While it may not seem like a game where players can express themselves and be creative,Elden Ringis a game where you can truly put your own stamp on things and personalize your playthrough as you see fit. The world and the boss battles within may always play out the same, but the way you approach them can change depending on the playstyle and build you use, and the wide variety of options available allows for so much replayability.
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This is even more true post-DLC, asShadow of the Erdtreehas provided players with a wealth of new and exciting weapons, talismans and more that synergize with base game items beautifully, allowing for truly remarkable builds. If you’re having a bit of a creative block, however, allow us to give you inspiration. Here’s a list of ten amazing builds that are only possible thanks to the new DLC!
10The Perfumer Build
Endurance: 30
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 60
Intelligence: 9
Weapons(s)
Lightning Perfume Bottle
Ash of War
Ash of War: Rolling Sparks
White Mask
Perfumer’s Talisman
Lightning Scorpion Charm
Shard of Alexander
Blue Dancer Charm
Wondrous Physik
Lightning Shrouding Cracked Tear
Stonebarb Cracked Tear
Spells/Buffs/Consumables
Golden Vow
This build is one that was nerfed in the recent patch, but even still, this new DLC-based build is one that can cut through boss health bars like a hot knife through butter. By combining a fully upgraded Lightning Perfume Bottle and the Rolling Sparks Ash of War, you begin to rack up huge lightning damage. This can be further supported by the Lightning Shrouding Cracked Tear and the Lightning Scorpion Charm for even more damage output.
This is essentially an Arcane spellcaster build without the need to invest in intelligence and arcane, as this weapon doesn’t rely on an Ash of War or Spells, therefore you don’t need a huge pool of FP to make this work. It’s a fun and devastating build, and you can even tweak this slightly to use theDeadly Poison Perfume Bottle, theFirespark Perfume Bottleor theFrenzyflame Perfume Bottle
9Rakshasa Bleed Build
Endurance: 35
Strength: 60
Arcane: 11
Rakshasa’s Great Katana
Weed Cutter
Rakshasa Set
Two-Handed Sword Talisman
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
Lord of Blood’s Exultation
Opaline Bubbletear
Bloodsucking Cracked Tear
Flame, Grant me Strength&Golden Vow
If anyone’s wondering,this is the build that helped me finally take down the final boss in this DLC. This build is a high-risk, high-reward build that relies on high-damage output and the player being able to dodge attacks with precision. You’ll be vulnerable to attacks, and most enemies will be able to two-shot you. But the upside is that you’ll be able to beat them in record time as well.
Thanks toRakshsha’s Set and its glass cannon buffs, and the Bloodsucking Cracked Tear, you’ll do lots more damage by sacrificing your defensive capabilities, and then Rakshaha’s Great Katana will also help you end fights fast with its passive bleed build-up. If you’re someone who usually hides behind a shield or fires spells from range, you’ll hate this, but if you’re a skilled melee fighter, this build can be a lot of fun.
8Bloodfiend Bonk Stick Build
Endurance: 25
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 11
Arcane: 60
Bloodfiend’s Arm
Bleed Ash of War Infusion
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia
Axe Talisman
Stonebarbed Cracked Tear
Viridian Hidden Tear
Golden Vow&Flame, Grant me Strength
Next up, we have another bleed build, but one that feels truly unique, even with the copious amounts of bleed options out there.The Bloodfiend’s Armis a colossal Weapon that deals huge physical damage and breaks stance with ease but it also causes an arcane-powered Bleed Burst effect when performing charged attacks. So with some thoughtful additions to the build, you can lean into this to become an all-powerful blood lord.
With the Two-handed Sword Talisman and Axe Talisman, along with the Viridian Hidden Tear, you may go into every fight, all guns blazing, looking to stance-break your opponent. Then, as the fight rolls on, your bleed effects will kick in and the battle will be over before you know it. There are ways to run this a little more defensively, but you’ll be dealing so much damage that we doubt you’ll need to.
7Ancient Meteoric Build
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 11
Arcane: 30
Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword
White Light Charge
Solitude Set
Erdtree’s Favor +2
Carian Filigreed Crest
Verdigris Discus
This was the build that carried me through the majority of the DLC as soon as I found this colossal weapon in the Ruined Forge Starfall Past.This weapon is a brilliant optionthat scales into strength and arcane, making it a perfect option for those who just want to swing a big ol' sword without needing lots of additional assets to make the build viable. Then you can add some defense to this build with the Solitude Set and Verdigis Discus, with Erdtree’s Favor, or theGreat-Jar’s Arsenalstopping you from fat-rolling.
Then, you have the cherry on top in the form of the White Light Charge Ash of War, which you may use to dash at your enemy, land a hit, and follow up with a burst of white lightning. This is great for closing distances, dodging attacks and getting under large enemies.
6Backhand Blade Dex Build
Strength: 15
Intelligence: 10
Arcane: 50
Backhand Blade(Dual Wield)
Blind Spot
Millicent’s Prosthesis
Thorny Cracked Tear
Greenburst Crystal Tear
Blood Grease
While the Backhand Blade might not look that special when you pick it up mere minutes into your DLC campaign when you search the Scorched Ruins, those who take a chance on this one will find that thanks to this weapon’s insane Ash of War, Blind Spot, this is a fun build to play around with. You’ll want to dual-wield this weapon, as this will allow you to focus on landing as many hits as possible, which will power up your Rotten Winged Insignia and Millicent’s Prosthesis talismans.
Then, to avoid being caught out by spamming Blind Spot too much and running out of Stamina, leaving you vulnerable, you can use the Greenburst Tear, or alternatively, theTwo-Headed Turtle Talismanto manage your stamina bar accordingly. Then throw on some blood grease to beef up the already decent blood loss this weapon offers and you have a fast-paced and fluid build that’ll make you near-impossible for enemies to hit.
5The Iron Dancer Build
Strength: 14
Dancing Blade of Ranah(Dual Wield)
Unending Dance
Dancer’s Set
Ironjar Aromatic
This is a build that is somewhat similar to the Backhand Blade in the sense that you’re aiming to land as many hits as possible, but this one is more of a broken cheese build that relies on the strength and defense provided by the Ironjar Aromatic. This consumable makes you insanely heavy in return for a staggering increase in Poise. But the added weight doesn’t matter asyour weapon’s Ash of War, Unending Dancewill allow you to move toward the enemy at pace, landing a flurry of hits in quick succession.
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The aim of the game here is to simply spam this Ash of War skill endlessly, ignoring every attack the boss throws at you, as your insane Poise stat will allow you to keep attacking through their attacks, and usually, you’ll be able to whittle their health down before they can do the same to you. Sure, it takes all the nuance and challenge out of fights, but you’re able to’t deny that this is a satisfying and cathartic build, even just for the novelty of melting enemy health bars.
4Impenetrable Thorns Build
Endurance: 20
Strength: 10
Intelligence: 25
Albinauric Staff
Staff of the Guilty(off-hand)
Alberich’s Set
Cerulean Seed Talisman +1
Graven-Mass Talisman
Cerulean Sapping Cracked Tear
Cerulean Hidden Tear
Impenetrable Thorns&Golden Vow
You’ll have noticed by now that I am very much melee-focused as a Souls player, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good sorcery build when I see one in the wild, and the Impenetrable Thorns Build is one that really caught my eye. This build sees you use this incantation to inflict bleed at alarming rates. It requires the player to cast the spell from up close, as this will ensure that all three waves/hitboxes hit the enemy, but this risk pays off as it almost guarantees a hemorrhage every time you cast this spell.
The FP cost is hefty, so you do need to stack the build with FP restoring and maintaining items, but if you cast the spells at the right time, the fight shouldn’t last all that long anyway. You can have some off-hand weapons like theDragon Communion Sealand theRivers of Bloodto sure up this build, but even without them, this is still a devastating build that will see you through just about any fight in the game.
3Bayle’s Claw Build
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 15
Arcane: 70
Dragon Communion Sealx2
Flock’s Canvas Talisman
Faithful’s Canvas Talisman
Opaline Hardtear
Bayle’s Flame Lightning&Bayle’s Tyranny
Rock Heart
Dragon magic is something that doesn’t get talked about enough when it comes toElden Ringbuilds, but with the introduction of Bayle The Dread’s Dragon Incantations, we reckon more players will flock to the Great Dragon Communion Altar to test this one out. This build actually runs with no armor at all, making use of the reusable consumable, Rock Heart, allowing you to take a draconic form and boost dragon communion attacks in the process.
Then, to deal damage, you have Bayle’s Flame Lighting and Bayle’s Tyranny as your spells of choice, with the former being the one you’ll want to try and use most, as the talsimans and wondrous Physik equipped will power up the lightning effects. This build essentially turns you intoBayle The Dread, and that, my friends, is the definition of badass.
2Carian Sovernignity Build
Strength: 16
Intelligence: 80
Carian Sorcery Sword
Azur’s Glintstone Staff
Ash of War: Carian Sovereignty
Spellblade Set
Magic Scorpion Charm
Godfrey Icon
Two-Headed Turtle Talisman
Glintstone Pebble&Adula’s Moonblade
Carian magic builds tend to focus on making your character a mage, but with this build, you get the best of both worlds, as you can use the Carian Sovereignty Ash of War to turn your Carian Sorcery Sword into a giant Glintstone blade which you can use to cut your opponents down to size. This is best combined with a mix of items that boost the attack power of Ashes of War, and Glintstone magic, and items that keep your stamina full, as this attack takes huge chunks off your stamina bar with each use and you’ll want to be able to spam this where possible.
Then, as a fallback, you’ll want to have the Azur Glintstone Staff off-hand to use Glintstone magic when your FP is low, and also, it has a nice little passive that speeds up your casts, which is always appreciated. You can use any Glintstone spells you like, but we included a low FP option and high FP option, allowing you to mix it up.
1Dryleaf Palm Blast Build
Dexterity: 30
Dryleaf Arts
Palm Blast (Flame Art Infused)
Crimson Amber Medallion +3
Fire Scorpion Charm
Flame Shrouding Cracked Tear
Golden VowandFlame, Grant me Strength
Then, to finish off, we haveShadow of the Erdtree’sanswer to theOne-Punch Man build from the base game. This one allows you to use the hyper armor provided by the Dryleaf Arts Ash of War, Palm Blast, to tank hits while charging up a brutal attack. This defense, when performing this move, allows you to use this one rather like the Ironjar dancer builds above, letting you trade attacks with enemies and almost always come out on top in a slobber knocker.
Then, because of this hyperarmor, you can also use the tactic employed in the Rashasha Bleed build above and use the glass cannon approach while not being a glass cannon at all. You’ll get all the benefits of this armor without the vulnerability that it usually provides, and when you infuse this with Flame Arts, the numbers only go up. It’s a build that proves that unarmed combat is not only viable inElden Ring,but can be more powerful than carrying a big ol' hammer or sword.
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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
Shadow of the Erdtree is the first and only DLC expansion for FromSoftware’s groundbreaking Elden Ring. It takes players to a whole new region, the Land of Shadow, where a new story awaits the Tarnished.
