Knight's Claymore
The Knight's Claymore is a heavy two-handed sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Its special effect increases its damage when the wielder's health is low.
Key Takeaways
Heavy two-handed sword
Knight's Claymore is a two-handed melee weapon built around committed, powerful attacks rather than shield use.
Low-health trait
Its defining mechanic increases damage when Link's health is low, making the weapon's bonus conditional rather than permanently active.
Decayed and pristine forms
The commonly found decayed form has a pristine counterpart that can be discovered in the Depths.
Depths acquisition
Pristine Knight's Claymores are obtained by interacting with shadow soldiers in the Depths, subject to the game's weapon-spawn conditions.
Main trade-off
The claymore's heavy two-handed handling favors strong attacks, but gives up the flexibility of a one-handed weapon and shield combination.
Fuse context matters
Any comparison between its decayed and pristine forms should keep their condition separate, since the variant affects the weapon's base performance and durability context.
Overview
Knight's Claymore is a heavy, two-handed sword in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, distinguished by a low-health damage effect and a pristine Depths variant.
The weapon is the decayed form of a sword once carried by Hyrule's strongest knights. Its weight suits committed, powerful attacks rather than quick one-handed exchanges, while its protective resonance increases its damage when Link's health is low. Players can also find pristine Knight's Claymores by interacting with shadow soldiers in the Depths, making the weapon relevant both as an early-world find and as a repeatable exploration target later in a playthrough.
Statistics
Attack and durability are the game’s own published values, not a 0–100 scale. Taken from the project’s verified weapons database, not from generated text.
- Attack11
- Durability18
- ClassTwo-Handed
- TraitDesperate Strength
- ConditionDecayed
- Compendium#379
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar melee weapons
| Weapon | Attack | Durability | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knight's Claymore | 11 | 18 | Two-Handed |
| Giant Boomerang | 11 | 18 | Two-Handed |
| Mighty Zonaite Sword | 10 | 18 | One-Handed |
| Royal Broadsword | 10 | 20 | One-Handed |
| Gerudo Claymore | 10 | 10 | Two-Handed |
Attack and durability are the game’s own published values. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- 01Obtain a decayed Knight's Claymore from weapon loot in Hyrule; it is not tied to a vendor purchase, quest reward, boss drop, DLC, or NG+ mode.
- 02For a pristine Knight's Claymore, first obtain and break a decayed Knight's Claymore, then search weapon-holding shadow soldiers in the Depths. Their available pristine weapon pool can change after collection or defeat, so the weapon is not a guaranteed reward from any single soldier.],
- 03prerequisites coerce?
Availability
Requires No DLC, mode, or proficiency requirement is established.
The normally encountered form is decayed.
Requires The relevant pristine-weapon pool must be eligible; this is associated with having broken the corresponding decayed weapon.
Pristine Knight's Claymores are offered by shadow soldiers in the Depths rather than treated as a separate purchased item.
Mechanics and Handling
Knight's Claymore uses the committed moveset expected of a two-handed sword: broad swings cover space in front of Link, while its heavier handling makes positioning more important than with a one-handed weapon. Its charged attack is a spinning greatsword attack, useful when several enemies are within reach but costly if started without room to finish. Jump attacks and other two-handed sword actions retain the weapon's emphasis on burst damage and deliberate timing.
Desperate Strength rewards controlled risk
The Knight's Claymore's defining trait is Desperate Strength. It increases the weapon's damage when Link's health is low, so the bonus is conditional rather than a permanent property of every strike. This makes the sword more effective in a dangerous, near-defeat state, but it does not remove the need to manage incoming damage or create a general-purpose defensive effect.
Decayed and pristine handling
The ordinary Knight's Claymore is a decayed weapon, while pristine versions can be obtained from shadow soldiers in the Depths. These states should be treated as separate forms because their attack and durability behaviour differ. Fusing a material adds the normal Fuse benefits to the weapon; the claymore itself does not replace the material's effect with a separate weapon-specific fusion rule.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Its two-handed heavy-sword profile supports committed, powerful melee attacks rather than shield-based fighting.
- Its low-health trait increases its damage when Link is injured, giving the weapon a specific offensive payoff in a high-risk state.
- A pristine variant can be sought in the Depths, providing a longer-term alternative to the commonly encountered decayed form.
Weaknesses
- Using it occupies both hands, so it cannot be paired with a shield for ordinary shield guards or shield surfing while equipped.
- The low-health damage benefit is conditional: at safer health levels, the weapon does not receive that stated advantage.
- Decayed and pristine versions are separate condition states; finding one does not make the other’s durability or attack profile apply automatically.
Best uses
- Use it for deliberate two-handed attacks when shield use is less important than offensive pressure.
- It suits encounters where Link can safely exploit the low-health damage condition, provided the player can manage the added risk.
- Pursue the pristine version in the Depths when replacing a decayed Knight's Claymore is more useful than relying on the surface weapon.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Class | Distinguishing trait | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knight's Claymore | Desperate Strength: higher damage while health is low | Risk-reward heavy attacks and low-health combat | — |
| Royal Claymore | Improved Flurry Rush | Players who can consistently punish enemy openings after perfect dodges | — |
| Gerudo Claymore | Strong Fusion: increases the effect of fused materials | Fusion-focused builds seeking stronger material bonuses | — |
| Soldier's Claymore | Quick Charge: faster charged attacks | Players who prefer more responsive charged attacks over conditional damage | — |
Lore and Design
The Knight’s Claymore’s item lore presents it as a heavy sword once carried by Hyrule’s strongest knights. Its defining association is protection: the weapon is said to resonate with that desire and become more powerful when its wielder’s health is low.
The standard weapon is decayed, while pristine examples can be found in the Depths through the game’s shadow-soldier weapon system. This distinction reflects Tears of the Kingdom’s broader treatment of recovered weapons rather than a separately documented historical or development origin for the claymore.