From axes that can only be used by the strongest players to tiny little hatchets that leave a lasting sting, Elden Ring has it all. It’s safe to say that there's an axe for every player and every kind of build. The most important part behind picking your weapon is deciding which ones will match best with your character and how they will help you. Fortunately, this article is here to help you through the top ten one-handed axes in Elden Ring so you can find the right weapon for you. Without further adieu let’s jump in and find the perfect weapon for you!
10. Ripple Blade(best used as an arcane build)
The Ripple Blade is one of the most unique axes on this list as it scales exclusively in Arcane. The (s) ranking in arcane is sure to catch every player's eye, but that means you will have to be an arcane build of some kind to use this weapon. The Ripple Blade can also be buffed with magic making it a promisingoption for incantation users.
I would recommend this weapon to you if you’re looking to use dragon incantations throughout the game for two reasons. First, you will already be upgrading your arcane stat, which will make this a pretty powerful weapon. In addition, any lightning buffs will actually allow this weapon to scale with your faith. However, this weapon's damage is pretty poor overall only reaching about 170 base damage at +25. To use this weapon you’ll definitely have to be dedicated to your arcane stat throughout the game.
What's good about the Ripple Blade
- Scales an (S) in arcane
- Can be buffed with magic
- Comes with the skill “Wild Strikes” which allows the player to swing their weapon wildly until the player releases the button
How to get the Ripple Blade
- Sold by Pidia, Carian Servant who can be found on a balcony below the Manor Lower Level grace
- Drop down from the Southwestern side of the Three Sisters area
Full details on the Ripple Blade: Elden Ring Wiki
9. Jawbone Axe(best used as a strength build)
If you're looking to go with a caveman look in your Elden Ring playthrough then you’ve found the perfect weapon in the Jawbone Axe. It doesn’t get more primal than having some creature's literal jawbone on a stick for a weapon. Regardless of your style, this weapon is worth checking out if you're looking for a strong one-handed axe.
First off this axe can be infused with your preferred ash of war, making it a viable weapon in a lot of builds. However, when upgraded as a heavy weapon the Jawbone Axe scales an (A) in strength which is ideal for most axe-wielders. This weapon also deals strike damage, which will probably make it feel more like a tiny hammer than an actual axe, but in either case, you'll still be dishing out tons of damage.
What's good about the Jawbone Axe
- Can be infused with your preferred ash of war
- Deals strike damage
- Comes with the skill “Wild Strikes” which allows the player to swing their weapon wildly until the player releases the button
How to get the Jawbone Axe
- Dropped by Ancestral Followers who are holding the weapon
- The best place to farm Jawbone Axe is to the west of the Ruin Labyrinth site of grace where you’ll find five enemies
- They’re also all over the Siofra River
Full details on the Jawbone Axe: Elden Ring Wiki
8. Highland Axe (best used with a dex or strength build)
The Highland Axe is definitely for the players looking for a viking style character in their playthrough as it looks alot like something fro God of War or Assassins creed Valhalla.. This axe can be infused with your preferred ash of war and buffed with magic. Because the axe can be upgraded in a variety of ways itworks well with either a dex or strength build because it can scale (B) in both respectively depending on how it’s upgraded.
While this axe is decent for many builds it’s not exceptional for any specific build. I would recommend this weapon for early game players who are still deciding on a weapon/build to main. Overall this axe is solid, but the other axes on this list will probably suit your build better.
What's good about the Highland Axe
- Can be infused with your preferred ash of war
- Comes with the skill “War Cry” which increases damage and turns heavy attacks into charging attacks
How to get the Highland Axe
- The Highland Axe can be found in Stormveil Castle
- Make your way to a large room with a grafted scion
- In that room you’ll see a large painting and the axe is right below it
Full details on the Highland Axe: Elden Ring Wiki
7. Celebrants Cleaver (best used with a dex or strength build)
The Celebrant’s Cleaver is a mid-game weapon that is really unique for a few reasons. Much like the other axes, this weapon can be infused with your preferred ash of war, but the interesting part of this weapon is its passive ability. This weapon rewards you 10 runes with every successful hit. This makes it an ideal weapon for farming, but when you get further into the game this perk probably won’t be very helpful since it’s only 10 runes per hit.
This axe also has a unique moveset with its heavy attack actually sending you running after your enemy to deliver a heavy overhead swing. Overall this weapon is similar to the previous axes as it’s a good weapon that can be used in a lot of builds, however, it isn’t the best axe for any build.
What's good about the Celebrants Cleaver
- The strong attack causes the player to charge forward and deliver a powerful swing
- Can be infused with player's preferred ash of war
- Successful hits reward the player 10 runes per hit
How to get the Celebrants Cleaver
- Obtained from killing celebrating women in the Windmill Village
Full details on the Celebrants Cleaver: Elden Ring Wiki
6. Rosus’ Axe(best used as an intelligence build)
The Rosus’ Axe is mainly for the mages looking for a one-handed axe. It scales in intelligence and strength, but its attack power doesn’t go up much past 18th strength, so I recommend only leveling up intelligence to boost this weapon's damage. As it’s a magical axe it dishes out plenty of physical and magic damage to your enemies.
Additionally, the Rosus’ Axe comes with the skill “Rosus’ Summons” which allows you to summon skeletons to attack your foe. This skill is rather helpful when you need to put down a tough enemy quickly, but the ability only targets one enemy so it’s not great for crowd control. Overall this weapon is a solid choice for mages but for every other class, it would be pointless to use.
What's good about the Rosus’ Axe
- Comes with the skill “Rosus’ Summons” which allows the player to raise their weapon and summon three skeletons that attack the target and then disappear
- Scales well in intelligence
How to get the Rosus’ Axe
- Head to the Black Knife Catacombs just northeast of the Minor Erdtree (northeast Liurnia)
- In the catacombs, you’ll find a fog wall with an imp statue
- Open the fog wall and you’ll find Rosus’ Axe
Full details on the Rosus’ Axe: Elden Ring Wiki
5. Sacrificial Axe (best used with a strength build)
The sacrificial axe is an axe that will be most beneficial for strength based players who are utilizing some sort of magic. The reason I recommend this weapon to mages is that the passive ability of this weapon allows it to restore FP when an enemy dies in your vicinity or when a bloodstain is fully viewed.
The Sacrificial Axe scales mainly in strength and deals a solid amount of damage when fully upgraded. Additionally, this weapon can be infused with your preferred ash of war which will allow you to use this weapon in a lot of unique ways. Even if you don’t like this weapon the passive ability still works if you don’t use the weapon to kill an enemy. This makes it a good weapon to have in your off-hand when you need a little FP boost. Overall this axe is a solid weapon with a helpful perk that many player’s will enjoy.
What's good about the Sacrificial Axe
- Restores 4 FP when an enemy dies in the vicinity
- Watching bloodstains until the end restores FP
- Can be infused with the player's preferred ash of war
- Comes with the skill “Wild Strikes” which allows the player to swing their weapon wildly until the player releases the button
How to get the Sacrificial Axe
- During nighttime head north of Castle Morne where you’ll find a death bird (which should spawn when climbing a giant collapsed tower)
- Kill the death bird for the sacrificial axe
Full details on the Wing of Astel: Elden Ring Wiki
4. Warped Axe(best used with a strength build)
For any player running a strength build this is the number one axe for you. When upgraded as a heavy weapon the Warped Axe scales an (S) in strength. Interestingly, this axe also scales an (A) in strength in all of its upgrades that add a passive effect(blood, poison, cold). This is really helpful for strength builds as most weapons (especially one-handed weapons) don't retain a good scaling when adding passive effects.
Additionally, this weapon comes with the skill “Warcry '', but you can also infuse your own ash of war. Warcry is a really helpful ash of war as it further buffs player damage and allows for a more aggressive playstyle. Overall this weapon only fits well in a strength build, but it is one of the best one-handed weapons for a strength build in the game.
What's good about the Warped Axe
- Comes with the skill “War Cry” which increases overall damage and turns heavy attacks into charging attacks
- Strength scaling for this weapon is abnormally high in most infusions
- Can be infused with the player’s preferred ash of war
How to get the Warped Axe
- Dropped by Omens wielding this weapon
- One Omen can be found near the Abandoned Coffin site of grace
- Two can be found close to the Underground Roadside site of grace in the Subterranean Shunning Grounds
Full details on the Warped Axe: Elden Ring Wiki
3. Forked Hatchet(best used as a dex build)
After you’ve logged a few hours into Elden Ring you’ll come across one of the most annoying enemies in the entire game, the Imp. These little guys are some of the most difficult and irritating enemies mainly because of their fighting tactics and weapons. Luckily, you can be just as annoying as them by obtaining their weapon, the “Forked Hatchet”.
The main perks of this weapon are the blood loss effect and the fact that it can be infused with your preferred ash of war. The blood loss effect is set at (50) which is a little less than many other blood loss weapons in the game. However, since you can infuse this weapon with an ash of war you can increase the bleed debuff or put on frost, poison, or rot. This duel debuff is super effective on bosses and high-level enemies because of the Forked Hatchet’s quick speed.
What's good about the Forked Hatchet
- Can be infused with the player’s preferred ash of war
- Causes blood loss
How to get the Forked Hatchet
- Dropped by any Imps holding the weapon
- Pretty much every catacomb in the game has Imps with the forked hatchet
- Can be found in the sewers below the capital
Full details on the Forked Hatchet: Elden Ring Wiki
2. Stormhawk Axe(best used with a strength and dex build)
The Stormhawk Axe is another incredible weapon for strength-based players seeking a good one-handed axe to dish out a huge amount of damage. Base damage for this weapon comes to 318 and it scales a solid (C) in strength and a (D) in dexterity. For players leaning into a melee hybrid build, this makes for a good high damaging one-handed weapon.
While the damage of this axe is good, this weapon really shines with its unique skill “Thunderstorm”. This skill will allow you to create a tempest storm around you and pushing the button again will allow you to do two spinning attacks. This skill scales in strength and dexterity while coating the weapon in lightning. This skill is incredibly deadly and, if you have the stats to back it up, it can dish out tons of damage to bosses or clear out tons of enemies.
What's good about the Stormhawk Axe
- Has the ability called “Thunderstorm” which allows the player to create a tempest storm around them, perform up to two spinning slashes when the button is pressed again, and it coats the armament in lightning
How to get the Stormhawk Axe
- Make your way to the Fortified Manor, First Floor site of grace in Capital Lyendell
- Head out of the room and turn left when you exit into the main room
- Enter the first door you come across where you should see a long hallway that leads outside and into a courtyard
- Head to the southernmost wall and you’ll find the Stormhawk Axe
Full details on the Stormhawk Axe: Elden Ring Wiki
1. Icerind Hatchet(best used with a dex build)
Finally, the number one axe in all of Elden Ring is the Icerind Hatchet. This axe is highly versatile because it can dish out good damage to high level enemies andits skill can deal with large crowds of enemies. Additionally, the Icerind Hatchet scales mainly in dexterity, which allows it to fit into most builds.
As you can probably guess by the name, this hatchet inflicts frost damage on your opponents. While the hatchet does passively apply the frost debuff to your enemies, the real inflictor of frostbite is the skill that comes with the weapon called “Hoarfrost Stomp”. Hoarfrost Stomp allows you to stomp the ground while spreading a freezing mist that stuns most targets and inflicts frostbite. Tougher enemies will require 2-3 hits to be frostbitten.
Aside from the frost damage, this weapon is quite powerful with its base damage alone. It’s nowhere near your typical greatsword but at +10 it deals 270 base damage and scales a B in dexterity. This damage combined with the passive frost build-up makes this weapon incredibly powerful. Overall, this weapon is so versatile that it can help you in any sticky situation you get into throughout your gameplay
What's good about the Icerind Hatchet
- +20% damage to dragons and +10% to ancient dragons
- Causes frost build-up
- The special skill “Hoarfrost Stomp” allows the player to stop the ground and send out a freezing mist, stunning targets and inflicting frostbite (may take multiple uses for bigger targets)
How to get the Icerind Hatchet
- Head to the Temple Quarter site of grace in the western part of Liurnia of the Lakes
- Head into the Temple quarter area on the map and you’ll come across a lot of ruined buildings
- In a collapsed spire that lies in the middle of the area, you’ll find a chest that contains the Icerind Hatchet
Full details on the Icerind Hatchet: Elden Ring Wiki
