Best Elden Ring Builds: Dex, Faith, Sorcery, Bandit & More

Elden Ring is a massive FromSoftware video game that culminates nearly a decade of the developer’s soulsborne formula. Like the past DarkSouls games, players get to make unique builds by using some of the best weapons, talismans, spells, and incantations, and leveling up the character attributes accordingly. You can create a build-in early game and take it all the way to end-game or respec your existing character attributes by consuming larva tear at a specific location. Whatever you decide to go with, we at eXputer have curated the best Elden Ring builds for the early, mid, and late game for the lowly tarnished ones. These include Dexterity Build, Faith Build, Sorcery, Bandit, Strength, and other builds.

Our guide also mentions brief information on the locations of some of the key equipment required for the builds. So without further ado, let’s get started with the top-tier builds in Elden Ring you should have in your first playthrough from early, to mid and late game.

What Are Builds in Elden Ring?

Elden Ring allows its players to make builds in the game according to their preferences. Builds are a combination of specific Armor, Stats, and Weapons to help them explore the world and engage in battles more efficiently. Every build in Elden Ring is unique and it’s suitable to play in both PvP and PvE modes. 

You can change your build by using the Rebirth Mechanic. This will Respec your current character and you can then create the best build for you in Elden Ring that will help you face the final boss in Elden Ring. To unlock the Rebirth Mechanic and Respec, you need to defeat Rennala Queen of the Full Moon. 

Types of Builds in Elden Ring 

You can either have a build that is focused on a single stat or have a build that can be upgraded according to the progress you’ve made so far in the game.

Stat Builds in Elden Ring

Most of the players in Elden Ring focus on investing their stat points into one main stat to get an overpowered build as a result. But they also try to invest some of the points in Mind, Endurance, and Vigor so they won’t see any problems with their focus points, HP, or stamina. While you’re at it, consider reading our Elden Ring Faith Vs Intelligence: 10 Best DPS Spells guide.

Some builds in Elden Ring can be categorized depending on their Status Effects and the main stats in the game.

Intelligence Builds

These builds focus on Intelligence as their main stat.

• Freezing Battlemage Build
• Battlemage Build
• Elementalist Build
• Royal Knight Build
• Moonveil Samurai Build
• Sword Sage Build
• Carian Spellknight Build
• Mage Build
• Spellblade Build
• Cold-Blooded Raptor Build
• Crystal Mage Build
• Sorcerer Build
• MagusDark Knight Build
• Darkmoon Spellblade Build
• Deathblade Build 
• Death Knight Build 
• Moonveil Shinobi Build
• Enchanted Knight Build
• Frost Knight Build

Faith Builds

These builds focus on Faith as their main stat. They include;

• Templar Build 
• Blasphemous Beastmaster Build
• Paladin Build
• Crusader Build
• Goldeneye Bow Build 
• Blackflame Apostle Build
• Elementalist Build
• Deathblade Build
• Black Knife Assassin Build 
• Blasphemous Herald Build
• Blackflame Spellblade Build 
• Sword Sage Build
• Hellfire Herald Build
• Blackflame Bushido Build
• Lightning Lancer Build
• Dragon Priest Build 

Strength Builds

These builds focus on Strength as their main stat. They are:

• Berserker Build
• Cold Blooded Raptor Build 
• Venomous BloodBlade Build
• Blasphemous Herald Build
• Gravity God Build
• Sorcery Sentinel Build
• Royal Frost Knight Build
• Scorching Slayer Guide 
• Blasphemous Beastmaster Build
• Blazing Bushido Build
• Colossus Guardian Build 
• Archer Build
• Magic Archer Build
• Champion Build
• Barbarian Build
• Colossal Knight Build

Dexterity Builds

These builds focus on Dexterity as their main stat and use dex weapons too. Following are the Dexterity Builds;

• Samurai Build 
• Blood blade Build
• Venomous Bloodblade Build
• Sanguine Samurai Build
• Gravity God Build
• Lightning Dragoon Build
• Thundering Swordspear Build
• Moonveil Samurai Build 
• Blackflame Bushido Build
• Blazing Bushido Build
• Black Knife Assassin Build

Arcane Builds

These builds focus on Arcane as their main stat and incorporate strong armaments. Following are all Arcane Builds.

• Eochaid Executioner Build
• Blood Dragon Build 
• Sanguine Samurai Build
• Frenzied Acolyte Build
• Blood Dancer Build
• Dragon Warrior Build
• Dragon Knight 

Keep in mind that some of the builds mentioned above belong to more than one category, as they might focus on two stats at once.

Game point Builds in Elden Ring

When you choose your class at the beginning of the game, you will have to keep that class for the rest of your game. But you can upgrade your build from time to time. This involves allocating your stats best suited for your build. Depending on how much you’ve progressed in the story, you can choose a particular build for that part focusing on the difficulty of enemies.

Beginner Builds

These focus on items you will be needing at the beginning of the game. They are the simplest of builds targeted toward enemies of low difficulty. Beginner builds act as a starting point and you can upgrade them later to match the stats you want. You can also use Rebirth to make a completely different build for yourself. They are best suited for starting class in Elden Ring.

• Mage Build
• Paladin Build
• Barbarian Build
• Dragon Priest Build
• Blood Blade Build
• Berserker Build
• Spellblade Build
• Samurai Build
• Archer Build

Mid game Builds

These builds are for players with level 50 or higher. This build is targeted toward exploring regions like Liurnia of the Lakes and incorporating special and hybrid weapons.

• Blackflame Apostle Build
• Sword Sage Build
• Blood Dragon Build
• Champion Build
• Colossal Knight Build
• Templar Build
• Magic Archer Build
• Blackflame Apostle Build
• Enchanted Knight Build
• Moonveil Samurai Build
• Magus Build
• Sorcerer Build

Late game Builds

Players of level 100 or above should consider the late-game builds. These builds will come in handy if you are around the region of Leyndell. With mini max equipment at your hand, these builds can help you destroy any boss in the game thanks to their versatility.

• Blackflame Spellblade Build
• Blasphemous Beastmaster Build
• Blazing Bushido Build
• Blood Dancer Build
• Colossus Guardian Build
• Crystal Mage Build
• Battlemage Build
• Cold-Blooded Raptor Build
• Lightning Lancer Build
• Frost Knight Build
• Thundering Swordspear Build
• Deathblade Build
• Darkmoon Spellblade Build
• Scorching Slayer Build
• Golden Eye Build
• Dragon Knight Build
• Frenzied Acolyte Build
• Hellfire HeraldMoonveil Shinobi Build 

End game Builds

When facing the final boss of Elden Ring, these builds are considered one of the best. They have maximum stats and hybrid weapons with more damage and durability. Some of the best builds in Elden Ring is the end-game builds.

• Death Knight Build
• Dragon Warrior Build
• Black Knife Assassin Build
•  Sanguine Samurai Build
• Blasphemous Herald Build 
• Carian Spellknight Build 
• Dark Knight Build
• Venomous Bloodblade Build
•  Crusader Build
•  Elementalist Build 
• Blackflame Bushido Build
• Gravity God Build
• Eochaid Executioner Build
• Freezing Battlemage Build
• Golden Champion Build
•  Royal Knight Build
• Lightning Dragoon Build
• Sorcery Sentinel Build

Dexterity And Intelligence Build

Starting off with our best Elden Ring builds guide, we have dexterity and intelligence build. We curated the best Elden Ring Moonveil Katana build which is the best example of having a dexterity and intelligence-focused build in Elden Ring. Read our Moonveil build guide to learn how to create this build.

If you want this playstyle in the game, then pumping up the dexterity to 20 levels and intelligence to 50-60 levels should be your end-game goal. The secondary character attributes will be investing more in Mind for at least 30 levels, Vigor in 25-30, and endurance at 15-20 levels.

The stats that we listed above should be your primary focus for leveling your character. The stamina, faith, and arcane must not be touched for leveling up you’re lowly tarnished. If you’re short on runes then head over to Lennie’s Rise Site of Grace in Caelid and do our rune-farming route. You’d get at least 1900 runes in less than 30 seconds, which is excellent for early-game leveling and creating your first Elden Ring best build.

Besides the character attributes which will have a major impact on your build’s playstyle, you should equip yourself with the following equipment as well.

Armor Set

Raging of Wolf is our go-to armor set from the early to mid-game. It strikes a perfect balance between giving you enough resistance to physical and elemental damage and on top of that not overloading you. So, if you want to rock our Moonveil katana build or dexterity and intelligence build, then pick the Raging of Wolf armor set. 

Weapon

There are many weapons that we can make excellent dexterity and intelligence build out of them. You can even use the magic weapon spell infusion to cover your blade into magic and deal extra magic damage on top of a pure physical one. However, we think Moonveil Katana and Moonlight Greatsword are the perfect weapons. The former is the perfect fit for this build but the latter will require you to invest more in strength attributes as well. 

Talismans

Assassin‘s Crimson Dagger, Stargazer Heirloom, and Ancestral Spirit’s Horn are our top picks when it comes to making an amazing dexterity and intelligence or DEX/INT build in Elden Ring. 

Faith And Strength Build

Making a Faith and Strength build is a challenging task and it is something that soulsborne veterans would love to pull off. Also, creating this build-in early game will be pretty difficult because you’d need to grind in order to acquire best lightening and holly spells.

Our Elden Ring Confessor build guide will help you get started with how to get this build working and finding all the necessary spells, armor set, weapons, talismans, seals,s and more. Make sure to read our guide if you are inclined in making the best Faith and Strength build in Elden Ring.

Also, you’d need to kill a few dragons as well to get Dragon Heart item and purchase dragon spell that require at least 20 Arcane level as far as our knowledge is concerned.

Moreover, if you pull off to create the best Faith and Arcane build as we mentioned below, you’d be dealing massive amount of ranged damage to enemies and bosses. Using melee weapons would be a lesser priority because ranged weapon playstyle is preferred.

That being said, you must level up Faith up to 50, Arcane 30-40 and Mind at 30 level. Casting incantations and dragon-oriented spells would be the go-to playstyle of this build hence you must get good amount of Golden Seeds and Sacred Tears to get the most of your flasks.

The secondary attributes that you should level up is Vigor at 25-30 level, Endurance at 15-20 and Dexterity to 20 for reducing the casting time.

Armor Set

You can always wear heavy armor sets with no shields whatsoever since the ranged playstyle is preferred. So, there is no need to rely or worry about doing fat rolls since you’d not be engaging in melee or close combat. However, if you want to have close quarters combat style then we have a few armor set suggestions.

Besides the initial Confessor armor set that will get you started in Elden Ring’s early game content, for the mid and late game you must equip something unique. The Black Knife Set or the Scaled are amazing armor sets that will get you the most out of Faith and Strength build in the game. They’re not too heavy, which will give you more room to equip a heavy weapon and not to fat roll. 

Weapon

Picking up a weapon is going to be a tough choice, as we can’t just recommend one weapon for a perfect confessor build in Elden Ring. However, if you have the decent lightning and holy incantations, then Uchigatana, Coded Sword, Cipher Pata, Blasphemous Blade, and Sword of Night and Flame will the perfect fit for this build in Elden Ring.

Incantations

Lightning Spear, Electrify Armament, Beast Claw, Black Flame, and Bloodflame Blade are some of our top picks when it comes to Faith and Strength build incantations.

Talismans

Two Fingers Heirloom, Radagon Icon and Ancesteral Spirit’s Horn are must have talismans to cast and buff incantations on enemies and bosses while rocking the Confessor or Faith and Strength build in Elden Ring.

Pure Sorcery Build

Our next favorite build in Elden Ring is the pure sorcery building also known as the pure intelligence build. We have curated the best Elden Ring Comet Azur build and the best intelligence build, both of which are perfect examples of pure sorcery built-in Elden Ring.

One of the many reasons we went with this playstyle first in the game is that almost 80% of the bosses in the game are weak towards magic. This is the best reason to make a powerful magic or sorcery build that is good at maintaining distance from enemies and still wreaking havoc on them. Find Selen and get the early best spells in Elden Ring.

The primary attribute that you should invest runes or XP into will be intelligence and Mind. Taking Intelligence to at least 60 levels and Mind to 30-35 levels must be the ideal case scenario in order to have the most out of your pure sorcery build.

The secondary important attributes to focus on are leveling up Vigor to 30, Stamina at 15, and Dexterity to 20 for reduced spell casting times. Ignore the Faith and Arcane as they are not important if you want to create a best build in Elden Ring that focuses on sorcery spells.

This build heavily focuses on using staff as primary weapon only. You can always use a blunt or sharp secondary weapon if you want to save your Mana on tiny or unimportant enemies, but that wouldn’t be necessary during mid to late game.

Armor Set

Raya Lucarian Set, Karolos Glintstone Crown, Carian Knight, Azur’s Glintstone, and Lusat’s armor set are the most prized possessions a pure sorcerer build player must have.  

Weapon

Lusat’s Glintstone Staff, Azur’s Glintstone Staff, Meteorite Staff, and Meteoric Ore Blade are currently our top picks when it comes to making a pure intelligence or Comet Azur-focused build in Elden Ring. You can always pick another weapon if you want the versatility to casing spells but right now these three staffs are the best in the league.

You’d hardly need to rely on using a primary physical damage-dealing weapon since you can get a crazy amount of damage output by using staff. Still, if you’re early in the game and have low Crimson flasks, equipping sharp or blunt weapons seems like an extremely good idea. Broadsword or a Rapier should meet necessary weapon-wielding requirements and will give you enough damage to take out enemies should you run out of your mana.  

Talismans

Primal Glintstone Blade, Graven School Talisman, and Cerulean Amber Medallion should be your go-to talismans when it comes to making a strong magic or intelligence build-in Elden Ring.

Spells

Comet Azur, Carian Slicer, Meteorite, Glintblade Phalanx, and Glintsone Comet Shard are some of the most used spells by us in PvP and PvE scenarios while playing Elden Ring. 

Pure Faith Or Lightning Build

As a pure lightning attacks caster in Elden Ring, the build and playstyle not only looks aesthetically cool but also do plenty of AoE and direct ranged damage to enemies. You can use lightning incantations to infuse your blade with lightning elemental damage, use thunderbolts to deal close-to-medium ranged damage, or cast FP-hungry lightning spells to deal massive AoE damage.

Whatever you have in mind, the pure lightning build has got it in store. The versatility to approach enemies and bosses while running a pure lighting build is also the reason we think it is the best build in Elden Ring.

Using Incantations will be the bread and butter for pure lightning build hence you should not invest runes into Strength, and Arcane. However, you should at least have 15 Strengths. Other than that, you must level up Faith to 60, Mind to 30-35, and Vigor to 30. You can have Endurance and Dexterity between the 15-20 levels.

Here is the list of best weapons, armor sets, and talismans you should have to support your pure lightning build in Elden Ring.

Armor Set

We are currently using the Twinned Armor set while rocking the pure faith build in Elden Ring. This armor set is neither too heavy for this build nor underwhelming when it comes to offering physical and elemental damage resistance.

Weapon

Uchigatana and Rivers of Blood are currently over go-to weapons because we invested at least 20 points in leveling up Arcane. We love the bleed status effect so technically if you also equip this weapon besides the rest of the gear, you’d get faith and arcane build in Elden Ring. 

Talismans

Starscourage Heirloom, Faithful’s Canvas, Marika’s Scarseal, and Two Fnger’s Heirloom are some of the best talismans for pure faith built in Elden Ring.

Incantations

Lightning Spear, Electrify Armament, Ancient Dragon’s Lightening Spear, Blessing of the Erdtree, Flame, and Grant Me Strength are our go-to incantations for the pure faith-oriented build.  

Darth Maul Build

Strength and Faith are primary attributes if making a Darth Maul build is your focus in the game. We already have a curated Elden Ring Darth Maul build guide, which lists how to collect gear, weapons, incantation, and other necessary items required to make Darth Maul build in the game.

Armor Set

The Black Knife armor set is the only one in Elden Ring that matches the perfect description of Darth Maul’s dark-toned attire. So, pick this up and you’d look more or less like the antagonist you are making this build after. 

Incantations

Bloodflame is the go-to incantation or Darth Maul build. The higher your faith scaling while rocking this build, the greater the damage would be when you hit enemies with Bloodflame infused on your weapon.

Weapon

Twinblade will be the go-to choice since applying the Bloodflame incantation makes it look like a lightsaber. Aesthetically, the weapon and you’re lower tarnished do not look lowly at all. However, if your scope of making this build is beyond just the aesthetics then you can scale strength and Faith to properly make the most of this build.

Talismans

Radagon’s Soreseal, Green Turtle Talisman, and Erdtree Favor are our favorite picks when it comes to making a perfect Darth Maul build in Elden Ring.

Ultimate Strength Build

The best strength build should be the one that can give you high survivability in Elden Ring by rocking the heaviest armor pieces, shields, and weapons. Using a strength build has less to do with dealing with the highest DPS and more with making the boss feel worthless and challenging to kill you. After all, any tarnished one who equips heavy armor, shield, and weapon will be a menace to look at.

Our Elden Ring Greatsword build is the closest and most accurate description of the ultimate Strength build in the game. You can get a decent armor set and an amazing greatsword at the very start of the game. If you want your first playthrough experience to focus on pure strength build, then you must read our guide and optimize your stats or character attributes accordingly.

Armor Set

Having a high endurance will surely give you more room to show versatility by wearing the heaviest armor sets in Elden Ring. After all, the heavy armors are also best at providing physical and elemental damage resistance as compared to less heavy armor sets.

Banished Knight, Beast Champion, Blaidd, Bull-Goat, Fire Prelate, General Radahn, and Lionel are some of the heaviest yet the best armor sets for strength builds in Elden Ring.

Weapon

There are tons of strength weapons that you can use for the pure strength build in Elden Ring. Starscourage Greatsword, Axe of Godrick, Grafted Blade Greatsword, Ordovis’ Greatsword and Prelate’s Inferno Crozier are some of our top picks when it comes to the best strength weapons in Elden Ring.  

Shields

You can use pretty much all shields in Elden Ring since you’d have a high endurance. However, most strength-build users go for the great shields since they offer the highest amount of physical and elemental protection or resistance against incoming attacks.

Erdtree Greatshield, Jellyfish Shield, Visage Shield, One-Eyed Shield, and Dragonclaw shield are our best go-to shields while rocking a pure strength build in Elden Ring.

Talismans

Starscourage Heirloom, Ragadon’s Sorseal, Arsenal Charm, and our top talismans that we think go well with a pure strength build in Elden Ring.

Bandit Archery Or Bleed Build

Bandit build in Elden Ring can be easily made further into archery or bleed build as well. This starting class mainly focuses on dexterity and strength and that is why has the perfect balance between approaching enemies from range using arrows or up close and personal using melee weapons.

The primary character attribute for this playstyle or build is Dex and STR, because the ranged damage from bows, and crossbows scales excellent as you level up Dexterity and strength levels. You may check Elden Ring Bow Build as well.

The Bandit starting class is the perfect character you should start Elden Ring if you want to create an archery-focused build from early on. You should keep Strength up to 45 and Dexterity to 35-45 for an effective archery build in the game.

Armor Set

You can pick any armor set you want while rocking the archery build. However for the Bleed build in Elden Ring, we’d recommend picking the Royal Remains armor set as it looks cool while rocking the bleed build in the game.

Other than that, if you’re going for the archery bandit build in Elden Ring then we’d recommend going with the White Reed Set with Okina Mask as a headpiece. 

Weapon

Uchigatana will serve as a decent early-game weapon for the bleed status effect. However, if you want the best bleed weapon in Elden Ring for Bandit builds then pick none other but the Reduvia dagger. 

For the ranged engagements or a proper archery Bandit build, we recommend obtaining the Horn Bow or Golem Great Bow. Both are excellent at dealing with the damage and upgrading them from Blacksmith to plus 10 or above will give you a massive amount of damage. 

Talismans

The talismans for the perfect archery built in Elden Ring that we think are Arrow’s Reach Talisman, and Arrow’s Sting Talisman. Other than that, the talismans for the Bandit bleed build are Lord of Blood’s Exultation, Kindred of Rot’s Exultation, and Arrow’s Reach talisman. 

Vampire Build

The vampire build has a heavy focus on draining the enemy’s health upon killing them hence the term vampire. This is not an official build as no item or weapon you equip while rocking this build comes with the term “vampire”. However, the name just fits right since your lowely tarnished character can suck enemies’ health after killing them.

We also curated a mid-to-late game Elden Ring Vampire build that entails the best weapons, talismans, and armor sets. Our guide also focuses on how to get each of the items to make the perfect vampire build in the game.

To make this build you’d need to reach and access mid-to-late game content. Killing the Rykard boss would be the start since you need that great rune to get a weapon that drains the enemy’s health. 

Armor Set

There is no particular armor set required to get the most out of the vampire build in Elden Ring. You can wear the starting armor sets or a mix of gear pieces. However, since you won’t be equipping the shield it is better to wear armor that does not go into the heavy load. Otherwise, you’d fat roll and get more chance of being hit by enemies. 

Weapon

Rivers of Blood and Blasphemous Blade are the compulsory weapons that you’d need to have in your arsenal to create the vampire build in Elden Ring.

Talismans

Taker’s Cameo Talisman, Millicent‘s Prosthesis, Godskin Swaddling Cloth, and Lord of Blood’s Exultation are compulsory talismans since all of them support the vampire build. However, without these talismans, the build will be ineffective and will offer insignificant health gains after killing enemies.

Night And Flame Build

Night and Flame builds at its core Intelligence and Faith build. The main focus will be on pumping the Intelligence to 40-45 and Faith at 40. It is because the weapon, Night And Flame, comes with magic and a fire weapon art that will not do massive damage until you do not level up the Faith and Intelligence Both.

Our Elden Ring Night and Flame build guide mention how to get every single weapon, talisman, seal, and armor set to make this build work. If you want to have the best of both worlds; magic and fire, from a single weapon then the Night and Flame build is the perfect setup for that.

The secondary attributes that you should look into investing runes should be Vigor at 30, Mind at 30, and Stamina at 20-25. However, Dexterity and Strength should be kept at level 15 at best. It is because the weapon neither demands high strength nor dexterity to be wielded or used properly. You just need 12 STR and DEX to wield Sword of Night and Flame weapon effectively. Other than that, you also need to have at least 24 FTH and INT.

Besides the base stats, acquiring the weapon very early in the game will not be an easy task as you’d need to reach Carian Manor. This location can be accessed only after dealing with at least a couple of bosses, so consider Night and Flame build for a mid-to-late end-game journey in Elden Ring.

Armor Set

Royal Remains armor set is our recommended armor set while using the Night and Flame build in Elden Ring. It is because this armor set also gives you back the lost health points. However, triggering the health regeneration process is not straight-up easy as your character will need to drop health below 18%. After that, the armor offers health points regeneration but that too back to 18% only. In any case, we fancy the Royal Remains item for the Night and Flame build playstyle.

Weapon

Sword of Night And Flame is the main or primary weapon of choice as the build’s name is after it. Take a look at the weapon’s state as given in the image here. The best part of Sword of Night and Flame is that it has got physical, magic, and fire damage. If you upgrade the weapon, all the stats get a significant increase from the base damage, giving you the versatility to approach situations using magic or fire. Secondly, you must use the Golden Order Seal. 

Talismans

Carian Filigreed is by far the best talisman that resonates well with Night and Flame build in Elden Ring. It significantly lowers the FP cost consumption, which is excellent for Sword of Night and Flame weapons since our build puts aim on spamming the weapon arts of the weapon.

Another excellent talisman that you should have while rocking Night and Flame build in Elden Ring is the Radagon’s Soreseal. The jump in damage of Sword of Night and Flame’s magic and fire damage can be obtained by equipping this talisman. Because it raises all the character’s attributes, giving you an increase in faith, intelligence, endurance, and stamina.

Death Blight Build

Death Blight is essentially a PvP-oriented build in Elden Ring as this status effect occurs only on tarnishes ones. Our take on this build is that currently it is broken and may later be fixed. That being said, it is extremely fun to try and kill other tarnished players online.

To do that you have to have a certain weapon that causes the death blight status effect. After acquiring that, you need to have a fire or pyromancy-oriented incantation. Once you have both, just use the fire incantation and get close to other PvP invaders or players if you’re the invader and they’d simply die in less than five seconds.

Fire’s Deadly Sin incantation basically not only procs the Death Blight status effect but also works with Blood Grease, Freezing Grease, Rot Grease, and Sleep Grease.

Armor Set

There is no advantage an armor set offers while making a Death Blight build in Elden Ring. However, since your focus would be to get closer to other PvP players, avoid wearing an armor set that gives you a fat roll or penalizes a lot of stamina consumption.

Weapon

Eclipse Shortel, Erdtree Seal, and Serpent-God’s Sacred Curved Sword are the compulsory weapons you should have equipped to make Death Blight build work in Elden Ring.

Talismans

Carian Filigreed Crest, Two Finger’s Heirloom, Fire Scorpion Charm, and Marika’s Soreseal must be equipped by your character to get the most out of this build in Elden Ring.

Incantations

Fire’s Deadly Sin is the incantation that procs the Death Blight status effect. All you’ve to do is equip the primary weapon and cast this incantation. Then go near the invader or other online player and you’d see the status effect is applied in seconds, killing the tarnished one before you attack.

Pure Dexterity Build

Dex weapons have made a comeback in Elden Ring, and this time around, there is no shortage of small-to-mid-sized Dex weapons. On top of that, you can always dual-wield most Dexterity weapons and still manage not to overload your equipment is a blessing. Dual-wielding weapons are a challenging task to pull off in strength builds but running pure Dexterity builds has its advantages.

The secondary stats would be investing in endurance and strength, typically both should be somewhere in 20-30 levels. Doing so will also allow you to create a quality build that relies mostly on ranged and melee weapons instead of spells.

Next, the beauty of a Dex builds in Elden Ring is that you can make a melee or ranged build out of it. For example, dual-wielding katanas or using crossbows both are excellent weapon opportunities for a Dexterity build in the game.

Armor Set

The playstyle of a pure dexterity build does not involve blocking incoming attacks using massive shields. Instead, our focus is to get the most DPS and get out of harm’s way. This is why we do not recommend picking too light or too heavy armor sets; the former will get you to hit like a truck and the latter will give you fat rolls.

That is why we think the Bloodhound Knight armor set, Briar armor set, Drake-Knight armor set, Elden Lord armor set, Royal Remains, Raging Wolf, and White Reed Armor set are the best Dex build armor sets in Elden Ring.

Weapons

Uchigatana, Bloodhound’s Fang, The Hand of Malenia, Twinblades, and The Godskin Peeler are some of the best weapons we consider a pure Dexterity build should have. Additionally, if you’re leveling up a little bit during mid to late game into intelligence, then you can also pick up the Moonveil Katana. It is technically not a pure dex weapon per se in Elden Ring but the intelligence and dex weapon scaling both make it one of the best katanas in the game. 

Talisman

Radagon’s Scarseal, Radagon’s Sorseal, Prothesis-wearer Heirloom, and Millicent’s Prothesis are by far the best talismans to equip to greatly boost Dexterity and output of Dex weapons in Elden Ring. Getting all of them in the early game will not be possible but you can pretty much get all of them during mid-game.

Guts Build

Guts, one of the main characters of Berserk is an inspiration behind Hidetaka Miyazaki’s art design for some of the best greatswords and armor sets in Elden Ring. At its core, a Guts build is essentially a strength-focused build that features a heavy greatsword weapon and mid-to-heavy armor set for aesthetic purposes as well.

Now, there are three variants that we think can be made into Guts builds. The first one is the classic single Greatsword wielding with a medium-weight armor set. The second variant that most players have been using in Elden Ring and previous soulsborne games is dual-wielding the Greatsword weapon and using silver or dark-toned medium-sized armor.

However, we think that the Blaidd’s armor set, without the wolf mask, and its Royal Greatsword is the perfect combination of power and aesthetics, making it out go-to Guts build set in Elden Ring.

That being said, your primary attributes to level up should be Vigor, Endurance, and Stamina only. Taking the Vigor up to 30-35 levels would be the ideal case scenario with Endurance at 35-40 levels. After that, Strength should be pumped up to a 60-80 levels range if you want to experience Elden Ring’s first playthrough with a Guts Build.

Armor Set

Blaidd the Half Wolf armor set is our go-to armor set when it comes to rocking a proper aesthetically pleasing Guts build in Elden Ring. However, there are tons of other armor sets that can give you a proper Guts character look-a-like outfit in the game.

Bloodhound Knight armor set, Elden Lord armor set, Exile armor set, Haligtree soldier armor set, Kaiden armor set, Night’s Cavalry armor set, Vagabond Knight armor set, and the Fingerprint armor set are worthy mentions for Guts build armor set.

Of course, you need to create a character that has facial features a resemblance to the Guts character and not equip a helmet at all on all the armor sets we mentioned above. This is only if you want to have the best aesthetics possible, otherwise equipping the helmet will give you a tad bit of physical and elemental armor resistance as well.

Weapons

The Greatsword and Blaidd’s Royal Greatsword are both worthy contenders for a proper Guts build in Elden Ring. If you want to dual-wield the Greatsword weapon then you need to ask a friend or a player from Discord to trade the weapon, because you can get Greatsword just once in Elden Ring.

Talismans

Radagon’s Scarseal, Radagon’s Soreseal, and Starscourage Radahn are must-have talismans for the Guts build. However, if you want to equip Blaidd’s Royal Greatsword then you need to level up the intelligence little bit as well and for that Stargazer Heirloom will be helpful.

Arcane Build

Arcane build playstyle is very unique from the ages-old sorcery, pyro, dark flame, lightning, and holy magic or spell types. Most arcane tarnished ones rely heavily on dragon-oriented spells and weapons that cause bleed build-up faster. We have curated the best Arcane build in Elden Ring which contains top-tier weapons, armor sets, talismans, ash of war, weapons, and incantations. Make sure to check it out if you want to cast those fancy yet hard-hitting dragon incantations in the game.

For the majority of Arcane build playstyle, you will require the highest Arcane character attribute to cast dragon-oriented spells and get the most of some weapons we listed below. So, when you’re early game, start leveling up Arcane, Mind, and Vigor as a priority. Ideally, the Arcane should be leveled up to 40-50 level, Mind to 35-40 level, and Vigor at 40.

The secondary stats that you should invest runes into should be Faith and Dexterity. It is because a lot of spells will require mid to high faith level. Also, the higher the dexterity, the faster the spell-casting time. The best case scenario would be to level up Faith at 30-35 levels and Dexterity at 18-25 levels.

Investing more points into Arcane also increases your discovery and you’re more likely to get armor set pieces and other useful items after killing enemies. 

Armor Set

We recommend using the Lands of Reeds armor set for the early to mid-game transition while leveling up the Arcane build. However, as you unlock more areas, you get access to Black Knife set as well, which can be used as a mid-to-late game armor set as an alternative for your Arcane build in Elden Ring. Both armors sets offer decent physical and elemental resistance and should not be enough burden on your equip load.

Weapons

Scavenger’s Curved Sword, Uchigatana, and Rivers of Blood are the best weapon additions you can optimize your Arcane build playstyle in Elden Ring. You can also use Eleonora’s Poleblade as another excellent weapon for this build but that requires you to complete the Bloody Finger Hunter Yura’s questline.

Talismans

Dragon Crest Greatshield Talisman, Erdtree’s Favor, Green Turtle’s Talisman, Lord of Blood’s Exultation and Ritual Shield are our top picks when it comes to selecting talismans for a perfect Arcane build in Elden Ring.

All of these talismans scale very well with the weapons and spells we have listed in this build. If you opt out of these talismans, the overall efficiency of the build will decrease significantly.

Incantations

Swarm of Flies, Flame of Frenzy, and Rot Breath are our best go-to spells you should be using with the Arcane build in Elden Ring. You can go with other fire, frost, poison, and other dragon-oriented incantations but the ones we have mentioned are best in the league of PvP and PvE engagements in Elden Ring while rocking an Arcane build.

Pure Holy Build

Holy Build more or less has the same character attributes as the lightning or Pure Faith build in our Elden Ring builds list. However, the game-changing aspect comes in the form of spell or incantations usage. After a couple of respecs and making the Pure Holy build, we did not use any lightning incantations and only relied on the Holy ones in the game. The play style is very diverse since most Holy incantations are excellent at buffing the character, doing AoE damage, and buffing primary weapons.

If you want to make a Pure Holy Build in Elden Ring, the main focus should be investing runes into Faith Faith to 60, Mind to 30-35, and Vigor at 30. However, your secondary character attributes to the level will be Endurance and Dexterity and you must keep both of them at the level 15-20 range. However, if you decide to wear heavy armor sets then taking the Endurance up to level 30 will be an excellent idea.

So, here is our take on the best Holy build in Elden Ring that consists of the excellent armor sets, weapons, talismans, and spells in the game.

Armor Set

Rocking a Pure Holy build only looks aesthetically pleasant if you wear heavy knights-oriented armor. After all, the knights in the first Dark Souls game started using Holy and lightning spells, which back then defined the potential of a holy build.

That being said, we think the Carian Knight armor set, Crucible Axe armor set, Crucible Tree armor set, Godrick Knight armor set, Haligtree Knight armor set, Malformed Dragon armor set, and our favorite the Royale Knight armor set are the best sets that suit well a Pure Holy build user in Elden Ring.

Also, most of these will require you to invest good points into endurance so as to not overburden your equipment load. So, invest your runes wisely if you want a holy build that is not only functional but also good to look at as well.

Weapons

Cipher Pata, Coded Sword, Winged Scythe, Gargoyle’s Blackblade, Golden order greatsword, and Sacred Relic Sword are our best holy build weapons. Again, it all depends on your playstyle, as if you want a small weapon then the first two weapons we mentioned would be an excellent fit. However, if you want to use long or greatswords, then the later options we listed will suit your Pure Holy build in Elden Ring.

Talismans

Marika’s Scarseal, Marika’s Soreseal, Faithful’s Canvas Talisman, and Two Finger’s Heirloom are some of the powerful talismans that significantly increase the potency if holy incantations. You equip these talismans and increase the faith stat significantly besides buffing the use of incantations as well.

Incantations

Blessing of Erdtree, Discus of Light, Elden Stars, Wrath of Gold, Golden Vow, Law of Regression, Litany of Proper Death, and the go-to Order’s Blade are the best incantations for Holy Blade in Elden Ring. All of these Holy incantations are amazing for support, AoE, direct damage, and DPS playstyle in the game. It is really up to you how you play out the buffs on your character by using these spells.

Pyromancy Build

Pyromancy has had a huge influence in soulsborne games since Dark Souls. Intelligence and Faith both regulated the overall performance of Pyromency in the previous soulsborne games, however, that is not the case anymore in Elden Ring.

In order to make the best Pyromancy build in the game, you will need to invest runes into Faith and Arcane character attributes. It is because you’d be using a sacred seal that scales very well with the Arcane attribute and just boosts the overall potency of fire spell casting in Elden Ring.

From early to mid and late game, you should prioritize leveling up the Faith to 30-35, Arcane to 40-45 and Mind to 35-40 levels. These three character attributes will decide how much effective your overall pyro build or pyromancy spells can get in Elden Ring. However, these three attributes are just to increase up a notch the offensive part of the spell, and you still need to invest in other attributes to up your defense as well.

The secondary character attributes that you should start investing in your character’s levels are Vigor and Endurance. For the best-case scenario, keep the Vigor at level 35 or above and Mind at 40 or above. This way you’d be less likely to die in a couple of hits and you’d also have a decent size of mana bar to cast fancy and FP-hungry pyromancy spells without worrying about running out in 2-3 spell usage.

Armor Set

The main purpose of pyromancy build is to have the highest amount of Arcane possible. So, you must equip armor set pieces that grant you additional Arcane points by wearing the set pieces. On that front, wearing the Silver Tear Mask grants you additional 8 points into your Arcane stat so wearing this is mandatory. Other than that, if you come across any other armor piece that boosts arcane points, then by all means wear it.

Besides the helmet armor piece, a pyromancy build can stylize to medium to heavy armor set. Our favorite armor sets for this particular build are the Blackflame Monk armor set, Blue Cloth armor set, Champion armor set, Depraved Perfumer armor set, Drake-Knight armor set, Fire Prelate armor set, and last but not least the Fire Monk armor set.

Weapons

Serpent God’s Curved Sword and Blasphemous Blade are our top picks when it comes to equipping an excellent weapon while running a Pyromancy build in Elden Ring. Both of these weapons steal enemies’ health on killing, which is the main reason why we recommend picking this up.

Casting fire spells will eat mana quickly and you’d need to have more Cerulean Flasks in your inventory than Crimson. That is why in order to replenish the lost health, we recommend these two amazing swords that will passively restore your health upon killing enemies.

Talismans

Fire Scorpion Charm, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, Godfrey Icon, Marika’s Scarseal, and Ritual Sword Talisman are must-have talismans in order to make the highest damage-dealing Pyromancy build in Elden Ring. Of course, we suggested five talismans and you can only equip four. Since most of the time you’d be doing ranged damage, equipping the Ritual Sword talisman makes more sense. However, you can always swap it with Fire Scorpion Charm for increased fire-based attacks.

Incantations

Flame Grant me Strength, Giantsflame Take Thee, Flame Fall Upon Them, Burn O Flame!, Flame Sling, and Catch Flame is the go-to pyromancy incantations in Elden Ring. Except for the last two pyromancy spells that you unlock, if you start with Prophet class, the rest will require you to make a little effort in obtaining them.

However, without these powerful pyromancy spells or incantations, the overall potency of the build or effectiveness will be significantly less. So, equip these spells at all costs if you want to deal more than 10k damage per spell used.

That is pretty much everything we had to list in our Elden Ring best builds guide. What has been your go-to build so far in the game? Have you tried replacing your existing character attributes using a Larval Tear? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.