The system for how to two hand weapons in Elden Ring isn’t exactly intuitive if you don’t already know the key or button combination, so we’ve listed the command on console and PC below.
How do you two hand weapons in Elden Ring?
To two hand weapons in Elden Ring, hold the ‘Event Action’ button and press attack.
On PC you two hand by holding ‘E’ and left-clicking your mouse On PlayStation you two hand by holding ‘Triangle’ and pressing ‘R1’ On Xbox you two hand by holding ‘Y’ and pressing ‘RB’
If you have your weapon equipped on your left hand, press the block button instead (L1/LB) while holding Event Action.
Why would you two hand weapons in Elden Ring?
Two handing weapons in Elden Ring is a trade off of defensive capability for offensive power. By holding your weapon with two hands, you enter into what’s known as a power stance. You deal more damage with two handed attacks, making it a useful strategy for bulldozing through weaker mobs that you’ve already fought and died against 100 times, so you already know all of their attacks and wouldn’t need to block. Two handing is also a good strategy for facing large enemies and bosses, too. Here, you will usually be dodging or rolling out of the way of their attacks anyway, so you might as well take the damage boost rather than have another item hanging uselessly by your side. What’s more, a lot of the early defensive items in Elden Ring don’t actually block all incoming damage, so you could opt for a higher risk strategy until you’re better equipped. That said, you can still block some damage by holding the block button when two-handing. And all of that says nothing for the aesthetic value of two handing. When you’re lone warrior wading their way through the trials and tribulations of Elden Ring, is there anything more awesome than striding into battle with a giant katana gripped in two hands? For more on the strategies and items to keep you alive, here’s our full Elden Ring guide.
