ELDEN RING Introduction Part 5 - Build Crafting
Now that you have a better understanding of stats and softcaps, it’s time to use that knowledge to create a build for your character.
Building new characters is one of the most fun things in ELDEN RING because you have a huge amount of variety in your approach to the game. Keep in mind you can also “re-spec” or reset your stats multiple times per playthrough, so feel free to try out different things and find something that works!
The Meta Level
Before we get too in-depth into builds, let’s review something we call a “meta level.” In ELDEN RING and past Souls games, there is a connectivity range for players that are online. This range is roughly your level +/- 10 levels +/- 10% of your level, but will vary slightly depending on the type of multiplayer you’re doing (co-op or pvp). It’s also important to note that this connectivity range only applies to playing with other random players. If you’re using a password, a max level character could connect to a brand new one, so friends can always play together if they want for both PvP and Co-op.
To break it down better, a player at 150 could summon players ranging from 125 to 175 for Co-op and could invade players between 135 and 185 for PvP. Due to this, a lot of players try to avoid going too high in their levels so that they can always connect with other players.
In addition, this helps promote build diversity in PvP as a player at 150 could be a mage with some basic weapons and some armor, whereas a mage at 300 could be a mage that can use a colossal weapon and the heaviest armors in the game. The idea of staying at a lower-level forces you to make sacrifices, which then gives your build more of a clear identity vs. becoming a “do-it-all” type of character.
After beating the final boss, players have the option to begin something known as New Game+ (NG+), which allows you to go back to the beginning of the game while bringing along all the equipment you’ve obtained throughout a playthrough. This allows you to refight bosses and re-experience dungeons, but with a high-level character. Players that decide to continue onto NG+ will likely continue leveling, hence the meta level is primarily important to players that want to focus on PvP.
There’s also not just one meta level, but multiple levels that players try to stay around for connectivity with others. Some common levels players in the community have shown for support for include 150, 125, and 100.
Build Example
Jumping into the discussion of creating a build, we’re going to discuss a lower-level build for progression and then a higher-level meta build at 150. Your starter class will naturally evolve into your first build, which makes it useful in the early portions of the game, but by the time you’re approaching level 50, you’ll likely already find yourself deviating from what your starter class was. The most important thing for making a build is having a clear vision of what you want to do. Do you want to be a Paladin character casting holy spells? Maybe a warrior that fast attacks with dual wield, or perhaps a mage in robes casting devastating spells? Once you have an idea of what you want to play as, the next important piece is to pick a weapon or spells that fit that playstyle.
For the purpose of our low level build we’re going to start as a Vagabond and aim for level 50. Early on we can get the Golden Halberd from the Tree Sentinel and let’s say we want to use that. This weapon requires 30 STR, 14 DEX, and 12 FTH. Now that’s a big stat spread early on, but there’s some things we can do to help mitigate that.
Looking at the talismans we can pick up a Radagon’s Scarseal very early in the game. This is going to increase VIG/END/STR/DEX all by 3 points each while causing us to take a bit more damage, which is a worthwhile trade-off early on to hit those stats you'll need. We also want to keep the Vagabond armor on since it’s a little beefier, so let’s use an Arsenal Charm in our 2nd talisman slot which will increase our total equipment load. We also want to use a Brass Shield early on since it has 100% physical damage reduction when blocking and it’s gold, so it matches my halberd.
Starting at level 30, we could target 27 Vigor, 14 Endurance, 17 Strength, 13 Dexterity, and 12 Faith. We’ll leave MND/INT/ARC all at their base levels for now. When you take those stats, plus the gains from our talismans we’re at 30 Vigor, 17 Endurance (which is a medium roll with the Arsenal boost), 20 Strength (which is enough if we’re two-handing our halberd), 16 Dexterity and 12 Faith. We now have enough stats to use this massive halberd even as low as level 30.
We don’t stop leveling here though so we’re going to aim to put 10 more points into Strength, and 10 points into Vigor. With those additions we’d be at level 50, and we’d have Vigor up to that first softcap of 40 and Strength would be high enough to swing the Golden Halberd one-handed instead of needing both.
To go even further, let’s say we want to start using some buffs and lightning spells to further progress the Paladin theme. We can start adding points into Mind for more FP, Faith for casting spells or buffs, and a bit more Endurance so you can attack and block for longer. This could continue all the way up into the higher levels where we become a cool and flashy Paladin casting lightning and healing spells with a giant halberd.
150 Build
When it comes to making a build at the end of the game, your starter class will be mostly irrelevant as once you have the runes to reach 150, any starter class can reach the same targeted stats within +/- 5 levels of one another.
Now for the build in question, let’s make an upgrade to our previously described Paladin build. We’ve fallen in love with Faith at this point and we want our spells to hit as hard as possible and use some really strong weapons we’ve found. We’re going to use the same Vagabond class as our template.
For this build we want to work with the Blasphemous Blade, a really strong Faith weapon from one of the bosses. This requires 22 STR/15 DEX/21 FTH. We also want to be able to do major damage with our incantations, so we’re going to target Faith as our main stat. We’re going to use the Cleanrot Armor, Greaves, and Gauntlets because it looks great with decent defense, and we’ll couple it with the Navy Hood which matches quite nicely and has the benefit of slightly increasing the MND stat.
We’ll go with the Man-Serpents Shield to match the golden look and providing a small shield for faster parries, and an Erdtree Seal, which has the best Incant scaling at 80 Faith. As for Talismans, we’re going for Erdtree Favor +2 giving up more Vigor, Stamina, and Equip Load, the Great-Jar’s Arsenal (drastically increasing our max carry weight), the Flock’s Canvas Talisman (a flat boost to all our incantations) and the Godfrey Icon (which will increase the damage of any incantations we charge).
*sidenote* (It’s important to note that many players like to prioritize what we call “Elden Bling” or “Fashion Souls” at meta builds, because looking great while having decent defense is more important than having the best defense but looking like a clunky bowling bowl).
With all our gear in place it’s time to target our stats. VGR at 55, MND at 26, END at 15, STR at 22, DEX at 15, FTH at 80, and INT/ARC at base. With these stats and our boosts from talismans and gear choices we end at the following:
1886 Health which is enough to survive the strongest of attacks, 158 FP which is plenty for our powerful casts, enough Endurance for a medium roll, STR/DEX meeting weapon requirements, and then a 351 incant scaling on our talisman, which means our incantations will do massive damage, and on average we’re around 25% damage mitigation across the board.
We now have a Faith build capable of doing ludicrous amounts of damage via our incantations, and we can use the powerful Blasphemous Blade as a primary weapon, making us a Faith build that would terrify most bosses.
Additional Sample Builds
Depending on how you prefer to play, builds are flexible and Stat points should be added to either maximize your strengths or minimize your weaknesses. If you find yourself dying very quickly, raising Vigor will benefit your playstyle, or if you want to cast more spells, increasing Mind will help.
Early Mage Build (Level 50)
Weapon: Meteorite Staff (6 STR, 18 INT)
Spells: Glintstone Pebble (10 INT)/ Rock Sling (18 INT), Carian Slicer (18 INT)
VIG: 20-30
MND: 15-20
END: Enough for Medium Roll
STR: Enough for Equipment
DEX: 10-15
INT: 30-40
It is recommended to first aim for about 20 Vigor and 20 Intelligence, and then adding points based on your experience. If you enjoy slinging spells from afar, increasing your INT and MND early on will help you clear areas. At the same time, if you like getting close and personal using Carian Slicer/Piercer, adding more VIG and END will help you out more at the start.
Late Game Mage Build (Level 150)
Weapons: Crystal Staff (8 STR, 48 INT), Carian Regal Scepter (8 STR, 10 DEX, 60 INT), Lusat’s Glintstone Staff (10 STR, 52 INT, +50% FP Cost Increase)
VIG: 40-60
MND: 30-45
END: Enough for Medium Roll
STR: Enough for Equipment
DEX: 25-45
INT: 60-80
Early Strength Build (Level 50)
Weapon: Zweihander (19 STR, 11 DEX), Greataxe (30 STR, 8 DEX)
VIG: 20-30
END: 20-30, Enough for Medium Roll
STR: 20-30
DEX: Enough for Equipment
Initially, getting your Vigor and Endurance up to a sufficient level will help more than increasing your Strength at the start of the game, because weapon upgrades can make up for any damage deficiency from your stats. Increasing END will also let you wear heavy armor, which will synergize well with your early Vigor investment.
Late Game Strength Build (Level 150)
Weapon: Giant-Crusher (60 STR), Ruins Greatsword (50 STR, 15 INT)
VIG: 40-65
END: 30-55, Enough for Medium Roll
STR: 55-80
DEX: Enough for Equipment
INT: Enough for Equipment
FTH: 25-35 (Optional)
Due to diminishing returns and softcaps, investing too many points into a stat can lead to smaller and smaller benefits. As a result, it is sometimes helpful for melee characters to put some points into Faith in order to take advantage of various buffs, like Golden Vow (FTH 25) or a Fortification Incant like Black Flame’s Protection (FTH 30), which will give you a temporary, but significantly greater buff, than if you invested those same Stat points into more Strength.
Early Dexterity Build (Level 50)
Weapon: Uchigatana (11 STR, 15 DEX), Falchion (9 STR, 13 DEX)
VIG: 20-30
END: Enough for Medium Roll
STR: Enough for Equipment
DEX: 20-30
Early on, increasing your Vigor and Dexterity equally will give you a good balance of survivability and damage to make it through your journey. As you approach the Level 50 mark, you should have enough points also to meet any Strength, Endurance, or Mind demands that might come up. However, Dexterity builds offer a lot of variation in the late game, and figuring out what kind of playstyle you enjoy early on will allow you to use these extra points to start adjusting your Build sooner rather than later.
Late Game Dexterity Build (Level 150)
Weapon: Moonveil (12 STR, 18 DEX, 20 INT), Hand of Malenia (16 STR, 48 DEX)
VIG: 40-60
MND: 23-30
END: Enough for Medium Roll
STR: Enough for Equipment
DEX: 55-80
INT: 40-50 (Optional)
ARC: 45 (Optional)
Dexterity Builds have a lot of options, depending on your preferred playstyle. Pure Dexterity builds can rely on ranged attacks with bows or just DEX scaling to deal a lot of damage very quickly. However, they can also focus on Status Effects, which would benefit from adding points into Arcane (for Blood Loss and Poison) or Intelligence (for Frostbite). With so many options, it is easy to spread yourself out too thin, so focusing on one or two Stats can help your character be as powerful as possible.
Larval Tear
Lastly, there is an option about halfway through the game that will allow you to re-spec your character. While this requires a rare item and access to a certain NPC, you should feel free to experiment with your build and try out different strategies to match your own preferred playstyle.
Conclusion
Before we set you on your journey through The Lands Between, there’s one last incredibly important thing that we’d like to mention. Have fun. At the end of the day games are meant to be entertaining, and we sincerely hope that you find yourself enjoying your time in ELDEN RING.
While we covered a lot of concepts in this guide including stats, building a character, combat specifics, and gameplay tips, we’d like to think one of the best parts of ELDEN RING and other Souls games is the community and the support that you can find in others. Don’t be afraid to summon in someone for help if you’re stuck or look up a guide on a zone you’re struggling with. Regardless of the approach you decide to take, this is YOUR adventure and whatever way you find yourself enjoying it the most is how it should be played. Take care!
About our Guest Content Creator
FightinCowboy is a content creator with a focus on detailed walkthroughs for Souls games to help gamers of all levels. He started on YouTube almost 10 years ago and has created Let's Plays and Walkthrough content that have been watched by millions of people around the world.