Impaling Thrust

Type

Ashes of War

Default affinity

Keen

FP cost

9 FP

Skill

Impaling Thrust

About this Ash of War

This Ash of War grants an armament the Keen affinity and the following skill:

"Impaling Thrust: Skill that lets piercing armaments overcome enemy shields. Build power, then lunge forward for a strong thrust that pierces an enemy's guard."

Usable on armaments capable of thrusting

(colossal weapons excepted).

Bernahl's skill shop

Limgrave

Starting Site of Grace: Warmaster's Shack

Before you go

• Have 1,000 runes.
• Visit during the day.

1. From Gatefront, follow the road uphill through Stormgate to Stormhill Shack. Turn east along the road through the woods to Warmaster's Shack.
2. Speak to Knight Bernahl inside during the day, open his skill shop and buy Impaling Thrust for 1,000 runes. His shop has one copy.
3. If Bernahl has moved to Volcano Manor, use his drawing-room shop. Once he leaves the manor, examine the sword at his chair for the established shop.
4. If you already have Bernahl's Bell Bearing, give it to the Twin Maiden Husks to buy his remaining stock. Killing him is unnecessary and cuts off his later quest rewards.

Notes

• Costs 9 FP. Press skill for one forward lunge; there is no separate charged version or special second input.
• The thrust bypasses 85% of the protection supplied by a guard. That is different from ignoring all damage reduction or passing completely through a shield like Piercing Fang.
• Damage comes from the weapon hit and its chosen affinity. It applies the weapon's status buildup, so upgrades, attribute scaling and an eligible weapon enchantment affect the attack.
• It deals useful stance damage, but the amount depends on the weapon class. A dagger does less stance damage with this skill than a greatsword.
• Greatswords and great katanas can transition into a strong attack sooner during recovery. The smallest weapon version does not have that same early strong-attack transition.
• The lunge can be parried. Missing also leaves recovery, so line up the narrow thrust rather than using it while the target is moving across you.
• Katar and Pata have this skill built in but cannot use this transferable Ash. Having a native skill does not make every weapon with that skill compatible.
• Shard of Alexander improves the skill's damage. Spear Talisman helps when the piercing hit catches an enemy during its own attack.
• Can use this Ash of War on compatible equipment in these classes: Dagger, Straight Sword, Greatsword, Katana, Twinblade, Thrusting Sword, Heavy Thrusting Sword, Spear, Great Spear, Halberd, Claw, Thrusting Shield, Throwing Blade, Light Greatsword, Great Katana. Fixed-skill equipment is excluded.
• The default affinity is Keen. Additional affinities depend on the weapon and your whetblades; a class appearing in the compatibility list does not mean every weapon in that class supports every affinity.