The final installment in the Dark Souls franchise, Dark Souls 3 features a wide variety of unique and powerful weapons, each bringing something new to the table. With a wide range of weapons to choose from, players have plenty of choice to find something that suits their playstyle.
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Dark Souls 3's DLCs Ashes of Ariandel and The Ringed City also contain some extremely powerful weapons, and Onyx Blade is one of them. It is one of the most unique weapons in the game and later became the inspiration for Godslayer Greatsword in Elden Ring.
Where to Find Onyx Blade
Onyx Blade is in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC and is found in The Painted World of Ariandel. To find it you must travel to the Corvian Settlement. Once you make your way through the settlement, you will find a church and a building right next to it.
Make your way to the building, and inside, you will face an NPC called Sir Vilhelm. He will be wielding the Onyx Blade, and to obtain it, you must defeat him in battle. Sir Vilhelm is one of the most challenging NPC fights in the game due to the large health of Sir Vilhelm, his high damage attacks with Onyx Blade, and his non-interruptible healing spells.
Once you have defeated Sir Vilhelm, you will get a Contraption Key that you will need to progress through in The Painted World, as well as the Onyx Blade Greatsword.
Onyx Blade Overview
Onyx Blade is the longest Greatsword in Dark Souls 3 and has its damage split between Physical and Dark. It comes with the Weapon Art “Elfriede’s Blackflame” which buffs the damage of Onyx Blade and splits its damage among Physical, Dark, and Fire.
Elfriede’s Blackflame is extremely powerful as it adds a flat 145 Fire damage to the weapon, which lasts for 45 seconds. This is balanced by the fact that this Fire damage can not be further scaled by upgrading the weapons or your stats.
Onyx Blade can also not be infused and requires Twinkling Titanite to upgrade it. It is one of the best weapons for Pyromancers since it scales with Faith and Intelligence, unlike other Greatswords which usually scale with Strength and Dexterity.
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Stat Requirements & Scaling
Onyx Blade requires 14 Strength, 12 Dexterity, 15 Faith, and 15 Intellect to equip. It also comes with an initial E scaling in Strength and Dexterity and a D scaling in Faith and Intellect, which increases to D in Strength and Dexterity and C in Faith and Intellect.
Unlike the traditional Greatswords, Onyx Blade scales poorly with Strength and Intelligence and works well with Faith and Intellect. This on its own makes this weapon one of the best to use for Faith and Intellect builds.
Onyx Blade | Physical Damage | Dark Damage | Strength Scaling | Dexterity Scaling | Intelligence Scaling | Faith Scaling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Standard | 80 | 115 | E | E | D | D |
Standard +1 | 89 | 128 | D | D | D | D |
Standard +2 | 95 | 137 | D | D | D | D |
Standard +3 | 112 | 160 | D | D | D | D |
Standard +4 | 126 | 180 | D | D | C | C |
Standard +5 | 140 | 200 | D | D | C | C |
Stats to Focus
Since Onyx Blade scales with Faith and Intelligence your priority must be Faith and Intelligence. You can choose either to level up first based on the spells you want to use. The ideal stats you want to reach is 40 Faith and Intelligence as it is also considered the sweet spot for Pyromancy builds.
After that, you can focus on Vigor as extra Health points are always appreciated, or if you are using a spell-heavy build, you should consider leveling up Attunement. Endurance also remains a good neutral stat option.
First Priority | Intelligence and Faith |
|---|---|
Second Priority | Vigor and Attunement |
Best Synergetic Spells to Use with Onyx Blade
As Onyx Blade takes advantage of Black Flame and 40/40 Faith and Intelligence stat distribution is the ideal spot for Pyromancies, you should take advantage of Black Flame spells. In the left hand, Pyromancer’s Parting Flame should be used to take advantage of such spells.
These spells include:
- Black Fire Orb: Hurls a ball of Black Flame. (Bought from Karla for 10000 Souls)
- Black Flame: Creates a giant Black Flame in hand. (Bought from Karla for 10000 Souls)
- Black Serpent: Releases undulating Black Flames that trace the ground (Transposed from the Soul of High Lord Wolnir)
Black Flame and Black Serpent require 15 Faith and Intelligence, whereas Black Serpent requires 20 Faith and Intelligence.
Best Rings to Use with Onyx Blade
For this build, the Rings which affect pyromancies and improve damage should be used.
- Great Swamp Ring: Boosts Pyromancies (Increases Pyromancy damage by 12 percent)
- Witch’s Ring: Greatly boosts Pyromancies (Increases Pyromancy damage by 20 percent)
- Prisoner’s Chain / Ring of Favour: Increases our Vigor, Endurance, and Vitality.
- Chloranthy Ring: Raises Stamina recovery speed (+7 Stamina per second)
