How to Two Hand Weapons in Elden Ring

As a seasoned Soulsborne fanatic with over 200 hours across the series‘ brutal and magical worlds, I live for the heft and devastation of two-handing colossal weapons. Seeing my Tarnished firmly grip his Giant-Crusher with both hands – boosting its mammoth strength to meteoric levels – brings a grin every time right before crushing enemies to dust.

Two-handing weapons epitomizes the power fantasy promised within Elden Ring‘s rich gameplay systems. By literally doubling down on your equipped armament, it unlocks new levels of damage dealing potency. But it is not an easy path to tread alone sans shield or parrying tool.

This comprehensive 2000+ word guide will cover everything you need to know about effectively two-handing weapons on PC, Xbox consoles, and PlayStation.

What Does Two-Handing Do?

Two-handing refers to equipping a one-handed melee weapon or tool with both hands by holding a specific button combo. This is different from dual wielding two separate weapons at the same time.

Instead, two-handing provides the following primary benefits:

• Increases Strength by 1.5x – This allows you to wield heavier weapons than your stats would normally permit
• Boosts Attack Power – Two-handed attacks deal significantly more damage per strike
• Enables Weapon Skills – Many special skills require two-handing to activate
• Unlocks New Movesets – Additional sweeping moves supplement existing ones

These advantages make two-handing extremely attractive for player builds focusing on Strength, Giant weapons, and maximizing physical melee damage. However, the increased offense comes at the cost of defense, as it prevents simultaneously equipping a shield or parrying tool.

Understanding exactly how much attack rating and effective strength gets boosted by two-handing is key. Let‘s analyze the numbers.

Statistical Benefits of Two-Handing

Based on empirical testing and data mining the game code, here is the numeric breakdown on what two-handing weapons actually provides:

• Effective Strength Increase:

• Attack Rating Boost

For weapons withinnate Strength scaling, two-handing provides a massive 50% jump in effective Strength. This translates directly to Attack Rating based on the weapon‘s Strength scaling coefficient.

For example, the Grafted Blade Greatsword S Strength scaling means it gains a huge attack rating boost when two-handed.

Let‘s say the weapon base damage is 200 with 100 more attack from 40 Strength.

• 1-handed is 200 Base + 100 (from 40 STR) = 300 Attack Rating
• 2-handed with 60 effective Strength the damage becomes 200 Base + 150 (from 60 STR) = 350 Attack Rating

This demonstrates why Ultra Greatswords and other heavy Strength-scaling armaments benefit so greatly from the 50% Strength jump that two-handing enables. Their massive attack ratings translate to chunking enemy HP bars.

Now that the numbers are clear, let‘s get into how to actually two-hand weapons across PC and all consoles.

How to Two-Hand Weapons

Button Combinations

The button combinations to two-hand a weapon differ slightly across platforms:

• PC: Hold E + Right Mouse Button
• Xbox: Hold Y + RB
• PlayStation: Hold Triangle + R1

To return to your normal one-handed stance, just press the two-hand combo again. The process for two-handing is simple:

1. Have at least one melee weapon or tool equipped in either the right or left hand
2. Press and hold the two-hand button combo for your platform
3. Watch your character grip the weapon with two hands

And remember, this works with all standard one-handed weapons, not just Ultra Greatswords! The extra attack power benefits regular straight swords, curved blades, axes, hammers, and more. I often two-hand my trusty Lordsworn‘s Straight Sword in early areas to massively boost its damage.

Let‘s move on to breaking down the major upsides and downsides of committing to the two-handed life.

Pros and Cons of Two-Handing

Before charging into The Lands Between with reckless abandon, sword held in two hands, it‘s important to examine the risks and rewards. Here is the give and take when you grip steel with both hands:

Pros

• Massive 50% Strength boost – enables heavier weapons and higher attack ratings
• Activate weapon arts and skills – many require two hands
• Break guards and poise faster – rip through blocks
• New moves and sweep attacks – supplemented movesets with extra flair

Cons

• No shield/catalyst can be equipped – loss of protection and spell casting
• Slower swing speeds – huge weapons are hefty
• Less versatile than dual wielding – limits moveset potential
• Higher stamina costs per swing – manage your green bar carefully!

As with most playstyles in Souls games, two-handing is all about understanding these tradeoffs and learning spacing/timing.

Sacrificing defense for ultra aggression. Patiently watching for openings rather than rely on a shield. Parrying with your sword rather than a smallshield. Mastering the rhythmic flow between unleashing flurries of violent attacks and closely evading reprisal.

In many ways, two-handing weapons makes combat feel even more dangerous and death more imminent. But overcoming these challenges grants you access to the pinnacle of melee domination!

Next let‘s cover some tips on effectively wielding these weighty two-handed weapons.

Tips for Two-Handing Weapons

Through countless hours enraptured across various realms FromSoftware‘s uniquely rewarding combat choreography has flowed exceptionally well, almost zen, while two-handing enormous chunks of metal. Here are tips I‘ve carved deeply through practice:

• Learn the value of spacing – Carefully gauge distance to retaliate just outside enemy reach after evading their swings
• Only strike once or twice consecutively – Avoid button mashing greed to manage precious stamina
• Favor charged heavy attacks – Make every ground-shaking, well-timed strike count for massive damage
• Keep equip load Medium or lower – Maintain enough endurance for longer combos and dodge recovery
• Be patient and bait punishable moves – Evade ambushes and individual attacks you recognize as punishable windows to attack
• Use weapon arts and skills judiciously – Light them up at key moments to vary up your moveset lethality

Truly embracing the two-hand playstyle means adapting your spatial awareness, stamina management, and punishing windows. But once Elden Ring‘s intoxicating combat "clicks" you‘ll be cleaving fools with the best of them.

Now let‘s check out some favorite weapons that really let loose when gripped with two hands.

Best Weapons to Two-Hand

While any standard one-handed melee armament can be wielded with two hands, some categories shine brightest under the concentrated focus of united grip:

Colossal Swords

Grafted Blade Greatsword

• Beefy S-rank strength scaling
• Excellent base damage too
• Weapon skill hits like a falling star

Watching the Grafted Blade smash down emitting visible shockwaves never gets old. I lived for critical hits bouncing enemies like helpless ragdolls across the terrain.

Colossal Weapons

Giant-Crusher

• The definition of devastatingly huge on critical attacks
• Further amplified by two-handed multipliers
• Nothing looks or feels cooler

With 99 strength, the Icon Shield bash weapon art can flatten ancient dragons with a mere shove. I swear the giants felt it all the way in the Mountaintops!

Halberds

Banished Knight‘s Halberd

• Spin sweeps galore
• Moveset complexity complements sheer force
• Looks slick with the Banished Knight armor

Dancing between heavy axe chops and elegant spins while holding this formidable polearm with two hands finally helped me solo the Draconic Tree Sentinel.

Katanas

Rivers of Blood

• Madness incantation melts health bars
• Blood loss build up already high
• Sheathes on your back when two-handed!

Few things terrorize hosts in PvP like a bloody katana-wielding invader zoning them in with the dangerous Corpse Piler weapon skill. More satisfying than any magic!

And there are so many more weapons worthy of doubled grip. Now let‘s quickly cover switching between one and two-handed stances.

Swapping Between One and Two Hands

Elden Ring thankfully continues the Dark Souls tradition of enabling fluid transitions between standard and two-handed stances.

To swap from two hands back to one hand with your currently equipped weapon, just press that same two-hand button combo again:

• PC: Press E + Right Mouse Button
• Xbox: Press Y + RB
• PlayStation: Press Triangle + R1

This quickly disengages your off-hand so you can equip a shield or catalyst again. Alternatively you can manually equip a shield from your inventory to override two-handing as well.

Having such flexible control over your weapon grip empowers you to react better within combat encounters as the situation evolves. Maybe you score a critical hit by two-hand punishing a boss attack. But then need to equip your shield pre-emptively and absorb the impending retaliation!

This nuanced interplay creates intricate ebb and flow. Almost like a violent dance. And the freedom to fluidly switch grips lets you take the lead.

Through hundreds of hours channeled into my Tarnished‘s journey, I‘ve used two-handed colossal weapons to shatter the game‘s most terrifying foes. Learning enemy movesets, managing relentless stamina consumption, and evading attacks by a razor‘s edge presses intense focus.

Yet overcoming these lethal challenges by gripping steel in both hands grants you access to Elden Ring‘s pinnacle of melee power fantasy. Lands Between behold the reaper as I carve a path of destruction until the very stars burn out!

Or at least until some bleed builds put me in my place…

But I hope this guide has well prepared all prospective two-handers among you! May your mighty swings fell gods and demons alike. Thanks for reading!