Best Elden Ring Sword And Shield Build [2023]

Sword and shields cover a major portion of the Elden Ring’s arsenal. However, it serves a unique role for the playthrough and aid players with the best gameplay experience. It is worth noting that as a beginner player in Elden Ring, you are in for a lot of trouble. Whether you are on a quest or not, enemies are always lurking in the shadows of the open world of Lands Between.

However, coming prepared with the right stats and arsenal can greatly benefit players to keep a safe side from these enemies. Moreover, it will also ensure success in combat, especially the boss fights. This guide entails all the details you need to know for building the best Elden Ring sword and shield build. With that said, let’s get right into it. 

Similar Read: Elden Ring Dragon Priest Build

Elden Ring Sword and Shield Build

If you are going to focus on the single character build to progress in the storyline, there are numerous aspects that you will need to incorporate to build a perfect character. Firstly, you will need to pick a Class for your sword and shield build. You will be required to choose from a total of ten Classes. These classes involve different character types that are available for players at the start of the game. In short, it is the starting character with stats and gear so you can easily proceed further for your ideal gameplay. Players can pick anyone based on the character build they want to pursue in the game.

As for the sword and shield build, you will be going to choose the Vagabond which focuses heavily on Strength, Vigor, and Dexterity. At the start, the character stats attribute values will look like this. 

Attribute	Value
Vigor	15
Mind	10
Endurance	11
Strength	14
Dexterity	13
Intelligence	9
Faith	9
Arcane	7

The road of Vagabond is quite safe as it allows you to start with high Strength and Vigor pretty early in the game. It is strongly a melee sword and shield build that will involve both higher HP and damage output from your character. On the other side, Vigor will contribute to damage resistance and immunity. Meanwhile, Dexterity deals with how much damage you can inflict and the combat interactions. 

Apart from these, the next most important stat that you might want to increase is Endurance. This is because it covers blocking and rolling during the combat, which is not an exception in the case of the sword and shield build in Elden Ring. 

Just because you can inflict higher damage does not mean you will be safe from the potential attacks. For that instance, utilizing the Endurance attribute is critical to success in combat. Moreover, weapons will be scaling with these stats as you level up in the game to get even more boost in the damage. 

Weapons

With a game of infuriatingly huge arsenal of weapons, making the right choice for maximizing the damage output and defense can become overwhelming. However, to make things easy, it is advised to start with any item that you can find early in the game and then progress to obtain the final endgame item to meet the build requirements. 

As for the weapon, you can start with any sword. However, if you really need a perfect entry sword with a shield, then the Zweihander is the perfect choice to go for. Zweihander is a colossal sword that makes up an ideal heavy-weight combat weapon for the builds involving shield. If the heavyweight concerns players, then you should definitely consider it for the scaling with Strength and Dexterity. This way, your character will be dishing out huge damage to the enemies and boss fights. 

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical	141	67
Magic	-	40
Fire	-	40
Lighting	-	40
Holy	-	40
Critical	100	-
Boost	-	45

Attribute	Grade	Value
Strength	D	19
Dexterity	D	11

Speaking of damage, the base weapon will cause a total Physical Damage of 141. While it also yields a Critical Damage of 100, which will leave enemies instantly dead during Critical Attacks. Obtaining the unique sword is extremely easy, but that will involve an investment of Runes. Zweihander is available to purchase for 3500 Runes from the Isolated Merchant in the Weeping Peninsula. You will have to go to the west of the Weeping Peninsula and find a shack, where you will be meeting with the Isolated Merchant. 

However, that is just the initial sword that you can pursue at the beginning of the game. As for the endgame weapon, you must get your hands on the Starscourge Greatsword. You will need Strength 38, Dexterity 12, and Intelligence 15 to wield this mighty colossal sword. Considering the fact that you are obtaining the weapon in the endgame, you can invest the values into the above-mentioned stats to make the most out of the weapon.

The reason this weapon is great for sword and shield build is the unique skill of “Starcaller Cry”. This skill will pull the enemies through gravitational force and then strike with a slam down of the Greatsword. 

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical	129	65
Magic	83	47
Fire	0	34
Lighting	0	34
Holy	0	34
Critical	100	-
Boost	-	52

Attribute	Grade	Value
Strength	D	38
Dexterity	D	12
Intelligence	E	15

To obtain the weapon, you will be making a trade with Enia at the Roundtable Hold as a part of the storyline. This means you can only obtain it when you have progressed enough to use the Starscourge Greatsword. Or you can beat the mighty Starscourge Radahn boss to trade the soul for his sword. 

Armor

Additionally, you will also need a defensive element like armors to protect the character from potential threats. Survival in the Elden Ring is extremely difficult, but it does not necessarily have to be. For that instance, you will need to obtain Beast Champion Armour to satisfy your defensive needs for the character build. 

Beast Champion set is an aesthetic fashion-soul armor set that not only pleases the defensive side but also adds a unique outlook to the character. The complete set grants a whopping 37.6 Physical and 28 Magic Damage Negation. On the other side, it is dropped by an NPC Knight Bernahl, which is part of the storyline. If you are a completionist player, you might want to complete his questline before making any horrendous move. 

Attribute	Value
Physical Damage	33.5
VS Strike	31.5
VS Slash	35.5
VS Pierce	34.9
Magic	25.6
Fire	27
Lighting	25.3
Holy	26.5

Attribute	Value
Immunity	135
Robustness	215
Focus	100
Vitality	91
Poise	72

As for the early game, you can consider armor sets like Raging Wolf for both fashion and Damage Negation. It goes well with the sword and shield builds with medium weight and 29.3 Physical and 22.1 Magical Damage Negation. 

Attribute	Value
Physical Damage	25.9
VS Strike	23
VS Slash	25.9
VS Pierce	24.9
Magic	19.8
Fire	22.1
Lighting	13.8
Holy	18.5

Attribute	Value
Immunity	75
Robustness	131
Focus	42
Vitality	42
Poise	42

Shield

Lastly, you will need a good shield to perform the Parry and get the damaging kill on the enemies. One of the best shields for the build is Dragonclaw Shield. It is a Greatshield that combined with the Greatsword will boost your block and Parry attacks on the enemies.

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical	118	100
Magic	0	52
Fire	0	52
Lighting	76	76
Holy	0	47
Critical	100	-
Boost	-	61

Attribute	Grade	Value
Strength	D	28
Dexterity	E	12

This huge shield covers your whole body and will grant a Physical Damage Guard of 100. Since it is a Greatshield, it will be scaling with Strength and Dexterity to push even more protection and defense for your character. You will be getting this Greatshiled from the Draconic Tree Sentinel in Capital Outskirts. So bring your best sword and defenses to defeat the boss and reward yourself with the amazing Dragonclaw Shield. 

There are a few more things that you will need to know for the sword and shield build in Elden Ring. First and most importantly, you do not have to pull your shield up all the time, as it will drain your stamina faster.

Not just that but, blocking with a shield constantly will reduce the regeneration speed of the stamina. You will need to do a bit of learning about the incoming strikes for enemies and pulling up the shield at the right time. 

Since you are already putting a value on Strength and Dexterity, it is vital to experiment with different weapons. It includes spears and rapiers, which will be a great help during the tough bosses with clusters of strikes. Using these spears and rapiers will allow you to keep up your shield and still attack the enemy, thus boosting your defenses even further. Apart from that, you can continue with your sword and shield build as you were for the sake of the character playstyle. 

Talismans

Talismans are items that are dropped by the bosses and unique enemies. These items will contribute a unique effect to the damage and defensive strategies of the players. Considering the painful balancing of the Elden Ring, Talismans can make a huge difference in increasing your chances of survival. As for sword and shield build, you might also want to fill your Talisman slots to gain tactical advantage during the combat for survival and offense. 

The first and most important Talisman is will be Green Turtle Talisman. You are already wearing a heavy load with a huge sword that may hinder your performance by using more Stamina.

To ease that, Green Turtle Talisman will increase the stamina recovery speed. This is a great aid when you are swinging and smashing your Greatsword in boss fights. To obtain the Talisman, all you need to do is to come to Summonwater Village, the northeast side of the Limgrave on the map. 

Here you will be looking for turtles roaming around underground stairs. You will not be allowed to enter the underground stairs as it requires a Stonesword Key. Upon interacting with the Stonesword Key statue, you will easily gain access to the basement. Take the straight path to the door that you will need to open by interacting. In the room, you will find a chest with the Green Turtle Talisman. 

You will also need Great Jar’s Arsenal Talisman to boost your equipment load. As the name implies, you will be picking up loot and all kinds of items after defeating the bosses and enemies.

Great Jar Talisman will enhance your equipment load to maximize the performance of your character. You can obtain this Talisman by completing the Great Jar questline. You still have the freedom to add more Talismans that fit your character and playthrough requirements. 

There are no limits to adding and removing items and accessories from your perfect sword and shield build in Elden Ring. You can include your own choices that meet your playstyle and ease of access early in the game. So make sure to experiment with different equipment and Talismans for the playthrough you want to pursue in Elden Ring. 

That is about it for the best Elden Ring build for sword and shield. Do you find this guide helpful in building the best sword and shield character? What is your equipment and Talismans under sword and shield style playthrough? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section down below.