Wielding the Sword of Legends
Having grown up on Bleach, Final Fantasy, and just about every game and show about a character with a giant sword, I'm a huge fan of the Greatsword category. It's one of the most robust weapon groups in Elden Ring, starting with the Greatsword and curved Greatsword categories. Shadow of the Erdtree managed to deliver an even more exciting upgrade to the genre with the inclusion of the new light Greatswords as well and they, are, great. The whole group hits hard and gives us some of the most formidable weapons for any Strength scaling character.
Speaking of Bleach, with the new Great Katanas, and even some of the early Curved Greatswords, we even saw some Ichigo builds pretty early on in the Elden Ring character builds, right up there with Kratos from God of War, and Guts from Berserk. Sadly, these two builds fall into different weapon categories, but we still have plenty that come to use in the new Shadow of the Erdtree Expansion.
Picking the Top 5 Greatsword Builds
Picking the top five Greatsword builds is no easy task, because there were so many to choose from in the original content game. It definitely leaves the player spoiled for choice, and that includes the addition of the Light Greatswords, which give us M,Lady and Rellana's Twin Blades. The Twin Blades in particular are arguably one of the best weapons in the new DLC, giving us an overwhelming skill to dual-wield swords with only one weapon slot, summon fiery AOE, and cut down enemies with precise magic damage.
That said, those are just the tip of the iceberg that we get with the greatsword category. I chose my builds today based heavily on what the DLC has given us, and what it has improved the most upon with its treasure trove of new armors and talismans.
5. M'Lady
What is the M'Lady
The M'lady comes to us from several players, and is featured as one of the ultimate new swiss-army build weapons of the DLC. Thanks to its fantastic R2 moveset, the amount of styles that it lends itself to, and the ability to apply itself to multiple armor sets makes it the perfect utility weapon to come in strong on the greatsword list. The M'Lady lends itself to plenty of interesting combos, since it can be used as the ideal weapon for a Stormcaller build, a Sacred Dancer build, or even a Death Knight build.
The M'Lady scales best with Dexterity, and does best with the Keen affinity, which is why we apply it to almost every build except some of the Bleed builds. It's also one of the best builds to trigger hemorrhage in an enemy, which makes it the primary Bleed entry on our top 5. The goal of the build is essentially universally the same. It requires a small parrying shield to parry the enemy, then using its R2 combined with its skills to trigger the best qualities of any build that it lends itself to. Learning the parries can be tricky, but it's worth it for a solid build that can take on any boss.
Playing the M'Lady Pros and Cons
- This is a fast weapon with a great heavy attack sequence for damage and stance-breaking.
- The M'Lady can be given a large variety of ashes of war and functions really well with a Keen or Blood affinity.
- This weapon can lend itself to a wide variety of ways to approach any situation as needed. It does best with Keen affinities, but can lend itself to Sacred, Lightning, Flame, Bleed, Storm, and Magic builds.
- This is a build that can lend itself to any play needs, but may require either a lot of points across the board in stats, or a lot of Re-specing throughout the game. That makes it a great all-game build, but is resource heavy.
- This is a very skill based weapon, so it may require patience learning the movesets of some enemies to get the hang of the timing, unless the player wants to just lean into the heaviest possible build.
Weapon Loadout
1. M'lady
- Requirements: 12 Strength, 17 Dexterity
The M'Lady is one of the first light greatswords that can be picked up in the DLC and it serves as one of the most prolific swiss army weapons out there. We see it using the keen or a blood affinity and being combined with different ashes of war for different uses. The M'Lady lends itself to multiple armor sets depending on the ash of war used for the purpose. The weapon scales well with Dexterity, so at the cap, it is capable of cutting even bosses to ribbons with ease.
Ashes of War:
- Sword Dance- Keen Affinity- Dancer's Set- Bloodflame Blade, Sacred Armament, Scholar's Armament, Vyke's Dragonbolt, Blackflame Blade
- Blink Bolt-Keen Affinity- Death Knight Set- Vyke's Dragonbolt
- Wing Stance- Bleed Affinity- White Mask and Lord of Blood's Exultation
- Repeating Thrust- Keen or Bleed Affinity- White Mask and Lord of Bloods Exultation
- Stormcaller- Lightning, Bleed, or Keen affinity- Divine Beast Set
- Flame Skewer- Keen or Flame affinity-Messmer's Set
- Blood Tax-Keen or Bleed affinity- White Mask set
*There are plenty of more ashes of war that can be applied to the M'Lady but this forms a base set at the core of the M'Lady options.
2. Buckler Shield
- Requirements: 8 Strength, 13 Dexterity
There are a few good shields to use here, and it really depends on what kind of shield you need for what build when it comes to the M'Lady. The universal standard is the Buckler Shield and that's because it has one of the better parry abilities in the game. Other than that, pick the shield that works for the cause.
If you're hunting suggestions to make building your character faster, Spiralhorn Shield works best for the bleed build with a built in Parry skill, boost of 50 points to robustness, immunity and focus, and it causes bleed on parrying. Pillory Shield increases vitality by 50 points and can be given a parry special ability. The Smoldering shield is the best for fire builds since it comes with a Robustness buff of 30 points and deals fire damage on attacks. It, however, uses a shield bash which means it needs to be paired with the appropriate flame skills to make it work best.
3. Erdtree Seal
- Requirements: 40 Faith
The Erdtree seal is usually my go-to seal for any build that puts many points into faith, mostly because it has the best incantation scaling in the game. It also has no weight to the seal which is handy for heavier builds. If you're not keen on the 40 in Faith problem, any seal will do the trick as long as it can enchant M'Lady.
Gear Loadout
Helms
- Rakshasa Helm- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Dancer's Hood- Increases damage from dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Divine Beast Helm- Increases Strength, Dexterity, and Storm damage
- Messmer's Helm- Boosts Messmer incantations and Fire Knight Skills
- Death Knight Helm- Boosts ancient dragon incantations and skills by 2%
- White Mask- Increases player attack whenever bleed is triggered in the vicinity
Armor
- Rakshasa Armor- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Dancer's Dress- Increases damage from dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Divine Beast armor- Increases Strength, Dexterity, and Storm damage
- Messmer's Armor- Boosts Messmer incantations and Fire Knight Skills
- Death Knight Armor- Boosts ancient dragon incantations and skills by 2%
Gauntlets
- Rakshasa Gauntlets- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Dancer's Bracelet- Increases damage from dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Messmer's Gauntlets- Boosts Messmer incantations and Fire Knight Skills
- Death Knight Gauntlets- Boosts ancient dragon incantations and skills by 2%
Greaves
- Rakshasa Greaves- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Dancer's Trousers- Increases damage from dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Messmer's Greaves- Boosts Messmer incantations and Fire Knight Skills
- Death Knight Greaves- Boosts ancient dragon incantations and skills by 2%
Extra Essentials
Talismans
- Millicent's Prosthesis- Boosts dexterity +5 and raises attack power with successive strikes
- Ritual Sword Talisman- Boosts attack power 10% at full health
- Shard of Alexander- Raises the damage from skills 15%
- Two-Headed Green Turtle Talisman- Raises stamina recovery 22.2%
- Any Scorpion Charm- Boosts their damage 12% and damage received 10%
- Divine Beast Talisman- Boosts all storm damage by 10%
- Lord of Blood's Exultation- Boosts damage whenever bleed happens in the area
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia- Boosts damage on consecutive strikes
- Godskin Swaddling Cloth- Restores health on successive attacks
Spells
- Golden Vow- Increases damage dealt by 15% and reduces damage taken by 10%
- Flame, Grant Me Strength – Boosts physical and fire damage by 20%
- Bloodflame Blade- Enchants the weapon with the Bloodflame Affinity
- Sacred Weapon- Enchants weapon with the sacred affinity
- Vyke's Dragonbolt- Enchants the weapon with ancient red dragon lightning
Stats
- 50-60 Vigor
- 15-25 Mind
- 30-35 Endurance
- 18-25 Strength
- 80 Dexterity
- 8-80 Intelligence
- 25-80 Faith
- 20-80 Arcane
4. Redmane Gladiator
What is a Redmane Gladiator
Radahn was probably one of the favorite bosses in the base game, and we got a bunch of amazing new lore about him in the DLC. That comes with some of Radahn's soldiers which we can actually talk to in the form of Redmane Freyja. Freyja comes equipped with a great armor set, a shield that we can get from her, and her all important curved Greatsword, the Freyja's Greatsword.
This is an awesome customizable curved greatsword that we can add various ashes of war to, and it's specifically made for old favorites such as the Flames of the Redmanes skill and the Savage Lion's Claw skill. Mix that with the shield and the armor, and we're in the perfect fighting form to build ourselves an all new gladiator or hoplite build to conquer the Shadowlands.
Playing the Redmane Gladiator Pros and Cons
- This is a completed build that gives us armor, weapons, and skills that all can be boosted together.
- This build scales well with Strength and the Heavy affinity, or fire knight play styles
- This build tends to trade blows and needs to have strong poise or be very tanky.
- This build can tie in really well to already existing builds and gives us lighter options in the toolbox of what were colossal weapon builds, while offering similar damage.
- Physical damage is one of the most relevant damage types which makes this an all-game build from Limgrave to the Elden Beast.
Weapon Loadout
1. Freyja's Greatsword
- Requirements: 25 Strength, 14 Dexterity
Freyja's Greatsword is one of the new DLC curved Greatswords in the game that we have access to and it's just great. I mean that too, since this gives us an all new take on old classics like the Guts build and the old Hoplite builds. On top of that, it boosts Redmane skills by 10% which means that skills like Savage Lion's Claw, which are popular in other strength builds like the Guts build get an even bigger boost
Freyja's Greatsword also comes with the extra benefit that it can be customized. It can be given a couple different ashes of war that work with its special ability, giving this blade both a strong physical and fire damage option.
- Savage Lion's Claw- Heavy Affinity- Death Knight Set or Rakshasa Set- Chosen Enchantment
- Flame of the Redmanes-Fire or Flame affinity- Fire Knight Set
2. Golden Lion Shield
- Requirements: 11 Strength
The Golden Lion Shield is a shield given to us by Freyja during a quest, and it comes pre-equipped with the Roaring Bash skill. Not only is this considered a Redmane skill that's good for our gladiator build, it's also a roar, which means we can trigger talismans like the Roar Medallion.
3. Finger Seal
- Requirements: 4 Strength, 10 Faith
Just about any seal will work for this build, but this is one of the easiest to get and it has low stat requirements that don't really cost much for this build. The easiest to use is the Frenzied Flame Seal, but that's only if you feel like going for that particular ending. Otherwise, just use whatever seal lets you get your casting off for this build, which isn't that much anyways.
Gear Loadout
Helms
- Rakshasa Helm- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Freyja's Helm- Aesthetic armor of the build
- Hoslow's Helm- Good heavy armor with strong poise and a good aesthetic
Armor
- Rakshasa Armor- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Freyja's Armor- Aesthetic armor of the build
- Hoslow's Armor- Good heavy armor with strong poise and a good aesthetic
Gauntlets
- Rakshasa Gauntlets- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Freyja's Gauntlets- Aesthetic armor of the build
- Hoslow's Gauntlets- Good heavy armor with strong poise and a good aesthetic
Greaves
- Rakshasa Greaves- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Freyja's Greaves- Aesthetic Armor of the Build
- Hoslow's Greaves- Good heavy armor with strong poise and a good aesthetic
Extra Essentials
Talismans
- Fire Scorpion's Charm- Boosts fire damage by 12% and damage taken by 10%
- Godfrey Icon- Boosts charged skills and spells by 15%
- Shard of Alexander- Boosts skills by 15%
- Dragoncrest Greashield Talisman- Boosts physical damage resistance by 20%
- Two-Headed Turtle Talisman- Boosts stamina recovery by 22.2%
- Millicent's Prosthesis- Boosts dexterity and damage from successive strikes
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia- Boosts damage from successive strikes
- Roar Talisman- Boosts roar and breath attacks
- Blade of Mercy- Boosts damage after critical hits
- Two Handed Sword Talisman- Boosts damage of weapons when they are wielded with two hands
Spells
- Golden Vow- Boosts damage by 15% and damage negation by 10%
- Flame, Grant me Strength- Boosts physical and fire damage by 20%
- Howl of Shabriri- Dramatically increases attack but causes madness buildup and draws attention of enemies
Stats
- 50 Vigor
- 18-25 Mind
- 40-60 Endurance
- 80-99 Strength
- 45-60 Dexterity
- 12-25 Intelligence
- 25-30 Faith
- 9-30 Arcane
3. Blasphemous Knight Build
What is a Blasphemous Knight
One of the best greatswords in the game got even better with the new Shadow of the Erdtree thanks to Bayle. The Blasphemous Blades was probably one of my favorite weapons to build around when I first started playing, and I ended up toying with the Vampire Knight a lot. It's a solid build with a lot of great life stealing potential that can really make the player hard to kill. The Taker's Flames skill is a great skill, good for one-shotting pretty anything in a trash mob that is walking in your direction.
On top of that it steals back HP at a massive rate which means that at any time, the player can gain back their health by stepping back and letting fire take care of the rest. We see a boost in all things fire with the new talisman we get from Bayle, but we also see a whole host of fire related skills and weapons to go along with it. The Blasphemous Blade is alive and well in the DLC, and it makes for one of my favorite tank builds of them all.
Playing the Blasphemous Knight Pros and Cons
- The life steal, and the passive life gain that comes with this build make it really hard to take out, especially if the player is willing into faith for their healing incantations.
- Blasphemous Blade is one of the more powerful greatswords, and it can hit trash enemies for 2k and up on a consistent basis even before reaching the premium build stats.
- Fire can easily be made into a hybrid build for players that want to go into a later Messmer Knight build.
- This build can be a bit squishy at times if you fail the trade off with enemies. It can still take substantial damage, it just heals from it over time too.
Weapon Loadout
1. Blasphemous Blade
- Requirements: 22 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 21 Faith
The Blasphemous Blade is one of the best weapons in the game in general, and it deals plenty of damage with the weapons that it has. This blade is also the crème of the crop when it comes to vampiric weapons and builds, because it heals HP for any fallen enemy while it's being held, but it also boosts 10% of the total players HP+ 150HP when using the Taker's Flames ability.
That means that the player can literally bring themselves to the brink with skills like Seppuku or summoning a Mimic Tear, then hit trash mobs and enemies for enough damage to restore the health bar in just one or two uses. Even better, this is a build that is quoted for putting something like 250% increased damage with this sword thanks to the DLC, and that means some really heavy hits that can tank even bosses.
2. Main-Gauche
- Requirements: 7 Strength, 16 Dexterity
The Main-Gauche is a new DLC dagger and the only reason we have it here is for the Seppuku ash of war that can be put on it. We put this on just so we can power up our damage for the max that we can get out of the build.
3. Dragon Communion Seal
- Requirements: 10 Faith, 10 Arcane
The Frenzied Flame Seal also works with this build, but we really just want a weightless seal that doesn't put too much into any stats that we don't really need. Both of these seals have little to no stat requirements, and both have a 0.0 for weight, which means we don't have to worry about having that apply to our 70% equip load rate for heavy weight.
4. Sword of Milos
- Requirements: 15 Strength, 19 Dexterity
The sword of Milos comes equipped with the Shriek of Milos which is great for this build. It has the ability to increase player physical damage by 7.5% with a +5 Strength scaling. It also applies a 15% debuff to enemies for all damage types.
This means that we can weaken our enemies to our damage by 15%, boost our strength scaling and our overall damage a good amount, and we have the option to power stance and hit the enemy with a berserker style build, or sling the Sword of Milos on our back to get a buff from two-handing the Blasphemous Blade with some of our other talismans. Either way, the Sword of Milos makes for a great addition to this build, and it definitely adds an interesting flare for the dramatic.
Gear Loadout
Helms
- Rakshasa Helm- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- White Mask- Increases damage when blood loss occurs in the area
Armor
- Rakshasa Armor- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Royal Remains Armor- Slowly replenishes health over time when HP is low
Gauntlets
- Rakshasa Gauntlets- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Royal Remains Gauntlets- Slowly replenishes health over time when HP is low
Greaves
- Rakshasa Greaves- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Royal Remains Greaves- Slowly replenishes health over time when HP is low
Extra Essentials
Talismans
- Fire Scorpion Charm- Increases fire damage 12% and damage received by 10%
- Two Handed Sword Talisman- Boots damage of weapons when they are wielded with two hands
- Godskin Swaddling Cloth- increases HP on successive hits
- Talisman of the Dread- Raises the potency of magma by 14%
- Godfrey Icon- Increases charged skills and spells by 15%
- Blade of Mercy- Increases damage dealt on successful critical strikes
- Talisman of Lord's Bestowal- Increases poise by 54% after drinking from a flask of tears.
- Shard of Alexander-Increases the power of skills by 15%
- Lord of Blood's Exultation- Increases damage dealt whenever blood loss occurs in th vicinity
Spells
- Golden Vow- Increases damage dealt by 15% and reduces damage taken by 10%
- Flame, Grant Me Strength- Boosts physical and fire damage by 20%
- Howl of Shabriri- Dramatically increases attack but also causes madness buildup and draws the attention of enemies
- Bestial Vitality- Slowly restores HP over time
- Blessing's Boon- Slowly restores HP over time
Stats
- 35-50 Vigor
- 30-45 Mind
- 30-35 Endurance
- 50-80 Strength
- 50-80 Dexterity
- 9-18 Intelligence
- 50-80 Faith
- 9-25 Arcane
2. Eochaid Dancer
What is the Eochaid Dancer
The early Elden Ring gave us a lot of good content and that included the powerful two weapons, Regalia of Eochaid and Maras' Executioner Sword. These come equipped with a powerful dancing magic skill called the Eochaid's Dancing Blade, and it throws the swords around with magical damage to scythe and drill through the enemies.
Thanks to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, we don't just see the sword, we also get a brand new armor set called the dancer set that sends this skill and these weapons through the roof. This is a greatsword build, so we're going to focus on the greatswords today, and that means the Marais' Executioner Sword. This bad boy hits for huge amounts of damage, and with the new talismans and the new dancer set, we see even more damage coming into play as we dance through the new DLC bosses.
Playing the Eochaid Dancer Pros and Cons
- Maxed out, this build has consistently been shown to deal anywhere from 5k-32k damage when drilling into the enemies. It can one-shot almost anything that it needs to and take down bosses fast.
- This build has low poise, so it can suffer from attack interruptions on a frequent basis if an enemy doesn't get stunned, like a large for or a boss.
- The Dancer set is light armor which means getting hit can hurt a fair bit.
- There are several weapons that can benefit from the dancing buffs of the Dancer's armor which means that the player can try different weapons at a later date, or keep one as a strong backup.
- This build focuses on dealing a good amount of physical damage with the Eochaid Dancing Blade skill and that means that it can be used on almost any boss in the game including the Elden Beast.
Weapon Loadout
1.Marais Executioner Sword
- Requirements: 24 Strength, 14 Dexterity, 23 Arcane
The Marais Executioner's Sword is probably one of the best arcane and strength scaling greatswords in the game, and it's usually in the list for the top 5 overall greatswords that are offered by the game. Not only does it have a powerful medium-range ability that throws the blade, it also does so with a corkscrew attack that hits for a ridiculous amount of damage before completing the combo with a heavy slash.
When I say heavy damage, I mean the Marai's Executioner's Sword is consistently shown to deal anywhere from 12K damage upwards of 32K in the showcasing videos that float around the Youtube Elden Ring build community. Come to think of it, that's exactly why I picked up the weapon in the first place, since I otherwise avoided that part of the map for a while.
If you've already gotten this weapon for a build you're in luck because really this build can be re-skinned as several different types of play, but the Dancer's Garb set is the reason that we like this weapon in the DLC, giving us an extra 10% in damage when wearing the full set. That brings the total potential that this build can pull off with its special ability up to an extra 150% damage put into it. That will usually do the trick.
2. Frenzied Flame Seal
- Requirements: N/A
The Frenzied Flame seal is a powerful seal that requires no stat requirements to use and scales well. We have it for the light-weight needs and the fact that it works with the Howl of Shabriri, but the Dragon Communion seal is just as good and it scales specifically with faith and arcane, which means the higher arcane is never a bad thing.
3. Main-Gauche
- Requirements: 7 Strength, 16 Dexterity
The Main-Gauche is a new DLC dagger and the only reason we have it here is for the Seppuku ash of war that can be put on it. We put this on just so we can power up our damage for the max that we can get out of the build.
Gear Loadout
Helms
- Dancer's Hood- Enhances dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Rakshasa Helm- Boosts all damage dealt and Received by 2%
- White Mask- Increases damage whenever there is blood loss near the player
Armor
- Dancer's Dress- Enhances dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Rakshasa Armor- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
Gauntlets
- Dancer Bracer- Enhances dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Rakshasa Gauntlets- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
Greaves
- Dancer's Trousers- Enhances dancing attacks by 2.5%
- Rakshasa Greaves- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
Extra Essentials
Talismans
- Godfrey Icon- Boosts charged skills and attacks by 15%
- Shard of Alexander- Boosts skills by 15%
- Millicent's Prosthesis- Boosts dexterity and damage from successive strikes
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia- Boosts damage of successive strikes
- Lord of Blood's Exaltation- Increases damage dealt when blood loss occurs in the vicinity
- Godskin Swaddling Cloth- Increases health on each successive hit
Spells
- Golden Vow- Increases damage dealt by 15% and reduces damage received by 10%
- Howl of Shabriri- Causes substantial madness buildup but boosts attack extensively while drawing enemies to attack the player
- Flame, Grant Me Strength- Boosts physical and fire damage by 20%
Stats
- 50 Vigor
- 25-35 Mind
- 30-35 Endurance
- 65-80 Strength
- 25-50 Dexterity
- 9-18 Intelligence
- 33 Faith
- 40-80 Arcane
1. Rellana's Spellknight Build
What is Rellana's Spellknight
The dlc gave us some of the best new weapons, and one of the cremes of the crop was the Rellana's Twin Blades. This beauty of a light greatsword is that it's actually two blades for the price of an 8 lbs weapon. That's two light greatswords, with the normal sword power stance move set, for the weight of an average sword, and the power of heavy thrusting swords.
These swords come with the fact that the DLC also gave us a new staff, the Staff of the Great Beyond, which turns this into one of the most highly buffed builds in the game for a spellblade. Not only do we have all the Benefits of Golden Vow, Howl of Shabriri, and Flame, Grant Me Strength in this build, we also get the Terra Magica sorcery and all the other good sorceries that make any spellblade build a staple. Once again, all because we have a great new tool in the DLC that can be held in the offhand without sacrificing any of the needs of the build to dual wield.
Playing the Rellana Spellknight Pros and Cons
- The Twin Blades is an upgrade on old builds such as the Sword Sage, which used the Sword of Night and Flame. This build can be created simply by adjusting the Sword of Night and Flame to the off-hand, and the Rellana's Twin Blades to the main hand.
- The player is spoiled for choice with the new fire and magic damage options. Now We have Comet Azur on a stick with a flame slash for close offensive, a fire cyclone for AOE, and ranged multi-fire versions of the Transient Moonlight skill.
- This build has a lot of stat requirements, since it's best to scale it evenly on Dexterity, Faith, and Arcane. If we use the thrusting shield, and want to boost all our stats for the best effect, we need Strength as well as Mind for the large FP cost of skills.
- This is a very technical build that requires a properly organized spell slot, and the understanding of what is needed to be played and when.
- Not all of the buffs for this build can apply to all of the damage. It can be hard to universally buff the fire damage and the magic damage at the same time, since spells like Flame, Grant Me Strength boost only physical or fire damage, while spells like Terra Magica only buff the magic damage dealt by these weapons while standing within the sigil.
Weapon Loadout
1. Rellana's Twin Blades
- Requirements: 13 Strength, 16 Dexterity, 16 Intelligence, 16 Faith
Rellana's Twin Blades consistently made the top of the list for the best new weapons in the DLC, and for good reason. The weapons that we do get hit harder than normal swords, pair well, don't require an offhand weapon to dual-wield, and they are astonishingly light for the fact that it's two swords. We also get an upgraded version of one of the strongest original weapons of the base game, with updates to the skills that made that weapon stronger.
Also, truth be told, the skills are a lot faster than the original Sword of Night and Flame and that just makes it easier to hit the enemies that used to try and wipe me out before they hit me. I love having Comet Azur on a stick, but the wind up time for the build has often left me on the receiving end of some bad damage trades for that buildup.
2. Sword of Night and Flame
- Requirements: 12 Strength, 12 Dexterity, 24 Intelligence, 24 Faith
The Sword of Night and Flame was arguably one of the best weapons in the base game, and it came with one of the strongest sorceries as a special skill, on top of the fire damage which was good for clearing trash mobs. The weapon's still one of the best, and when we put it in our off hand, we add an extra magic heavy skill and an extra fire close range skill that make for a really well rounded set of options.
3. Staff of the Great Beyond
- Requirements: 7 Strength, 25 Intelligence, 25 Faith
There is nothing that can be said about this staff more than the fact that it has one of the best special skills of any staff or seal in the game. It doesn't buff anything up, but it does let you cast both sorceries and incantations with the same tool. That means that we get all the best parts of the Paladins and the Spellblades in one build now without having to worry about swapping around between different gear in the fight. It also scales really well with faith and intelligence, and that means that it naturally fits into this build, which has to focus on both.
4. Carian Thrusting Shield
- Requirements: 17 Strength, 13 Dexterity, 15 Intelligence
The Carian Thrusting Shield is one of the best new shields in the game, and it comes with a high offensive ability that was used for one of the earliest DLC shield bash builds. That on its own gives us the ability to add an extra layer of defense and offense to the build, but it also gives us an upgrade to the Carian Knight's Shield which was the original best shield to use for the build. It's on the heavy side, so it may just be a decision to leave the shield off the build, or you may keep it around to turn this into something of a hoplite build, either way, it's a great shield to consider for the defensive side of the build.
Gear Loadout
Helms
- Spellblade's Hat- Increases magic and frost damage by 2%
- Rakshasa Helm- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Rellana's Helm- Aesthetic choice for the build
Armor
- Spellblade's Traveling Attire- Increases magic and frost damage by 2%
- Rakshasa Greaves- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Rellana's Armor- Aesthetic choice for the build
Gauntlets
- Spellblades Gloves- Increases magic and frost damage by 2%
- Rakshasa Gauntlets- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Rellana's Gauntlets- Aesthetic choice for the build
Greaves
- Spellblade's Trousers- Increases magic and frost damage by 2%
- Rakshasa Greaves- Increases damage dealt and damage received by 2%
- Rellana's Greaves- Aesthetic choice for the build
Extra Essentials
Talismans
- Fire Scorpion Charm- Increases fire damage by 12% and damage received by 10%
- Magic Scorpion Charm- Increases magic damage by 12% and damage received by 10%
- Shard of Alexander- Boosts the effects of skills 15%
- Rellana's Cameo- Boosts the power of attacks after holding a stance for longer than 2 seconds
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman- Boosts physical damage negation by 20%
- Talisman of Lord's Bestowal- Boosts poise by 54% after drinking from a flask of tears
- Blade of mercy- Boosts attacks after critical hits.
- Carian's Filigreed Crest- Reduces FP cost by 20%
Spells
- Golden Vow- Boosts damage 15% and reduces damage taken by 10%
- Flame, Grant Me Strength- Boosts physical and fire damage by 20%
- Night Comet- Fires semi-invisible magic bolts at the enemy at rapid rates
- Ranni's Dark Moon- absorbs enemy spells and deals heavy magic damage and frostbite buildup to the enemy.
- Terra Magica- Increases magic damage dealt while within the circle by 22.5%
- Carian Phalanx- Summons twelve floating blades above the player's head to act as a defense
Stats
- 35-50 Vigor
- 35-50 Mind
- 30 Endurance
- 50-65 Strength
- 65-80 Dexterity
- 80 Intelligence
- 80 Faith
- 18- 25 Arcane
Conquest and Legacy
Greatswords are, well, great. There's no two ways about it, Elden Ring seems to be a huge fan of the mythical sword genre, so we see more swords of different types than any other weapons in the game. For me, that means awesome anime and fantasy level gaming builds that can cheese just about every opponent with the best big bad blades the Lands Between and Shadow Lands have to offer.
