Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtee – All Backhand Blades, Ranked

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtreeintroduced the player base to a lot of new weapons. Some of these belonged to old weapon types, like Colossal Weapons and Greathammers, while others belonged to entirely new categories, like Great Katanas, Light Greatswords, Hand-to-Hand weapons, and Backhand Blades.

There are a total of three Backhand Blades in the game. Two customizable ones that upgrade using smithing stones, i.e., Backhand Blade and Smithscript Cirque , and one somber smithing weapon, i.e., Curseblade’s Cirque .

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3 Curseblade’s Cirque

Underwhelming Roleplay Option

• Where to Find: Farmable from Curseblade enemies. One is located near Gravesite Plains, one near Moorth Ruins, and one in Enir Elim
• Base Damage: 108 PHY

The Curseblade’s Cirque is the least powerful of the Backhand Blade weapons. The three dual blades/discs share the same moveset, with some minor differences. However, the Curseblade Cirque is the only somber weapon, and its ash of war is quite underwhelming. It has a bleed build-up passive, but since it doesn’t scale with arcane, it’s a fixed number that doesn’t change. This makes it an unappealing choice for players looking for a new bleed weapon, and its lackluster ash of war makes it a bad choice overall.

The weapon shares its skill with the attack that the Curseblade enemy does, called Deadly Dance. The skill is alright since it gives the player plenty of mobility, but the damage isn’t anything special. It does have a unique moveset, and if you’re looking to roleplay as a Curseblade, this is your best bet. However, it leaves much to be desired.

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2 Smithscript Cirque

Chakrams With Pizzazz

• Where to Find: Found in the Ruined Forge of Starfall Past
• Base Damage: 100 PHY

Having dual discs in the Backhand Blade category is a bit disingenuous, but the attack moveset is the same so its forgivable. The Smithscript Cirques are good weapons overall. They do have a wide stat dependency, but with the right infusion, they can get incredible status build-up. The Smithscript Cirques will have an A scaling with STR on Heavy infusion, S on Dex with Keen infusion, B on INT with Cold or Magic, B on FAI with Flame and Sacred, and an A on ARC with Occult. This means that no matter what your build, as long as you meet the minimum stats, you’ll be able to put these to great use.

As a Smithscript weapon, these cirques can be thrown using a strong attack. However, their range is atrocious compared to other Smithscript weapons, so the throwing aspect of the weapon is more of a gimmick than a feature. That being said, the bonus is that jumping strong attacks also results in a throw, giving you more versatility in the way you approach the weapon’s moveset. Choose the right ash of war to pair with it, apply the infusion of your choice, optimize your build, and watch those bosses drop like flies. Additionally, any humanoid enemies that can roll to avoid attacks will get roll-caught by the thrown attack, making these the perfect NPC killers.

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1 Backhand Blade

Reverse Grip Dual Blades

• Where to Find: In a small mausoleum at the start of the game, northwest of Scorched Ruins site of grace
• Base Damage: 105 PHY

A powerful dual-wielded blade with good STR/DEX scaling, there’s nothing to hate about the Backhand Blade. The default ash of war it comes with, Blind Spot, is decent enough for anyone not interested in customizing the weapon. Blind Spot is a Backhand Blade-specific skill that makes the player sidestep and rush forward for a diagonal attack, bypassing shields and dealing good damage against your opponents. However, there are better options for the enthusiastic backhand blade users.

Ash of War: Swift Slash is a DLC skill that can only be applied to Backhand Blades, meaning it can only be used with Smithscript Cirque and the basic Backhand Blade. It is an easily spammable skill in which the player rushes forward, gaining I-frames and vanishing from sight, only to reappear a few feet in the aimed direction. When you have sufficient FP, the skill spawns multiple slashes along the path you followed. This skill is one of the best ashes of war in the DLC, and makes for some dynamic fights. It doesn’t have the best damage, but the movement potential it gives the player is insane.