If you haven't heard, Elden Ring's new 1.06 patch is out, and it finally brought some big nerfs for the Bloodhound Step Ash of War and the Rivers of Blood katana to the table. These obnoxious and overpowered tools have plagued the game's meta in both PvE and PvP since Elden Ring's launch in February. Because of that, the community is thrilled to see them get knocked down a few pegs. On top of that, fans are also ecstatic about the update's addition of expanded functionality for summoning signs and invasion items, as players now have the option to co-op or invade in multiplayer zones outside of the one they're currently in — including in faraway regions.
However, amid all the hype for nerfs to busted gear and quality of life improvements for Elden Ring's multiplayer tools, there's one change that I think a lot of players have overlooked: the update's buff to greatswords, curved greatswords, and great hammers that increases the speed of their heavy attacks and charged heavy attacks.
This change greatly impacts all weapons from these classes and makes them significantly more viable, but there's one weapon in particular that benefits massively from the buff. That weapon is the Dark Moon Greatsword (also known as the Moonlight Greatsword), one of the best Elden Ring weapons for Intelligence builds.
The reason why the Dark Moon Greatsword gains so much from the update is that its Ash of War, Moonlight Greatsword, relies on heavy attacks to be effective. The Ash of War imbues the Dark Moon Greatsword in frosty moon magic that adds extra damage and Frostbite status effect build-up to your strikes, but it also allows you to fire projectiles of moonlight energy at foes by using heavy attacks.
These projectiles do a ton of damage, easily proc Frostbite (doing an additional chunk of damage and inflicting a damage resistance debuff), and stagger foes quickly. However, their long casting animation made them difficult to use consistently. The slow casting speed allowed many enemies to close the distance before you could get your projectiles off, and since they were easy to see coming in PvP, other players could dodge them easily.
This is no longer the case, however, as the buff to greatsword heavy attack speed has significantly increased the casting speed for the Dark Moon Greatsword's projectiles substantially. This guarantees that players will be able to launch the weapon's devastating moonlight projectiles at foes before they get close, which massively buffs the weapon's viability in general PvE and the game's fast-paced boss battles. It also makes the projectiles much harder to avoid in PvP, as your opponents won't have nearly as much time to react. The video below shows off the effects of the change clearly.
大剣：騎乗中を除く『強攻撃』およびタメ攻撃のモーション速度を向上こういうことなんだねフロム…完全に理解したよ…。#エルデンリング #ELDENRING pic.twitter.com/ml7XpC1ACUAugust 9, 2022
The Dark Moon Greatsword was already a strong weapon, but thanks to patch 1.06, it has become truly incredible. Paired with an Elden Ring build focused on Intelligence (the weapon requires lots of it to wield, and its damage scales significantly higher with Intelligence than anything else) and enough Mind to use the Ash of War several times before needing to drink an FP flask, the weapon will shred anything that isn't resistant to magic damage.
If you're wondering how to add the Dark Moon Greatsword to your arsenal, you'll need to complete Lunar Princess Ranni's questline to obtain it. We've got a full guide on completing Ranni's quest for the Dark Moon Greatsword if you're unsure what to do.
Elden Ring is available now, and it's easily one of the best Xbox games you can get your hands on (it's one of the best games ever, period). If you're looking for a rich experience to dive into, don't miss this Game of the Year 2022 contender.
