In this Elden Ring Build Guide, I’ll be showing you my light greatsword build. This is a Shadow of the Erdtree build that takes place after level 150. If you’ve been looking for a flexible build that use buffs and overcome anything you throw at it then you might want to check this build-out.

The Dark Paladin Build for Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree highlights one of the many new weapons in the game, the light greatsword, Milady. You can get this weapon a bit later in the game (in Castle Ensis) after clearing the first legacy dungeon or even early on if you decide to explore. Light Greatswords are fast and fluid, allowing players to execute consecutive rapid attacks. Milady is no exception to this since its heavy attack executes two strong swings and if you press the button again, it follows up with another two swings, making it useful and quite effective when it comes to building up attack power, especially once it is paired with the right talismans and other buffs. Milady is a weapon that scales well with the Keen upgrade, which is best for the primary stat of this build, Dexterity.

The build is paired with two skills you can swap to, Golden Vow or Cragblade. Golden Vow is great for buffing your damage and resistance, also great if you are playing online co-op. While Cragblade is more of a self-centric buff that increases your damage, making it easier to break an enemy's stance, and pairing it with Exalted Flesh just takes it to another level. However, we highly suggest going for Golden Vow as it gives you both offense and defense buffs. The Dark Paladin build also comes equipped with the Wolf Crest Shield, one of the new shields you can find in Castle Ensis. This shield works perfectly for this build because it only has 12 Strength requirement (the same requirement needed for the Milady weapon), and at full upgrade it has 66 Guard Boost, considering that this is only a medium shield.

For Armor, this build uses the new Solitude Set. You can opt to using other armor, but the Solitude Set fits well for the theme of this build. It looks great, has tons of protection, and 96 Poise! With that amount of protection and poise you are getting, plus the buff you obtain from Golden Vow, this will essentially save you from dying, and allow you to take hits or even trade attacks. The strategy of this build is if you are fighting enemies one-on-one, you can just block counter their attacks, then stagger them. But if you are facing bosses or tough elite enemies, you want to approach them aggressively with consecutive attacks, build up that power damage, and eventually kill them quickly.

As for Talismans, first, we have Millicent's Prosthesis to boost our Dexterity by +5 and raise your damage with successive attacks. Rotten Winged Sword Insignia is perfect to get that damage boost with the successive attacks (which is the main highlight of this build). Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman is a must-have when you're starting your journey in the DLC, just because enemies in the Shadow Realm are deadly. The last talisman for this build is Great-Jar's Arsenal, which allows the player to medium-roll while you have the Solitude Set. Without it, you'll either be over-encumbered or executing "fat rolls". Alternate Talismans you can swap to, depending on your playstyle, Axe Talisman is good if you find yourself using the charged R2 attack. Spear Talisman is best paired if you use the thrusting move frequently.

Regarding the attributes of this build, the stats are spread out as follows: 50 Vigor, 20 Mind, 40 Endurance, 12 Strength, 80 Dexterity,16 Intelligence, 07 Faith, and 09 Arcane. 50 Vigor to trade damage and avoid death or at least 60 for the DLC because the enemies in this expansion hit hard. Endurance is at 40 so that we can block and medium-roll with the heavy armor used in this build. 12 Strength to meet the requirements for the Wolf Crest Shield and Milady. And of course, 80 Dexterity to get as much damage and scaling from the weapon.

As for the Crystal Tears used on this build, Opaline Hardtear is a must-have to reduce the damage when fighting those difficult bosses, to make it possible to trade attacks, and just avoid dying since the build does require you to be aggressive considering you have all these protection. And Thorny Cracked Tear is best for this build to amp that damage from consecutive attacks. The more rapid successive attacks you do, the more your damage will be amplified. And finally, for Great Runes, Morgott's Great Rune or Malenia's Great Rune are great choices. Morgott's Great Rune will increase your HP while Malenia's Great Rune will help in recovering your HP if you hit enemies quickly after getting hit.