You’re standing in front of a fog gate. Your palms are sweaty. You know for a fact that whatever is behind that golden mist is going to try to turn you into a tarnished pancake in approximately three seconds. In times like these, most people reach for the flashy katanas or the colossal swords that take up half the screen.
They’re wrong.
Honestly, if you aren't using Great Stars, you’re just making the Lands Between harder for yourself for no reason. It’s not just a big stick with some spikes on it. It’s a mechanical anomaly. It’s a health potion that hits like a freight train. It’s arguably the most efficient "problem solver" in the entire game.
The Great Stars Math That Just Feels Like Cheating
Usually, Elden Ring makes you choose. You can have a heavy weapon that staggers bosses, or you can have a fast weapon that builds up bleed. You rarely get both. Great Stars basically looks at that design philosophy and laughs.
It deals Strike damage. That's the best damage type in the game, period. From the crystalline jerks in the tunnels to the heavily armored knights in Leyndell, almost nothing resists a heavy blunt object to the face. But then FromSoftware added innate blood loss.
So now you have a weapon that:
- Cracks poise and stance like a greathammer.
- Shreds health percentages with Hemorrhage.
- Heals you.
Wait, what? Yeah. Every single time this thing connects with an enemy, you get 1% of your HP back. That sounds tiny. It’s not. When you start slapping multi-hit Ashes of War on this thing, you become basically immortal. If you use something like Wild Strikes or Prelate’s Charge, you aren't just attacking; you’re triggering a literal transfusion of health from the boss’s veins into your own.
Where to Find Your First (and Second) Great Stars
Most people think you can only get one of these per playthrough. That used to be true, but patches changed the game. Now, you can actually dual-wield these bad boys without even touching New Game Plus.
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Your first stop is the Altus Plateau. Look for a carriage being pulled by two giants (Stonedigger Trolls) near the Road of Iniquity Side Path. It’s moving along the road. Kill the giants, stop the carriage, and loot the chest in the back. Boom. One Great Stars.
For the second one, you need to head over to the Writheblood Ruins, which is also in the northern part of Altus. Look for a red invasion sign on the ground. You’ll be invading the world of Magnus the Beast Claw. He’s a bit of a spaz, honestly. He jumps around and uses beast incantations, but once you put him in the dirt, he drops a second Great Stars.
Power-stancing two of these is genuinely disgusting. You get 2% health back on every L1 hit if both connect. It’s a "Vampire Bonk" build that trivializes some of the hardest encounters in the game.
Making the Best Build: Heavy vs. Occult
You have two main paths here.
If you want to keep things simple, go Heavy. Pump your Strength to 54 (which gives you 80 when two-handing) and use Bloodflame Blade. This incantation is the secret sauce. It adds fire damage and makes the bleed buildup "linger," meaning the bar keeps filling for a second after you hit. It turns the Great Stars into a blender.
If you’re more of a "math" person, go Occult. This requires high Arcane. The benefit here is that your physical damage and your bleed buildup both scale off the same stat. You won't need to buff your weapon every thirty seconds because the passive bleed will already be through the roof.
Recommended Ashes of War
- Prayerful Strike: This is the "I refuse to die" button. It heals you for 30% of your max HP on a successful hit. Combine that with the Great Stars passive heal? You’re basically a walking Site of Grace.
- Lion’s Claw: This is for the "Unga Bunga" purists. It does massive stance damage. Two of these will flatten almost any humanoid enemy in the game.
- Waves of Darkness: Surprisingly good on this weapon for crowd control. Each wave triggers the 1% heal. If you're surrounded by rats or dogs, one use of this and your health bar is full again.
The Complexity of the "Lifesteal" Mechanic
It’s worth noting that the heal-on-hit isn't just for the physical mace. It triggers on anything that counts as a hit from the weapon. This includes the projectiles from the Golden Land Ash of War.
Imagine firing a burst of holy gold at a boss from a distance and watching your health bar tick up while you’re standing still. It’s niche, but it shows how much depth this weapon actually has.
Is it the "strongest" weapon? If you’re looking at pure, raw Attack Rating (AR), maybe not. A Giant-Crusher will show a bigger number on your status screen. But a Giant-Crusher doesn't heal you. It doesn't bleed enemies. It weighs twice as much and blocks your entire view of the screen.
Great Stars is the thinking man’s heavy weapon. It provides a safety net that lets you play more aggressively. In a game where one mistake usually means a "You Died" screen, having a weapon that rewards you for being aggressive by fixing your mistakes is invaluable.
What You Should Do Right Now
If you're currently struggling with a boss or just feeling bored with your current setup, go get this weapon.
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- Respec at Rennala: Aim for at least 22 Strength and 12 Dexterity.
- Grab the Claw Talisman: Since you’ll be doing a lot of jump attacks with a greathammer, you want that extra damage.
- Find the Lord of Blood’s Exultation: This talisman gives you a 20% damage boost whenever something nearby bleeds. Since you’re using Great Stars, that’s going to be happening every few seconds.
Put on some heavy armor—reach that 51 poise threshold so you don't get interrupted—and just start swinging. You’ll find that the game feels a lot different when you aren't constantly panicking about your HP.