The Obsidian Lamina is one of the last weapons you can get in Shadow of the Erdtree — and that timing has fueled a running argument in the community about whether it is worth building at all. This guide settles it with numbers: what it needs, how it scales, what its weapon skill actually does, and who should build around it.
Quick Answer: Is the Obsidian Lamina Build Worth It?
The Obsidian Lamina is a strong, mobility-first bleed Reaper — but it is an endgame reward, not a run-defining early pickup. It needs Strength 12, Dexterity 25, Arcane 17, scales primarily with Dex and Arcane, and carries innate Hemorrhage (55 base buildup). Its unique skill, Dynastic Sickleplay, is an evasive backstep that lets you skate around bosses while stance-breaking them. The catch: you unlock it only after beating Promised Consort Radahn, the DLC's final boss. So it is excellent for NG+ and PvP, and a fun victory-lap weapon on your first run — but you cannot lean on it to get through Shadow of the Erdtree.
This is a base-game patch 1.17 article (live since 2026-08-28); the Obsidian Lamina is Shadow of the Erdtree DLC content and is unchanged by that update.
What Is the Obsidian Lamina?
The Obsidian Lamina is a Reaper — the scythe weapon class — added in the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. It is the signature weapon of Sir Ansbach, the Pureblood Knight who serves Mohg and later becomes one of the DLC's most memorable questline NPCs.
Like all Reapers, it deals slashing damage, reaches around shields and past guarding enemies, and has a signature sweeping R2 that hits everything in a wide arc. What sets the Obsidian Lamina apart from the standard Scythe is its innate bleed, its unique skill, and one quiet but important property: its light attacks ignore 50% of an enemy's block negation, so it chips through guarding foes far better than most curved weapons.
Obsidian Lamina Stats and Requirements
Here is what the weapon asks for and what it gives back:
- Requirements: Strength 12, Dexterity 25, Arcane 17.
- Scaling: Strength E, Dexterity C (rising to B around +7/+8), Arcane D. It is fundamentally a Dexterity weapon with an Arcane kicker that feeds the bleed.
- Passive: Hemorrhage — 55 base buildup, applied on hit and boosted by Arcane investment.
- Weapon Skill: Dynastic Sickleplay (7–9 FP).
- Upgrades: with Somber Smithing Stones (max +10), not regular stones.
Two limitations shape every build around it: the Obsidian Lamina cannot be infused with Ashes of War — Dynastic Sickleplay is locked in — and it cannot be buffed by magic, incantations, or consumable grease/pots. What you see is what you get, so your damage has to come from stats, talismans, and physick.
What Does Dynastic Sickleplay Do?
Dynastic Sickleplay is the whole reason to build this weapon. Tap it and Ansbach's scythe carries you into a quick, low-commitment evasive backstep with i-frames, flowing into a strong follow-up slash. It is closer to a dodge-attack than a big committed art — you use it to bait an attack, slip out of range, and immediately punish.
The practical result is a playstyle built on movement rather than raw stat-checking. You are not standing in a boss's face trading; you are constantly repositioning, opening stance-break windows, and stacking bleed while barely getting touched. One tuning note the community landed on: the second hit of the follow-up is slow enough to get you clipped against fast bosses, so the reliable combo is to cancel into a light attack after the first hit rather than let the full follow-up play out.
How to Get the Obsidian Lamina
You earn the Obsidian Lamina by completing Sir Ansbach's questline — aiding him rather than turning on him — and it becomes available at the very end of the DLC, after the Promised Consort Radahn fight, near the arena entrance in Enir-Ilim.
That endgame timing is the single most-repeated complaint about the weapon. As one long build thread put it bluntly: "you get it literally at the end of the whole game." If you are still fighting your way through the Land of Shadow, this is not the weapon that will carry you there — it is the reward for having already done it.
Best Stats and Build for the Obsidian Lamina
Because you cannot infuse or buff it, the build is clean and stat-driven:
- Dexterity to 55–60 — your main damage driver; push toward the 80 soft cap on a dedicated build.
- Arcane to 25–35 — every point sharpens the bleed proc and adds a little scaling damage.
- Strength 14–16 — meet the requirement with a small buffer; do not over-invest, scaling is E.
- Vigor 50+ and Endurance high enough to fund the constant Sickleplay movement without gassing out.
Recommended talismans and physick:
- Lord of Blood's Exultation — a flat attack boost whenever bleed procs nearby; near-perfect on a bleed Reaper.
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent's Prosthesis — reward the fast, repeated light attacks this weapon wants.
- Bloodhound's Step-style mobility talismans pair thematically, though Sickleplay already covers most of your evasion.
- Physick: a Thorny Cracked Tear (rising damage as you chain hits) plus a bleed- or stamina-focused tear.
Is the Obsidian Lamina Actually Good? The Community Verdict
The honest answer is that the Obsidian Lamina trades peak numbers for survivability. It is not the highest-DPS or highest-bleed Reaper in the game — a well-built regular Scythe or a heavier bleed weapon will out-damage it on a stationary target. What it offers instead, in the words of its defenders, is "insane mobility and stagger potential — you skate around avoiding damage and stance-break everything, as long as you keep your stamina up."
So the community verdict shakes out like this: casual players who unlock it and expect a boss-melting monster come away disappointed, while players who value dodge-heavy, aggressive, low-hit-taken combat find it one of the most fun weapons in the DLC. It shines brightest in NG+, where you already have the stats and Scadutree levels to make it sing, and in PvP, where its evasion and shield-piercing light attacks are genuinely nasty.
If you enjoyed the fast, movement-first side of Elden Ring's melee, our Idus Knight build guide covers a similar aggressive playstyle, and if the Promised Consort Radahn fight standing between you and this weapon is the wall, our Promised Consort Radahn phase 2 guide walks through the exact fight you have to clear to earn it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Obsidian Lamina's requirements in Elden Ring? Strength 12, Dexterity 25, and Arcane 17. It scales primarily with Dexterity (C, rising to B when upgraded) and Arcane (D), with only E-tier Strength scaling, so build into Dex and Arc.
Can you infuse the Obsidian Lamina with Ashes of War? No. Its unique skill, Dynastic Sickleplay, is locked in and cannot be replaced, and the weapon also cannot be buffed with magic, incantations, or greases. Your damage comes from stats, talismans, and physick tears only.
Where do you get the Obsidian Lamina? You get it by completing Sir Ansbach's questline (helping him, not betraying him) in Shadow of the Erdtree. It becomes available near the end of the DLC, after the Promised Consort Radahn boss, by the arena entrance in Enir-Ilim.
How much bleed does the Obsidian Lamina do? It carries an innate Hemorrhage passive with 55 base buildup, which scales up with Arcane investment. That makes it a natural bleed weapon even though it is not the single highest bleed Reaper in the game.
Is the Obsidian Lamina better than the regular Scythe? For raw damage on a stationary target, a well-built regular Scythe can out-DPS it. The Obsidian Lamina wins on mobility, stance-breaking, innate bleed, and shield-piercing light attacks — pick it if you want an evasive, aggressive playstyle over pure numbers.
Is the Obsidian Lamina from Elden Ring Nightreign? No. ELDEN RING and ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN are separate games. The Obsidian Lamina is a Shadow of the Erdtree weapon in the single-player base game and does not exist in Nightreign.
Keep Going
The Obsidian Lamina is an endgame reward, so the smart move is to build the character that can reach it. Work through the Land of Shadow and the base game with our other verified guides: settle on a foundation with the best starting class guide, survive the endgame with how much Vigor you need, and clear the fights that gate the DLC's best gear with our Commander Gaius guide and Crucible Knight Duo guide. New to the expansion? Start with how to access Shadow of the Erdtree.
