Elden Ring features tons of armaments that have unique effects and stats. While you can equip a sword and a shield, wouldn’t it be cool if you could have swords in both your hands? Well, that is why this guide will show you how to dual-wield in Elden Ring.
Dual-wielding weapons has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you are a Soul veteran, you might recognize this style as a power stance. With that said, let’s dive right in and find out how you can dual-wield and when you should do that.
Elden Ring: How to Dual Wield
Dual-wielding is a great feature in Elden Ring that allows you to have a weapon in both your hands. This is ideal for players that prefer an aggressive playstyle and like to deal tons of damage in quick succession. However, when you are dual-wielding, you will lose your defense and will have to dodge all attacks.
To dual-wield, you need to select the same weapon in both hands from the equipment menu. It doesn’t have to be the exact same weapon, you just need to select weapons from the same category. The best part is that this works for every category in Elden Ring. So, you can even dual-wield colossal weapons!
While you can dual-wield any type of weapon in both hands, having weapons of the same category will give you special attacks and enhanced damage. Otherwise, you will simply attack the enemy with your right and left hand.
How to Two-Hand Weapons?
Now that we’ve discussed how to dual-wield armaments, let’s talk about how you can use any weapon two-handed. There are many armaments that require you to two-hand them to use them effectively. However, you can still two-hand a sword or other weapons to make it more effective in some instances.
Souls games have always given players the option to use their weapons in both hands. However, some players are confused about how to do that in Elden Ring since there is an additional step in this process. To two-hand weapons in Elden Ring, you need to press Triangle and L1 or R1 on PlayStation.
On Xbox, you need to press Y + LB or RB. Finally, on PC, you can press E + Left or Right click.
When you use a weapon with both hands, you will deal more damage and can even unlock new skills for specific weapons. So, make sure that you try out what happens if you two-hand a certain weapon.
Disadvantages of Dual-Wielding and Two-Handing Armaments
If you decide to two-hand or dual-wield weapons, you will deal tons of damage and have a great time. However, you’ll soon realize that your defenses are wide open. Keep in mind that you cannot use a shield or other weapons during this process. While you can block incoming damage, you will still take a small portion of the damage.
On top of that, parrying is not possible which makes the game quite difficult against certain bosses and enemies. Since you will be equipping multiple weapons in the case of dual-wielding, the overall carrying capacity might exceed as well.
This will cause you to fat roll or slow roll. As the name suggests, your character will roll slowly; giving the enemy more time to prepare for their next attack. So, make sure that you do not exceed the capacity and have a good roll.
During my playthroughs, I’ve also noticed that dual-wielding causes less stagger damage to all enemies. This isn’t apparent at first but once you get used to equipping a sword and a shield, you will notice that enemies do not get staggered as quickly.
Finally, putting points into Endurance will be ideal in this case. Since you are using two weapons, your character will use more stamina as well. This will cause your stamina to deplete extremely quickly without you even realizing it. Once that happens, your next attack will be slow and you cannot dodge until you get your stamina back.
Conclusion
And there you have it; that’s how to dual wield in Elden Ring. Dual wielding can help you deal more damage and use powerful weapons. However, blocking or parrying can be a bit of a hassle when you decide to dual-wield various armaments. The same can be said about two-handed weapons as well.
Do you prefer using dual-wielding or two-handed weapons? Which weapon is your favorite in the game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
