In Elden Ring, you get to use a variety of weapons to defeat monsters and other players. You can use two weapons for each hand or the trusty sword-and-shield style for offense and defense. You can also use two hands to increase the power of a single-handed weapon. Get to know how to two hand weapons in Elden Ring with this guide!
For the Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC, press Y while holding your weapon and press RB to use two hands.
Similar to the button placement with the Xbox and PC, hold the ▲ button then press R1 to two hand your weapon.
The obvious reason is that your weapons hit harder when you use two hands to operate them. Two-handing a weapon effectively increase your effective Strength by 50%, greatly increasing the damage of Strength-based weapons. This can be extremely useful when fighting against tough enemies or it can also give you the additional edge when backstabbing enemies. You can also take advantage of the additional damage when fighting against stunned or immobile bosses.
Another thing you should be wary of when using two hands is that the move sets change. This can be a boon to some weapons as they may have farther reach or wider hit arcs. However, this can be also dangerous if you are not familiar with the weapon itself.
Using two hands on weapons can also increase your poise. This means that you are less likely to recoil from enemy attacks. Note that the value here changes depending on the weapon being used.
Two-handing weapons does not necessarily mean that you cannot change or equip other tools. Utilize your tools and swap them out when necessary. If you have ranged weapons, shields, or other weapons that you can use in your off-hand, best set them for quick swaps. This allows you to be more flexible during combat, making it easier to either evade or engage.
Check out Elden Ring on Steam here.