Check out our Elden Ring 1.08 Best Intelligence Weapon Tier List to discover the most powerful int weapons after the latest patch!

Elden Ring 1.08 Best Highest Damage Intelligence Weapons Tier List

The 1.08 patch didn't change much on paper at first glance but of course, it also did introduce the arena, these new modes of that provide new options for certain weapons spells or incantations to shine where they might not have heard before, let alone the second wave of poise changes to make smaller weapons less effective at staggering and big slower weapons much stronger in that department which makes a lot of sense. There were also a few spot changes to certain weapons that changed things up a bit though, so with that in mind this is the Best Intelligence Weapons 1.08 Tier List for both PvE and PvP.

1 - Moonveil (S Tier)

We have some big changes to Moonveil in various ways, it's actually been nerfed dispatch but remains obviously as an S top-tier pick even more so when we think about the arena in team fights and free for all where you can catch out someone with the Ash of War heavy and basically one tap them due to that burst damage on the insanely fast animation. With the range of it that allows you to snipe people as a weapon, it is weaker though. They make katanas slightly worse in terms of poise damage, the moveset also features a few thrusts that were nerfed as we talked about in counter-attacks, and the ash of war was also singled out in this patch improving the Poise when Landing the weapon parts are up close but the magical range part of it has less Poise, that means nothing in PvP it really does not matter but in PVE it will be relevant and noticeable in those range situations where you're going to stagger enemies less. But in terms of boss fights that wasn't really a concern anyway.

2 - Dark Moon Greatsword (S Tier)

Dark Moon Greatsword was buffed in the last patch somehow to reduce the stamina consumption on those strong and charge attacks. And also it got damage detection, so when used at melee range it'll actually burst even harder. When we're talking about one of the hardest hitting magical weapons in the game and one of the hardest in range options you have and it doesn't even cost you anything but stamina, it should really cost FP to use those range attacks and remains as it should as. It goes through the series of these games an incredible pick even gaining that Frost damage in Elden ring.

3 - Wing of Astel (S Tier)

Wing of Astel is another top-tier intelligence melee weapon pick. As a curved sword, you can power stance these together and just run people down with that running attack as always and entirely rely on the bass booster. It has a unique heavy which allows you to do the range attacks - a two-hit combo for no cost to all the sorts of shotgun blasts of magic; or you can charge it and deal four swings and four range attacks all at once, this can allow for some great mind games in PvP. Its Ash of War is an incredible burst option leading to great DPS in a PVE scenario where you can get the Ash of War many times in a row, or it's multi-pop aspect where you can use it for great trading in PvP. So it's a great weapon not much has changed and still something you'll commonly see because it's so good. 

4 - Death's Poker (A Tier)

Death's Poker would actually be noticeably better this patch because in the arena in a free-for-all or team fight situation, this Ash of War sounds great on paper, you've got an explosion and ice fire that you can spread around the arean and a massive explosion if you do the heavy attack which is good for burst. As it turns out in play and practice, it's just not as effective due to the slow nature of the Ash of War, when you're sneaking up on a group or whatever it is, it takes so long to do the full animation that they're seeing it coming or hearing it coming and get out of the way, that doesn't mean it doesn't work. In duels and in PVE against bosses, it's still very strong. It would be noticeably better because of the free-for-all or multi-target situations, and still it's one of the effective intelligence weapons in the game.

5 - Royal Greatsword (A Tier)

Colossal swords have been improved this patch, in general, the bigger weapons are dealing more Poise damage and working how they should. But interestingly colossal swords had that Crouch poke improved which was nerfed into Oblivion before and now is much more viable and relevant again. In this specific case though with a Royal Greatsword, it is fantastic, the output you can get on just spamming Wolf's Assault Ash of War is amazing. In PvP, you are left a bit vulnerable because they're animation, but with the hyper armor, you can just get away with it. As a colossal sword, it's just a solid pick, and also as a strength weapon in general.

6 - Ruins Greatsword (A Tier)

Ruins Greatsword actually came up from B Tier to A Tier in this patch, purely based on the arena and also open-world scenarios. When you get multiple targets to deal with, it's incredible. The range of the Ash of War much like the Blasphemous blade is just super good, the wide range of it is very consistent, and going to land those hits very well but the damage is also very good as well. If someone comes to challenge your Ash of War spam, it's still an incredibly strong colossal sword and it has a unique heavy. 

Ruins Greatsword is probably going to be your better PVP option than Royal Greatsword.

7 - Sword of Knight and Flame (A Tier) 

This int weapon has been very fun to use again in PvP where you can actually make use of the fire more than you can the laser of the night, as we know this used to be a brokenly strong weapon - one of the strongest if not the strongest in the entire game and was the speedrunner's dream. After the many Nerfs changed that, it wasn't really relevant but they have steadily improved it again. As we go into free for all PVP Arena situations, we are seeing it more and it's very strong as you can see dealing great damage on the fire, or if someone's casting and standing still you can burst them with the laser from a reasonable distance.

Also if you just power stance them, they are straight swords and that's going to be really strong. It has baseline physical, fire, and magical damage which is really buffable, so you can get the AR pretty high. Obviously, it remains a Powerhouse in PVE still very strong even if it's not as broke as it once was.

8 - Starscourge Greatsword (A Tier)

Starscourge Greatswords come in a pair and that gives you a very limited Musa, it doesn't benefit from the Crouch poke because it doesn't have it, but it is a colossal sword so the Poise improvements and such are beneficial. The Ash of War: Starcaller Cry is also great in the arena because of the pull in an AOE scenario, if you can land that damage it's going to deal a lot and you can improve it in various ways obviously much like PVE if you can land the Ash of War. It does great but you are a bit vulnerable and a bit interruptible so wearing high Poise armor is always recommended.

9 - Fallingstar Beast Jaw (A Tier)

Fallingstar Beast Jaw is a great strength weapon intelligence weapon has the Ash of War that allows you to single out a target and absolutely burst down whether that's PVP from range or in a PVE situation where you're blindly spamming it, and even staggers bosses which is just so strong. As a colossal weapon, it has that generic colossal Hammer moveset which is a bit disappointing considering its design, but it's very effective in all content. But without any real changes to say, for the patch 1.08, it's still A Tier.

10 - Death Ritual Spear (B Tier)

Death Ritual Spear has been improved with its spear moveset and range, it's actually solid and many people prefer this to halberds. However, in the 1.08 there was a counter-attack damage reduction to thrusting weapons like this one, so it is worse as a weapon type than it previously was for its base moveset, but you're not just using this weapon for the fact that it's a spear obviously, the other end of this is the Ash of War which has received some big Buffs in terms of the damage you can deal.  Because it's an ash of war that you can spam over and over and over really effectively, the bigger damage is going to make a big deal in PVE and is also obviously good in PvP where you can make use of its ridiculous range, you can just target lock an enemy with this and then just spam it it over and over which is amazing in Arena. Spamming it out of the line of sight from far away on multiple targets who are fighting each other makes for a nightmare situation for them and that simple spammable nature from far and with better damage is obviously going to be big for boss DPS burn. Plus as a weapon it also comes with physical and magic damage which is very buffable, although the Ash of War had a slight Nerf, the damage detection time was reduced meaning the actual damage to the Kurds lasts less time, so technically it's harder to hit but there's no issue to be honest.

11 - Loretta's War Sickle (B Tier)

Loretta's War Sickle was buff the last patch to have more Poise on the first attack and better recovery, the damage of the Ash of War is very strong, especially in PVE. It's a fine weapon that we are seeing, fairly often in the arena. Halbert movesets are a bit A or B for people where they really like it or they don't, but it's obviously a top-tier pick when it comes to halberds one of the best in the game. So it's still good but people actually said the ritual spear is probably a better pick between the two. 

12 - Helphen's Steeple (B Tier)

Helphen's Steeple has been improved in many ways, it's such a war that was buffed to have longer duration, it's got better attack power, and the Poise improvements. The fact is this is a great sword with an excellent moveset but it doesn't have the same umph that 80 or even s-tier weapons have in this list, so B still feels fair.

13 - Sword of St Trina (B Tier)

It's very strong, you know the fact that you can put people to sleep and burst them down, we've come across it a little bit more recently with the arena in free for all and people are really dealing damage with it. But it comes down to the fact that they are straight swords, you can do a lot of successive hits, and locking someone down with sleep makes that happen a bit more often. They're great weapons and that's why they're definitely beating but nothing has actually changed in the 1.08 patch. 

14 - Meteoric Ore Blade (B Tier)

You could argue its AOE uses in the arena make it better this patch because you can pull people in and get multiple at the same time. But it's not really being used for its Ash of War to deal damage, it's more its basic moveset and says the follow-ups and the unique heavy attack which packs a real punch. But overall none of that is going to push it over a B tier. The last patch it had improved poised during the cast of the Ash of War but katanas are worse this patch was slightly worse poised damage on their base hits.

15 - Bastard's Stars (C Tier)

Bastard's Stars is still a C tier even though Flails were buffed finally in this patch but in a way that we think doesn't matter at all. When dual-wielded, their attacks their movesets faster, it needs damage, range, better move set, and faster attacks, but also in one hand or like two hand not just you wielded, still they are better technically. And in the 1.07 patch, Bastard's Stars was singled out with better damage on the Ash of War, but it needs more improvements.

16 - Crystal Swords (C Tier)

These are the crystal swords in rotten and normal both are in weapons but of course, the rotten version has the Scarlet Raw on it which is great as straight swords in power stance they do have a really fast moveset which can be great in many different ways with successive attacks. And having a weapon that can build up Scarlet Rock by default is quite rare in Elden Ring and effective of course. So their output is good but there's very oomph to these weapons compared to many of the other in options you have.