With Madden 25 Early Access now underway, we wanted to share 10 new game-changing features so you can become a better Madden player and win more games.

First and foremost, you can use the new Spec Catch feature in Madden 25 to make a great one-handed catch. If you see a highly rated receiver like Justin Jefferson open in a 1v1 defense, throw the ball and press L1 or LB to use Spec Catch feature. This will give your receiver the opportunity to make a great one-handed catch.

Spec Catch is a new feature that joins the three existing catch types: Possession Catch, Aggressive Catch, and Run After Catch (RAC). Spec Catch expands your catch radius, allowing you to catch the ball from farther away.

Keep in mind that Spec Catch does increase the chance of a fumble, so choosing the right time to use this feature will help avoid costly fumbles. We found it difficult to catch the ball one-handed in heavy traffic, but it is not impossible unless you are willing to spend more $1 to get a top tier receiver.

Second, you can now switch to different players in coverage during a passing play using a new mechanic called Switch Stick. This allows you to use multiple players on a single passing play and lurk for throws all over the field. You do this by flicking the right stick toward the player you want to switch to.

One of the best strategies to use players in coverage is Guard Corner Routes, running Cover 3 zone while using a linebacker in coverage.

During a play, if you see a Corner Route forming, you can switch to a flat defender by simply flicking the right stick in that direction, then using that player and lurk for throws.

One important note is that you can only Switch Stick with a player who is performing a coverage assignment. So if you’re stuck on a D lineman, you won’t be able to use the right stick to periodically switch sticks. You have to hold down B or O and flick the left stick toward someone in coverage.

Third, Madden NFL 25 has a new Default Hot Routes that allows us to place routes on the field that we couldn’t before unless you had the ability to be a Hot Route Master or WR Apprentice. You can access Hot Routes by pressing Y/Triangle and selecting the player you want.

The new Default Hot Routes for Wide Receivers are Speed ​​Out, which features a circular cut to the outside, a post route, and a corner route, also known as C Route.

For Inside Receivers, we have a post route and a corner route, replacing the popular zig route.

For Tight Ends, we have a short corner route, a post route, and a slant route.

For running backs, we have a flat route and a new triple option that allows the running back to read the defense to decide if he wants to sit in the open, or go left or right.

Fourth, you can now adjust the distance of any route with a new feature called Custom Route Stems.

For example, in a play, your corner route may be covered by a deep flat, and you can use Custom Route Stems to adjust the route to be longer to break out longer distances on the deep flat. To do this, press Y/Triangle, select the receiver you want to adjust, then hold down L1 or LB and move the left stick up until the route is the distance you want.

You can also use D-pad to adjust the route in 5-yard increments instead of 1-yard increments with the left stick. After adjusting the route, release L1 or LB to confirm the route and watch the custom stemming corner open up over the defender to easily gain yards.

When playing against man defense, custom stemming posts and corners all the way to the line of scrimmage are also a great way to create distance from the man defender. Because the line cuts are quick and sharp, it makes it harder for the defender to keep up with easy darts.

Fifth, Madden 25 introduces the ability to view your blocking play before the snap and more precisely adjust pass protection with four new blocking adjustments.

To view your blocking play before the snap, simply hold down L1 or LB, which will allow you to see who each blocker is targeting, helping you better plan pass protection adjustments.

In the pass protection menu, the four new adjustments are Half-Slide Right, Half-Slide Left, Base, and Empty. To access these new blocking adjustments, hold down L1 or LB and move the left or right stick in the direction of your desired blocking protection.

Half-Slide is probably one of the most commonly used and effective blocking protections, where half of the offensive line will slide over to the side you choose to protect QB, while the other half of O-line will perform a man blocking assignment.

One bonus tip is that if you see Flame emojis above the heads of defensive players, this indicates that O-line will not block these players, even if they blitz. So keep an eye out for this when setting up pass protection so you know who will not be blocked if these specific players blitz.

Sixth, kicking the ball in Madden 25 will be harder than ever with the new multimeter. The new multimeter has a horizontal meter for accuracy and a vertical meter for power.

To kick the ball with this meter, aim the arrow with the left stick straight down, then hold X or A when the arrow is between the two lines of the accuracy meter. Then continue to hold X or A to fill up the meter inside the arrow, and release X or A when you have enough power in your kick.

Be careful though, because if the meter fills up with red marks, it can reduce the accuracy of your kick. Therefore, it is recommended that you only time the arrow on one side, rather than looking at both sides. This will help you lock on to the arrow and time it better to hit the middle more accurately.

Seventh, you can call reverse plays on kickoff returns for potentially huge gains.

While running these reverse option plays, if you decide you want to hand the ball off to the reverse, run upfield to the player and press L1 or LB to hand off the ball.

One thing you should notice here, it is best not to hold down Sprint button when trying to hand off to the reverse, as this will give you more time to execute the handoff. This prevents the player from running past the intended handoff point and being hit for the minimum yardage.

Eighth, besides base alignment to confuse the opponent, there is a new way to Disguise Coverage Shells.

In the play calling menu, you can disguise your coverage by flicking the right stick left or right, changing your Coverage Shells to look like Cover 4, Cover 3, Cover 2, Cover 1, or even Cover 0 Shells.

When you do this, your defense will appear in Cover for Defense look, but you will be in Cover 3 defense selected in the play calling menu.

You can also change the coverage shell look by pressing Y/Triangle and moving the left stick in the direction of your desired Coverage Shell. Alternatively, you can press R1 or RB to display a blitz.

Disguising your coverages will make your defense less predictable, making it harder for the offense to make pleasant calls, increasing the chances of stops and forced turnovers.

Ninth is Revamped Hit Stick, which rewards players with perfect timing on the hit.

Hit success in Madden 25 will now be determined by the timing of the hit and the angle at which the defender approaches the ball carrier. On successful or failed hits, there is a feedback system on the field that tells you the power, squareness and timing of your Hit Stick.

Players with higher Tackle and Hit Power ratings will give you more chances to successfully hit the ball, while players with lower Tackle and Hit Power ratings will have a harder time hitting the ball hard, especially against bigger and better running backs. Therefore, for smaller players, it is better to use X or A for Breakdown Tackle or use Cut Stick Tackle to knock down the player’s legs by flicking the right stick downward.

Finally, there is the new Read Option ‘Hold to Keep’ Mechanic, which will make it easier to make reads in option and RPO games.

For example, if you want to hand the ball to the running back, you don’t need to press any button to hand off the ball, and if you want the quarterback to keep the ball, hold X or A for the quarterback to run.

These are the 10 key new features you need to know before entering Madden NFL 25. If you haven’t entered Early Access yet, you might want to use this guide to learn about the relevant mechanics in advance to help you get a better start!

With the new NFL season about to kick off, Madden 25 craze is expected to last for 1-2 months until the game loses its novelty, becomes boring, and has technical issues. Before that, however, you need to understand which teams are threatening in the game in order to prepare for your own Madden leagues. Therefore, the first three teams are the ones that players should consider picking, while the last three are the ones that players should try to avoid.

These two teams are discussed together because everyone knows that they are extraordinary. Chiefs have become stronger because of the addition of Xavier Worthy and Mecole Hardman. In this game, speed is the key factor, and if you can combine this speed with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, then this team will become very strong.

On the other hand, 49ers have the best running back in the game, and his performance will be further improved with the bonus of cover athlete. Fred Warner has a 97 overall rating, and he has an unstoppable defense.

And, in MUT 25, you can further enhance your competitiveness in the game by using $1 to enhance your team lineup, especially teams like Chiefs.

If you are skilled at playing Madden, then this team will be a good choice for you. However, if your game skills need to be improved, it is best to avoid them. Bears have shown that they are very strong. In a season that needs to go 17 games before a crucial playoff game, this team has great potential to develop, especially considering the strength of receivers such as Rome Odunze and DJ Moore is second only to Keenan Allen.

Speedy receivers are often the key factor in the game, so having a receiver who can run a 4.3 second 40-yard dash and a rookie with great potential makes this team particularly strong on the offensive end.

The reason this team needs some time to be recognized is mainly because of the shortcomings of offensive line. After all, a weak offensive line can ruin a team, and this team does have issues with its offensive line. However, given their excellent running backs and receivers, this team undoubtedly can finish the game quickly, so it should be seriously considered.

On defense, they have a MLB-high 87 speed and acceleration, which makes him a fast and effective player. Their corners and safeties also perform well. Overall, players can be completely optimistic about this team. Their true strength is far more than what they see on the surface.

Although Lions performed impressively last season, now that their strengths are known, many players expect them to continue to shine in the game. But in fact, this team has an overall rating of 83. It is worth noting that they have one of the best defenses in the game, with a strong young lineup and a high overall tackle of 96.

In MUT 25, tackles are the most critical position because they play a vital role in stopping the opponent’s pass. In addition, they also have a WR2 with a speed of 98, which makes the team’s strength even more not to be underestimated, and its true ability may be underestimated. This team can undoubtedly shine on the field and is expected to continue to show excellent performance in the next few years.

Related: $1

It is recommended to avoid Chargers. This may be the weakest team I have ever seen, with a rating of 85. The characteristic of this team is that it is top-heavy, and even if they have three players with individual scores of more than 90 points, it does not mean that the entire team is strong. Don’t be fooled by this appearance, because there are still eight players with scores of 80 points or lower, which is extremely unbalanced for a team with a total score of 85.

Their true strength is not as good as it seems. Ignore their overall score and the high scores of the top three players, otherwise you may make a serious mistake, because the actual performance of this team may only be at the level of 81 points at most. Moreover, the situation will be very unfavorable when facing a strong opponent like Mahomes twice a week. If you plan to invest time in a thorough reconstruction, Chargers may be an option.

This team looks strong, with a potential superstar quarterback and talented linebackers, and their jersey design is also very attractive, but a superstar quarterback with a rating in the mid-70s doesn’t really have much value. In addition, although their receivers have a high overall rating, it is not an advantage because of the lack of speed and development potential.

Not to mention, there are not many positions to draft players, and they need to be extremely high overall to match those players in the mid-70s. On the surface, this team seems to be competitive, but in reality, their performance is only average. Many other teams are stronger than them, and it would be a wiser decision to choose them. Therefore, it is recommended to consider other options with more potential.

This team’s performance in MUT 25 is really disappointing. Tyler Lockett received too much attention as the 88th overall pick, and DK Metcalf did not receive the attention he deserved despite being ranked 86th. If the overall rankings of the two could be switched, this team might be pretty good. Because Tyler Lockett, ranked 88th overall, has not performed well, and DK Metcalf has not shown powerful strength.

Their quarterback performance is terrible, and when the best player on the team is only ranked 88th overall, it usually indicates that the team will not perform well. Considering the overall strength of this team is mediocre, plus having to face the powerful 49ers twice every season almost means that you automatically lose two games. Therefore, the wiser choice is to avoid this team.

Many players prefer teams that are strong overall. It is recommended that you do not choose Carolina Panthers or Cleveland Browns because they do not have a first-round pick. Consider choosing a team composed of right-handed players so that you can scroll to the right to operate as most players are used to. Because if you start late in the game, you may be at a disadvantage.

If there is a team that should never be selected, it is definitely Chargers. Because in comparison, Bears and Lions are better choices. When the game becomes boring and you no longer have any interest in playing, at least you will be grateful that this advice helped you win a franchise Super Bowl.

In the world of Elden Ring, danger and fear lurk around every corner. FromSoftware is known for designing enemies that are both vivid and ferocious, and Elden Ring expands their arsenal of fearsome monsters even further. Here are some of the most charming little creatures in Elden Ring that are so cute that you’d rather fight alongside them or avoid them altogether.

When you encounter them, the first thing you think of is how do you fight a snowman-shaped opponent? Then you see, they’re blowing bubbles! So how do you become an Elden Lord when there are bubbles to blow?

It’s hard to defeat a friend-shaped enemy that looks like two large bubbles stacked on top of each other. Although their slow movement can be a bit annoying, Oracle Envoys will definitely find their place in your squad of besties.

Every dog ​​in the game has the potential to attack you for no reason. But that definitely won’t stop you from getting a pet for your wonderful child. There are so many dogs and so many emotes in Elden Ring that it would be too much to not pet any of them.

Whether it’s regular dogs, wolves, Direwolves, or even friends of Funko Pop proportions, including Monstrous Dogs, you might even have your Runebear apply for a part-time dog status. You just want to help them fulfill their role as man’s best friend. Now you might choose a Runebear with a collar as your pet.

Even though Torrent is treated like an immortal, god-like being, he can’t seem to bear the burden of anything other than Tarnished. But now Merchant’s Donkey is here, and it’s the coolest Alexander Warrior Jar you’ve ever seen.

Whether Torrent is as a mount or part of an Elden squad, in a game like Elden Ring that’s filled with unique items, managing your loot better will be crucial. This not only involves actual item management, but may also touch on using $1 to upgrade your character and gear. Torrent can also get some help from a friend who can understand his sense of humor.

Alexander Warrior Jar’s journey is full of beauty and inspiration as he travels across Lands Between and triumphs over powerful foes once thought unbeatable. But can you imagine? His achievements would seem even greater if Alexander was only a foot tall.

Players will be eager to see the story of Jar Bairn continue, as Alexander’s young nephew carries on his family legacy and embarks on his own adventures. If you can’t find a way to make this little friend a companion, you have a backup plan: develop a standalone Jar Bairn spin-off game.

These brave little insects are cursed to share the same fate as the great titan Prometheus, constantly suffering. Yet each one will take a place on your dream roster. In Lands Between, there are no nobler heroes than these tiny treasure-couriers.

Now, imagine having one of these little guys on your side. A future Elden Lord could send it on a cute mission to find supplies to aid your cause. It will also encounter adventures of its own. It can even throw balls at enemies.

Few creatures have faces so expressive that they make those who observe them do the same. But Shadow of the Erdtree’s Blue Worm is no ordinary creature, and will have you staring at them for hours on end while mimicking a whistling face.

Blue Worms are more than just cute. They are an untapped treasure. Once they break free from the ground and can roam free, they will have unimaginable power. You will feel lucky to have such a beautiful beast by your side, even if only for a few moments.

If you haven’t read this guide, it will take you a long time to notice that these strings of rocks actually have an eyeball on the front end. This may be the only creature in Elden Ring that can blink.

Gravity-based magic attacks and shape-shifting abilities will definitely come in handy on Tarnished’s journey through Lands Between. Maybe they can even lead you to sneak into some secret Evergaols you haven’t visited yet.

It’s amazing enough when a sheep goes full: Phantom Menace Droideka mode and starts tumbling over a hill. But someone at FromSoftware must have seen from somewhere outside of real life to bring this oversized, fully charged giant sheep to Elden Ring.

You may wonder how some of them can get so big and why they can shoot lightning, but none of these mysteries really matters to you. Deploying Lightning Ram Ash of War and these creatures in battle is what really matters.

See More: $1

As soon as you see this guy, you know he’s the life of the party. His charming smile is enough to help him overcome any obstacle, although Mad Pumpkin Head may not appreciate it because the big golden gourd obscures his vision.

Honestly, when you first encounter a Man-Serpent deep in Volcano Manor, you’d think he’s just happy to see you. So when Man-Serpent wants a hug, you’ll want to respond enthusiastically, expecting him to respond with a scaly embrace. His ability to stretch might even help you scale walls.

Of all the beloved characters, Albinaurics are easily the most beloved. These unique Frankenstein’s Monsters are just as adorable as they are cuddly. With features like a Blobfish, an alien and a peaceful monk, their appearance is both bizarre and endearing.

Not only are Albinaurics incredibly cute, they’re also always ready for battle. They know how to strike a balance between fun and combat, and can even do cartwheels at speeds close to Torrent. More importantly, you can feel their love.

The world of Elden Ring is filled with fascinating creatures, each with their own unique charm and possibilities. Whether as a combat partner, a pet, or just a friendly face you meet on your adventure, Elden Ring ensures that there’s a surprise around every corner.

With the successful release of Diablo 4 Season 5, new Battle Pass is necessary to be honed. Although Season of Loot Reborn has become a thing of the past, we can still find traces of some mechanisms. Of course, this season has also updated a lot of new content.

A brand new Battle Pass is accompanied with kinds of skins and cosmetics that match the theme of this season, Infernal Hordes and the forces of Hell.

Sanctuary is a place where demons gather. The fifth season has updated a lot of new content, such as Infernal Hordes, Mythic Uniques, and Hellbreach Dungeons. After killing a large number of demons, you will get a new Battle Pass. By the way, you can also make your equipment upgraded or rank promoted by getting $1, helping you embrace a better game experiences.

This article will introduce a circumstantial information of Battle Pass to you, including its pricing, tiers, rewards, and some other details needed to be noticed.

In Diablo 4 Season 5, there are three Battle Pass categories, namely Free Battle Pass, Premium Battle Pass, and Accelerated Battle Pass. Among them, players need to note that Free Battle Pass is automatically filled after you complete various challenges.

Both Premium Battle Pass and Accelerated Battle Pass need to be paid, priced at $10 and $25, respectively. Among them, Premium Battle Pass includes all the rewards provided by Free Battle Pass and comes with some additional rewards, while Accelerated Battle Pass includes all the rewards contained in Premium Battle Pass, and provides 20-tier Skips and exclusive customized expressions, allowing players to enjoy some goodies in advance.

As to the three price mechanisms mentioned above, No matter which one you choose, Season of Infernal Hordes’ 90-tier Battle Pass will give players rich rewards. The following is a detailed introduction to these rewards.

Smouldering Ashes and Seasonal Blessings are also the significant rewards for Battle Pass in this season, boasting great popularity at the same time. Once you own enough Smoldering Ashes, you could enhance and promote your Seasonal Blessings by using it. By the way, it could be achieved it by getting Favor.

Diablo 4 Season 5 boasts 5 Urns as rewards for players. And there are two of them are exclusive to this season. They are Urn of Spoils, Urn of Abyssal Knowledge, Urn of Aggression, Urn of Whispers, and Urn of Nightmares separatively. Here lies the specific application of them.

Favor plays an important role in Battle Pass, and it can speed up the progress of Battle Pass. Favor can be accumulated while playing the game, such as killing enemies or completing Campaigns or Side Quests.

Among them, participating in Hellbreach Dungeons and Infernal Hordes can get a lot of Favor for you to use. Of course, you can also get Favor by completing some challenges in the course.

You can also skip some Tiers directly. In Diablo 4, there is a currency Platinum, which you can use to get Tier Skips function. Each skip will charge 200 Platinum. But in the game, Tiers in Battle Pass are limited. If you want to surpass the level of other players by this, it will not work.

Related: $1

Throughout Diablo 4 Season 5, players are guardians of Sanctuary. Infernal Hordes under Prime Evils are very powerful. It is difficult to win by individual strength alone. At this time, players need to form an alliance with some villains to protect those who are guilty or innocent.

Participating in Season Journey is an important channel to obtain Favor and tiers of Battle Pass. Of course, there are many other rewards. For example, after winning the game, you will get Transmogs, Legendary Aspects, and Scroll of Amnesia.

In a nutshell, the above is the relevant information about Diablo 4 Season 5 Battle Pass, mainly referring to the price, rewards and tiers of it. Thank you for reading.

In Diablo 4, the optimal build for Barbarians relies on Uniques. Season 5 has made some adjustments to some of the underperforming Uniques, which means players will have a chance to try out new builds. For example, weapons like Overkill and Hellhammer, as well as armor pieces like 100,000 Steps and Twin Strikes, have been buffed. Players can verify this by playing with them. Below we present the top 6 items for Barbarian players.

While this unique ring doesn’t rank at the top of the list because of its situational nature, it’s unique enough to make it useful in the new season of Diablo 4. If you can find this item early on, it can provide a useful stat boost as you hunt for higher-level gear. Like other Uniques, it’s primarily obtained through monster drops or chests, and can also be won in Uber Echo of Varshan.

This ring has been tweaked for Season 5, with some stats buffed and others completely overhauled. The most notable changes include sacrificing Strength for increased Crit damage, removing Resource Generation, and increasing attack speed. Its core effect is to guarantee a critical hit within 5 seconds of using Hammer of the Ancients, Upheaval, or Death Blow, and Crit Damage cap has been increased to 40% for Season 5, so it’s well worth spending some $1 to get it.

Ancients’ Oath was considered a weapon of choice in Diablo 4 Season 4, and continues to be popular in Season 5. This weapon is particularly useful for Berserking and the use of Steel Grasp. Even if the player doesn’t use these specific skills, the stat bonuses provided by Ancients’ Oath are still very useful if there are no better weapon options. This weapon can only be obtained from high-level enemies above level 85, including Beast in Ice or Grigoire uber bosses.

Entering Season 5, Ancients’ Oath has undergone a series of buffs that not only improve its stats but also certain benefits. These adjustments include removing the bonus damage against Healthy enemies, increasing Vulnerable damage, and increasing Strength and Cooldown reduction. Despite this, the weapon’s special effect that allows Steel Grasp to fire additional chains remains unchanged.

This ring is designed for Brawling skills, and is ideal for players who want to build a character based around these skills or Rend debuff in Season 5. This item is essential for those who want to build a build focused on these skills in Season 5. Like other Uniques, it can be obtained by defeating random enemies and opening chests, and can also be obtained by defeating Ice Uber bosses.

This item remains largely unchanged, but does have three changes, two of which are particularly beneficial to Rend builds. Ring of the Ravenous now provides Elemental resistance, Critical chance, vulnerable damage, and adds 2-3 points of Rend. Its unique effect is to extend the duration of Rend by 4-8 seconds, and cause Brawling skills to apply two additional stacks of Rend Bleed.

Fields of Crimson is a unique two-handed sword in Diablo 4, and its major feature is its ability to deal Bleeding damage. This weapon is suitable for Barbarian players who want to build a core around spreading DoT ailments. This sword can be dropped from any monster above level 85, but more common sources include Zombies, Skeletons, Beasts, and Knights. In addition, it can also be obtained by defeating Beast in Ice and Varshan.

Entering Season 5, Fields of Crimson will undergo some property upgrades and adjustments, however, its role as a Bleeding damage-focused weapon will not change. Notable changes include an increase in Strength, additional damage to Bleeding enemies, and an increase in Rupture explosion size. Its unique effect of spreading Bleed when attacking an enemy already affected by Rupture will remain unchanged.

Related: $1

This new unique sword was introduced to Diablo 4 in Season 5 and has quickly risen to the top of the rankings because of its excellent stats and effects. This weapon completely changes the way Weapon Mastery skills are used, so any build based around these skills will be interested in it. It can be dropped by enemies in Tier 3 and 4 worlds, but the most effective way to obtain it is from Infernal Hordes.

This sword has some very impressive stats, but by far the most critical is its unique effect. Some notable passives include 30-40% Vulnerable damage, 49-63 Strength, and 1-2 Fury. The unique effect upgrades all Weapon Mastery skills to Core skills, which do not have cooldowns and instead consume Fury. It reduces Fury cost of these skills by 5 points to compensate for their additional charge requirements.

This sword has been widely used in Season 4, and in Season 5, it is going to be even better. It is not focused on enhancing any specific skill, but it will strengthen any skill of the player’s choice by consuming Fury over time. This makes it suitable for almost any build, especially for players who need a powerful weapon to deal with challenges in the late and late stages of the game. This sword can be dropped on World Tiers 3 and 4, and can also be obtained by defeating Lord Zir and Girgoire.

In Season 5, this weapon has not undergone drastic changes, but it still received some important improvements. The most notable improvements include an increase in Strength, the removal of damage reduction when using Dual-Wielded weapons, increased Critical damage, and increased Overpower damage. These improvements combined to make this weapon very suitable for handling most Diablo 4 tasks.

Its unique effect increases skill damage based on Fury held by the player, but causes a loss of 10 points of Fury per second. This effect has been adjusted from 2 points of Fury lost per second to 0.2-0.4% to 0.2-0.5% per point of Fury lost.

Whether through smart item selection or through mastery of skill combinations and tactics, the key to success lies in being able to maximize the advantages provided by each unique.

If you are familiar with Elden Ring, you will know that Faith builds are very powerful in this game, as it provides players with dozens of powerful spells, sigils, and weapons. This is even more obvious in Shadow of the Erdtree, where numerous new weapons are expanded mainly through Faith.

Black Steel Greathammer introduced in this guide is a very typical example. Black Steel Greathammer can be obtained from Church of Consolation in the southeast of Gravesite Plains early in the DLC. No surprise, you need to fight Black Knight in it.

This weapon is a great choice for players who want to try out a new weapon in their STR/FAI build. So how do you choose the best build around it? This guide will answer you from its pros and cons and some directions for required items.

Before explaining its advantages, let’s take a look at some disadvantages of Black Steel Greathammer. Like most great hammers in the game, its attack range is very small and it can only be used in close combat. Also, you can only find it in Shadow of the Erdtree, so you may not bring it back to the base game.

If you don’t mind these two drawbacks, then read on! Black Steel Greathammer’s move set is pretty strong, and even without the buffs, its AR is pretty good. But if you put it in a Faith-based build and inject Flame Art or Sacred into it, it will be even more powerful.

Also, the great thing about it is that you can choose which Ash of War to inject, and it allows you to mix and match Ash of War injected to adjust the scaling. Black Steel Greathammer also has a unique form of guard counter, which will form a holy halo on the ground after the counter, and then explode immediately after a few seconds to generate holy damage.

This is also the move used by the previous owner of this weapon, Black Knights. You need to pay attention here that this holy damage will change with the changes in Faith’s stats.

Because Black Steel Greathammer is such a versatile weapon, it is great when used with a STR/FAI build. However, an FAI build is better, as FAI’s direct damage scales are better than STR.

So when choosing your stats distribution, you can increase FAI to 60 and keep STR at 25. This will give you 5%-8% more damage than if you chose 60 Faith and 25 Strength, and that’s without any Ash of War infusion.

In addition, the guard counter holy damage that this weapon can cast is proportional to the amount of Faith. This means that if you want to increase damage, upgrading Strength will not help, only upgrading Faith will help.

But you can’t lower Strength too much, because Black Steel Greathammer will help you increase your overall damage a little in a Strength-centric build. The following are the recommended allocations for each attribute data:

Because Black Steel Greathammer is a relatively melee weapon, you have to be very careful with your choice of Talismans. You can’t go wrong with Curved Sword Talisman first, as it increases the effectiveness and damage of defensive counterattacks by 20%.

In addition, Greatshield Talisman can miraculously reduce the stamina cost of blocking by 20% by increasing the defense bonus of the equipped shield, making follow-up actions easier to perform. And for Two-Headed Turtle Talisman, it can restore lost stamina at an amazing rate of 22.5%. These two Talismans can be used together.

Crimson Seed Talisman +1 is an amulet that you can bring or not, as it only increases the effectiveness of healing potions by 30%. But if you know the battle is going to be a long one, you can bring it in case of a genuine crisis.

For Faith build required by Black Steel Greathammer, there is no better an Ash Of War than Ash Of War Sacred Blade. Because it gives you a buff that lasts for up to 40 seconds while you’re in combat. And it has a very obvious timer, so you can easily tell when it will wear off, so you can be ready to reapply it.

If you want to use Black Steel Greathammer against some high poise bosses, you can inject Ash of War Golden Land into it. This will allow you to deal 40 points of stance damage on your attack, and have armor that can protect you well.

This means that you will not be easily interrupted when using this weapon, so that you will have an easier time getting $1.

If you encounter an enemy that is as agile and difficult to catch as you are, and you want to attack it at close range, you can use Ash of War Savage Lion’s Claw to make up for the shortcoming of this weapon: attack range.

If you want to expand the already excellent stance damage of Black Steel Greathammer and make this damage the major damage, you can use Ash of War Cragblade. After you inject this Ash of War, you will find that it is easy to deal with some bosses.

As mentioned above, Black Steel Greathammer is very defense-heavy, and you can use it two-handed or with a shield to increase the defense counter of this weapon. However, considering that it only has 76 physical damage cancellation, using it two-handed may not be a good idea, so you can choose a shield.

The choice of shield depends entirely on your Endurance and maximum equipment load. The heavier the shield, the higher the defense increase, and the better choice for you, especially if you are interested in fat rolling or have already invested a lot in Endurance. Here are the heavy shields you can choose:

You can get this shield after completing Moore’s questline. This is the absolute best greatshield in the entire game, even better than Fingerprint Stone Shield in the base game.

There are a few variants of Greatshields, and the weight of each variant varies greatly. As the lightest variant of Greatshields, Haligtree Crest Greatshield is definitely your best choice.

Black Steel Greatshield you get from Black Knight also works well with Black Steel Greathammer.

If you don’t have either of these two options, then you can forget about the heavy shields, as they are not suitable for most builds because of their weight. Instead, you can try some medium shields, which also provide some defense boosts and have some general uses. Here are some medium shields you can choose from:

You can get this from Incursion Painting in Land of Shadow. This shield gives you the best defense boost of all medium shields, up to 55. This will make it safer to pick up some Elden Ring Runes in combat.

You can get this from the soldier in Limgrave. This is arguably one of the most balanced shields in the entire Elden Ring, both in the base game and the DLC. If you don’t get Serpent Crest Shield, you can use this instead.

In a Faith-based build, you are free to use any incantation depending on the situation. But the most direct effect is to increase the effectiveness of Black Steel Greathammer directly. Golden Vow can help you increase the attack power of yourself and your allies by 15%, and increase your defense by 10%.

Flame, Grant me Strength can increase your physical and fire attack power by 20%. Both incantations have direct effects. If you want to try some new incantations, you might want to try Pest-Thread Spears or Flame of Frenzy, which can make you fearless when facing bosses. In PVP and PVE modes, Knight’s Lightning Spear can help you deal more ranged single-target damage.

These are some information you can choose around Black Steel Greathammer in Elden Ring DLC. I hope this guide can help you with your builds! Happy exploring!