Learning how to two hand your weapons is one of the most useful things you can do in Elden Ring: Nightreign. Not only does it give you more options in combat, it can also massively boost your damage with bigger weapons. Thankfully, this mechanic works almost identically to how it does in the original Elden Ring. Read on, we’ll give you all the details!
How to Two Hand Weapons | Elden Ring: Nightreign
Before we start, note that we will be using the default bindings for this guide. After all, we have no way of telling what yours are if you decided to customize them! Nonetheless, switching to the two-handed stance with a weapon in Nightreign works pretty much the same as it did in the original Elden Ring.
If you’re playing with a controller, you’ll need to hold the Interact button and then the Light Attack button for either your left or right hand weapon. PC players have a dedicated default binding for two-handing, instead. Here’s the full list of all the default bindings:
- Xbox – Y + RB for right-hand weapon, Y + LB for left-hand weapon.
- PlayStation – Triangle + R1 for right-hand weapon, Triangle + L1 for left-hand weapon.
- PC Keyboard & Mouse – CTRL Key + Mouse Wheel Up for right-hand weapon, CTRL Key + Mouse Wheel Down for right-hand weapon.
If you wish to go back to one-handing your weapon, just press the same button combination. It’s as simple as that!
Perks of Using Two Hand Weapons in Elden Ring: Nightreign
It’s also worth noting that weapons have certain perks when two-handed, as follows:
- Most weapons will get some extra Attack. This is primarily based on both your character’s Strength and the weapon’s Strength scaling. This is visibly reflected in your inventory if you look at it while two-handing, too. Ranged weapons don’t get this buff.
- Similar to the previous point, Shields get a Guard Boost increase when two-handed. They can also Guard Counter and do critical hits.
- Regular weapons allow you to press L1/LB/Right Click to block. All weapons have 100% Physical block in Nightreign, so this comes in clutch. This also enables you to do a Guard Counter by doing a heavy attack!
- Some weapons, mainly Claws and Fists, can’t be two-handed. Instead, you’ll get a duplicate of the weapon on both hands. This gives you a new moveset that, generally, allows you to deal more hits faster. However, your weapon’s Attack power stat is reduced by about 20%, making individual hits weaker.
- Speaking of Claws and Fists, the Grafted Dragon weapon is unique in that it can not be two-handed at all.
- Bows, Crossbows, and Greatbows will allow you to enter a manual aiming mode by pressing L1/LB/Right Click. This can be extremely helpful for landing headshots, which are excellent for staggering enemies.
- Two-handing changes your active Ash of War weapon skill to the one on your two-handed weapon. Mostly important if you have a left-handed weapon or shield that prevents you from using your right-hand weapon’s Ash of War, for example.
- Staves and Sacred Seals get no particular benefits from two-handing.
- Some Passive Effects from weapons that need to be held (the ones with a hand icon) remain active even if you two-hand your other weapon instead.
That’s everything you need to know to two hand your weapons and its perks in Elden Ring: Nightreign! For more help with the basics, are you perhaps wondering how to play solo? If you are, check out our guide on how to play Solo Expeditions.
