5 Best Great Hammers in Elden Ring

Image: FromSoftware & Bandai Namco Entertainment via HGG

Human Made

Drew has been a fan of games since he could hold a GameCube controller. Nowadays, he plays everything from mobile and PC games, to PS5 and Switch.

Reviewed by Ashley Johnson

Great Hammer is arguably the best class of “great” weapons in Elden Ring. They offer high damage potential with relatively low Strength requirements. Their two-handed attacks are much faster and more efficient than other “great” weapons. Plus, you get a substantially greater poise stat when two-handing as well.

With all of these upsides, there really is a lot to love about these magnificent mallets. If you’re looking to try out a Great Hammer build on your next run, then we’ve got you covered. Today, we’re breaking down the 5 best Great Hammers in Elden Ring, looking at where to find them, and going over some tips on how to create your build around these powerful weapons.

5 Best Great Hammers in Elden Ring

Let’s slam right into our list of the 5 best Great Hammers in Elden Ring, ranked from skull-cracking to earth-shattering, to find the perfect hammer for you!

5/5

Celebrant’s Skull

What’s better than crackin’ skulls with a giant skull? The Celebrant’s Skull is a solid low-requirement option for a Great Hammer. It shines in Faith/Strength hybrid builds when infused with certain ashes of war.

Stats

The Celebrant’s Skull has a hefty 138 base Physical attack. Needing only 18 Strength and 12 Dexterity to wield makes the Celebrant’s Skull a relatively good bang-for-your-buck weapon. It has very balanced damage scaling by default. Both Strength and Dexterity have a base D grade that reaches a C by max upgrade. You can augment the damage scaling through different affinities, but overall the scaling remains fairly balanced.

Where to Find It

You can find the Celebrant’s Skull on the cliffside just below the Windmill Village in the Altus Plateau. This village is located in the northernmost portion of the Altus Plateau and features the dancing Celebrant enemies. Disturbingly, the weapon made from the skull of a Celebrant is found near the village. Look for the corpse sitting on this lower cliff and you will find the Celebran’t Skull on its body.

How to Use the Celebrant’s Skull

With a relatively low barrier to entry, the Celebrant’s Skull finds its home on a variety of builds that aren’t focused purely on Strength. One of the best options for this weapon is on a Strength/Faith hybrid build. This is because it works excellently when infused with ashes of war that grant an elemental affinity. The Flame and Sacred affinities are ideal in this case, as they change the damage scaling to a C in Faith and an E in both Strength and Dexterity. Prelate’s Charge is a particularly potent ash of war to use on this weapon. Not only does it grant the Flame affinity, but the Prelate’s Charge skill can dish out tons of damage. This skill has the user slam their weapon into the ground and charge forward, creating a wave of flames as they go. Use this skill to mow down your enemies with burning fury!

There are a variety of talismans that pair well with this weapon. If you’re going for a Strength/Faith hybrid build, the Starscourge Heirloom and Two Fingers Heirloom give you +5 to Strength and Faith, respectively. This is great for getting that extra bit of damage scaling. The Fire Scorpion Talisman is great if you’re going with the Flame affinity, as it boosts Fire damage by 12%.

4/5

Brick Hammer

The very definition of a Great Hammer in Elden Ring, the Brick Hammer is an imposing implement for crushing your opponents. It has a hidden potential that allows it to be wielded without sacrificing too many points in Strength, while offering fantastic damage scaling at the same time.

Stats

While it has a rather unimpressive base Physical attack stat of 122, the Brick Hammer more than makes up for it in other areas. It requires a whopping 31 Strength to wield! However, you can wield it two-handed with only 21 Strength, making it much more accessible early on in your playthrough. Right off the bat, you have a base B grade in Strength damage scaling. At max Standard upgrade, that grade reaches an A, giving the Brick Hammer excellent damage output for a relatively low Strength requirement.

Where to Find It

You can find the Brick Hammer in Stormveil Castle, meaning it is accessible quite early in the game. As you traverse the side entrance of the castle, you will come upon the wine cellar full of exploding barrels and enemies that lob fireballs. Use the rusty key to unlock the door at the end of the path to access a ladder to the top floor. From this floor, you can access scaffolding on the outside of the castle. Follow the scaffolding down to a spire, where you will find the Brick Hammer on a corpse.

How to Use the Brick Hammer

With its early accessibility and lowered Strength requirement when two-handing, the Brick Hammer can become quite powerful very quickly. Part of that power comes from its excellent damage scaling. To optimize its damage scaling, we recommend setting it to the Heavy affinity. This affinity gives it an S in Strength, which significantly increases your damage output. Lion’s Claw is a great ash of war to achieve the Heavy affinity with. In addition to providing the Heavy affinity, Lion’s Claw allows the user to perform a somersault that slams their weapon into enemies. This attack can be devastating with a massive weapon like the Brick Hammer, likely breaking the enemy’s guard as a result.

If you need a bit of a boost to meet that Strength threshold, the Starscourge Heirloom’s +5 to Strength can help out quite a bit. The Hammer Talisman can also be useful with the Brick Hammer to enhance its guard-breaking capabilities against blocking enemies. If you want to maximize the damage of Lion’s Claw, be sure to use either Warrior Jar Shard or the Shard of Alexander, since both boost the power of skills.

3/5

Envoy’s Long Horn

The Envoy’s Long Horn may seem rather silly, but don’t let looks fool you. It has excellent Holy damage capabilities that make it worthy of consideration on a Strength/Faith build.

Stats

Base attack stats for the Envoy’s Long Horn are split between 120 Physical attack and 78 Holy attack. This spread makes it a great weapon for dealing both Physical and Holy damage. It requires 23 Strength, 11 Dexterity, and 18 Faith in order to wield. Damage scaling starts pretty evenly, with a base D grade across the board in Strength, Dexterity, and Faith. Ultimately, Faith scales the best, reaching a B grade by max upgrade, with Strength receiving a C grade by upgrade +9. Dexterity remains at a constant D grade.

Where to Find It

This weapon is dropped by the Large Oracle Envoy enemies that wield it. The earliest you will encounter these enemies is at Leyndell, Royal Capital. They can be found on the East Capital Rampart. You can also find them at Miquella’s Haligtree amongst the branches of the area when you first arrive there. The Envoy’s Long Horn has a 4% drop rate, so it may take a bit of farming before one drops.

How to Use the Envoy’s Long Horn

While its high base attack stats mean you can use it for bashing foes, this Great Hammer really shines with its unique Weapon Skill. This skill, Bubble Shower, has the user blow into the horn, creating a shower of bubbles that gently float before raining down on enemies. The attack deals Holy damage and creates enough bubble projectiles that large enemies can be easily decimated if all bubbles hit. As such, this build really benefits from high Faith.

You can increase the damage of Bubble Shower by 15% by wearing the Envoy Crown helm. To increase your damage output further, we recommend going all-in on Faith with talismans like the Two Fingers Heirloom and the Sacred Scorpion Charm. The Two Fingers Heirloom increases your Faith by +5, and the Sacred Scorpion Charm increases Holy damage by 12%. Stacking these items for maximum damage turns this horn into a powerful, pain-raining instrument!

2/5

Cranial Vessel Candlestand

Another Faith-oriented weapon, the Cranial Vessel Candlestand trades high Physical damage for Fire damage. Thanks to the weapon’s excellent unique Weapon Skill, this hammer can take out groups of enemies with ease, making this one of the best Great Hammers in Elden Ring.

Stats

The base attack stats for the Cranial Vessel Candlestand are split evenly across Physical and Fire damage, at 98 apiece. Requirements to wield weigh a little more to the Strength side, needing 26 Strength, 8 Dexterity, and 22 Faith. Damage scaling, however, remains balanced between Strength and Faith, with a base D grade in both that reaches a B by max upgrade. Dexterity scaling is reduced, with only a base E grade that does not change with upgrades.

Where to Find It

To acquire the Cranial Vessel Candlestand, you will have to venture into the Giant-Conquering Hero’s Grave, located in the Mountaintops of the Giants. Make your way through this dungeon and you will come across a fog wall locked with an Imp Statue. You will need a Stonesword Key to unlock it. Pass through and proceed to the end of the hall, where a corpse will have the Cranial Vessel Candlestand.

How to Use the Cranial Vessel Candlestand

This weapon is best suited for builds that favor high Strength but are looking to deal elemental damage. The Fire damage on the Cranial Vessel Candlestand scales with Faith, so a Strength/Faith hybrid build is ideal. In addition to strong Physical and Fire damage, the unique Weapon Skill Surge of Faith takes this weapon to the next level. Surge of Faith has the user light the Cranial Vessel and raise it so that fire rains down from above in a large area of effect. This skill is fantastic for dealing with enemies surrounding you or large bosses. As of Patch 1.07, Surge of Faith has had its attack power increased, making it even more potent.

If you need an extra boost to your Strength or Faith in order to wield this weapon, equip either the Starscourge Heirloom or the Two Fingers Heirloom to add +5 to your Strength or Faith, respectively. Another good option is the Fire Scorpion Charm, which increases your Fire damage by 12%. You can also use the Shard of Alexander to raise the power of Surge of Faith even further. If you’re worried about the FP consumption of continually using Surge of Faith, you can lower the amount of FP consumed with the Carian Filigreed Crest.

1/5

Great Stars

As the best Great Hammer in Elden Ring (possibly even the best weapon in the game), the Great Stars has everything you want in a weapon. It inflicts passive Blood Loss buildup, it heals on hit, and it has excellent damage scaling. What more could you ask for?

Stats

The Great Stars is a singularly Strength weapon by nature. It has a base Physical attack stat of 135, making it one of the stronger Physical-only Great Hammers. For such a powerful weapon, it has rather modest requirements to wield. You will need 22 Strength and 12 Dexterity to wield it. Damage scales best with Strength, starting with a base D grade that reaches a C by max upgrade. Scaling in Dexterity is reduced, with a consistent D grade through each upgrade.

Where to Find It

The Great Stars can be acquired from a couple different sources. The first location you can find it at is on the back of a carriage pulled by two trolls in the northern portion of the Altus Plateau. Head just to the southwest of the Road of Iniquity site of grace and you will see the traveling caravan. Defeat the enemies here, including the trolls pulling the carriage, and open the chest on the back of the carriage to obtain the Great Stars. Alternatively, you can obtain this weapon by defeating Magnus the Beast Claw, an NPC you can invade as part of the White Mask Varré questline. This was added in Patch 1.06 to allow players without access to online play to complete this questline. You can find the necessary summon sign at the Writheblood Ruins just to the south of where the aforementioned carriage can be found.

How to Use the Great Stars

There is a lot going for this weapon that makes it worth your time. It deals passive Blood Loss buildup with each hit. Additionally, each hit restores a bit of your health even if that hit is blocked. It can also be infused with ashes of war, opening it up to some fantastic combos. Infusing it with an ash of war like Prelate’s Charge or Poison Mist allows you to receive healing every time an enemy takes damage during the charge or within the cloud of poison mist.

However, we recommend going all-in on Strength scaling and infusing it with an ash of war that grants the Heavy affinity. This affinity changes Strength damage scaling from a C to an A, which is a massive improvement! A great ash of war to achieve this affinity is Braggart’s Roar. In addition to granting the Heavy affinity, using the skill Braggart’s Roar buffs the user’s Physical attack and Damage Negation by 10% and Stamina Recovery speed by 20% for 60 seconds. You can reach crazy levels of damage output with this skill!

Some great talismans to support this build are the Starscourge Heirloom and the Lord of Blood’s Exultation. The Starscourge Heirloom can help you get that extra bit of damage from your A grade Strength scaling. The Lord of Blood’s Exultation increases your attack power by 20% for 20 seconds when Blood Loss occurs in your vicinity. Take advantage of the Great Stars’ passive Blood Loss buildup with this talisman. If you’re really daring and are able to obtain both Great Stars, perhaps you could try dual-wielding these weapons as well. You will need a lot of Strength, but it may be worth doubling up on these behemoths.

Join the High Ground

Do you agree with our list of the 5 best Great Hammers in Elden Ring? Which Great Hammers are your favorites? Let us know in the comments below, and feel free to share any build tips you may have as well. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on any of our future Elden Ring guides!

Happy gaming!

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