Ultimate Guide To The Best Halberds In Elden Ring

Halberds is one of many types of weapons in Elden Ring, as one of the things Elden Ring is known for is its variety of weapons and builds. The question on the mind of every Halberd enthusiast is whether the Halberd specializes in strength, dexterity, or faith, which are considered the BEST Halberds Elden Ring, and I’m here to answer that. You must know the name of all the best halberds before dedicating an entire build to them.

Best Halberds In Elden Ring Comparison

Halberds are the type of weapon that can be ideal for you if you are new to Elden Ring as these weapons offer a proper balance between damage and safety. Halberds allows you to damage enemies safely from a distance. 

1. Banished Knight’s Halberd

The Banished Knight Halberds is one of the best early-game halberds in Elden Ring, that I always used in the beginning of my playthroughs. If you succeed in getting your hands on this halberd, then you can expect smooth sailing for a huge chunk of Elden Ring. It does require you to invest some time in farming for it, but the weapon is well worth it. Especially if you wish to make the lives of your PVP opponents hell (I’m guilty of this, too).

The Banished Knight’s Halberd scales with Strength and Dexterity and has some pretty forgiving requirements overall, which makes it ideal for you, early in Elden Ring. It can be dropped by the Banished Knights located in Stormveil Castle.

With slightly inferior stats, you can also use Halberd, as it is very easy to obtain and doesn’t require farming.

2. Glaive

The Glaive is another Halberd that can be obtained well early in Elden Ring. While this weapon does offer some fantastic stats for the early game, I can say this with certainty that obtaining the weapon itself is quite frustrating. But, if you do succeed in obtaining it, then it is the better weapon to choose when given a choice between the Glaive and the Banished Knight Halberd.

In the early game, the Glaive can very easily be considered the best halberd in Elden Ring. This weapon also scales with Strength and Dexterity. The Glaive is dropped by skeletons, which are found east of the Church of Vows.

3. Vulgar Militia Shotel

The Vulgar Militia Shotel is one of the best halberds to use if you are an aggressive player. Aside from allowing you to end shielded enemies with ease, it offers 40% damage negation from blocks in case you ever decide to take a break from all the aggressiveness, thus granting it a worthy spot in my article.

This halberd primarily scales with Dexterity and has a forgiving stats requirement, but acquiring this weapon can be problematic in the early game. Vulgar Militiamen drop the Vulgar Militia Shotel. They reside on the road from the Farum Greatbridge to the Bestial Sanctum in Caelid. Just to let you know, these are not early-game enemies and can mess you up if you are careless, I know since I walked straight into Caelid.

4. Loretta’s War Sickle

In case you are currently rocking an Intelligence build and don’t wish to change, then Loretta’s War Sickle comes to the rescue, as it is fantastic halberd for a quality build. Thus, allowing you to use a mighty halberd without needing to switch from your Intelligence build.

This weapon scales with Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. The only thing holding this weapon back is that it can only be obtained incredibly late, at the point where you will most probably be 80-90% done with Elden Ring, which, I believe, is terribly disappointing for a weapon of this caliber.

You can obtain Loretta’s War Sickle after defeating Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree. She is found in the Haligtree area. 

5. Pest Glaive

The Pest Glaive is a fantastic weapon to use in case you are still unsure about whether you want to invest in a Halberd build or not. This weapon offers outstanding damage for very little stat requirements, making it a tempting Halberd choice for some players. I’ve always found it to be a great ice-breaker for halberds, since it has little to no weight and you can slot it easily.

The Pest Glaive is dropped by the Lesser Kindred of Rot. They can be found wandering around in Caelid, but the ideal place to farm this weapon is in the Grand Cloister, as eleven Lesser Kindred of Rot are found in close proximity in that area.

If you are having trouble farming Pest glaive, I suggest you to go for Lucerne, as it provides slightly higher scaling and damage output.

6. Gargoyle’s Halberd

If strength is more your style, then the Gargoyle’s Halberd may be the best halberd in Elden Ring for you. The only thing holding this weapon back in my opinion is its range, as it is noticeably shorter than every other halberd on this list. However, if your objective is solely to hit hard, then the Gargoyle’s Halberd is perfect for you.

This weapon is dropped by the Valiant Gargoyle that resides near the West Capital Rampart Site of Grace in Leyndall Royal Capital. Just so you know, this weapon will become unobtainable after accessing the Crumbling Farum Azula area, so be sure to obtain it beforehand.

If you are looking for a similar weapon to this one and want to carry a hybrid build then I recommend the Gargoyle’s Black Halberd. It is easier to level-up and provides better results in Str/Faith builds.

7. Dragon’s Halberd

The main highlight of this halberd is not its damage but rather its appearance and passive abilities. I consider the Dragon’s Halberd to be a situational weapon because it offers +10% bonus damage to Dragon-type enemies and +5% bonus damage against Ancient Dragon-type enemies. Aside from that, its Ash of War grants the weapon some Lighting damage and a Frost buildup, thus granting it a much-needed damage buff.

The Dragon’s Halberd scales with Strength and Dexterity and is dropped by the Dragonkin Soldier boss in Siofra River. This boss can be accessed through the portal that is located directly south on the map of the Worshipper’s Woods.

For a more Dex focused build with the same Ice-lightning effect, The Dragonscale Blade can also be your choice of weapon.

8. Guardian’s Swordspear

As you reach the top five halberds of this list, Let’s start it off with the Guardian Swordspear. However, I wish to inform you beforehand that this is not a ranking of halberds because the five halberds I’ll be listing now will gain superiority over the others based on the player’s playstyle and the scenario in which the player may find themselves.

This weapon mainly scales with dexterity, and its dexterity scaling can be increased to the A rank when given the Keen affinity, thus making it one of the best halberds in Elden Ring for the dexterity build. Obtaining this weapon is quite difficult but well worth it. It is dropped by Erdtree Guardians. The ideal place to farm this weapon is around the Minor Erdtree Church. While I’m on the topic, consider reading the guide on BEST Dexterity Weapons.

9. Golden Halberd

Some players consider The Golden Halberd one of the best faith halberds in Elden Ring because it is incredibly easy to obtain at any point of Elden Ring, and I’m among those people, too.

However, the one thing that stops the Golden Halberd from being the best overall is that it specializes in Holy Damage, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but when most of the endgame bosses have protection against Holy Damage, the Golden Halberds’ greatest strength can turn into its biggest weakness.

But if you plan on using this weapon on common enemies and have a backup weapon for the endgame bosses, then I believe this weapon is well worth it. The Golden Halberd is also considered one of the best Faith Weapons in Elden Ring.

10. Vulgar Militia Saw

The Vulgar Militia weapons make a return. The Vulgar Militia Saw is basically a better version of the Vulgar Militia Shotel, except it doesn’t offer the 40% damage negation from blocks. The one thing that has granted this weapon such a nice spot on this best halberd Elden Ring list is that this is one of the two halberds that offers Bleed buildup, which is the most overpowered ailment in Elden Ring.

This weapon scales with Strength and Dexterity, and while it can be considered one the best dexterity halberds in Elden Ring, I wouldn’t consider it better than the other dexterity halberd listed here. This Halberd is dropped by the enemies wielding this weapon near the Bestial Sanctum in Greyoll’s Dragonbarrow area.

11. Nightrider Glaive

I consider the Nightrider Glaive to be one of the best halberds, if not the best halberd, for players with a Strength build in Elden Ring. Thanks to its fast move set, devastating damage, and long-range, there is no reason for it not to be the best halberd in Elden Ring. 

The Nightrider Glaive primarily scales with strength, and its strength scaling can be increased to the S rank when infused with Heavy affinity. The weapon itself is dropped by the Night’s Cavalry wandering the road between East Raya Lucaria Gate and Bellum Church. There are a ton of Night Cavalrys in Elden Ring; here’s a guide in which we’ve enlisted the location of every Night Cavalry.

12. Commander’s Standard

As for the final halberd on this list, depending on your playstyle, Commander’s Standard can either be one of the best strength or dexterity halberds you’ll use or a halberd that is just not worth it in Elden Ring, and I have my reasons for saying that. It’s because of its move set, which is similar to a spear. Aside from that, this halberd can deal some significant damage to your enemies.

What’s great is that this halberd can be obtained incredibly early in Elden Ring. The Commander’s Standard is dropped by Commander O’Neil. He resides within the Aeonia Swamp in eastern Caelid.

Special Mention- Winged Scythe

It is still argued by fans whether the Winged Scythe can be considered a halberd or not because it functions very similarly to a halberd, but it belongs in its own “Reaper” category. But for this Best Halberd Elden Ring guide, I think the Winged Scythe is too good to be left out.

The Winged Scythe primarily scales with Faith and dexterity, and in order to obtain this weapon, players will need to visit the Tombsward Ruins, where they will find a chest underground. This chest contains the Winged Scythe. Aside from the Winged Scythe, there are three more scythes in Elden Ring.

Other Honorable Mentions

While there are additional compelling choices for the Best Halberds in Elden Ring that you might consider, I opted not to include them in my top 12 list due to personal preferences:

• Ripple Crescent Halberd: It features a unique slashing moveset that strikes much faster than certain other halberds, but its attacks have limited range.
• Golem’s Halberd: Despite its decent Strength scaling, the lack of Dexterity scaling renders it a poor choice for builds aiming to utilize both Strength and Dexterity.

My Thoughts On Halberds

Personally, I’ve always had a soft spot for Halberds since Dark Souls 1, but unfortunately, most of the Halberds in Elden Ring felt somewhat lackluster to me. The Ashes of War on these weapons are either run-of-the-mill buffs or extremely situational attacks. However, while they may not be as practical as other in-game weapon types, they’re certainly a lot more fun.

During my first few playthroughs, my favorite Halberd was undoubtedly Loretta’s War Sickle because of it’s unique Ash of War attack. I spent tens of hours using it in the Altus Plateau, and I enjoyed every second of it, although I wish it was slightly more potent. In my opinion, if you’re looking to try out fresh new playstyles and movesets, you should definitely try opting for Halberds. However, I wouldn’t recommend using them for tough boss fights or PvP encounters.

To conclude, Elden Ring is a game filled with a variety of weapons, so no type of player feels left out, whether they specialize in Strength, Dexterity, or Faith as in this Best Halberd Elden Ring guide, I have only scratched the surface by solely talking about Halberds. There are numerous types of weapons in Elden Ring, such as Curved Greatswords, Colossal Swords, Spears, and more.

Next:

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