Elden Ring: How To Two-Hand And Power Stance Weapons (2024)

If you’re a veteran of FromSoftware’s previous games, there are a number of expectations you may have for Elden Ring’s combat system. One of these expectations is likely to be the ability to change to a two-handed weapon stance in order to deal more damage - a staple of other titles in the developer's lineage, such as Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. If you’re coming to this title from these other games expecting to be able to use weapons with two hands, then don’t worry: you absolutely can.

Another beloved feature of these games is the Power Stance: the art of dual-wielding two weapons of the same type. This is another mechanic that returns to Elden Ring, allowing players to maximize damage at the cost of defense or mobility.

Updated April 28, 2024, by Seth Parmer: With Shadow of the Erdtree looming on the horizon, we have decided to revisit this guide to go more in-depth on the Power Stance mechanic in Elden Ring and provide lots of fun and devastating examples of how to get the most out of it. In addition to that, we have also added new images to help showcase how to properly utilize Power Stance and Two-Hand your weapons!

How To Two-Hand Weapons In Elden Ring

How you switch from a one-handed grip to a two-handed grip in Elden Ring differs slightly from other FromSoftware titles, but it’s still fairly simple.

In previous games, you’d be able to hold the triangle or Y button with a weapon equipped to change to two-handed mode. In Elden Ring, you’ll need to press one extra button while holding the triangle button - the L1 or R1 (LB or RB for Xbox users) shoulder buttons to wield the left or right weapon with two hands respectively.

This effect can be applied to anything that you can equip to the left or right slot from swords to staffs and even shields, but it’s going to be most useful with melee weapons as a general rule, applying an additional amount of damage.

Two-handing a weapon increases the amount of damage that can be dealt with by both light and heavy attacks. It’s a great way to maximize damage during key boss encounters.

How To Use Power Stance In Elden Ring

The Power Stance is Elden Ring's term for getting access to extra moves when dual-wielding. To achieve this, all you need to do is to equip two weapons of the same type (weapons are already organized by type in your inventory).

Your power stance combo moves will now be accessible by using the left shoulder button. This will give you access to a unique move set depending on which weapon type you have equipped.

With that being said, any two weapons of the same type can be dual-wielded to give a power stance move set, so don’t be afraid to get creative and dual-wield scythes, whips, or greatswords.

As with two-handing a weapon, the main drawback with the Power Stance is the lack of defense and parry options provided by a good shield. However, it’s an excellent way to get more damage output with fast weapons.

Best Power Stance Weapon In Elden Ring

Now that we have the general gist of how Power Stance works in Elden Ring, we wanted to highlight several Power Stance Builds that take full advantage of this mechanic in the game, allowing you to deal tremendous amounts of damage and cause chaos.

Again, you must dual-wield the same type of weapon to gain access to unique moves and abilities, so keep that in mind when trying to experiment with this mechanic on your own. Nonetheless, the sections below will provide some ideas and combinations to you that may spark even more creativity for your own builds!

Best Dexterity Power Stance Builds

Dexterity Power Stance builds are quite tricky to put together as they don't do nearly as much stagger or raw damage as ones focused around Strength, but the result is typically a fast-paced assault that can constantly place you on the offensive.

While Dexterity is a clear Stat you must focus on upgrading to get the most out of these builds, you may want to focus on your Endurance as well, as you do not want to run out of Stamina while utilizing Power Stance!

Please keep in mind that this is only a small combination of weapons, and there are LOTS more Dexterity-focused weapons and Power Stance builds you can put together. If any of these don't gel with you, try tossing a different weapon of the same type on and see how that works!

Best Strength Power Stance Builds

Strength-focused builds are often the best choice for Power Stance builds. They offer the most devastating actions overall, enabling you to stagger your opposition effortlessly and deal massive amounts of damage.

However, since you will be wielding two large weapons at the same time, you must not only focus on your Strength and Endurance Stats but must also be mindful of your Equip Load, as being too heavy to move around freely can be detrimental in most situations!

There are MANY more variants you can experiment with as well, as there are many more Colossal Weapons, Great Spears, and other Strength-focused weapons in the game. Try mixing and matching weapons of the same type and experimenting with various Talismans to find your dream Power Stance build!