Elden Ring is rife with build-crafting potential thanks to its diverse weapons, sorceries, and gear arsenal.
Dark Moon Greatsword is an Intelligence-scaling greatsword that lets you throw magic projectiles from range. This unique Elden Ring weapon shines the brightest when you have your build specifically catered to boost its strengths.
Stats for the best Dark Moon Greatsword build in Elden Ring
For the Dark Moon Greatsword build, your primary stat to focus on is Intelligence. Although the weapon’s physical damage portion scales off your Strength and Dex stats, you’re better off boosting the magic damage component. This is because of various factors:
- Dark Moon Greatsword has B scaling on Int compared to D scaling on Strength and Dex.
- Your high Intelligence stat lets you access a wide range of Elden Ring Sorceries that further synergize with the build.
As for other stats, pushing Vigor to 50 and up lets you survive almost all one-shot scenarios. Mind is also a crucial secondary stat to account for all the Sorceries you’ll use between your Dark Moon Greatsword’s charge attacks.
You need to have 16 Strength to be able to one-hand the Dark Moon Greatsword, and 11 Dex to wield it at all.
| Stats | For Level 125 character | For Level 150 character |
|---|---|---|
| Vigor | 50 | 60 |
| Mind | 25 | 30 |
| Endurance | 15 | 15 |
| Strength | 16 | 16 |
| Dexterity | 12 | 12 |
| Intelligence | 70 | 80 |
| Arcane and Faith | Dump stats. Leave them at the starting point. | |
The most optimal starting class for the build would be Astrologer. But if you started the game with something else, it’s not too big of a concern—Larval Tear respecs should bring you to something like this without much stat wastage.
Weapons for the best Dark Moon Greatsword build in Elden Ring
The weapon of choice for the build is, of course, the Dark Moon Greatsword. But getting your hands on it takes some times. You need to progress Ranni’s questline until you reach the Cathedral of Manus Celes to get the coveted weapon.
Until you reach that point, you can opt for other low-commitment Intelligence-scaling swords like Carian Knight’s Sword or Crystal Sword. You can get Carian Knight’s Sword from a carriage on the northwest side of Liurnia of the Lakes (further north along the road from the Foot of the Four Belfries site of grace). Crystal Sword can be looted from a corpse at the Village of the Albinaurics.
Staves
You will be casting a lot of Sorceries with this build and for that, you need a staff on your off-hand while you wield the Dark Moon Greatsword as your right-hand armament.
Carian Regal Scepter is the staff of choice for this build with its B Int scaling. While Lusat’s Glintstone Staff is a choice for higher damage, its 50 percent extra FP cost feels like a handicap more often than not.
You get the Carian Regal Scepter from the Remembrance of The Full Moon Queen after beating Rennala. I’d strongly recommend duplicating the remembrance at one of the Mausoleums, as we’d also be using the Sorcery from the same remembrance in this Elden Ring build.
Until you beat Rennala, Meteorite Staff and Academy Glintstone Staff are good early-game options.
Sorceries for the best Dark Moon Greatsword build in Elden Ring
Although the weapon is the star of the show, you can utilize Sorceries as a major part of the Dark Moon Greatsword build. Since you have the Int and FP to support, there’s no reason why you’d shy away from using them.
We’d be using Sorceries for all sorts of different purposes including debuffing enemies, long-range encounters, buffing our magic damage, and expediting posture breaks.
| Sorcery | FP Cost | Intelligence requirement | What to use it for | Where to get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rennala’s Full Moon | 47 | 70 | Debuffing enemies with 10 percent reduced magic damage negation at the start of encounters against strong enemies. | From the Remembrance of The Full Moon Queen. |
| Terra Magicka | 20 | 20 | For buffing your magic damage output. | Complete the Academy Crystal Cave dungeon and take the elevator behind the Crystalians boss to the tower that houses the chest holding the Sorcery. |
| Greatblade Phalanx | 30 | 29 | For expediting posture break on enemies. | Beat the Cuckoo Evergaol boss in the western part of Liurnia of the Lakes. |
| Magma Shot | 16 | 19 | For resetting the Frostbite counter on enemies. | Rewarded by Tanith after the first Volcano Manor assassination quest. |
| Comet Azur | 40 for casting and 10 per second for channeling. | 60 | For cheesing bosses. | From Primeval Sorcerer Azur at Hermit Village in Mt. Gelmir. |
| Night Comet | 21 | 38 | For long-range damage to clear trash mobs. | Inside a room behind a dispellable barrier in the central part of Sellia, Town of Sorcery. |
Talismans for the best Dark Moon Greatsword build in Elden Ring
For Talismans for the Dark Moon Greatsword build, it’s best to focus on boosting the charged attack damage of the weapon as you will be using that the most in encounters.
Shard of Alexander buffs your charged attack projectiles with a 15 percent damage boost. Naturally, it’s a great fit for the build. You can get it by finishing Iron Fist Alexander’s questline.
Godfrey Icon works similarly, adding another 15 percent damage boost to your charged attack projectiles. You get this Talisman by beating Godefroy the Grafted in Golden Lineage Evergaol, located just south of the Altus Plateau site of grace after you come up through the Grand Lift of Dectus.
Magic Scorpion Charm boosts your magic damage by 12 percent and synergizes with your Dark Moon Greatsword and the Sorceries, albeit with a 10 percent penalty in physical damage negation. You get this one by giving Amber Starlight to Seluvis as part of his questline. If you missed the quest like me and locked yourself out of the Talisman for this NG cycle, you can opt for Graven-Mass Talisman which raises the potency of Sorceries by eight percent.
For the fourth slot, I’d strongly suggest a defensive Talisman like Dragoncrest Greatshield or Spelldrake Talisman, depending on the enemy you’re facing.
Flask of the Wondrous Physick for the best Dark Moon Greatsword build in Elden Ring
For your Wondrous Physick Flask, Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear is a no-brainer. It provides a 20 percent boost to your magic damage for three minutes and stacks with the Talismans. You can get this Tear from the Erdtree Avatar in Northeast Liurnia.
For the second Tear, you have several options. I found Cerulean Hidden Tear to be the most powerful with its infinite FP provision at the start of a fight which helps you cast expensive Sorceries like Rennala’s Full Moon for free. Stonebarb Cracked Tear is also worthwhile if you’d rather have quicker stance-breaking.
Spiked Cracked Tear does not increase the charged attack projectiles of Dark Moon Greatsword. So, even though it seems like a natural fit for the build due to its wording, we found through our testing that it’s a wasted slot.
Armor for the best Dark Moon Greatsword build in Elden Ring
With the Dark Moon Greatsword build, armor is mostly up to your preferences. While the Spellblade set from Sorcerer Rogier can offer you an additional magic damage boost (two percent for every piece you wear), you might opt for a tankier option for better survivability.
I also found the Snow Witch Hat a worthy addition to the build with its 10 percent boost to Cold Sorceries. You get the Snow Witch Set naturally anyway by progressing Ranni’s questline.
