How to Backstab in Elden Ring? Guide to Backstabbing

Wondering how to Backstab in Elden Ring? Backstab is a returning mechanic from previous FromSoftware games. Backstabs deal critical damage; follow this guide to backstab enemies and boost your critical damage effectively.

Backstabs are one of many returning mechanics from previous From Soft games. Backstabs can be performed by carefully sneaking behind enemies back and pressing the light attack button. You can only backstab enemies that are almost equal to the size of your character or have humanoid body structure.

Backstab in Elden Ring is a critical hit. This scales with the weapons critical damage scale and weapon level. A weapon that is fully upgraded and has a better critical damage stat will do more damage to the enemies. You can maximize backstab damage with the help of a certain talisman and weapons.

You can perform a backstab on enemies by carefully sneaking behind them and pressing the light attack button dealing critical damage. Depending on the platform you are playing, the button for light attack can be different on Playstation, Xbox, and PC.

Why do Players Need to Backstab Enemies?

A viable and strong build can be made to utilize backstab, parry, and riposte mechanics in the Elden Ring. It is a very good way to begin a fight dealing a lot of critical damage and quickly switching to another weapon for the rest of the fight. Backstabbing and riposting deals a lot of damage both in PVE and PVP.

How to Backstab Enemies in Elden Ring

You can follow this guide to backstab enemies on all platforms Elden Ring is available on.

1. Playstation

Although both Playstation 4 and 5 have different controllers, the button layout is the same for both controllers. The light attack button on both Playstation 4 and 5 is R1. You can press this button when you are behind an enemy and your character will backstab the enemy.

2. Xbox

Both Xbox One and Series X/S share a similar controller between them. You can get behind the enemy you want to backstab and press the RB button you backstab the enemy. You can also hide in a bush or around the corner and wait for the enemy to face the other way in order to backstab as enemies can not detect players hidden in bushes.

3. PC

PC players will have to right-click on their mouse to backstab an enemy. We recommend that PC players use a controller for the best experience in Elden Ring as buttons mapped to the keyboard and mouse can be annoying.

Increasing Backstabs Damage

Backstabs are critical hits that deal critical damage. This damage can be increased with the help of a very useful talisman, the Dagger Talisman. This talisman does not only increase backstab damage but boosts overall critical damage dealt by 17%. Dagger Talisman can be found in the Volcano Manor.

Start from the waygate that teleports you to the Audience Pathway before Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Head back and go upstairs. Use two Stonesword Keys and pass through the fog gate. After entering the hanging cage room, turn right and drop down. Follow the path and you will find the Dagger Talisman on a corpse. (Courtesy: Fextralife)

Weapons with Highest Critical Damage

Initiating the fight with a backstab can make the rest of the fight quite easy, here are the weapons with the highest critical damage.

1. Miséricorde

Miséricorde has the highest critical damage of 140 of all the weapons in the Elden Ring. This is a very good weapon for short-range melee combat. It is an excellent weapon for both backstabbing and riposting.

This weapon can be found very early in the game in Stormveil Castle. Make your way to the fortress with the Grafted Scion. This can be looted off a corpse that can be found in the large armory room, you will need a Stonesword key to insert in the Imp statue to open the fog wall.

2. Dagger

This weapon is extremely easy to obtain, you can buy this weapon from Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold for 300 runes. The dagger has the lowest DEX requirement of any weapon and it can be used by all starting classes. This weapon can be dropped by Highwaymen and different types of Foot Soldiers.

3. Rapier

Rapier is a thrusting weapon with 130 critical damage which is on par with the dagger. This is also quite easy to obtain. You can buy this weapon from Twin Maiden Husks at Roundtable Hold for 1000 runes. Rapier has 30 higher critical damage than Estoc which is another popular thrusting weapon.

4. Executioner’s Greataxe

Executioner’s Greataxe has higher critical damage than all weapons in its class. It has a critical damage stat of 115. This is a drop-only weapon that can be obtained by killing skeletons in the Church of Irith Graveyard, graveyard above Sellia, and graveyard above Academy Gate Town.

This weapon has a unique ash of war which increases its attack power. It has B scaling in strength when fully upgraded and it is also viable for most strength builds.

5. Lordsworn’s Greatsword

This is the best weapon in the greatsword class for backstabbing and it has a critical damage rating of 110. You can obtain this weapon quite early on by heading towards gatefront ruins. can be looted from a chest in the back of a Carriage, located along the western road leading out of Gatefront Ruins.

Backstabbing can be very effective if you initiate the combat and quickly switch to your main weapons for the rest of the fight. You can also equip Assassin’s Cerulean Dagger to restore FP and Assassin’s Crimson Dagger to restore HP in order to further benefit from backstabbing enemies.

Looking for more Elden Ring guides? Here are some of our other guides for the game:

Elden Ring is available to play on Steam here.

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