Serpent-Hunter is a Great Spear in Elden Ring. The Serpent-Hunter scales primarily with Strength and Dexterity. It is a good Weapon for attacking enemies at a long reach and does not require any stats value.
Weapon that serves as both greatsword and spear. Thought to
have been used to hunt an immortal great serpent in the distant
past, it manifests a long blade of light when facing such a creature.
When their master's heroic aspirations degenerated into mere
greed, his men searched for a weapon with which they might halt
their lord.
Where to Find Serpent-Hunter in Elden Ring
The Serpent-Hunter weapon can be found at the following location:
- Held by a corpse on the left as you enter the boss chamber of Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. [Elden Ring Map here]
- If the players picks up the Serpent-Hunter in the middle of being summoned. After picking up the spear and getting summoned, a second copy of the Serpent-Hunter would appear at the original location upon returning to their world, allowing you to dual wield the Serpent-Hunters.
- This weapon will not be respawned on a New Game Plus. The only way to respawn the weapon is to discard it. After discarding the weapon and reloading your location, the weapon would reappear at its original location provided that Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy was still alive.
- If the player manages to beat Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy without picking up the Serpent-Hunter, the weapon disappears.
- Video Location
Elden Ring Serpent-Hunter Notes & Tips
- Weapon Skill: Great-Serpent Hunt
- This weapon cannot be infused with Ashes of War
- Serpent-Hunter can be upgraded by using Somber Smithing Stones
- A solid weapon for Strength build due to its A scaling for Strength. While slightly heavier than the Lance and cannot be infused with Ashes of War, the Serpent-Hunter has a horizontal sweep as its strong attacks. It can also be used as an offhand weapon for the Lance if one wants to dual wield Great Spear class weapons.
- Sell Value:
0
- This item cannot be sold.
- This item cannot be dropped and given to another player.
- NOTE: As of Patch 1.08 incorrect physical attack values of some attacks of the Serpent-Hunter weapon has been fixed.
Regarding the weapon's special properties while fighting God-Devouring Serpent and Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy:
- The weapon's attacks, and its weapon skill, will generate additional beams of swirling wind that greatly extend its range to allow the player to hit Rykard from outside the lava pool at his feet.
- Axe Talisman and Spiked Cracked Tear, Claw Talisman (and by extension, Raptor's Black Feathers), Twinblade Talisman, Spear Talisman and Curved Sword Talisman do not affect the special damage of the weapon.
- Warrior Jar Shard and Shard of Alexander does boost the damage of the weapon's Skill.
- Because of the long windup of the skill, people can believe that Godfrey Icon boost its damage, but that is not the case.
- Ritual Sword Talisman, Red-Feathered Branchsword, Kindred of Rot's Exultation and Lord of Blood's Exultation work as normal, and provide a general damage boost. The same applies to the incantation Flame, Grant me Strength.
- Winged Sword Insignia does not trigger while attacking, but does receive the benefit if triggered by another weapon.
- When dual wielding with another Great Spear class weapon, both spears will generate the beams during the powerstance attacks.
Moveset & Videos in Elden Ring for Serpent-Hunter
- Videos for the Serpent-Hunter Coming Soon
Serpent-Hunter 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't be enchanted with Magic or boosted with Consumables.
Attack Power | Stat Scaling | Passive Effects | Damage Reduction (%) | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Serpent-Hunter | Phy | Mag | Fir | Lit | Hol | Sta | Str | Dex | Int | Fai | Arc | Any | Phy | Mag | Fir | Lit | Hol | Bst | Rst |
Standard | 111 | - | - | - | - | 73 | B | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 50 | 24 |
Standard +1 | 127 | - | - | - | - | 80 | B | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 50 | 24 |
Standard +2 | 143 | - | - | - | - | 87 | B | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 51 | 24 |
Standard +3 | 159 | - | - | - | - | 94 | B | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 51 | 24 |
Standard +4 | 175 | - | - | - | - | 102 | B | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 52 | 24 |
Standard +5 | 191 | - | - | - | - | 109 | B | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 52 | 24 |
Standard +6 | 207 | - | - | - | - | 116 | A | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 53 | 24 |
Standard +7 | 223 | - | - | - | - | 124 | A | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 53 | 24 |
Standard +8 | 239 | - | - | - | - | 131 | A | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 54 | 24 |
Standard +9 | 255 | - | - | - | - | 138 | A | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 54 | 24 |
Standard +10 | 271 | - | - | - | - | 146 | A | E | - | - | - | - | 72 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 55 | 24 |
- Anonymous
Equip only the spear, remove excessive weight, use mimic tear, change back equip, then watch the world BURN! So fun seeing a copy of urself wreckin the boss hahaha.
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ummm why does it say the winged sword insignia doesnt trigger? it 100% does, i use it in my serpent hunter build. not sure why anyone would put that it doesnt, you only need to try it out for yourself to see
- Anonymous
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this weapon resembles nameless kings spear from dark souls 3 a lot might be worth a mention
- Anonymous
Does anyone know if the invading bug to get a second one still works for patch 1.08?
- Anonymous
This weapon keeps through ng+ right? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I'd rather not waste ancient dragon stones if I can avoid it.
- Anonymous
Says here that it's it scales at A for strength but I'm looking at it right now and it's only B. Post patch maybe?
- Anonymous
Crouch attack damage type has been changed in 1.08 from standard to thrust, buffing counter attacks.
I believe its jump heavy attack its also thrust even though it is clearly a slashing animation.
Haven't tested the heavy attack, would be nice if it is also considered thrust damage, given the considerably high motion value it has.
- Anonymous
"As of Patch 1.08 incorrect physical attack values of some attacks of the Serpent-Hunter weapon has been fixed."
Anyone know how the attack values were changed? Or if its a net buff or nerf?
- Anonymous
Did they negate the "bug" pizza swap??? What did they do to my boy??? My last trump card against ganks maaaaan.
- Anonymous
You deny this weapon its true purpose. miyazaki clearly designed it for endurance builds, hence the non existent requirements
- Anonymous
The jumping R2 of this thing doesn't get enough love. Its fast and satisfying
- Anonymous
It's such a bummer that the AoW is so bad and non-infusable, this thing and Giant Hunt are made for each other. The good thing though - all great spears have basically the Charge Forth AoW for free in their running heavy attacks which is pretty awesome.
- Anonymous
best weapon ever, that machine gun tricks making a short work on Elden f.u. . c.king Beast everytime. The only easy mode, in case you're in no time to get gud. This, and magic I guess?
- Anonymous
serpent hunter users dont use the same attack 5000 times in a row challenge
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If I discard it on NG+, can I get a second one? I could upload my save é and try it, but it takes too long to get there.
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people are using this weapon to instakill anyone in a 50 foot radius via an exploit. maidenless behavior.
- Anonymous
Weird that not one person mentions if its skill effect is increased by upgrading it. No one else thought of this?
- Anonymous
Lmao @ this weapon. I said screw it let me try it out for the boss fight and see what happens, already running a quality build and had 40 pts in strength so why not. I went it grabbed it, infused it to +7, and COMPLETELY WAXED RYKARDS ASS LOL. Seriously every single jump attack was 5-6k, and I actually landed one weapon art right to his head for almost 10k damage. And the range on all the attacks in the arena are absurd. Had no idea it was going to do all that, made the boss into a complete joke.. haha.
If you are having trouble with this boss (as I don’t know what the fight is like without this weapon), I HIGHLY recommend you try this out, even if you aren’t fully invested into strength, it completely thrashes him.
If you use a greatshield with shield bash, you become a force to be reckoned with. Namely, the Dragonclaw Greatshield. Always had reliable damage for me. It also takes the place of your ash of war so you don't need to worry about the one on the spear.
- Anonymous
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A great weapon over-all good range, scaling, damage and style. The AoW is even situationally useful. Pretty good weapo- BUT NOT NEARLY AS GOOD AS VYKES WAR SPEAR THE MOST POWERFUL ARMAMENT IN THE WHOLE GAME. IT INFLICTS MADNESS UPON WHOEVER IT TOUCHES! IT'S CHAOTIC TOUCH IS SO STRONG IT EVEN INFLICTS MADNESS ON THOSE WHO I-FRAME ITS ATTACK! THE MADNESS AND CHAOS IS UN-ESCAPABLE! IT IS INEVITABLE SO JOIN IT AND BECOME A TRUE LORD, A SERVANT TO THE THREE FINGERS!
MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD! MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD! MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD! MAY CHAOS TAKE THE WORLD!
- Anonymous
i got 2 of these at some point. possible glitch? will miyazaki come after my soul and ban me?
- Anonymous
Join the nameless king as family....And together we will devour my father for disowning me!
- Anonymous
the only sweaty pvp weapon i can respect since it doesn't rely on a busted ash
- Anonymous
In my opinion, you should be allowed to change the ash of war once you’ve killed Rykard in your world. Like take it to the blacksmith and have him reforge it so it can take the respective ashes for this weapon class. It’s still a good weapon as is with great strength scaling. I just think it would be fun to have different ashes of war to try on it
- Anonymous
I land this weapon art surprisingly often in pvp, considering how comically slow it is.
Either they start panic rolling and still get hit by the painfully slow first hit of Great Serpent Hunt, or they wait the first hit out, think that's it and charge you , only to get hit by the optional follow up hit that noone ever expects for some reason.
- Anonymous
Why is this thing so strong? I see it used a lot for challenge runs, and it seems to do crazy damage for what I assumed was a gimmick weapon.
Also it looks like a slightly less cool version of the Dragonslayer's swordspear which is pog
- Anonymous
This would be an absolutely awesome strength weapon if only you could change the weapon art, or if the weapon art kept the beam of light, but it was just smaller and maybe weaker than it is against Rykard.
- Anonymous
I'm gonna get borealis to low health then when someone invades, kill borealis and then use dragonbolt blessing, everybody gangsta till you invade the nameless king.
- Anonymous
Surprisingly great weapon. Deals great damage for str builds, has a great moveset and the skill is slow but the slowness works to its favour, as the follow-up is deceptively fast and hits like a cargo train on jet engines, which means a lot of people will get baited by the slow first attack and then get hit by the follow-up when they go in to punish.
- Anonymous
Dear Miyazaki plz, If that pissible- after Rycard defeat serpent hunter become not rare but common weapon with str and dex (something like 40 str and 14 dex) requirenment and (most importante) CHANGEBLE ASH OF WAR.
- Anonymous
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Really good weapon for str builds, great moveset for PvE and PvP, ash is actually decent (not in PvP) and has literally no requirements to use, only bad thing is how annoying it is to get two but it's perfectly good without dual wielding so it's fine, great weapon
- Anonymous
Hands down best greatspear for strength builds. Massive damage, great moveset and looks fine as hell. Skill is situational but does tremendous damage if you manage to land it, you can bait people into the second part which comes out surprisingly fast. Here's a few interesting things I've noticed while using this weapon: The rolling/crouch attack is different from all the other greatspears, it's the colossal sword poke which is a nice bonus to an already great moveset. Second thing, all of its attacks are considered pierce attacks, even the R2 sweeps and jumping R2 so you'll greatly benefit from the spear Talisman.
- Anonymous
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I swear, if one more Host summons me for Rykard just to sleep on this and go long-range with their dinky bow and arrows...
You don't have to upgrade it to get better damage, you don't ever require any attributes to wield it: this was made for all builds. Just pick it up and go to town playing fireman or sumthin.
- Anonymous
this weapon has a followup skill, sadly i learned it after my 10th try :( when you combo the weapon art by pressing the same button again it does like 9K damage sometimes
- Anonymous
Has good strength scaling, looks cool and has no requirements, but afaik its weapon art is useless outside of Rykard's fight, so sadly its mediocre outside of that fight, atleast its not completely useless unlike stormruler
- Anonymous
Seems to have an odd interaction with Radahn where it has the effect of subsequent attacks dealing more damage, similar to how it behaves with Rykard but this doesn't seem to apply to the weapon universally.
Tested on NG with a +10 Serpent Hunter Spear and 37 STR.
Starting from a rolling R1:
Rolling R1: 433 DMG
Second R1: 626 DMG
Starting from a standing R1:
First R1: 567 DMG
Second R1: 581 DMG
Third R1: 626 DMG
Jumping R2:
First R2: 771 DMG
Second R2: 1002 DMG
- Anonymous
They could've given us something like that one attack godrick does where he throws air at you, though since It dissapears in ng+ It would have to be really good to upgrade
- Anonymous
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If i didn't got/discard serpent hunter in first walkthrough is it possible to get one on new game plus or it not respawn even if i don't have copy?
- Anonymous
"Serpent Hunter will not be respawned on a New Game Plus". Does it mean if i discard/didn't get it on ng i won't be able to get one in ng+?
- Anonymous
Weapon art is so slow, it should have wind beams outside the boss fight aswell.
- Anonymous
This would have been a cool weapon if we can use its beam mode against serpent type enemies, not with just rykard.
- Anonymous
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God, I wish they reworked this weapon a bit. Instead of having the "special properties" in every attack (yes, even normal attacks conjure the beam), they can keep it specifically for the WA. That way, they don't need to take away the beam ability entirely after Rykard. It would be a neat weapon with a very cool WA.
- Anonymous
transcends gimmick weapon status by just being so damn strong. kind of an old school weapon in a way, like the black knight halbard from ds1. no flashy weapon arts or broken moveset, just excellent damage and range
- Anonymous
My theory about the weird ghost dude who tells you about this weapon and asks you to slay Rykard is that it's Bernahl's dead brother. If you speak to him after Rykard is killed, Bernahl will say he bears no ill will towards you and then mumbles a prayer to himself, including the line, "I am the recusant Bernahl, inheritor of my brother's will..." "Inheritor" seems to imply that the brother is dead, and that Bernahl is carrying on his legacy. Speculating a little more, Bernahl's unnamed brother may have also been aligned with the manor, and is thus also considered a blasphemer, which would explain why his ghost has not returned to the Erdtree to be reborn and is instead trying to get a random Tarnished to kill the god-devouring serpent. It does seem likely though that he tried and failed to kill Rykard using the mythic god-slaying weapon. This is referenced in the flavor text for the Serpent-Hunter, where Bernahl's brother may have been one of the men looking for a way to kill Rykard and certainly at least carried it into battle.
- Anonymous
The axe talisman and spiked tear can be obtained in Limgrave. Somber smithing stones 1-4 can be purchased from Iji. Somber smithing stones 5-9 can be scavenged between the Volcano Manor and in Dragonbarrow. The Serpent-Hunter can be obtained by collecting the Dectus Medallion, helping Rya, teleporting to the Manor, and performing Godskin skip (in whichever form you like.) The Hero class achieves 40 vigor and 60 strength at level 77. There are many reasons a +10 Serpent-Hunter and its charged attacks are used in speedruns, and it's not just 'cause they're easy to get. It's because they kill everything really, really fast -- if you're good enough.
- Anonymous
who was the npc... ghost? that tell you about this weapon?? I can't find that info anywhere
- Anonymous
If the ash of war could be swapped and magic could enchant it this would be my favorite weapon.
- Anonymous
good weapon with great strength scaling, easily upgraded somber weapon, but the weapon art is terribly slow outside of the boss fight.
- Anonymous
You can get 2 of these if you do this:
You need to invade or get summoned for co-op in the room right before the arena. Then, as soon as the invasion or summon message pops up on screen, run into your arena and grab the Serpent Hunter. You should be able to grab it right before leaving your world (sometimes you'll have a lot more time, depending on internet).
In the other player's world, do what you like - leave right away if you want to, fight them, or help them with the boss because you're a nice and good furled finger. After the session, when you appear back in your world, you'll spawn in the room before the arena. So, run back into the arena and grab your SECOND Serpent Hunter! Have fun :)
What's happening is the game saves your state before entering a multiplayer session, but since you were in a boss arena when the session started, it puts you back outside and respawns the spear, allowing you to grab another.
Credit to u/FuryForged
- Anonymous
does not respawn on new game plus meaning you can only have one copy? unless someone drops it for you yeah?
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I’m guessing g there isn’t like. Another less boss reliant version of the weapon? Cause i really dig the look. Looks great.
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Is this worth using outside of the boss fight? Especially the Weapon Art.
- Anonymous
I found a way to get two of these. This only works if you have talked to Albus, he gave you the Haligtree Secret Medallion (Right), and you haven't gone back to the Roundtable Hold. Grab the Serpent-Hunter and quick travel directly to the Roundtable Hold. Let Ensha kill you and you will be back in Rykard's arena with the Serpent-Hunter respawned.
- Anonymous
I wonder how long the wind blade is. It looks like a greatsword used by a giant when the blade is fully formed with the wind.
- Anonymous
Good weapon but i wish the skill would be bettter. Its kinda lame
- Anonymous
For those wondering about scaling. With 40 STR, you get 530 AR. With 60 STR, you get 625 AR. With 80 STR, you get 695 AR. Dex scaling is super minor; 80 Dex (from 15) puts me at 712 AR. This is ahead of the Lance, by ~40 something on average, but of course completely void of weapon skills.
- Anonymous
For a pure STR build use the Dragonclaw Great Shield with this. Your ash of war just becomes the shield bash.
The best looking weapon in the game, IMO. All i wanted was to see it with bloodflame blade doing a giant hunt attack. Hope they consider adding a non unique version as DLC at some point.
- Anonymous
I wish instead of just losing its effect all together its effect would change after killing Rykard with it. Have a piece of Rykard remain on the blade and imbue it with some of his power.
For some reason half the time I use the L2 attack, it misses and the "beam" just hits the ground. Anyone else have this issue?
- Anonymous
Nah but really, before we get bad gimmick fight and bad gimmick weapon, now we get good gimmick fight but good gimmick weapon without the gimmick, bruh
- Anonymous
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The NPC in the manor who mentions this is a nameless ghost who spawns if you collect the item but die/quit and return to the manor before killing Rykard.
- Anonymous
Finally a gimmick weapon usable outside of the boss fight. Has great scaling in str, making it the best great spear for strength builds. The only issue is that the ash of war is abysmal, but it takes so long to use that I’ve actually hit people in pvp who couldn’t recognize the delay.
I found a way to get a second one without trading but it might have been patched out by now. If you have the blue cypher ring activated when you pick it up the first time and are summoned away, when you get back another one will be there. I have the video if anyone needs it.
- Anonymous
If you dual wield another great spear in Rykard's arena, both spear will gain the Serpent-Hunter's wind effect
Note: the Serpent Hunter must be in the right hand
- Anonymous
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just something to note for those going to ng+ you don't get a second one
- Anonymous
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Strength builds, use this to kill dragons. Dragons are already weak to pierce, the jumping R1 is great for hitting noggins, and A scaling on str helps a lot.
- Anonymous
From loves their Storm Ruler gimmick. This was the most balanced one.
- Anonymous
1) the page says it sells for -1 runes (does that mean it cant be sold?)
2) can it be dropped and traded with players or is it completely impossible to get 2 on 1 character?
- Anonymous
Hey I just used serpent hunter and another great spear (mohgwyns trident) against rykard and got the special effect on both when using dual wielding attacks
- Anonymous
Because I don't see it above, unless I'm blind: The Mimic Tear ash WILL use the special skill.
would be nice if the ash of war had a small version of the serpent-hunting wind blade to extend the range outside of the bossfight, the ash of war is kinda bad as it is
- Anonymous
For anyone wondering, if you use cheats to spawn in a second one, using both has the exact same moveset as other dual wielded great spears. And no, having two of them wont ban you.
- Anonymous
Looking back at it, the weapon has quite a resemblance to the Nameless King's great spear.
- Anonymous
I have already defeated Rykard on my firsf playthrough, but now on my 2nd playthrough it doesn’t appear in my inventory when I remember defeating him with that weapon the first time
Pair this with a great shield that has an Ash of war to bypass the N/A ash that this weapon has while still having access to premium shield poke/shield crash shenanigans with great strength scaling.
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+10
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