Ashes of War and Weapon Arts in From Software's new game have really spoiled us. Before, if there was an attack that relied on R1, R2, and movement, that was all we needed. Like the mix-up of the Luoyang Twin Blade Sword, or the Samurai Champloo Breakdance of the Fallon Greatsword, or the Jedi Telekinesis of the Malaise Excutioner Sword (open in new tab). [but NexusMods modeler cleverraptor6 (opens in new tab) has been quietly working on a custom weapon moveset that proves how much extra power From Software has left in the animations and effects it has already created.

My favorite of Clever's work is the "Icefrayed Blade" (opens in new tab); it's no secret that I'm a katana guy when it comes to Soulsborne games, and my all-timer is the "Frayed blade" from Dark Souls 3. It's "Frayed blade" in Dark Souls 3. Rewarded for defeating the secret mega-boss, Darkeater Midir, the samurai's "split the sheath and shred" attack is incredibly pleasing and worth using over the basic attack. the Icefrayed blade mod ported this to the Elden Ring and added a freeze accumulation status effect

Clever.

Clever's latest work is the Deathwalker - Berserking Ghostflame Moveset (opens in new tab), which replaces the standard Ultra Greatsword two-handed attack with an acrobatic guts move like those used by Altrius and Slave Knight Toad, Deathbirds' Ghost Flame Magic for added flair.

It also nails one of the most important characteristics of a good soulsborne unique weapon: ease of use. The Royal Greatsword of Elden Ring had its problems. Its special moves (even if they were impressive looking) were too spaced out to compete with a decent, ranch-pale, frost-infested standard ultra-greatsword.

Clever has some great weapon concepts worth checking out in a separate offline-only save file (it's a shame that Elden Ring's EasyAnticheat doesn't offer an easier way to mod the game outside of multiplayer and keep it legal with a vanilla save It's a shame they don't offer a way to do this), but I would love to see similar creativity in arming Shadow of the Erdtree. FromSoft's DLC weapons are often as good as the featured bosses and levels, and are among the best in each game. This long-awaited expansion will be a great opportunity to surpass the series' best movesets already included in The Elden Ring.

I would love to see acrobatics, gap-crushing, particle effects, and status accumulation, and I want these moves to be real rivals to basic attacks and spammable. And I would like to see YouTubers demand nerfs! In the meantime, here are some other mods for Clever. For example, the more telekinetic Marias blade (opens in new tab), Deathborne Odachi (opens in new tab), or Earthbending, which recreates the magical martial arts of Avatar: The Last Airbender with the help of Elden Ring's gravity magic ( Open in new tab), etc.