All Black Grimoire Weapons Tier List

The best all-around weapon in the current All Black Grimoire meta is the two-handed greatsword class, which combines the highest burst damage per hit with enough stagger to interrupt most boss wind-ups — but the dual blades out-damage it in sustained fights and are the smarter first investment if you are still gearing up. If you only want one rule to follow: pick your class by the content you play most, then stop upgrading at +7 unless you are pushing endgame, because the last three upgrade levels cost roughly eight times more gold per point of damage than the first seven. The table and breakdowns below rank every weapon class by damage, range and stage-by-stage usefulness, and show exactly where each one is worth your materials.

Numbers here are rounded baselines from the current patch, taken at a mid-game stat spread with unupgraded (+0) weapons. Treat them as relative rankings rather than exact totals — the in-game stat card is always the final word, and balance patches move these values.

Quick comparison: the whole tier list at a glance

How the ranks are weighted

Damage alone makes a bad tier list, because a 240-damage swing you can only land twice a fight loses to 85-damage swings you land twelve times. The weighting used here is roughly 40% effective damage output (per-hit damage multiplied by attack speed, minus the stamina you spend to get it), 25% range and safety, 20% how well the class holds up across early, mid and late game, and 15% how well it scales with upgrades. A class that wins on damage but falls off a cliff in the final act — the scythe is the clearest example — cannot hold an S rank.

Range matters more than most players expect. Reach is measured from the character’s centre to the edge of the hitbox, so a 3.4 m spear effectively gives you nearly a full dodge roll of free spacing on every exchange, which is why it ranks above weapons with higher raw numbers.

S tier: build around these

Two-handed greatsword — best overall

Highest burst damage in the game and the only class that reliably staggers mid-size enemies out of their attack animations. At 240 damage per swing and 0.7 swings per second you get roughly 168 effective DPS, which is lower than the dual blades on paper — but almost none of it is wasted, because you swing when the opening is real. It suits boss-focused players, co-op groups where someone else holds aggro, and anyone willing to learn enemy timing. The trade-off is real: a whiffed heavy attack leaves you committed for about 1.1 seconds, which is long enough to eat a full combo on higher difficulties.

Dual blades — best for progression and mobbing

At 85 damage and 2.6 hits per second, the dual blades put out around 221 effective DPS with a much lower stamina cost per hit, which makes them the strongest choice for the first 20 levels and for any content built around dense packs. They also scale well with attack-speed and on-hit effects, so a mid-tier dual blade often beats a mid-tier greatsword before upgrades. Their weakness is reach: at 1.6 m you are inside every enemy’s swing arc, so the class punishes sloppy positioning harder than anything else in S tier.

A tier: excellent, with one clear cost

Polearm / spear — best for safe, consistent play

The spear is the most forgiving weapon in the game. Its 3.4 m reach lets you poke, back off and poke again without ever entering most enemies’ melee range, and 130 damage at 1.3 hits per second gives about 169 effective DPS — statistically almost identical to the greatsword, but far easier to land. It suits newer players, solo runs and anyone who would rather win slowly than restart often. The trade-off is low stagger and poor performance against tightly packed groups, where its narrow thrust hits one target at a time.

Bow — best ranged option

Charged shots hit for roughly 320 and quick shots for 110, with an 18 m effective range that lets you open fights on your own terms. It is the best pick for squishy solo builds and for bosses with long, readable wind-ups you would rather not stand near. Two catches: charged shots lock you in place for about 0.9 seconds, and ammo is a consumable you pay for on every run, so the true cost per fight is higher than the weapon’s stat card suggests.

B tier: fine early, replace later

Staff / wand

Around 150 magic damage per cast with a 12 m range and splash that hits three to five targets, which makes it the fastest pack-clearer in the early and mid game. It falls to B because single-target damage is mediocre and late-game enemies increasingly resist the damage type it deals. Upgrade it to +3 or +5 and keep it as a farming tool rather than a main weapon.

Sword & shield

105 damage at 1.1 hits per second is the weakest offence in the upper half of this list, but the shield block removes roughly 70% of incoming damage on a successful guard. That makes it the single best choice for a first playthrough or a no-death run. Once you know the enemy patterns, the defensive value stops mattering and the low damage output becomes a genuine liability.

C tier: skip unless you enjoy them

The scythe looks like an S-tier weapon — 190 damage, 3.0 m sweeps, wide arcs — and then you notice the 1.4-second wind-up and the near-total lack of stagger. Against fast enemies you trade hits you cannot afford to trade, and its damage-per-second against single targets sits near the bottom of the list despite the big numbers. Gauntlets are the mirror problem: 70 damage at 2.9 hits per second looks respectable on paper, but the 1.2 m reach means you spend most fights inside enemy hitboxes, and the stamina drain per second is the highest of any class. Both are perfectly playable in normal difficulty and both fall apart in the endgame.

Upgrade priority: the math on where to stop

This is where most players waste their resources. Using a greatsword as the worked example, here is what each upgrade band actually buys you:

Total from +0 to +10: about 190,500 gold for +75% damage. The first seven levels cost 62,500 gold and deliver 59 of those 75 percentage points — that is 1,059 gold per 1% of damage, against 8,000 gold per 1% for the final three levels. In plain terms, +7 gives you roughly 79% of the weapon’s total upgrade value for 33% of the cost. Only push past +7 when your weapon is the last slot on your build, because the shards used in the +8 to +10 band are the same currency that gates your armour and accessory tiers.

Which weapon to pick, by situation

Ownership realities most tier lists skip

• Repair costs scale with weapon tier, not damage dealt. A +7 greatsword costs noticeably more per repair than a +7 spear, so heavy weapons quietly drain gold on long sessions.
• Durability loss is per swing, not per hit landed. Whiffing costs you exactly as much as connecting, which is a strong argument against low-accuracy heavy builds in laggy co-op.
• Consumables change the real cost of ranged builds. Bow ammo and staff reagents are bought per run, so a bow that looks cheap at +5 is not actually cheaper than a melee weapon over twenty hours.
• Upgrade materials do not transfer. Ore and cores spent on a class you later abandon are gone, which is the single most common source of wasted resources — and the reason the “stop at +7” rule exists.
• Elemental infusions are reversible, but not free. Re-infusing costs a fraction of the original infusion, so experiment early rather than committing to a damage type before you know the late-game enemy roster.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best weapon in All Black Grimoire overall?

The two-handed greatsword class ranks highest overall because it pairs the game’s biggest single-hit damage with reliable stagger, which trivialises most boss patterns once you learn the timings. The dual blades have higher theoretical DPS and are the better pick for early progression and mobbing. Which of the two is “best” for you depends on whether you fight bosses or clear packs more often.

Are dual blades actually better than greatswords for bosses?

No — they are better for bosses only if you can stay glued to the target without being punished. In practice, most boss fights have long periods where the boss is out of melee range or attacking, during which the greatsword’s single big hit is worth more than several small ones you cannot land. Dual blades win on short, aggressive fights and lose on long, patient ones.

Is the scythe worth using at all?

It is playable and genuinely fun on open maps where its wide sweeps catch multiple enemies, but its long wind-up and poor stagger make it the weakest single-target option in the upper tiers. If you like the weapon, use it and stop upgrading at +3. Investing shards into a scythe past that point is the most common resource mistake in the game.

How far should I upgrade a weapon before switching to a better one?

Stop at +3 for anything you are testing, and at +7 for anything you intend to main. Levels +1 through +7 deliver roughly 79% of a weapon’s total upgrade value for about a third of the total cost, so they are almost always worth it. Levels +8 to +10 cost about eight times more gold per point of damage and should be reserved for your final endgame weapon.

Do upgrade materials carry over when I switch weapons?

No. Ore, cores and shards are consumed permanently, and refunds are not part of the upgrade system. That is exactly why the tier list above separates weapons worth pushing to +7 from weapons that should stay at +3 until you have found something better.

Is a ranged build viable in the endgame?

Yes, but it is more expensive to run than melee. The bow’s charged shots hit hard enough to compete with greatsword swings, and the 18 m range keeps you out of most danger, but ammo is a per-run consumable cost and charged shots lock you in place long enough to be punished by fast bosses. Build for mobility and stamina recovery if you commit to it.