How to Play a Strength Build in Elden Ring
Elden Ring strength builds are heavy-hitters that are on the slower side. These builds however give immense satisfaction with their insane damage output!
We will be discussing the best leveling strategy to get through the game, the best weapons, with some for each stage of leveling, the best armor, talismans, summons, and what consumables you can use.
This build can take some time before you start to hit hard because you need a lot of survivability to make up for your slow attacks, this means investing in Vigor early on is very important!
For starting class we will be choosing the Hero, this gives us the best-starting stats in combination with a good starting weapon
Pros
- Strength is a very great stat to go all out for, allowing you to deal massive damage with most weapons.
- It has a ton of weapon variety making it great for experimenting with different weapons.
- It is very great for dealing with heavily armored enemies and shielded enemies
Cons
- Because most Strength weapons are pretty big, they lack attack speed and can be interrupted by fast-attacking enemies.
- You need to invest heavily into Strength for most weapons which limits your build variety.
Explore our other Elden Ring build guides here.
How to Level Attributes
| Starting Stats | Lv25 | Lv50 | Lv100 | Lv150 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vigor | 14 | 20 | 34 | 45 | 60 |
| Endurance | 12 | 12 | 20 | 30 | 30 |
| Strength | 16 | 28 | 31 | 55 | 80 |
| Dexterity | 9 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 24 |
| Mind | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 |
| Intelligence | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Faith | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Arcane | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
The first major level point, level 25, will have us putting quite a few stats into Strength. The main purpose for this is the high requirement for many of the best Strength weapons. We will still invest in Vigor because of its high value, but we invest more into this once we reach 31 Strength.
The second level point, level 50, will have us putting a ton more into Vigor, mainly cause at this point enemies will start to hit a lot harder. We reached the 31 Strength as well, this allows us to wield our first S-tier Strength weapon. This is the Brick Hammer, which can be found in Stormveil Castle.
For the third level point, level 100, we will have you try to reach 60 Strength since this is where its value will slowly start going down a little. Duel wielding a weapon gives you the maximum stats possible at 66 Strength, so in case you do that, level it up to 66. Vigor will cap at 60 so do not go over that. 30 Endurance is also the point where its value goes down dramatically, but if you feel the need for more keep leveling it up to 50!
At the last level point, which is 150 we put a stop to the build. 150 is the perfect level for people who want to PVP so if you want to do that, DO NOT cross this level or it will influence matchmaking.
We invest more into Dexterity because some weapons will require it and investing here boosts some great stats!
Weapons
There are a lot of great strength weapons, I will explain a couple of very good ones! after which I will place them based on where in the level scheme you can start using them! Do not let this list discourage you from using a worse weapon than the competition, Elden Ring is all about experimenting!
Brick Hammer
- Location: Stormveil castle on a corpse above the Wine Cellar.
- Required Stats: 31 Strength
Brick Hammer is one of the best pure-strength weapons. It has insane guard-breaking capabilities making it perfect against heavily armored enemies! It can also be found relatively early making this a great asset.
Greatsword
- Location: In a carriage just after entering Caelid from Limgrave.
- Required Stats: 31 Strength, 12 Dexterity
The Greatsword is probably the most used Strength Weapon. It’s a great weapon that even lets you look like some anime swordsman. All of its attacks are amazing, the best attack by far is its roll attack. If you attack right after rolling this humongous weapon will allow you to do a quick stab forward dealing massive damage and often even catching great souls players off guard with the speed.
Nightrider-Glaive (Heavy)
- Location: Dropper from the Nightrider Cavalry after the East Raya Lucaria Gate
- Required Stats: 26 Strength, 10 Dexterity
Apart from being a very flexible weapon, allowing any weapon art, the Nightrider-Glaive gets an S-tier Strength scaling once infused with Heavy making it one of the best Strength weapons. Aside from this, it has great reach and decently fast attacks which Strength weapons often lack.
Claymore (Heavy)
- Location: Castle Morne, Directly after the elevator in a room to the right.
- Required Stats: 16 Strength, 13 Dexterity
One of the more difficult Strength weapons to use, the Claymore is all about catching your opponent off-guard. The biggest strength of the Claymore comes from its charged heavy attack, which can deal massive damage if it either roll-catches somebody or counter-hits them(this happens if you attack somebody while they are winding up an attack). For this to properly work you need to have it infused with heavy however because we mainly invest in Strength!
Giant-Crusher
- Location: Found in a carriage south of the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Grace in Altus Plateau.
- Required Stats: 60 Strength
The ultimate Strength weapon, requiring a whopping 60 Strength to even wield, is the Giant-Crusher. This massive hammer has some of the slowest attacks, which is why people often dual-wield them and jump attack. Jump attacks negate slow attack speeds especially when power stance (wielding 2 of the same weapon type). This build needs you to go to NG+ or have a buddy drop a copy because you can only find 1 Giant-Crusher per NG. But it does have the highest damage per hit by far.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some Honorable mentions that did not make the cut. These can either be because they require other stats than Strength to be fully utilized, or are just worse than the others.
- Godslayer’s Greatsword
- Starscourge Greatsword
- Maliketh’s Black Blade
- Bannished Knight’s Greatsword
- Moghwyn’s Sacred Spear
| LV25 | LV50 | LV100 | LV150 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claymore | Gargoyle’s Greatsword | StarScourge Greatsword | Giant Crusher |
| LordSworn’s Greatsword | Brick Hammer | Godslayer Greatsword | Prelate’s Infernal Crozier |
| Bastard Sword | Greatsword | Maliketh’s Black Blade | Falling star Beast Jaw |
| Bannished Knight’s Greatsword | Nightrider Glaive | Ruin’s Greatsword | Moghwyn’s Sacred Spear |
| Flamberge | Watchdog Greatsword | Beastman’s Cleaver | |
| Zweihander | Magma Wyrm’s Greatsword | Rotten Battle Hammer | |
| Iron Cleaver | Stormhawk Axe | Dragon Greatclaw | |
| Crescent Moon Axe |
Skills
A lot of Strength weapons cannot wield other Weapon Skills, which is too bad. However, the ones that can be changed have some good options!
Stamp (Upward Slash)
- Location: Purchased from Bernahl in Limgrave
Very strong into almost every enemy that doesn’t wield shields. They will be knocked up which sets them up perfectly for a charged heavy attack.
Cragblade
- Location: Dropped from a scarab in Caelid near the Impassible Greatbridge Grace.
Cragblade is a very good power-up for every weapon that uses Strength. It increases your weapon damage and increases the damage you do to posture making it much easier to guard break an enemy.
Repeating Thrusts
- Location: Dropped by the Night Cavalry on the bridge near Agheel Lake North.
After a short charge up you deal a quick succession of thrusts, these can easily break an enemy’s guard while also dealing a good chunk of damage.
Storm Stomp
- Location: Looted from a chest in Gatefront Ruins in Limgrave
After stomping the ground you kick up a storm, this interrupts enemies often giving you a chance to counter-attack, it can catch someone off guard in PVP as well
Flame of the Redmanes
- Location: Dropped by an invisible scarab in front of Fort Gael
Produce a flame in a wide attack onward, dealing a pretty good amount of damage. This attack also has a very short down time making it easily spammable.
Golden Vow
- Location: Dropped by a Godrick Knight above the Deathtouched Catacombs
A very good buff that increases your attack power and defense. It has no downside with a long-lasting buff and great stat increases.
Royal Knight’s Resolve
- Location: In Volcano Manor behind a Stone Sword Key gate.
A very strong buff that empowers your next attack. Very good when using Jump Attacks.
Giant Hunt
- Location: Dropped by a Night Cavalry between Bellum Church and East Raya Lucaria Gate.
A charging attack that deals massive damage. Very good in combination with Nightrider Glaive or Greatsword. It also heavily profits from running the Spear Talisman because, it counts as a thrust attack which means it can counter-hit.
Lion’s Claw
- Location: Dropped from the Lion Guardian in Fort Gael in Caelid.
An overhead attack that deals massive damage to posture, allowing easy guard breaks. It is also amazing at staggering bosses.
Armor
Most armor works but we will be listing some of the greatest armor sets that give good defense!
Banished Knight Set
- Location: Chance to be dropped by Banished Knights
Beast Champion Set
- Location: Dropped by Bernahl upon killing him.
Blaidd’s Set
- Location: Found after defeating Blaidd after completing Ranni’s quest and returning to Renna’s Rise
Bull-Goat Set
- Location: After Patches moves to Volcano Manor he will give you a quest to kill Great Horned Tragoth. Killing him drops his armor
Crucible Axe Set
- Location: Dropped from Crucible Knight Ordovis, found within the Auriza Hero’s Grave
Veteran’s Set
- Location: Can be bought from Finger Reader Enia after defeating Commander O’Niall in Castle Sol
Lionel’s Set
- Location: Found on a bed in the Lower Capital Church inside Leyndell
Scaled Set
- Location: Reward for killing Old Knight Istvan as a request for Volcano Manor
Best Talismans
There are a lot of Talisman that have great use but we will be writing down only the best Talisman! You can pick any from the ones below, however some will be a bit more situational, which is written next to them.
Starscourge Heirloom
Gives 5 extra Strength
- Location: Looted from a corpse in Fort Gael.
Great-Jar’s Arsenal
It gives a big boost to equip load.
- Location: Reward for defeating the 3 great jar champions in Caelid.
Axe Talisman
Enhances charged attacks. Works great in combination with the Claymore.
- Location: The cellar in Mistwood Ruins.
Spear Talisman
Enhances counterattacks. Works great with the Claymore.
- Location: A ches inside the Lakeside Crystal Cave
Bull-goat’s Talisman
Increases Poise
- Location: In the back of Dragonbarrow Cave
Radagon’s Soreseal
Greatly raises attributes at the cost of increased damage taken.
- Location: Found on a corpse in Fort Faroth
Erdtree’s Favor
Increases HP, Stamina, and equip load.
- Location base: Found guarded by Grafted Scions in Fingefolk Hero’s Grave
- Location +1: Found in a chest in the Subterranean Shunning Grounds after killing Mogh.
- Location +2: Found in Leyndell Ashen Captial guarded by lesser Ulcerated Tree Spirits
Consumables and Flask Distribution
At the maximum amount of Flasks, I recommend going for either a 14 Healing flask 1 FP flask split, or 15 Healing flasks. Some weapons use their weapon arts, while others don’t use them at all. Prioritize healing for this build!
Summons
Summons can complement a build well for some, but for Strength builds anything goes, you will find some of the best Ashes at the current moment.
Ancient Dragon Knight Kristoff
Kristoff is a defensive powerhouse who can tank the boss for a long time while dishing out some decent damage.
- Location: Dropped by Ancient Hero of Zamor inside the Sainted Hero’s Grave west of Leyndell
Banished Knight Oleg
If you run a build that breaks guards easily, Oleg will only increase that strength. Oleg is a dual-wielding Banished Knight who can easily demolish any low-health boss.
- Location: Found on a corpse inside the Fringe folk Hero’s Grave
Black Knife Tiche
He is unique in that he has the Deatflame weapon art. This is a max HP scaling burn that also lowers the enemy’s HP. Next to that, he is very aggressive with a decent amount of HP. He is considered the best summon in the game.
- Location: Dropped from Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader upon defeating him inside the Ringleader Evergaol. This can only be accessed upon completing Ranni’s quest in the south of Liurnia.
Greatshield Soldier
Greatshield Soldiers are amazing at soaking agro, and staggering bosses. They do die rather quickly, however.
- Location: Found on a corpse in the graveyard of Nokron, Eternal City.
