With Elden Ring coming up on its two-month anniversary, it’s time to begin what could be an ever-changing list: Best Builds in Elden Ring. This is a question that many have and are looking for answers. There are so many different ways to play Elden Ring ranging from ranged-based magic attacks all the way to fighting bare-handed up in the enemy’s face. But with seemingly limitless options presented to players, it can be challenging to settle on something that feels right.
Around the community, many are diving deep to find and play test some of the most creative builds the game has to offer. The upcoming list will feature a decent range of builds that players can reference for inspiration and will include five incredibly powerful builds that have been featured all around the community.
The builds included in this list focus on high damage output and are strong in both PvP and PvE situations. These are not necessarily early game builds and most include or are based on some sort of weapon, talisman, or spell that is obtained toward the end of the main story. Creating these builds in a play through will set players very nicely when it comes to NG+ and beyond, or for very popular fight clubs and dueling areas.
Best builds in Elden Ring
The builds below are in no particular order as they are all incredible and viable in both PvP and PvE scenarios. Elden Ring gives players a lot of freedom to make a variety of different builds and interchange weapons and talismans at will. Below are five builds that are great starting points for those looking to maximize their damage output.
The pictures associated with each build showcase its use, however the character showcasing the builds is on NG+6 so the bosses have a much greater healthpool. With that said, players should look at the amount of damage dealt by the attack and judge based off of the health bar at the bottom.
Zamor Curved Sword Dex build
One amazing weapon in the game to build around is the Zamor Curved Sword. This curved weapon scales primarily with Dexterity at an impressive max of B-scaling and has additional Strength scaling at C-scaling when reinforced to +10. While the sword has a unique moveset and looks great, the best part about this blade is actually its unique weapon art: Zamor Ice Storm.
When players use the Zamor Ice Storm, it unleashes a violent freezing tempest. This storm will almost always proc the target’s frostbite meter which will do percentage-based damage similar to the blood loss status. Additionally, targets that become frostbitten also receive a 20-percent defense penalty in which players can deal even more damage. While this is a nice bonus if players are out of FP, this build in particular will focus on triggering the frostbite proc with every attack by combining it with a specific incantation.
Fire’s Deadly Sin is a fire monk incantation. When used, it covers the user and surrounding area with flames. While this will do slight damage to the user overtime with its lingering burn effect, it also will burn enemies next to the user. Flames like these actually remove the Frostbite debuff and allow for another Frostbite damage proc. Players can abuse this mechanic and continue to use the Zamor Ice Storm weapon art to constantly proc Frostbite on their targets allowing for massive damage output.
In addition to the weapon, there are also Talismans that will assist in making this build even more ridiculous. Talismans like the Shard of Alexander and the Blue Dancer Charm only add to the potency of the build’s attack power.
The Uplifting and Bloodboil Aromatics and Golden Vow can also be used to increase damage.
All around, the Zamor Curved Sword Dexterity build has incredible damage output and is deadly to unlucky adversaries that find themselves trapped in the storm.
Critical attack build
Pioneered by cRPG Bro, this build based around critical attacks is one of the most badass feeling builds out there. This build constantly triggers guard breaks and staggers against enemies and bosses and allows for consistent and easy critical attacks.
The main star of the show is the Miséricorde dagger found in Stormveil Castle. This tiny dagger may appear insignificant to the naked eye, however its 140-critical attack stat is not something to scoff at. Players can combine this deadly dagger with special Talismans like the Dagger Talisman, which will boost critical attacks by another 17-percent, and the Crimson and Cerulean Dagger Talismans which restore HP and FP when successfully pulling off critical attacks. The combination of these two Talismans make the Tarnished near-unkillable if they can execute correctly.
The other aspect of this insane build comes from the Ash of War that will get put on the Miséricorde. Flame of the Redmanes is a fire-based Ash of War that deals massive poise damage to enemies caught in its wide range flame burst. Its 40 damage to poise is enough to stagger and stun a lot of large enemies and bosses with just two uses. Yes, that includes bosses. Bosses! Players can chain stagger and repost bosses using this ash of war. When applied to a weapon, players have the choice to associate a specific affinity to the Miséricorde. Adding the fire affinity to it is recommended to give the weapon better strength scaling as well as increase the damage dealt when combined with the incantation Flame, Grant Me Strength and the Fire Scorpion Charm.
Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike
Those looking for a more explosive and more ranged-based attack style should check out Dragon-based incantations.
Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike is an incantation available to those that have found the Ancient Dragon Praybook in the Crumbling Farum Azula. This powerful incantation only requires 26 Faith to use and has potential for massive damage outputs.
Based off of the YouTuber Titus_Actual, this build can be made relatively early on in a playthrough if players used the Crumbling Farum Azula wrong warp at the Four Belfries in Liurnia. This wrong warp will grant access to the Ancient Dragon Praybook found later in the dungeon. Players then give the book to Brother Corhyn or Mirel, Pastor of Vows to then purchase Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike.
This incantation can obliterate bosses if properly positioned. Talismans like the Ritual Sword, Godfrey’s Icon, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, and Lightning Scorpion Charm raise the damage output even more. On top of that, using an upgraded sacred seal like the Erdtree Seal will give the player S-Scaling in Faith making incantations even more potent and deadly.
Great Stars Endure build
Credit to the guys over at RageGamingVideos over on YouTube for this one.
The build is a lot of fun to use and is based around the Great Stars weapon. This incredible warhammer does a lot of different things. In addition to its natural bleed, one of the unique aspects of this weapon is that it restores a small amount of HP on successful attacks. This slight restoration is equivalent to roughly one-percent of total HP. This may not seem like a lot, but as character levels get higher and higher and more levels are invested into Vigor, the passive restoration becomes pretty strong.
This build is also built around a specific Ash of War – Endure. Endure will increase poise and reduce damage taken for a brief amount of time. Using this will allow players to get up in the face of any enemy they see fit, and begin easily trading hits.
While the Great Stars warhammer comes with Endure already on it, it’s recommended to obtain and put the Ash of War on the weapon through a smith. Doing this allows the player to assign a specific affinity to the weapon. Players can put Frostbite onto one to continually put bosses and foes in a sticky situation with constant frostbite and blood loss procs. When these two status effects proc, they deal a set percentage amount of damage according to the target’s total health. Additionally, when an enemy is frostbitten, they will take an additional 20-percent more damage. The other can be made into a Sacred Great Stars due to the Faith levels that will be put into the build.
For a stat allocation, it’s recommended to really only get the base stat requirements for the Great Stars. The goal of this build is to be a tank in the enemy’s face, continue to trade hits, and let the bleed and frostbite damage do all the work.
Players should look to get 60 Vigor for a beefy pool of health and 38 Faith to be able to use a few incantations. Blessing of the Erdtree, Barrier of Gold, and Golden Vow are all buffs the player can put on themselves to increase their defenses and attack power.
For Talismans, it’s recommended to use Erdtree’s Favor +2, Crimson Amber Medallion +2, and Dragoncrest Greatshield. The fourth slot is very flexible and can be interchanged with different preferences. The goal is to have the highest health and physical defenses as possible.
Giant’s Flame build
The final build on this list is based around the Faith and incantations. This is a pyromancy build with massive damage output and large AOE effects that decimate bosses and other Tarnished alike.
This, like the Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike, is a simpler build compared to the others on the list. Gaintsflame Take Thee is an incantation that requires 30 Faith to use. Players can hurl incredible large exploding fireballs toward their target for incredible amounts of damage.
To get the incantation, players must get the Giant’s Prayerbook found in the Mountaintops of the Giants at Guardian’s Garrison. Once obtained, the book must be turned into Brother Corhyn or Mirel, Pastor of Vows to purchase and learn the incantation.
But that’s not all. There are a lot of different aspects of this build to buff the gigantic fireball.
Talismans like Flock’s Canvas, Godrey’s Icon, and the Fire Scorpion all increase the amount of damage that this ridiculous incantation does.
The Giant’s Seal adds a +20-percent boost to Giantsflame incantations, and players can even stack another Giant’s Seal in their off-hand to double it.
Flame Grant Me Strength and Golden Vow also increase the damage on this incantation, and using the Flame Tear in the Flask of Physick gives even more of a boost.
In total with all of these fire attack boosting Talismans, incantations, Tears, and Sacred Seals, players can get an absurd +130-percent boost to their fire damage or Giantsflame incantations. That’s right. One-hundred and thirty percent.
Final thoughts
This is not an all inclusive list of the best builds in Elden Ring. There are so many different and creative builds in the game, and it’s great to see so many people sharing insane strategies that utterly decimate enemies. Players should use this list as a jumping off point, but remember that almost all builds are viable in the game. Much can be mixed and matched as well.
As players continue onto NG+ and beyond, the damage of these builds will remain the same, but the boss healthpools will increase. So the massive yellow bars showing the depleting health will likely shrink up a bit, but the damage is still there.
The game is still very young and players are constantly discovering new and almost game-breaking builds and mechanics.
