeled. I than could open the box. Guess I am their new master? Or the arrived where they wanted to go?
                                                                                                                                                    You don't have to fight the giants.

                                                                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                                                                      Does the WA cost 26 FP per use as the corresponding AoW? That sounds pretty expensive for what you get…

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