Elden Ring’s Reapers, or what might more commonly be called scythes, have a number of unique qualities. Aside from looking cool, they also ignore a significant amount of the damage negation from shields, which can be useful in both PvE and PvP. Additionally, they all come with innate Bleed buildup, which is always a nice bonus, even if you don’t make it the focus of your build.
Sadly, Reapers are an underutilized weapon class in Elden Ring. In total, there are only five in the game. But since they can all be obtained relatively early in the game (with the exception of the DLC option), it’s easy to test them out and see which one is right for you.
Unlike in previous FromSoftware games, Elden Ring's Reapers have a real backstab animation! No longer will you just shove the entire scythe blade into your enemy, blunt end first.
Updated on July 7, 2024 by Lucas Ellinas: With Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC comes another Reaper. We've added it to this list to see which Reaper is the best to use.
5 Winged Scythe
That’s right; there are just four Reapers in Elden Ring's base game, and half of them are Faith-based. Why From Software made that decision is tough to say, but don’t let their shared stats trick you into thinking these two weapons are the same.
For starters, the
Winged Scythe beats the Halo Scythe in terms of damage. In fact, it deals the most damage of any Reaper, although much of that is made up of Holy damage, which can fall off later in the game as many bosses are resistant to the damage type.
The Winged Scythe’s weapon Skill, Angel’s Wings, causes you to leap into the air and slash down for significant damage. And, unlike the Halo Scythe, this Weapon Skill has the same scaling as the regular attacks, so you don’t need to worry about splitting your levels.
Angel's Wings also has the unique property of preventing enemies from using their HP and FP Flasks. This, combined with its excellent damage, makes it perhaps the best Reaper in PvP, since you can stop your enemies from healing and, more importantly, keep those pesky mages from getting more FP.
You can find the Winged Scythe in a chest beneath the Tombsward Ruins, located on the Weeping Peninsula. There’s no boss here, but there are some Rats and Pages, who can deal impressive damage, especially with their crossbows.
If you want the Flask-negating effect but don't like this Reaper, the Albinauric Pots you can craft have the same effect.
4 Scythe
The regular
Scythe is a relatively simple weapon, but there’s more to it than initially meets the eye. It is the longest Reaper, albeit by a narrow margin, and has a unique moveset: It’s charged heavy attacks are fast double-strikes. Since you can equip it with Ashes of War, you can customize its moveset even further.
While the Scythe is beaten out in terms of damage in most cases by other weapons in its class, it gets A scaling in Dexterity when given the Keen Affinity, making it your best option for a pure Dexterity build.
The Scythe is located in the Cliffbottom Catacombs, which, as the name suggests, can be found at the bottom of a cliff in Liurina of the Lakes, northeast of the Liurnia Highway South Site of Grace.
This area can be accessed at the start of the game by taking the secret path around Stormveil Castle. The Catacombs won’t be easy to fight through, though, as you’ll face several Omens, an enemy type you don’t encounter consistently until you reach the Altus Plateau.
3 Halo Scythe
The
Halo Scythe is a Faith-based weapon that doesn’t always act like one. It deals some Holy damage, but mostly Physical, and scales significantly better with Dexterity than with Faith. Normally, that would incline you to invest heavily into Dexterity, while only meeting the minimum Faith requirements.
However, the main reason to use the Halo Scythe is for its Weapon Skill, Miquella’s Ring of Light, which scales exclusively with Faith. It launches a ring of light a significant distance, and can be chain cast for a mere eleven FP.
Other weapons, including a few Scythes, can use a similar Weapon Skill: Sacred Rings of Light. But Miquella’s variant travels further, has better damage, and the rings it launches are larger, at the cost of just two extra FP per cast. If that Weapon Skill appeals to you, put most of your levels into Faith, and pick up the Halo Scythe.
Unfortunately, the Halo Scythe is one of the harder Reapers to get, since you need to farm the Cleanrot Knights that carry it. You can find them in many of Elden Ring’s locations, but a good early farming location is in the Swamp of Aeonia, roaming the area around where you fight Commander O’Neil.
While you can access this area from the start of the game, Cleanrot Knights are tough enemies to fight at low levels.
2 Obsidian Lamina
The only Reaper in the DLC, the
Obsidian Lamina is the signature weapon of Ansbach, an NPC you'll encounter early on. Like the base game’s Reapers, it has innate Bleed buildup. But unlike those, it comes with innate Arcane scaling, which means having more Arcane will increase how fast you can trigger Bleed.
The Obsidian Lamina has a relatively low attack rating compared to the other Scythes, but also has a particularly flashy Weapon Skill, Dynastic Sickleplay, that gives you a lot of mobility. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use the weapon for most of the DLC, since getting it requires beating the final boss while siding with Ansbach during his questline. Be careful, though; Ansbach's quest can end in several ways, and if you don't side with him, the Obsidian Lamina won't be available.
Each piece of Ansbach’s Set slightly buffs the damage of Dynastic Sickleplay.
1 Grave Scythe
The other Reaper that can be equipped with unique Ashes of War, the Grave Scythe is easily the most versatile weapon in the class. It’s a bit shorter than the Scythe, and lacks its unique moveset, but will out-damage it on most Affinities. Since it doesn’t deal Holy damage, it will perform better than both the Halo and Winged Scythes against many bosses, despite having lower damage in a vacuum.
It doesn’t have the same flashy abilities as the other Reapers, but if you want to use a build that isn’t Faith, Dexterity, or Bleed-based (and that’s a long list of potential options), the
Grave Scythe is where it's at. The best option is probably the Heavy Affinity, which beats out the Keen Scythe at the same level.
The Grave Scythe is another weapon that needs to be farmed for, although the Skeletal Mages that drop it are much easier to deal with than Cleanrot Knights who wield the Halo Scythe. You can find them all across the Lands Between, but there’s a good early farming spot in the graveyard near the Lake-Facing Cliffs Site of Grave, the first Site of Grace you can find in Liurnia of the Lakes.
