Elden Ring Poison Build: Shield, Spells, & Gear

In today’s Elden Ring Poison Build guide, I will talk about the best poison + shield build in Elden Ring that you can also use for PvP fights. It revolves around your shield and poison weapons, including the Poison Antspur Rapier.

So far, we’ve been told that this is the best poison + shield build in the entire game, and it will make you insanely invincible in PvP and PvE. However, that will depend on what the other guy does, but it is still powerful. So you’re going to have a greatshield and a spear which are the basics you need. But, we’re going to do a lot more than this though. You may read our Elden Ring Best Builds article for more builds.

Related: Confessor Build

Fingerprint Stone shield

So, a Greatshield and a spear will let you attack while simultaneously blocking for about 90% of bosses in this game, which will make you literally invincible right off the bat. But there are a few problems you need to fix; when you block attacks, it burns your Stamina. The amount of Stamina that it burns is based on a stack called Guard Boost. Fingerprint Stone Shield is one of the best Greatshields in Elden Ring. It has 100 Physical Damage negation;

Guard	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Boost
Stat	100	77	81	79	75	81

The Guard Boost starts at level one and can be leveled up for more effectiveness. It scales with Strength, requiring 48 Strength to wield properly. Attacking with it can also cause madness build-up. The Fingerprint Stone Shield is exceptionally powerful due to its high Guard Boost. When combined with the Greatshield Talisman, it can block all damage without depleting Stamina. Leveling up the shield also enhances the Guard Boost, making it the ideal choice for any Poison Build with a shield.

Location

To obtain the shield in the game, follow these steps:

1. Start at the Underground Roadside grace location.

2. Descend into the sewers beneath this area.

3. Navigate through the labyrinthine tunnels, taking various left and right turns.

4. Continue through the tunnels until you reach a ladder. Climb up the ladder.

5. After ascending the ladder, you will encounter a door. Open the door and proceed to the other side.

6. Locate the lever near the gate with steel bars. Turn the lever to open the gate.

7. Return to the door that you previously opened and drop down from this point.

8. Follow the path down the stairs.

9. When you reach a dead end, take a right turn, followed by a left turn.

10. Keep an eye out for poisonous flowers as you pass through the tunnels. These flowers indicate that you are on the right track.

By following these steps, you will be able to obtain the shield in the game.

Blood Pike

One of the best spears in the game, the Blood Pike is pure beauty. It is the most extended spear you will obtain in Elden Ring and has moderate damage and range. When you level it up all the way, it can have an increased damage effect, and you can put good Ashes of War on it. 

Location

Go to the Stormveil Castle, run past the Godrick and take a backtrack out to the courtyard. There’s a faster grace, but this is the one that most of you will have no matter what. If you didn’t explore a lot, you did explore the castle, though; there’s one that was a little bit closer. Head over to the place where there are numerous giant barricades and go right past the enemies. Search the bodies on the ground, and one of them will have the Blood Pike.

Stat	Strength	Dexterity	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane
Requirement	20	14	–	–	–
Scaling	D	D	–	–	–

Related: Best Bleed Weapons

Poison Antspur Rapier

For my Poison Build, you will be using this spear instead of the Blood Pike. Because some enemies take no effect from poison, you need to be aware of what type of boss you are fighting. However, there’s a time and place for having one that does poison buildup or one that does Scarlet Rot buildup.

The poison Antspur Rapier lets you make swift attacks that use a significantly lower amount of Stamina, doing more Damage Per Second than the Blood Pike. You’ll want to stick with this Rapier because if the boss lets you stay close to him, you can use this spear’s quick attacks and do poison buildup. The Rapier lets you cause poison, Scarlet Rot, and bleed, all at the same time.

You can use it on bosses that are immune to bleed and vice versa. You get the point. To make it easier, you can put an Ash of War called Seppuku, which will let you do a poison version or a bleed version. Another great thing about the Poison Antspur Rapier is that it has Scarlet Rot.

Scarlet Rot

It is a status effect that continues to linger until the enemy is dead or they cleanse it. For PvP, players can cleanse the effects of Scarlet Rot, but for PvE, not many bosses can cleanse this, and it is a standard passive. It means you can add on other passives, such as the blood loss buildup passive. So not only because you have Scarlet Rot on the enemy, but you can also cause them to bleed, and who doesn’t want that. The only downside is you need 20 Dexterity, but for the most part, I think a lot of people have that anyway.

Stat	Strength	Dexterity	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane
Requirement	10	20	–	–	–
Scaling	D	D	–	–	–

Ekzyke’s Decay

A very powerful incantation that uses the effects of Scarlet Rot and leads to a long lasting effect of poison on the enemy. It is the perfect incantation that you can use as an alternative from the Poison Build guide. By using this incantation, the user can spew Scarlet Rot Breath at a considerably huge range.

You can even set the aim of the spell and it has an Area of Effect damage. To obtain the Ekzyke’s Decay you will need to defeat the Decaying Ekzykes Boss. You can spam this spell in PvP, however it consumes a lot of FP and requires 23 Faith and 15 Arcane. 

Stat	FP	Slots	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane
Requirement	48 (6)	1	–	23	15

Poison Build with Shield

The Antspur Rapier is effective in inflicting lingering poison damage on enemies in both PvP and PvE encounters. This build revolves around blocking enemy attacks while continuously attacking with the Rapier. For example, when facing the Radagon of the Golden Order boss, blocking and simultaneously attacking with the Rapier prevents damage while applying the poison effect.

It’s important to note that while blocking with the shield, you may still take damage from the Holy Damage Bleed some enemies possess. Aside from that, this build can seem overpowered and highly effective, requiring no additional flask usage or boosts.

Beat The Hardest Boss: Malenia

This build focuses on maintaining a consistent attack pattern, dodging, and using the spear to deal damage without taking damage. It provides high invincibility due to Holy Damage. To optimize it further, use Golden Vow for increased attack and both Talismans for consecutive attack damage boost. Additional equipment enhancements can further improve the build, but even in its basic form, as long as you can block without losing Stamina, it makes the game considerably easier. This is achieved with the Poison Build, utilizing the Fingerprint Stone Shield.

The mechanics are straightforward, but repetitive. There are options to enhance the build, like incorporating Poison Armament, Poison Mist incantation, or skills such as Bloodhound’s Step or Quickstep. However, the recommended approach is to stick with the Poison Build alongside a strong shield. Test this build in both PvP and PvE and share your results!