Justification for a Separate Coded Weapon for Elden Ring’s DLC

The first Shadow of the Erdtree DLC for Elden Ring has been datamined, and it reveals the introduction of a new weapon class. Even if the introduction of a new class of weapons is good news for Elden Ring as a whole, one item in particular has to be challenged. The Coded Sword is an extremely valuable and sought-after item in Elden Ring due to its numerous unique features. Players shouldn’t overlook the Coded Sword because of its looks, the Ash of War, or its elemental damage type. Since few Elden Ring inhabitants have access to Holy Resistance items, Holy harm is disproportionately effective. This is why, with the exception of the last enemies in Elden Ring, the Coded Sword, Cipher Pata, and the Holy-damage Incantations are so powerful.

There aren’t many foes who can withstand Holy damage, but the Elden Beast and Radagon are two of them. The Coded Sword is perhaps among the best weapons in the game, and this is one of its few flaws. What sets the Coded Sword’s Holy damage apart from other Elden Ring Elemental and status effect weapons is its unique mechanism. The Coded Sword is unusual in that it lacks the natural standard damage that typically complements weapons imbued with Elemental damage types. Since few foes have significant resistance to Holy damage, the Coded Sword is a true force to be reckoned with. Since this weapon does not deal normal damage, it does not scale with Strength or Dexterity. The Coded Sword’s B-tier scaling may be improved to A-tier, making it a highly potent weapon, although it only scales with Faith.

Ash of War, crafted using the Coded Sword, is potent in both PvE and PvP in Elden Ring. Unblockable Blade is the Ash of War attack on the Coded Sword, while the Cipher Pata has the same talent, albeit with slightly less range. This Ash of War is unique to these two weapons and is not accessible anywhere else. The Unblockable Blade attack is, as its name suggests, completely immune to being blocked by any shields it hits. This blow cannot be blocked by opposing shields, making it an easy means to get around even the strongest defenses. Dodging or using longer-ranged weapons are your only options against the Coded Sword, which deals Elemental damage and may pierce shields with its Ash of War strike. It’s inevitable that Elden Ring NPCs carrying shields will want to utilize them, thus players can deter this behavior with the Coded Sword.

The Coded Sword weapon is still absurdly powerful due to its multiple layers, even after being rebalanced with some of the nerfs in Elden Ring. The Coded Sword is one of the greatest designs for a sword in Elden Ring, but this may be somewhat subjective. The weapon’s hilt and crossguard are quite standard, but the blade is so unusual that it stands out in a crowd. During an Ash of War strike, the Coded Sword’s blade, which is comprised entirely of cipher symbols, glows a golden color and grows to be nearly three times its normal length. To make other Elemental and status effect weapons competitive with the finest in the game, Elden Ring’s DLC requires its own Coded Sword equivalent. Fans hope that the unused Sleep status effect weaponry from Elden Ring may be brought back in a future DLC. Red Lightning, Death Blight, Frost, and Madness are some additional Elements and status effects that lack sufficient weapon variation.