Whether you like it or not, the samurai are dominating Elden Ring. It’s a good class, with some solid base stats and starter gear that can see you through to the end of the game if you treat it right and level up. The uchigatana is an especially great weapon for beginners, but there is another sword whose growing fan base is praising it: Moonveil katana.
Moonveil looks like River of Blood and uchigatana. That means it’s styled like a katana, the traditional Japanese curved blade and all. However, to get it is a difficult thing. You must defeat a giant sword-breathing fire-breathing salamander named Magma Wyrm deep in the Gael Tunnel, on the border of Limgrave. It was an uphill battle. Magma Wyrm is big and the circular arena is small, so navigating it sucks. Cameras can also get stuck to walls if you’re not careful, and Magma Wyrm has a number of attacks that kill you in a single hit. It was an exercise in frustration.
However, if you manage to put an end to the ferocious Magma Wyrm, you’ll score a dragon heart as well as the coveted Moonveil. And let me tell you, this sword looks cool in action! It’s a magic-based katana with high health loss and the same amount of damage as Dexterity, Intelligence, and Strength. But what makes it so much sought after is its weapon skill: Transient Moonlight. Similar to the uchigatana’s weapon skill, holding down the button on the left shoulder will encase the blade in preparation for a quick attack, but in addition to that devastating physical attack, the Moonveil katana also releases a bullet wave blue. This gives your Tarcked a melee weapon that can be played at range.
The fleeting moonlight is what makes Moonveil deadly. Even after FromSoftware sneaked by nerfs it in one recent patchthe katana still quickly inflicts health loss, hits hard when upgraded, and shoot out a Vergil-word-Devil–May–Crytongue wave pattern. In PvE, weapon skills are a good way to get a few hits while maintaining distance. In PvP, that’s a godsend. The skill allows you to keep pressure at close range and allows you to interrupt most transmission animations at long range.
At the receiving end is such a nuisance that there are people on both sides of the blade. Some favourite the Moonveilsay it helped them Kill many bosses and invaders back to return. Other call it broken because the player spam Moonlight fleeting regular. There are even people who seem to hate Moonveil, they named their Tarcked to convey this hatred for other players. Now that is extreme.
I got it. Competing with a weapon that can instantly fire a high-damage projectile must be frustrating in PvP. But at the same time, as an adept katana user, I totally get the Moonveil. It’s the weapon that inspires my otaku, allowing me to role-play my dreams as a ronin. Rurouni Kenshin or even Elden Ringvery own samurai Bloody Finger Hunter Yura, instead of some ragged Tracked. Now, if only my baby ghosts and me could kill that damn Magma Wyrm…
