Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build: Gear, Talisman, Playstyle

There are a lot of great weapons in this game, and a lot of different Elden Ring builds you can center around those weapons, but the Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build is perhaps one of the most effective among them. It is extremely efficient at taking down both regular enemies and bosses, to the point that the entire experience almost becomes a cakewalk.

Key Highlights:

• Elden Ring has many weapons; among them, Moonveil is considered one of the best and most efficient.
• Moonveil’s stats requirements are Strength: 12, Dexterity: 18, and Intelligence: 23 so starting with the Samurai class is recommended
• Moonveil has both Physical and Magic attacks. The ashes of war is called Transient Moonlight, a magic attack that scales off of Intelligence. 
• The best talismans for Moonveil include Assassin’s Crimson Dagger, Stargazer’s Heirloom, and Ancestral Spirit’s Horn
• Moonveil is a katana so the player must use a fast-paced playstyle using light armor to use fast roll and constantly deal damage.

As everyone knows, Katanas are generally an extremely powerful class of armaments in Elden Ring. They are capable of dealing immense damage in a short amount of time, and most of them also have the ability to inflict bleeding on your enemies. So as you keep the pressure on, the bar fills up and a massive chunk of health disappears. 

So with this Moonveil Katana Build, we’re going to show you how to get the most out of this weapon. We’re going to tell you what stats you want to invest in, the best armor sets and Talismans to equip, and what playstyle you should adopt.

Moonveil Katana Build

Now, this has to be said at the beginning of every build guide, but it does not matter what Starting Class you choose when making a new character. Elden Ring is an extremely flexible title, and you can choose to invest in whatever stats you want as you play. Your choice of a class only determines your preset equipment and initial stats.

Now as for my personal recommendation, I suggest that players start out as the Samurai. This isn’t because this class is uniquely suited for the Moonveil Katana Build, but because I think it has the starting stats that are closest to what we require to wield our weapon of choice. Let’s go over them a bit below:

With 12 points in Strength, we already have one prerequisite covered to the mark so we won’t have to invest any more points into it. And at 15 Dexterity all we have to do is put 3 more points into it, which is more than doable in the early game.

As far as Intelligence is concerned, we’re pretty low to start with, but 14 more points is still not a big deal. You can easily reach this before you even attempt the first legacy dungeon of the game.

Moonveil Katana Build Gear

Now since this is an Intelligence focused build, it’s quite easy to assume that we might be using a lot of magic in our playstyle. After all, this is the stat that governs your use of most Sorceries in the game, and some of the best spells like the Comet Azur require an extraordinarily high point investment in it.

But this perception is incorrect, as the Moonveil Katana Build is primarily centered around melee attacks that also happen to deal magical damage on top of physical damage. It’s best to think of this as a close combat build with aspects of magic. You can certainly incorporate spells into your playstyle if you choose, but that’s a whole other topic to contend with. I recommend checking our Incantation Vs Sorcery guide for more help on that if you’re interested.

In the meantime, let’s take a closer look at our recommended equipment.

Moonveil Katana

As the central focus of our Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build, this weapon is capable of absolutely devastating bosses in minutes. It is without a doubt the Best Katana in the entire game, and that is due to its ability to inflict multiple types of damage on enemies at the same time.

First of all, the Moonveil deals 73 physical damage at the base level without any upgrades or enhancements. This is actually the lowest physical damage out of any Katana in the game, and with an E in Strength scaling even at +10 it isn’t going to be your main focus anyway. This is why I recommend the Samurai as the starting class because then you won’t have to touch this stat at all.

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Dexterity scaling on the other hand starts out at D, which then changes to a C at +3 and a B at +10. This is respectable and it will definitely boost the weapon’s physical damage, but it’s still not our primary stat. Investing in Dexterity does have some additional benefits for players who plan on using sorceries along with the Moonveil, as it reduces your casting speed and makes it slighter harder to get knocked off your horse Torrent.

Intelligence however is where most of your investment should go. With starting magical damage of 87 and a C in Intelligence scaling, the Moonveil is capable of taking out even the toughest enemies in the early game. Upgrading the weapon to a +7 also changes that scaling to a B, and with at least 40 points in the stat you can easily power through most of the mid-game.

On top of this, the Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build also utilizes the Hemorrhage status effect. The katana is capable of inflicting bleed with each attack you land, and if you’re able to land blows fast enough you can automatically shave off a large percentage of an enemy’s health bar. The blood loss buildup caused is not the highest you will find, but it serves its purpose spectacularly.

As one of the more unique armaments in the game, the Moonveil Katana cannot have a custom Ash of War applied to it. You also cannot change its affinity as a result, and so the scaling only works for the Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence stats. But in return, the weapon has access to its own unique skill called ‘Transient Moonlight.’ When using this, the wielder of the katana takes on a stance where they sheathe the armament and wait for a follow-up command.

If you press the light attack, then a horizontal projectile is fired off that looks like a flash of light and has a massive spread. Players can get multiple enemies at the same time with this attack, and the cherry on top is that it can even be used on enemies that are on a different level than you. So if you encounter one of those pesky eagles, you can get them in the air from your grounded position.

The heavy attack on the other hand lets out a vertical projectile that travels along the ground. It cannot get multiple targets at the same time, but it deals more damage and is capable of staggering foes much more easily. The height of the attack is also pretty decent, so you can still get some flying enemies if you aim properly.

Both of these projectiles also have great range, but the key thing to note is that they are strictly magical attacks. Unlike regular melee hits from the Moonveil they do not apply physical damage as well, and so if you want them to scale you’ll have to increase your Intelligence accordingly.

Armor

If you’re planning on making an Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build, then you’ll want to play as a character that is light on their feet and is able to dodge and run away when the situation calls for it. Katanas are generally fast weapons, so the armor set you choose should also allow for quick movements.

The Land of Reeds set that the Samurai class starts with is a great armor for the early game due to its light weight. The Moonveil is not a particularly heavy weapon either, and when equipped together you can consistently stay at Medium Load and not lose the ability to dodge roll out of enemy attacks. You also don’t suffer any penalties to your stamina, and can attack more often to inflict Hemorrhage.

Physical damage negation is decent for a set that’s so light, but magical defense can definitely be better. Again, you’re opting for a lighter armor because the goal here is not to take hits, but to dodge and stay mobile while you attack. The only drawback to this is that when you do get hit, it will be pretty brutal.

As you level up and move through the world, many new sets will become available to you that fulfill your requirements. My personal choice for my Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build was the Raging Wolf Set, which has an increased 29.3 physical damage negation, but somehow even less Lightning and Holy damage negation than the Land of Reeds set. This is obviously not optimal, but it allowed me great flexibility in terms of movement due to the set’s low weight.

With my endurance upgraded and the Raging Wolf Set equipped, I was able to go into the late-game with a light load. This allowed me to perform faster dodge rolls and constantly maintain my distance while dodging away from most attacks. This obviously will not work for everyone, but it will work for those who are quick to react.

If a light armor set does not work for you, then you can always opt to pick up a heavier set and a 100% physical shield for blocking attacks instead. But enemies do hit hard in this game, so you’ll also have to farm a lot of Runes and dump a bunch of points into Endurance for the increased stamina to take the hits. And even then, sometimes dodging or jumping is unavoidable.

But again, the choice of armor is all up to you. Use the set that makes the most sense to you, even if it goes against common opinion.

Talismans

Elden Ring features a large number of Talismans that can work with a wide variety of different builds and playstyles. In this article, we’ve picked out a few that we feel work best with the Moonveil as a weapon.

First up, we have the Assassin‘s Crimson Dagger. This is a Talisman you can get extremely early in the game and it never really stops being useful. As you attack enemies and get critical hits on them, this item restores a small amount of health to you. So as you keep landing hits, you can potentially go for a long time without consuming any of your recovery items

This is great when paired with the Moonveil, because its heavy special attack is able to stagger most enemies in 3-4 hits. And using this, you can technically keep on healing indefinitely if you’re a good enough combatant. Especially in boss fights, this will save you from spending your limited use Flask of Crimson Tears. You should also seriously consider increasing the number of uses you have for this item by finding all the Golden Seed Locations.

As we already established earlier, the Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build is fueled primarily by your Intelligence. And as you go further and further into the game, leveling up gets harder and a single point in a particular stat can make all the difference when it comes to wielding a particular weapon or spell. This is why you require the Stargazer Heirloom, which immediately increases your Intelligence by 5 whole points.

Now 5 extra points is not a massive increase in the early game, but it does give you a much welcome boost to your damage output. And in case you feel that your investment of runes can be spent in some other areas like Mind or Vigor, you can use the Stargazer Heirloom to make up for the points you intend to divert to the other stats. It’s a win-win situation either way

And finally, we come to the Ancestral Spirit’s Horn. This allows you to gain back 3 FP whenever you kill an enemy in the game, and there are no further requirements like critical hits. If you kill an enemy, you recover FP as a result.

This is particularly great for the Moonveil Katana Build because you’re going to be using your special attacks pretty frequently. So you want to make sure that you can replenish as much of your FP meter as possible without consuming a Flask of Cerulean Tears. For every 4 or 5 grunts you kill in an area, you can afford to launch another Transient Moonlight projectile.

Moonveil Katana Playstyle

While wielding the Mooveil Katana, mobility is the name of the game. Your character is not built to take a lot of punishment, and as such you have to keep yourself out of harm’s way for as long as you can

You want to take on enemies one-on-one as much as possible, moving in closer to them only when you know they are isolated and far from any allies. Once you’re in striking distance, deliver a combo of slashes in quick succession to build up the Hemorrhage meter as much as possible, then retreat back to safety. Repeat this again as soon as possible to stop the bleed meter from going down and hopefully, the status effect should take place and take a massive chunk off the foe’s health.

When engaged in a fight with a tough foe like a giant that hits hard, do not attempt to parry or block the blow. You are not built to take the hit, and your best option is to dodge roll out of the attack’s reach. During the brief window of opportunity where the enemy is getting ready to attack again, that is where you strike.

Also, do not underestimate the Moonveil Katana’s Transient Moonlight skill. The light attack is excellent for crowd control and allows you to easily clear the path for yourself if you are ever backed into a corner. The damage isn’t as good as the heavy attacks, but the projectile has the ability to hit targets that are otherwise unreachable from the ground.

The heavy Transient Moonlight attack on the other hand is an absolute beast that will allow you to nuke bosses in an instant. This is because the attack actually has two different aspects; the ranged projectile and the downward melee slash.

Attacking from a distance with the projectile will do a fair bit of damage, which is serviceable enough by itself. But if you get up close and personal and then initiate the attack in melee range, the slash combined with the projectile will deal tremendous poise damage. A few of these in a row, and any boss will open up for a critical strike.

And that’s about it for our Elden Ring Moonveil Katana Build. While you’re here, why not also check out other builds below.

• Comet Azur Build
• Elden Ring Sword of Night and Flame Build
• Darth Maul Build
• Astrologer Build
• Elden Ring Greatsword Build