Elden Ring Boosting

While Tarnished Edition of Elden Ring released on August 28 didn't introduce a massive amount of new content, almost every addition, whether the new classes or new gear, has the potential to shift the game's meta.

We previously introduced seven new items and how to acquire them. Here, we highlight Reverse-Bladed Sword as a prime example, focusing on its strengths and optimal usage.

Reverse-Bladed Sword basic info

If you played Elden Ring prior to Tarnished Edition, Reverse-Bladed Sword might look familiar, as it bears a resemblance to the existing Backhand Blades.

However, Reverse-Bladed Sword is a Dexterity-based weapon that deals primarily Slash and Pierce damage. More importantly, equipping it grants you a skill called Blind Spot.

The known method for obtaining Reverse-Bladed Sword is to travel to Roundtable Hold and trade with Twin Maiden Husks.

While many items sold by this vendor require Bell Bearings to unlock, Reverse-Bladed Sword can be unlockd simply for 1,000 Elden Ring runes.

What does Blind Spot do?

It is worth noting that this skill is not entirely new; it was actually added to Elden Ring alongside Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

As an Ash of War skill, Blind Spot is exclusive to backhand-style weapons, meaning you can use it with the standard Backhand Blades as well.

In combat, using Blind Spot causes you to quickly dash sideways before suddenly thrusting into the enemy's blind spot, allowing you to take them down with a stealthier, more unexpected attack.

What are the advantages of Reverse-Bladed Sword?

If you already own Backhand Blades, you might feel Reverse-Bladed Sword is redundant, given that they share similar attack ranges and basic movesets.

However, a closer look reveals that Reverse-Bladed Sword offers a superior feel in terms of its moveset. The running light attack carries significant forward momentum, making it ideal for chasing down enemies.

Meanwhile, the running heavy attack is perfect for chaining into Sword Dance skill, useful for catching opponents mid-roll or punishing panic-rolls.

Furthermore, because many of Reverse-Bladed Sword's moves feature strong forward momentum, its overall pressure-applying capability is formidable. If an enemy fails to roll away, you can often maintain a continuous offensive, keeping them perpetually staggered.

Regarding damage output, while standard Backhand Blades might edge out Reverse-Bladed Sword in most infusion scenarios, they lack the same level of versatility.

Reverse-Bladed Sword performs exceptionally well with Cold Infusion. This setup trades a bit of base physical damage for Intelligence scaling (adding magic damage) while retaining decent Strength or Dexterity scaling.

Even though standard Backhand Blades offer higher Intelligence scaling, Reverse-Bladed Sword consistently yields higher total damage output when using a Cold Infusion, regardless of your stat distribution.

These details are fantastic; they provide compelling reasons to unlock and use this weapon, which might otherwise look like a mere clone of Backhand Blades, rather than choosing it simply for the sake of novelty.

How to optimize Reverse-Bladed Sword?

To maximize damage with a Reverse-Bladed Sword build, start by equipping Lacerating Crossed-Tree Talisman. This talisman boosts the power of running heavy attacks, which is crucial if you plan to use the running heavy attack followed by Sword Dance to punish rolls.

Shard of Alexander is also essential, as it increases skill damage by 15%. Since this build relies on Sword Dance for burst damage, and helps rapidly build up the frostbite status effect, this talisman is a must-have.

You can choose the final two talisman slots based on personal preference. However, Bull-Goat's Talisman is highly recommended for the poise boost it provides, while Millicent's Prosthesis can further increase your damage output.

Regarding stats, focus on Dexterity and Intelligence, as Cold Infusion benefits significantly from Intelligence scaling.

If you have the opportunity to acquire Circle of Light, it provides a small boost to Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane. While the stat boost is modest, another advantage of this helmet is its lightweight nature; furthermore, every point of Intelligence added translates to a two-point increase in damage.

Which class is best suited for Reverse-Bladed Sword?

Based on the weapon's fundamental characteristics, it is best suited for Elden Ring classes that prioritize Dexterity. Naturally, Warrior class is likely the first to come to mind.

This class starts with a high base Dexterity stat. This means that once you acquire Reverse-Bladed Sword, you won't need to consume excessive runes early on just to meet the weapon's stat requirements, allowing you to allocate more points to Vigor and Endurance instead.

Additionally, Warrior starts with dual Scimitars, and the rhythm of their dual-wielding attacks matches that of Reverse-Bladed Sword. This ensures a smoother transition, allowing you to quickly adapt to the new weapon's combat style.

Alternatively, you might consider Samurai or Vagabond classes. Samurai boasts solid starting Dexterity and Vigor, while Vagabond, with its reliable base Strength and Vigor, can be built into a Strength/Dexterity hybrid setup for Reverse-Bladed Sword.

All in all, Elden Ring Reverse-Bladed Sword is a new weapon that perfectly blends speed, agility, and damage output. By pairing it with the right class and complementary items, you can further elevate your combat experience.

That covers everything for now. If this new sword has piqued your interest, go ahead and unlock it!

Elden Ring has arrived on Switch 2 with Tarnished Pack, along with a balance update released after an entire year. However, the most noteworthy addition is undoubtedly the new weapons and armor introduced with Tarnished Pack.

Tarnished Pack adds a total of seven new weapons. 5 are infusible weapons upgraded with Smithing Stones, while the other 2 are upgraded with Somber Smithing Stones. Here is how to obtain each weapon and what they are primarily used for.

Here are All New Weapons:

1. Hefty Scimitar
2. Reverse-Bladed Sword
3. Idus Sword
4. Reed Great Katana
5. Ritual Thrusting Shield
6. Leontiel's Greatsword
7. Golden Order Flail

Hefty Scimitar

Hefty Scimitar is included in the starting equipment when choosing Heavy Knight starting class. Alternatively, it can be obtained from Nomadic Merchant in Limgrave.

Hefty Scimitar is the only infusible Curved Greatsword in the base game that can be obtained without farming for a drop. Other weapons in this category either require enemy drops or, like Freyja's Greatsword, require progressing deep into DLC Shadow of the Erdtree before they can be obtained.

Hefty Scimitar category as a whole does not see much use because it is generally outperformed by standard Greatswords.

Compared with Curved Greatswords, it deals slightly more damage and has a longer attack range while dealing Slashing damage, but its attack speed is somewhat slower.

Standard Greatswords, on the other hand, attack faster, offer more Ash of War options, and include thrusting attacks.

Hefty Scimitar has one of the shortest ranges among weapons in its category, and outside of Heavy affinity, its damage is the lowest in the category across all other affinities. However, with Heavy affinity, its damage can surpass Dismounter.

Reverse-Bladed Sword

This weapon can be obtained from Twin Maiden Husks in Roundtable Hold.

Reverse-Bladed Sword is the only obtainable weapon of its type in the base game. It has exactly the same moveset and range as Backhand Blades from DLC.

The main difference is that Reverse-Bladed Sword has higher base damage but weaker scaling, while Backhand Blades have lower base damage but better scaling.

It is worth noting that Reverse-Bladed Sword performs better than Backhand Blades with Cold affinity. This is because Backhand Blades lean more heavily toward Intelligence scaling with Cold, while Reverse-Bladed Sword gains better scaling from Strength and Dexterity.

Idus Sword

Idus Sword is included as starting equipment when choosing Idus Knight starting class. Alternatively, it can be picked up in the starting area of Liurnia, past the first merchant.

Idus Sword is the second infusible Light Greatsword in the game. Its role is very similar to that of Reverse-Bladed Sword, essentially serving as an early-game base-game version of Milady from DLC. The two weapons have nearly identical movesets, models, and ranges.

It is worth noting that Idus Sword cannot surpass Milady's damage with any affinity, and it is also heavier. Its only advantage is that it has slightly lower attribute requirements, which is not enough to make up for the damage difference.

Reed Great Katana

This Great Katana can be picked up in Dragonbarrow area of Caelid, north of Fort Faroth.

Like the weapons mentioned above, Reed Great Katana is essentially an early-game base-game version of Great Katanas from DLC. It has higher base damage, slightly weaker scaling, a somewhat shorter range, and slightly greater weight. However, its damage can surpass standard Great Katanas when using elemental affinities.

Great Katanas do not scale particularly well with elemental affinities, while Reed Great Katana takes advantage of its exceptionally high base damage to gain an edge in this area.

Therefore, if you plan to build around Faith or Intelligence and want to use a Great Katana, Reed Great Katana is the better choice. Although it has a slightly shorter range and weighs a little more, its lower requirements and higher damage make for a worthwhile trade-off.

Ritual Thrusting Shield

Ritual Thrusting Shield can be found at Caelid Colosseum, the location with the enormous Warrior Jar where you can be invaded by three random players.

Ritual Thrusting Shield is a strict downgrade from Dueling Shield in DLC. Its damage is lower with every affinity, while its guard damage negation and Guard Boost are also worse.

For Thrusting Shields, Guard Boost is the most important attribute because their core gameplay is not about dealing damage. Instead, they allow players to block and attack simultaneously, making use of Guard Counters or two-handed shield pokes. The strength of their defensive capabilities directly determines how effective the weapon is.

Silver Grooved Shield

Silver Grooved Shield comes as part of Idus Knight's starting equipment. It can also be obtained from the merchant at Bellum Church in northern Liurnia of the Lakes using Elden Ring runes.

Silver Grooved Shield is a Medium Shield with 100% physical damage negation. Although its guard damage negation and Guard Boost are lower than those of most Medium Shields, it is the lightest shield in the game that provides 100% physical damage negation, making it worth considering when Endurance is limited.

Leontiel's Greatsword

Leontiel's Greatsword can be obtained by defeating the newly added NPC invader Leontiel. The invasion takes place at Radahn's boss arena.

This Greatsword is a spiritual successor to Mirror Greatsword from Dark Souls II and Hollowslayer Greatsword from Dark Souls III. It not only inherits similar movesets, but also introduces a completely new dodge and counterattack mechanic through its Ash of War.

Leontiel's Greatsword has an Ash of War called Muleta. It is a stance-based skill that allows the player to choose between a Light Attack input and a Heavy Attack input after entering the stance, triggering two different attack follow-ups.

Both attacks begin with a pirouette. The light attack follow-up causes the character to dodge to the left before delivering an extremely fast slash.

The heavy attack follow-up causes the character to dodge to the right and then perform a slower but extremely powerful thrusting poke. After using the heavy attack follow-up, an additional attack input can trigger a follow-up attack, making the sequence particularly powerful.

Golden Order Flail

To obtain Golden Order Flail, you must first learn Law of Regression and then use it in front of Radagon's statue in Leyndell, Royal Capital, and triggers an invasion event. Defeat the invader to obtain the weapon.

Its Ash of War, Causality's Wrath, is a buff-type skill. The first cast applies a 90s buff to the character, and casting the skill again while the buff is active releases an AoE attack.

While the buff is active, damage taken by the player charges the skill, and every attack received adds to the charge. The skill has three levels based on the number of hits taken, with the maximum level capable of knocking smaller enemies into the air.

You can use a shield with around 90% or higher physical damage negation, without reaching 100%, to charge Golden Order Flail. However, Guard Counter build is not particularly consistent and requires a certain level of skill to master.

That covers the acquisition methods and damage performance of all the new weapons in Elden Ring Tarnished Pack. To be honest, they are not particularly overpowered, as there are many weapons in both the base game and DLC that perform better than them.