Best Elden Ring Claws

Choose The best Elden Ring claws is perhaps an easier task than with other types of weapons. After all, there are only four claw weapons total in The Lands Between, which means it's a little simpler to figure out which claws might fit your character build.

In our opinion, there are enough differences between each of Elden Ring's claw weapons that they are worth looking into carefully. Although all claw weapons rely on Strength and Dexterity as their required base stats, each has its own unique way of cutting enemies down to size.

For this list, we focused on claws that can inflict additional status effects, which we feel puts them a step above those focused on purely physical damage. So read on for our top picks for the best claws of Elden Ringwhich also details the minimum stat requirements for each piece of gear, their different combat abilities, and how to best use them.

Best Claw Weapons in Elden Ring

Take the blazing speed and raw strength of Elden Ring's handguns and combine them with the agile cutting and bleeding ability of daggers, and you end up with claws. These Wolverine-type weapons may sacrifice the longer reach of large swords, but they allow for a relentless burst of slashes that can quickly deal high damage as well as massive bleed buildup and increased critical hit damage. They also excel at inflicting status effects, especially when enchanted with spells such as Bloodflame Blade for additional bleed and fire damage.

Because they are more agile than Strength-based fists, claws typically rely on Dexterity as their primary stat when it comes to scaling, though you'll need at least some Strength to wield them. This mobility means that claws are often exceptionally light compared to many other weapons, saving equipment load for heavier armor or increased stamina and evasion.

Raptor Claws

The Raptor Talons can be found a little later in the Elden Ring main quest, inside a chest hidden behind a set of secret walls in the Cave of the Sage dungeon on the way to Mount Gelmir. They require 6 Strength and 14 Dexterity to use, again evolving better with dexterity.

Raptor Claws are unique among Elden Ring claws due to their distinct power attack, which performs a very fast leaping attack when charged. Raptor Claws generally favor aerial attacks, delivering faster strikes than other claws. They also have a higher than average critical strike value, meaning they will deal increased damage when used to backstab enemies or attack vulnerable or staggered enemies after a parry.

As with other claws, Raptor Talons deal both physical damage and rapid bleeds, and come with the evasive Quickstep ability as their default skill – though you can replace this with another Ash of War ability if you prefer.

Poisonous Fang

While most claws focus on accumulating blood loss from enemies, the Poisonous Fang – as you might guess from its name – offers a venomous alternative instead. Requiring stats of only 9 Strength and 9 Dexterity to wield, this toxic claw has the power to inflict deadly poison on your enemies with every strike.

The Poison Fang can be found in the Caelid Abandoned cave dungeon, which is inhabited by poisoned enemies and filled with pools of deadly scarlet rot. The weapon is hidden behind a giant poisonous flower.

Although the Poison Fang lacks the flexibility of Elden Ring's other claws (with a lower critical stat), it is the claw of choice for those looking to poison their enemies quickly. Upgrading the Fang to add an additional poison upgrade greatly increases the amount of poison it causes by adding the additional elemental effect to its original poison status, massively multiplying its buildup and damage output. Alternatively, you can consider combining the poison effect with another item or status such as Blood Loss and Frostbite.

Bloodhound Claws

Unlike our other top picks for the best Elden Ring claws, Bloodhound Claws focuses primarily on pure physical damage rather than additional status effects. The main reason we still included it on this list is its unique ability. Instead of the usual Quickstep ability, Bloodhound Claws comes with the Bloodhound Knight variant, Bloodhound's Step. The evasive move renders players invisible as they effectively teleport a short distance forward, making it even faster and more effective at dodging than the standard version.

They also have higher stat requirements than other claws, reaching 10 Strength and 15 Dexterity. These increased requirements grant you the weapon's unique passive effect to ignore a portion of the damage negated when opponents block, making these claws fearsome when applying pressure to enemies and forcing them to stand guard. Combine this with their ability to inflict high blood loss, and they become all the more deadly thanks to their ability to break enemy guards.

To get your own Bloodhound Claws, you will need to defeat the Bloodhound Knight in the hidden basement of Volcano Manor.

Need help? Head back to our list of the best Elden Ring builds or our Elden Ring walkthrough.