Elden Ring outshines other RPG games with its build fluidity, being very diverse in terms of the different playstyles available. But sometimes, coming up with ideas on your own is hard! With that in mind, we’ve compiled some of the best Elden Ring builds for you, and put them in easy-to-use guides. In the lists below, you’ll find PvE and PvP-specific builds, plus builds that can do both. We also welcome suggestions — if we’re missing an awesome build, please let us know in the comments below.
Note that this list is ongoing and will be updated regularly.
If this is your first FromSoft game, or even your first RPG, you may not be familiar with the concept of builds, or what the acronyms used above mean. In this section, we’ll explain all that!
Build Types
PvE – “Player vs Enemy”. These builds are specifically designed for playing against the AI opponents in the game, as opposed to human players that you can fight in invasions or the Colosseums. These builds tend to excel at area-of-effect damage, or otherwise rely on spells and abilities that human players can easily avoid; some weapons and spells are also specifically nerfed in PvP, making them only suitable for PvE.
PvP – “Player vs Player”. Builds that are made for fighting other human opponents in invasions or the Colosseums. These builds tend to use hard-to-avoid weapons, spells, and skills, since obviously human players are much better at dodging than the AI enemies are; they also don’t rely on anything that’s been heavily nerfed for PvP.
Hybrid – These builds can do it all, equally effective at fighting the monsters in the Lands Between as other Tarnished. Generally, these builds won’t be as good at PvE or PvP than their more focused counterparts — but that isn’t always the case!
Elements of an Elden Ring Build
A build is made up of your equipment and spells, and the stats to use them. Making sure that each part of the build synergizes with the build’s overall strategy is key to success.
Stats (AKA Attributes) form the backbone of any build. Making sure that you meet the attribute requirements of the weapons and spells you want to use, and ensuring you can equip all your armor and weapons without sacrificing mobility, is essential. Fortunately, you can always respec with Rennala if you end up making a mistake with your stats — but you only get so many larval tears!
It’s good to pay attention to what values change when you increase the various Attributes
Weapons, since they include staves and seals as well as melee and ranged options, will always be an essential part of your build, whether you’re dealing damage by casting spells or swinging swords. In many builds, you can even have multiple weapons in each hand slot to maximize your flexibility (and surprise your foes in PvP). If you’ve got talismans or spells that buff certain types of damage, you’ll want to make sure your weapons are dealing that damage type.
Elden Ring doesn’t suffer from a lack of weapon options
Spells are useful in many builds, even if your primary damage sources will be weapons. In addition to spells that simply deal damage, there are spells that can buff your defensive and offensive capabilities, heal you, or cleanse enemy buffs. Note that in Elden Ring, you’ll need a staff to cast sorceries, and a seal to cast incantations.
Different spells take up a different amount of Memory Slots — which are limited — so you’ll have to make tough decisions about which spells to memorize at the site of grace
Armor is what stops you from dying immediately in a fight. Depending on the build’s stat distribution, you’ll be able to wear more or less armor. Generally, the heavier the armor, the better it is, so you’ll want to make sure you’re as close to the nearest cap as possible without going over. You’ll almost always want to get up to 69.9% equip load. Sadly, the game won’t tell you what percent you’re at, so you’ll just have to look at the “Equip Load” number in the Character Status stats.
Below 30% – Light Load (Fast Roll)
30-70% – Medium Load (Normal Roll)
Over 70% – Heavy Load (Slow Roll)
Over 100% – Overloaded (No Roll)
Keeping your equip load under 70% so you don’t have a Heavy Load is essential to a proper build
Consumables and other items shouldn’t be neglected when crafting a build — in some builds, you’ll actually rely on them quite a bit for damage or utility. Some items can help you inflict status effects crucial to your build’s damage, or simply provide another source of healing. Of special interest is the Flask of Wondrous Physick — this can be customized with various Crystal Tears to make it do everything from refill your FP to make you explode. Many builds rely on the flask to provide them with resources or extra damage.
Consumables are very useful — make sure you’re inspecting what’s in your inventory so you know what you have availableFinding more Crystal Tears will allow you to more flexibility with your Wondrous Physick mixture
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DanielD
Unabashed FromSoftware fanboy still learning to take his time with games (and everything else, really). The time he doesn't spend on games is spent on music, books, or occasionally going outside.
