Elden Ring Hero Build: Top 4 Hero Builds

In Elden Ring, Builds are not a hardcoded concept – they essentially refer to the act of specialization. For instance, a sorcerer build is basically a player’s setup that is themed around maximizing sorcery through the use of appropriate glintstone staffs, talismans, armor, and of course, stat distributions. On the other hand, if you’re more fixated on a Samurai build, Elden Ring offers you a wide array of Katanas to wield and armor sets to wear, which you can personally combine to embody your idea of a Samurai! In this sense, you’re right to think that practically any kind of “character” can be somewhat adapted in the world of Elden Ring, such as that of a Hero.

What is Elden Ring Hero Build

Coincidentally enough, Elden Ring offers you, the player, 10 base classes to choose from when you start a new game, one of them being the Hero class. The Hero is described as a champion who relies on pure, unadulterated Strength to disengage any enemy that may oppose them. You will begin the game at level 7 with a noticeably calculated stat distribution upon selecting this starting class. You’ll notice right away that most of your stats will be allocated towards Strength (16 attribute points) and Vigor (14 attribute points), hinting at a physical-oriented build in the future. While there are many contenders for the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring that you can work towards, here are my top 4 recommendations!

Related: Elden Ring Best Confessor Builds

Nimble Bloodhound (Level 150)

Attributes and Stats

Hero Builds are often known for their brute-force nature, relying on a heavy weapon to stomp their enemies. However, as far as the damage per second metric is concerned, both heavy and light weapons fare quite equally and have a strong potential to reach those high DPS numbers. TraitorNeo’s agile strength-oriented build is one of the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring that goes to show just that as he demonstrates a unique way of forging your Hero:

• Vigor – 50 (High HP and survivability is important with close-combat weapons)
• Mind – 25
• Endurance – 35 (To allow for relatively heavy armor)
• Strength – 60
• Dexterity – 15
• Intelligence – 9
• Faith – 25 (Sufficient enough to use the specified buffs and incantations)
• Arcane – 11

Weapon Choice

Beastman’s Curved Sword

Given how I described Hero Build in Elden Ring as agile and capable of exhibiting large DPS values, you may have expected dual-wielding curved swords, the all-time staple of quick bursts of damage. The Beastman’s Curved Sword excels in this regard as, weighing in at just 4.0 units, it comes with a base damage of 113. Furthermore, it requires 13 strength and 11 dexterity to wield, easily rewarding its wielders with a C scaling in Strength and E scaling in Dexterity. These can be significantly improved through reinforcement with Smithing Stones and infusions with Ashes of War.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	113	0	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	44	33	33	33	33	-	27
	Str	Dex
Scaling	C	E
Requires	13	11
Curved Sword	Slash
Spinning Slash	FP 6 ( - 12)
Wgt. 4	Passive -

As we are focused on a strength-related build on this List of Elden Ring Best Hero Build, it is recommended to infuse it with a Heavy Ash of War, particularly Bloodhound Step to add that massive chunk of agility. Furthermore, at +25 with Heavy infusion, the Beastman’s Curved Sword achieves 237 physical and 107 stamina damage on top of an A-tier strength scaling. What makes it especially deadly when dual-wielded is that its jump attack actually inflicts four distinct hits on the enemy, making it something definitely to maximize on in this build!

Clawmark’s Seal

In Elden Ring, we have come to a point where pure strength builds are not as viable, so you should definitely integrate some incantations or sorceries into your builds, at the very least for buffs. The Clawmark’s Seal is quite superb as it is the only sacred seal in the game that scales with Strength. Furthermore, you need not invest that much Faith into using it as it only requires 4 strength and 10 faith to use, rewarding you with a D scaling in both Strength and Faith.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Inc	Boost
Attack	31	0	0	0	0	100	60	-
Guard	25	15	15	15	15	-	-	15
	Str	Fai
Scaling	D	D
Requires	4	10
Sacred Seals	Strike
No Skill	FP -
Wgt. 1.5	Passive Boosts Bestial Incantations

The Clawmark’s Seal benefits from your 60 strength even more at +16 reinforcement with Smithing Stones, where it peaks at a B-scaling in both Strength and Faith! The Clawmark’s Seal can be obtained by giving Gurranq, Beast Clergyman, a Deathroot near the Beastial Sanctium Site of Grace located in the north-western end of Caelid.

Dragonclaw Shield

Generally, dual-wielding a pair of weapons is the most offensive way of playing through Elden Ring, as you’re even utilizing your off-hand for wielding a weapon, which could otherwise be wielding a shield. While the trade-off between defense and offense is expected and viable in it of itself, especially with Bloodhound Step, it is still recommended to have a shield equipped for when times get extremely rough.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	118	0	0	76	0	100	-
Guard	100	52	52	76	47	-	61
	Str	Dex
Scaling	D	E
Requires	28	12
Greatshield	Strike
Shield Bash	FP 10
Wgt. 13.5	Passive -

The Dragonclaw Shield is one of the best Greatshields in Elden Ring, coming at you with a strong level of absorption against elemental damage on top of 100% physical damage absorption. Additionally, it also has an offensive side to it as its weapon art, Shield Bash inflicts solid damage, with a base damage of 118. Upon upgrading to +10 with Somber Smithing Stones, it peaks at 227 physical and 147 holy damage, a feast for the eyes!

Armor Combination

If you’ve come across this set in Elden Ring, you would automatically realize how good it is for this specific build. The Raptor’s Black Feathers, the chest piece of the Raptor’s Set truly does wonders as we are looking to maximize the damage on the plunging attack for Hero build. Weighing in at 7.7 units, this chest piece comes with the natural benefit of raising the damage of your plunge attacks. While this is mandatory, the rest of your armor is completely upto you, whether you want to prioritize your appearance or go for as much poise as reasonably possible with 35 Endurance.

Talisman Options

Erdtree’s Favor

Name	Erdtree's Favor
Weight	1.5
Effect	Raises maximum HP, stamina, and equip load

With all the Elden Ring weapons and armor in place, we will be mainly utilizing our talismans to increase our defense on this Best Hero Build in Elden Ring. The Erdtree’s Favor is an excellent Talisman as it raises your maximum HP, Stamina, and Equipment load. While it is obtained in Fringefolk Hero’s Grave near the Stranded Graveyard Site of Grace, I would highly recommend swapping it out for its +1 and +2 counterparts later when you visit the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds and Leyndell, Ashen Capital.

Claw Talisman

Name	Claw Talisman
Weight	0.7
Effect	increases jump attack damage by 15% (7.5% in PvP).

The Claw Talisman is an integral part of Hero build and will go a long way in significantly increasing the damage of plunging attacks since it stacks with the Raptor’s Black Feathers. It can be obtained quite early in the game and boosts jump attacks by roughly 15%. It is located in Stormveil Castle and requires quite a trek to get to the central watchtower, at the top of which it can be looted off a corpse.

Great-Jar’s Arsenal

Name	Great-Jar's Arsenal
Weight	1.5
Effect	Vastly raises the maximum equip load by 19%.

The Great-Jar’s Arsenal is a very common Talisman that is often used in Hero builds. This is because it significantly increases your equipment load by roughly 20%, allowing you to wield much heavier pieces of armor that you would have otherwise never dreamed of wearing. After beating the trio invaders in Draggonbarrow for the large, spectating Great-Jar NPC, it can be obtained. In order to get here, you must traverse Siofra Deep River Well in West Limgrave.

Dragoncrest Shield

Name	Dragoncrest Shield
Weight	0.8
Effect	Reduces physical damage taken (10/13/17%).

The final piece in our well-poised yet agile setup is the Dragoncrest Shield Talisman, not to be confused with an actual wieldable shield. It will serve you very well by boosting your physical damage negation. While you obtain the Dragoncrest Shield Talisman around the Bestial Sanctum, I would highly recommend switching it out for its +1 and +2 variants when you come across them in the Sainted Hero’s Grave in Atlus Plateau and in Crumbling Farum Azula, respectively.

Spells to Memorize

Flame, Grant me Strength

Spell Type	Fire Monk Incantation
FP Cost 28	Slots Used 1
Effect	raises physical and fire-affinity attack power
Stats	Int	Fai	Arc
Requires	0	15	0

Pyromancers would have seen this coming – what better way is there to sharply increase your attack power at the cost of little FP than with this incantation? Flame, Grant me Strength is a Fire Monk Incantation found between two Flamethrowing machines at the rear of Fort Gael. Costing 28 FP and requiring only 15 faith to use, this incantation raises your physical and fire attack power by 20% for the next 30 seconds!

Vyke’s Dragonbolt

Spell Type	Dragon Cult Incantations
FP Cost 28	Slots Used 1
Effect	Enchants right-hand armament with lightning damage
Stats	Int	Fai	Arc
Requires	0	23	0

Vyke’s Dragonbolt is another powerful incantation that will go a long way in buffing your weapon, increasing the output damage, particularly of the plunge attack in this case. Upon casting, your player will expend 35 HP to buff their right-hand weapon with lightning damage, with the added bonus of 15% increased equipment load (why exactly? I’m not so sure). Requiring 23 faith to use, Vyke’s Dragonbolt lasts for 70 seconds.

Guts, The Black Swordsman (Level 100)

Attributes and Stats

No list of the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring is complete without cosplaying the legendary anime character himself, Guts, The Black Swordsman. Guts has been cosplayed in previous Dark Souls games, and he is of no exception in Elden Ring, particularly after the passing of Kentaro Miura, the author of Berserk. A Guts build is viable in Elden Ring, as it exhibits much more performance than a cosplayer could ever hold for. This Elden Ring Hero build was first discovered by Taco Fun Box.

• Vigor – 40 (Decent HP for Level 100)
• Mind – 15
• Endurance – 25
• Strength – 45 (Pump many more attribute points into this when scaling)
• Dexterity – 12
• Intelligence – 9
• Faith – 25 (Sufficient enough to use the specified buffs and incantations)
• Arcane – 11

Weapon Choice

Greatsword

No Guts build is possible without the original greatsword, a Colossal Sword that is community-wide revered as an easter egg of Berserk, closely following the clean design of Guts’s sword. Weighing in at 23.0 units, the greatsword demands its worthy wielders to approach it with 31 strength and 12 dexterity, a hefty stat requirement. However, it offers a natural scaling of C in Strength and E in Dexterity, although that can be fine-tuned.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Ligt	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	164	0	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	84	50	50	50	50	-	56
	Str	Dex
Scaling	C	E
Requires	31	12
Colossal Sword	Standard
Stamp (Upward Cut)	FP 5 ( - 8)
Wgt. 23	Passive -

Surprisingly, the greatsword is a versatile weapon that allows for infusions with Ashes of War on top of regular reinforcement with Smithing Stones. For the sake of this Elden Ring Hero build, however, a heavy infusion is recommended because then, it achieves a pure A scaling in Strength at +20. The recommended Ash of War for this task is Lion’s Claw, which is dropped from a Lion Guardian encountered in Fort Gael. In a chest at the back of a black caravan, the greatsword itself can be obtained in Caelid, towards the east of the Caelim Ruins Site of Grace.

Finger Seal

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Ligt	Holy	Crit	Inc	Boost
Attack	25	0	0	0	0	100	114	-
Guard	25	15	15	15	15	-	-	15
	Str	Fai
Scaling	E	C
Requires	4	10
Sacred Seals	Strike
No Skill	FP -
Wgt. 1.5	Passive -

While this is a Guts build, one of the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring, it will feature some additional items that Guts did not actually use – for instance, while he did not use magic, we will be making use of it just to make the build itself more viable! With that out of the way, the only incantations we will be making use of in this build are buff-related incantations, for which the Finger Seal is very appropriate. Similar to the Clawmark’s Seal, it requires 4 strength and 10 faith to properly use, offering a C scaling in Faith in return.

The Finger Seal is one of the best sacred seals in Elden Ring because it is an S-tier catalyst that can be obtained incredibly early, serving as the starting equipment for Confessor and Prophet Classes, and being sold by the Twin Maiden Husks. Additionally, at +14 reinforcement with Smithing Stones, it achieves a D scaling in Strength and an S scaling in Faith as well as a spellbuff of 232.

Buckler

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Ligt	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	68	0	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	61	30	30	16	30	-	37
	Str	Dex
Scaling	E	D
Requires	8	13
Small Shield	Strike
Buckler Parry	FP -
Wgt. 1.5	Passive -

Going off a similar tangent as the Finger Seal, it is purely optional for you to equip a small shield like a Buckler – I primarily have it on to parry certain enemies that are a pain to deal with, such as Crucible Knights. The Buckler can be obtained through several means, on top of being part of the starting kit of the Bandit Class. Other than that, it can be purchased off of Gatekeeper Gostoc at Stormveil Castle or from the Twin Maiden Husks after offering them Gostoc’s Bell Bearing (which you get if you slay Gostoc).

The Buckler is king when it comes to executing parrying due to its early animation start-up time and high amount of parry frames. Furthermore, you can infuse it with the Golden Parry Ash of War dropped by a Teardrop Scarab within Capital Outskirts to increase the hitbox of your parry. While the Buckler excels at parrying, it performs poorly as a blocking tool at the cost of such a maneuver.

Armor Combination

While Guts’s Greatsword exists in its original form in Elden Ring, his armor has not been adapted as faithfully, although there is something close to it. I am referring to Blaidd’s Set, mainly the chest piece, the gauntlets, and the greaves – having these three armor pieces equipped while leaving the head bare will bring you very close to looking like The Black Swordsman himself. However, obtaining Blaidd’s set is quite the task as it requires completing Ranni’s Questline. I would definitely recommend completing it as it is integral to the story and allows you to explore three areas and even fight Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, a Demigod boss.

Talisman Options

Starscourge Heirloom

Name	Starscourage Heirloom
Weight	0.8
Effect	raises strength by 5

Strength is one of the most important attributes in this Best Hero Build in Elden Ring, and simply for the sake of increasing it even further, the Starscourge Heirloom is recommended. The Talisman can be found in Fort Gael, located in the southeastern part of Caelid. Here, you will find a chest outside the watchtower on the upper section of the fort, in which the Heirloom will reside. The Starscourge Heirloom increases your Strength by 5 at the cost of nothing!

Ritual Sword Talisman

Name	Ritual Sword Talisman
Weight	0.9
Effect	Raises attack power by 10% when HP is at maximum.

The Ritual Sword Talisman will go a long way in ensuring that the greatsword exhibits the largest damage it possibly can. The Talisman essentially increases attack power by roughly 10% when you’re at full health, which you can further ensure through the use of the Flash of Wondrous Physick. The Ritual Sword Talisman can be found in Lux Ruins, although it would require you to defeat the Demi-Human Queen Gilika boss beforehand.

Radagon’s Soreseal

Name	Radagon`s Soreseal
Weight	0.8
Effect	Raises vigor, endurance, strength, and dexterity by 5 each, but increases damage taken by 15%

The Radagon’s Soreseal is a very high-risk, high-reward-based talisman that will be made use of in this build whilst off-setting its side effects. The Talisman increases Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity by +5 at the cost of lowering all kinds of resistances by 15% – this can be reduced by using the Golden Vow incantation, which will be discussed later. The Radagon’s Soreseal is found in Fort Faroth, guarded by a large rat enemy.

Shard of Alexander

Name	Shard of Alexander
Weight	0.8
Effect	Greatly boosts the attack power of Skills by 15%

The fourth and final Talisman that is used on this Hero build is the Shard of Alexander, which significantly increases the damage dealt by skill by approximately 15% – in this context, that’s the Lion’s Claw. This will make it possible to stagger enemies, even bosses, through simply 2-3 perfect Lion’s Claw executions, making it a force to be reckoned with. After completing his questline, the Talisman can be obtained by defeating Iron Fist Alexander.

Spells to Memorize

Flame, Grant me Strength

Spell Type	Fire Monk Incantation
FP Cost 28	Slots Used 1
Effect	Raises physical and fire-affinity attack power.
Stats	Int	Fai	Arc
Requires	0	15	0

Flame, Grant me Strength is a staple incantation for the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring, as nothing beats boosting your attack power at the cost of just 28 FP. Upon casting, your player will generate a fireball and fuse it with themselves, granting them a 20% increase in physical and attack power for the next 30 seconds. The incantation itself can be found in the backside of Fort Gael in Caelid, between two flamethrowing machine enemies – observe stealth!

Golden Vow

Spell Type	Erdtree Incantations
FP Cost 47	Slots Used 1
Effect	Increases attack and defense for oneself and allies
Stats	Int	Fai	Arc
Requires	0	25	0

The Golden Vow incantation will serve as the main source for negating the side-effects of equipping the Radagon’s Soreseal. Upon casting, your player will expend 47 FP to buff themselves along with their allies – this buff includes a 15% damage increase (which stacks with Flame, Grant me Strength) along with a 10% damage reduction, greatly negating Radagon’s Soreseal’s effect. What’s more is that this buff lasts for 80 whole seconds, making it a must-have on Hero build!

Warhammer Barbarian (Level 150) 

Attributes and Stats

Apart from exploiting the damage inflicted by plunging attacks, charged heavy attacks are also a very powerful part of strength weapons used on Hero Builds. I’m not simply referring to your average charged heavy attack here, but the ones brought about by the Barbaric War Ash of War, which is known for changing charged heavy attacks into an entire combo that deals tremendous stamina and physical damage! Here are the stats for one of the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring:

• Vigor – 50 (Solid HP for good survivability)
• Mind – 25
• Endurance – 35
• Strength – 75 (In order to wield our main weapon at considerable damage)
• Dexterity – 12
• Intelligence – 7
• Faith – 15 (Sufficient enough to use Flame, Grant me Strength)
• Arcane – 11

Weapon Choice

Giant-Crusher

The main objective of this Best Hero Build in Elden Ring is to inflict as much stamina and physical damage as possible, not only to beat bosses to a pulp but also to stagger them for additional visceral damage. Keeping that in mind, the Giant-Crusher seems to be the superior choice as it is the best strength weapon in Elden Ring, which also happens to be a colossal hammer, a class of weapons renowned for massive stamina damage. The Giant-Crusher requires a massive 60 strength to wield (although you can two-hand it at 40 strength), rewarding the grind with a natural scaling of C in Strength.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	155	0	0	0	0	100	-
Guard	88	52	52	52	52	-	58
	Str
Scaling	C
Requires	60
Colossal Weapon	Strike
Endure	FP 9
Wgt. 26.5	Passive -

The Giant-Crusher, even with its base physical damage of 155 can go a long way in demonstrating immense power. While it does an S-scaling in Strength at +20 with a Heavy infusion, a blood infusion is nevertheless recommended for this build as the added bleed damage does more than just make up for it! With that said, you should upgrade it to +25 with Smithing Stones and infuse it with the Barbaric Roar Ash of War with a blood affinity to make it completely ready for Hero build.

Clawmark’s Seal

In order to increase the damage output of the Giant-Crusher, buffs are significant, which is why some incantations are integrated into this build. Additionally, as far as the Sacred Seal to be used is concerned, the Clawmark’s Seal is the ideal choice at 60+ Strength, mainly due to its affinity towards Strength. Furthermore, it can be obtained quite early in the game from Gurranq, Beast Clergyman near the Bestial Sactium, to which you can warp from northwest Limgrave. Feeding Gurranq a Deathroot will allow him to bestow the Clawmark’s Seal upon you.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Ligt	Holy	Crit	Inc	Boost
Attack	31	0	0	0	0	100	60	-
Guard	25	15	15	15	15	-	-	15
Sacred Seals	Strike
No Skill	FP -
Wgt. 1.5	Passive Boosts
Bestial Incantations
	Str	Fai
Scaling	D	D
Requires	4	10

The Clawmark’s Seal, despite its immense potential, requires only 4 strength and 10 faith to use, coming with a natural scaling of D in both Strength and Dexterity. Moreover, its scaling experiences a significant improvement at +25 as it achieves a B scaling in both Strength and Faith, allowing your massive Strength to improve its potency even more, along with your incantations.

Dagger

Having a dagger on this build is rather unconventional, or so you may think at first glance. Given that this Hero build does optimize stamina damage and that it does put the player in a lot of situations to execute visceral, critical attacks, the dagger is actually not being used to execute those but rather, for using Golden Vow. This is because the Golden Vow spell requires 25 faith to use, and on a level 100 build where leveling up Strength is crucial, the only alternative to it is using the Golden Vow Ash of War.

	Phy	Mag	Fire	Ligt	Holy	Crit	Boost
Attack	74	0	0	0	0	130	-
Guard	35	20	20	20	20	-	15
	Str	Dex
Scaling	D	C
Requires	5	9
Daggers	Slash / Pierce
Quickstep	FP 3
Wgt. 1.5	Passive -

The dagger is the ideal weapon for such a purpose as it is extremely light, weighing in at 1.5 units, and requires a meager stat investment, namely 5 strength and 9 dexterity, to wield. It is practically a free Golden Vow cast with negligible effect on your Equipment Load. However, do note that the Ash of War variant of Golden Vow lasts for 80 seconds and buffs damage by 13% and damage reduction by 5%.

Armor Combination

For this Hero build specifically, high poise is very much recommended so that you can ensure that your player pulls off the savage heavy combo without having the animation interrupted. Keeping that in mind, Lionel’s Set is recommended to be worn as it grants the wearer 79 poise at the cost of 50.7 units of weight. Furthermore, it can be obtained reasonably mid-game in Leyndell, Royal Capital. First, make your way to the Lower Capital Church Site of Grace and head into the adjacent building, where you’ll be able to salvage this set from a room containing a large bed.

Talisman Options

Green Turtle Talisman

Name	Green Turtle Talisman
Weight	0.7
Effect	raises stamina recovery speed by 8 per second (17.7%).

The Green Turtle Talisman is very important for this build as the savage heavy combo will take a good chunk of your stamina to execute, leaving you with little stamina to dodge and create space between yourself and the enemy. The Talisman is primarily responsible for increasing stamina regeneration (8 points per second), allowing you to get back into the fight moments after you pull off the combo. The Green Turtle Talisman can be found in Summonwater Village, requiring a Stonesword key to enter.

Roar Medallion

Name	Roar Medallion
Weight	0.7
Effect	increases the damage of roars and breath attacks by 15%.

The Roar Medallion is a very specific choice for this Hero build as it will enhance the effects of Barbaric Roar, increasing its already 10% damage buff by another multiplicative 15%, really making it one of the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring! As far as getting your hands on this Talisman is concerned, it can be obtained pretty early in the game and is dropped by the Stonedigger Troll boss encountered at the end of Limgrave Tunnels.

Axe Talisman

Name	Axe Talisman
Weight	0.8
Effect	increases charge attack damage by 10%.

Contrary to common belief, the Ax Talisman does not specifically benefit axes but a certain characteristic of weapons in general. More specifically, the Axe Talisman is used to enhance the damage inflicted by charged attacks by roughly 10%, once again making our savage heavy combo in the state of Barbaric Roar much more deadly, even in the face of bosses. The Talisman can be obtained quite early in the game, in a prison cell in Mistwood Ruins towards the west of Limgrave.

Lord of Blood’s Exultation

Name	Lord of Blood’s Exultation
Weight	0.9
Effect	Vastly raises the attack power by 20% when Blood Loss occurs in the area. (12% in PvP)

The main reason why we’re rocking a blood infusion on the Giant-Crusher is due to this very Talisman right here! Having a blood infusion along with the savage heavy combo, you’ll be inflicting bleed buildups left and right, causing very frequent bloodloss and this is where the Lord of Blood’s Exultation will come into play. As it increases your attack power by 20% for 20 seconds whenever you inflict blood loss, you can very well imagine to be sweeping through bosses and field enemies!

Spells to Memorize

Bestial Vitality

Spell Type	Bestial Incantation
FP Cost 18	Slots Used 1
Effect	Heals over a period of time.
Stats	Int	Fai	Arc
Requires	0	12	0

Considering that we will be trading a lot of blows with this build to pull off that savage heavy combo we’ve invested so many talismans into, a healing incantation would not hurt. While there are several good choices, the Bestial Vitality is the best incantation for this Hero build as it couples very well with the Clawmark’s Seal, which boosts Bestial Incantations. Bestial Vitality requires 12 Fatih to use and, at the cost of 18 FP, heals for 5 HP per second for the next two minutes.

Flame, Grant me Strength

Spell Type	Fire Monk Incantation
FP Cost 28	Slots Used 1
Effect	Raises physical and fire-affinity attack power.
Stats	Int	Fai	Arc
Requires	0	15	0

You’ll be seeing Flame, Grant me Strength on just about any strength/hero build on this list of Best Hero Build in Elden Ring. This incantation is phenomenal because it increases physical and fire damage by 20% at the cost of just 28 FP, lasting for the next half a minute. Furthermore, it does stack multiplicatively with Golden Vow, making it an absolute menace! Last but not least, it can be found at the backside of Fort Gael in Caelid.

Starscourge Champion (Level 100)

Attributes and Stats

Coming to the final entry of the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring, I would like to present to you my own build that I am currently using in my second Elden Ring playthrough – I like to call it the Starscourge Champion! I have personally had great success with this build in all kinds of situations, sweeping through hoards of enemies, taking down formidable bosses, and giving cheeky invaders a run for their money!

• Vigor – 35
• Mind – 20
• Endurance – 30 (Good enough to wield well-poised armor with the help of Talismans)
• Strength – 50 (Enough to wield my main armament of choice one-handedly)
• Dexterity – 13
• Intelligence – 7
• Faith – 15 (Sufficient enough to use the specified buffs and incantations)
• Arcane – 11

Weapon Choice

Ruins Greatsword

I started playing Elden Ring with the Lordsworn’s Greatsword, moving onto the greatsword, finally settling with the Ruins Greatsword, which in my opinion, is the Blasphemous Blade equivalent of Colossal Swords. The Ruins Greatsword is the heaviest of the nine legendary armaments in Elden Ring, weighing 23.0 units. Thus, it reasonably requires 50 strength and 16 intelligence to wield properly, rewarding its wielders with a B scaling in Strength and an E scaling in Faith, which can be significantly improved.

As far as upgrading is concerned, the Ruins Greatsword requires Somber Smithing Stones to upgrade to +10, at which it achieves an S scaling in Strength and a D scaling in Faith, exhibiting 303 physical, 90 magic, and 168 stamina damage! Thus, the Ruins Greatsword does not even require the capability to be infused with ashes of war because its weapon art, Wave of Destruction is nasty. I can not count the number of times I’ve used it to clear waves of enemies and stagger bosses from a safe distance!

Clawmark’s Seal

The Clawmark’s Seal is a must-have on any of the Best Hero Build in Elden Ring as it is the only sacred seal in the game that scales decently with Strength. At the start of the game, I realized that Strength builds on their own are nowhere as strong as they could be with the use of certain beneficial incantations FromSoftware have added to the game. And what better to capitalize off them than with a catalyst that gets more potent the more you invest into Strength?

The Clawmark’s Seal requires 4 strength and 10 faith to use, coming with a natural scaling of D in both Strength and Faith. However, as you upgrade it with Smithing Stones, it reaches a point at +16 where its scaling in Strength and Faith both go upto B-tier. Furthermore, this sacred seal is best utilized with Bestial Incantations as it naturally boosts them – speaking of which, the catalyst is obtained from Gurranq, Beast Clergyman, after feeding him just one Deathroot. I received my first Deathroot from slaying the Tibia Mariner boss in Summonwater Village towards northwest Limgrave.

Buckler

I have personally never relied on shields in any FromSoftware game, mainly because I love to dual wield or two-hand my weapons. However, the only instance I find myself using a shield in these games is if I ever come across a cumbersome boss that can be parried, which in Elden Ring has to be the Crucible Knight! Look no further than the Buckler if you’re like me, who seeks an excellent parry tool.

While being one of the worst small shields in the game in terms of damage absorption, the Buckler has always made its mark for being one of the best parry tools. Additionally, in Elden Ring, it is factually the best parry tool in general due to its early start-up time and the fact that it possesses the most parry frames out of all other parry tools, besting even the Caestus.

Armor Combination

The armor combination for this Hero build in Elden Ring is very open-ended; you can go for a more fashionable combination or a more poised one. I personally prefer a mix of both, although leaning towards having the most poise possible for my given level of Endurance. In the very beginning, I wore a weird amalgamation of the heaviest, most poised armor pieces I had until I started obtaining proper armor sets. After dwindling through different kinds of armor sets, I have settled for this: Blaidd’s Armor, Radahn’s Gauntlets, and Radahn’s Greaves, leaving my head bare because I like the way it looks. I prefer this combination mainly because I rever Radahn as one of my favorite bosses in Elden Ring – thus the name Starscourge Champion!

Talisman Options

Ancestral Spirit’s Horn

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I have used the Ruins Greatsword’s weapon art many times – it’s just that good! I dedicated an entire Talisman Slot to the Ancestral Spirit Horn, a unique talisman that restores 3 FP every time you defeat an enemy, making it extremely useful when exploring in general, allowing you to reserve your Cerulean Tears for bosses. This Talisman can be obtained from giving the Remembrance of the Regal Ancestor to Enia at Roundtable Hold.

Bull-Goat’s Talisman

As I said before, poise is essential for this Best Hero Build in Elden Ring as it will allow you to execute your heavy attacks and weapon arts without getting interrupted mid-animation. While your armor will ensure that you are well-poised, you can go the extra mile and equip the Bull-Goat’s Talisman, increasing your poise by 33% for free! 

Axe Talisman

The Ruins Greatsword is mainly known for its magic damage, which particularly shows itself with its heavy attack. Your player will tightly grip the greatsword, charging it up before slamming it into the ground, following it up with a purple magic burst. As such, maximizing the damage output of this attack, both physically and stamina-wise, will be rewarding – this can be easily achieved with Axe Talisman, which enhances charged attacks. It is obtained quite early in the game in Mistwood Ruins in Limgrave.

Great-Jar Arsenal

Given how vital poise is on this build, you can allow yourself much more freedom when it comes to armor with the Great-Jar Arsenal, a talisman that massively increases your maximum Equipment load by roughly 20%! Hence, with the right amount of Endurance, you can find yourself wearing heavy armor sets such as the Veteran Armor quite early in the game. The Talisman itself can be obtained in Caelid as a reward from the Great-Jar after defeating his three invader knights.

Spells to Memorize

Flame, Grant me Strength

I, too, recognized Flame, Grant me Strength to be a must-have incantation when I obtained all the way in the backside of Fort Gael in Caelid, behind the two flamethrower enemies. This incantation is amazing because, with the requirement of just 15 faith, it increases physical and fire damage by 20% at the cost of just 28 FP, lasting for the next half a minute. This will make the Ruins Greatsword do much more damage than before!

Bestial Vitality

I would take minor chips of damage throughout my playthrough, which I generally never wanted to waste an entire Flask of Crimson Tears on. Therefore, I decided to opt for a healing spell and am now content with the Bestial Vitality incantation. This is particularly because it becomes much more potent with the Clawmark’s Seal, a Sacred Seal that boosts Bestial Incantaitons! Bestial Vitality requires 12 Fatih to use and at the cost of 18 FP, heals for 5 HP per second for the next two minutes.