The Elden Ring Sacred Relic Sword is one of the best Faith weapons in Elden Ring itself, a powerful greatsword that's capable of generating huge and deadly AOE attacks with its Wave of Gold Skill, killing dozens of enemies in a single strike. But how do you get the Sacred Relic Sword, is it worth it, and what is the best build for it? We'll take you through everything you need to know about the Elden Ring Sacred Relic Sword below for you to check out.
This guide contains some spoilers for the final boss of Elden Ring, though only information that is relevant to the guide.
How to get the Sacred Relic Sword in Elden Ring
To get the Sacred Relic Sword in Elden Ring, players have to fight and beat the game's final bosses, Radagon of the Golden Order and the Elden Beast, two boss fights that occur back-to-back at the Erdtree in Leyndell after burning the thorns and gaining access to the arena within. If you're having trouble with them, you can find out how to beat Radagon in Elden Ring here, or how to beat the Elden Beast final boss in Elden Ring here.
After beating the Elden Beast, players will get the Elden Remembrance as a reward, which can be used with Finger Reader Enia at the Roundtable Hold to redeem it either for the Sacred Relic Sword, or Marika's Hammer (or you can consume it for Runes, but we definitely don't recommend this).
Sacred Relic Sword stats and scaling
The Sacred Relic Sword is a greatsword that scales to Strength, Dexterity and Faith, and does significant Holy damage on top of the standard damage used for wielding it.
- Scaling
- Str E
- Dex D
- Fai D
- Requirements
- Str 14
- Dex 24
- Fai 22
- Attack
- Phy 118
- Holy 76
- Crit 110
- Skill: Wave of Gold
- Weight: 11.0
It's pretty clear that this is a weapon for Faith/Dex builds (especially considering its Strength scaling is worse than the other two). It also has a unique 50 FP Skill called Wave of Gold - when triggered, the Tarnished holds up the sword before unleashing an expanding wave of energy ahead of them that ripples out and does damage to anything on the ground. It's a powerful skill, covering a huge area and doing respectable Holy damage that's able to kill most standard enemies, especially at this phase of the game. It's not so good against bosses, but completely devastates crowds of low-to-mid-level enemies - and has been buffed in recent updates too. All fear the Elden Lord!
Sacred Relic Sword or Marika's Hammer?
Some players may be wondering whether it's better to have the Sacred Relic Sword over Marika's Hammer, as both are powerful late-game weapons and Remembrances self-destruct after use.
First of all, if you really want both then you should find one of the Walking Mausoleums. Though each Mausoleum can only be used once, if you have any unused you can always duplicate the Elden Remembrance within it and allow yourself to get both rewards. Of course, if you've used up all the Mausoleums with other Remembrances, you'll need to play NG+ to get both of them.
The reality is that neither is hugely better, they just excel at different things. We found that Marika's Hammer is better for Strength/Faith builds and one-on-one conflicts (it has a different Skill that causes the player to drop on a target for more damage/less range than Wave of Gold). Meanwhile, the Sacred Relic Sword excels against crowds and Dexterity/Faith builds. Which one you find more appealing will probably depend on the kind of character you're making, or just whether you prefer the attack patterns of a Greatsword over the attack patterns of a Hammer.
Of course, there is another benefit to the Sacred Relic Sword, one the Elden Ring community has been using in huge numbers: Wave of Gold allows for incredibly effective Rune Farming. We'll discuss that now.
Sacred Relic Sword Rune farming
For more options on how to power up, check out the Elden Ring best builds here!
The Sacred Relic Sword's Wave of Gold power means that you can destroy a whole horde of basic enemies in a single strike, if placed correctly, vastly increasing the efficiency of farming Runes in certain areas. One particularly noteworthy area is the Palace Approach Ledge-Road Site of Grace in Mohgwyn's Palace, found either through a portal in the East Consecrated Snowfields, or partway through the Elden Ring Varre questline.
From that Site of Grace, players will see a path leading down covered in Albinaurics, the round-headed alien-looking enemies. Most of them are passive and some will attack, but by walking up to the path and triggering Wave of Gold, players can create a shockwave that kills every Albinauric instantly, earning up to 50000 Runes in about 20 seconds. Of course, this assumes you have the Golden Scarab - if you don't, check out how to get the Elden Ring Golden Scarab here.
From that point simply turn back to the Site of Grace, rest at it, and all the enemies respawn, allowing you to slay them with another Wave of Gold (your FP is back from resting too). Through this method players can earn millions of Runes every hour, probably the most efficient farming site in the game. Of course, if you want something a little less late-game, you can check out our Elden Ring Rune farming locations here.
Best Sacred Relic Sword build
Despite the Sword's powerful special ability, it's arguably only mid-tier in most encounters, such as boss fights and in PVE, but it's certainly not a bad weapon and can definitely be built around. Here's some pointers for what we consider a solid Faith-based Sacred Relic Sword build for general play:
- When levelling, put points into Dexterity, Faith, Endurance, Strength and Mind (in that order).
- Your offhand should alternate between a reliable shield and a Seal for casting Incantations. Feel free to switch between two-handing and one-handing in combat depending on circumstances, but make sure you don't get into a Heavy Load status. The Brass Shield with the Barricade Ash of War is a good selection, and your Seal should be chosen to boost your Incantations of choice.
- The Shard of Alexander and Carian Filigreed Crest will both boost weapon Skill damage, empowering your Wave of Gold attack.
- Mix up a Flask of Wondrous Physick that boosts Holy Damage and Stamina regen (we find this works best as a universal booster).
- Select a good variety of Incantations that you can use - try reading our Elden Ring best spells page for some ideas. You should prioritise buffs and heals, considering your sword's power means you won't struggle for damage.
- The Haligtree Knight Helm boosts Faith and the Imp Head (Long-Tongued) boosts your Dexterity. Either is a good choice here, otherwise just try and bulk up your armor without getting into heavy weight. The slow speed of the sword swings means avoiding attacks isn't the easiest thing in the world, so you want to make sure you're protected as much as possible for if you do get hit.
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