The Vanquisher Build is an "all-game" build that players can use fairly at the beginning of the game and until the end. The highlight of this build is the Dragon Halberd weapon, making it special because of the skill that is associated, which is the Ash of War: Spinning Slash that buffs the damage with Ice Lightning by 160 Lightning Damage and 80 Frost build up for 45 seconds. Not only does it have great damage, but the weapon has a decent guard boost.
Another All-Game build is the Vanquisher build which focuses on Strength and Dexterity. Primarily, you'll want to acquire the main item for this build to work, which is the Dragon Halberd. The Dragon Halberd weapon can be acquired in the early stages of the game if you're playing for the first time, and this is dropped by the Dragonkin Soldier boss located in Siofra River. The reason why this weapon is interesting is how it is empowered with Ice Lightning when using the Ash of War: Spinning Slash, when you use the skill, it buffs the weapon damage with Ice Lightning by 160 Lightning Damage and 80 Frost build-up for 45 seconds. It is an effect that is unique to this weapon. The Dragon Halberd also has a great attack rating with 55 Strength, 45 Dexterity, and bolsters Physical Damage. Apart from that since this build doesn't come with a shield, unlike our other builds, the Dragon Halberd has a decent guard boost if fully upgraded for blocking enemy attacks. It is also versatile with its attacks where you can use R1 for a thrusting attack apart from its wide swings, allowing players to take advantage of the effects of the Spear Talisman.
When it comes to armor, we've specifically selected the Gelmir Knight Helm, Gelmir Knight Armor, Cuckoo Knight Gauntlets, and Gelmir Knight Greaves simply because they aesthetically fit well. But if you were to ask me "What armor should I use?", you can use whatever Armor you want as long as you have more than 51 Poise, because the idea of this build is that whenever you use Spinning Slash, you're going to Poise through the damage of bosses, that way, you can maximize using the skill. You can check our Armor page to find a complete list of armor in Elden Ring. As for Talismans, you can use Warrior Jar Shard or Shard of Alexander depending if you are at the beginning or later portion of the game, either one works, but essentially, the talisman boosts the attack power of Spinning Slash. Ritual Sword Talisman will further boost the damage by 10% more whenever you are in full health. Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman is a good option to reduce Physical Damage by 20% just for added survivability, and finally, since you will be using the thrust move frequently, the Spear Talisman will benefit this build since it will increase the thrusting weapon counterattack damage by 15%.
Ideally, the Stats for this Build are as follows: 50 Vigor, 30 Mind, 25 Endurance, 55 Strength, 45 Dexterity, and simply just ignore Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane. However, you can add about 15 points Faith if you want to use Flame Grant Me Strength which raises Physical and Fire-Affinity attack power. It is just an alternative here, but for this build, you won't need Faith. Using Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear, Spiked Cracked Tear can help with temporarily boosting strength or dexterity. You can also go for the Greenburst Crystal Tear to boost your stamina recovery or if you're someone who wants to keep spamming Spinning Slash, the Leaden Hardtear is great for boosting your poise. Finally, we highly recommend using Radahn's Great Rune just to gain that boost in HP, FP, and Stamina.
Strength
Vigor
Dexterity
Mind
A Dexterity/Intelligence build that uses the Nagakiba and the Chilling Mist Ash of War.
A melee build that focuses on out healing damage taken while shredding enemies to death with the Butchering Knife.
The Noble Swordsman Build is Dexterity build and an essential "all-game" build that players can use throughout the entirety of the game. This build uses a single straight sword, it does not come equipped with any other weapon or shield, and it is phenomenal for stance-breaking and critical attacks.
An Arcane Build that focuses on the use of the Bloody Helice weapon and its weapon skill: Dynast's Finesse
An Arcane Build that focuses on the use of Dragon Incantations.
A dual-wielding Arcane Build that uses Bleeding and Dragon Spells to obliterate enemies.
An Bleed Build focused on Arcane and the use of Eleonora's Poleblade to deal incredible damage very quickly and set the Hemorrhage status effect.
An Arcane/Faith Build that focuses on the use of Dragon Spells, as well as boosting general Incantation and melee damage.
An Arcane/Faith Build that focuses on casting incantations from range, only meleeing when absolutely necessary.