Elden Ring is full of weapons and tools for players who want to create characters modeled after medieval knights, samurai, archers, assassins, priests, or sorcerers, but it also contains a decent list of fist and claw weapons that let players create characters styled after boxers, wrestlers, martial arts masters, and other cool pugilist archetypes. Below are some of best fist and claw weapons in Elden Ring's main game and in the Shadow of the Erdtree alongside the best Ash of War skills to pair with a pugilist character's hand-to-hand attacks.

Many of the Fist-type weapons found in Elden Ring are styled after the Caestus, a boxing-glove style weapon used by Roman gladiators during boxing tournaments. The Claw-type weapons of Elden Ring, in contrast, owe a lot to the tekagi-shuko claw weapon of Japanese martial arts, the bagh nakh weapon of Hindi martial arts, and the claws of Wolverine from X-Men. All the Fist and Claw weapons in Elden Ring can be powerful and useful with the proper character builds. At the same time, certain Fist/Claw weapons - and certain Ashes of War that can be attached to those weapons - are more useful than others.

Caestus, Spiked Caestus, Katar, & Hookclaws

Early Game Build

Right after creating a new character in Elden Ring and entering the game's starting area of Limgrave, players can acquire the Katar, a fist weapon modeled after punch daggers from the Indian subcontinent, for free. Simply ride east on Torrent to the Caelid Wilds, head southwest, break into the Fort Gael dungeon, and pick up the Katar weapon from a chest.

By sneaking into the late-game Dragonbarrow area (possible by locating a secret teleportation gate north of the Mistwood) and riding west, players can also locate an isolated merchant NPC who sells the Spiked Caestus, a boxing-glove weapon covered with barbs.

After defeating Margit, the Fell Omen, and entering the gates of Elden Ring's Stormveil Castle, players can buy the standard Caestus from the Gatekeeper Gostoc NPC and pick up the Hookclaws while exploring.

The Spiked Caestus and Hookclaws are excellent choices for Elden Ring players who feel the best defense is a good offense; both weapons inflict the Hemorrhage status effect, rewarding players who can strike their foes with lots of attacks in a short amount of time. Discounting damage or status effects, the Caestus does weigh less than the Spiked Caestus, while the Katar scales well with Dexterity and has a slightly longer reach.

Bloodhound Claws, Raptor Talons, Star Fist, & Veteran's Prosthesis

Late Game Build

Most of the other good Fist and Claws in Elden Ring become available in the mid-game when players gain access to the Altus Plateau area. The Raptor Talons can be found in the Sage's Cave dungeon, while the Bloodhound Claws are hidden within the secret ages of the Volcano Manor in Mount Gelmir.

The Star Fist, a gladiatorial weapon near a Colosseum, can be picked up in Leyndell, Royal Capital. Finally, the Veteran's Prosthesis weapon, imbued with lightning, can be acquired in the frost-rimed Castle Sol after defeating Commander Niall.

Of the late-game fists and claw weapons in Elden Ring, the Star Fist is a good Hemorrhage-inflicting weapon that scales well with Strength. The Raptor Talons weapon (found with Elden Ring's Raptor's Set) also inflict Hemorrhage and deal extra damage during jumping attacks.

The Bloodhound Claws come equipped with the powerful Bloodhound's Step and can deal damage through an enemy's shield much like a scythe. Finally, the Veteran's Prosthesis has the longest reach of all Fist weapons and a fun-looking weapon Skill that unleashes a shockwave of wind and a leaping lightning attack.

Cipher Pata And Grafted Dragon

Faith Build

The Elden Ring's Roundtable Hold hub area, located in a side room near where the Mad Tongue Alberich NPC invades. The Grafted Dragon gauntlet is one of two weapons players can get after defeating Godrick the Grafted and is modeled after the dragon head this demigod boss grafts to his body in his second phase.

The Cipher Pata, which only scales with Faith, possesses a shield-piercing weapon skill, and weighing nothing, is a great weapon for pure Faith builds in Elden Ring. The Grafted Dragon, unlike most Fist weapons in Elden Ring, doesn't have a two-handed mode where players can wield dragon-shaped gauntlets in both hands; this niche weapon and its flame-bombarding Bear Witness skill works best when paired with other fist weapons (or the Greataxe wielded by the rune bearer Godrick the Grafted).

Roar-Type Ashes Of War

Pair With Fist Weapons

After defeating the penultimate boss of Elden Ring, Godfrey The First Elden Lord, players can acquire one of the game's more potent Ashes of War: Hoarah Loux's Earthshaker, a ground-slamming attack that staggers enemies with a roar and damages them with a ground-slamming area of effect attack. This Ash of War can be equipped to any melee weapon, but its hand-slamming attack animation synergizes well with Elden Ring's fist weapons.

In general, Roar-type Ashes of War pair very well with most of the Fist Weapons in Elden Ring and can be boosted if players equip the Roar Medallion. The Barbaric Roar and Braggart's Roar skills both temporarily boost a player's attack power and alter the fist weapon move-set to include wild swiping attacks and forward charges. The Troll's Roar and Beast's Roar skills, in contrast, grant players access to long-range sonic attacks, letting Tarnished pugilists strike at enemies otherwise beyond the reach of their short-range weapons.

Evasion-Type Ashes Of War

Pair With Claw Weapons

If Fist weapons in Elden Ring are associated with Strength builds and barbarian brawler characters, then Claws and other Dexterity-scaling Elden Ring weapons are associated with nimble assassin characters. As a mechanical consequence of this, most of the Claw weapons are equipped with the Quickstep skill, which lets players dodge enemy attacks more easily and carries them closer to enemies distant from their short-ranged claws.

The Bloodhound's Step Ash of War is more potent version of the Quickstep Skill, while the Raptor Of The Mists Ash of War, designed for use with the Raptor's Talons, works better with a more defensive play style, letting players leap over any incoming attack and counter with a plunging strike.

Best Hand-To-Hand Build For Shadow of the Erdtree

Bleed Build

For those now going into the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, you will want to know what the best hand-to-hand build is to make it to the end. The first piece of this build is to use the Dryleaf Arts weapon, which is one of the new weapon types in Elden Ring.

With the introduction of the Hand-to-Hand arts, you can fight completely unarmed and without any gauntlets, claws, or fist weapons. This allows players to truly become martial artists.

In Expert Review Zone's video, he explains how he built a Monk Bleed build that is quite powerful and one of the easiest ways to cheese the game. You will want to upgrade the Dryleaf Arts to the Bleed Dryleaf Arts +25, as you will want to take full advantage of the Bleed potential. It also comes with the skill Palm Blast, one of the best new skills in the DLC and one that you will not want to switch out.

Both Dryleaf Arts and Dane's Footwork can be found looted from the Dryleaf Dane enemy. You can use regular Smithing Stones to upgrade either.

The stats for the Blood Dryleaf Arts at +25 are as follows:

The weapon at this level and in this upgrade path scales with Strength (C), Dexterity (C), and Arcane (D). This is not the best scaling that you could have on a weapon, but with the ability to do a lot of quick, sharp strikes you can easily overwhelm your enemies with how fast you are, lending itself to the idea of a superpowered Monk.

As for Palm Blast, it is a new Ash of War in Shadow of the Erdtree, and it is quite powerful. It does use a fair amount of FP, as it requires 14 to cast, and you will want to have a fair amount of it to use this when you need it. This is especially true in Boss Fights. You can fairly easily deal around 4000 damage with this Ash of War, making it extremely effective for this Hand-to-Hand build.

You can charge the Palm Blast to do significantly more damage in an AOE effect, and it gives you a fair amount of Poise when you do. It unleashes an explosive blast from your hand, and you can do fun things like blast enemies off towers and knock them into each other. This can make for some good combos, and as evidenced in the video, it can be done through walls if you want to take out some tougher enemies before they see you.

The suggested Talismans are:

• Godfrey Icon
• Lord of Blood's Exultation
• Ritual Sword Talisman
• Shard of Alexander

The final piece of the puzzle is find Rakshasa's Great Katana as a reward. This armor boosts all damage given and taken, but it is perfect for bleed builds and if your enemies do not get the chance to hit you back, the damage taken will not matter. Overall, players should be able to find a great hand-to-hand build in Elden Ring as they begin their journey through the new DLC.