Golden Epitaph is a straight sword and melee armament in Elden Ring.
Description[]
A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die.
Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death."
Unique Skill: Last Rites
Raise the epitaph to grant the effect of Sacred Order to yourself and allies in the vicinity. Particularly effective at laying to rest Those Who Live in Death.
Acquisition[]
Found at the entrance of Auriza Hero's Grave. Requires a Stonesword Key to access and is guarded by a Basilisk.
Notes[]
- The skill, Last Rites, functions as an Aura Buff and adds 25 Holy damage and a universal 10% (5% for PvP) damage bonus, as well as a 100% damage bonus against Those Who Live in Death. While being an Aura Buff does mean it will stack with a lot of other buffs, it also places it in competition with Golden Vow (especially the spell version), which also adds a strong boost to damage negation on top of its damage boost, and the Golden Epitaph being Faith-leaning means meetings its requirements are easy.
- However, Last Rites is generally quicker to use and doesn't require a Sacred Seal to use, making it possibly more convenient in combat.
- Since the flat damage bonus is applied to all attacks used by the player, this means it's also applied to effects that tick repeatedly or hit several times, such as Volcano Pots and Bestial Sling.
- This weapon has an innate 30% damage bonus against Those Who Live in Death (Skeletons, Deathbirds and such), on top of dealing the Holy damage that they are usually vulnerable to.
- Has the most Attack Power (AP) on a hybrid Strength/Faith build or a hybrid Dexterity/Faith build, with a hybrid Strength/Dexterity build being a bit weaker, and a pure Faith build being weaker still.
- For comparison (unmentioned stats are at the minimum required level): 45 Strength or 45 Dexterity and 45 Faith grants 602 AP, 45 Strength and 45 Dexterity grants 591 AP, and 80 Faith grants 581 AP.
- The hybrid Strength/Dexterity build has the advantage of not competing with the spell version of Golden Vow and, with 2 more points in Faith, serves as a good offhand weapon to the Miquellan Knight's Sword (though that weapon is acquired much, much later than the Epitaph).
Upgrade Information[]
- Upgraded with Somber Smithing Stones.
- Cannot have its Affinity and Skill changed.
- The upper number in the Atk column denotes Physical base damage while the lower, colored number in the Atk column denotes elemental base damage: red for Fire damage, yellow for Lightning damage, orange for Holy damage, and cyan for Magic damage.
- See the Weapon Scaling page for what the scaling values mean.
| Level | Atk | STR Scaling | DEX Scaling | INT Scaling | FAI Scaling | ARC Scaling | Grd Boost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0 | 85 | D
0.30 |
D
0.30 |
- | D
0.38 |
- | 30 |
| 85 | |||||||
| ↑/Lv | +14.5% | +8.0% | +8.0% | - | +7.9% | - | +1% |
| +10 | 208 | D
0.54 |
D
0.54 |
- | C
0.68 |
- | 33 |
| 208 |
Trivia[]
- An epitaph is "a short piece of writing or a poem about a dead person, especially one written on their gravestone" (Cambridge Dictionary), which in this case would be the phrase "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death." in the description.
- This weapons resembles the Rune Sword from Demon's Souls.
- Patch 1.12 fixed a bug that caused damage to the player and friendly summons when using the "Last Rites" Skill under specific circumstances.
- Prior to the fix, Last Rites would be applied to non-damaging, persistent effects such as Terra Magica, making them deal the flat 25 Holy damage to any friendly players standing on it.
- Patch 1.07 increased effect duration, increased attack power, effect against Those Who Live in Death has been revised upward.
- The skill's duration was increased from 45 seconds to 60 seconds, the universal 10% damage buff was added (limited to 5% in PvP), and the damage bonus against Those Who Live in Death was increased from 50% to 100%.
- Patch 1.04 increased cast speed.
- For the skill, that is.