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TheClaws of Nightsometimes feels like a ridiculous, out-of-place weapon inElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. They look like claws, and can certainly be used to rip and tear enemies to your heart’s content. But once you use yourAsh of War, you’ll suddenly find yourself wielding two shotguns in a world where your opponents are only armed with a sword.
Scything through hordes of enemies becomes child’s play, and up close, large enemies will get torn apart when they’re hit with every single pellet you fire from these claws. So how do you make the most of these weapons? Is there a way to make these ridiculous knuckle-mounted shotguns even stronger? This guide will focus on how you can build these claws into a boss-blending armament.
- Fast, multihit attacks
- Middle of the pack for base damage
- Heavy attacks and Ash of War deal more damage up close
- Light attacks have short reach
- Heavy attacks fire three projectiles in a fan with each swing
- Only scales with Dex
- Inherent Magic damage and bleed build-up
- Ash of War does little damage at longer ranges
- Paired weapon - two-handing this weapon will take out a second one instead
- Scattershot Throw’s animation keeps you rooted in place
Good Dex scaling
Amazing Ash of War that can also build up Bleed
Ash of War can be fired twice consecutively
The Claws of Night have a blend of fast light attacks, multi-hitting heavy attacks that also fire three projectiles, and a unique Ash of War that launches a fan of projectiles from each claw. As a result,these claws are a powerful close-range weapon that can shred through opposing life bars in both PvE and PvP.Enemies fleeing from your onslaught, or large hostile groups are all perfect targets for Scattershot Throw at every range.
If you’re invading with this weapon, Scattershot Throw can easily manage three enemy Tarnished if you force them to group together. Hallways or any other forms of natural geometry should be used to help cluster your targets into a tight group to make your Scattershot Throw more effective.
There are onlytwo weaknessesyou should be aware of when using this weapon:the short reach of its light attacks, and this weapon’s mediocre base damage. Since the Claw’s heavy attacks fire projectiles, make sure you keep a careful eye for opportunities where the heavy attack’s projectile could be used to make up for your light attack’s short reach.
As for this weapon’s damage, there are several strategies to increase it up to some terrifying levels. The Claws have built-in magic damage and bleed build-up. This gives it two different avenues to buff your damage. You could use the usual suspects of bleed-based damage-increasing tools likeWhite Maskand theLord of Blood’s Exultationtalisman, or you can increase your magic damage with items like theMagic-Shrouding Cracked Tearand theMagic Scorpion Charm.
Best Stats For The Claws of Night
Regardless of your exact build strategy with the Claws of Night, you’ll want to hit this weapon’s softcap forDexterity damagescaling.This means getting to 80 points of Dexterity to maximize your damage.From there, increasing your Endurance to around 30 allows you to continuously swing the claws or repeatedly fire off your Ash of War without stressing about your Stamina bar too much.
After that, you’ll have plenty of points to put where you want. It’s highly recommended to get to 50–60 Vigor since you’ll need to be up close to your targets and more HP will give you more breathing room for mistakes. Points can be put into Faith or Arcane based on whether you need a specific buff to further help your damage, or if you want to lean further into bleed damage.
Best Talismans for the Claws of Night
The best talismans for the Claws of Night will focus on different ways to increase its damage.However, if you’re struggling with a fight, having talismans that increase your physical damage resistance like theDragoncrest Greatshield Talismanwill do wonders to help you through some difficult battles.Erdtree’s Favor +2is also a favorite here because the Claws will appreciate any additional Vigor or Stamina.
Here are some additional Talismans to consider for your build:
Shard of Alexander
TheShard of Alexanderincreases skill damage by 15%. If you’re looking for a straightforward buff to Scattershot’s damage, then this is one of the best Talismans to take.
Smithing Talisman
Smithing Talismanincreases the damage from thrown weapons by 10%. This buff applies to Scattershot Throw’s damage and the projectiles launched by your heavy attacks, making this talisman perfect for an almost flat 10% damage buff.
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia/Millicent’s Prosthesis
Thanks to the speed of its attacks and the number of projectiles fired by the Claws of Night, it’s very easy to activateRotten Winged Sword InsigniaandMillicent’s Prosthesis. These two talismans are easily thebest talismansto use if you’re looking for a flat damage increase because it fully buffs your damage if you land all three projectiles from your heavy attacks, three projectiles from Scattershot Throw, or consecutive light attacks.
Magic Scorpion Charm
TheMagic Scorpion Charmwill increase your magic damage by 12% but you’ll take 10% more physical damage. This is usually a worthwhile trade-off because, as far as the Claws of Night are concerned, this is a 12% damage buff for the magic portion of all your attacks.
Bullgoat Talisman
TheBull-Goat’s Talismanis more important in PvP than it is in PvE, but the logic is Scattershot Throw has a small start-up, roots you in place before you can fire the shot, and requires you to be close to your target to maximize your damage. All of these factors make it likely that some enemies will knock you out of Scattershot Throw before you can release it. In those cases, higher poise is now important since it allows you to resist the attack and then immediately release Scattershot Throw.
Madness Buffs And The Claws Of Night
While Scattershot Throw is worth focusing on for some builds, there’s another build strategy that focuses on increasing the damage of light attacks until you can maul every boss in the game. This is a more specific build that wascreated by CasualGG, and it stacks attack buffs through Madness effects and Madness-related buffs.
Here’s the core of it:
Off-hand
The Madding Hand will increase your damage by 7.5% when an enemy or you suffer from madness. For this build, we’ll be using Shabriri’s Howl to buff and trigger madness on ourselves.
Armor
The Black Dumpling Helmet increases your damage by 10% for the next 60 seconds. Each piece of Rakshasa’s armor increases your damage by 2%. Since we’re wearing three pieces, our damage is increased by an additional 6%.
Talismans
All of these talismans are focused on increasing our damage through repeated attacks. While Scattershot Throw does benefit from these buffs, against larger targets you’ll be better served by using light attacks rather than your Ash of War.
Aged One’s Exultation can also be swapped out for a more defensive talisman if you need more durability in a fight.
50
29
75
Faith
33
HItting 80 Dexterity is a necessity to make sure we’re getting as much damage as possible from the Claws. Since Millicent’s Prosthesis also adds 5 Dexterity, you only need 75 Dexterity to reach the soft cap. 33 Faith is used here to cast Howl of Shabriri and activate all of our buffs.
Buffs
How To Use This Build
Before a large fight, drink your Physick bottle and use Howl of Shabriri until you trigger madness on yourself, activating your buffs from Madding Hand and the Black Dumpling helmet. Be aware that Shabriri’s Howl will buff you for 40 seconds and Black Dumpling will buff your damage for 60 seconds.
Once all of these buffs are activated, two-hand the Claws of Night and use your light attacks whenever you get an opening. With both Millicent’s Prosthesis and the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia equipped, your flurry of light attacks will easily rend chunks from any enemy’s life total.
