Fresh off the heels of Return to Drangleic and Return to Yharnam, and with Return to Lothric on the horizon, today’s list evaluates a weapon that appears in all of those games, and many, many more: the iconic, legendary Moonlight Greatsword.

This weapon debuted in 1994, with the release of the first King’s Field. In the 32 years since, it has appeared in every single From Software game except for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In some games, it has had multiple different iterations. While the weapon has never been bad or even particularly mediocre, it has predictably performed better in some games than in others. So with that, let’s begin.

10. Bluemoon Greatsword (Dark Souls 2)

Okay yes, this is a replica Moonlight Greatsword, thus could technically be considered a ‘fake’. It’s still largely made with the iconic blade in mind, both aesthetically and even slightly in how it can potentially be wielded. With an Enchanted Infusion, this thing gains better Intelligence scaling than it does with, say, Fire or Lightning. That makes it fit Intelligence builds easier, reminiscent of the real deal.

If choosing the Warrior starting class, the player can immediately kill Benhart of Jugo, have him drop this, and begin their playthrough with it not needing to level up. That’s getting off to a strong start!

9. Large Sword of Moonlight (Demon’s Souls)

Uniquely, this is the only Moonlight Greatsword ever created which scales off of Faith instead of Intelligence. Sadly, it also cannot fire off a moon beam similarly to the Bluemoon Greatsword. However, it otherwise functions exactly as other Moonlight Greatswords, and is in a great place in Demon’s Souls where the competition is much less impressive than other Soulsborne games.

8. Moonlight Greatsword (Dark Souls 2)

This is ultimately the best Intelligence based weapon in Dark Souls 2. As a Moonlight Greatsword however, it is very slightly lacking compared to the rest of today’s entries. It does split Physical/Magical instead of pure Magic, it has some slightly awkward stat requirements, and it requires either going to New Game Plus or saving a Bonfire Ascetic to get. It can fire off a Moon Beam, but the beam is relatively weak compared to its brethren, it costs a ton of durability to use liberally, and durability itself is a big problem in this game to begin with.

Despite the shortcomings compared to other MLGSes, as a standalone weapon, this thing is incredible. It outputs fantastic magic damage, has great scaling and responds very well to infusion. If making an Intelligence build in Dark Souls 2, I wouldn’t suggest another melee weapon over this other than maybe the Blue Knight’s Halberd.

7. Old Moonlight (Dark Souls 3)

This wasn’t the first game with magical greatswords, but it was the first to turn the Moonlight Greatsword into a straight up spell. In casting it, the user basically forms the Moonlight Greatsword in their hand and fires off a moon beam with it as they swing it.

This was the only game of the Dark Souls trilogy which had an FP stat instead of assigning a manual cast limit to spells. As such, players with high Attunement can spam this to kingdom come without worrying for durability. Hard to ask for more than that!

6. Adula’s Moonblade (Elden Ring)

This is pretty much the exact same thing as Old Moonlight with a similar concept. Only now, the blade and the beam can inflict Frostbite onto foes, leading to a higher damage ceiling at no real cost.

5. IA-C01W2: MOONLIGHT (Armored Core 6)

If this list was to rank MLGSes based on simple coolness factor, this one would almost assuredly reach the #2 spot on today’s list. As well as being really cosmetically satisfying, this weapon is unique for being the only laser weapon in all of Armored Core to boast completely unlimited ammunition. This is unique amongst the MLGS family as well, because the Moon Beam the blade fires traditionally burns through durability quite fast across the rest of the franchise. Here, however, the player needs only to wait for a cooldown period in between blasts.

4. Moonlight Greatsword (Dark Souls 1)

In every way imaginable, this is the Dark Souls 2 version but better. The DS1 version is easier to fit onto builds, acquired earlier and cheaper, has better scaling, can fire off more Moon Beams before needing to be repaired and, most importantly, it only deals Magic damage instead of split Physical/Magic. Ultimately, there is actually stronger competition in DS1 than in DS2, but if only comparing the Moonlight Greatswords themselves, this one is objectively superior in every way.

3. Greatsword of Solitude (Elden Ring)

This is a similar situation to the Bluemoon Greatsword, as this is a physical sword entirely and, narratively, it is a replica of the real deal. This one, however, is a lot more interesting and explosive in exchange for only being available within the game’s DLC as opposed to the very start. The Ash of War, Solitary Moon Slash, is disgustingly ridiculous in both PvE and PvP. It kneecaps and staggers bosses like they’re simple playthings, and it deletes enemy players in PvP before they even knew what hit them.

2. Darkmoon Greatsword (Elden Ring)

If Armored Core 6 didn’t let you spam moon beams for long enough, then hopefully the Darkmoon Greatsword can satisfy your apparently insatiable need for cosmic destruction. On one simple L2 activation of the Ash of War, the player can endlessly and brainlessly spam powerful Frostbite-inducing Moon Beams until their fingers fall off. Numerous tools exist in the game to make these Moon Beams deal absurd damage, at range, and from the base game since this weapon is not particularly challenging nor does it take too long to acquire. While the melee weapon itself has that annoying split Physical issue, the Moon Beams are pure Magic with a dash of Frostbite just to make sure it erases foes of all kinds as quickly as it can.

1. Holy Moonlight Sword (Bloodborne)

Hasn’t been long since we talked about this thing, has it? This thing has the extreme cosmetic satisfaction of Armored Core 6’s variant, the Moon Beams deal pure Arcane damage and, while they are not technically limitless, Quicksilver Bullets are far easier to maintain stock of than durability in the thick of combat, so the player can usually feel free to just fire and forget with them here.

Since Ludwig the Holy Blade is the DLC’s first accessible boss, it is not completely out of the question that a skilled enough player could reach this weapon after killing just three bosses, Father Gascoigne, Blood-Starved Beast, then Vicar Amelia, before being able to go after Ludwig. As such, though difficult, it can be had earlier than most Moonlight Greatswords.