Elden Ring: The generally best build currently – This is how you play it

Since its release, Elden Ring has changed significantly with new patches. The meta has shifted. Old builds that were strong at launch are now considered weak. Therefore, we show you the overall best build and how to play it.

In Elden Ring, there are many builds, but none is as versatile as a Str/Faith build. The build we will present not only uses the strongest weapons from our tier list and the strongest summons in the game. It also offers the most adaptable and versatile gameplay in Elden Ring.

With this build, you can easily master any situation in the game. All without constant respecing. It is a build that relies on the attributes Strength and Faith, the so-called Str/Faith build.

We will explain to you why this build is so good, in what versatile forms you can play it, and how to play it correctly. Because the build excels even when you primarily bash enemies with your blunt weapons.

How to level up properly for this build

Why is this build so strong? The Str/Faith build equally focuses on Strength and Faith. This covers several of the best categories in the game:

• Weapons that require Faith generally also scale with Strength – Such a build harmonizes perfectly
• Faith additionally possesses the best buff summons and debuffs in the game – This allows you to strengthen not only your surroundings and yourself but also weaken your enemies
• The strongest weapons in the meta, such as the Blasphemous Blade, Maliketh’s Black Blade, or the Vicar’s Longhorn can be easily swapped out to prepare for each boss
• The recommended equipment is lightweight, has the minimum requirement for balance, and ensures that you don’t falter after every hit
• The build allows you to use and swap many weapons
• Several great weapons can be combined for more flexibility and DPS
• The best weapons for the build utilize Darksmithing Stones, which makes weapon upgrades significantly cheaper, faster, and easier.

How do I level up best for this build? Although Strength and Faith are your most important attributes in a Str/Faith build, you should not underestimate the importance of the attributes Vigor, Mind, and Endurance.

These are the attributes, and this is what they do:

• Vigor (Vitality):  Vitality influences your health points and affects fire resistance and poison immunity.
• Mind (Focus):  Mind influences FP (Mana) and focus-related resistance. Important for magic and sorcery builds.
• Endurance:  Increases your character’s stamina and physical defense. Particularly important for melee fighters, as stamina enables dodging and blocking.
• Strength:  Required to wield heavy weapons. It also increases the attack power of weapons that scale with Strength.
• Dexterity:  Required to wield advanced weapons. It also increases the attack power of weapons that scale with Dexterity. Shortens casting time for spells, mitigates fall damage, and makes it harder to fall off a horse.
• Intelligence (Intellect):  Increases the spell power of Intelligence-scaling spells and improves magic resistance. Also increases how often you can use spells.
• Faith:  Required to perform summons. Also strengthens summons that scale with Faith.
• Arcane (Arcane Energy):  Affects death resistance and certain spells and summons.

Depending on which weapon you wish to use, you should level the attributes according to this priority list. Also, keep in mind that the choice of helmet and talismans can also influence these attributes. We also pay attention to the “soft caps” (you can read more about that on Reddit), meaning the values beyond which investments are hardly worth it:

• If you want to play the best class, you should choose the Wanderer. With its even attribute distribution, it has the best prerequisites to build any build from it. We now explain why our points are distributed as follows.
  • Strength: 45
    • The soft cap is 40. Therefore, we agreed on 45 to endure a little more.
  • Focus: 23
    • Focus is important for this build for three reasons: War ashes, summons, and spirit ashes.
    • With 23 points, you have enough FP to summon the most expensive spirit ash (Tiche of the Black Blade). Furthermore, you have more resources to not constantly need to refill with a flask of crimson tears.
  • Endurance: 25
    • The soft cap for equipment loads is 25. We do not want to go naked into battle, and with this amount, it is possible to equip armor with good balance while still wielding weapons.
  • Strength: 65
    • With 65 points, you are above the second soft cap (55 points) and can deal a bit more damage. Important for wielding weapons that have high Strength scaling.
  • Dexterity: 22
    • Dexterity stands at 22 points to be able to use the God’s Eater Greatsword and the God’s Scalphunter. Two strong weapons for Str/Faith builds.
  • Intelligence: 9
    • Not relevant for this build.
  • Faith: 33
    • With 33 points in Faith, you can use one of the strongest buffs in the game – Shabiri’s Wail. In addition to buffs, this amount of Faith also allows you to use strong summons such as Oh, Flame!, Lightning Strike of the Ancient Dragons, and Lightning Spear of the Ancient Dragons.
  • Arcane: 7
    • Not relevant for this build.

If you want to play PvP in the long run, you should try to keep your character below level 150. In the community, the meta level has settled between 125 and 150.

Because you will only find players in PvP who have a similar level to yours, you will find it hard to locate opponents at a too high of a level. Since you must redistribute all “purchased” levels when respecing, you cannot reduce this investment again – the only salvation here is a brand-new character.

How to find the right weapon for this build

Which weapons does this build use? The question of weapons in this build is perhaps the most exciting. Because you have many different options, all of which are similarly powerful and serve different niches. You have the following options:

• A weapon with Str/Faith scaling and a shield for blocking or parrying.
• A weapon with Str/Faith scaling and a seal in the off-hand.
• Two weapons with Str/Faith scaling of the same category, one in each hand (the so-called “Power Stance”).

Depending on preference, the following weapons are the best:

• The Blasphemous Blade
  • Location: Trade the Blasphemous Echo (Rykard) at the Finger Reader in the Grace Table.
• Maliketh’s Black Blade
  • Location: Trade the Echo of the Black Blade (Maliketh) at the Finger Reader in the Grace Table.
• Vicar’s Longhorn
  • Location: Can be farmed from the Vicar in Leyndell or the Haligbaum.
• Ordovis’ Greatsword
  • Location: Defeat the boss in the dungeon “Tomb of the Hero of Auriza” northwest of Leyndell.
• Siluria’s Root
  • Location: Defeat the boss in “The Depths of the Rooted Depths” near the tree trunk.
• Gods-Eater Greatsword
  • Location: Open the chest in “Holy Tower of Caelid” after the boss.
• Magmalindwurm Scaleward
  • Location: Defeat “Magmalindworm Makar” in “Ruins-Infested Abyss” northwest of the Great Lift of Dectus.
• Finger Seal for Buffs
  • Location: Can be acquired from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Grace Table for 800 runes.

If you are missing one of these special weapons, you can also use standard weapons like the Magma Blade or the God’s Scalphunter. This way, you can also use completely different weapon types than those listed here and, if possible, even outfit them with war ashes.

The perhaps most interesting decision is the one regarding the off-hand:

• With a shield for protection, you can play more cautiously, but you exchange offensive stamina for defensive actions.
• With a parry option, you can brutally punish many opponents, but parrying requires a lot of skill from you and is risky.
• With Power Stance, you deal the highest DPS but are also the most vulnerable. Here you must be able to dodge very well.

If you are looking for a good shield for defense, the Beast Triangular Shield is an excellent choice. For parrying, there is no better option than the small buckler. A brief overview of the best shields can be found here:

A seal must not be missing from the build: If you only want to buff and use your summons for support, the Finger Seal will suffice. However, if you also want to deal damage with your summons, the Seal of the Raging Flame is perfect for Str/Faith builds.

What are the best summons? What would a Str/Faith build be without summons? The wonders actually play a somewhat subordinate role here and are meant to buff you and your teammates. The summons you should definitely use include the following:

• Golden Oath
  • Effect: Increases your damage by 15%. Increases your defense by 10%
    • Location: In a hut at the site of grace “Hut with Corpse Stench” on Mt. Gelmir.
• Shabiri’s Wail
  • Effect: Increases your damage by 25%. Increases the damage taken by 30%.
    • Location: On the second floor of the tower “Tower of the Raging Flame” in a chest, south of the lift of Dectus.

If Shabiri’s Wail is too damaging for you, you can also use Flame, Give Me Strength! or Protection of the Black Flame instead.

There are also offensive summons, but these are somewhat limited and not the focus of the build. However, you can still equip the following:

• Oh, Flame!
• Lightning Spear of the Ancient Dragons
• Lightning Strike of the Ancient Dragons
• Stone of Gurranq
• Insect Threads
• Raging Explosion

Which weapon type is the best? This actually depends on the boss and the enemies you want damage from. Many weapons with Faith have strong effects that benefit you in combat.

Maliketh’s Black Blade or the Black Knife can weaken bosses with their unique talents, drain health over time, and temporarily minimize their health bar.

The Blasphemous Blade is an all-rounder. It handles every enemy, deals massive damage even at a distance, and heals you after each hit with its unique talent.

The Vicar’s Longhorn looks the silliest of all weapons but can especially annihilate huge enemies like dragons or monsters with small bursts in seconds. Practical if you want to attack from a distance.

However, if you prefer fast attacks, the Magma Blade or the Gods Scalphunter would be a better choice. They can deal massive damage in quick succession and also consume little stamina.

How to find the right equipment for the build

What armor should I take? Generally, for every build, pay attention to your balance and the overall weight of your armor.

It is important that you reach at least 51 balance with your armor. If you do not achieve this, you will be knocked back by almost every attack from your opponent and cannot withstand anything.

The weight of your armor also plays a role in dodging and stamina consumption. The heavier your equipment, the heavier the load you carry. So, always try to achieve a medium load and not fall below the balance value of 51. You can thus wear any armor as long as you follow our recommendations.

Which talismans should I take? The choice of talismans can be easily narrowed down. We recommend the following:

• Ritual Sword Talisman
  • Effect: Increases your attack power at maximum HP.
    • Location: Located in a chest after defeating the boss in the ruins of Lux (Altus Plateau).
• Shard of Alexander
  • Effect: Significantly enhances the attack power of talents.
    • Location: Complete Alexander’s quest.

  As a second and third talisman, you can use different talismans depending on which weapon you wield and how you fight. The following are appropriate:

  • Green Turtle Talisman
  • Dragon Greatshield Talisman
  • Fiery Scorpion Talisman
  • Lightning Scorpion Talisman
  • Holy Scorpion Talisman
  • Axe Talisman
  • Claw Talisman
  • Herb’s Canvas Talisman

  All weapons typically use their unique talents, and with these examples, you can increase their damage to the maximum.

  What does your build look like for the start of Shadow of the Erdtree? Do you also use Str/Faith or do you prefer Dex/Int? Feel free to exchange ideas with other users in the comments! If you are looking for more tips, information, and recommendations on Elden Ring from the MeinMMO editorial team, we have an overview here that we update continuously: Elden Ring: All our guides, beginner tips and builds in overview