TheSword of Nightis a unique Katana inElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.It’s found at theend of Ymir’s questline, and acts as the perfect answer against any defensive builds that just want to sit behind a Great Shield and stab you to death.
If you’re looking for a good Katana that can hit fairly hard with a fast attack speed, has a true combo in its pocket, and can punish defensive builds fairly easily, then the Sword of Night is the weapon you’ve been looking for. Here’s how you should build the sword to get the best results.
- Single hits deal low damage and low poise damage
- built in Bleed (45)
- No armor during Ash of War, so it’s easy to interrupt
- Heavy Attack hits twice and can chain into itself
- Ash of War cannot be changed.
- Uncharged Ash of War is a true combo into Heavy Attack
- Shorter range than other swords
- Ash of War cannot be blocked
The Sword of Night has a solid moveset and a special Ash of War called Witching Hour Slash. This attack is a large part of what makes the Sword of Night unique sinceit hits three times, can be charged to deal more damage, and cannot be blocked by opponents.Additionally, it also has a true combo from an uncharged Witching Hour into an uncharged heavy attack. This means if you land the Witching Hour Slash and heavy attack combo, you’ll deal a heavy chunk of damage to your opponents or outright slay them if they’re running a low-vigor build.
However, the strength of the Witching Hour is also where this weapon’s problems start. The Witching Hour Slash has a long animation and no armor during it, meaningit’s easy for aggressive opponents to trade hits or just cleanly knock you out of this Ash of War.While the combos themselves will deal a lot of damage, individual hits or your basic heavy attack will not do very much damage or poise damage.
Despite those weaknesses though,the Sword of Night shines as the de facto answer for shielded enemies or for players who are looking for a fun katana with an interesting Ash of War to use.Its strengths will also make it shine more in PvP than it will in PvE. For PvP, the multi-hit nature of Witching Hour Slash and the Sword of Night’s heavy attack make it useful for catch rolls, and since Witching Hour Slash can’t be blocked, it’s also a perfect weapon to use against opponents who are over-reliant on Great Shields or are suffering with a heavy dodge roll.
Recommended Armor
A large part of the Sword of Night’s weakness is how it can be knocked out of its Ash of War, so building poise with this weapon is a must. While you can wear almost any armor to go with this weapon,you’ll want to aim for 76 poise minimum.This is the ideal break point to let you resist most light attacks. Building 98 to 125 poise will allow you to resist practically every light weapon attack and most medium weapon attacks.
Recommended Weapon Pair
While the Sword of Night may suffer from low damage, pairing it with another weapon is one way to help alleviate this con. Having a weapon with a long reach but slow swings like colossal weapons, Great Spears, or the Great Katana can be a good compliment to the Sword of Night because the long-reaching weapon makes up for the Sword’s weak reach, but the Sword of Night’s fast swing speed covers the short range.
Alternatively, power-stancing the Sword of Night with another katana allows you to swing both katanas at once, increasing the damage dealt and still giving you access to Witching Hour Slash. Your reach will still be limited, but your damage output up close will more than make up for it.
Best Stats for the Sword of Night
Since the Sword of Night can’t have its Ash of War or infusions changed, and it only scales with Dexterity,you’ll want to aim for 80 Dex in total to get the most damage out of this weapon.If you plan on taking this weapon in PvE and want to make the most of the Bleed effect, having 40 or 45 Arcane ensures your bleed activations will deal more damage.
Since you might end up trading hits with your opponent during Witching Hour Slash, don’t skip out on investing into Vigor. About 60 vigor is usually recommended for most PvP builds, and the Sword of Night is no exception to this.
Best Talismans with the Sword of Night
The best talismans for the Sword of Night will helpincrease its low-damage output or give it a little bit more survivability.Here are some talisman options to consider:
Shard of Alexander
Shard of Alexanderbuffs Witching Hour Slash’s damage by 15%. Since you’re using Witching Hour Slash to make the most of damage windows and punish greedy shield users, you’ll want a Talisman that can buff your Ash of War’s damage.This talisman should be considered a consistent staple with the Sword of Night.
Godfrey Icon
Godfrey Iconincreases the damage of a fully charged Witching Hour Slash by 15%. This is better for PvE since you’re more likely to land a fully charged Witching Hour Slash against bosses and slower enemies. However, with enough poise, and when combined with Shard of Alexander, a fully charged Witching Hour Slash will let you trade favorably if they try to hit you out of your Ash of War.
Bull-goat’s Talisman
Poise is an important stat to build with the Sword of Night if you plan on using your Ash of War fairly often.Bull-Goat’s Talismanraises your poise by 33%, making itperfect for your build if you want to hit 98+ poise without giving up a light roll.
Rotten Winged Sigil Talisman/Millicent’s Prosthesis
Thanks to the speed of the Sword of Night’s attacks, and the three hits in Witching Hour Slash, it’s extremely easy to consistently activate these two talismans for more damage. While having both equipped would let you maximize the damage of your attacks without relying on your Ash of War, some builds would appreciate the spare talisman slot rather than the additional increase in damage on multi-hit attacks.
Between the two,Millicent’s Prosthesisis better if you want to stay near Rune Level 150 and want to save 5 stat points to throw somewhere else. Otherwise,Rotten Winged Sword Insigniagives a larger buff
Two-Handed Sword Talisman
If you plan on using the Sword of Night with two hands, theTwo-Handed Sword Talismanis a straight forward 15% increase in damage. This will bring its damage up to decent levels, but it may not outdamage just having a better weapon in your other hand. However, if you prefer having full access to the Sword of Night’s moveset rather than dealing with a second weapon, this talisman is a must take.
