Souls games have long been celebrated for their punishing combat, yet veterans of the series will tell you that once the hidden systems reveal themselves, the difficulty melts away. Among those hidden systems, Poise and Stance damage sit at the top of the list. With the 1.17 patch rolling out in 2026 alongside the Tarnished Edition release, community testers have refreshed the entire weapon Poise and Stance damage spreadsheet, and this guide compiles the freshest numbers for both PvE stance-breaking and PvP trading scenarios. If you have ever wondered why a Great Katana staggers a boss twice as fast as a Longsword, or why one Straight Sword R1 stuns you in a duel while another does not, the Elden Ring Poise Damage charts below hold the answers.

Elden Ring Poise & Stance Damage Breakpoints 2026 (1.17 Tarnished DLC)

The 1.17 patch, arriving alongside the Tarnished Edition re-release, keeps the core weapon roster from the base game and Shadow of the Erdtree DLC intact while adjusting several outlier values. Colossal Weapons remain the kings of stance pressure, hyper-armor still governs trades on heavier classes, and the Wing of Astel with its Nebula skill continues to dominate PvE stance-breaking builds. Straight Swords, Katanas, and Curved Swords sit in the middle of the pack, while Daggers and Fists occupy the low end for raw poise pressure but shine through speed and paired attacks.

Before jumping into the poise damage breakpoints, let's take a review of how the weapon mechanic itself works and what thresholds actually matter in the current build.

How Poise & Stance Damage Works and the Breakpoints for each Weapon Type in Elden Ring

Poise applies to the player and NPCs, while Stance applies to enemies and bosses. Players use the terms interchangeably, but the game treats them as separate systems governed by identical math. Every successful hit fills a hidden Poise HP bar, and when that bar drops to zero the target is staggered.

Poise HP Rules for Players

• A player's Toughness value equals 1/10th of the displayed poise number, and that is the threshold an incoming attack must exceed to cause hitstun.

• Player poise does not regenerate over time. It instead fully resets 30 seconds after the last hit taken.

• If a large hit reduces poise below zero, the leftover damage does NOT wrap into the next poise bar. The stagger simply refreshes your full poise HP.

Stance HP Rules for Enemies

• An NPC's Super Armor Durability equals its full poise value, and a Stance Break opens a window for a Critical Hit.

• Enemy stance regenerates after 6 to 15 seconds without taking a hit, scaling with total poise (80 poise regenerates in about 6 seconds, 200 poise takes roughly 15 seconds).

• Bosses take 40% less stance damage when another player or NPC summon is active, though Spirit Ashes carry no such penalty.

Attack Types and Their Stance Priority

Charged heavy attacks and guard counters deal the most stance damage across every weapon class. Jumping heavy attacks deal a very large amount, uncharged heavy attacks follow behind, and light attacks contribute the least. Two-handing grants roughly a 30% bonus to light attacks and a 10% bonus to heavies and guard counters, though the bonus does not apply to Ashes of War.

Stance Modifiers

• Undetected enemies take 20% additional stance damage.

• The Stonebarb Cracked Tear adds +30% stance damage.

• The Stormhawk Deenh Spirit Ash adds +20% stance damage.

• The Cragblade skill adds +10% stance damage.

• Starting in NG+2, every enemy resists stance damage more heavily.

Poise Damage Breakpoints Worth Chasing in PvE

• 11 poise blocks 797 PvE enemy attacks (mostly projectiles).

• 51 poise blocks 1,727 PvE enemy attacks.

• 101 poise blocks 2,037 PvE enemy attacks.

• 2,692 PvE attacks cannot be tanked with poise alone and require Endure, Baldachin's Blessing, or the Ironjar Aromatic.

With the mechanics settled, the PvE poise damage chart below shows exactly how much stance each attack lands on bosses and world enemies.

Elden Ring PvE Weapon Poise & Stance Damage Spreadsheet By Weapon Type (1.17)

While PvE numbers focus on breaking bosses, the PvP chart shifts the conversation to how much armor you actually need to tank a hit.

Elden Ring PvP Weapon Poise & Stance Damage Spreadsheet By Weapon Type (1.17)

Poise damage dealt to player characters. In PvP, an incoming attack's poise damage must exceed your displayed poise value to cause hitstun. Values below reflect raw poise damage per swing; two-handed numbers already include the two-handing bonus.

Daggers

Throwing Blade

Straight Swords

Light Greatswords

Greatswords

All Greatswords share the same PvP poise damage (except where noted):

Colossal Swords

Thrusting Swords

Heavy Thrusting Swords

Curved Swords

All Curved Swords share the base values below (special variants noted):

Curved Greatswords

Backhand Blades

Katanas

Great Katanas

Twinblades

Axes

Greataxes

All Greataxes share identical values:

Applies to: Greataxe, Crescent Moon Axe, Longhaft Axe, Executioner's Greataxe, Great Omenkiller Cleaver, Rusted Anchor, Butchering Knife, Bonny Butchering Knife, Gargoyle's Great Axe, Gargoyle's Black Axe, Death Knight's Longhaft Axe, Winged Greathorn, Axe of Godrick, Putrescence Cleaver.

Hammers

Flails

All Flails share identical values:

Applies to: Flail, Nightrider Flail, Chainlink Flail, Family Heads, Serpent Flail, Golden Order Flail, Bastard's Stars.

Great Hammers

Colossal Weapons

Spears

Great Spears

Halberds

Reapers

Whips

All Whips share identical values:

Applies to: Whip, Thorned Whip, Hoslow's Petal Whip, Tooth Whip, Magma Whip Candlestick, Giant's Red Braid. Urumi differs slightly on charged R2 (165 + 220 one-handed, 187 + 253 second variant).

Fists