The Great Stars is unique among standard upgrade great hammers in Elden Ring in that every time you hit an enemy with it, you restore 1% of your health per enemy struck. This healing stacks with Ashes of War that create multiple hits like Prelate’s Charge, and if you buff the Great Stars with the Bloodflame Blade Incantation, its already inherent Bleed buildup becomes almost unstoppable. Great hammers were also buffed in patch 1.09 and are some of the best weapons in the game for PvP now. Here’s where to find Great Stars in Elden Ring.
Related: Elden Ring’s 1.09 patch brings ray tracing to all platforms at long last
Elden Ring Great Stars great hammer location
Before you can get the Great Stars, you need to make your way to the Altus Plateau, either by taking the Grand Lift of Dectus in the north of Liurnia of the Lakes or fighting your way through the Ruin-Strewn Precipice mini-dungeon. No matter how you get there, you’ll want to head to the northern part of the Plateau, north of the forest and the Minor Erdtree, but south of the set of windmills. There, you’ll see a large broken bridge, beneath which is a Site of Grace called the Road of Iniquity Side Path.
Rest at the Grace, then head west. You’ll quickly come across a large cart being pulled by two trolls and surrounded by humanoid enemies, much like the one you might have seen in Limgrave. The treasure chest at the back of the cart holds the Great Stars, but you need to stop the procession to claim it. Thankfully, stopping the cart is relatively easy. All you need to do is kill one of the chained-up trolls.
You don’t need to worry about the other enemies to claim the Great Stars from the cart chest. Once one troll dies, the other will kneel and stop moving. The smaller enemies will still try to kill you, but you’re safe to avoid them entirely, open the chest, and claim the weapon for yourself.
As a standard upgrade weapon, the Great Stars can equip different Ashes of War and use different elemental infusions. As mentioned, Bloodflame Blade is a great choice for it, but the likes of Lion’s Claw, Troll’s Roar, and Royal Knight’s Resolve are also excellent. It comes with the Endure Ash of War by default, which grants you effectively infinite poise for a short period: good for trading if you think your damage is high enough. Note that if you apply elemental infusions, you’ll be unable to buff the Great Stars, but adding Bleed or Cold infusion can make the weapon’s potential damage go through the roof.
