Whetblades are unique items found throughout Elden Ring. Unlike typical upgrade materials, they don’t enhance your weapon’s base damage or Elden Ring Runes improve its scaling directly. Instead, they expand your ability to modify weapons by changing their affinity—a system that determines how a weapon scales with your stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, or Arcane) and, in some cases, what type of additional damage (Fire, Magic, Holy, etc.) it deals.
In practical terms, applying an affinity reshapes your weapon’s identity:
A Heavy affinity boosts Strength scaling, making your weapon hit harder as you invest in Strength.
A Keen affinity increases Dexterity scaling, favoring agile builds.
Other affinities, such as Flame Art or Magic, add elemental damage and scale with Intelligence or Faith.
With Whetblades, you unlock access to these affinities when applying Ashes of War at any Site of Grace. Without them, your options are limited. But with the right…