What are the best Elden Ring builds? The first 20 levels shape your entire class, so selecting your stats carefully is essential. While placing some stat points into faith as an Astrologer may be tempting, you’re probably better off committing to the full sorcery build to maximize your damage in the late game.
The builds in this guide are not only compatible with Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, you can easily play through the entire expansion without ever swapping out any of your armor or weapons. If you’ve found that your build has been nerfed, never fear — grab a specific Elden Ring Great Rune. You’ll be able to unlock character respec, and you can simply create a new one!
The expansion has a separate leveling system that involves exploring the map to find Scadutree Fragments and Revered Spirit Ashes; these items buff your attacks while negating damage you take, and they strengthen Torrent and your summons, respectively. Make sure you grab these items right away as you will struggle to defeat the enemies in the new area without them!
These are the best Elden Ring builds:
Once you obtain the required stats for your build, spend the rest of your stats in these three areas: Vigor, Mind, and Endurance. It’s important to remember that the soft cap for Vigor is 60, Mind is 55, and Endurance is 32.
Bloodfiend’s Arm Bleed build
Starting Class: Bandit
Key Stats: Arcane 50, Strength 60, Endurance 50
Essential Items: Rakshasa armor set, White Mask, Axe Talisman, Two-Handed Sword Talisman
There’s something magical about wielding a colossal weapon that makes you feel unstoppable, and the Bloodfiend’s Arm with the right build will turn you into a destructive force. Despite being hit with a slight nerf in the same patch that killed the Lightning Perfume Bottle, the Bloodfiend’s Arm is still capable of ripping through any enemy you put in front of it. You will need to equip this weapon with Ash of War: Endure (the Blood affinity variation) to make sure it scales with both Strength and Arcane: Strength effects how much damage you deal per hit, and Arcane effects the bleed build up on enemies.
You can find the Bloodfiend’s Arm within the first few hours of the expansion, but first you need to make your way to the Main Gate Cross Site of Grace. Once you’re there, head to the east and jump along the cliff edge, following the hollow gravestones until you reach the arch way. Continue towards the south where you will hit Prospect Town, from here, climb the broken tower to find multiple enemies standing around. The Bloodfiend’s Arm isn’t a guaranteed drop, so you may have to come back to this area and kill these enemies again.
The easiest way to buff your damage is by wearing the new Rakshasa set which we’ve highlighted in our Elden Ring armor guide. As for the helmet, the White Mask is a must-have for any build as it increases your damage whenever blood loss occurs in battle. The talismans can be switched out depending on the boss you’re fighting against, but we highly recommend the Axe and Two-Handed Sword Talisman to maximize your damage output.
There will be times when you take damage as you’re swinging, but that shouldn’t be a problem as long as your Vigor is nice and high. You need to pay close attention to your opponent’s multi hitting attacks — taking too much damage while you’re attempting to attack will knock you out of your animation. Once you’ve analyzed the attack patterns of each boss, it won’t take long before you’re crushing everything in your sight.
Lightning Perfume Bottle Prophet build
Starting Class: Prophet
Key Stats: Faith 50, Dexterity 50, Vigor 50
Essential Items: Blasphemous Blade, Bloodsucking Cracked Tear, Ash of War Rolling Sparks, Perfumer’s Talisman, Shard of Alexander
Best Incantation: Knight’s Lightning Spear
Okay, so the Lightning Perfume Bottle build was deservedly nerfed, but from our testing post-patch, it seems like this build still has some legs. You can’t electrify bosses in under a minute anymore, but the damage you can deal using the Lightning Perfume Bottle is still impressive. We’re still pairing this weapon with the Ash of War: Rolling Sparks to add lightning explosions to each attack. If you aim directly at the floor where your enemy is standing, you can deal one concentrated burst of lightning damage to eliminate enemies in seconds.
The main change we’re making to this build is to add the Blasphemous Blade to give you another option in combat. This weapon heals you every time you deal damage to enemies, and during boss battles, this can save you from death when you least expect it. Scroll to our dedicated Blasphemous Blade build on this page to find out where to find this deadly sword.
The Lightning Perfume Bottle is easy to find once you find the Cerulean Coast Site of Grace — give our Elden Ring DLC map guide a read if you need help locating it. From the Cerulean Coast, make your way to the body of water in the north and keep going straight until you approach a rock, from there turn left and pick the weapon up. The fastest way to pick up Rolling Sparks is to travel to the Shadow Keep Main Gate, go down the elevator, and ride towards the tallest rock in the west. As you climb the rock, look directly up to find a glowing scarab floating in the air. Kill it before it disappears to claim the Ash of War.
You can go further beyond by equipping the Perfumer’s Talisman which boosts the damage from Perfume attacks by 20%, and by using the Shard of Alexander to boost your skill damage by an addition 15%. There really isn’t much you need to do to play optimally with this build, but there are a few things you should know. Your main weapon scales with Faith and Dexterity, which is why we’ve put so many points into these areas, and you can’t go wrong with a bolstered amount of Vigor.
Bleeding Thorns Mage build
Starting Class: Astrologer
Key Stats: Intelligence 50, Faith 50, Vigor 50
Essential Items: Albinauric Staff, Alberich’s Set, Opaline Hardtear, Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear
Best Spell: Impenetrable Thorns
We know this build wasn’t nerfed in the latest update, and we still don’t understand why. That said, we aren’t going to question a good thing, so sit back and enjoy it while you can.
Can one spell really define an entire build? When it’s as powerful as Impenetrable Thorns, absolutely. This new spell sends forth three winding thorns that track and ensnare the enemy. With enough hits, the thorns create a bleed effect, causing hemorrhage buildup that deals a deadly amount of damage against most enemies. If you use the spell close up to your target, it instantly creates a wall of thorns in front of them, trapping the enemy in place.
Even if this spell lost the hemorrhage buildup, it would still be worth using. If this spell lost the slowdown effect, it would still be worth using. Whether you’re fighting against multiple targets or standalone bosses, Impenetrable Thorns makes light work of anyone standing in your way.
We’ve listed all the items you could use to power up your Thorn spells, but in all honesty, you really don’t need to go that far with this build. You might need a quick respec to gain the minimum stat requirements for the spell, and you should be good to go. Our best Elden Ring spells guide has detailed instructions on where you can find the Impenetrable Thorns spell. If you’re worried about being attacked during the start-up frames of the spell, try equipping the Opaline Hardtear and Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear. This will create a protective shield around you while boosting the strength of your Magic attacks.
If you do want to take this build one step further, you can grab an armor set that boosts thorn sorceries. Alberich’s Set can be found by travelling to the Fortified Manor’s Site of Grace, head to the main hall and you will find this armor. Also located in the Lands Between is the Albinauric Staff which is located in Volcano Manor. Travel to the Prison Town Church Site of Grace, leave the door and go right. Run along the rooftops and head to the left, move past the enemies and jump towards the circular roof. From there, continue ahead and fall to the platform below. Continuing running forward, go across the bridge and head to the ladder on the right side of the building. Fall to the platform directly ahead of you and head through the door on the left to find the staff.
Colossal Knight Strength build
Starting Class: Barbarian
Key Stats: Strength 21+, Endurance 25, Vigor 25
Essential Items: Warcry Ash of War, Axe Talisman, Roar Medallion, any great or colossal weapon
This is a powerful early-to-mid game build for those who enjoy crushing foes with pure strength and a giant sword, and it comes courtesy of Fextralife. It’s a risky build, thanks to some exceedingly lengthy windup times, but every time you land a hit, you’ll flatten enemies for massive damage. And if you don’t defeat your target in the first hit, you have huge stamina reserves to draw on to follow up with a second swing. As you get deep into the mid-game, you may find yourself needing more and more swings, but we have some extra guidance for that.
Strength is your primary stat, but the amount you require will depend on the weapon you choose. Endurance and Vigor are also important as you’ll need to bolster your equip load stat – this means you can strap on some good armor in addition to a big sword. Endurance also gives more stamina, which is handy for chaining attacks together or escaping. And you’ll be grateful for the extra Vigor as this build will often see you trading heavy blows, especially against bosses.
You will need a big weapon and the Warcry Ashes of War. Any greatsword or colossal weapon will do, although you must be able to apply weapon arts to it to use Warcry. This gives you a damage buff, but it will also change your R2 attack to a charging attack with an overhead swing. This is key because not only does it dish out some absurd damage numbers, but by charging into enemies, you can usually interrupt their attack patterns before delivering the crushing overhead attack. Depending on the foe’s poise, you will either knock them to the ground or stand a high chance of staggering them, allowing you to go in for a critical strike.
To make this build shine, you’ll need to equip a few Elden Ring talismans. The Axe Talisman and Roar Medallion are essential. The former increases the damage of your charge attacks — helpful for obvious reasons — while the Roar Medallion increases the damage of your attacks after using Warcry. Other talisman slots are less important, so we suggest supplementing these with items that either boost total stamina (Viridian Amber Medallion) or stamina recovery (Erdtree’s Favor talisman), as you’ll be burning through a lot of it with this build.
Glass Cannon Mage build
Starting Class: Astrologer
Key Stats: Intelligence 80, Dexterity 18, Strength 12
Essential Items: Moonveil Katana, Lusat’s Glintstone Staff, Cerulean Hidden Tear
Best Spells: Comet Azur, Terra Magicus
The Glass Cannon Mage deals more damage than literally any other class in the game, but you will be extremely fragile as a result. If a random enemy manages to attack you while you’re fighting against a boss, there’s a good chance you’ll die. Not every fight will be a complete walk in the park, but the ones that are will be over in seconds.
This build becomes borderline broken once you gain access to Comet Azur and the Cerulean Hidden Tear, providing you with access to a constant beam of destructive energy for ten whole seconds. Again, our Elden Ring spells guide highlights exactly where you can find Comet Azur.
As for the Cerulean Hidden Tear, you need to make your way to Mt. Gelmir and defeat the Ulcerated Tree Spirit found near the Road of Iniquity Site of Grace. This Elden Ring crystal tear temporarily eliminates all FP consumption – when combined with several powerful spells like Comet Azur and Meteorite of Astel, you can unleash a constant barrage of damage toward your enemies. Make sure you have the best Elden Ring spirit ash summons equipped to distract any enemies to ensure your spells hit their target.
To deal the most damage with your spells, we recommend picking up Lusat’s Glintstone Staff from Sellia, Town of Sorcery. This staff is available as a reward for defeating the Nox Swordstress and Nox Priest boss. The special effect that makes this Elden Ring staff stand out from the competition is that it enhances the power of all sorceries; however, it also consumes additional FP.
For your main hand weapon, you should use the Moonveil Katana before it receives an inevitable nerf. This sword deals far too much damage in its current state and scales perfectly with the intelligence stat to add to its damage output. Battle against the Magma Wyrm at the Gael Tunnel in Caelid to receive this weapon as a drop.
Samurai Bleed Dex build
Starting Class: Samurai
Key Stats: Dexterity 55, Strength 40
Essential Items: 2x Uchigatanas (with the Seppuku Ashes of War), Lord of Blood’s Exultation, White Mask, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia
The bleed effect might be the most fun players can have in Elden Ring using melee weapons. With just a few slashes, enemies instantly lose large chunks of their health by filling up their hemorrhage bar. This effect deals damage equal to a percentage of your opponent’s max health points, putting them in danger quickly. A common misconception about this build is that you need to put points into Arcane, but this stat doesn’t scale with Seppuku, the primary Ash of War choice for the Blood Loss Samurai. Huge shout-outs to YouTuber RageGamingVideos for highlighting this fantastic build.
We’ve gone for the Samurai class as it starts with one Uchigatana already. To our knowledge, there’s only one other Uchigatana in the game, residing in the Deathtouched Catacombs in Limgrave. To take these weapons to new heights, equip them with the Ash of War: Seppuku to drastically increase their attack power while adding blood loss to each attack.
Head to the Freezing Lake in the Mountaintops of the Giants area and find the invisible scarab’s footsteps near a tree – take down the scarab to earn the Ash of War. Before applying it to your weapon, duplicate the Ash of War at a Blacksmith to apply it to both katanas.
To amplify this build’s damage output even further, we’re going to need a powerful talisman. Head to the Leyndell Catacombs and make your way to the end to fight against Esgar, Priest of Blood. Esgar drops the Lord of Blood’s Exultation talisman, increasing your attack power by 20% whenever it inflicts a nearby player or enemy with blood loss. This buff is almost always active as Seppuku initiates a temporary bleed effect after use.
Another essential talisman is the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, acquired after completing Millicent’s quest line. This talisman raises your attack power with successive attacks, perfect for a dual Uchigatana build. Finally, the White Mask, which you can find as a drop from one of the NPC invaders near the Palace Approach Ledge-Road Site of Grace. The effect of this mask works just like the Lord of Blood’s Exultation talisman, increasing your attack power whenever it senses blood loss nearby.
Ice and Lightning Samurai build
Starting Class: Samurai
Key Stats: Dexterity 65, Strength 30, Faith 25
Essential Items: 2x Dragonscale Blade, Borealis’s Mist, Shard of Alexander, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia
You know a build will be good when it requires you to obtain an item that only drops once per playthrough. This special Samurai build discovered by YouTuber Jazza97 utilizes the Dragonscale Blade sword, a special weapon that can only be obtained during the Ranni quest line. While you can get away with using one Dragonscale Blade, the damage output with two truly completes this build, so we highly recommend getting your hands on another blade.
The Shard of Alexander is a talisman that greatly boosts the attack power of your skills, and don’t forget to equip the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia to deal more damage as you land successive blows. Finally, the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman will provide you with some much-needed steel, giving you enough health to afford to take some damage occasionally.
Unlike the builds we have listed using Samurai swords in this guide, the Ice and Lightning build can attack enemies from a distance as it’s able to utilize Draconic spells. Check out the video above to find out where you can find all the essential items needed for this build.
Fire’s Deadly Sin Faith build
Starting Class: Prophet
Key Stats: Strength 30, Faith 80
Essential Items: Fire’s Deadly Sin, Erdtree Greatshield, Old Lord’s Talisman
This is another incredibly strong build. Some might say broken, even. It used to be a lot worse, but a previous patch nerfed one element of the original idea, although the build overall remains potent. We’d like to give a shout-out to YouTuber KhrazeGaming for discovering this powerful build, although the Deathblight effect no longer works as mentioned.
The first item you’ll need is the Fire’s Deadly Sin incantation – this usually isn’t very helpful in most combat situations, but it becomes significantly better when combined with the Erdtree Greatshield. You can find this incantation by completing the Flightless Bird painting puzzle in West Lyendell. Next up, you must go to the long set of stairs in Altus Plateau, where the Tree Sentinel Duo resides. This boss drops the greatshield.
This build is interesting because you don’t need to fight with a primary weapon, and the initial stat requirements for the Erdtree Greatshield are surprisingly low, giving you access to this combo by the mid-game. Activate Fire’s Deadly Sin to start the burning effect for the next 40 seconds – this activates the Erdtree Greatshield’s Golden Retaliation skill, turning the shield into a machine gun.
Golden Retaliation allows you to reflect spells toward your opponent, but Fire’s Deadly Sin counts as an enemy spell as it slowly damages your character. The greatshield scales with Strength and Faith, so we’ve put so many points into Faith for this build. You can increase the duration of the incantation by picking up the Old Lord’s Talisman located in a chest in Crumbling Farum Azula.
Spinning Reaper Bleed build
Starting Class: Confessor or Vagabond
Key Stats: Strength 55, Dexterity 55
Essential Items: Grave Scythe, Spinning Weapon Ash of War, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, anything that boosts the bleed effect
If you thought you knew bleed builds, think again. The team at RageGamingVideos returns once again to one-up their previous dexterity-based bleed build, which you’ll find above. This unique endgame bleed build focuses on the Spinning Weapon Ash of War. Why? Because it’s fun, mostly. Fun and jaw-droppingly effective. While this weapon art is ostensibly designed for defensive use, you can make this a great offensive tool for dishing out high-damage numbers through successive hits, especially when you’re up against larger, slower enemies.
If you’ve never encountered it before, Spinning Weapon essentially makes your equipped weapon hover in midair and spin rapidly. If you manage to catch a foe at the right angle, they can receive dozens of hits in just a few seconds. As RGV points out, these hits count as weapon hits, which means you can apply your usual weapon buffing shenanigans to combo with Spinning Weapon to proc massive bleed effects.
The Grave Scythe is the weapon that inspired this build, but pretty much any weapon with bleed effects and a long reach will fit the bill. You’ll need the Spinning Weapon Art of War, obviously, and then Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, which buffs damage dealt when you’re making successive attacks. You can buff this build further by equipping Millicent’s Prosthesis or putting the Thorny Cracked Tear on your Flask of Wondrous Physick.
It’s worth noting that you may find it difficult to catch enemies in Spinning Weapon’s attack if they’re quite mobile, which means it’s not viable for PvP. This build also can be risky – you will likely trade damage at times, especially if you’re fighting multiple opponents.
Blasphemous Blade build
Starting Class: Prophet
Key Stats: Faith 59, Vigor 50, Strength 35
Essential Items: Blasphemous Blade, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Shard of Alexander. Fire Scorpion Charm, Carian Filigreed Crest
The Blasphemous Blade build has been highlighted by YouTuber Jazza97 for its incredible damage output and healing capabilities. As long as you can consistently land attacks on your opponent, you’re guaranteed to stay in the fight, as this weapon heals you whenever you kill enemies. It’s worth noting that the Blasphemous Blade requires you to complete the Volcano Manor quest line, providing you with the Remembrance needed to purchase the Blasphemous Blade.
What makes this build stand out among the rest in this list is that it’s surprisingly viable in PvP combat, providing you with access to a strong weapon. It can also hold its own on the battlefield thanks to its impressive mobility. It helps that the Taker’s Flames ability is so wide that it often damages multiple enemies even when you weren’t intending to do so.
In terms of talismans, you’re going to want to equip the Fire Scorpion Charm to increase the damage of Fire attacks. Next up is the Shard of Alexander to increase the power of the Blasphemous Blade’s Ashes of War. Speaking of the Ashes of War, you also need the Carian Filigreed Crest to lower the amount of FP used by skills.
There you have it; the best Elden Ring builds in the game right now. Once you’re all set up and ready to go, it’s time to take on every Elden Ring boss and get all the best Elden Ring endings – good luck on your journey, Tarnished.