In this Wuthering Waves Rover Havoc Build Guide we’re going to be covering a dps build, for Havoc version of Main Character. This build focuses on dispatching bosses and and elite enemies as fast as possible, at endgame mode, Tower of Adversity. It has more AOE than say Calcharo, but the main focus is still single target enemies.

Wuthering Waves Rover Havoc Build Guide

Rover is the main character in Wuthering Waves, which you choose (between male and female) at start of the game. You get Rover and all their Sequences (dupes) for free, as in-game rewards. They have five star stats, their ascension materials are also free. So I highly recommend every player to build their Rover, especially at early game while resource are too scarce. Players can’t level up too many characters, or they spread themselves thin. Rover however is the optimal character to level, outside of main team.

The Havoc version obtained at some point in main quest is a pure dps version. And unlike other games, where Main character is merely a decoration, Havoc MC is really a powerhouse. They have cool animation where they floats with their wings while attacking, but also deal potent Havoc damage.

They use Sword, and game have some good free swords to pick from, especially from the five star selector. And due to the nature of Tower of Adversity, that allow swapping gear between different teams; Havoc MC can can share a weapon with another character who’s carrying another team. Danjin is another dps character that uses sword, so you can build both and use one weapon, saving more resources.

Wuthering Waves Rover Havoc Build – Active Skills

Tuneslayer – Basic Attack

Normal Attacks and Heavy Attacks from Basic Attacks is not top priority for Havoc Rover. Reason is, Havoc MC gets enhanced Normal and Heavy Attacks from their Forte. Most of their rotation they spend in ‘Dark Surge’ status, and all their attacks scaling with their Forte.

Player only uses Tuneslayer – Basic Attack to recharge a small portion of the Forte bar. So it’s safe to leave at low level.

Heavy Attacks may also be used to connect to 4th and 5th Normal Attack directly. This is more helpful in recharging the Forte bar.

Wingblade – Resonance Skill

Similar to Basic Attack, the Resonance Skill is replaced with an advanced version through Forte. So leveling skill is up is not important at all.

Though using skill at right time is very crucial for recharging the Forte bar. The skill alone refill 50% of the bar, so it’s optimal to use while the bar is less than half full. Use again while in ‘Dark Surge’ mode, to proc the enchanted version. This deals more damage, but put the skill on long 12 seconds cooldown. So we have to plan our rotation in a way that put this cooldown into consideration.

At S1, Resonance skill gets 30% damage bonus. And at S2, entering Dark Surge mode rests the cooldown of Resonance Skill. So you may use two skills in a row, one normal skill, and one enchanted skill after changing form.

Deadening Abyss – Resonance Liberation

Havoc MC has a massive nuke in their Resonance Liberation. The multiplier on this skill is very high, (up to 1520% at max level). Therefore it’s the second source of damage on Havoc MC main dps build. And the source of damage on a burst build. It give insane damage in very short timeframe, and if planned correctly, enable Rover to be play sub-dps role.

It’s indeed better to use MC in a burst team, with another damage dealer who doesn’t need huge field time. So they add a massive nuke, rather than using a buffer. This is especially true with Verina playing the healer role, since she give team wide buff. Therefore, two dps characters can benefit from Verina buff better than one dps. But even with a normal playstyle, Burst is just a simple damage increase.

The Resonance Liberation costs 125 energy, which is an average cost. To fully charge it in a burst build, you need to plan ahead, and use more Resonance Skill casts, to get energy back. In a normal build though, you cana manage it much easier.

On S4, Resonance Liberation reduces enemy Havoc Resistance for massive 20 seconds. Enabling more damage to Rover and any other Havoc team mate. The Resonance Liberation has 16 seconds cooldown, so in theory, player may keep this debuff up indefinitely.

Wuthering Waves Rover Build – Passive Skills

Umbra Eclipse – Forte Circuit

For Wuthering Waves Rover Build, they live and die with their Forte Circuit. It’s the core mechanic of the build, and it’s the sole biggest source of damage. The skill have everything, self buff, enchanted normal, enchanted heavy, and enchanted resonance skill.

Instead of the standard three stacks Forte that most characters, such as Yangyang and Calcharo has. Havoc MC uses a full ‘Umbra’ bar, that require 100% charging before you can unleash Heavy Attack “Devastation”. This make MC enter a ‘Dark Surge’ mode, where everything in enchanted.

Enchanted Normal Attacks are 5 strings combo, and the main source of dps. Heavy Attacks costs 30 stamina, and can be weaved between normal attack strings. However, the stamina cost and longer animation make them less appealing. Following by a Normal Attack after Enchanted Heavy Attack allow using more versions of Heavy Attack “Thwackblade”. Which is an alternative combo that’s unnecessary complex. There’s also Enchanted dodge counter and Plunge Attack.

Resonance skill is replaced by Resonance Skill Lifetaker, which does more damage. It hits more often than a normal skill, up to 6 hits.

‘Umbra’ can be gained by using any part of Rover’s kit, be it normal attack, resonance skill, or Intro skill. An interesting part about it is also recovering ‘Umbra’ upon using Resonance Skill Lifetaker. So if you have S2, you can strategically use Resonance Skill Lifetaker to extends the duration of ‘Dark Surge’ mode, by regainin some Umbra before it’s totally depleted.

Inherent Skill – Metamorph

A simple 20% Havoc damage bonus while in ‘Dark Surge’ mode. Encourages player to use Resonance Liberation after Heavy Attack “Devastation” and entering ‘Dark Surge’ mode.

Inherent Skill – Bleak Crescendo

In the Dark Surge state, Recover energy every second with Basic Attack. Which helps a lot to use Resonance Liberation on Cooldown, without investing in Energy Recharge.

Rover – Concerto Skills

Intro and Outro skills needs fully charged Concerto energy to cast. They are important to trigger certain Echo Sets bonuses and weapons, And in case of our Wuthering Waves Rover Build, dealing damage, especially with Outro skill.

Instant of Annihilation – Intro Skill

A very simple one hit attack, which is useful for charging Umbra up, and restore Concerto Energy. You can ignore leveling it, as it has low damage modifier even at max level. Your resources yield better gain on other places.

Soundweaver – Outro Skill

Outro skills have fixed numbers, and can’t be leveled up. So Outro skills with good damage modifiers, such as Rover’s, deal a very good damage at early game. All other skills in their kit start at level one, with low modifiers, while the Outro have same modifiers as it would in endgame. So we prefer to use it when applicable.

Havoc MC Outro skill leaves a field that deal Damage every 2 seconds, for 6 seconds. So it continues while off field, but stays in certain spot, and if enemy moves away it can’t hit them anymore.

Rover playstyle and Rotation

There are two playstyles of Rover MC, one is main damage dealer, with prolonged rotation to deal most damage. The other is a quick swap burst dps, where Rover takes minimum field time to deal most dps. In burst playstyle, Rover is used with another damage dealer, and their rotation depends a lot on said damage dealer. Burst playstyle also require Sequence 2 (S2), to reset skill cooldown upon entering Dark Surge mode.

In typical main dps style in Tower of Adversity, Rover enters battle with full energy. Therefore, we swap into Rover ready to use Resonance Liberation. That lead to the following rotation:

• Enter battle with Havoc Rover
• Resonance Skill
• Switch out (Normally, as there’s no Energy for Outro)
• [Perform Support characters rotations for buffs]
• Intro
• Resonance Skill (If your Rover is S2)
• Heavy Attack “Devastation” (Enter Dark Surge mode)
• Resonance Liberation (Biggest damage)
• Echo Skill (Dreamless)
• Resonance Skill (Extends Dark Surge mode)
• Spam Normal Attacks
• Dodge & Counter when needed (Second biggest damage in Dark Surge mode)
• Resonance Skill (After Dark Surge mode ends, to build Umbra for next rotation)
• Outro

Echo skill “Dreamless” must be used within 5 seconds of casting Resonance Liberation. That way, it gets massive 1.5x damage multiplier, and contribute a lot to total damage.

Burst rotation is something similar to the start of the default rotation. But don’t do normal attacks and switch out instead. Spend most time on other damage dealer, and keep track on your mind of Rover Resonance Skill cooldown. When you know Resonance skill is ready to use, switch Rover in, use skill, and switch back to other dps.

Wuthering Waves Havoc Rover Build – Weapons

For this Wuthering Waves Havoc Rover Build, gear is a crucial part, and Weapon is a major part of gearing. Rover dps scales with standard Crit, Attack, and Havoc damage stats. So they cares about a weapon with high ATK, and DMG modifier.

Rover uses Sword, which has some high dps options, accessible for free.

Sword of Night – Three Star

Three star weapons are a choice for player who failed to get any four star dps weapon, and didn’t select any sword from the two selectors they get for free. So it’s a clutch choice, until you get something better.

Sword of Night comes with ATK% stat, and extra Attack for 10 seconds after Intro. decent for Burst style, but drops off in extended rotations.

Lunar Cutter – Four Star

A decent upgrade over three star weapons, if you manage to get from pulls. It comes with Highest base attack among four star weapons, and decent ATK%. On top of that, it has an ATK buff that last 10 seconds upon entering battle and killing enemies.

The stacks reduces every 2 seconds, but regained by killing enemies. So on dps character such as Havoc Rover, you keep these stacks fairly high, and get decent ATK boost.

Commando of Conviction – Four Star

The best four star weapon, if you managed to pull from any banner. It have same stats as Lunar Cutter, but its buff is more consistent. It require an Intro, but lasts for 15 seconds straight, which is enough to pull Havoc MC entire combo.

As long as game doesn’t release enemies that drain Concerto energy nor prevent Intro Skill, this sword will stay top four star dps option. Not even Battle Pass weapon can beat it, and only a five star is better.

Emerald of Genesis – Five Star

The best weapon in Five Star weapon selector, and usually the recommended pick among all other weapons. This five star Sword have a Crit Rate stat, which is so rare among all weapons we can get for free. So the dps increase from it is unmatched on all dps sword characters.

On top of Crit rate, it gives Energy Recharge, ATK%, and has very high base attack. Overall, the dream dps weapon, that can be best in slot for even future characters. Just pick it from Five Star selector, and you will never regret it. Only inconvenience comes with the long time you have to wait to hit Union Level 45 to get your hands on the selector!

Wuthering Waves Rover Build – Stats & Echoes

Similar to Relics from Honkai Star Rail, and Artifacts from Genshin Impact, Echoes in Wuthering Waves Rover Build works as gear. We have five slots to equip echoes, but the difference is, we are not strict to use certain echoes in certain slots.

In total, character have 12 points to distribute among Echoes. Meanwhile, Echoes has three grades, Common (1 cost), Elite (3 cost), Boss (4 cost). So the ideal distribution in endgame is (4,3,3,1,1). However, in certain situations, some other setup is possible. Such as using four slots only with (3,3,3,3) in early game. Or using all five slots, but get more Crit stats from (4,4,1,1,1).

Havoc Rover Top Stats

In this Wuthering Waves Rover Build we aim to get these dps main stats:

• Cost 1: Atk %
• Cost 3: Havoc Damage
• Cost 4: Crit Rate or Crit DMG

The goal of Crit stats is to balance a ratio of 1:2 Crit Rate: Crit Damage bonus stats. So something like 25% Crit Rate : 150% Crit Damage (character sheet shows the base 100% + 50% Crit damage bonus as combined 150%. Therefore, you should always remove 100% from Crit DMG calculations when trying to balance 1:2 ratio).

Havoc Rover get a massive 25% Crit Rate in dark Surge mode at S6, and 24% from five star weapon. So with full optimization, Rover can get enough Crit Rate without any main stat. This frees up main stat to get Crit Damage, increasing overall damage by a lot. (something like 70% Crit Rate : 240% Crit Damage is pretty achievable).

For sub stats, Havoc MC need Crit, ATK, Normal Attack DMG, Resonance Liberation DMG, and Energy Recharge. Energy Recharge is there for convenience, but not mandatory stat on most cases.

Havoc Rover Echo Skill

On top of providing main and sub stats, each Echo provide a skill that can be used in battle. Only one skill can be acquired this way, and it comes from the top Echo on the Echoes page. Havoc MC have special Echo that trigger special damage bonus only when used by Havoc Rover, and not any other character. It has lore reasons, due to certain event in main story.

Such an Echo is Dreamless, a 4 cost, Calamity class, that deals damage 6 times. With 50% damage increase when used within 5 seconds of Havoc MC using Resonance Liberation. I don’t recommend canceling this Echo skill until the animation of the very last (6th) attack, so you don’t miss the higher damage part.

Havoc Rover Echo set

Echoes comes from sets, and some echoes capable of rolling into one of two sets. So it adds another layer of complexity to our Wuthering Waves Havoc Rover Build.

The best choice is five pieces Havoc Set, due to high damage bonus it gives. However, you might use hybrid 2x ATK set, and 2x Havoc set, and use 1x flexible slot. This way, you can pick and choose best main stats with best sub stats more easily.

Havoc Rover Team Composition

Teams in Wuthering Waves consist of three characters, and to build Havoc Rover right, we have to pair two suitable companions. Havoc Rover wants to take a lot of field time (In Typical main carry build), doing prolonged combos. So we need support characters that takes minimum field time, and provide buffs to help them. In a burst build, you can rely on another dps that can sustain themselves (Such as Jianxin, or even Danjin if player can dodge every single enemy hit.

A Healer (Baizhi/Verina), or Self Sustain dps (Jianxin/Danjin)

Havoc MC benefit a lot from dodges and counters, and deal more damage. So in theory they can avoid a lot of enemy attacks, and get away without a healer. Their ability to pair with Danjin, who can drain her own HP, but also restore it, give another chance for try hard player to go without healer.

However, the easier way to play is using a healer. Baizhi is the default healer you get upon making one wish on Beginners Banner in Convene. So just slot her and be done with it. She provide a minor heal on using her skill, and she may give some buffs through healer set. But her Outro skill is similar to Verina, and provide team wide DMG buff. She can also use very good Echo skill that give team wide DMG taken reduction another Damage buff.

Verina is a character you can pick from Five star selector, and she’s the best support in the game. She heals much more than Baizhi, and provide buffs on top of that. As the game is giving us two five star selectors, on top of another random character from Beginner banner, getting Verina is inevitable.

A Suitable Buffer

Havoc MC main source of damage as a main carry is normal attacks. And as burst dps, they go with Resonance Liberation as main focus. So the main buffer that can help them deal a lot of damage is Sanhua, which every player get for free upon five days login at launch. She’s a four star, and cheap to build, she also does some decent damage of her own.

At S6, Sanhua gives another team wide, stacking ATK buff. She’s overall one of the best four star characters to build.

Another choice to build would be one of the five star hybrid dps and buffer, such as Yinlin. Even though Havoc MC doesn’t benefit from Electro Damage bonus, they still get the Resonance Liberation bonus. Yinlin also deals very good damage on her own, on-field and off-field. The adaptive style of Havoc MC synergies with her to a good extent. If you pull Yinlin, but don’t have Calcharo, Havoc MC is next best character to pair with her.

Final Tips

Players starts with Spectro MC, not Havoc one. You only unlock Havoc MC after finishing Act 6 on main story. So beware to not invest in Spectro MC skills, because skill level doesn’t carry over between elements. However, character levels and Ascension carry over.

As of version 1.0, the max Sequence Havoc MC can reach is S2, so we still haven’t unlocked their full potential. yet, they perform as good as five star characters such as Calcharo and Encore. At S6, it’s excepted to perform even better, and be comparable to most limited characters. And they will get even better with a proper Havoc support in the future. This is great for a free guaranteed character, making them the best investment in your account.

To get S2, you have to complete some tasks, such as delivering Sonance Caskets to “Chenpi” in the city.

The post Wuthering Waves Rover Havoc Build Guide appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Elden Ring Claws Build, I’ll be showcasing my Blazing Black Blade Hookclaws build. This versatile setup can be used from the very start of the game and remains effective throughout. Central to this build are the Hookclaws, one of my favorite claw weapons featured in our claws video. I’m excited to dive into the details of this powerful and fun build.

Elden Ring Claws Build – Blazing Blackblade Guide (All Game Build)

In this Elden Ring Build Guide, we’ll be showcasing the Hookclaws weapon for the Blazking Blackblade build. This is an All-Game build. If you’ve been looking for a claws build that shreds enemies so fast that you’d be surprised, then you might want to check this build out.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Equal Charges
• Weapon: Hookclaws
• Shield: n/a
• Armor: Knight Set (Early Playthrough), Maliketh’s Set (Main Armor set for this build)
• Talismans: Fire Scorpion Charm, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Shard of Alexander or Warrior Jar Shard
• Primary Stats: Faith, Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Mind, Endurance
• Skills: Flaming Strike
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame Grant Me Strength
• Crystal Tear: Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear, Thorny Cracked Tear or Greenspill Crystal Tear
• Great Runes: Radahn’s Great Rune

We have over 110 Elden Ring builds. Each one is meticulously crafted to offer unique playstyles, strategies, and experiences, ensuring there’s something for every adventurer in the Lands Between. Whether you seek the raw power of heavy weapons, the finesse of spellcasting, or the versatility of hybrid builds, our collection has you covered. Explore the depths of the game’s mechanics and unleash your full potential with our diverse array of builds.

Elden Ring Claws Build – Blazing Blackblade Guide: Equipment

I prefer the Hookclaws over other claw weapons in Elden Ring for a few reasons. Firstly, you can obtain them early in the game at Stormveil Castle, allowing you to establish this build quickly and use it throughout your playthrough. Secondly, the Hookclaws have the longest reach among the claw weapons, which is crucial when fighting odd-shaped enemies and bosses. While their damage isn’t the highest compared to other claws, the extra reach ensures you hit your targets more consistently, making them highly effective overall.

I’ve equipped the Hookclaws with the Ash of War: Flaming Strike and set it to the Flame Art affinity. You can find Flaming Strike near Redmane Castle, so it’s accessible early in the game. If you can’t get it right away, you can temporarily use another Ash of War like Endure. The key benefit of the Flame Art affinity is meeting the minimum stat requirements for the weapon (8 Strength, 14 Dexterity) while allowing you to maximize Faith, enabling the use of a wide range of incantations.

This build benefits greatly from incantations like Flame, Grant Me Strength, which enhances both physical and fire damage, and Golden Vow, which boosts overall damage. The high Faith scaling also means you can eventually use the Erdtree Seal for even more powerful incantations, though you can use other seals along the way based on your preference.

The build provides substantial weapon damage, further amplified by Flaming Strike’s fire buff. Combined with buffs from Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength, your attack power can soar to around 1,000 or more, especially with stacking buffs from items like the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia. While the main strategy focuses on overwhelming enemies with rapid, high-damage attacks, the build occasionally triggers Hemorrhage, ripping off large chunks of enemy health and making boss fights much easier.

For armor in this build, I recommend Maliketh’s Set. While it’s not available early in the game, you can use the Knight Set from Roundtable Hold, which also provides 51 poise and can be acquired early on. Maliketh’s Armor Set is ideal for late game or New Game Plus due to its excellent stats and visually striking appearance. The combination of flaming claws and the black beast-like armor creates an impressive and intimidating look.

The primary consideration for your armor is achieving at least 51 poise. This threshold allows you to continue your attacks even when taking hits from enemies or bosses, maintaining your attack momentum and maximizing damage output. This resilience is crucial for this aggressive, high-damage build, ensuring you can stay on the offensive without being easily interrupted.

Elden Ring Claws Build – Blazing Blackblade Guide: Talismans & Spells

In terms of talismans, The Fire Scorpion Charm is particularly valuable as it not only boosts fire damage, which synergizes well with the fire aspect of Flaming Strike, but also augments regular attacks, contributing to overall damage output. However, it’s worth noting that using the Fire Scorpion Charm may result in a slight reduction in protective capabilities, which needs to be considered in balancing offense and defense.

To bolster defensive capabilities and ensure survivability during combat, the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman is indispensable. Its ability to provide additional defense enables the character to withstand enemy attacks more effectively, allowing for sustained engagement in combat scenarios. This added protection becomes especially crucial when trading hits with adversaries, as it minimizes the risk of sustaining fatal damage.

The Shard of Alexander talisman plays a pivotal role in maximizing the damage potential of Flaming Strike. By amplifying the fire damage inflicted by Flaming Strike, this talisman significantly enhances the offensive capabilities of the build, making it more potent against enemies. However, its utility primarily depends on the frequency of Flaming Strike’s usage during combat encounters.

Lastly, the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia serves to further elevate the character’s attack power, particularly with successive hits. This talisman synergizes well with the build’s aggressive playstyle, rewarding continuous engagement with increased damage output. While it provides a substantial boost to offensive capabilities, its effectiveness may vary depending on individual combat preferences and strategies.

Ultimately, the selection and combination of talismans should be tailored to suit the player’s preferred playstyle and combat approach. Whether prioritizing offense, defense, or a balanced combination of both, optimizing talisman usage is crucial in maximizing the effectiveness of the build across various combat scenarios.

In terms of spells, the primary focus revolves around Flame, Grant Me Strength and Golden Vow, both of which offer situational benefits. These spells are primarily utilized during boss encounters or challenging combat scenarios rather than during regular exploration. However, the flexibility of the build allows for the incorporation of additional spells or incantations based on individual preferences and playstyle.

With ample Faith allocated within the build, users have the freedom to integrate defensive buffs, offensive spells, or any other desired abilities, provided they align with the build’s attribute distribution and playstyle. While specific spells may not be showcased in the gameplay, the build’s versatility ensures adaptability to diverse combat situations.

Elden Ring Claws Build – Blazing Blackblade Guide: Recommended Attributes Distribution

In terms of attributes, this build prioritizes 50 points in Vigor, 35 in Mind, 25 in Endurance, 8 in Strength, 14 in Dexterity, 16 in Intelligence (though Intelligence isn’t essential), 80 in Faith, and 10 in Arcane. While Intelligence and Arcane aren’t mandatory, they can fulfill spell requirements if desired, such as for spells like Swarm of Flies. My higher Intelligence stems from playing as an Astrologer, but it’s not integral to the build.

• The allocation of 35 points in Mind accommodates the use of buffing spells like Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength, alongside regular use of Flaming Strike. Although these spells are primarily employed during boss encounters, higher Mind can enhance flexibility for hybrid playstyles and provide more FP for regular spell usage.
• Endurance is set at 25 to manage the build’s equipment load, consisting mainly of claws, a seal, armor, and lightweight talismans. While heavy weaponry isn’t part of the loadout, the stamina consumption of the claw combo can be demanding, making higher Endurance beneficial for extended engagements.
• Strength and Dexterity meet the minimum requirements for weapon usage, while Faith is emphasized to maximize the potential of Flame Art and spellcasting capabilities. Ensuring ample stamina reserves is crucial, as the claw combo can quickly deplete stamina, especially during intense boss encounters. This highlights the importance of managing stamina effectively and considering additional investments in Endurance or stamina-boosting talismans.

Elden Ring Claws Build – Blazing Blackblade Guide: Final Tips

Before we conclude, here are some handy tips. Firstly, for enhancing your Flask of Wondrous Physick, consider using a Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear to boost your fire damage. This is particularly effective for augmenting Flaming Strike and the majority of your standard attack spam.

Alternatively, the Thorny Cracked Tear amplifies damage during repeated attacks, similar to Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, making it another beneficial option. Combining both can be advantageous. Additionally, since stamina management can be an issue with this setup, incorporating a Greenspill Crystal Tear for increased stamina or stamina recovery is advisable. Given that stamina depletion often limits your damage output, bolstering stamina reserves can significantly enhance performance.

Regarding Great Runes, Radahn’s stands out as the top choice for this build. It provides increased HP, FP, and stamina, all of which are crucial elements. The extra stamina proves especially invaluable, considering its vital role in sustaining the build’s relentless assault. The additional FP aids in maintaining buffs, while the bonus HP enhances your ability to withstand incoming damage, making Radahn’s an ideal fit.

And that concludes the Blazing Black Blade build. I hope you’ve enjoyed exploring this setup—it’s been a blast crafting these builds. Recently attending an Elden Ring concert has reignited my passion for the game, fueling my excitement for Shadow of the Erdtree. As always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming for Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree so stay tuned for those. If you need help finding the spells, items, or equipment in this build, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check the Elden Ring Map.

The post Elden Ring Claws Build – Blazing Blackblade Guide (All Game Build) appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Elden Ring Fists Build, we’ll explore the Blackguard Build that uses the Clinging Bone fist weapon. This setup is versatile, usable throughout the entire game, and can be initiated early on, thanks to the swift acquisition of the necessary weapons and armor. While obtaining certain talismans may require a bit more time, the core components can be obtained relatively quickly.

Elden Ring Fists Build – Black Guard Guide

This is an All-Game build that takes place after level 150. If you’ve been looking for a fists build that attacks fast and can drain the enemies’ HP then you might want to check this build out.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Equal Charges
• Main Weapon: Clinging Bone
• Alternate Weapon: Maria’s Executioner’s Sword or Regalia of Eochaid
• Shield: Scorpion Kite Shield or Jellyfish Shield
• Armor: Greathlem, Royal Remains Armor, Lionel’s Gauntlets, Royal Remains Greaves
• Talismans: Ritual Sword Talisman, Millicent’s Prosthesis, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia or Winged Sword Insignia, Shard of Alexander or Warrior Jar Shard
• Alternate Talismans: Axe Talisman, Magic Scorpion Charm, Dagger Talisman, Godfrey Icon
• Primary Stats: Faith, Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Mind, Endurance
• Skills: Lifesteal Fist, Eochaid’s Dancing Blade
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame Grant Me Strength
• Crystal Tear: Greenburst Crystal Tear, Thorny Cracked Tear or Spiked Cracked Tear
• Great Runes: Godrick’s Great Rune or Radahn’s Great Rune

We have over 110 Elden Ring builds. Each one is meticulously crafted to offer unique playstyles, strategies, and experiences, ensuring there’s something for every adventurer in the Lands Between. Whether you seek the raw power of heavy weapons, the finesse of spellcasting, or the versatility of hybrid builds, our collection has you covered. Explore the depths of the game’s mechanics and unleash your full potential with our diverse array of builds.

Beginner Builds	Level 50 Builds	Level 100 Builds	Level 150 Builds	Level 150-200 Builds	All Game Builds
Berserker	Champion	Hellfire Herald Scorching Slayer Blasphemous Beastmaster	Dark Knight Blasphemous Herald Golden Champion Black Knife Assassin	Carian Cavalier Sword Saint Slumbering Swordstress Scarlet Spear	Stormblade Bloodhound Kung Fu Katarist Blazing Blackblade Black Guard

Elden Ring Fists Build – Black Guard Guide: Equipment

This build focuses on the Clinging Bone weapon, which I thoroughly enjoyed using in our fists video. Here’s what makes it special and how to acquire it quickly.

To get the Clinging Bone, head to the Village of the Albinaurics in Liurnia of the Lakes. Pick up the Haligtree Secret Medallion (right half), then return to Roundtable Hold, where you’ll be attacked by Ensha. Defeat Ensha to obtain the Clinging Bone and several pieces of the armor set used in this build. This process is quick once you have access to Roundtable Hold. The fastest way to access Roundtable Hold is to reach Margit and let him defeat you. After resting at the Site of Grace, you’ll be teleported to Roundtable Hold. Alternatively, you can ride to Caelid for access.

The Clinging Bone deals physical and magic damage, primarily scaling with Dexterity but also benefiting from Arcane. Among Elden Ring weapons with Dexterity and Arcane scaling or Strength and Arcane scaling that deal physical and magic damage, only two others exist: the Regalia of Eochaid, which is an alternative weapon in this build, and the Marais Executioner’s Sword.

This suggests a connection between these weapons. The Marais Executioner’s Sword seems infused with Eochaid magic from Elemer of the Briar, while the Regalia of Eochaid originates from Eochaid. The Clinging Bone, with its similar damage types and scaling, may also be tied to Eochaid. Notably, Elemer of the Briar uses the Lifesteal Fist attack, hinting that the Clinging Bone might belong to a significant figure from Eochaid.

Now, let’s dive into what makes the Clinging Bone an excellent choice for this build.

What I love about Lifesteal Fist, discovered during my research for the Fists video, is its effectiveness against humanoid enemies. This skill grabs onto a wide range of enemies, bypassing blocks with a short cooldown of two to three seconds, making it useful but not spammable.

Lifesteal Fist is especially effective against tough enemies like Cleanrot Knights, Banished Knights, and Crucible Knights. It deals significant damage and heals you for 30% of your max health with each successful grab. Each tick of damage from Lifesteal Fist also contributes to triggers like Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, maintaining your buffs during the skill’s animation.

The standout feature is its predominantly magic damage—about 80-90%—with the rest being physical. This contrasts with the weapon’s usual physical damage output. Using items like the Magic Scorpion Charm can boost Lifesteal Fist’s damage, though it won’t enhance regular attacks much. The Magic-Shrouded Cracked Tear can also increase Lifesteal Fist’s damage, but it’s less useful in regular gameplay since Lifesteal Fist isn’t often used against bosses. The Shard of Alexander can increase the weapon skill’s damage without the drawback of increased incoming damage from the Magic Scorpion Charm.

This weapon allows for various play styles. You can dual wield it for rapid attacks, effective against some bosses, or use it with a shield for block countering, as Fist weapons deal significant stance damage, allowing you to stance break enemies regularly. In boss fights, stance breaking can enable switching to dual wielding for a flurry of attacks or to the Regalia of Eochaid for its Corkscrew attack, dealing massive damage. This build offers incredible flexibility, letting you block counter, dual wield, use Lifesteal Fist on susceptible enemies, and switch to the Regalia of Eochaid for bosses where Lifesteal Fist isn’t effective, thanks to the similar scaling of both weapons.

For shields, I use the Scorpion Kite Shield due to its low Strength requirements, aligning well with our build’s minimal Strength investment. It also matches the Blackguard theme and looks fantastic. Alternatively, you can use the Jellyfish Shield. Though it requires more points in Strength, it buffs your damage when using the one-handed Clinging Bone or Regalia of Eochaid. You can then switch to dual-wielding for Lifesteal Fist, gaining extra damage with your one-handed attacks. Ultimately, any shield with manageable Strength requirements can work, as using one with high Strength needs would hinder your melee damage.

For armor, I use the Royal Remains set, but I mix in a few pieces to exceed the 51 poise breakpoint, as the full set only offers around 44 poise. This adjustment helps avoid the need for the Bull-Goat’s Talisman, which is essential to prevent interruption during the frequent attack chains in this build. Given the build’s reliance on multiple talismans, freeing up a talisman slot by achieving the poise breakpoint through armor adjustments is crucial. This way, I can leverage the many beneficial talismans available for this build without compromising on poise and getting interrupted mid-combat.

Elden Ring Fists Build – Black Guard Guide: Talismans

For talismans, I use the Ritual Sword Talisman, which is excellent for this build, even though you might trade damage occasionally. Lifesteal Fist replenishes 30% of your health, making it easy to top off and maintain full health for extra damage.

Another key talisman is Millicent’s Prosthesis, ideal because our primary weapons scale with Dexterity. It boosts Dexterity and increases attack power with successive hits, benefiting both weapons.

The Winged Sword Insignia or Rotten Winged Sword Insignia are also great choices, as they boost attack power with rapid attacks, particularly useful with two-handed attacks or the Corkscrew weapon skill of Regalia of Eochaid.

Additionally, I use Shard of Alexander or Warrior Jar Shard, depending on game progress, to boost the damage of Lifesteal Fist and the Corkscrew attack of Regalia of Eochaid.

There are several alternative talismans that you can use based on your play style. The Axe Talisman is beneficial if you one-hand the Clinging Bone frequently, as it provides extra damage on charged heavy attacks.

The Magic Scorpion Charm increases the damage of Lifesteal Fist and the Corkscrew attack of Regalia of Eochaid, though it comes with the downside of receiving extra damage.

The Dagger Talisman boosts critical damage, which is helpful when block countering and stance breaking enemies.

The Godfrey Icon is useful when you plan to use Regalia of Eochaid’s weapon skill in a boss fight, as it provides a boost to charged attacks.

The talismans offer flexibility and can be swapped based on the situation. For enemies like Crucible Knights, leaning into Lifesteal Fist is advantageous, making Shard of Alexander beneficial. For other enemies, like Black Blade Kindred, where Lifesteal Fist isn’t used, Shard of Alexander isn’t necessary unless you’re using Regalia of Eochaid. Adjust talismans on the fly to maximize effectiveness in different combat scenarios.

Elden Ring Fists Build – Black Guard Guide: Recommended Attributes Distribution

For this build, the attribute distribution is as follows: 50 Vigor, 20 Mind, 30 Endurance, 12 Strength, 15 Dexterity, 16 Intelligence, 7 Faith, and 50 Arcane. Note that you don’t need any Faith or Intelligence for this build. However, if you plan to take this build further into New Game Plus or New Game Plus Plus, consider investing some points in Faith to utilize Golden Vow and possibly cast some incantations. Given the high Arcane, using the Dragon Communion Seal effectively becomes an option.

Increasing Vigor in New Game Plus is advisable because Lifesteal Fist restores 30% of your max health, meaning more health translates to more healing. Since you frequently trade damage with your fists, having more health is beneficial. The build features a low amount of Mind as Lifesteal Fist and Regalia of Eochaid’s weapon skill aren’t used frequently, so a high Mind stat isn’t necessary. You can also skew your flasks more toward FP, relying on Lifesteal Fist for healing.

Endurance is set to 30 to allow for a decent armor set, the ability to carry a shield, two weapons, and the Talismans, while also ensuring you have enough stamina to avoid running out when dual-wielding the Clinging Bone and spamming attacks. The 12 Strength is to meet the requirements of the Scorpion Kite shield. If you opt for the Jellyfish shield, you’ll need 20 Strength. Different shields will require different Strength levels, such as 14 for the Brass shield.

Dexterity and Arcane are both crucial for this build, with Dexterity set at 55 and Arcane at 50. Both stats scale roughly the same for the Clinging Bone, with Dexterity slightly ahead. However, Arcane is essential for Lifesteal Fist damage, whereas Dexterity is more focused on melee damage. Prioritizing Arcane is beneficial, especially if you plan to add some Faith and cast spells. This way, you’ll get the best of both melee and Lifesteal damage.

Elden Ring Fists Build – Black Guard Guide: Final Tips

For the Flask of Wondrous Physick, you have several viable options. Using the Magic Scorpion Charm will boost Lifesteal Fist damage, but it’s not particularly useful during boss fights where magic damage is limited. While it’s beneficial for the weapon skill of the Regalia of Eochaid, it’s generally better to use the tier that increases damage with multiple hits, which is effective regardless of your setup. Stamina Recovery is another good choice, as this build tends to consume a lot of stamina. Additionally, enhancing Charged Attacks can be beneficial since you will use Clinging Bone’s Charged Heavy Attacks to stagger bosses before switching to dual-wield attacks.

For Great Runes, Godrick’s Great Rune is fantastic for this build. It boosts six of the eight stats you need, allowing you to potentially reduce Strength or use a better shield. Radahn’s Great Rune is also a good option, providing more FP, HP, and Stamina—all valuable for this build.

So that wraps up our Blackguard build. As always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming for Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree so stay tuned for those. If you need help finding the spells, items, or equipment in this build, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check the Elden Ring Map.

The post Elden Ring Fists Build – Black Guard Guide (All Game Build) appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Last Epoch Falconer Build Guide, we’re going to be covering a Falconer Build that focuses on casting multiple skills to apply Bleed. It’s a minion build that scales with both minion damage and player damage. It also utilizes Ailment stats from player and minions, as the Falcon companion benefits from both. I’ll explain how to get the most from this Build both as a beginner, and what works great for endgame. If you’ve been looking for a Falconer Build, which require absolutely no specific gear, then this Last Epoch Falconer Build Guide is for you.

Last Epoch Falconer Build Guide: Bow Bleed Ballista

Ballista is a minion skill that stays stationary and shoot arrows at enemies. It works well with Falconer skills, especially with the way it gets buffed by Aerial Assault. It helps build stacks of bleed on enemies, alongside other Falcon skills. With Dive Bomb, you can consume all Bleed Stacks and cause them to deal all their damage at once. This causes a huge damage spike that go into the millions.

Falconer skills have a cooldown, but allocating the correct nodes enable players to reduce their cooldown. You’ll have high uptime with these skills. You can fill the small gaps by casting Ballista and Puncture. It needs some mana regeneration to keep up with the high mana cost skills, so keep that in mind.

The build functions very well without any Unique or Set items, so it’s perfectly fine for a starter build. On my testing, Falconer is the fastest build to both clear enemies and move between enemy packs. This means that it starts out strong, and only grow stronger. You won’t have to respec any skills between early game and endgame.

Last Epoch Falconer Build Guide: Bow Bleed Ballista Gameplay

This build plays within a rotation, instead of spamming one single skill all the time. This makes the build more engaging, and for some players, more fun to play. It requires you to consider the positioning of character and Ballista to get the most out of this build.

The simplest rotation is casting your Ballista twice ahead of you, travel to them with Aerial Assault. Landing near the ballistas will give them a massive 75% attack speed bonus, plus Frenzy buff for an extra 20%. There’s also a small damage bonus scaling with Intelligence, which we don’t focus.

If the enemies are squishy, we’ll cast Dive Bomb right after to reduce the cooldown of Aerial Assault, then repeat. If a large group of enemies are tanky, we’ll cast Falcon Strikes first. This adds a lot more bleed stacks within a short time, and then use Dive Bomb to deal much greater damage.

Note that these three skills: Dive Bomb, Aerial Assault, and Falcon Strikes – can’t overlap. They rely on the Falcon performing each skill, so you have to wait for each skill to finish animation before casting the next one. If you cast too early, you cancel the previous skill, and waste both time and mana.

Falconer Bow Active Skills

In this section, we’ll take a look at what Skills should be on your Skill bar to make this build work. I consider all five skills in this build to be mandatory, because they complement each other very well. You may change your spammable skill, but all the other alternative skills change the playstyle. I prefer sticking with the recommended skills. We will pick skills from the Rogue base class and the Falconer master class.

Puncture

This is a skill from the Rogue base class, which unlocks at character level five. Early on in the game, we use this as our main damage source, which is ideal for leveling any rogue build. Later on, we adjust the skill to play as a support role to complement our Falconer skills.

Puncture is a spammable skill with no cooldown, and it can be used with either melee weapons or a bow. It pierces all enemies in a line, and with some adjustment, we may modify a third of its hits to deal damage in a wider AoE. It can also debuff enemies to take more damage over time (from all sources) and buff the player’s Bleed chance. This works as a buffer, debuffer, and a DPS skill at same time for leveling in early game.

As a skill that costs zero mana, we also use this to gain mana and health on hit. This comes from the passive node Sapping Strikes on the Rogue tree. On top of that, Puncture has a node that consumes all bleed stacks on the enemy, dealing bleed damage instantly while healing the player for 15 health per bleed stack consumed. These are the main sources of sustain in early game.

Puncture Skill Tree for damage (Early Game)

First thing to do is to rush towards Mutilate, so we start with 2/5 Perforate, 1/2 Press the Attack, 1/1 Cadence of Death, and 3/3 Mutilate. These make every third hit of Puncture deal more damage, cover more AoE, bleed dealing damage instantly, and heals the character. It enables a super aggressive playstyle that a lot of leveling builds lack, so you not only gain experience fast, but also move fast.

Next is debuffing enemies with Efficacious Toxin , so allocate 1/3 Toxic Delivery, 1/1 Sanguine Obsession, and 2/5 Efficacious Toxin. These convert poison chance into bleed chance – so it scales with your physical damage, as well as causing enemies to take 10% increased damage from all DoTs. We don’t need too many points here because we spam Puncture all the time.

To maximize damage, we put the rest of the points into Bleed chance. So 5/5 Perforate, for Puncture bleed chance, 3/3 Bloodthirst for global bleed chance, and 3/3 Hunger for more stacks of global bleed chance. These are the main damage source in our build until we get all the Falconer skills specialized.

Puncture Skill Tree for support (Endgame)

With all Falconer skills allocated, our hands get busy alternating between Dive Bomb, Aerial Assault, and Falcon Strikes. This doesn’t give a big chance to spam Puncture, so we change the tree to have a different behavior. We make the first three hits of Puncture have rapid attack speed on a cooldown. Every four seconds, we shoot a burst of three arrows that takes almost no time within our rotation.

Stacking Bloodthirst is not possible anymore, and player damage pales in comparison to Falcon damage. We’ll refund points from both Hunger and Bloodthirst. We’ll also remove three points from Perforate and remove the point in Sanguine Obsession. That’s a total of 10 points if you have no additional levels to Puncture from gear. We use these points to allocate different nodes.

Put 1/4 in Timing, and 3/3 in Rapid Strikes for a massive 150% attack speed on the first three Puncture attacks, then put 4/4 in Mind Piercer for mana regain on hit. Finally, push Efficacious Toxin to 5/5 so you have a higher chance to apply the debuff in a small number of hits. You may opt to allocate some points in Splinter instead for physical resistance shred. However, physical resistance shred can only stack 10 times, and we might hit the cap from other sources, so I opted to skip Splinter.

Ballista

Ballista is the second skill in our arsenal from the Rogue base class, which unlocks after spending 15 points in the Rogue tree. You would have an open skill slot before getting Ballista, so specialize in Shift first. You should get Ballista on your third slot at character level 20.

Ballista damage by itself is not massive, even with three ballistas and a ton of attack speed and DoT damage. That’s why some builds prefer turning Ballista into explosive Ballista to gain a massive damage multiplier. However, normal Ballista is a perfectly fine choice for our build, as it builds up a lot of bleed stacks. These Bleed Stacks can do damage instantly with Puncture’s third hit, or with Dive Bomb, which is better.

We build our Ballista to inherit damage modifiers and DoT modifier from the player. This enables your character’s chance to Bleed to double dip on yourself, the falcon, and Ballista. Everything else is put into Ballista attack speed, extra projectiles, and pierce.

Ballista skill tree

We’ll start with 1/1 Agile Engineering. This gives a massive boost to placement speed and attack speed depending on how much Dex stat you have. Next is 2/2 Efficient Construction for reducing mana cost, at a cost of reducing duration. This option favors clear speed over single target damage. While clearing, you move fast, so you want to constantly place new ballistae near new enemies. Reduced duration is not a problem at all, since enemies die pretty quickly. In single-target combat, you feel Ballista is expiring too fast and placing new ones is a bit of a hassle. However, we spend most of our time clearing mobs, and only face bosses far and in between.

Next is 3/3 Shared Enchantment, for Ballista to inherit 75% of player damage. This is very nice early on, so you don’t have to build any minion stats until you get all your falcon skills. Later on, it’s still decent for a support skill. Grab 1/3 Heavy Bolts to reach Bodkin Bolts, which enables Ballista’s hit to pierce. How much points here relies on how massive enemy packs you face is. Usually, 2/5 here is enough until late endgame (+200 Corruption Monolith)

Move to 2/4 Rapid Fire for attack speed and unlocking path for nodes behind. 3/3 Contaminating Shots get Ballista to inherit Ailment chance from the player at 75% value. This is a great source of building Bleed Stacks, since Falcon also inherits bleed chance. Both Ballista and the falcon inflict a lot of bleeds per hit. 1/1 Siege Commander complements this by giving Frenzy to Ballista when the player standing near them. This is a 20% attack speed buff, added to stacking 2% speed per hit from 1/1 Quickload, which builds up rapidly with no cap. Finally, 2/5 Flaming Shots and 3/3 Bolt Rain for multiple arrows.

Aerial Assault

Aerial Assault is the movement skill of our build. It unlocks after spending 30 points in Falconer, so we keep using Shift before that point.

Aerial Assault is a cool skill that has the Falcon carry the player, move them forward, then shoot down Wing Burst. Wing Burst hits enemies inside the area of landing, and this scales with minion damage. We modify the skill tree to also throw Caltrops, slow enemies, and give the Falcon extra bleed chance. On the other hand, we will give an attack speed buff to Ballista upon using Aerial Assault. This enables the Falcon to build up stacks of Aerial Prowess, which regain health and increase damage on the next use of Aerial Assault.

Overall, the skill is used as a source of buff and damage, as well as movement.

Aerial Assault Skill Tree

Go right in the tree, and start with 2/3 in Covering Fire, to apply stacks of frailty debuff on hit with Aerial Assault. Frailty reduces the damage an enemy does to your character, increasing survivability. Then allocate 1/1 in Tactician to buff your Ballista with 75% attack speed, and 2% damage multiplier per point of Intelligence. We don’t build Int intentionally, but some Unique/Legendary items that buff our build might come with Int stat. Such as Blood of the Exile Boots, that gives 8~12 Int, and translates to 16~24% more damage multiplier for Ballista.

Next branch gets us to southwest part of the tree so that we can buff our Falcon’s Bleed chance. 1/1 Skyward Swoop is a key to reducing the cooldown of Aerial Assault every time the falcon hits an enemy. Then, 1/1 Treasures Pursuit, 4/4 Rending Barbs, and 1/1 Spikefield to add a Throw Caltrops skill to your Aerial Assault. You will then throw two Caltrops with these modifiers, one at Aerial Assault destination, and one midway. Caltrops is thrown by you, not your falcon, so it scales with player throw damage stats, which results in bad damage. However, when an enemy walks over Caltrops (From all sources), your Falcon gains a chance to Bleed based on your Dexterity stat.

If you manage to get 90 Dexterity, each enemy that walks over your Caltrops will buff your Falcon’s Bleed chance by 90%. This buff lasts for 5 seconds, and stacks for unlimited times. With strategic use of Aerial Assault, you may plan to land Caltrops on as many enemies as possible to get a massive damage boost from Falcon’s Bleeds.

Finalizing the skill tree with Aerial Prowess

The previous branches in the tree took 10 points, leaving us 10 more points to spend where we see fit. It’s optimal going for Aerial Prowess for situational damage boost, speed buffs, and health gain.

Go southeast on the tree, starting with 2/4 Healing Gust to get a heal on Aerial Assault use. Then 2/3 Aerial Prowess to enable building up Aerial Prowess stacks on crit hits and kills. Followed by 1/1 Torrent of Talons to build stacks with non-crit hits. Then, 2/2 Falcon’s Havoc to gain both Frenzy and Haste buffs when you consume Aerial Prowess.

So far, you have 8 seconds after using Aerial Assault to gain Aerial Prowess stacks which you’ll consume at the next Aerial Assault use. This is a good time to gain stacks, and sometimes, you can max out Aerial Prowess. This grants us almost permanent Haste (30% Movement Speed), and Frenzy (20% Attack and Cast Speed).

With the last three points, get 2/3 Refreshing Resolve for mana recovery on every Aerial Assault use. Then 1/1 Coordinated Assault to reduce cooldown of Dive Bomb and Falcon Strikes.

If you get more points from + skill level stat on gear, you may use the extra points to increase healing from Healing Gust. Or you may opt for more dodge chance while using Aerial Assault via Wind Rider. You can also apply slow on Caltrops hit with Vengeful Nails. It’s up to you to choose depending on what you currently need.

Dive Bomb

We unlock Dive Bomb by spending 35 points in the Falconer master tree. In our build, we’ll specialize in Dive Bomb at the fourth slot, which will easily become one of our sources of huge damage. It enables us to transition from player damage-oriented build, into a more minion-focused build. It scales with minion stats while inheriting some player stats from certain nodes in the Falconry skill tree (not from Dive Bomb tree itself).

On a cooldown, Dive Bomb gets the falcon to ascend high, then strikes down enemies in an AoE after a delay. This hit has an insanely high damage multiplier of 850%, and it gets even more multipliers for each bleed stack the enemy has. It’s a huge nuke every couple of seconds, that help mowing down bosses’ health and instantly kills packs of smaller enemies.

We modify Dive Bomb to consume all bleed stacks, causing them to deal damage immediately. On top of that, it inflicts new bleed stacks, and a physical resistance shred debuff. We get Dive bomb to cost zero mana, regain mana on hit, reduce cooldown of movement skill, and grants us Crimson Shroud stacks.

Dive Bomb Tree

Start with 1/3 Hindering Peak Strike to apply slow on hit. If you have other sources of physical resistance shred, take only 2/5 in Flesh Tearing Talons to move to the next node. If you lack physical resistance shred, take it to 5/5. Move to 1/1 Redwings for three Crimson Shroud stacks (50% Bleed chance and 5% less DoT damage taken per stack). We’ll then finish with 1/1 Exsanguinating Strike which consumes all bleed stacks to deal damage instantly. It also gives Dive Bomb a damage multiplier based on the number of these stacks.

Now, go to the right side of the tree through 1/4 Rush of the Hunt to reduce cooldown. Follow it up with 3/4 Focused Hunter to get Dive Bomb to cost zero mana. Then, go with 3/3 Rapid Pursuit for mana regain on hit against bosses or rare enemies, and reducing the cooldown of Aerial Assault. This node creates a simple loop between Dive Bomb and Aerial Assault, where you use one skill to reduce cooldown of the other, and vice versa.

Finally, put 5/5 in Rending Impact to apply five bleed stacks on hit with Dive Bomb. If you get extra points, put them all in Rushing Wings to reduce the delay of Dive Bomb. This not only makes the skill smoother, but it also reduces the downtime of your falcon, and the time your Dive Bomb being vulnerable to cancel by other skills cast.

Falconry/Falcon Strikes

Falconry is the signature skill of Falconer class, and a core skill of our build. It summons an invulnerable Falcon companion on first cast, and the falcon remains summoned forever. It has no health, and it can’t be targeted by enemies nor ground effects, making it immortal. After summoning, the Falconry skill transform into the Falcon Strikes skill. It has a cooldown, and on use, causes the falcon to do a flurry of hits to enemies in an AoE.

Falcon Strikes’ multiple hits is a huge source of applying several bleed stacks and deals a lot of damage. However, it has a long cooldown and a huge mana cost, which is why we use other skills to reduce its cooldown and regain mana.

On the controller, beware of your direction while casting Falcon Strikes. Unlike most skills in Last Epoch, Falcon Strikes doesn’t hard-lock on to targets. This may cause it to cast on an empty space if the player doesn’t pay attention.

Falconry Skill Tree

The skill tree has many ways to modify the overall stats of your falcon, which affects other skills alongside Falcon Strike. Every point here is worth a lot, and I recommend getting a lot of extra levels from gear to gain more points.

First, we aim to make our Falcon apply Falcon’s Mark, and get extra buffs from it. So, allocate 1/3 Falconer’s Mark, 2/2 Marking Strikes, 3/3 Avian Arsenal, and 2/5 or 3/5 in Wake of Wings. This allows your Falcon’s Strike and other hits from your falcon to apply the mark. When your character hits the marked target, you consume the mark, applying buffs.

We get the Falcon’s Wake buff, which increases the player’s movement speed, attack speed, and cast speed by 15%, and stacks with both Frenzy and Haste we get from Aerial Assault. Your Falcon, on other hand, gets a melee damage bonus based on character stats, and the type of hit used to consume the mark. If you use your Puncture and it consume Falcon’s mark, it will base the damage bonus on your bow damage. If you hit the marked enemy with Caltrops instead, it will base the buff on your throw damage.

High damage multipliers

Next is 1/1 Falconer’s Journey, for a falcon damage multiplier per level, and another damage multiplier per Dex stat. 1/3 Is it a bird? gives another damage multiplier and it opens up the path for next nodes. 2/2 Agile Prey is yet another damage multiplier that triple against moving targets.

Then, 4/4 Rending Talons is the key to unlocking Falcon’s true power, giving your Falcon a chance to apply ailments. equal to double character’s chance to apply them. This includes DoTs such as Bleed and simple debuffs such as Slow, or Resistance Shred. Every investment you have on your character’s chance to Bleed translates into a massive damage boost for the Falcon.

1/1 Feather Knives adds a ranged throwing skill to your falcon, with a 10-second cooldown. It also procs when you consume Falconer’s Mark. Then, 1/1 Trained to Hunt for adding a portion of character’s damage to the falcon. This node checks whichever damage type is higher (Bow, Throw, or Melee), and adds 75% of it to the falcon. This makes Bow damage increase, and global damage increase double dip as the falcon’s damage.

More points from extra levels?

I highly recommend getting more levels for Falconry skill, due to massive damage modifiers and multipliers here. You may get these levels from the Blood Roost Unique Gloves, Talons of Valor Unique Bow, or as a Prefix on a rare or exalted Helmet.

You may allocate points in Is It a Bird? node, getting it to 3/3 for pure damage multiplier. But, if you manage to get Falconry to level 23 or 24, you better get 2/4 Avian Stamina, and 1/2 or 2/2 Bird of Prey. This makes Falcon Strike instantly kill any enemy that gets their health down to 8% or 16%. You effectively skip 1/6 of fights, which is a huge boost against rare enemies and bosses.

At skill level 26, you may get all of the above nodes, so it’s a good goal to aim at.

Last Epoch Falconer Build Passive Skills

Figuring out how to spend your points in the passive tree is one of the most important parts of making a build in Last Epoch. Generally, it takes a respec or two before getting it right. In this section, I want to show you how I’ve set this up for maximum performance.

Rogue Base Tree

The Rogue Base Tree is where you start by default, and you will need to spend 20 points to unlock the specialization trees later. So, put 8/8 in Steady Hands for Dexterity to scale the damage of all abilities. It also gives the Falcon a damage multiplier, and attack speed to Ballista. Then, 1/8 Guile to unlock the bottom branch of the tree, followed by 5/5 Evasion, and 5/5 Agility. These grant the character dodge rating, Haste chance, less damage taken while moving, and increase damage based on movement speed.

The damage on movement speed is huge, since we have so many sources of increase movement speed. Haste is 30%, Falcon’s Wake is 15%, and Tailwind is 12%. If you craft a proper legendary Boots, you may get 45~50% move speed from the boots alone. This takes your move speed over 100%, resulting in 100% global damage increase. This generic damage increase shall double dip for your Falcon damage. It’s such a huge modifier, so don’t sleep on it.

To complete the 20 points, you only need 1/4 in Sapping Strike to gain mana and health on hit with Puncture. Early on in the game, you might prefer to allocate more than one point here for your mana sustain. You shall respec these points at endgame, and place 5/5 Dodge and Parry for Glancing Blows and Dodge Rating.

Falconer Tree

In this build, we aim to allocate over 70 points in the Falconer Tree. This goal doesn’t take every single point we get, and you would max it by level 75~80, so it’s fairly early on in the Empowered Monolith.

Start with 8/8 in Handler for minion damage and crit chance, which affects both your Falcon and Ballista. Then. get 5/5 Crimson Skies to get three stacks of Crimson Shroud. These stacks get you 150% Chance to Bleed on Hit, and 15% less Damage Over Time Taken. The bleed chance applies to your Ballista at 75% rate. But for Falcon, you get at least 2.5x that chance, and with optimization, you get 5x this chance.

Put 6/7 Ranger’s Mark for Increased bow damage and chance to buff Falcon when you hit with Puncture. Then, 6/6 Tactician for massive boost to Falcon and Ballista damage. Skip the next column, and get straight to 6/6 Evasion Tactics for Dex, Armour, and Evasion. 5/5 Deflect and Weave for Glancing Blows and health gain on Glancing Blow. Then 1/5 Coordinated Fate, which gives 3 stacks of the Silver Shroud buff. Silver Shroud guarantees the player to dodge the next hit and regain 100 Ward per stack. So, you get 300 Ward from this node on a 10-second cooldown. More importantly, you dodge more times on average.

Finalizing Faconeer Tree

5/5 Relentless Talons is a hybrid character global damage and minion damage node, so it double dips for falconer. The three-point bonus gives the falcon ability to regain health for the player, which is based on Dex. It’s a very nice sustain against large groups of enemies, wherein falcon hits multiple enemies at once. Then, get 1/1 Intuitive Connection to make the falcon skills instant attack, so you can use it while moving without stopping. 6/6 Final Souvenir is a nice dodge, health, and chance to throw Caltrops on dodge. Caltrops have some nice bonuses from the Aerial Assault tree, which applies here as well.

Sky Assassins have a nice 5-point bonus which grants 50% of your Bleed and Poison to your Falcon. So, we put 5/7 points here. It also gives an increase in DoT damage, which counts for Falcon’s DoT damage.

5/5 Poise is next for Glancing Blows and doubles the chance to get Glancing Blows if you have not been hit recently. This takes Glancing Blows to almost 100% on first hit, which is good for the first hit taken before you build up Dusk shroud stacks. Then, 6/6 Symphalian Feathers for Armour per Dex, and increased armour per falcon hit in the last 4 seconds.

Finally, 6/6 Tailwind for reducing damage taken while moving, increased movement speed, and dodge rate. All these effects are doubled all the time because we have our falcon constantly hitting enemies.

Bladedancer Tree

We get great defensive utility for our build from the Bladedancer tree. This is done through the Dusk Shroud buff, which stacks indefinitely while adding dodge rate and Glancing Blow chance. We allocate these points last, so from level 83 onward.

Get 8/8 Cloak of Shadows for Dex and Glancing blows chance. Follow that with 2/5 Flow which has a unique mechanic to buff damage. You have to use four different skills, and the fourth skill gets a massive damage bonus. It’s a decent boost in damage if you manage to time the fourth skill as Dive Bomb, but it’s a lot of hassle. Usually, building rotation around the Flow buff is less efficient than playing normally. So, we allocate two points only to unlock next column.

We finish with 7/8 or 8/8 in Shroud of Dusk for Dusk Shroud stacks when hit. Now, the more hits you take, the less likely you’re going to be hit next time as your dodge rate will keep growing. This is an easy way to not die from small hits that come in great number in massive waves of enemies. It reduces the chance to get one-shot by massive boss hits as well, but it doesn’t eliminate that possibility entirely. So, this Falconer build is recommended to play in softcore, not in hardcore league.

Last Epoch Falconer Build Weapon & Off-Hand Stats

In this section, we’ll be covering the type of equipment that you want to aim for, and what stats you need on them.

Weapon

The first thing you’ll want is a good bow that ideally gives nice sub stats. The best stat on Bow for this build is Physical Penetration & Minion Physical Penetration suffix. It boosts all damage from you, your falcon, and your Ballista in an uncontested manner. Aim to get T7 or T6 in this stat, alongside three more stats of the following five (Two prefixes and one suffix):

• % Physical Damage (Prefix)
• % Damage Over Time (Prefix)
• % Bow Damage (Prefix)
• Flat Minion Melee & Bow Damage (Suffix)
• Chance to Bleed (Suffix)

The three prefixes provide almost equal value, while the suffixes change depending on other gear. Without the Blood Roost Unique Gloves, Minion Melee and Bow damage is more valuable. With it, Chance to Bleed is much better.

Weapon Base and Legendary Choice

The ideal base is a Northern Bow for the chance to Bleed. However, any bow would suffice if it has better sub stats mentioned above. For Unique Bows, Talon of Valor is the only competitive choice. It has + levels to three skills we use: Falconry, Dive Bomb, and Aerial Assault. The value can go as high as 4 levels. This can compensate for the damage loss from Rare or Exalted sub stats, but it won’t be immediately better.

It gets better with Legendary Potential (LP) though, especially at two and higher LP. If you manage to slam two or more of the sub stats of an Exalted bow into Talon of Valor, it become best-in-slot. So, if you play this build long enough, aim to farm Unique Bows from The Fall of Outcast Monolith.

Quiver

For our off-hand slot, we naturally use a quiver. Quivers can roll very important stats such as Minion Damage, Physical Damage, Damage Over Time, Bow Damage, and Dexterity on Prefixes. So, pick two of these and get the following two suffixes: Chance to Bleed, Chance to Shred Armour.

If you don’t manage to get the two exact suffixes, you may suffice with Resistances of your choice to reach the cap.

Quiver Base and Legendary Choice

You have a choice in either Nomad Quiver or Nagasa Quiver. The former gives high chance to bleed, while the latter gives poison chance and increase damage over time. Pick either of them with good sub stats, or pick another one entirely, if it has perfect sub stats.

None of the Unique Quivers fit our build, so don’t consider them below LP4. At LP4, you may slam the entire sub stats of an Exalted Quiver, so you can use whatever Unique Quiver that have any moderately useful stats. Though if you have trade available, just sell that LP4 quiver and buy a better Exalted with a sealed affix.

Armor & Accessories

For Armour stats, we have these priorities by endgame:

Suffixes:

• 2000 Health
• 75% all Resistance
• 100% Critical Strike Avoidance (Only one affix required, as you can cap avoidance with blessing from “Reign of Dragons” Monolith
• Increase Cooldown Recovery Speed (On Belt only)
• As much as possible Dodge chance

Prefixes:

1. As much as possible Movement Speed (On Boots)
2. +14 Mana Regeneration per second
3. + Levels to Skills:
   1. + levels to Aerial Assault & Minion Damage (on Relic).
   2. + levels to Falconry & Minion Damage (on Helmet).
   3. + Level of Dive Bomb & Minion Damage (On Body Armour)
4. +80 Dexterity
5. Minion Damage (on any accessories, Belt, or Gloves)
6. Chance to gain Dusk Shroud when Hit (On Body Armour)
7. Dodge Rating if Hit Recently (on Helmet, or Body Armour)
8. Increased Damage while wielding a Bow (on Helmet, or Body Armour)
9. Increased Damage over Time (on any accessories, or Gloves)

Uniques Items for Falconeer Build Guide

For Uniques, the build functions perfectly fine without them. So, this build work as a starter or solo self found without any problem. There are a couple of unique items that elevate the damage and survivability of the Falconer. That’s especially true if you manage to get items with Legendary Potential, and slam good stats on them.

The first of these Unique items is the Blood Roost Gloves, which is designed for a Bleed Falconer build. It increases Bleed penetration for minions, gives more of your bleed chance to the falcon, and allow the falcon to regain health to you per hit (Scaling with Dex). On top of that, it gives more levels to Falconry skill, movement speed for your minions, and high Dex value. It’s a nice overall boost to all necessary stats, so try to farm from Ending the Storm Monolith.

The other nice Unique item is a Body Armour that have massive offensive boost, which is Doublet of Onos Tull. This armour comes with massive 100%~140% increase in bleed duration for minions, in addition to 40% chance to bleed. Since both Puncture and Dive Bomb force all bleed stacks to deal damage instantly, 100% extra duration simply doubles the damage. It’s rare to find a single item that gives this much damage, so it’s worth using over rare or exalted Body Armour. Try to get a high LP and slam some skill levels stats, because these are very important.

Finally, the Blood of the Exile Unique Boots is a decent alternative to exalted Boots if you have high LP. The reason for that is it has a massive 39% Movement speed and can get more speed from slamming legendary affixes on top of giving high Dex, Int, and Str stats, and bleed duration, and bleed damage.

Item Bases

Now for non-Unique armour and accessories, there are advantages in getting good item bases. Some of the bases provide strong stats and other affixes that aren’t found anywhere else.

For Helmet slot, get either Falconry Helm for flat damage to your Falcon, or Blood Visage for DoT increase. Usually, the flat damage is slightly better, especially with the Dex bonus that comes on top of it.

For the boots, Vanguard Boots is typically best-in-slot, because it increases Haste effect. Our Falconer build gets haste easily, and this item boosts it up to 50% effect, giving 15% extra movement speed. This double dips into damage as well. Second best is Mercantile Boots for the same stat, but smaller value.

Get Ruby Dice if you can on Relic slot, for bleed chance. However, if you have another base with better sub stats, it could be overall better choice. Most other bases have some value, whether it’s resistances, or dodge rate.

On gloves, if you don’t have Blood Roost Unique, use any base with mana generation or Cooldown recovery. These are Arcane Bracers, Celestial Gloves, or Ascetic Gloves respectfully.

For Rings, you may either use Opal Ring for all stats and cooldown, or Turquoise Ring for minion damage. And for Amulet, I prefer the Oracle Amulet for less DoT damage taken. Even though, you may choose Turquoise Amulet for minion damage, or rather choose and Amulet base with resistances.

Belt is flexible, as you may get high extra potions, movement speed, or high armor.

Last Epoch Falconer Build: Idols

There are potent mods that can only be gained from Idols. For example, we need to grant our Falcon a portion of our bleed chance, which comes from the Adorned Idol, as well as generic damage while wielding bow, which comes from Large Idols. So, there are several good combinations of idols that involve using either one, two, or three Adorned Idols:

Setup A:

I recommend this Idol setup if you have the proper stats. Try other setups only if you lack the stats to make it work.

• 2 Adorned Idols
• 1 Grand Idol
• 2 Large Idols
• 1 Humble Idol
• 1 Small Idol

Setup B:

• 2 Adorned Idols
• 2 Grand Idols
• 1 Ornate Idol
• 2 Small Idols

Setup C:

• 3 Adorned Idols
• 1 Humble Idols
• 3 Small Idols

You can get these unique stats from idols, so pick idols that have one prefix and one suffix from the list:

Adorned Majasan Idol

Prefixes:

• % Of your Bleed Chance granted to your Falcon

Suffixes:

• Dodge Rating if Hit Recently
• Poison Resistance

Grand Majasan Idol

Prefixes:

• Damage Over Time
• Chance to Poison on Hit

Suffixes:

• Physical Damage & Minion Physical Damage
• Increased Area with Caltrops & Chance to shred Armor on hit with Caltrops

Ornate Majasan Idol

Prefixes:

• Chance to Bleed on Hit

Suffixes:

• Physical Damage & Minion Physical Damage
• Dodge Rating if Hit Recently
• Increased Area with Caltrops & Chance to shred Armor on hit with Caltrops

Large Shadow Idol

Prefixes:

• % Health
• % Dodge Rating

Suffixes:

• Increased Damage while wielding a Bow

Humble Eterran Idol

Prefixes:

• Chance to Bleed on Hit

Suffixes:

• Physical Damage & Minion Physical Damage

Final Thoughts

The Falconer build is an ideal cycle starter, SSF character, and a solid Monolith farmer. It has huge survivability because you simply can’t getting hit in most tight situations, as you leave your falcon to do your work. It’s also a very fast build with frequent usage of movement skills, instant skills, and very large movement speed.

Even in tight situations, the build stacks Glancing Blows, health gain on Glancing Blows, dodge rate, Dusk Shroud, Silver Shroud, and health gain on falcon hit. The combination of these defensive mechanics makes a tanky character, even though we still rely on some RNG. This makes it a very stable softcore character to level to 100, but a bit harder to play as a hardcore character in case you get one-shot.

It doesn’t rely on unique items, so it’s easy to start. It has potential with powerful items that scale both damage and defenses in the late endgame, achieving the ideal balance between a simple beginner build and a complex endgame carry.

For more Last Epoch Builds be sure to check out next Last Epoch Necromancer Build Guide: Flame Wraith and Last Epoch Runemaster Build Guide: Fire Claw

The post Last Epoch Falconer Build Guide – Bow Bleed Ballista appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build Guide we’re going to be covering an Aero support Yangyang build. This build focuses on supporting the main damage dealer, by giving buffs, and refunding Resonance and Concerto Energy. It’s a build capable of pairing with any dps character in the endgame modes.

Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build Guide

Yangyang is a guaranteed four star character, and the first character player gets after main character. She’s AOE sword user, with Aero element. Her main buff is refunding 4*5= 20 energy to next character on Outro skill. And her utility is gathering smaller enemies, with Resonance Skill and Liberation. At S6 she give additional ATK buff to all team.

In Addition to that, Yangyang can charge Concerto energy fast in her combo. So player can switch her in, do a quick combo, and switch her out with an Outro, enabling next character Intro. She has a simple kit that’s easy to master, befitting a starter character.

The flat energy she provides is more impactful on character with lower energy cost. If a character has high cost of 150 Resonance energy (Such as Jianxin), a mere 20 energy is only 13% of energy required. While a character who has 100 energy cost (Such as Danjin), gets 20% of its energy from Yangyang. Which helps doing shorter rotations, and more frequent switching.

Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build – Active Skills

Feather as Blade – Basic Attack

Yangyang’s normal attack is a simple 4 string combo, she only use once, to charge her Forte. Therefore, it’s not a huge priorty to level. To build up Forte charges and fill the bar, Yangyang needs to reach Normal 4, so she need her combo uninterrupted.

Heavy Attack: Zephyr Song is a special version of her heavy attack. Yangyang may trigger by using normal attack after a heavy attack, so she can regain another charge of her Forte. It may also trigger from normal attack after dodge attack, to charge her Forte even faster.

With S2, heavy attack refund 10 Resonance energy (on 20 seconds cooldown). Beware though, Heavy Attack consumes high stamina, while at same time could parry enemies attacks. So use wisely and precisely.

Zephyr Domain – Resonance Skill

The skill has standard 10 seconds cooldown, and creates a vortex that pulls enemies. At S3 (with three additional Yangyang’s dupes) the pull strength and reach extends, allowing better gathering. The gathering effect helps a bit against groups of enemies, especially if your dps has limited range and AOE. It’s also a form of Crowd control, with potential to knock down enemies and prevent them from moving and attacking for couple seconds.

Casting Resonance Skill fills one charge of Forte bar, so you should start Yangyang rotation with a skill. or a Resonance Liberation (if ready) then a skill.

Wind Spirals – Resonance Liberation

Casts even a stronger gathering vortex, that cost merely 100 Resonance energy. Recharging enough energy on Yangyang in short time is not hard, so she can do her rotation quickly, and dash out. Her Resonance Liberation help charging Concerto energy (for outro and intro skills). Therefore, it’s always better to fully charge and cast in every rotation.

Resonance Liberation deals decent damage, and the most damaging skill in Yangyang’s kit. So we give high priority to level before any other skill. And with S5, it gets even higher damage, making Yangyang a small sub-dps, not just a buffer.

Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build – Passive Skills

Echoing Feathers – Forte Circuit

In our Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build, Forte Circuit is very important part that brings the build together. It allow Yangyang to build 3 stacks of “Melody”, to unleash a rising heavy attack, followed by a mid-air attack. Yangyang stays on air after the mid-air attack, so she can use her plunge attack afterwards.

Yangyang unleashes her Forte special moves by filling the bar, and holding heavy attack to use Heavy Attack: Stormy Strike. Then hold again to use Mid-air Attack: Feather Release

These two attacks depletes a huge portion of enemy shields, and can also work as a parry, for even more shield breaking. They generate high Concerto energy, to shorten Yangyang field time, and trigger Outro and Intro skills pretty fast.

“Melody” can charge in various ways:

• Using Intro of Yangyang fills one charge
• Using skill fills one charge
• One more charge from normal attack 4.
• Using normal attack after Heavy attack (Heavy Attack: Zephyr Song).

So if you get into Yangyang with an Intro, you may use skill, and one normal attack combo to fill the bar. Or if you enter by switching normally without Intro (Concerto energy not full), you can use (Heavy Attack: Zephyr Song).

Inherent Skill – Compassion

Recover stamina upon using Mid-air Attack: Feather Release, which is enough to refund the heavy attack leading to it. So you can switch to next character with full stamina if needed.

Inherent Skill – Lazuline Mercy

A small Aero DMG bonus to Yangyang after using skill. Pretty insignificant overall, so skip to save resources.

Yangyang – Concerto Skills

Intro and Outro skills needs fully charged Concerto energy to cast. They are important to trigger certain Echo Sets bonuses and weapons, as well as giving significant energy regen buff in case of Yangyang.

Cerulean Song – Intro Skill

Yangyang Intro skill has a main utility of filling one charge of Forte, which help shorten Yangyang rotation. It deal small damage, but have other properties:

• Getting a damage buff from S1 for 8 seconds.
• Smaller dmg buff from Inherit skill – Lazuline Mercy
• Getting ATK buff from some weapon passives, such as Commando of Conviction, and
  Sword of Night (Not Recommended)

Overall, if you switch from healer to Yangyang, you don’t have to use Intro. Spending more field time on Yangyang is usually better than spending it on healer. And shortening rotation is even better.

Whispering Breeze – Outro Skill

In our Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build, using Outro recovers 4 Resonance Energy per second in 5s for the next character. This is the core utility of Yangyang, and why we use her in first place.

There are set bonuses that may trigger with Outro skill, such as Moonlit Clouds, which grants the next character an ATK increases by 22.5% for 15s. So it’s pretty useful. Unless you use healing set and healing sword on Yangyang instead, to get team-wide buff upon using Resonance Liberation, which alter the use of Yangyang Outro.

In that case, you use Resonance liberation, trigger the team buff, then use Outro to refund energy on dps character. Then switch to another buffer, get another buff, then switch to the main dps with fully charged energy.

Yangyang playstyle and Rotation

Rotations of Yangyang varies a lot, changing with her role in team, and characters accompanying her.

For example using a none-healer team with main dps that can sustain herself, such as Jianxin. In that case, you want Yangyang to use the healer set, trigger team wide buff. Then switch to a another buffer who give damage multiplier on Outro, Such as Mortefi.

This comp differs with a healer comp with Verina, where Verina is the team buffer, and Yangyang is a switcher buffer. In such scenario, we finish Verina rotation, switch to Yangyang, then to main dps. or funnel energy with Yangyang Outro to the main dps. Then return to Verina, then Yangyang again for another Outro to the main dps.

While on field, Yangyang wants to to get off her Resonance Liberation first, then skill. Then continue charge her Forte, either by Normal attack after heavy attacks, or full normal attack combo. Then use two Heavy attacks to unleash the Forte. A well executed combo shall refund Concerto, to use Outro.

Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build – Weapons

For this Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build, gear is a crucial part, and Weapon is a major part of gearing. Yangyang dps scales with standard Crit, Attack, and Aero damage stats. However, as a utility character, her main focus is on Energy Regen, which should come first

Yangyang uses Sword, which has some interesting utility options.

Sword of Voyager – Three star

The get go support sword, with Energy Regen sub stat, and more flat energy refund when using Resonance Skill. It’s straight forward weapon to shorten rotation and ensure Yangyang always has a Resonance Liberation ready in each rotation.

As a three star weapon, you may get easily to S5, and have the passive effect does from refunding 8 energy to refunding 12 energy.

Originite: Type II – Three Star

Anther three star weapon, that comes with healing this time. The healing part is important to proc the healing set bonus, which is a buff to ATK. The buff lasts for 30 seconds, and a team-wide, so that help Yangyang to be flexible with her rotation, and allow other supports with a buffing Outro skills.

The buff requires using Resonance Liberation, so we have to build enough energy on Yangyang to ensure her Resonance Liberation is always ready each rotation. It also has 20 seconds cooldown, so player beware of using it earlier, to not waste the Liberation without getting buff.

Scale: Slasher – Four Star

This is the most suitable weapon for this Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build, if Yangyang doesn’t use healing set. It has high Energy recharge, and regain Concerto Energy upon using Resonance Skill. This shorten Yangyang rotation and on-field time, and help more uptime for dps characters. Also enable some special rotations that involve switching to Yangyang more than one time.

Use this as the ultimate weapon for Yangyang, as long as she play support. If you want to play Yangyang as a niche dps, you might consider other choices. But I’m not covering full dps build Yangyang in this guide.

Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build – Stats & Echoes

Similar to Relics from Honkai Star Rail, and Artifacts from Genshin Impact, Echoes in Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build works as gear. We have five slots to equip echoes, but the difference is, we are not strict to use certain echoes in certain slots.

In total, character have 12 points to distribute among Echoes. Meanwhile, Echoes has three grades, Common (1 cost), Elite (3 cost), Boss (4 cost). So the ideal distribution in endgame is (4,3,3,1,1). However, up to endgame and before fully optimize setup, there are several other combinations to maximize damage and stats in early game. Such as using four slots only with (3,3,3,3), or all five but get (4,4,1,1,1).

Reason for this is, some stats such as crit and elemental dmg% are more impactful on early game for a dps than ATK stat. While support characters might prefer Healing Bonus or energy Recharge over HP stat. Also in case of (3,3,3,3) setup, the flat ATK stat (On 3 and 4 cost echoes) is more useful than flat HP (on 1 cost echoes) on early game gear.

Yangyang Top Stats

We aim to get these main stats:

• Cost 1: ATK %
• Cost 3: Energy Regen + Aero DMG
• Cost 4: Crit Rate (or Healing Bonus in case of healing set and weapon)

The main goal of stats of Yangyang is getting enough Energy Recharge to always get Resonance Liberation off quickly, then switch out. Then get standard damage stats to make her contribute to team dps. With proper weapon, Yangyang has huge boost of Energy Recharge, so she most likely require only one stat in Energy Recharge.

Crit Rate is to balance the low base Crit Yangyang has, and to deal a bit of damage. Then the standard ATK, and Aero DMG.

For sub stats, we need Energy Recharge, Crit, and ATK. Resonance Liberation DMG is decent addition, since it offer Yangyang most damage increase.

Yangyang Echo Skill

On top of providing main and sub stats, each Echo provide a skill that can be used in battle. Only one skill can be acquired this way, and it comes from the top Echo on the Echoes page. Yangyang highly prefer Energy Recharge set, so we are restricted to and Echo skill from that set.

Yangyang can use a support Echo skill that provide more buffs to main dps. Best one is Impermanenance Heron, which require using Outro skill within 15 seconds after using Echo Skill. It gives damage buff to next character switch to by Outro.

Impermanenance Heron skill has two modes, press and hold. Pressing the skill will fly up, transform, charge, and swoop down on enemies. All these animations takes so long, so you might want to get yourself out of the animation lock. Make sure to have Outro skill ready, press Echo skill, then immediately switch to next character. The Impermanenance Heron will stay on field performing its animation, while your next character start dps.

The hold version takes longer animation, and allow the Heron to fly high above the ground, firing Havoc damage on enemies below. This version is very impractical and useless in combat. However, outside of combat, it can be used to travel and as exploration tool. It can cross between mountains and rivers and bigger spaces that jump and glide is not enough to cross.

If you use Yangyang as a healer, use Cruisewing Echo instead, to add a decent team heal to her kit. Note it has short 8 seconds cooldown, so you want to switch to Yangyang often for her healing role. There’s also Fission Junrock who leaves a healing aura on ground, but has longer 15 seconds cooldown.

Yangyang Team Composition

Teams in Wuthering Waves consist of three characters, and to build Yangyang right, we have to pair two suitable companions. Yangyang wants to take minimum field time, and have a main dps in her team to pass buffs to. Most of her buffs comes from Set, and Echo Skill. And by herself, she only provide Energy Recharge. So she can fit with any damage dealer, regardless of their archetype.

This is contrary to other supports who are more specialized, and give higher bonuses. And there’s also the possible use of Yangyang as a healer, so she open up the last slot for another support.

A main damage dealer of any specialization

Any damage dealer can actually use Yangyang, unless they don’t need their Resonance Liberation. The Energy Regen bonus to next character is unique for Yangyang, and no other character can do. It help reduce main dps need for Energy Recharge stats, and allow them to use Echoes with more damage sub stats.

Character such as Jiyan, Calcharo, Encore and Havoc Main Character (Burst rotation build) are best benefitted characters. As a healer though, more characters can use Yangyang, especially with the low number of healers at launch. AT Tower of Adversity endgame mode, you will need up to three teams, with three healers. Yangyang can fill as one of them.

A second Buffer, or a Healer

Depends on Yangyang role in the team, the third slot can be either a second buffer, or a healer. If you use a second buffer, certain dps character prefer certain supports:

• Jianxin or Yinlin with Calcharo (For Resonance Liberation buff)
• Mortefi with Jiyan. (For Heavy Attack buff)
• Danjin for Havoc Main Character (For Havoc DMG buff respectively)
• Sanhua with Encore (For Normal Attack buff)

All of these are not necessary if you can use a healer in the team, because Verina is the best healer. She’s also the best universal buffer in game, so no one competes with her. And with Verina being available to everybody through five star standard selector, there’s no excuse not to use her. The only restriction comes in Tower of Aversity with the need of three different teams.

Final Tips

Yangyang is a starter character, so every player will be using her as main support for at least some time. She makes rotations smooth early in the game, before everybody get proper Echo stats. Energy Recharge is not readily available for main damage dealers outside of Echo sub stats. So it will take a long time before you are able to switch Yangyang out of your team without feeling miserable.

Don’t be fooled with comparison spreadsheets that show higher numbers for other supports. Any calculated dps assumes best conditions, optimized Echoes, weapons, and rotations. All of these are pretty far ahead, and for some players will take months to reach. Until then, Yangyang and Verina is a good pair and easy solution for any main dps.

She gives you a chance to learn the game at early game without feeling bad about rotations, and can double as a healer if you push into endgame. But her performance drops a lot when all gear is optimized, and more support characters release in upcoming patches. Though getting her max dupes (S6) would prolong her usage, but it’s not worth going out of your way to get dupes for Yangyang.

Stay tuned for more Wuthering Waves Character Guides.

The post Wuthering Waves Yangyang Build Guide appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide we’re going to be covering an Electro main dps Calcharo build. This build focuses on dispatching bosses and and elite enemies as fast as possible, and farming Echoes. It’s a build capable of climbing the endgame mode, Tower of Adversity, as early as character level 50.

Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide

Calcharo is a standard banner, five star character, that you get from either the beginners banner, character selector, or from losing your 50:50 chance on rate up banners like Jiyan’s. He’s a single target Electro damage dealer that uses Broadblade. He can sustain very long combos on field, and able to deliver potent dps, as well as strong parries to defend. He also comes with his own enchanted mode, which he enters by using Resonance Liberation (Ultimate).

Top Reasons to Use Calcharo

Calcharo is one of the best damage dealer in entire Wuthering Waves, as of version 1.0. Not only he’s capable of doing very high damage for prolonged period of time, he also has great support characters. Characters such as Yinlin, Jiangxin, and Yangyang, each boosts Clacharo’s dps in various ways. And Yangyang is a starter, and guaranteed character, you get from first ten minutes of the game. So Calcharo is off to a great start.

If you decided to pull the limited five star Yinlin however, she works as specialized support for him. Which elevate his playstyle and damage, making him even higher on priority list.

Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide – Active Skills

Gnawing Fangs – Basic Attack

As a prolonged on-field damage dealer, Calcharo relies a lot on Normal Attack and its sub-attacks (Normal, heavy, and plunge attacks). So raising this skill as much as possible takes priority.

Unlike other games, Basic Attack element matches the character element. So all of Calcharo attacks are Electro, eliminating any hybrid scaling issues. His Normal Attacks strings four quick attacks, that’s strictly melee range. They converts to five Enhanced Normal Attacks, after using Resonance liberation, and they extends his range. Note that normal attacks outside Resonance Liberation scales with Normal Attack skill level. While Enhanced Normal Attacks scales with Resonance Liberation skill level.

His Heavy Attack have him take a step backwards, and launch a ranged attack in straight line. It helps against enemies performing deadly attacks in their melee range. It also can parry enemies attacks, so whether you are in enemy range, or outside of it, using heavy attacks is convenient. Parrying is a high priority against bosses, because some can surely kill characters so easily if their hits lands.

Heavy Attacks converts to Heavy Attack: “Mercy” after building 3 stacks of Clacharo special Forte stacks (Cruelty). In that case, the new heavy attack scales with Forte Circuit skill level instead. And during Resonance Liberation, it converts to Heavy Attack: “Death Messenger”. This version scales with Forte Circuit skill level as well. It refund both Resonance Energy (for next Resonance Liberation cast), and Concerto energy (For outro skill). The Death Messenger version gain charges with normal attacks.

Plunge Attack is a simple thrust down move, that has limited range. It’s not a priority to use.

Extermination Order – Resonance Skill

The skill is a very simple three hit combo, and in our Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide, it’s mainly a utility tool, rather than main dps source. The skill doesn’t interrupt the normal attack string, so you can for example make a quick combo like this example:

• Normal 1 > Skill 1 > Normal 2 > Normal 3 > Skill 2 > Normal 4 > skill 3 > Heavy Attack (Mercy)

Skill have advantage of attacking in small AOE, and having Calcharo step forward. So it closes small gaps between you and enemy.

The utility of casting skill is generating Concerto (Con.) Energy, which is used for intro and outro skills. It also build stacks of “Cruelty”, to enable casting Heavy Attack (Mercy). There’s no other way of building Cruelty stacks, so you have to cast all three skills for convenient rotation. The skill will go into cooldown if you cast first or second hit, then switched or stayed for long without finishing all three hits.

Phantom Etching – Resonance Liberation

Calcharo enters an enchanted status for 11 seconds, It’s called “Deathblade Gear”. It deal damage upon cast, as well as make his normal and heavy attacks deal more damage. It cost 125 Resonance Energy, and has 20 seconds cooldown. With the right build, Clacharo can make 20 seconds rotation, and cast Resonance Liberation on cooldown. Casting Resonance Liberation refund Con. Energy, so it’s better to use your outro/intro skill first before casting Resonance Liberation. That way, you don’t waste Con. energy, and increase uptime

In Deathblade Gear, the three Forte bar stacks is replaced with different 5 stacks bar. So you have diffrent Heavy attack, that consumes more stamina, and deal more damage, in larger AOE.

This is the status we want Clachro to be in, most of the time. So it’s better to try time it with enemy shield break, to have enemy down on ground, unable to attack, and taking more damage. This way your highest damage combos doesn’t get interrupted.

Calcharo Build Guide – Passive Skills

Hunting Mission – Forte Circuit

In our Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide, Forte Circuit is very important part that brings the build together. It’s on by default, and doesn’t need activation, so all utilities are available from level 1. However, leveling up this skill increases the damage of heavy attacks.

The Forte is what enable Heavy attacks to have two alternative versions, on top of the default one. All of them help regain energy.

Bloodshed Awaken – Inherent Skill

A passive skill you may allocate at Ascension 3 (character level 40+). It give Clacharo a buff to all damage during Resonance Liberation, after you use fully charged Heavy Attack: “Mercy”. This define the optimal start of Calcharo rotation as follows:

• Intro > Heavy Attack: “Mercy” > Resonance Liberation

Assuming you start the battle with full energy and full 3 stacks of Cruelty. This is true in Tower of Adversity, which is the hardest content in the game. In open world, rotations are much more flexible, but still aim to use Heavy Attack: “Mercy” as last thing before entering Resonance Liberation.

Revenant Rush – Inherent Skill

This is a nice passive that give 5 sec damage taken reduction to Clacharo after he use Heavy Attack “Death Messenger”. This is the version inside Resonance Liberation, which charges pretty fast. So in ideal scenario, you get full uptime for the buff during Resonance Liberation. It define the ideal rotation inside Resonance Liberation to be:

• Normal 1 > Normal 2 > Normal 3 > Normal 4 > Normal 5 > Heavy Attack “Death Messenger”

Unlike default mode, we don’t need to use Resonance Skill in our Resonance Liberation mode. That’s because it doesn’t charge heavy attack, and only takes time from more damaging talents. There’s exception to that, when using Lustrous Razor weapon, which require using skill to buff Resonance Liberation damage.

Calcharo Build Guide – Concerto Skills

Intro and Outro skills needs fully charged Concerto energy to cast. They are important to trigger certain Echo Sets bonuses and weapons, even though they deal low damage in case of Calcharo.

Wanted Outlaw – Intro Skill

Deals some damage to enemy, and refund 10 Con. energy.

Nothing fancy here, unless you use Verdant Summit weapon. In that case, you need Intro skill to enter with damage bonus from weapon passive.

Don’t give priority to leveling this skill, the gain is minimal. However, we still use it to switch Calcharo in, since it tie with other character Outro. All support characters have a buff or two to give to Calcharo if they use their Outro, so we always want to switch To Calcharo with Intro Skill.

Shadowy Raid – Outro Skill

Unlike Intro skill, Ouro skill deals some decent damage. It’s still less frequent than Resonance and Basic attacks, but it also tie with other characters Intro. So it has potential to build team dps. His Outro skill is also frontal AOE, which helps against crowded waves of enemies and bosses alike.

Calcharo playstyle and Rotation

In this section of the Guide, I’ll explain to you how to play Calcharo effectively and precisely. Wuthering Waves is a game that relies more on player mechanical skill, and highly rewards player for timing their moves. It offers dodges, perfect dodges, parry, jump, and invulnerability frames through Resonance liberation, as well as advanced set of offensive moves. Combining these moves in an orderly fashion, results in success, even against harder enemies, with under-gear.

Depending on all factors explained in previous sections, the ideal rotation (when full energy) involve the following:

• Switching to Calcharo with Intro Skill (His avatar is flashing on top right screen)
• Use Skill to trigger Electro set bonus
• Use Heavy Attack Mercy (Forte bar has three charges)
• Use Resonance Liberation
• Heavy Attack “Death Messenger”
• 5 Normal attacks
• Heavy Attack “Death Messenger”
• 5 Normal attacks
• Heavy Attack “Death Messenger”
• Echo Skill
• Outro

Meanwhile, in open world without full energy:

• Switching to Calcharo with Intro Skill (His avatar is flashing on top right screen)
• Use Skill1 > Normal1 > Normal 2 > Skill2 > Normal 3 > Skill 3 > Normal 4
• Use Heavy Attack Mercy (Forte bar has three charges)
• Echo Skill
• Outro
• Farm enough Concerto energy on another character
• Intro
• Perform the ideal rotation with full energy.

Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide – Weapons

For this Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build, gear is a crucial part, and Weapon is a major part of gearing. Calcharo scales with standard Attack stat, and Electro damage so she cares about a weapon with high ATK, and DMG modifier.

Calcharo uses Broadblade, which has some interesting dps options

Guardian Broadblade S5 – Three Star

The basic free to play pick, before using any weapon selector, or pulling any four star weapon. This weapon has decent base attack for a three star (325), and offer 24.3% ATK increase, as well as 24% Damage bonus on normal and heavy attack. A full dps weapon that grants everything Calcharo needs, minus a resonance liberation damage bonus or crit.

Being a three star, you easily have it at max refinement tier (Ascension 5), which is why it’s comparable to four star weapons.

Helios Cleaver – Four Star

If you managed to pull Helios Cleaver from any banner, it’s a direct upgrade from Guardian Broadblade. It has higher base attack (412), higher 30.3% ATK, and the passive grants more ATK buff that builds up from 3%, 6%, 9% 12%, then reset.. So it’s average 7.5% ATK, for total 37.8% ATK.

But it require the use of skill every 12 seconds, so make sure to alternate the rotation accordingly.

Autumntrace – Battle Pass Four Star

If you pay for battle pass, you may choose to get this weapon at Battle pass level 30. It has nice Crit rate stat that’s harder to come by, and helps Calcharo reach high Crit stats.

It’s naturally above all other four star options, but still not the best weapon you can get for free. So don’t waste your money on this weapon if Calcharo is the only Broadsword user you use.

Verdant Summit – Five Star from Weapon Selector

At account level 45, you will get a five star weapon selector, and the Broadsword inside is Verdant Summit. If you play Calcharo as your main character, it’s best to select this as your choice.

Verdant Summit is best none-limited weapon for Calcharo in entire game, and even very competitive with the limited Broadblade. It gives highest base attack (587), 36.4% ATK, and 12.8% Energy Recharge. On top of that, it grants 14% Resonance damage after using skill.

These are very potent bonuses that’s hard to compete with, turning Calcharo into a dps machine. Also have much easier time maintaining his energy for Resonance Liberation.

Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide – Stats & Echoes

Similar to Relics from Honkai Star Rail, and Artifacts from Genshin Impact, Echoes works as gear in Wuthering Waves. We have five slots to equip echoes, but the difference is, we are not strict to use certain echoes in certain slots.

In total, character have 12 points to distribute among Echoes. Meanwhile, Echoes has three grades, Common (1 cost), Elite (3 cost), Boss (4 cost). So the ideal distribution in endgame is (4,3,3,1,1). However, up to endgame and fully optimize setup, there are several other combinations to maximize damage and stats in early game. Such as using four slots only with (3,3,3,3), or all five but get (4,4,1,1,1). Reason for this is, some stats such as crit and elemental dmg% are more impactful on early game than ATK stat.

Calcharo Top Stats

In this Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build we aim to get these dps main stats:

• Cost 1: Atk %
• Cost 3: Electro Damage
• Cost 4: Crit Rate

The goal of Crit stats is to balance a ratio of 1:2 Crit Rate: Crit Damage stats, so always aim to get closest to it. Calcharo doesn’t have innate Crit Rate bonus, while he have Crit Damage on minor Forte. So it’s Crit Rate main stat that we always aim for, to balance the ratio.

For sub stats, we need energy Recharge enough to get his Resonance Liberation ready in cooldown, and this change depending on team and other characters rotations. (For example Yangyang gives 20 energy to next charge on her Outro skill. So Calcharo needs less energy sub stats when played with her.

Other sub stats are Crit, ATK, Resonance Liberation DMG, and Normal Attack DMG.

Calcharo Echo Skill

On top of providing main and sub stats, each Echo provide a skill that can be used in battle. Only one skill can be acquired this way, and it comes from the top Echo on the Echoes page. Calcharo own dps is very high, so Echoes that deal pure damage is not very attractive. For this reason, we want a utility Echo that help Calcharo own damage.

Something like applying Debuff on enemies, buffing Calcharo, or refunding energy would be ideal. Or use a defensive Echo instead to increase survivability.

In a vacuum, without considering Echoes set bonus, we would consider one of the following:

• Inferno Rider (Cost 4), which buffs Basic attack damage for 15 sec.
• Mourning Aix (Cost 4), which buffs Resonance Liberation damage for 15 sec.
• Thundering Mephis (Cost 4) which buff both Electro DMG and Resonance DMG.
• Flautist (Cost 3) which refund 10 Con. energy.
• Rocksteady Guardian (Cost 3) On defensive side, to parry boss special attack.
• Stonewall Bracer (Cost 3) for a shield.

However, if we consider set bonus, only Flautist (Cost 3) and Thundering Mephis (Cost 4) belongs to relevant Electro set. So if we aim to build full set, we need all five slots to equip Electro set, including the main one. If we go hybrid however, we have a chance to equip any of the other Echoes, and two pieces of two other sets.

Calcharo Echo set

Echoes comes from sets, and some echoes capable of rolling into one of two sets. So it adds another layer of complexity to our Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build.

The best five pieces set for Calcharo is a straight forward Electro Set, Void Thunder. it grants up to 40% Electro DMG bonus if you use two skills, or one skill and heavy attack every 15 seconds.

The alternative is using 2 pieces Void Thunder, and 2 pieces, Lingering Tunes, or Moonlit Clouds. This gives a combination of Electro DMG, ATK, or Energy Regen. It also allow picking up the best sub stats from each set, and allow a flex fifth slot that doesn’t have to belong to any certain set.

Note that set bonuses only apply when you use different echoes. So if you want 5 set bonus, you have to use five different echoes, without any duplicates.

Calcharo Team Composition

Teams consist of three characters in Wuthering Waves, and to build Calcharo right, we have to pair two suitable companions. Calcharo wants to take a lot of field time, doing prolonged combos, so we need support characters that takes minimum field time, and provide buffs to help him.

A Healer (Baizhi/Verina/Yangyang)

Some teams can build without relying on healer, as the main dps either have insane defenses, or self heal. Calcharo can counter some beating with Parry, and takes few hits with his DMG taken reduction buff. However, he’s not a tank, and building him to be tanky make him lose dps. So the safer option is to give him a healer.

Baizhi is the default healer you get upon making one wish on Beginners Banner in Convene. So just slot her and be done with it. She provide a minor heal on using her skill, and she may give some buffs through healer set.

A starter choice that will see power creep from any specialized limited healer. Even the standard banner Verina power creep her by a lot.

Verina is a character you can pick from Five star selector, and she’s the best support in the game. She heals much more than Baizhi, and provide buffs on top of that. As the game is giving us two five star selectors, on top of another random character from Beginner banner, getting Verina is inevitable.

Yangyang is not a healer, but some advanced teams in endgame can use her with the healing sword and healing set and use her as a healer replacement. This is important because number of healers are limited at launch, and some modes require more than one team (such as Tower of Adversity).

A buffer (Yinlin/Jianxin/Yangyang)

All of these characters provide potent buffs to Calcharo, increasing his efficiency and damage output. You may use Energy Set on them to add another buff to Calcharo on their Outro.

Yinlin is a limited, five star, Electro character that comes in second half of version 1.0. She buff both Resonance damage and Electro damage, as well as doing off-field Electro damage. She’s the absolute best in slot team mate for Calcharo, in terms of dps increase.

Jianxin is a standard five star, that you may get randomly, or pick from five star selector. She’s a shielder and a healer while on-field. But her value in Calcharo team comes from her Outro skill, giving 38% Resonance Liberation DMG Deepen for 14s, which is a huge damage multiplier.

On some game modes that need one character to solo, Jianxin can switch to a main dps, self healer, and shielder. A one woman army on her own, so she have several places to be used, not only in Calcharo team. She’s a great alternative to Yunlin, or sometimes against enemies you can kill before they kill you, she’s an alternative to a healer (If you don’t have Verina)

Finally, the starter character, Yangyang. She’s a decent character to start with, who refund energy to next character on her Outro. It’s not a huge dps increase, but saves Calcharo very precious sub stats at endgame. And at early game before getting sub stats at all, she’s the ideal support to help him get his Resonance Liberation up.

Final Tips

Calcharo with Yinlin is the top dps due in game at version 1.0. And having one of them being standard character and the other being limited is easy access for even free to play players. You can simply select Calcharo on one selector, and Verina on another selector. Then save everything to pull for Yinlin from limited banner, the game however players with free wishes, so it shall be an easy task at start.

You might consider getting S1 Calcharo with one of the character selectors, if you got lucky and pulled other important character already. It helps refund 10 energy for him every rotation, which smooths out his rotation by a lot

Electro damage is not widely resisted among enemies, so you get to clear most content. However, at some point, you will be met with Resistant enemies, and need another team. Jianxin could be your secondary dps for that second team, while substituting as support for Calcharo if needed.

Calcharo is easy character to parry enemy attacks, so he have higher potential against harder bosses. Unlike some dps character such as Encore who deal insane damage but has no parry.

Stay tuned for more Wuthering Waves Character Guides.

The post Wuthering Waves Calcharo Build Guide appeared first on Fextralife.

The BEST Dex builds in Elden Ring, featuring the top 15 Dexterity Builds that are my favorite Dex builds in the game. Just like our recent exploration of Faith builds, we’ll break down these Dexterity builds by their suitability for early, mid, and late game, as well as New Game Plus.

Because many of these builds rely on specific weapons and spells that become available only as you progress through the game, we’ll outline how to adapt them to different stages of your journey. Whether you’re seeking swift strikes from the outset or looking to refine your playstyle as you advance, this guide will provide the insights you need to master the art of Dexterity-based combat in Elden Ring. You can find every item in our Elden Ring Map and get ready for the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree.

Early Game Dex Builds (Level 50)

Before diving into the specifics of Dexterity builds, it’s important to note that they occupy a unique niche in Elden Ring. When you two-hand weapons, you benefit from increased Strength scaling, which doesn’t apply to Dexterity builds. This means that, in many cases, a weapon with similar damage potential will perform better with Strength when two-handed, making Dexterity builds less optimal in comparison.

While there are some exceptional weapons with great Dexterity scaling in Elden Ring, they are relatively few compared to Strength weapons. Additionally, the Clawmark Seal favors Strength Faith builds, contributing to their prevalence over Dexterity Faith builds.

Dexterity builds do shine when tailored as Spellblade-type setups. These builds use Keen scaling weapons augmented by magic buffs, providing a powerful combination. However, they come with the drawback of requiring significant investment in both Dexterity and Intelligence, making them challenging to optimize early in the game.

The Noble Swordsman

The Noble Swordsman Build is Dexterity build and an essential “all-game” build that players can use throughout the entirety of the game. This build uses a single straight sword, it does not come equipped with any other weapon or shield, and it is phenomenal for stance-breaking and critical attacks.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Equal Charges
• Weapon: Noble’s Slender Sword or Lordsworn’s Straight Sword
• Shield: N/A
• Armor: Aristocrat Hat, Page Garb, Perfumer Gloves, Page Trousers
• Talismans: Blue Dancer Charm, Shard of Alexander or Warrior Jar Shard, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Alternate Talismans: Ritual Sword Talisman, Dagger Talisman, Assassin’s Cerulean Dagger
• Primary Stats: Dexterity, Vigor, Mind
• Secondary Stats: Strength, Endurance
• Skills: Square Off
• Seal: N/A
• Spells: N/A
• Great Runes: Radahn’s Great Rune

The first build we’ll explore is the Noble Swordsman build, a level 50 early game setup that focuses on using a straight sword with the Square Off weapon skill. I recommend either the Noble’s Slender Sword or the Lordsworn’s Straight Sword due to their high critical ratings among straight swords. This allows you to deal more damage when you land a critical strike after breaking an enemy’s stance.

Both of these swords can be acquired early in the Limgrave area. The strategy for this build centers around the R2 version of Square Off, which inflicts 40 Stance Damage per hit. Many bosses in Elden Ring have around 80 Stance Damage, meaning you can often Guard Break or Stance Break them with just two hits. This opens up the opportunity for critical strikes, allowing you to repeat this pattern and effectively trivialize many bosses.

This build is particularly recommended for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, as it appears there might be some attack power nerfing in that area. Stance Damage, however, should remain consistent, providing a reliable method for dealing significant damage. The Noble Swordsman build is straightforward, focusing on breaking enemy stances for critical strikes, which helps you avoid taking hits and deal rapid, substantial damage.

The Supreme Samurai

A pure DEX Build that uses the Nagakiba and Grease to have the best damage for any situation, coupled with extremely high mobility.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP, some FP
• Weapon: Nagakiba
• Shield: None
• Armor: Nox Swordstress Armor, White Reed Gauntlets, Ronin’s Greaves, Iron Kasa
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Great-Jars Arsenal, & Bull-Goat’s Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Endurance
• Skills: Unsheathe
• Spells: None

Next, let’s dive into the Supreme Samurai build, a level 50 Dexterity-focused setup. The Samurai class’s versatility makes it a popular choice in Elden Ring, and this build showcases why.

First, obtain the Nagakiba early in Limgrave and set it to Keen Scaling. Equip it with the Unsheathe weapon skill. This strategy is similar to the Noble Swordsman build, using the R2 variant of Unsheathe to Stance Break bosses, typically in three hits. The Nagakiba also has a native Bleed build-up, allowing you to inflict significant hemorrhage damage on bosses.

With Keen Infusion, you can enhance your weapon further by applying Blood Grease for increased Bleed build-up, or using fire or lightning buffs based on the boss you’re facing. This straightforward build can be assembled early in the game since Nagakiba, Unsheathe, and various Greases are accessible from the start. The Supreme Samurai build excels by leveraging quick stance breaks and bleed damage to overpower enemies efficiently.

The Magus

A melee-mage Build that uses Scholar’s Armament and Glintstone Phalanx to deal Critical Damage to enemies.

• Class: Prisoner or Astrologer
• Flask Spread: Slightly more FP than HP
• Weapon: Rapier
• Shield: None
• Armor: Carian Knight Set
• Primary Stats: Intelligence & Dexterity
• Secondary Stats: Vigor
• Skills: Ash of War: Glintblade Phalanx
• Spells: Scholar’s Armament, Glintstone Pebble and Carian Greatsword

The last level 50 Dexterity build I recommend is the Magus build, a hybrid focusing on Dexterity and Intelligence. This build utilizes a Rapier with a high critical rating (130), allowing for significant damage on critical strikes. Pair this with the Ash of War: Glintblade Phalanx to quickly stagger enemies and follow up with critical hits. Glintblade Phalanx excels in stance damage, with each of the four swords dealing 10 stance damage, totaling 80 stance damage if all hit twice, making stance breaking bosses swift and efficient.

Additionally, the follow-up attack with the Rapier deals 16 stance damage, enabling you to stagger most bosses with just two uses of this skill. The build shines with the Assassin’s Cerulean Dagger, which refunds the FP cost of the weapon skill upon performing a critical strike after a stance break, allowing for continuous use and efficient FP management. With the weapon set to Keen Scaling, you can further enhance your damage with buffs like Scholar’s Armament.

This build not only delivers high damage and excellent stance breaking but also allows you to cast spells, making it versatile and powerful. The combination of Dexterity and Intelligence ensures you can handle various combat scenarios, providing a balanced and effective approach to tackling enemies in Elden Ring.

Mid Game Dex Builds (Level 100)

As you progress deeper into the captivating world of Elden Ring, the mid-game introduces a new set of challenges that require refined strategy and skill. In this portion of the guide, we focus on the best Mid-Game Dexterity Builds to enhance your performance.

These builds are tailored to take advantage of the more advanced weapons and abilities available at this stage, allowing you to maximize your agility and combat effectiveness. With the right combination of gear and dexterity-focused enhancements, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle tougher enemies and navigate the complexities of Elden Ring’s mid-game content, ensuring your character continues to grow in power and versatility.

The Thundering Swordspear

A melee focused build that uses Lighting to strike enemies at range, and to boost damage in melee.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Split HP and FP
• Weapon: Guardian’s Swordspear & Finger Seal
• Shield: Banished Knight’s Shield or Jellyfish Shield
• Armor: Great Helm, Tree Coat, Chain Gloves, Chain Greaves
• Talismans: Lightning Scorpion Charm, Radagon’s Soreseal, Green Turtle Talisman & Dragoncrest Shield Talisman +1
• Primary Stats: Dexterity
• Secondary Stats: Vigor
• Skills: Thunderbolt
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame, Grant Me Strength, Electrify Armament, and Blessing’s Boon

First up for our level 100 builds is the Thundering Sword Spear. This build centers on the Guardian Sword Spear due to its excellent Dexterity scaling and incredibly high attack speed, making it one of the best Dexterity weapons in Elden Ring. The key feature of this build is the Ash of War: Thunderbolt, which scales its damage with Dexterity. Using a high Dexterity-scaling weapon like the Guardian Sword Spear maximizes Thunderbolt’s effectiveness, outperforming weapons with higher base damage but lower Dexterity scaling.

The strategy for this build involves using Thunderbolt to eliminate enemies from a distance, often without needing to engage in close combat. For added melee damage, the Jellyfish Shield in the offhand can boost your attack power. As you progress and gain more stats, you can invest in Faith to use buffs like Flame, Grant Me Strength, Electrify Armament, and Golden Vow to further enhance your damage output.

Overall, this build offers extremely high damage potential and a strong ranged option with Thunderbolt. It allows you to handle enemies efficiently from a distance while also excelling in melee combat with the right buffs and equipment.

The Stormblade

A Dexterity warrior that focuses on melee attacks and the liberal use of Storm Blade to annihilate foes at any distance.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Split FP & HP
• Weapon: Flamberge
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any Armor that allows you to medium roll.
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Ritual Sword Talisman, Millicent’s Prosthesis, Carian Filigreed Crest or Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Mind & Endurance
• Skills: Storm Blade
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame, Grant Me Strength, Electrify Armament & Bloodflame Blade

Next up is the Stormblade build, which is viable from the very beginning of the game. This build utilizes a Greatsword paired with the Stormblade Ash of War. Recent buffs to Stormblade now allow both the blade and projectile to deal damage, making it extremely effective. Using the heaviest weapon possible enhances this effect, as Stormblade’s attacks are faster than regular R1 presses with the weapon, resulting in higher damage output. When standing point-blank, each L2 press delivers more damage than an R1 or R2 press, making it your go-to attack.

The beauty of the Stormblade build lies in its versatility. It not only delivers powerful melee attacks but also provides a ranged option, making it highly adaptable in various combat scenarios. This dual functionality works exceptionally well, allowing you to handle enemies both up close and from a distance.

Additionally, it’s easy to assemble this build quickly as Stormblade and an early game Greatsword are readily available. This makes the Stormblade build an excellent choice for players seeking a powerful and flexible option throughout their entire playthrough.

The Bloodhound

A Dexterity Build that focuses on the use of the Bloodhound’s Fang and its weapon skill Bloodhound’s Finesse.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Bloodhound’s Fang
• Shield: None
• Armor: Raptor’s Black Feathers & any armor that adds up to 51 Poise with the Bull-Goat’s Talisman equipped
• Talismans: Bull-Goat’s Talisman, Shard of Alexander, Claw Talisman and Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Strength
• Skills: Bloodhound’s Finesse
• Spells: None

Next, we have the Bloodhound build, which is viable from very early in the game, even before reaching level 100. You can acquire the Bloodhound’s Fang in Limgrave early on and use it effectively from that point forward. This build emphasizes two-handing the Bloodhound’s Fang, which helps manage equip weight and enhances its performance. The key feature is the weapon skill Bloodhound’s Finesse, allowing you to dash through and attack, then dash in and attack again. With proper timing, the iframes during these moves help avoid damage while maintaining high mobility.

The Bloodhound’s Fang also boasts native bleed buildup, enabling the application of the hemorrhage status effect on enemies, adding another layer of damage. You can further enhance this by using blood greaves for increased bleed buildup or by adding fire or lightning buffs depending on the boss you are facing. This versatility makes the Bloodhound’s Fang one of the best weapons in the game.

As you upgrade the Bloodhound’s Fang, its effectiveness continues to grow, ensuring that this build remains powerful throughout the entire game. Its combination of mobility, damage, and bleed buildup makes it an excellent choice for players seeking a reliable and deadly weapon from early to late game.

Late Game Dex Builds (Level 150)

As you journey deeper into the expansive realm of Elden Ring, the challenges escalate, demanding a heightened mastery of your chosen playstyle. In this segment of the guide, we explore the top Late-Game Dexterity Builds, tailored to empower you in facing the most formidable adversaries and conquering the ultimate trials of your adventure.

Crafted to harness the full potential of dexterity-focused characters, these builds leverage the pinnacle of weaponry and abilities available in the late game. With swift strikes and unparalleled agility, you’ll effortlessly dispatch even the most imposing foes. Whether confronting mighty bosses or braving the darkest depths of Elden Ring’s world, these late-game dexterity builds will ensure your triumph against all odds.

The Lightning Dragoon

A Quality (Strength/Dexterity) melee build that uses the Bolt of Gransax and a Greatshield to electrifying effect

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Bolt of Gransax & Cleanrot Spear or Treespear
• Shield: Golden Greatshield
• Armor: Consort’s Mask & Leyndell Knight Set
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Radagon’s Soreseal, Ritual Sword Talisman & Carian Filigreed Crest
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Strength & Endurance
• Skills: Ancient Lightning Spear & Sacred Phalanx
• Spells: Golden Vow , Blessing of the Erdtree, & Flame, Grant Me Strength

Moving along to level 150 builds, first up is the Lightning Dragoon build. This build revolves around the Bolt of Gransax, a spear dealing physical and lightning damage. Its weapon skill, Ancient Lightning Spear, is particularly deadly due to its long range and the ability to charge it for extra damage, dealing 100% lightning damage. To maximize this weapon skill’s potential, you can equip items like the Lightning Scorpion Charm, Shard of Alexander, and Ritual Sword Talisman to significantly boost its damage.

The strategy for this build involves using a great shield to block and counter while flinging Ancient Lightning Spears at enemies from a distance. This approach allows you to stay relatively safe while dealing substantial damage. The reason this build is categorized at level 150 is due to the late acquisition of the Bolt of Gransax, which is missable and found much later in the game. Hence, it requires careful attention to obtain and utilize effectively.

This build excels in combining strong defense with powerful, long-range attacks, making it a formidable choice for tackling late-game challenges. The ability to charge up the Ancient Lightning Spear for extra damage ensures that you can adapt to various combat situations, maintaining high effectiveness throughout.

The Golden Champion

A Dexterity-based tank build that can Block-Counter, Dual Wield, and Parry all in one setup.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Ornamental Straight Sword & any Sacred Seal
• Shield: Banished Knight’s Shield
• Armor: Banished Knight Set
• Talismans: Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent’s Prosthesis, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman & Spear Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Endurance
• Skills: Golden Tempering & Golden Parry
• Spells: Golden Vow, Blessing’s Boon and Flame, Grant Me Strength

Next up is the Golden Champion build, another level 150 setup that utilizes the Ornamental Straight Sword. This weapon can be acquired early in the game by defeating the Grafted Scion boss, a challenging task for new characters, which is why this build is better suited for later in the game when you can return and defeat this boss more easily. The Ornamental Straight Sword is unique as a paired weapon, not typically seen outside of claws or fists, allowing versatile combat options. You can switch between sword-and-shield block counters and dual-wielding, thanks to the Golden Tempering buff. This buff enhances subsequent R2 attacks with a flurry of blows, automatically dual-wielding the weapon even when one-handing it.

The strength of the Golden Champion build lies in its ability to easily switch between defensive and offensive playstyles. You can block and counter with a shield or unleash rapid, powerful attacks with dual-wielding. Buffing your damage with items like the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent’s Prosthesis complements the swift R2 flurry, enabling you to quickly build up and deal significant damage. This flexibility and high damage output make the Golden Champion a formidable choice for late-game encounters.

Overall, the Golden Champion build excels in both versatility and damage potential. The Ornamental Straight Sword’s unique dual-wield capability, combined with the powerful Golden Tempering buff, allows you to adapt to various combat situations, maximizing your effectiveness in both offense and defense.

The Black Knife Assassin

A Dexterity/Faith Build that uses dual Daggers to rapidly strike enemies and Bosses for high damage the further into combo chains you go.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Erdsteel Dagger x2, Black Knife & any Sacred Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Black Knife Hood, Black Knife Armor, Fire Prelate Gauntlets & Fire Prelate Greaves
• Talismans: Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent’s Prosthesis, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman & Shard of Alexander
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor 
• Skills: Blade of Death, Bloodhound’s Step & Parry
• Spells: Golden Vow, Blessing of the Erdtree and Flame, Grant Me Strength

Next up is the Black Knife Assassin build, a dual daggers setup. This might be the only dual daggers build I’ve made so far, though another one will likely come with the daggers video. The primary weapons are two Erdsteel Daggers, complemented by the Black Knife in the main hand for its skill: Blade of Death ability. The Erdsteel Daggers scale physical damage with both Dexterity and Faith, allowing you to enhance both stats and maintain pure physical damage. This synergy enables the use of buffs like Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength to amplify your damage output.

The build excels in delivering rapid L1 attacks, dealing significant damage to enemies. Quick Step or Bloodhound Step on your weapon enhances your agility, helping you dodge attacks effectively. The Black Knife’s Blade of Death skill can be used strategically, especially to initiate boss fights, before switching back to your main daggers. This combination of speed, agility, and buff-enhanced physical damage makes the Black Knife Assassin build highly effective and versatile.

In essence, the Black Knife Assassin build leverages dual daggers’ speed and Dexterity and Faith scaling to deliver high physical damage. Buffs like Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength enhance your attack power, while skills like Quick Step or Bloodhound Step provide agility. The Black Knife’s Blade of Death adds a strategic element for tougher fights, making this build both powerful and adaptable.

The Black Flame Bushido

A Dexterity/Faith Build that uses the Cross-Naginata to to set Hemorrhage and Black Flame on enemies in melee range.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Cross-Naginata or Nagakiba & Godslayer’s Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: White Mask & White Reed Set
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Radagon’s Soreseal, Godfrey Icon & Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Mind
• Skills: Phantom Slash, Sword Dance or Double Slash
• Spells: Golden Vow, Black Flame, Bloodflame Blade, Black Flame Blade, Scouring Black Flame, Black Flame Ritual & Black Flame’s Protection

The Black Flame Bushido build is an evolution of the Supreme Samurai build, focusing on Dexterity and Faith. Using the Nagakiba as your primary weapon, you’ll incorporate skills like Double Slash, Sword Dance, or Phantom Slash. This build differentiates itself by investing heavily in Faith to maximize the damage output of Black Flame spells, including Black Flame Blade and Blood Flame.

This hybrid build balances powerful melee attacks with potent Black Flame incantations, making it more versatile than the purely Dexterity-focused Supreme Samurai. The ability to cast Black Flame spells and enhance your weapon with buffs provides a significant advantage in both damage output and flexibility.

In summary, the Black Flame Bushido build merges the strengths of Dexterity and Faith, utilizing the Nagakiba for melee combat and Black Flame spells for ranged and buffed attacks. This combination offers a balanced and adaptable approach, capable of dealing substantial damage through both physical and magical means.

The Serpent Samurai

A Dexterity Build that uses poison to great effect using the Serpentbone Blade and the Uchigatana.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Serpentbone Blade & Uchigatana (or Wakizashi)
• Shield: 
• Armor: Mushroom Crown & any high Poise Armor
• Talismans: Kindred of Rot’s Exultation, Millicent’s Prosthesis, Winged Sword Insignia, & Shard of Alexander
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Endurance
• Skills: Double Slash, Poison Moth Flight & Parry
• Spells: None

The Serpent Samurai build revolves around the Serpent Bone Blade, a katana with deadly poison buildup instead of bleed. While the poison deals less damage overall, it acts swiftly, making it an intriguing choice. The unique charged R2 attack, hitting twice, synergizes well with items like the Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent’s Prosthesis, enhancing its effectiveness.

To amplify the poison’s potency, accessories like the Mushroom Crown or Kindred of Rot’s Exultation can be utilized. This build offers a unique playstyle, combining poison-based combat with traditional samurai techniques. Its distinctiveness sets it apart from other builds, providing an engaging and enjoyable experience for players seeking something different.

New Game Plus Dex Builds (Journey 2)

Embarking on your New Game Plus journey in Elden Ring marks a new chapter in your adventure, where familiar challenges take on new dimensions of difficulty. In this section of the guide, we unveil the top Dexterity Builds for your second journey, ensuring you’re equipped to face the heightened trials ahead.

These builds are honed to perfection, capitalizing on the refined skills and resources at your disposal in Journey 2. With swift reflexes and mastery over your chosen weaponry, you’ll swiftly overcome the increased challenges that await. Whether confronting formidable adversaries or exploring uncharted territories, these New Game Plus Dexterity Builds will elevate your prowess and ensure your continued success in Elden Ring’s unforgiving world.

The Waterfowl Warrior

A Dexterity Build that uses Hand of Malenia to devastating results via Waterfowl Dance.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Hand of Malenia
• Shield: None
• Armor: The heaviest you can wear and still Medium Roll.
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Millicent’s Prosthesis, Winged Sword Insignia, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman or Great-Jar’s Arsenal
• Primary Stats: Dexterity 
• Secondary Stats: Endurance & Vigor 
• Skills: Waterfowl Dance
• Spells: None

The Waterfowl Warrior build is designed for new game plus or Journey 2 playthroughs, centered around the Hand of Malenia Katana. Obtained late in the game, this katana’s weapon skill, Waterfowl Dance, is the focus of the build. Despite its lack of bleed buildup, the skill triggers effects like Winged Sword Insignia and Millicent’s Prosthesis, boosting attack power when used rapidly. To maximize its effectiveness, players must prioritize poise and stamina management, ensuring uninterrupted use of the skill.

By leveraging items like the Shard of Alexander, the build enhances the damage output of Waterfowl Dance. Stamina conservation is crucial due to the skill’s high stamina consumption and lengthy windup. The build’s strategy revolves around unleashing devastating combos with Waterfowl Dance while maintaining stability and resource management during combat.

The key to this build is optimizing the rapid strikes of Waterfowl Dance by focusing on items and stats that enhance attack power and stamina regeneration. Properly managing these resources will allow players to maximize the potential of the Hand of Malenia Katana, making the Waterfowl Warrior build highly effective in new game plus scenarios.

The Soul Samurai

A Dexterity Intelligence Build that uses the Nagakiba and Scholar’s Armament to phenomenal result.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Nagakiba & Academy Glintstone Staff
• Shield: None
• Armor: Black Knife Set
• Talismans: Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Shard of Alexander, Magic Scorpion Charm & Millicent’s Prosthesis
• Primary Stats: Intelligence & Dexterity
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Mind
• Skills: Double Slash
• Spells: Greatblade Phalanx, Founding Rain of Stars, Unseen Form, Loretta’s Greatbow, Carian Retaliation, Scholar’s Armament, Terra Magica, Freezing Mist

Next up is The Soul Samurai build, designed for New Game Plus. This build is a Dexterity and Intelligence hybrid, utilizing the Nagakiba and buffing it with Scholar’s Armament. The need for high Dexterity ensures substantial physical damage, while significant Intelligence is required to maximize the effectiveness of Scholar’s Armament. This combination allows for powerful melee attacks and the ability to cast sorceries effectively, making it versatile and potent in combat.

The Soul Samurai build leverages the Dexterity scaling of a keen Nagakiba, enhanced further by Scholar’s Armament. This setup enables rapid and high-damage strikes while also granting the flexibility to cast various spells. The high attribute requirements for Dexterity and Intelligence mean this build shines in New Game Plus, where players have accumulated more attribute points.

In essence, the Soul Samurai build balances melee prowess with magical capability, requiring a substantial investment in both Dexterity and Intelligence. This makes it a powerful option for players looking to dominate in New Game Plus, offering both the physical damage of a skilled swordsman and the arcane power of a seasoned sorcerer.

The Scarlet Spear

A Dexterity Build that focuses on the use of dual spears and the Scarlet Rot and Poison status effects.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: All HP
• Weapon: Rotten Crystal Spear x2
• Shield: Coil Shield
• Armor: Redmane Knight Set or any armor with high protection and 51+ Poise
• Talismans: Kindred of Rot’s Exultation, Winged Sword Insignia, Millicent’s Prosthesis & Spear Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Endurance
• Skills: Charge Forth & Viper Bite
• Spells: None

Up next is the Scarlet Spear build, tailored for New Game Plus. This dual-wield spear build utilizes two Rotten Crystal Spears to inflict the Scarlet Rot status effect. These weapons are acquired very late in the game, making this build ideal for New Game Plus. The strategy revolves around rapid L1 attacks to quickly build up Scarlet Rot on your target while simultaneously increasing your attack power.

Scarlet Rot deals substantial damage over time, making it highly effective for tougher enemies in New Game Plus. To maximize this build, you can use items like the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation and the Mushroom Crown to boost your attack power once Scarlet Rot is inflicted. Additionally, the Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent’s Prosthesis can enhance your damage output during rapid L1 attacks, while the Spear Talisman further boosts your physical damage.

The Scarlet Spear build excels in New Game Plus due to the high damage potential of Scarlet Rot and the synergy between rapid attacks and various damage-boosting items. This combination ensures that you can deal continuous and significant damage, making it a formidable choice for advanced gameplay stages.

The Vampiric Knight

A melee build that focuses on out healing damage taken while shredding enemies to death with the Butchering Knife.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP, some FP
• Weapon: Butchering Knife
• Shield: Icon Shield
• Armor: Any armor with high Poise and protection, the higher the better
• Talismans: Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Blessed Dew Talisman, Shard of Alexander, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Endurance
• Skills: None
• Spells: None

Our final New Game Plus build is the Vampiric Knight. While this build can be created much earlier in the game, its effectiveness shines in New Game Plus. Central to this build is the Butchering Knife, which restores 1% of your max HP with each hit. Alternatively, you can use Great Stars or Placidus’ Greatsword, both of which also provide health restoration on hit.

The core strategy of the Vampiric Knight build revolves around using Wild Strikes to hit enemies rapidly, thus regaining health quickly. High vigor is essential to maximize the HP you recover with each hit. To enhance survivability, you can equip items that provide health regeneration over time, such as Taker’s Cameo and various talismans that replenish health continuously.

This build is incredibly tanky and hard to kill, thanks to the constant health restoration from both direct hits and passive regeneration. The combination of rapid attacks and continuous healing makes the Vampiric Knight a formidable force in New Game Plus, ensuring you remain resilient and difficult to defeat even in the toughest battles.

So that wraps up our guide on best Dexterity builds in Elden Ring. I hope you guys got something useful out of this build. I know people love watching the showcases and you can see our Daggers Rank guide out now.

The post Elden Ring Best 15 Dexterity Builds – Early and Late Game appeared first on Fextralife.

In this Elden Ring Glintstone Kris Build Guide, I’ll be showing you my Spellthief build. This is an NG+ build that focuses on the use of the Glintstone Kris, which is one of the weapons that I fell in love with while doing the Daggers Guide. I couldn’t decide between the Glintstone Kris and the Reduvia, so I made a build for both of them. The reason that this is an NG+ build is because by the time you acquire this weapon, you have to complete Sorceress Sellen’s quest line which is quite far into the game.

Elden Ring Glintstone Kris Build Guide – Spellthief

In this Elden Ring Build Guide, we’ll be showcasing a Glintstone Kris dagger build. This is a new game+ build that takes place after level 150. If you’ve been looking for a dagger build that can range enemies down from afar and also deal great critical damage then you might want to check this build-out.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Equal Charges
• Weapon: Glintstone Kris
• Shield: Carian Knight’s Shield
• Armor: Spellblade’s Pointed Hat, Black Knife Armor, Spellblade’s Gloves, Spellblade’s Trousers
• Talismans: Magic Scorpion Charm, Ritual Sword Talisman, Godfrey Icon, Shard of Alexander or Warrior Jar Shard
• Primary Stats: Dexterity, Intelligence, Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Endurance, Mind
• Skills: Glintstone Dart, Carian Retaliation
• Spells: n/a
• Crystal Tear: Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear, Intelligence-knot Crystal Tear or Dexterity-knot Crystal Tear
• Great Runes: Godrick’s Great Rune or Radahn’s Great Rune

We have over 110 Elden Ring Builds now, for all classes and playstyles. This build is recommended for level 150.

Elden Ring Spellthief Build – Equipment

The weapon that we’ll be using for this build is the Glintstone Kris. There’s nothing truly amazing with the dagger itself, as it has 110 Critical Rating, which is pretty average for a dagger. The damage of this weapon is alright, as it’s a pretty light weapon. It’s good for any dagger build, as we’re going for critical attacks or backstabs.

What makes this weapon stand out is its weapon skill, Glintstone Dart. This skill operates very similarly to Glintstone Pebble. If you’ve ever used that Ash of War on any weapon, it shoots out a magic damage projectile that you can follow-up with a thrusting attack. The advantage of that type of Ash of War is that it gives you a ranged option when you need it, and it also can allow a follow-up if enemies get close before you finish casting it.

There are a few differences between Glintstone Dart and Glintstone Pebble. Glintstone Dart does more damage than Glinstone Pebble. It also costs 10 FP, which is 2 more than Glintstone Pebble, while their follow-up attack both costs 4 FP. You get a little bit more damage, but it’s a little bit more expensive. Another difference is that Glintstone Dart can pierce through enemies, hitting those behind your original target. If you get enemies all lined up or stacked together, you can wipe them all out with one use of Glintstone Dart. This gives an advantage over Glintstone Pebble, as you can use it in areas with a lot of enemies. Additionally, you can charge Glintstone Dart by holding down the button for additional damage, which takes longer to use the skill. It gets you more damage, which makes it more cost-effective in terms of FP. Glintstone Dart is going to carry itself better into NG+ than Glinstone Pebble would in a lot of cases.

Alongside the dagger, I’m using the Carian Knight’s Shield because we have high Intelligence for this build. I like how this shield looks, which is why I am using it. You can put no skill on it, and just use it to block and be able to use Glintstone Dart easily without having to do anything. You can put Carian Retaliation, which I’ve done for this build, as it allows you to parry easily because it has good i-frames. You can use it to parry when you need to, then do a critical hit with your dagger. You can then use Glintstone Dart as needed by either two-handing it or just toggling your shield off quickly. You don’t really need a shield for this build, but it just makes sense in case you want to parry, because using a dagger with a high critical damage lends itself well to a parry build.

For armor, I’m using the Black Knife Armor in order to muffle our movements when we’re walking around, making it easier to get backstabs off or confuse enemies while using Glintstone Dart to get the drop on them. If you’re playing stealthily, this should help you out. Even though you’re not invisible and you’re not sneaking around all the time, it gives you an advantage as enemies might not detect you, allowing you to get the drop on them. The three pieces of armor are part of the Spellblade Set, which increases the damage of Glintstone Dart by 2% per piece. You’ll get 6% here, since we’re not using the chest piece. Having muffled footsteps is a better trade-off than 2% damage.

Elden Ring Spellthief Dagger Build – Talismans

All of our talismans are trying to get the most damage possible out of Glinstone Dart. We have the Shard of Alexander to boost its damage more, Magic Scorpion Charm to deal more magic damage, and Ritual Sword Talisman to give us 10% more damage when we’re at full health. You rarely get hit with this build, so you’ll benefit from using Ritual Sword Talisman. We’re also using the Godfrey Icon because you can charge Glintstone Dart. This will further boost its damage if you’re doing the charged version of it.

Elden Ring Glintstone Kris Build – Attributes

Attribute-wise, we’ve got: 50 Vigor, 30 Mind, 25 Endurance, 10 Strength, 50 Dexterity, 50 Intelligence, 7 Faith, and 9 Arcane. You don’t really need any Faith or Arcane in this build, as this is an Intelligence/Dexterity-focused build.

I would suggest increasing your Vigor up to 60, while dropping Mind down to 20, or even going 55 Vigor, 25 Mind. You don’t have a lot of protection with this build as we’re wearing very light armor, unless you want to do another variant where you wear heavier armor to give yourself more protection. You do take a lot of damage when you get hit, especially with Magic Scorpion Charm amplifying the damage you receive. Having more health pool will be better here, and you don’t use a lot of FP with this build. One charge of Glintstone Dart is 10 FP, so you can cast it 10-15 times before using a flask, which isn’t bad for a build with low Mind.

As for Endurance, you don’t really need a lot of Endurance with this build. You can either pump your Endurance or try to go for a light build, which makes sense since you don’t really need a lot of stamina for this build. Glintstone Dart isn’t much of a stamina hog, so it’s not super important to have a lot of Endurance here. You can put some points in Vigor if you decide to drop Endurance a little bit.

10 Strength is basically there to meet the requirements to use Carian Knight’s Shield. You don’t need any Strength for this build, even though the weapon scales with Strength. I wouldn’t recommend worrying about Strength to increase the damage of the Glintstone Kris.

We have 50 Dexterity and Intelligence because these attributes scale well up to 50. In my testing, dropping Dexterity down a bit while increasing Intelligence came out worse, so your sweet spot for your weapon is right around here. From this point onward, Dexterity performs better than Intelligence. If you’re just trying to get more melee damage, Dexterity might not be a bad way to go. If you want more magic damage for Glintstone Dart, you should take points out of Dexterity, then increase your Intelligence.

Elden Ring Spellthief Build – Final Tips

When it comes to the Flask of Wondrous Physick, I have the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear to give us more damage with Glintstone Dart, and to increase our melee damage a bit here. What else you want to put in there is up to you. You can use the Intelligence-knot Crystal Tear to give you more damage, or Dexterity-knot Crystal Tear to give you more melee damage. Greenspill Crystal Tear and Greenburst Crystal Tear can also be good if you need additional stamina or stamina recovery. Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear is the only non-negotiable one in there.

As for Great Runes, you’re probably going to use Godrick’s Great Rune. You’re using five attributes for this build, six if you count Strength, although it’s just a couple of points there. If you want to use Radahn’s Great Rune for more health, stamina, and FP, it’s not a bad choice. I think Godrick’s Great Rune is the better choice here, but you can use either of that.

You can play this as a dual wield build if you want, so you can drop the shield. You can then pair this build with an infuse-able dagger on your offhand, using Cold infusion to have similar scaling with Dexterity and Intelligence, keeping a similar attribute spread. You can use the Crystal Knife or Ivory Sickle, as these have very similar scaling to our weapon. Neither of these are great on their own, so using them as an offhand weapon is probably the best way to use them.

That’s it for our Spellthief Build Guide! As always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming for Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree so stay tuned for those. If you need help finding items, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check the Elden Ring Map. Happy building!

The post Elden Ring Glintstone Kris Build Guide – Spellthief appeared first on Fextralife.

In this V Rising Trophies and Achievements Guide, I’ll be showing you how to obtain all achievements you can get for V Rising. If you’re a completionist looking to get 100% in V Rising, this guide will help you get all 49 achievements.

Trophies and Achievements in V Rising

In V Rising, there are a lot of accomplishments you can do in the game. You can set checkpoints and goals for your own playthrough so that you have something to look forward to while playing the game. For example, you can look forward to having a 100% blood type farm, or having servants equipped with all best-in-slot items. However, there are also concrete achievements that will show up in your profile, or if you’re a trophy hunter, something that can show that you have truly beaten the game. These achievements show how dedicated you are to the game, or it can show off your skills in combat and game knowledge.

All Trophies and Achievements in V Rising

There are a total of 49 achievements that you can unlock in V Rising. There are achievements you can unlock by progressing normally through the game, and there are others which requires you to show your combat prowess by playing the game in Brutal Mode.

A Whole New World

Venture into the Farbane Woods Area

A First Taste

Feed from a living creature

• You can do this immediately after getting out of the tutorial zone

Lord of the Land

Place a Castle Heart and claim an unoccupied territory

A Creature of Many Forms

Use your Vampire powers to shapeshift into another form

• You can obtain your first shapeshift form by defeating Alpha the White Wolf

First of Many

Drink the blood of a V Blood

• The first V Blood Carrier you will encounter is Alpha the White Wolf

Instant Gratification

Teleport using a Vampire Waygate

A Fox in the Hen House

Venture into the Dunley Farmlands area

Work Smart, Not Hard

Interact with a work station that has the room and floor bonus active

• The room must be enclosed by castle walls so that it will be covered by a roof

Ultimate Power

Cast an ultimate ability

• The earliest Tier 3 Skill Point you can get is from Nicholaus the Fallen

Upon a Pale Horse

Ride a horse

• You can find horses in human settlements

Completed Act 1

Defeat Quincey the Bandit King and complete Act I

Larger Pockets!

Equip a bag

• You can craft a leather bag after gaining access to a Leatherworking Station by defeating Lidia the Chaos Archer

The Allure of Coin

Trade with a Shady Merchant in the Farbane Woods

• Shady Merchants in Farbane Woods can be found near both the east and west Vampire Waygates

Footsteps in the Snow

Venture into the Hallowed Mountains area

Vampire Rising

Place a staircase

Blood Donor

Extract blood from a prisoner

• You can build a Prison Cell after defeating Vincent the Frostbringer

The Forgotten Reaches

Venture into the Ruins of Mortium area

A Vampire with a Hobby

Plant a seed in a planter

• You can build a Growing Plot after defeating Polora the Feywalker

Don’t Drink the Water

Venture into the Gloomrot South Area

Godless Intrusion

Venture into the Silverlight area

Collector of Forgotten Lore I

Interact with a Research Desk that has all technologies unlocked

• You can unlock Research Desk by finishing the Blood Hunt quest by tracking a V Blood Carrier

Every Corner of the World

Venture to all major regions

Exquisite Blood

Drink blood from a 100% blood quality source

Completed Act 2

Defeat Octavian the Militia Leader and complete Act II

Forbidden Footsteps

Venture into the Cursed Forest area

Your Number One Fan

Fully equip a servant

• You can build Servant Coffins by finishing the quest Lord of the Manor

March of the Machines

Venture into the Gloomrot North area

Riftslayer

Participate in closing a rift to the Shadow Realm

Symphony of the Night

Interact with a music box

A Weapon From a More Civilized Age

Reforge a shattered weapon at the Ancestral Forge

• Shattered weapons can be obtained as chance drops from mid-game bosses.

Gone Fishing

Catch a fish using a fishing rod

• You can obtain the recipe for a Fishing Rod by defeating Finn the Fisherman

Completed Act 3

Defeat Cyril the Cursed Smith and complete Act III

Master of Disguise

Trade with a merchant as a very ordinary human

• You can obtain the Vampire Power Human Form by defeating Bane the Shadowblade

Collector of Forgotten Lore II

Interact with a Study that has all technologies unlocked

• You can build a Study after defeating Maja the Dark Savant

Dressed to Impress

Equip an item in a Cosmetic Slot

• The cosmetic slot can be accessed by pressing the arrow above your equipped armor slot.

To The Skies

Find a way to fly

• You can obtain the Vampire Power Bat Form by defeating Lord Styx the Night Champion

An Eye for Quality

Successfully charm a human that has 100% blood quality

Completed Act 4

Defeat Solarus the Immaculate and complete Act IV

Collector of Forgotten Lore III

Interact with an Anatheum that has all technologies unlocked

• You can build an Anatheum after defeating Henry Blackbrew the Doctor

Oh No!

Eat the wrong mushroom

• A Trippy Mushroom, which looks like a purple Hell’s Clarion, can be found in caves in Farbane Woods

Completed Act 1 on Brutal Difficulty

Defeat Quincey the Bandit King and complete Act I on Brutal Difficulty

It’s a Tight Squeeze

Use Rat Form and traverse through a small hole

• You can obtain the Vampire Power Rat Form by defeating Nibbles the Putrid Rat

Completed Act 2 on Brutal Difficulty

Defeat Octavian the Militia Leader and complete Act II on Brutal Difficulty

A Perfect Test Subject

Feed a prisoner with Irradiant Gruel and have them reach 100% blood quality as a result

• You can obtain the recipe for Irradiant Gruel by defeating Angram the Purifier

Slayer of the Immortal King

Defeat Dracula, The Immortal King

Completed Act 3 on Brutal Difficulty

Defeat Cyril the Cursed Smith and complete Act III on Brutal Difficulty

Master of All

Defeat and drink the blood of every V Blood

• You must defeat all the V Blood Carriers

Completed Act 4 on Brutal Difficulty

Defeat Solarus the Immaculate and complete Act IV on Brutal Difficulty

Brutal Slayer of the Immortal King

Defeat Dracula, The Immortal King, on Brutal Difficulty

Final Tips

If you’re playing in a co-op server, you can unlock the achievements together as a party. You can interact with structures and defeat bosses together, so you don’t have to repeat the steps to unlock achievements if you’re playing as a party.

Most of these achievements are tied to bosses that drop structures, recipes, and spell points. You can refer to the V Rising – All V Blood Carriers Guide to see their location and the rewards that they give. We also have a guide for All V Rising Blood Types and a V Rising Armor Progression Guide.

This wraps up our guide on 100% Achievements and Trophies in V Rising. I’ll be making a guide on all of the weapons in V Rising, including all of the movesets and how to unlock them. If you’re waiting for V Rising’s PlayStation 5 release on June 11, make sure to read up on the guides to be ready for it!

The post How To Get 100% Achievements and Trophies in V Rising appeared first on Fextralife.

The BEST Faith builds in Elden Ring, featuring 15 Faith Builds that are my favorite Faith builds in the game. Many viewers of my earlier Elden Ring videos mentioned how much they enjoyed seeing gameplay from different builds. So, in this guide, I’ll not only cover the progression of Faith builds throughout the game but also highlight the best Faith builds for your journey. I’ll showcase some of the builds I’ve personally used and recommend. You can find every item in our Elden Ring Map and get ready for the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree.

Best Early Game Faith Builds (Level 50)

Venturing into the captivating world of Elden Ring requires more than just courage; it demands strategy. In this portion of the guide, we showcase the best Early Game Faith Builds at Level 50.

There are only a few low-level faith builds that I find particularly strong, in my opinion. Many of the best spells for faith are discovered in the mid or later stages of the game. However, there are still some early-game options that pack a punch. These builds will help you lay a solid foundation that can carry you well into the mid-game. With the right combination of skills and equipment, you’ll be prepared to face the challenges that lie ahead.

The Templar

A tanky melee focused build that can heal itself and allies, as well as deal decent damage with Block Counters and Holy Weapon buffs.

• Class: Confessor
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP, some FP
• Weapon: Noble’s Slender Sword
• Shield: Brass Shield
• Armor: Mausoleum Knight Armor, Greathelm, Knight Greaves, & Knight Gauntlets
• Primary Stats: Faith & Endurance
• Secondary Stats: Vigor
• Skills: Ash of War: Golden Vow, Ash of War: Sacred Blade, Ash of War: Barricade Shield
• Spells: Blessing’s Boon & Aspects of the Crucible: Tail

The first one we’ll explore is the Templar. This is essentially your go-to paladin build. At level 50, you can wield this build very effectively. You’ll likely opt for a medium shield at this stage to allocate points into Faith. Otherwise, you’ll need to invest in Strength to wield a great shield. Equip a Sacred Seal and set the infusion on your straight sword to either flame art or sacred to maximize that Faith scaling. Your stats will primarily focus on vigor, endurance, Faith, and a bit of strength to wield a decent medium shield. You’ll emphasize buffing and early-game spells while utilizing block counters and stance breaking. This build excels particularly well in the early stages of the game.

The Sword Sage

The Sword Sage is a combination of Intelligence and Faith, using the Sword of Night and Flame and Death Sorceries.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Split between FP & HP
• Weapon: Sword of Night and Flame & Meteorite Staff
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any that still lets you med roll
• Primary Stats: Intelligence & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Mind
• Skills: Night-and-Flame Stance
• Spells: Rancorcall & Ancient Death Rancor

Now, let’s take a look at the Sword Sage build at level 50. This build revolves around wielding the Sword of Night and Flame. With the right setup, you can start using this sword quite early in the game. However, it’s worth noting that this weapon demands a significant investment in both intelligence and faith. Consequently, your health and endurance may be relatively low when using this weapon at level 50. Nonetheless, even after adjustments and nerfs, the Sword of Night and Flame remains a potent weapon. If you’re keen on wielding it early on, the Sword Sage build is the way to go, boasting impressive strength and versatility.

The Blackflame Apostle

A Faith-Dex Build that focuses on the use of Black Flame to boost damage and give multiple options to every scenario.

• Class: Prophet, Confessor, or Samurai
• Flask Spread: Split between HP and FP
• Weapon: Any Weapon that has Bleed on it by default such as the Uchigatana, Nightrider Flail, or Bloodhound’s Fang & Godslayer’s Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any
• Primary Stats: Faith & Mind
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Dexterity
• Skills: Bloody Slash or Unsheathe work well, but you can use any you like
• Spells: Black Flame, Black Flame Blade, Catch Flame and Bloodflame Blade

Now, let’s discuss my final level 50 faith build recommendation, which is the Blackflame Apostle build. This build focuses on enhancing your weapon with either Bloodflame Blade or Black Flame Blade, allowing you to cast Black Flame incantations or other faith-based spells like Catch Flame. Here’s how it works: you’ll wield a weapon with inherent bleed buildup that can still be buffed, such as the Uchigatana, Nagakiba, Nightrider Flail, or Bloodhound’s Fang. In your left hand, equip the Godslayer’s Seal. You’ll then buff your weapon to increase bleeding or apply the Black Flame effect, and cast spells using Black Flame. This setup offers a dynamic and enjoyable playstyle.

Best Mid-Game Faith Builds (Level 100)

Venturing deeper into the mesmerizing world of Elden Ring, you’ll find that the mid-game presents its own set of challenges and opportunities. Here, strategy becomes even more crucial, and selecting the right Faith Builds can make a significant difference in your journey.

In this portion of the guide, we focus on the best Mid-Game Faith Builds. While the most powerful faith spells are typically unlocked later in the game, mid-game offers a variety of potent options that can greatly enhance your gameplay. With these builds, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle tougher foes and navigate the complexities of Elden Ring’s evolving landscape.

The Deathblade

An Intelligence/Faith Build thas uses the Sword of Night and Flame to full effect, while also using both Sorceries and Incantations to dispatch enemies.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly FP, some HP
• Weapon: Sword of Night and Flame, Prince of Death’s Staff & Golden Order Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any that allows you to med roll. Spellblade Set boosts Night and Flame’s Magic attack by 2% per piece
• Talismans: Fire Scorpion Charm, Magic Scorpion Charm,, Dragoncrest Shield Talisman +1 & Godfrey Icon
• Primary Stats: Intelligence & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Mind
• Skills: Night-and-Flame Stance
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame, Grant Me Strength, Black Flame, Loretta’s Greatbow, Terra Magica, Magic Glintblade, Ancient Death Rancor

First up is the Deathblade build, an evolution of the Sword Sage archetype. While you’ll still wield the Sword of Night and Flame, this build doesn’t emphasize intelligence and faith as heavily as the Sword Sage. Instead, you’ll also use either the Gelmir Glintstone Staff or the Prince of Death’s Staff to cast death magic spells like Rancor and Ancient Death Rancor.

I like to start by casting Ancient Death Rancor or a few charges of it, then follow up with attacks from the Sword of Night and Flame, using Night Comet while the enemy is distracted by the barrage of skulls. This build offers a balanced mix of melee combat with the Sword of Night and Flame and potent death magic spells. It’s incredibly enjoyable to play and remains one of my favorite builds in the game.

The Hellfire Herald

A Dexterity/Faith Build that uses Black Flame and Bleeding to destroy enemies.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly FP, some HP
• Weapon: Cross-Naginata, Flamberge, Scythe, Reaper’s Scythe, Nagakiba or Uchigatana & Godslayer’s Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any that allows for med roll
• Primary Stats: Faith & Dexterity
• Secondary Stats: Mind & Vigor
• Skills: Repeating Thrust, Spinning Slash, Sword Dance or Double Slash
• Spells: Bloodflame Blade, Black Flame Blade, Black Flame, Scouring Black Flame & Golden Vow

The next level 100 faith-based build I want to discuss is the Hellfire Herald. This build centers around dual-wielding greatswords, specifically two iron greatswords infused with either the Sacred Infusion or Flame, Give Me Strength.

You have the flexibility to switch between these infusions based on the enemy’s vulnerabilities throughout the game, adding versatility to the build. Essentially, you’ll buff yourself using spells like Golden Vow and Flame, Give Me Strength. Additionally, you can apply Determination or Royal Knight’s Resolve to your weapons and execute devastating jump attacks, utilizing talismans like the Raptor’s Black Feathers to boost their effectiveness.

This setup allows you to deal significant damage with jump attacks while still retaining the ability to cast spells due to the faith-based nature of the build. You can use offensive spells like Lightning Spear and healing spells like Golden Vow for sustain. Overall, it’s a highly effective and versatile build that excels in both melee combat and spellcasting.

The Blasphemous Beastman

A Strength/Faith hybrid build that uses Bestial Incantations and the Blasphemous Blade to destroy enemies at range or in melee combat.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Some HP, mostly FP
• Weapon: Clawmark Seal, Blasphemous Blade & Cinquedea
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any that still allows you to med roll
• Talismans: Ritual Sword Talisman, Radagon’s Soreseal, Green Turtle Talisman & Dragoncrest Shield Talisman +1
• Primary Stats: Strength & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Mind
• Skills: Taker’s Flames
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame, Grant Me Strength, Stone of Gurranq, Beast Claw & Bestial Sling

Next up is the Blasphemous Beastman build, an incredibly enjoyable setup revolving around the use of Beast Incantations alongside the Blasphemous Blade. This build is essentially a Strength-Faith hybrid, aiming to maximize the effectiveness of the Clawmark Seal. Both the Clawmark Seal and Cinquedea, the dagger, synergize to amplify Beast Incantations. Equip the dagger in your left hand and the Blasphemous Blade in your right hand. Utilize the weapon art of the Blasphemous Blade as needed, then switch to the Clawmark Seal to cast your Beast spells such as Stone of Gurranq, Beast Claw, or Bestial Sling.

You can still enhance your combat capabilities by buffing yourself with spells like Golden Vow or Flame, Give Me Strength. This build offers a remarkable combination of high damage output, ranged options, and a formidable melee presence with the Blasphemous Blade. It’s an incredibly fun and effective Strength-Faith build that provides versatility and potency in various combat scenarios.

The Frenzied Acolyte

An Arcane/Faith Build that focuses on casting incantations from range, only meleeing when absolutely necessary.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly FP, some HP
• Weapon: Dragon Communion Seal, Frenzied Flame Seal, Gravel Stone Seal, Godslayer’s Seal & any melee Weapon that can take an Ash of War
• Shield: None
• Armor: Silver Tear Mask, Commoner’s Garb, Noble’s Glove, Noble’s Trousers
• Talismans: Godfrey Icon, Ritual Sword Talisman, Faithful’s Canvas Talisman & Fire Scorpion Charm
• Primary Stats: Arcane & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Mind
• Skills: Bloodhound’s Step
• Spells: The Flame of Frenzy, Frenzied Burst, Black Flame, Lightning Spear, Golden Vow & Flame, Grant Me Strength

And lastly, among the level 100 faith builds, we have the Frenzied Acolyte build, an arcane faith setup that centers on the use of frenzy or madness spells. With the game emphasizing fire damage through these spells, they become utterly devastating. It’s undeniably one of the most enjoyable and unique builds to play. Spells like Flame of Frenzy and Frenzied Burst are your main arsenal, each excelling in their own right—one at melting bosses and the other at sniping targets from afar.

The mechanics of this build are intriguing; casting is done with the Dragon Communion seal, with a focus on arcane and faith attributes. In your left hand, you’ll have the option of equipping either the Frenzied Seal, the Gravel Stone Seal, or the Godslayer’s Seal, or perhaps all three, rotating between them as needed. When casting a Frenzied spell, you’ll equip the Frenzied Flame Seal in your left hand for maximum damage. Alternatively, for spells like Black Flame or Lightning Spear, you can switch to the Godslayer’s Seal or the Gravel Stone Seal, respectively. This pure caster build maximizes spell damage output by utilizing talismans that buff them in your left hand while effectively casting with the Dragon Communion Seal and the corresponding stat spread.

Best Late Game Faith Builds (Level 150-200)

As you reach the late stages of the enthralling world of Elden Ring, the challenges you face become more formidable and the need for a well-honed strategy is paramount. In the late game, your choice of Faith Builds can significantly impact your success and survival.

This portion of the guide focuses on the best Late-Game Faith Builds. By this point, you’ll have access to the most powerful faith spells and a wider array of equipment, allowing for highly optimized builds. These late-game strategies will help you overcome the toughest adversaries and conquer the final hurdles of Elden Ring’s vast and intricate world.

The Crusader

A melee/caster hybrid that focuses on Faith and Block Counters to obliterate enemies with holy or fire damage.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Gargoyle’s Greatsword & Erdtree Seal
• Shield: Brass Shield
• Armor: Haligtree Knight Helm & any armor that allows you to medium roll
• Talismans: Curved Sword Talisman, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, Shard of Alexander & Sacred Scorpion Charm/Fire Scorpion Charm
• Primary Stats: Faith & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Mind
• Skills: Barricade Shield & Sword Dance
• Spells: Golden Vow, Blessing of the Erdtree, Elden Stars, Lightning Spear, Black Blade, Black Flame’s Protection

Moving on to the level 150 Faith builds, let’s start with the Crusader. This build represents an evolution from the Templar archetype. Instead of relying heavily on Block Counters, you’ll find yourself wielding a greatsword with both hands more frequently, though you still have the option to use the Brass Shield when necessary. Moreover, the Barricade Shield can be equipped for situations where block counters are indispensable.

At the core of this build is the wielding of a powerful greatsword like the Gargoyle’s Greatsword or the Iron Greatsword, infused with either the Sacred Infusion or Flame Art. By prioritizing your faith stat and utilizing the Erdtree Seal, you’ll unleash devastating incantations like Elden Stars, dealing significant damage while maintaining the ability to buff yourself with spells such as Golden Vow and Blessing of the Erdtree.

One standout feature of this build is the utilization of Sword Dance with the greatsword—a remarkably potent skill capable of often dispatching most enemies with just a single FP usage, underscoring the immense damage potential inherent in this setup. Additionally, the flexibility to switch between Lightning Armament and Sacred Armament adds to the versatility of this build, making it a formidable and adaptable choice that scales admirably into the late game.

The Blasphemous Herald

A melee build that uses Jump Attacks and the Blasphemous Blade to demolish enemies point blank and at range.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Blasphemous Blade, Gargoyle’s Blackblade, Gargoyle’s Greatsword & Clawmark Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Raptor’s Black Feathers and any other Armor that allows medium rolling
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Great-Jar’s Arsenal, Claw Talisman, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Strength & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Endurance
• Skills: Taker’s Flame, Corpse Wax Cutter, Flaming Strike & Sacred Order
• Spells: Golden Vow, Blessing of the Erdtree, Flame, Grant Me Strength, Lightning Spear, Black Flame & Stone of Gurranq

Next up is the Blasphemous Herald build, a fusion of the Blasphemous Beastman and Hellfire Herald builds. This build combines elements of both, utilizing the Blasphemous Blade in a dual greatsword configuration akin to the Hellfire Herald, while incorporating aspects unique to the Blasphemous Beastman. Unlike the Hellfire Herald, however, the Blasphemous Herald integrates the use of the Blasphemous Blade.

The strategy behind this build revolves around wielding the Blasphemous Blade in your right hand, complemented by either the Gargoyle’s Blackblade or the Gargoyle’s Greatsword infused with fire or sacred in your left hand. This setup enables you to execute jump attacks while effectively utilizing the Blasphemous Blade and Taker’s Vow weapon skill when needed. Additionally, you retain the ability to cast incantations using the Clawmark Seal, given the emphasis on strength and faith in this build. With a diverse array of options at your disposal, the Blasphemous Herald offers a potent blend of the strengths found in both its parent builds.

The Blackflame Bushido

A Dexterity/Faith Build that uses the Cross-Naginata to to set Hemorrhage and Black Flame on enemies in melee range.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Cross-Naginata or Nagakiba & Godslayer’s Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: White Mask & White Reed Set
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Radagon’s Soreseal, Godfrey Icon & Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Mind
• Skills: Phantom Slash, Sword Dance or Double Slash
• Spells: Golden Vow, Black Flame, Bloodflame Blade, Black Flame Blade, Scouring Black Flame, Black Flame Ritual & Black Flame’s Protection

Now for the Blackflame Bushido build, a natural progression from the Blackflame Apostle setup. The concept here revolves around utilizing either the Cross-Naginata or Nagakiba, both benefiting greatly from Keen Scaling, and allocating attribute points between Dexterity and Faith. By buffing the weapon with enhancements like Black Flame Blade or Bloodflame as needed, and casting spells such as Black Flame using Golden Vow and Scouring Black Flame with the Godslayer’s Seal for augmented effects, this build strikes a balance between melee prowess and spellcasting finesse.

The decision to play this build at level 150 stems from the challenge of efficiently distributing attribute points at lower levels. Attempting to split points between Dexterity and Faith at lower levels would necessitate neglecting vital attributes like Vigor, Mind, and Endurance. Therefore, the build thrives when allowed the flexibility of higher-level play. The gameplay primarily revolves around buffing and casting spells, complemented by devastating techniques like Phantom Slash on the Cross-Naginata or Sword Dance and Double Slash with the Nagakiba, all contributing to a formidable and versatile combat style.

Best New Game+ Builds (Journey 2)

Entering New Game Plus in the captivating world of Elden Ring offers a fresh set of challenges and opportunities. Here, the enemies are tougher, and the stakes are higher, making a well-crafted strategy more critical than ever. Your choice of Faith Builds in New Game Plus can be the key to mastering this advanced stage.

In this portion of the guide, we explore the best Faith Builds for New Game Plus. By now, you have access to the full arsenal of spells and equipment, enabling the creation of exceptionally powerful builds. These strategies will help you navigate the heightened difficulty and tackle the most daunting foes as you continue your journey in Elden Ring.

The Sword Saint

A Dexterity/Faith/Strength Build that focuses on using the Sacred Relic Sword and Wave of Gold.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Split between HP and FP
• Weapon: Sacred Relic Sword, Sword of Milos, and any Sacred Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any Armor with high Poise, the higher the better.
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander, Carian Filigreed Crest, Claw Talisman, & Sacred Scorpion Charm
• Primary Stats: Dexterity & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Strength & Vigor
• Skills: Wave of Gold
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame, Grant Me Strength & Any other Incantations you want.

The first build in this category is the Sword Saint build, centered around the formidable Sacred Relic Sword and its devastating weapon skill, Wave of Gold. This skill unleashes a powerful AoE wave that deals damage over an extended period, albeit at a high FP cost and not meant for continuous use.

To balance this, the build incorporates the Sword of Milos in the offhand, which grants five FP upon enemy kills. This setup allows for dynamic combat, enabling both dual greatsword jump attacks—an effective tactic for various encounters—and the strategic deployment of Wave of Gold when necessary. Additionally, with points allocated to faith, the build can utilize buffs like Golden Vow or Flame, Grant Me Strength, further enhancing its versatility and lethality on the battlefield.

The Drake Knight

A Strength/Faith Build that focuses on the use of the Magma Wyrm’s Scalesword and its weapon skill Magma Guillotine.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP, some FP
• Weapon: Magma Wyrm’s Scalesword & Clawmark Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any Armor that allows you to medium roll
• Talismans: Fire Scorpion Charm, Shard of Alexander, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman & Carian Filigreed Crest
• Primary Stats: Strength & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor
• Skills: Magma Guillotine
• Spells: Golden Vow, & Flame, Grant Me Strength

Next is the Drake Knight build, a robust combination of Strength and Faith that revolves around wielding the formidable Magma Wyrm’s Scaleword alongside the Clawmark Seal. This setup enables efficient casting of incantations such as Golden Vow or Flame, Grant Me Strength, capitalizing on the build’s Strength/Faith orientation.

The Magma Wyrm’s Scaleword‘s unique blend of physical and fire damage meshes seamlessly with this build, optimizing the devastating potential of Magma Guillotine. This weapon skill is renowned for its sheer lethality, capable of single or double-shotting bosses with chilling efficiency. Whether embarking on a New Game Plus journey or tackling earlier game challenges, this build stands as a formidable force on the battlefield, capable of decimating foes with ease.

The Red Lightning

A Faith Build that focuses on the use of Dragon Cult Incantations that deal Lightning Damage.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Split FP & HP
• Weapon: Erdtree Seal & Gravel Stone Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Any Armor that allows you to medium roll.
• Talismans: Lightning Scorpion Charm, Ritual Sword Talisman, Flock’s Canvas Talisman and Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Faith & Vigor
• Secondary Stats: Mind
• Skills: None
• Spells: Golden Vow, Lightning Strike, Lightning Spear, Lansseax’s Glaive, Frozen Lightning Spear, Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike

After that is the Red Lightning build, a dynamic setup centered around harnessing the power of Lightning Spells, including the formidable Red Lightning Spells. With this build, you’ll be unleashing spells such as Golden Vow, Lightning Strike, Lightning Spear, Lansseax’s Glaive, Frozen Lightning Spear, and Ancient Dragon’s Lightning Spear. The core strategy involves casting spells using the Erdtree Seal while holding the Gravelstone Seal in your left hand to augment the damage output of these spells.

By focusing on maximizing Faith, the build excels in spellcasting, allowing you to dispatch foes with lightning-infused fury. Whether it’s sniping enemies from afar with Lightning Strike or Lightning Spear, or unleashing area-of-effect devastation with Lansseax’s Glaive, the build offers a versatile array of spells tailored to various combat scenarios. It’s a thrilling experience for those who relish the role of a lightning-wielding caster on the battlefield.

The Black Blade

A Strength/Faith Build that utilizes Maliketh’s Black Blade and the Black Blade Incantation to optimal effects.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Mostly HP some FP
• Weapon: Maliketh’s Black Blade & Clawmark Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Maliketh’s Set or any Armor with high Poise
• Talismans: Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Shard of Alexander, Sacred Scorpion Charm & Claw Talisman
• Primary Stats: Strength & Faith
• Secondary Stats: Vigor & Endurance
• Skills: Destined Death
• Spells: Golden Vow, Blessing of the Erdtree & Black Blade

And then the Black Blade build, a personal favorite among my creations and easily one of my top five builds. What sets this build apart is its unparalleled style, revolving around the iconic Maliketh’s Black Blade and its accompanying armor set. To complement this aesthetic, we incorporate the Clawmark Seal, enabling spellcasting prowess. Embracing the essence of a Strength/Faith build, the strategy unfolds in boss encounters.

You initiate the fight by casting the Black Blade incantation from a distance, inflicting initial damage and stripping the boss of 10% of its maximum health. Transitioning seamlessly into close combat, you unleash Destined Death from the sword, further reducing the boss’s health by an additional 20%. Notably, this health loss remains permanent even after the buffs and debuffs wear off, offering a substantial advantage. From there, you engage in standard melee combat, intermittently utilizing the Black Blade incantation from range as needed to maintain pressure on the adversary.

The Pyromancer

A Faith spellcaster Build that only uses Fire Magic to burn enemies to a crisp.

• Class: Any
• Flask Spread: Split HP and FP
• Weapon: Erdtree Seal & Giant’s Seal
• Shield: None
• Armor: Light Armor so you can Light Roll
• Talismans: Godfrey Icon, Fire Scorpion Charm, Ritual Sword Talisman (or Canvas Flock’s Talisman) & Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Primary Stats: Faith & Mind
• Secondary Stats: Vigor
• Skills: None
• Spells: Golden Vow, Flame, Grant Me Strength, Burn, O Flame!, Flame of the Fell God, Flame, Fall Upon Them & Giantsflame Take Thee

Lastly, we discuss the Pyromancer build, arguably one of the most exhilarating playstyles in the game. Renowned for its sheer power and enjoyment, this build revolves around harnessing the might of Fire Giant incantations. However, due to the late acquisition of these spells, the Pyromancer build is tailored for Journey 2 gameplay, requiring a significant investment across one playthrough to amass all necessary components.

The core setup entails wielding the Erdtree Seal in one hand and the Giant’s Seal in the other, capitalizing on a substantial faith attribute. While staples like Golden Vow and Flame, Give Me Strength enhance your arsenal, it’s the devastating fire spells like Burn, O Flame, Flame of the Fell God, Flame, Fall Upon Them, and Giantsflame Take Thee that steal the spotlight, unleashing catastrophic damage upon foes. As you progress through your new game plus journey, acquiring a second Giant Seal further amplifies your fiery onslaught, culminating in a relentless barrage of flames that incinerate everything in your path. Truly, few experiences rival the sheer exhilaration of wielding such immense power.

That concludes my guide on the top 15 faith builds for Elden Ring. While I’ve showcased my personal builds, keep in mind that your own versions may differ slightly based on talismans and stat allocations. However, the core concepts should remain consistent. If you enjoyed this guide and want to see more showcases of different build types we’ve created, please let me know in the comments. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on recent Elden Ring videos, with many of you expressing enjoyment in exploring various builds. If you think I missed any particularly powerful builds, or have suggestions for future guides, feel free to share your thoughts below.

The post Elden Ring Best 15 Faith Builds – Early and Late Game appeared first on Fextralife.