No matter if you are stuck at a hard boss in PvE or want to show others how strong you are in PvP, you will need a good build in Elden Ring. While there are only 10 classes, the amount of weapons, armor, and talismans the game offers, it can even confuse some veterans on what to choose. The last thing you would want to do is waste your points in leveling up a wrong stat. While patches and updates often nerf or even buff different weapons. The ones selected for this list have stood the test of time. So, below are some of the best builds that you can use to not only beat Elden Ring but also take on your invaders easily.
Table of Contents
Best Builds for Elden Ring
- Blasphemous Blade Lifestealer build – Strength and Faith
- Guts Greatsword Strength build – Strength
- Reduvia Dagger and Rivers of Blood Bleed build – Dexterity and Arcane
- Comet Azur Kamehameha build – Intelligence
- Sword of Night and Flame Ranged build – Intelligence and Faith
There are some basic rules on how these work. Make sure to level up your primary stats, these are important to increase your weapon damage. Your secondary stats are good for things like Mind to let you use more FP or when using seals to apply buffs. Finally, make sure the armor you use doesn’t make you do fat-rolls, that is you must have Medium Load and not Heavy. Now here is why you should use these builds:
Blasphemous Blade Lifestealer build
- Weapon: Blasphemous Blade
- Shield: Any shield that negates 100 Physical damage
- Primary Stats: Vigor, Faith and Strength
- Secondary Stats: Endurance and Mind
- Talismans: Ritual Sword Talisman, Fire Scorpion Charm, Carian Filigreed Crest, Shard Of Alexander
Blasphemous Blade is considered the game’s hidden easy mode by many, there are many good reasons for it. For starters, with the blade you get the weapon skill Taker’s Flames. This lets you blast columns of fire in front of you. Not only does this weapon deal the enemy some serious fire damage but in turn it also heals you.
Even aside from its skill, it offers you decently or above-average physical and fire damage if you choose to fight melee. After a point, you should focus on leveling your Faith as it increases your weapon skill. Later on, you can also consider learning some fire incantations as you go above level 100 and more.
Guts Greatsword Strength build
- Weapon: Greatsword
- Primary Stats: Vigor, Strength, and Endurance
- Secondary Stats: Dexterity
- Talismans: Shard Of Alexander, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Green Turtle Talisman, Godfrey Icon
This is a weapon excellent for Strength builds, we all know Miyazaki is a big fan of Berserk as such Greatsword won’t disappoint you. The Greatsword has been a classic weapon since Dark Souls. So it is no surprise that players even in Elden Ring prefer using it. It scales mainly with Strength and with Dexterity. This is probably one of the only weapons in this list that can be equally dangerous in PvP as strong as it is in PvE.
Use the Lion’s Claw Ashes of War on it and your enemies will take lots of damage not just to their HP but also to their poise. As you level up during the late game you can consider putting some points into Faith to use Golden Vow to increase your attack and defense even more! Depending on your playstyle you can either use it with a shield or dual-wield it for even more damage. While the latter is recommended, both are just fine.
Reduvia Dagger and Rivers of Blood Bleed build
This builds list would have been incomplete had it not included some of the best bleed weapons in the game. So for bleed users, this is a two-in-one build. As it can be very flexible.
- Weapons: Reduvia Dagger x2, Rivers of Blood x2, or one of each.
- Shield: Heater shield (optional)
- Talismans: Lord of Blood’s Exultation, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Shard of Alexander, Green Turtle Talisman or Millicent’s Prosthesis
Bleed weapons are some of the most broken and rewarding weapons in the game. Depending on your playstyle you should either select Reduvia or Rivers of Blood. Here is why both are so good.
Starting with Reduvia, even though it is a dagger it can work as a good ranged weapon thanks to its weapon skill Reduvia Blood Blade which launches an arc of blood at your enemy. This not only does a lot of damage but also stacks bleed faster. If the enemies decide to take things up close then with its short range you can quickly hit them several times.
For its alternative, you can use Rivers of Blood. This is an equally if not more powerful weapon. Since it is a Katana you get a pretty good range against your enemies. Plus this weapon also deals fire damage along with bleed. Then you also have its weapon skill Corpse Piler. If you have played Sekiro think of it as using the Mortal blade.
Now, depending on if you have started a NG+ you can either get two of the same weapons. That is Reduvia + Reduvia or Rivers of Blood + RoB. Or you can also use one on each hand as one gives you range, while the other is good for close combat.
Comet Azur Kamehameha build
- Weapons: Azur’s Glintstone Staff or Lusat’s Glintstone Staff
- Spells: Comet, Comet Azur, Carian Slicer and Terra Magica
- Primary Stats: Intelligence, Mind, and Dexterity
- Secondary Stats: Vigor
- Talismans: Ritual Sword Talisman, Carian Filigreed Crest, Graven-Mass Talisman, Godfrey Icon
Want to be Goku in Elden Ring? Well with the Comet Azur sorcery, you can! This is a spell commonly known for its ability to melt bosses and for a good reason. Don’t worry though with the other sorceries you have all ranges covered. Comet lets you take out enemies from a safe distance. As for some fast foes that rush or sneak up on you, you can take care of them using the Carian Slicer, this basically works like a sword.
When taking on bosses, start by using Terra Magica. Now stay inside the sigil zone to increase your magic power by 35%. This in itself should melt away a lot of enemy HP. Now, according to how the fight plays out you can continue using your other spells.
Sword of Night and Flame Ranged build
- Weapon: Sword of Night and Flame
- Primary Stats: Intelligence, Faith, and Mind
- Secondary Stats: Vigor, Strength, and Dexterity
- Talismans: Graven-Mass Talisman, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, Carian Filigreed Crest, Godfrey Icon
If you want a mixed playstyle of the heavy fire damage dealt by Blasphemous Blade but also don’t want to lose out on the Comet Azur then this build is for you. The Sword of Night and Flame is a very unique weapon both for its requirements and how it attacks. For melee attacks, you deal physical, magic, and fire damage to your enemies. But with a weapon like this, you won’t be fighting up close.
Its weapon skill Night-and-Flame Stance is where the true magic lies. Take the stance to prepare your sorcery, the next normal attack lets you use Comet Azur while a heavy attack unleashes an arc of flames. Depending on the spell you go ahead with next the FP gets used. So if you need to take care of multiple enemies at once, fire is your friend, while you already know about Comet Azur from the above build.
How to Make Your Own Build for PvP in Elden Ring
In case the above builds worked for you but you still see there is room for improvement, then here are some things that you should consider when making your own builds:
- Know your Playstyle and level up stats accordingly: If you plan to play as a Sorcerer using ranged spells or Dexterity-focused weapons with the bloodhound step. Then putting points into Vigor isn’t of much use as enemies won’t have much chance to hit you in the first place. Of course, there are cases where this won’t apply while fighting mobs. But if you are going to be using a Strength-based build then Vigor is important. In case you messed up badly then you should respec at Rennala.
- Select a Weapon: Knowing what stats your weapon scales with is very important to get the most damage out of it. So similar to the above points, pick a weapon that suits your playstyle and upgrade the stats it has higher scaling with. For example, for Reduvia you need higher Dexterity and Arcane.
- Don’t neglect Talismans and Flask of Wondrous Physick: Tying to the above points if you are going to be taking a lot of hits then Talismans like Dragoncrest Shield and Pearldrake are useful. Similarly, for a sorcerer Stargazer Heirloom, Cerulean Amber Medallion, etc. are a better choice.
With that, you now not only have the best builds in Elden Ring but even the things you should consider when making your own build for PvP. If you are just starting out and all of this was a bit complicated then you should check out our best early-game weapons instead.