You’re wandering through Stormveil Castle, probably stressed out about a Banished Knight or a stray Eagle with knives for feet, and you find a corpse under a massive painting of Godfrey. You loot it. You see the Highland Axe. Most players look at the base damage, shrug, and go back to their Bloodhound’s Fang. They’re making a huge mistake.
The Highland Axe isn't just another generic hatchet. It’s a specialized tool. In a game where everyone is obsessed with Bleed procs or massive Colossal Swords, this little axe hides a passive ability that changes the entire math of your build. It boosts the power of "Roar" skills. That sounds niche, right? It isn't. When you realize that "Roars" include some of the hardest-hitting physical buffs and openers in the Lands Between, this weapon becomes an essential sidearm, if not your primary dealer of death.
Finding the Highland Axe Before You Get Smacked
Seriously, it’s easy to miss. You need to head to the Rampart Tower Site of Grace in Stormveil. There’s a room with a Grafted Scion—the multi-limbed nightmare that likely killed you in the tutorial—and a large painting of a Lord. The axe is right there on the floor.
It’s accessible within the first hour of the game. That’s the beauty of it. You don't need to kill a demi-god or navigate a rot-swamp to get it. You just need to run past a few guards.
The Math Behind the Roar
Let’s talk numbers because that’s where the Highland Axe shines. It grants a 10% damage increase to all Roar-based Ashes of War.
That applies to:
- War Cry
- Barbaric Roar
- Braggart’s Roar
- Beast's Roar (yes, the ranged one)
- Troll's Roar
Wait. It gets better. This bonus stacks. If you have the Roar Medallion—which you get from the Stonedigger Troll in Limgrave—you’re looking at a multiplicative damage boost that makes your heavy attacks hit like a freight train. Honestly, it’s kind of ridiculous how hard a "small" weapon can hit when you layer these specific buffs.
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Most people think axes in Elden Ring have bad movesets. They aren't wrong; the standard "chop-chop" is boring. But when you use Barbaric Roar or Braggart’s Roar, it replaces your heavy attack with a multi-hit combo. These combos have high "hyper-armor," meaning you won't get staggered out of the animation by a stray hit. You become a mini-boss. You just trade hits and win.
The Off-Hand Secret Every Pro Knows
You don't even have to swing the Highland Axe to benefit from it. This is the biggest "pro tip" regarding this weapon. If you hold the Highland Axe in your left hand while two-handing a giant Greatsword or a Greataxe in your right, you still get the 10% damage boost to your roars.
Imagine using the Starscourge Greatsword or a Heavy Giant-Crusher. You put Braggart’s Roar on it. If that Highland Axe is just sitting on your hip, your roar-buffed attacks do more damage. It acts like a passive stat stick.
It’s light. It only weighs 4.5 units. That’s a small price to pay for a 10% flat damage buff to your primary offensive gimmick.
Why Strength Builds Love This
The Highland Axe scales best with Strength, especially when you slap a Heavy affinity on it. At +25, it’s a solid B scaling. Not S-tier, but respectable.
But look at the requirements. You only need 12 Strength and 9 Dexterity. Even a Mage could technically use this to buff a specific Ash of War if they really wanted to, though that’s getting into "weird build" territory. For a pure Strength build, it’s a no-brainer.
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Comparison: Highland Axe vs. Hero's Axe
Usually, people compare this to the Hero's Axe. The Hero's Axe has higher base damage. It looks cooler if you like that "barbarian" aesthetic. But it lacks the passive roar boost.
In Elden Ring, raw numbers on a screen lie to you. A weapon with 400 AR (Attack Rating) that has a 10% hidden multiplier on its most-used move will outperform a weapon with 430 AR every single time. It's about the synergy.
The Beast's Roar Combo
If you're into PvP, or if you just hate the birds in Farum Azula, you need to try Beast's Roar on the Highland Axe. Beast's Roar is a projectile. It scales primarily with Dexterity (which is weird, I know), but the Highland Axe’s passive boost still applies.
You can essentially turn your melee character into a wind-blasting mage. The projectile is fast. It catches people off guard. With the axe and the medallion, you’re doing significant chip damage from a distance, then closing in for the kill.
Does it fall off late game?
Kinda. In the very late stages (Mountaintops of the Giants and beyond), the short reach of the axe starts to hurt. You’ll find yourself swinging at air because a boss jumped halfway across the arena.
However, as a secondary weapon? It never falls off. The buff is a percentage. Percentages scale with you. The stronger you get, the more that 10% matters.
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How to Optimize Your Highland Axe Build
If you're going to commit to this, don't do it halfway.
- Get the Roar Medallion. It’s in the Limgrave Tunnels. Easy boss.
- Find the Iron Whetblade. This lets you put the "Heavy" affinity on the axe while using whatever Ash of War you want.
- Use the Axe Talisman. This boosts charged attacks. Since Roars (like Braggart’s Roar) turn your heavy attacks into special combos, the Axe Talisman often applies to the initial hit, leading to massive poise damage.
- Physick Mix. Use the Spiked Cracked Tear to further boost those charged attacks.
You end up with a character that screams, glows red, and then deletes half a boss's health bar in one combo. It’s a very "Unga Bunga" playstyle, but with a layer of mathematical sophistication.
Misconceptions About the Buff
There is a common myth that the Highland Axe buffs any shout. It doesn't. It doesn't buff Dragon Communal Incantations like Agheel’s Flame. I’ve seen people testing this on YouTube and getting frustrated.
It only buffs Ashes of War that are categorized as Roars or Shouts. It won't make your Dragon-breath better. It will, however, make the Greyoll's Roar incantation not better either—that's a spell, not a weapon skill. Keep it strictly to the physical weapon arts.
Practical Next Steps for Your Playthrough
If you want to feel the power of this weapon immediately, head to Stormveil and grab it. Don't worry about upgrading it past +3 yet. Just put War Cry on it and go fight a Troll. Watch the difference between a normal heavy attack and a "Roar" heavy attack.
Once you see that stagger bar break, you’ll get it. From there, your path is simple: hunt down the Roar Medallion in Limgrave and start pumping Strength. By the time you hit Liurnia, you'll be out-performing players who are using much "fancier" weapons simply because you understood the synergy of the roar.
The Highland Axe is a reminder that in Elden Ring, the "best" weapon is rarely the biggest one. It’s the one that makes your specific mechanics work twice as hard. Keep it in your inventory, even if you just use it for the passive buff while you swing a colossal club. Your damage numbers will thank you.
Actionable Summary for Players
- Locate the axe early in the Grafted Scion room of Stormveil Castle.
- Equip as a stat-stick in your off-hand to buff roars on your main-hand weapon.
- Stack the Roar Medallion and Axe Talisman for multiplicative damage bonuses.
- Prioritize Strength scaling and the "Heavy" affinity for maximum physical output.
- Use for "Hyper-Armor" trades by using the Barbaric Roar combo to power through enemy attacks.