Quick answer: The Marais Executioner's Sword is a Strength/Arcane Legendary Armament greatsword dropped by Elemer of the Briar at The Shaded Castle in the Altus Plateau. It needs 24 Strength (16 two-handed), 14 Dexterity and 23 Arcane to wield, upgrades with Somber Smithing Stones, and comes with the unique skill Eochaid's Dancing Blade — a spinning corkscrew drill whose damage scales off your total Attack Rating. It cannot be infused with Ashes of War. The community-standard endgame spread is roughly 50 Strength / 40 Arcane at level 150, paired with damage-per-hit boosters like the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia. This guide gives you the exact location, the full stat block, and how to build around the drill. (All numbers verified for base-game version 1.17, live since 2026-08-28.)
Why the Marais Executioner's Sword is worth building around
Most greatswords in Elden Ring are big, slow, and pick a lane. The Marais Executioner's Sword breaks the mould because of one thing: its weapon skill, Eochaid's Dancing Blade. You infuse the sword with energy and fling it forward in a violent corkscrew spin that keeps hitting while it drills — and every individual hit of that spin counts as a separate attack. That single design detail is what turns a mid-tier stat-stick into one of the most damage-dense skills in the game when you build for it.
It is also one of the nine Legendary Armaments, tied to a hidden achievement/trophy for collecting them all, so a lot of players pick it up during the mid-game and then wonder how to actually make it work. This guide answers exactly that, with hard numbers instead of vibes.
Because Elden Ring's base game has been patch-quiet since Version 1.17 (2026-08-28) — a balance pass that did not touch this weapon — everything below is stable and safe to build toward on the current version.
Where to find the Marais Executioner's Sword
The Marais Executioner's Sword has exactly one source:
- Dropped by: Elemer of the Briar (the Bell Bearing Hunter boss of the area)
- Location: The Shaded Castle, in the north-east of the Altus Plateau
- Guaranteed drop: yes — it drops 100% of the time when you defeat Elemer
To get there, reach the Altus Plateau (via the Grand Lift of Dectus or the Ruin-Strewn Precipice climb), then travel north-east past the Wyndham Ruins into the poison-soaked approach to The Shaded Castle. Elemer of the Briar waits inside on his throne. He is a fast, aggressive humanoid boss who wields the very sword he drops, so you get a live preview of Eochaid's Dancing Blade during the fight — including the drill attack you are about to inherit.
Because this is a where-and-how guide, use the annotated Altus Plateau map above to place The Shaded Castle before you ride out; the castle sits behind a poison swamp approach and is easy to run past on Torrent.
No Ash of War farming required. Unlike most weapons, you never need to hunt an Ash of War for this one — Eochaid's Dancing Blade is built in and cannot be replaced.
Marais Executioner's Sword stats and requirements
Here is the full base stat block, verified against the Elden Ring wiki (wiki.gg) and Fextralife for version 1.17:
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Weapon type | Greatsword |
| Attack type | Standard / Pierce |
| Weapon skill | Eochaid's Dancing Blade (FP cost 15) |
| Weight | 11.5 |
| Critical | 100 |
| Upgrade material | Somber Smithing Stones (max +10) |
| Can be infused with Ashes of War | No |
| Can be buffed with magic/consumables | No |
Attribute requirements to wield:
| Attribute | Required | Scaling (base) |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 24 (16 if two-handed) | C |
| Dexterity | 14 | E |
| Intelligence | 0 | — |
| Faith | 0 | — |
| Arcane | 23 | D |
At max upgrade (+10 with Somber Smithing Stones):
- Attack Rating: 230 Physical + 149 Magic
- Scaling: Strength B (113), Dexterity E (12), Arcane D (54)
- Guard Boost: ~50
The important reads here: the sword does split Physical + Magic damage (predominantly physical), it scales hardest with Strength after upgrading, and Arcane is a secondary scaling stat rather than a bleed enabler — the Marais Executioner's Sword has no innate blood loss. If you specifically want a bleed weapon, the drill is not your pick; see our best bleed weapons in Elden Ring guide instead. The Marais is a raw-damage and stagger weapon, not a status weapon.
Eochaid's Dancing Blade: how the skill actually works
This is the whole reason to build the weapon, so it is worth understanding precisely.
- You infuse the sword and fling it forward in a corkscrew spin that travels a short distance and drills whatever it hits.
- You can charge it (hold the input) to increase the spin's reach and duration.
- Its damage is based on your total Attack Rating, not a fixed motion value. So anything that raises your AR — flask buffs, talismans, high scaling stats — multiplies the skill, not just your normal swings.
- Because each hit of the spin is counted as its own attack, per-hit "on hit" effects trigger repeatedly during a single cast.
That last point is the build's engine. Three items in particular boost Eochaid's Dancing Blade far more than they boost a normal weapon:
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia — stacks attack power on consecutive hits; the drill's rapid multi-hit ramps it fast.
- Millicent's Prosthesis — same consecutive-hit attack-up effect, stacks with the Insignia.
- Thorny Cracked Tear (physick) — raises attack power the more successive hits you land, which the spin does in bulk.
Load your Flask of Wondrous Physick with the Thorny Cracked Tear, run Rotten Winged Sword Insignia + Millicent's Prosthesis in your talisman slots, then pop the physick and drill into a target. The consecutive-hit multipliers all ramp together and the spin's damage climbs with every tick of AR you add.
One honest caveat: the drill shines against lighter enemies and NPC-type foes, where it can effectively stun-lock and knock down. Against large bosses with high stun/knockdown resistance, standing in the spin at melee range is risky — big enemies shrug off the stagger and can punish you mid-cast. Against those, use it opportunistically (openings, downed windows) rather than as your primary rotation.
The best Marais Executioner's Sword build (stats)
The endgame consensus among Elden Ring build players — echoed in current community threads — is a Strength/Arcane two-hander at around level 150. The reasoning: after the sword hits max upgrade, its Strength scaling is a B, and Arcane is a healthy D, so you want to feed both, prioritising the two-handed Strength soft cap first.
A clean, widely-used spread at level 150 looks like this:
| Stat | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Vigor | 50–60 | Survivability soft cap; see how much Vigor you need |
| Mind | ~15–20 | Enough FP to spam the 15-FP skill |
| Endurance | ~25–35 | Equip load for the 11.5-weight greatsword plus armour |
| Strength | ~50–54 | Two-hand it: 54 hits the two-handed Strength soft cap, and the 2H bonus effectively raises your Strength |
| Arcane | ~40 | Second scaling stat; also fuels an Arcane casting seal for hybrid setups |
| Dexterity | 14 (minimum) | Only needed to meet the wield requirement |
Stat order, per the community math: push Strength toward the two-handed soft cap (~52–54) first — you always want to two-hand this weapon to benefit from the 2H Strength bonus and the drill's better 2H damage — then invest Arcane up to ~40, then top off remaining Strength for higher raw AR. Because Arcane gives less damage than Strength until the low-50s Strength range, Strength-first is correct here; do not front-load Arcane.
Seal choice for hybrids: if you want to slot a Dragon Communion incantation or an Arcane-scaling spell alongside the sword, the Dragon Communion Seal out-scales the Clawmark Seal once your Arcane is meaningfully invested, so it is the better hybrid pairing. If you are pure melee, you do not need a seal at all — just the sword, the two attack-up talismans, and the physick.
For a completely different Arcane-flavoured melee option, compare this against our Obsidian Lamina build — both reward Arcane investment but play nothing alike.
Two-handed vs one-handed: which to run
Two-handed, almost always. Two-handing multiplies your effective Strength by 1.5x (helping you reach the scaling that matters), unlocks the sword's slightly higher 2H damage values, and only lowers your Strength requirement to 16 — irrelevant once you are building toward 50. You lose a shield, but this is an aggressive drill weapon, not a turtle setup. Keep it in both hands and lean on rolls plus the stun potential of the spin against smaller foes.
FAQ
Where do I get the Marais Executioner's Sword in Elden Ring? It is a guaranteed drop from Elemer of the Briar, the boss inside The Shaded Castle in the north-east Altus Plateau. Beat him and the sword is yours — there is no RNG on the drop.
What are the Marais Executioner's Sword stat requirements? 24 Strength (16 two-handed), 14 Dexterity and 23 Arcane. Intelligence and Faith are not required. It weighs 11.5 and its skill costs 15 FP.
Can you put an Ash of War on the Marais Executioner's Sword? No. Like all weapons with a unique built-in skill, it cannot be infused with Ashes of War, and it cannot be enchanted with magic or buffed with grease/consumables. Its skill, Eochaid's Dancing Blade, is permanent. This is the single most common mistake players make with it.
Does the Marais Executioner's Sword cause bleed? No — it has no innate blood loss. Its Arcane scaling is for raw damage, not status. If you want bleed, build a different weapon; the Marais is a Strength/Arcane damage-and-stagger weapon.
What is the best build for the Marais Executioner's Sword? A two-handed Strength/Arcane build at about level 150, roughly 50–54 Strength / ~40 Arcane, with 50+ Vigor. Run the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia and Millicent's Prosthesis talismans plus a Thorny Cracked Tear physick, because each hit of the corkscrew skill stacks their consecutive-hit attack bonuses.
Is Eochaid's Dancing Blade good against bosses? It excels against lighter and NPC-type enemies, where it can stun-lock and knock them down. Against large bosses with high poise, standing in the spin is risky — use it in openings rather than as your main damage against them.
What Elden Ring version do these numbers apply to? Base-game Version 1.17, live since 2026-08-28. The 1.17 balance pass did not change the Marais Executioner's Sword, so these values are current.
Bottom line
The Marais Executioner's Sword rewards a very specific kind of player: someone who wants a Strength/Arcane two-hander and is willing to build around a multi-hit skill instead of a single big swing. Grab it from Elemer of the Briar at The Shaded Castle, take it to +10 with Somber Smithing Stones, aim for roughly 50–54 Strength / 40 Arcane, and stack consecutive-hit attack boosts so the drill's damage snowballs. Play to its strengths — smaller enemies and stagger windows — and it is one of the most satisfying Legendary Armaments in the Lands Between.
For more Elden Ring builds and boss guides, browse the rest of our Elden Ring guides — including the Cross-Naginata bleed build and our best starting class breakdown.
