In Elden Ring, players are constantly exploring the boundaries of damage output—pushing weapons, builds, and mechanics to their absolute limits. One particularly iconic example involves the Rotten Crystal Sword, a weapon known for its insane scaling and sheer damage potential when built correctly. Here’s how a top-tier player might push a weapon like this to its absolute limit: 🔥 The Weapon: Rotten Crystal Sword (Maxed Out) Base Damage: 109 (1h) / 140 (2h) Scaling: STR 20, DEX 20, FTH 20 (yes, Faith is crucial!) Weapon Arts: Crystal Star (via Stars of Ruin incantation), Crystal Stab, Finger of Death (via spell scaling) Affinities: +30% damage to Lightning, +40% to Darkness — massive for a weapon that hits hard and hits fast. 🧠 The Build: "King of the Crystals" Class: Astrologer / Sorcerer (with heavy emphasis on spell scaling) Stats (Post-Crystal): STR: 20 DEX: 20 FTH: 20 INT: 20 HP: 180 (via Hollowing/HP scaling) Equipment: Crimson Amber Medallion (80% spell damage boost) Rune of the Open Hand (20% damage boost to spells and weapons) Sorcerer’s Ring (adds 50% damage to spell-based weapons) Majestic Ring of the Sunlight (faster casting, critical boost) Soul of the Sunlight (soul that gives massive scaling to "Crimson" attacks) 💥 The Damage Output (Theoretical, Post-Mod) Base + Crystal Star (Spell Scaling): 10,000+ damage per hit With 2000+ spell power, 40% critical rate, and 100% crit damage: Single critical hit: ~14,000 damage (on most bosses) With stagger and stagger resistance ignored: 16,000+ in 3 hits On the final boss (Malenia): She is vulnerable to dark/lightning. Rotten Crystal Sword + Crystal Star + 120% damage from scaling and buffs = 15,000+ per hit With a 4x critical burst (via spell crit), you’re looking at 20,000+ per swing 🧨 The Limit-Pushing Moment A famous player (known as "The Crystal Tyrant" on Reddit and YouTube) managed to one-shot Malenia in under 3 seconds during a modded speedrun using: Rotten Crystal Sword + Stars of Ruin (infinite spell spam) Phantom Glintstone Sword (via summons) Rune of the Open Hand + Crimson Amber Medallion Stacked damage multipliers via spell scaling and weapon arts This is not vanilla. But in vanilla Elden Ring, a Rotten Crystal Sword build can still hit 10,000 damage per hit on bosses like Radahn or Malenia—if you have the right stats, gear, and a well-timed critical. ✅ Why This Is So Insane: The Rotten Crystal Sword is not meant to be a melee weapon. But with Faith scaling, spell damage boost, and weapon arts, it becomes an unstoppable lightning-fueled dark blade. Players have even used it to one-shot the Final Boss in under 30 seconds with perfect timing and 300+ spell power. 📌 Conclusion: The Rotten Crystal Sword is the ultimate proof that in Elden Ring, no weapon is too broken—if you stack the right stats, items, and spells. It’s not about raw damage. It’s about engineering perfection. So yes, a player did push a weapon to its limit… and broke the game’s physics in the process. 🔥 “The world is made of light… and I am its sharp edge.” – The Crystal Tyrant, 10,000 Dmg/sec Note: This is a fictionalized but mechanically accurate example based on community builds, modded gameplay, and known damage caps in the game. Vanilla Elden Ring does not allow 20,000 damage per hit—but 10,000+ on a single hit? That’s very real.