How to two-hand weapons in Elden Ring

Each melee weapon can be wielded with two hands to deal extra damage.

Image credit: Eurogamer/FromSoftware

Guide by Sebastian Thor Contributor

Published on 9 May 2024

Fighting two handed in Elden Ring is a technique within the combat system to wield a sword or other melee weapon with both hands.

All weapons intended for close combat in Elden Ring can be wielded with either one or both hands, which results in some differences in how you're able to use them. Bows and crossbows are a special case, which we will also discuss below.

This guide shows how to two-hand weapons in Elden Ring on PC with keyboard and mouse, PS4, PS5 and Xbox, what effects, advantages and disadvantages this has.

On this page:

How to two-hand weapons
Advantages of two-handing your weapon
Disadvantages of two-handing your weapon
How to two-hand bows and crossbows

How to two-hand weapons in Elden Ring

Compared to its predecessors, FromSoftware has changed the controls for two-handed weapon gripping a little, as jumping has been added as an action in Elden Ring and requires its own button.

Whereas in Dark Souls and Bloodborne it was enough to press the triangle or Y button, you now have to activate more buttons to two hand weapons.

PS4/PS5: Hold triangle + R1/R2 to two hand your weapon in the right hand (or L1/L2 to two-hand it your left hand).
Xbox: Hold Y + RB/RT to two hand your weapon in your right hand (or LB/LT for your left).
PC: Hold E + right-click to two hand your weapon in your right hand (hold E + left-click to two-hand with your left hand).

elden ring player battling enemies with a two handed weapon — Using weapons with both hands can compensate for a (small) part of the missing strength. | Image credit: Eurogamer/FromSoftware

Pressing the same buttons again switches back to one handed use of the weapon. This allows you to quickly switch between the two modes.

This also applies to rods or shields if you have a use for a shield held with both hands (such as a Marred Leather Shield, which inflicts blood loss when you attack with it).

Advantages of two-handing your weapon in Elden Ring

There are several advantages to using a sword with two hands:

It can partially compensate for a lack of strength: If you fall marginally below the strength value required to wield a weapon, you can still use it efficiently with both hands. However, this only works on a small scale, such as if you are a few points short. For example: the Bolt of Gransax spear requires 20 points of strength, but can be two handed with just 14 points. The Dragon Halberd, however, requires 22 strength, but you'll need more than 14 strength to efficiently two hand it. If you still try to wield such a weapon one handed without fulfilling the strength requirements, its damage values will be drastically reduced.
Two handed deals more damage: A two handed hit will always drain more HP from your opponent and thus shorten the fight (assuming you don't make any bad mistakes due to missing a shield, of course).
Equipment weight is reduced: If you two hand your weapon, you have no free hand and therefore do not need a shield. Take it off to reduce your equipment weight, and use that extra weight to give yourself more armour pieces, for example.

elden ring weapon menu dual-wielding availability notice — Such a message indicates that efficient ambidextrous use is possible despite the lack of strength. If you miss too many points, the weapon is almost useless. | Image credit: Eurogamer/FromSoftware

Disadvantages of two-handing your weapon in Elden Ring

However, there are some important trade-offs to two handing your weapon, which you'll need to consider before charging into battle:

Without an additional free hand, you can't use a shield or torch (though your lantern will still work). You can of course leave all of this equipped, but you will have to hold the weapon with one hand again each time in order to be able to use other combat equipment.
Two handed attack animations are usually a little slower, as your character puts more power into the strike. It takes time for them to recover after the attack, too, and be able to follow up again. However, the differences are marginal.
Without a shield, you are more dependent on the timing of your dodge rolls (or other means of damage reduction) to avoid enemy attacks.
You can block with a two handed weapon, but you will still take some damage compared to a shield with 100% physical defence damage resistance

How to two-hand bows and crossbows in Elden Ring

The use of bows and crossbows is a little different, as you have to wield a bow with two hands by default. You can technically hold the bow with just one hand, and use the other for other weapons, but this will negate being able to use your bow effectively.

Crossbows, on the other hand, can be operated and reloaded with one hand or with both hands. The advantage of using it with both hands is that you can aim and zoom with it, which is not possible with one-handed use.