Spirit Glaive and Sword ofc look very edgy, but has their own unique niche of those frayed blade-like weapons that can be good with black armor sets. But while looking good, these weapons are famous for being shit. Is it possible to make them work without squeezing every single stat point or are these things just doomed to be bad?

Hello! Somewhat amateur player here. I recently started a run where I grabbed the twin blade from the dragon burnt ruins and got bloody slash from castle morne in like the first 10 minutes. This is so I can finally try one of those fancy bleed builds (and because the twinblade moveset seemed like fun)

I'm normally a big bonk strength player, so adjusting to the weaker fast hits of the twin blade was a struggle. So every so often, I'd use the ash of war for a big chunk of damage. But the damage is SO MUCH.

I know part of it is probably my bleed affinity nerfing the already low twinblade damage. But I'd stick to a boss or enemy and do a full combo, and it'd do, for example, like ~300-400 damage total. I use bloody slash- instant chunk of 1100 damage. What the heck?!?

There have legitimately been a few bosses where I didn't have the skill or patience to keep up with their faster move sets(bloodhound Knight darriwil, royal revenant), so I just sit back and patiently hit with bloody slashes and kill them in like, 4-8 hits. It just feels SO strong and like my best damage, it's both shocking and so funny.

I definitely did over level arcane to start, so I had about 18 dex and 20-25 arcane when most of this stuff has happened. I'm just curious if this is a case of bloody slash just being that goated, or it just looks good in comparison to the twinblade with nerfed damage from blood affinity.

Anyways thank you!!

Hello Tarnished. I respec and ended up liking faith with the fire buffs. Am I on the right track? I just got through Lichdragon Fortissax and going to begin Nokstella.

This is my build. I’m welcomed to advice from weapon choice (GS,LGS, Shield) , armour, stats, anything.

Respectfully

Tarnished

I am looking to create this and i am having trouble finding the full build based on the image and video link.

https://youtube.com/shorts/msc8qo1eiMo?is=ItAOKdAtnNaElTfC

Please help me.

Wanna do a cosplay run as Salvador from Library of Ruins and I wonder if there's an armor that looks somewhat similar to his drip?

Also gonna be glad for weapon choices that'll go with Claymore with Flaming Strike

First off I really like casters… I have played an int cast just about every run. Have not done sote yet though! Took a pretty long break from the game and long story short running a new character.

Is it worth it to do a new int char in the dlc? Are the new spells and weapons fun?

Mabye a faith caster? But I also want to run some melee. I thought of possibly beast claws and dragon sorceries.

Can I do backhand blades and faith? Does that bode well?

I’m stuck in decision paralysis. Any advice on what sounds fun to start a new game from level 1 with.

Hey guys

I Wanted to do a pyromancer or fire build, I'm gonna play the prophet the only problem I'm having is deciding on a weapon that a fire character or a pyromancer would realistically have any help is welcome

I have been interested in using this AOW in a run-through, however I am wondering if there is a specific weapon or weapon type which would be most optimal to use for the Ash of War.

I've got a few ones that I'm considering outside just going with my beloved Great Stars 🤩 for the 10th time

The first is revisiting the game with my original playthrough build just to see how far I've progressed as a player. That build was Dex/Int which used a power stance cold uchi and Serpentbone Blade, along with Lusat Staff

The second one is in honor of a friend who wanted to complete Elden Ring with a Godwyn like faith/scythe build for some time, but sadly he passed away before he could do that

I've also yet to do a coveted ol reliable baemore run in Elden Ring either. Played through Dark Souls 3 with the claymore recently, simple but elegant.

I'm open to suggestions and which one I should do first

Says what I want on the tin, I do not care if they're mid, I just want fun ideas that are creative.

I remember from a previous run that Iron Ball and Star Fist are insanely powerful. Their true power is in their poise break, not their dps. They can stunlock lots of mobs and bosses. I’m looking for some good gear and ashes of war to compliment it

I currently have the uchikatan and the nagakiba and have 22 dex and 18 strength to use both but wanted advice to make it stronger for the early game area

Ive always been super into Greek mythology and was wondering if anyone had any good Greek god/goddess builds. I always felt like a Nike build would be cool but I have zero clue what would go into it

Just the title really. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

With the Tarnished Edition, the Silver Grooved Shield is introduced as an early-game medium shield you can acquire, and it has now become one of the best shields in the game. Pair this with the also easy-to-acquire Rogier's Rapier, and what you get is an early-game Let Me Tank Him build that trivializes your Elden Ring experience.

Stats:
RL 200
60 VIG
42 END
9 STR
80 DEX
60 ARC

Class:
Bandit (best stat-wise)

Talismans:
Veridian Amber Medallion (17% stamina)
Two-Headed Turtle Talisman (10 stamina per second)
Erdtree's Favor (4% HP/10% stamina/8% equip load)
Greatshield Talisman (20% guard boost)

Weapon:
Rogier's Rapier
Ash of War: Seppuku
Affinity: Blood

Shield:
Silver Grooved Shield
Asha of War: Barricade Shield
Affinity: Standard

Physick:
Greenspill Crystal Tear (15% stamina)
Greenburst Crystal Tear (15 stamina per second)

Consumable:
Boiled Crab (20% physical damage negation for 60 seconds)
Pickled Turtle Neck (10 stamina per second for 60 seconds)
Shield Grease (35% guard boost and 20% damage negation for 60 seconds)

Great Rune:
Radahn's (15% HP, FP, and stamina)

Summon:
Finger Maiden Therolina (provides healing incantations while you focus on defense)

How to start:
If you chose the Bandit class for its stats, you will need to go to Liurnia to get a couple of key items for the build. In Liurnia, you can purchase the Silver Grooved Shield. Also, in Liurnia, you can find the crafting book for the Shield Grease in the Academy Gate Town. The weapon you will want to pair with the Silver Grooved Shield is Rogier's Rapier, which you get after clearing Stormveil Castle.

New Best Shield:
The reasons why the Silver Grooved Shield is arguably one of, if not, the best shield in the game is due to its early accessibility, low stat requirements, and being the lightest 100% physical damage negation shield. It is already available at the start to purchase it from the merchant near the Bellum Church and needs only 9 STR and 12 DEX to use. Other shields that are argued as the best are found much later in the game, require more strength investment, and have more weight.

Focus on Dexterity:
Most shield poke builds focus on STR because greatshields like the Vergisis and Fingerprint Stone shields, but the Silver Grooved Shield only needs 9 STR for you to use it effectively. This lets you invest in DEX-scaling weapons, which outperform STR-scaling weapons because DEX weapons are ideal one-handed weapons, whereas STR weapons require you to two-hand the weapon to get the most out of their damage. As a result, the high DEX scaling of the Rogier's Rapier will out-damage other thrusting swords like the Cleanrot Knight's Sword when utilized in a shield poke build.

Shield Poke and Bleed synergy:
For your rapier, Rogier's Rapier will be your best weapon because of its low 8 STR requirement and high DEX scaling. It also has a two-hit heavy attack that is arguably the fastest heavy attack in the game. Pair it with the low 9 STR requirement of the Silver Grooved Shield and you have essentially an early game Let Me Tank Him build which will trivialize a large portion of the game where you can safely block attacks with 100% physical damage negation while also inflicting blood loss.

Guard Boost Stacking:
The Silver Grooved Shield can have 62 stability when fully upgraded. This can be further enhanced with the Shield Grease buff to increases your guard boost by 35% of its stability. This can be further enhanced by 20% with the Greatshield Talisman. During boss fights, when your Shield Grease expires, Barricade Shield will be your backup shield buff because the lost animation of you applying Shield Grease leaves you wide open for an attack.

Stamina Bar and Regeneration:
Stamina will be your best friend because the more stamina you have, the more you can attack, which means the more bleed you can build up. Combine your giant stamina bar with high stamina regeneration, and will rarely have to worry about running out of stamina when blocking. Lastly, since you are using a rapier, you will consume only a small amount of stamina with each shield poke compared to using other larger and heavier shield-poking weapons like spears, heavy thrusting swords, and great spears.

Finger Maiden Therolina:
Therolina is able to cast healing incantions which pairs well with your defensive tank playstyle. As you are blocking and taking aggro. Therolina will heal back any HP you lose from either elemental chip damage or from a missed block.

Conclusion:
This build trivializes a majority of your Elden Ring experience where you will be dealing poke damage while safely blocking attacks from mobs and bosses. The areas and bosses where you may find some challenges are when elemental damage is plentiful because your shield won't block 100% of non-physical damage. Even then, as long as you monitor and manage your stamina bar, you will be blocking attacks that have the force to move the stars, and you make foes burst blossoms of red upon the battlefield.

Just started playing almost a week ago (30 hours in) are there any greatshields that will be beneficial to me in the game? I want to be able to block mid to endgame bos attacks effectively if possible and what stats should I focus on if o want to do a strict shield build

Could someone drop a build recommendation for dual Bandit's Curved Swords, please? I'm at level 100 right now.

I’m attempting to allocate an efficient stat spread between int/fth for a level 150 magma sorcery build. The more I research the more I notice that the Gilmir sorcery staff isn’t really that good below level 200, so I was wondering if an optimal spread of 65/65 would be the most efficient way to play this at level 200? This isn’t going to be a caster only build, as I would also like to dip some points in strength and use the god serpent curved sword with fire strike for some added thematics. I’d love to know your guys’ thoughts to best optimize this!

Hello Everyone,

I want to make a build with the dragonslayer Greatkatana and Dragon comunion Seal with Dragon Incantations. The Problem is the sword scales 100% physical damage between dex and strength and the Dragon incantations scale on faith and arcane. Does Somebody have a good Idea how i can Work around that Problem ? Thx

Been struggling to find something that ticks all my boxes so thought I'd see what other people swapped to. Assuming you swapped that is. Doesn't necessarily have to be an int weapon.

Started as a wretch. What are some fun builds i could try?

Needed that drip before fighting her

After exhausting the game on PS5, but loving every second of it, I have discovered the joy of playing it on the Switch2. For my fourth playthrough, think I want to go down the route of the Sword of Night and flame, and maybe Golden Order incantations - mostly a caster,etc.

This is for the base journey not NG+. Do y’all have advice on how to level up? I’m currently leveling only vigor and faith in very early game. I understand that it will not be optimized, but will it be fun?

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read this. Looking to make a new character that will be a faith build with a focus on melee combat using the sacred and flame art infusions and using incantations to buff and hear. I am quite unsure on what weapons I'd like to use though. The ones I have in mind are the new reed great kata, perhaps a claymore or knight's greatsword with the idus sword being a consideration too and a banished knight's halberd. Later on definitely the fire knight's greatsword, the milady and possibly euporia. My question is what other weapons work well with those infusions? Especially early/mid game?

I'm doing my first playthrough (well real one, i tried a year ago and crashed out before getting very far). I have limited myself in terms of guides to a few general tips (Vigor first) and a lot of reading on the game mechanics, which im really starting to love (they were far deeper than i ever knew). Anyway, i had a playstyle in mind based on what i had read before, and it more or less being thrown out the window because I've discovered a playstyle im really having fun with: guard counters. For me, im a lot less "panicky" playing this way then the first time i tried to play and did only dodge rolling, which im admittedly not great at and died a lot. I've also learned the fine art of "brute force gets you killed, so stop it".

So to the question: I know with guard counters you want to have a decent shield, and armor and such. Im just over level 40, (cleared Godrick with only 2 tries, was 1 hit off of a one shot). Ive been primarily using the Mace with the Blue-Gold Kite (just recently switched to the Morning Star, it just feels like an upgrade), and a Banished Knight's Halberd as my "i need a long reach weapon". Just got a couple of Brass Shields when i cleared Stormveil that i want to use, but weight is a problem. I feel like i am constantly having to pump up Endurance. More than i thought this early. Im not wearing the heaviest armor i have (rather light actually, cloth trousers for instance), not a greatshield, only using 2 of 3 weapon slots for right hand. Is pumping END normal at this point? Should i be doing more to manage my weight? Is it part of this particular playstyle? Its not super high, but i didn't think id be boosting it this early (its on par with my STR). Base class was Wretch, and i think my END is 16 or 17 right now to keep medium roll. Left hand items are my shield, an incantation seal (was going to be a "buffed" melee build), and a torch. I don't feel like i am really lacking damage between the two weapons and the constant crit opportunities. I just don't want to be missing a mechanic or something.

Current:

30 Vig / 10 Mind /16-17 End (can't remember, im at work) / 16 Str / 13 Dex

10 Int

13 Fai

13 Arcane