The Search for the Best Build in Elden Ring

[@VaatiVidya]

UPDATE - recently google deleted a bunch of old files from accounts that hadn't logged in for a while..and among them was my build guide document. I've updated it, but only for the Retribution Paladin and the Spiral Mage build. The Black Knife build has been gutted by a patch :(

[@SaphyOW]

Hi lore man

[@anon36977]

Great job keeping this a timeless video!

[@kylepalafox6995]

Hey vaati I really want the spiral mage build but I dont know exactly everything needed😢

[@juicyjews10]

@@kylepalafox6995 From the wayback machine (sorry formatting sucks): Spiral Mage Best Starting Class Hero Stats Level: 150 Vig: 60 Mind: 20 End: 23 Str: 24 Dex: 9 (14 with Millicent’s Prosthesis) Int: 70 Fai: 8 Arc: 15 (23 with Silver Tear Mask) Weapons RH1: Marais Executioner’s Sword RH2: Dagger w/ Golden Vow LH1: Carian Regal Scepter Armor Head: Silver Tear Mask Chest: Scaled Armor Hands: Scaled Gauntlets Legs: Scaled Greaves Talismans Great-Jar’s Arsenal Rotten Winged Sword Insignia Millicent’s Prosthesis Shard of Alexander NOTE: You can also pair the regular Winged Sword Insignia with Millicent’s Prosthesis. It’s not as strong as the Rotten variant, but it’s close, and doesn’t require two playthroughs! Spells Carian Slicer Magic Glintblade Alternate Options: Loretta’s Mastery, Shard Spiral Flask of Wondrous Physick Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear Thorny Cracked Tear Items Boiled Crab Spirit Summon Nox Swordstress and Priestess Puppet Great Rune Godrick’s Great Rune (you make good use of almost every stat) Radahn’s Great Rune

[@mighuIDV]

no worries! that really sucks bruh but good luck!

[@Reign_PaladinofVengeance]

Your spiral mage build is honestly my favorite build I’ve EVER seen anyone make on elden ring, and I literally spend hours a day looking at elden ring content seeing different builds. Super unique and cool looking

[@VaatiVidya]

Thank you! All my research really culminated in that one.

[@felixrowan646]

@@VaatiVidya I was running almost the same build for a while but I completely missed how good the Spinning Weapon Art on the Regal Scepter works with this build. Going to go try that now.

[@Tyveris]

Any other channels or specific videos to recommend? I've not started the game yet (got some other stuff I have to beat first) but I want to really explore my options.

[@Reign_PaladinofVengeance]

@@Tyveris fextralife if you want to search up builds, Lost if you want builds and pvp showcases and other random stuff, Chasethebro for weapon showcases with stat requirements for dueling and invading. Those are the main ones I watch

[@xeroeddie]

Yeah, I'm in love with that build. The creativity is off the chart.

[@ZoeBateman]

Vaati: “it’s not about broken damage numbers” Also Vaati in the first build: “Look at that damage, it’s insane!”

[@Cruzsader]

Anyone who likes RPG love to see big numbers xd

[@MantraHerbInchSin]

@@Cruzsader Big numbers, and fast numbers that just keep going is what we want

[@andrewgonzales6527]

It's also stylish

[@MohammedMahdiAlbaaj]

Literally me Xd @@Cruzsader

[@PaladinLeeroy42069]

Another reason to love Vaati; it’s not about meta, it’s about enjoyable, engaging gameplay and showcasing the wonderful amount of variety in this masterpiece of a game

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

Admittedly, he's a PvE guy, and meta isn't really important for PvE. But I will be much happier to see these builds online over the IGN builds...

[@PaladinLeeroy42069]

@@monsieurdorgat6864 there are pve metas, but I agree that I’d rather something creative that actually challenges you to approach encounters in a fresh way that ends up being effective too

[@marcinolszewski2260]

To be fair dual status infused twinblades are very popular, but some of his ideas were very cool and creative. Also what doesn't work for PVE might be amazing for PVP: for example Frozen Needle. And if he wants to have stronger R2 projectiles - Wing Of Astel does magic damage so it can be boosted by Terra Magica, Magic Scorpion Talisman, physick flasks and it also can hit with both blade and projectile.

[@mangodango1733]

I always find op builds and just default to being the embodiment of lightning every single time I am in love with the ice lightning I hope there's more to come with dlc and the red lightning is just so sexy Kinda bummed it doesn't scale with faith anymore

[@L4Disillusion]

Nah it's a great game I play it myself but it's far from a masterpiece. Pvp is a bad joke the connections are horrid and console versions as well as PC version of the game still have major performance issues. Masterpiece 10/10 my ass.

[@ShortThrowShifting]

You can run Vyke's Fingerprint Helm with the Black Knife Assasin outfit. The hood still covers the helmet and you retain the silent footsteps. As a bonus, Vyke's helmet uses the same purple hued metal textures as the Black Knife armor, so it fits right in with the rest of the set!

[@runcher977]

Its my go too in fashion with morgot blade

[@irishkat8451]

Love when vaati does stuff like this, really shows us he's more than just the lore guy

[@alejandrodelargo7902]

I learn he's more than just the lore guy when I saw him beat every boss in Sekiro without dying.

[@captainbeef9971]

Yes

[@captainbeef9971]

@@alejandrodelargo7902 pl😊l

[@KABLAMMATS]

The lore man

[@ThatDudeCalled]

Meh. Id rather have a bunch of lore videos than a million vids before the game comes out, speculating, then very little lore vids when the game is actually released... How long has the game been out and he's still talking about builds? Look back at his full library. Tons of lore videos for each darksouls. (Well not that many for ds2 aha) quite a few for sekiro. I understand that given the quality of his lore videos nowadays. It takes much longer to make them. However, I like lore. I don't care about flashy cinematics... Unfortunately I think this is a niche opinion.. They say Quality over Quantity but with lore... I just want to hear other peoples findings, speculations, etc. I don't need a bunch of hd slowmo attack animations........ But that's just me.. which is why Ill stick to smoughtown for my lore and now think of Vaati as the SoulsBornEldenKiro cinematic guy. Not the lore guy anymore.

[@arnigeir1597]

I started out as prisoner and found a cool magic katana I decided to main... little did I know, I became a filthy casual.

[@aaeve5676]

Lmao cool magic katana 😂

[@proximityclockworkx1572]

Moonveil?

[@arnigeir1597]

@@proximityclockworkx1572 Is there any other?

[@proximityclockworkx1572]

@@arnigeir1597 Idk I'm still in the early game relatively. And just decided to start again for an int/dex build with a Magic Uchigatana with Carian Grandeur and also a Moonveil.

[@arnigeir1597]

@@proximityclockworkx1572 of course any basic katana can be magical, but yeah, it's the Moonveil.

[@lunamoon6410]

The sheer amount of stuff you can do with Elden Ring's character creator system and multitude of combat systems is *mindboggling* and *fantastic* !

[@juwe7143]

Put a space between the * and the ! and you have a truly *fantastic* comment

[@lunamoon6410]

@@juwe7143 Thank you!

[@sereenaty]

Mindbogglingly fantastic, or fantastically mindboggling?

[@james87367]

That's why it sold 17 million copies. It's an insanely successful game. All well deserved.

[@drachenfeIs]

can you beat malenia by blocking with a shield

[@KindestofWinds]

“The Spiral Mage” is about one of the coolest build concepts I have ever seen. Well played, sir.

[@Koyomix86]

Yeah I would’ve never thought about that. It’s definitely going to be my next build.

[@46ntwo46]

It's looks great but when i try to repec at lvl 150 i can't seem to get the stats up, not even close. What am i missing?

[@Lemongrass_gaming]

And rage gaming stole it

[@nizzel_]

@@46ntwo46 I think he had a rune on and the silver tear helmet

[@Robertjay27]

Heavily agree! I’ve played a lot of spellcaster builds in this game, but I’ve never done a battlemage. I think Vaati just inspired me!

[@elchetibo1459]

This video made me realize that all my builds are very unoriginal lol, i'm more of a strength-faith guy, but I never though you could get inventive and smart like that! I should try to create my very own build sometimes....

[@nelly._.8128]

@@prettyyygood4784true, time and the resources are limited unless you are in NG+

[@alangonzalez6940]

You are not the only, thats exactly how I felt. I will try to craft my own build and have fun while also accepting my limits and that it wont be perfect

[@mitcHELLOworld]

@@prettyyygood4784 just use a trainer to tune and play with builds, then once you find the perfect ones, then go out and get everything needed the proper way

[@elliotkivi1682]

I wish elden ring had a sort of inbuilt trainer so you could play around with different builds

[@jibjibs9401]

@@elliotkivi1682So we don’t have to waste larval tears just trying something different.

[@GTrain1984]

These builds are far more creative than the repeated builds you see all over the internet. Well done!

[@blablasigh187]

How much playtime does it take to put together builds like these?

[@AdamSmasherReal]

@@blablasigh187 none if you use cheat engine

[@tallerlamp385]

@@blablasigh187 some of these have at least one item from very late game zones, so you cant finish them until youve nearly finished the game (or in the case of the spiral build once youve finished twice lol)

[@King_WhiteWolf]

@@tallerlamp385 With regards to the Spiral Build, you don't need two clears to get it going well, just one (effectively). You can just use the regular version of the Winged Sword Insignia and then choose to invade Millicent at the end of her quest chain to get Millicent's Prosthesis. This will still be an extremely effective build for your first NG+ cycle until you do get the Rotten version.

[@R3XoXo]

@@blablasigh187 over 250 hours

[@theovermatt]

It's funny to me that even in most "different" magic builds, Carian Slicer still fits into the arsenal. That spell is hilariously good at just about any stage of the game, and I was baffled the first time I did a mage build and was like "Oh... oh this absolutely melts bosses."

[@Laoruperteen18]

i mean....it does more damage, and attacks faster, than almost any weapon in the game, you can get it at the beginning, its cheap to buy, cheap to cast, cheap to build, its pretty OP xD im only using it to melt shitters in pvp that enjoy spamming because i can out-spam them way better than they can spam me.

[@Nemo.404]

I went int/strength on my first character and never used the carian slicer. Now I feel so dumb :v

[@marclenraymagdaraog691]

yeah it's super busted specially on early lol. I kept using it non stop even before they nerf the lazer gun

[@_You_Are_Not_Him_]

melts over leveled summons too.

[@LANBobYonson]

It’s funny to me that night comet is even more busted and trivializes the bosses to the point I beat them all with 9 vigor. But try using carian slicer with that much vigor lol.

[@YUM0N]

So the dragonmoth build is basically "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee"

[@ripperman25]

halitosis like a dragon

[@TenebraeUbr]

Glide like a moth, strike like lightning

[@nahrikkon]

@gabriel raspatelly that isnt a ds2 reference..

[@KABLAMMATS]

@@nahrikkon coincidentally, theres a butterfly set in ds2, and its poisonous

[@nahrikkon]

@@KABLAMMATS yeah ik but thats not what that phrase is referencing

[@moobo3944]

My personal favorite way to play the game is a vampire build that utilizes regen effects + the godskin swaddling cloth with the use of the "blood tax" ash of war. I use Rogiers rapier because it has a unique r2 that very reliably procs the swaddling cloth. Hoslows armor offers the perfect aesthetic for this build as well.

[@lawrencemckinley4439]

That sounds pretty cool

[@jayjayson9613]

Ohh that sounds amazing!

[@psyo_nade3177]

The Hoslow family is suspiciously rich with vampire themes, I wonder if from will expand upon them if there is a sequel

[@elementual]

That retribution paladin build looks so damn interesting to play. Definitely going to start one of those.

[@Archflip]

Fair warning to people who want to try this, the final boss does not care for holy damage. It's a good build, but at the very last moment, it will fail you, so it pays to have a backup plan.

[@yzfool6639]

@@Archflip Have faith in the build, Dennis.

[@yochior]

​@@Archflip "HAVE SOME GODAMN FAITH" - vutch dander plan maybe

[@iedneved1176]

@@yochior Ah yes, Vutch Dander Plan, from the hit game Dead Bed Gumption

[@igorporfiirio4915]

​@@Archflip eldem beast is not that bad, faith builds can do very high damage, so you do well enough even through resistances, and elden beast is kinda easy, so its doable with not great damage. Radagon is a bigger problem thought, but you can bonk him with your big mace and be happy.

[@cwynwyn2934]

I have BIG FACE, where you use the Visage Greatshield and invest a lot into endurance and health. The stagger damage on the fire breath is insane and you get to be really safe, carrying an array of various utility miracles. For extra Giant theming, I use the Giants' Red Braid and the fire incantations. It helps that there's a lot of ways to scale fire damage. I also use the pot helm because the giantsflame pots and volcano pots are actually solid damage and not enough people use consumables, for how useful they can be.

[@VaatiVidya]

Don't tell anyone, but you can increase your shield damage if royal knight's resolve is active on your right hand weapon

[@MemoryMori]

I really like to use "Flame pots" on the big Flower enemies, becouse when they are on fire, they cant spit the poison cloud ;-)

[@VaatiVidya]

UPDATE: Flame of the Redmanes has been significantly nerfed, so I no longer recommend it for my Black Knife build and I have edited it out of the video. The Spiral Mage is probably my favourite build out of all of these, and I think that's what I'll be taking first into any DLC. What about you guys? Please leave your build ideas in the comments section, I actually love making builds in these games and I'm glad I finally decided to get this video out of my system. Even if it is a little late -.- Also check out the description - it has a bunch of useful assets like a written document for my builds, build calculators, the /r/eldenbling subreddit, and some build-focused KZbinrs I'd recommend. Finally - special thanks to Absa for dropping so many items for me!

[@zackarysemancik5491]

Hey Vaati, not sure if you read these replies, but I'd love to see a video exploring Godrick, and his relation to Marika.

[@bingusthegreat9733]

Sword and board knight build will always be my go to build in any souls game

[@00spiderwolfman]

I said this to smoughtown and want to say this to u thank you for giving me such a deep appreciation of this and other fromsoft games u r a legend!

[@FreedomAndPeaceOnly]

🌚 Praise the Moon! 🌚 ................. \[T]/

[@graham8727]

How is this 10 hours old if this videos been up for three minutes?

[@benro6564]

For the spiral mage, you can use the Regalia of Eochaid which is a straight sword with the same ash of war as the Marais, but with a bit less damage and range but less stat requirements

[@VaatiVidya]

True, but it does significantly less damage and looks significantly less cool

[@idavid8391]

The Retribution Paladin and Spiral Mage are my favorites from this video--absolutely beautiful execution of such creative fighting designs. My creative side is delighted.

[@jeremesmith9266]

Built the RetPLD this week, lots of fun! So cool mixing up the heavy weapon normalcy and having an enjoyable role play utility

[@butchbabytoaster]

Yet another game/build that proves that "spin-to-win" isn't just a valid tactic, but a way of life.

[@phoneguy8428]

It's always the DRIP that matters to me btw, the spiral mage looks fantastic! love the play style, and i'll definetly try it out right away after finishing my 4th round

[@Broomer52]

I always like the idea of a super competent assassin type character but I struggled to make it work. Theirs style both in attack and looks, you have abilities that allow you to weave through enemies and you do it all with a dagger.

[@beckstheimpatient4135]

The Carian Royal Staff alone with its twirl is great. I discovered that one rather late into my initial sorcerer run. Couldn't believe that little stick spun and hit that hard.

[@TurboNemesis]

I decided I wanted to play a Paladin. Started as a Confessor, eventually got myself the Claymore and some good armor. Decided against a shield in favor of two handing tossing miracles. As the playthrough went on, i decided to play it out like my character was learning the truth about the Golden Order. As she went on, she started to question her faith and instead began dabbling in arcane, enticed by the power of the Dragon Hearts and the power of blood magic. It was a really fun progression to go through in a playthrough

[@rafalos-zx6go]

sounds sick. nice to roleplay in this game where there's not much enticing story so we gotta make our own

[@faithlessunholy]

I started similar but my character went into frenzied flame and became an frenzied acolyte. Mainly because frenzied flame incantations are super good lol.

[@jamesomara3361]

Love reading stuff like this. It's how I play games like this and design my characters. My character was an assassin, dual wielding daggers for most of her journey, relying on stealth and speed. But as she progressed, and bathed more and more in the blood of her enemies, she realized that she no longer needed stealth. It was her foes that needed to be afraid. She murdered Eleonora and took her weapon, and carved a path toward the Elden Throne, leaving blood and flame in her wake.

[@Dizzyslizzy]

Damn thats literally my last character lol. Exact same build, exact same roleplay... then there is vaati playing badass shadow assassin.

[@AutismGaming489]

Confessor is actually shit for a paladin build. If you’re only focused on faith, dexterity and strength, both intelligence and arcane are irrelevant. Confessor’s stat total for both irrelevant stats is 18 while prophet and samurai irrelevant stat total at 17 while vagabond has the lowest at 16. Plus vagabond is superior if you want to level intelligence for incantation requirements and the same applies with prophet and arcane. The only build you can min max with confessor is a Sonaf build and even then astrologer can pull it off.

[@gucketjug]

I love the idea of using the tree shield to bounce your rings of light back, super creative builds!

[@djturley509]

Honestly!! And I’ve never seen videos on elden ring like this, really hope he makes more of these

[@TheSidetrackYT]

It's so creative! You used to be able to "reflect" the self damage from Flame Grant Me Strength with the shield and fire off tons of projectiles, but they patched it out. So cool to see there's another way to make the Greatshield Howitzer again!

[@OG-ColorfulAbyss.]

I just wish the AoW was on a smaller, better looking shield.

[@ambidex5383]

@@OG-ColorfulAbyss. I think there's a similar ash of war that does the same thing. Could be wrong haven't played in a while but I seem to remember that.

[@teapuck2530]

@@TheSidetrackYT is there any videos of this sad they patched it

[@Anti-impala]

This game feels like it was made for build creation. I hope to see more balance changes so I’ll see even more variety in pvp.

[@otto_jk]

Big weapon. Good ol' big weapon build. It always works.

[@patronsaintgains]

More? All you see is the same 3 broken 1 shot blds lmao. Worst pvp in souls history. Utter garbage. No balance change can fix a game this far out. It was built from the ground up to be broken.

[@Magus_Union]

@@patronsaintgains Mad because parry isn't king anymore.

[@sewerPig]

​@@patronsaintgainsWhile I don't agree that the balancing can't be fixed, if people actually tried Elden Ring PvP for a bit then tried Dark Souls 3 PvP they will understand how utterly bad the balancing is in Elden Ring

[@onepunchmicky666]

@@patronsaintgains only because they kept nerfing everything until there was only those 3 broken builds left

[@xxcrazy_leggzxxplays9580]

It'd be cool to see an updated video with any new builds you've tried or adjustments made to these builds, especially due to some of the patches that have altered rather drastically how some of these builds function.

[@86fifty]

It is SO bloody cool to see the results of the Lore Master's personal experiences with the gameplay side of things. SO much thought went into these, and they all showcase different super effective play styles!

[@DisAnimated]

20:35 Today I learned that that weapon damage types have unique effects besides being effective against certain armour/skins.

[@_Ethereal420]

Your builds are some of the most interesting and thought out I've seen yet, I like how unique yet affective they are and that's what alot of builds are missing which is originality with creativity put together.

[@misterspiggins]

I've been very interested in designing some kind of "bard" build, ever since I found the Harp Bow. Utilizing interesting, ranged attacks from the musical bow, and the bubbles from the envoy horns, and carrying something light and eccentric like the Cane sword for close combat. Weapons with dance-like skills and the special r2 of the flowing curved sword can add an extra element of someone who is almost having too much fun while fighting. In terms of armor, pieces from sets like the eccentric set, or Rogier's set work well, or maybe something dressy like the page sets. I don't know that something of this nature would be as complicated as many of those in this video, but it would definitely be fun, and I'm even more interested in making it after watching. Cheers as always!

[@Thomahawk1234]

That sounds like music to my ears! Oh, have you seen the old aristocrat cowl? It has a really nice green color and might be perfect for a bard character. Its shape resembles Dandelion's hat from the Witcher games, who happens to be a bard. I made a redhead perfumer girl with messy curls and found that hat. Never took it off again.

[@misterspiggins]

@@Thomahawk1234 That definitely came to mind! There’s actually a lot of armors that I feel could work for that esthetic, so it’s a character I’m excited to run!

[@monsieurdorgat6864]

Sounds like a fun light-rolling dex build! Not gonna lie the game might not be as easy to beat with that build but it looks cool! For peak fashion, keep the horn in your right hand and the bow in your left, so you're visibly always holding both!

[@misterspiggins]

@@monsieurdorgat6864 I’ve experimented a lot with using limited weapons and different kinds of styles, so I’m always up for a more difficult character!

[@Sleepy12ftPanda]

Dual wielding curved sword with sword dance might be cool. Also giant's shout for the singing, lol.

[@thejmiester14]

The trick with the delayed projectiles in the Spiral Mage reminds me of a tech in Destiny 2, where rocket launchers that have the "lasting impression" perk stick on impact and explode 3 seconds later - enough time to swap to Divinity, an exotic weapon that gives the target a damage taken debuff, and buff your own rocket's damage before it goes off

[@ripdeyu]

@@aimlessjames8939 greetings fellow crayon eater

[@ggangbuhero7597]

Hello jardians, titan main here

[@redeath_]

Glad to see that there are a few Guardians out there yet, I used to play a lot in the past. Such a great game.

[@TheRPGentleman]

Except for when it's not, like when you have to pay for everything you do or for when you run out of things to do and it becomes the most boring chore ever. Destiny 2 is basically a second job that you will eventually get tired of doing.

[@adammendez7165]

Hello my fellow guardians

[@oliviachierichella1419]

the frost build seems like so much fun, I was already on a frost build journey and the fact that fire damage resets frostbite is such an amazing revelation

[@nondescriptname]

Your spiral mage build looks so incredible it has inspired me to pick up the game again for the first time in over a month. Going to try it out tonight, cheers.

[@Voxitude]

Vaati, I'm glad that you upload your videos in advance then scheduled release them. The moment a new video shows up on my feed I know it's been fully uploaded and I can watch it in 2160p the moment I click. Some creators upload their content in real time, and early watchers have to watch in 480p while youtube is still processing the video. I appreciate it!

[@ostarakonrad9907]

I have watched so many build videos since this game came out, and these are the top 6 most fun builds i have played. (Dragonmoth is number 1) I would love if you eventually made more of these. This video is singlehandedly resposible for me coming back to this game. You're really talented at making synergistic builds that are actually fun for pve, not just OP or broken. Reminds me of fudgemuppet builds for skyrim

[@angelorael6186]

The paladin is by far the coolest build I've seen so far. Out of my 5 pve builds (I don't do pvp) the first playthrough was a basic buff paladin to help my friends who've never played souls before. The others are all based on the four horsemen because the moment I saw we could ride a horse I immediately wanted horsemen builds.

[@captainstarlock3414]

I'm very curious how you handled "Famine", I can get how you'd do "War", "Death" and "Pestilence."

[@angelorael6186]

@@captainstarlock3414 famine took a while for sure, but after a while of mixing and matching I made famine a duel knife user with the black knife and scorpions stinger. And played her more as an assassin build since pestilence used a bow, death used mostly magic, and war was swords

[@BarokaiRein]

Aight the black knife build was something I didn't see coming, like I never though a deep strength build would look like that.

[@Ravii697]

I know it's literally the first build shown on the video, but dual wielding twinblades with FrostBleed, Twinblade/Eleonora's Poleblade, dex/arcane with some dragon incantations (Ice and Rot mostly) might be my favorite, I just call it the Dragon Dancer. His fit is the White Mask along the Twinned set, which I really like because it looks like you're 2 peeps holding one weapon each

[@Roaselia]

These builds are actually awesome, like "I'm tempted to try ng+ for these" awesome

[@eldenring_area]

I love it. Thanks

[@Noc-1112]

I made your assassin build and it is was ridiculously fun. I was super disappointed to see that the stance breaking doesn't work anymore with the redmane nerf. I added more flame/godskin incantations, so its good in pvp and on bosses still, but its not what it was. still one of my favorite characters to play.

[@L4Disillusion]

That's from soft for you they spend more time nerfing the game then fixing it. Game still has horrible performance and pop in issues yet let's nerf items. Yeah ok ..

[@luca7123]

@@L4Disillusion because it was kinda broken... they fix broken stuff... also performance problems probably come from your machinery, I had 0 problem in my 400h, not even one crash (from what I remember)

[@gilgamesh9847]

@@luca7123he’s right, and he’s not talking about the game crashing, the game has alot of frame drops in alot of areas and stuff like grass for example pop right in front of you

[@luca7123]

@@gilgamesh9847 what do you play on?

[@gilgamesh9847]

@@luca7123 ps5

[@thesxex]

so far my favorite build has been a pure faith build with the blue dancer charm. the charm only boosts physical damage, so the build revolves around erdsteel daggers (which have really good faith-scaling physical damage with a sacred infusion) and incantations that do physical damage (pest threads is my go-to)

[@Sen_Apollo]

Similar to the interaction with Greatstars and Prelate's charge, I've been running a cold-infused Butchering Knife with Chilling Mist. The weapon art leaves a cloud of frost buildup, and each tick of frost build-up will heal you like a regular hit. Get a group of enemies with it and you'll heal a bunch.

[@timdubitably7542]

That retribution Paladin build is the most creative and satisfying-looking one I've seen yet. Awesome work.

[@paulfarr2795]

I am actually doing my first play through right now because I stumbled onto your lore videos. I am playing stealthy dagger/flame of the Redmanes crit build. I am enjoying it and doing so well, I thought I might be cheesing the game (I thought it would be harder! I does challenge me though). I am glad to see you validate the build. I really enjoy it, it makes you approach the game a different way!

[@OldeVikingOriginal]

I made a musician build with the harp bow and the great trumpet hammer, clad in dainty musician-like clothes of the era. Mostly for the fashion but it plays quite well too. The bubbles create a damaging barrier that covers you while you barrage the enemy with beautiful tunes and arrows with your harp.

[@ZeusKnocksYouOut]

DO MORE BUILD VIDEOS! These are amazing. Easily the most unique and interesting builds I've seen. Everyone wants to do whats OP, but I always like to play and see the unique and fun builds.

[@tillerthelegend1823]

This video inspired me to make my own build that’s pretty fun and I will likely take to the dlc. I call it the Dreamblade Spellsword. I use the St. Trina straight sword in the left hand and a Keen Lordsworn straight sword in the right. The LS sword has the Carian Grandeur ash of war. Talismans are; the shard of Alexander, Godfrey icon, magic scorpion, and Millicent’s prosthesis. Using Rogiers set is optional but adds 2% more damage per piece equipped for CG. The build works by applying either sleep or magic buff to the LS sword and if the enemy falls asleep or gets floored you hit them with a fully charged Carian Grandeur which while fully buffed can do upward of 5k+ damage. The build prioritizes Int and Dex so you can also throw sorceries in the mix for extra utility. Nothing more satisfying then you and your mimic fully charged double slamming a boss with Carian Grandeur lmao

[@streetroach727]

So far my favorite (and only fully fleshed out) build is my “lord of gold and stars”. I built it with the idea of using golden order incantations and moonlight/primordial sorceries, and it uses the golden order greatsword and dark moon greatsword in a powerstance

[@macandcheeseofficial]

Is it an int/faith build?

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

That sounds like Elden Ring alright. You went in intending to do something cool only to discover melee builds are just too strong to bother with doing anything else, even if you already built to do those cool things.

[@capolean2902]

mind posting pvp videos with those swords hadnt seen a video of them being dual wield

[@Raffalius]

I'd love to see the developers react to these builds. I think even the devs would be impressed with some of the builds people have created.

[@Thedukeofflannel]

These are so inspiring. This game has so much potential for different, creative builds like these.

[@onlycrams773]

Had so much fun using the glintblade phalanx AoW on great epee for the huge poise damage, then, instead of riposting, switching to rogiers rapier with carian grandeur AoW for an absolutely brutal fully charged hit

[@fernandofaria2872]

Killing Astel with glintblade phalanx is probably the most fun i had with this game, its the most underrated AoW for sure.

[@PaperySloth]

Retribution paladin is exactly what I love in a build; unique mechanics that reward execution. Well done

[@ImNotKaleb]

My character building process usually follows the same pattern of, “Hey this is some great fashion, I wonder what build would compliment its aesthetic the best.” Needless to say, this doesn’t always result with the most optimal builds, but in terms of pure fun it is unmatched thus far.

[@phenex5190]

For me it's, "Hey this is some great fashion, I wish I wasn't at Heavy Load though" and then back to a normal build bc every cool armor set weighs 800 pounds

[@kinglychimera9964]

My one suggestion for the black knife build is to give yourself enough endurance (if possible) to carry the one eyed shield as well. It adds so much fun to the playstyle of this build

[@trevorcook4225]

The “Carian great frost knight” build I made works really well for almost all bosses I face. It uses great helm, carian knight armor, scaled gauntlet, Blaidd’s greaves for a armor set and for the weapons I use Royal great sword with carian regal scepter along with carian knight shield and all frost spells (not frozen armament or ghostflame spells). For talismans I use axe talisman, greatshield talisman, shard of Alexander, Godfrey icon. And for the “mix” magic shrouding cracked tear and spiked cracked tear. I hope this works for some of you because it looks really cool.

[@blake9974]

giga late but i run similar build with moonlight greatsword, love that coldussy magic

[@pcalix17]

This is what makes Elden Ring truly amazing. The environment, storytelling, and open world are all nice but the customization built up from so many years of design is what makes it shine.

[@Jhost90]

Unfortunately Vaati also said the opposite in the video, and I agree

[@dots1761]

Currently running a “Bestial Cleric” str/fth build with light load, clawmark seal, cinqueada, and a bunch of bestial incantations, and while this build is much more challenging than most I’ve used since I’m using a dagger it has undoubtedly been my favorite.

[@jordanmuller1667]

No way haha, I'm running the exact same build rn

[@jordanmuller1667]

I just got the stone of gurange, so it's suddenly gotten a lot easier to kill from a distance

[@dots1761]

@@jordanmuller1667 stone of guranq has to be one of the funniest incantations to hit people with in pvp

[@Cr4nched]

@@jordanmuller1667 yes because this build is not unique or interesting

[@jordanmuller1667]

@@Cr4nched I mean, I find it fun and interesting, challenging too, but that's just a matter of opinion 🤷 for example I find rob or dual bleed freeze build not very unique and interesting

[@adammendez7165]

This is the best elden ring build video I've ever seen. Earned an immediate sub

[@obsoleteindustry]

ur in for a treat when u see his secrets/lore videos this guy is amazing

[@GracelessTarnished]

Elden Ring has the greatest gameplay of any game I've ever played and I've been gaming over 25 years. The customization and the amount of ways one can play this game is staggering. But not only does the game have an insane amount of choice, it's also incredibly polished. A masterpiece that will be remembered for decades. Thank you Miyazaki and From Software for delivering such a game.

[@MoonTurky]

If any other game had 90 bosses where 80 are reskins they would have been burried by hate lmao. Elden ring is the definition of overrated garbage. Literally the first big guy you beat on the horse drops a polearm that does not need to be replaced ever to just steamroll the game. anybody saying its great probably started their 5th bag of cocaine when they entered lunaria and just spaced out of how terrible the game becomes after limgrave lmao

[@akiraigarashi2874]

@@MoonTurky There are way more than 10 unique bosses in the game so you are just lying about that bit. In souls games most weapons are viable so you don't have to constantly switch weapons like in Nioh. Idk if you ever played any other open world game but they have more reskinned enemies than in Elden Ring. It's just too costly to populate a huge world where every single boss/enemy is unique. The reskinned bosses are optional too so no one is forcing you to fight them.

[@GracelessTarnished]

@@MoonTurky why don't you do me a favor and stick to Call of Duty, PUBG and Fortnite cause they're probably more your cut of tea.

[@radioactivemorshu9493]

@@MoonTurky Mad b/c bad. Did you cry because you couldn't beat the first boss due to your skill issues?

[@JorisBohnson52]

@@MoonTurky You do realise fun is subjective right?

[@Moni_Calo]

I REALLY like the Black Knife build. I'm trying to make a pure stealth build to go through the game with and I'm definitely going to be incorporation that into it now.

[@tsukuyomiacolyte4895]

I'd rather go with dex, Misericorde with quickstep, plus faith if you want the black fire. Keen Misericorde is better than heavy, plus casting speed, and black knife also scales with dex.

[@DevilJhoMama]

@@tsukuyomiacolyte4895 Yeah why did he use strength? There must be something i'm missing.

[@tsukuyomiacolyte4895]

@@DevilJhoMama access to greatshields

[@DevilJhoMama]

@@tsukuyomiacolyte4895 Oh is that it? So it would be better to go with a dex build then?

[@tsukuyomiacolyte4895]

@@DevilJhoMama I'll give you an idea, the Erdsteel Dagger's physical damage scales with faith, if you infuse it flame art(for pve) or sacred(for pvp or undead) you would get good physical damage from faith scaling and its kind of insane. Haven't tried it yet, but +10 Erdsteel Dagger gets 508 AR at 60 faith, that's A LOT of AR for a mere dagger.

[@alicesundelin3094]

For the guard counter build I think that the HP dagger talisman is a great idea. With the guard counters you're going to constantly break poise of enemies and bosses giving you a critical to heal up some to all the damage you took from the percentile block. That, paired with defensive talismans, I think would solve most of it.

[@hurricane_tyrone6299]

My favorite current build is what I call the "Dragon Devourer." It's a build who's lore is that he was a Dragon Cultist who mastered the dragon cult incantations, but wish to become more like the dragons who granted him power. Thus, he began killing and eating dragon hearts. The build wields the Dragon Communion Seal in one hand and the Gravel Stone Seal in the other

[@Coolbreeze2863]

The rusted anchor is my main weapon, I tried to make a Sea Snake type character. I still need to tweak it alittle but the anchor is a beast of a weapon.

[@nathant6888]

Just got into this game about a month ago, and have been searching for a video like this. I don't enjoy meta I enjoy unique combat. This is easily the greatest video on builds I've found, and will be trying all of the first three builds immediately! Great work!

[@jacobbalensiefer3846]

I’ve been working on a tanky arcane build called “blood iron Tarkus”. It’s built around the execution sword and spiked shield. Still tweaking it and figuring out how to make it more effective but it’s nice having a character that can really go toe to toe with bosses and not just dodge roll around.

[@sacrosanct_814]

I love having lots of duplicate weapons with various ashes of war on them, and swap them out mid fight to feel like a swordmaster that can do a lot etc., I used to run various greatswords, but right now I like using dual halberds with War Cry/Barbaric Roar/Beast Roar and switch them out, utilizing the different movesets you get from the shouts to make my moveset seem expansive like a boss

[@ambidex5383]

That's a great idea. Need lots of endurance though.

[@sacrosanct_814]

@@ambidex5383 if you just have 1 greatsword equipped and one hand it, you can swap out greatswords for each other without having to equip more than one at a time, so you don't need to build around weight It takes some getting used to, and quick inventory stuff while backpeddling or if they back off etc, but I find it very fun and keeps people on their toes if they don't know what my next ash of war or attack in general will be

[@ambidex5383]

@@sacrosanct_814 oh I see. I'm not very fast with the inventory, honestly takes me forever.

[@sawyerkrusa1627]

This video is amazing, Elden ring is probably my favorite game of all time and I'm currently level 480 on my NG+6 account, most of my time playing now is spent trying out new builds since I have no shortage of larval tears and no shortage of levels to respec for. I have a notebook of all of my favorite builds and I will definitely be putting some of these in here.

[@skullknight8607]

I've been doing my first playthrough of the game and the amount of times I've respecced is more than any other souls game, simply because of how cool and interesting everything looks, I am a sucker for Magic/Melee hybrid builds so I think I've finally settled down on a Fire Themed Dex/Faith build using mainly the Flame of Frenzy incantations and the Vyke War Spear with a tinch of blackflame and bloodflame incantations

[@xXN0SK1LLZXx]

Its funny when you do think about it the internet does really ruin build creativity. Like take me for example. I bought baldurs gate 3 recently. Been loving the game. But the instant i started the first thing i did was google what the best build for the fighter class and what race was the most effective with that class. So instead of slowly tweaking my build i lazily went to google. This video has gave me abit to think about on how i build my builds from now on

[@SnaggleWumpus]

Love the absolutely insane build variety in this game, one of its biggest strengths

[@Jaylucid1701]

These are super creative, it’s good to see a creator actually make unique builds so many copy paste builds out there. One build I’m trying to nail down is a caster/melee hybrid for a faith build. Similar to your spin to win build but it’s been hard to find the right stats/gear.

[@michaelp4387]

I think the best thing about Vaati's builds are that everything in a build synergizes really well, and a lot of meta builds don't have that

[@goobienoob3589]

I've been having a lot of fun in ng+ with malenia's great rune paired with blessed dew talisman, beastial vitality, takers cameo, and maybe crimson dagger talisman or you can give yourself better guard capacity/counter damage. Then you can guard with your main weapon and tank a lot more damage. Really good also paird with rotten sword insignia and decent poise, somethign liek the knight's greatsword will tank through just about any enemy in the game with just it's light attacks. Not a particularly good build for bosses but I just switch some talismans around to optimize for bosses if I need to.

[@sebasfrankes6501]

Love the variety of builds in this game, I particularly favored the respec system as a way to roleplay. For example, I made a character who was a man who would grasp at any means of gaining power, be they dragon incantations, blood magic or cursed weapons, always arrogant in his belief that he could control the wild powers he was harnessing. through his journey, He decided to align himself with Ranni, as she too seemed to play with great power, and with whom he agreed on the principle that people should be able to set their own course. However, when he learned he had to sacrifice Melina to burn the Tree, he decided to use the Frenzied flame to save her. It was, afer all, just another profane power to be used in the quest for greater power. However, the experience left him scarred, and it took all his willpower just to keep himself from burning the world, and banished the Frenzied Flame through Miquella's needle. Shaken and traumatized, He underwent rebirth to become a Strength/intelligence Frost build, forsaking any power that had to do with the arcane stat. Any supernatural ability he would use would be channeled as a weapon skill, nothing more. After defeating Radagon, he left the Lands Between with Ranni,, hoping to put the haunting visions of the Yellow Flame behind him.

[@albotsoowoo547]

Tldr

[@kiltysalter2966]

Ha! This was exactly how my first playthrough went.

[@capolean2902]

i create stories for my character also he started in dragons dogma (sorcerer) now he’s in elden ring (int/faith/arcane) only two rpgs i can play all day without getting bored tbh

[@azeron8019]

The Spiral Mage build was really interesting, and quite enjoyable to watch as you make preparations for you delayed spells, its a really cool concept. I wonder if maybe it should inflict dizzy on the enemies from all that spining in their faces all the time. Also, the ret paladin build is sick, parry your own disks , to blow up the enemy? You got it good there

[@argonaut_jay]

Dude you have some of the coolest builds I've seen. So many videos out there showing the same bs with the same boring weapons. It's refreshing to find someone with creativity not about cookie cutter builds! So glad I found your channel. Amazing lore videos that have explained so much to me but also unique builds to boot! Great work 🙏

[@mvh-]

My favourite build I have made is a Half Mage Half rogue crit character that uses a staff for damage, and a magic infused rapier with glint blade phalanx for stance breaking and then I switch to the miseircorde for the big crits, I utilise a light equipt load to stay fast and have high stats in dex, mind, and intelligence

[@Harpy-with-Legs]

0:09 it’s about the Mets baybee love the Mets!

[@roycosta6878]

Loved this, hope you do a follow up with updated builds

[@matthewa6027]

I went hard into the paint and made a bunch of lore based characters. I have them leveled to certain areas for coop/invasion.

[@Lepoetism]

I don't care too much about builds, i just use what i like, powerstancing Death's Poker with Sword of Milos + that talisman from Regal Ancestor Spirit + High Page Set except the head piece = perfect!

[@warriorpuffin3007]

I do a dominatrix build. The iron mask + hood, Maliketh full set, twin chain whips (frost+bleed) topped off with shadow step. So fun in pvp and pve

[@Xarxes_]

My first playthrough i did a beast paladin. Used only beast miracles and used the hammer you get from the beast clergyman. End game I was rocking Blaidd's armor for the cape and the shaman antler headpiece. Somehow it really tied everything together.

[@jamiemanning4944]

I am trying the Carian Spell Knight build. It is great and so much fun! Makes me feel like a badass too!

[@alexanderramos6676]

I just started playing this game a couple weeks ago and I am sooo far from being able to make builds like this but I love how creative you can be in this game. First time playing a game like this and it's been cool watching your vids and getting to see just why this game is so damn impressive. Looking forward to building my character and getting to end game,

[@rickypinney9239]

Please make a sequel to this video when shadow of the erdtree drops

[@jdmmike7225]

What I have been doing is doing a character build that I think would want each ending. So for Ranni's ending I did a Carian Knight/Paladin. For the Golden Order I did a Golden Order Paladin using mostly Holy. I did a Necromancer/Death magician for Duskborn. haven't decided what to do next but it's definitely kept the game fun for me. Maybe just do an build to do the base ending.

[@noldorwarrior7791]

I did a Nox character for Ranni's ending

[@jdmmike7225]

@@noldorwarrior7791 100% makes sense. They definitely await the Age of Stars 👍 I wish the Nox Flowing Sword had more variety to it's special fluid attacks because I love dual curved swords builds. Two Beastman Curved Swords with blood attunement & alot of Dex & Arc just ruins opponents.

[@HogNog01]

I like to call my build the smash, flip and block. It's bloodhounds fang, a great shield (of your choice) and the best physical defence armour of all, lionels armour. With the smash, run up and do a jumping heavy attack, then follow up with bloodhound's fang ability (do the heavy attack if they're low) and block with the great shield when it attacks.

[@dahSweep]

I would love to see a full breakdown of the two hand guard counter build. That looks really fun!

[@halmaralvarado3929]

Never saw a build from Vatti. Actually loved them. Question, for the black flame assassin, why use the gravel talisman and not the god slayer one? It will buff both black flame and black flame blade

[@VaatiVidya]

I use the gravel because it scales with strength, but yeah you're probably better off with the Godslayer one. In the end it doesn't matter much for black blade (maybe not at all?) but yeah it will matter if you cast the black flame orb thing

[@tarasouthwell6132]

If you want a Swiss army knife of a character, go faith. Blasphemous Blade has really low requirements while boosting your survivability, hitting like a truck, and having great AOE to boot. Having a ton of points in faith opens up almost all the offensive and defensive buffs and a decent number of offensive incants to mix up what damage type you're doing if you're fighting something resistant to fire, or if you need more range. You can put an extra point in strength so you can use the Envoy's Longhorn against big bosses (it melts dragons, it's hilarious) and have a weapon to use against Crystalians and other enemies weak to Strike. I also upgraded the Golden Epitaph so I would have something to use against undead enemies that would keep them dead the first time, the tracking on the bubbles from Envoy's doesn't work well on smaller or more mobile enemies.

[@akuma2002]

Fantastic video! My pure mage kinda turned into an assassin too, except i keep some Night Magic with me, as they're supposed to be assassination tools too. Also starting with a seal in PvP, casting Darkness immediately can surprise some opponents as they don't except getting smashed by magic^^

[@robbe3334]

I think one of my favourite building was my arcane blood Mage sort of focusing on the Thorn sorceries. I just wish the first cast of briars of sin wasn't so slow so i mainly ended up doing jumping carian slicer into briars because for some reason jumping attacks still allowed you to chain cast. Thorn sorceries are my favourite magic spells but they are really bad.

[@Levyathyn]

Excellent video. I haven't been able to spend a lot of time with Elden Ring for most of this year, for health reasons, so it's great not only seeing a video which places function and creativity together in the spotlight like this, but one that lets me revisit the game in a unique way before I'm able to go back in on my own. I also appreciate the thought that went into these builds; not just in making them work for us as viewers, or into making them cohesive, but in tying everything together so nicely around a theme and core identity. Excellent work.

[@lordscromp6552]

That retribution paladin with the style, flair and damage got me bricked up man

[@donkey9113]

I find it fascinating that people have such a knowledge about games to make ultimate builds that are well rounded and look good while i can't even decide which weapon i want to play

[@Indiana_Jonesy]

THANK YOU! After 500+ hours and 4 play-throughs, you’ve inspired me to start fresh in pursuit of some of these cool ideas (reflect Paladin). Love this content!

[@steamrat3593]

500 hours and 1 playthrough for me

[@taylorwilkinson9860]

NG+ or my next playthrough im definitely taking the spiral mage

[@LordofBroccoli]

It's always great seeing how much build variety there is in Elden Ring. Most players won't try out 95% of the Elden Ring's choices, and it isn't really their fault. FromSoft put zero effort into pushing players into more complex builds. Why should players bother, other than for the coolness factor, when spamming the lowest-cost magic again and again, or just spamming RoB, deals just as much damage but with far less effort...

[@henrryeaeaea]

I mean, no one has ever stopped in Demon's or DS1 from using weapons or playstyles that they feel comfortable with despite the clear superiority of magic. That there are easier ways to deal with the game only speaks to those who use them and how they want their experience to be, and it's not bad

[@varsoonhks3211]

You're absolutely wrong about this. Many of the more difficult bosses get absolutely swamped by appropriate damage types and are also designed specifically to counter certain types of builds. One of my most enjoyable experiences with the game was how Malenia forced me to stop tanking behind a greatshield and figure out a different method for my STR character to avoid and face her attacks. You bring up spamming low-cost magic again and again as if there aren't plenty of enemies and bosses with high magic resistance. You act like spamming RoB is a problem when you can't even get that weapon until the very end of the game. Both are approaches that lock a player into an animation set that is often and easily punished by many of the later bosses in the game.

[@sharinganproz]

this is why i will always love monster hunter. sure those games have minmaxed meta sets, but there is always room to explore different options and to try your own thing.

[@LordofBroccoli]

@@varsoonhks3211 I mean, don't know what to say, except that I got through the whole of Elden Ring with a singular strategy involving spamming magic, dodging, sipping, repeat. Were there better strategies, sure, but I never felt like I had to change style. Thing is, I would've liked to. But the requirement to fully upgrade weapons in order for them to be effective is a massive barrier that really prevents you from experimenting as much as you would want to, unless you're into farming for materials.

[@varsoonhks3211]

@@LordofBroccoli I've played a spellcaster and the variety of spells afforded allowed for different approaches in different situations from using slower spells that hit multiple foes or do higher damage to enemies should I have time for wind-up. There were always methods to further maximize survivability and damage. Reducing it down to 'I got through the whole game just using magic and dodging' is about as much simplifying as me saying, 'yeah man I got through the whole game just pressing R1, easy'. As far as 'needing to fully upgrade weapons', that's a good joke. The game lets you buy infinite upgrade stones up to a comfortable tier for every region as you progress. I've been playing through on a character who uses 5 different sets of weapons and have had no issue keeping them all viable. In comparison to many of the other RPGs published by FROMSoft, the upgrade system here is the most lenient and player-favored.

[@isak5315]

i completely adore this. getting all minmaxy and making the strongest build possible is cool and all, but it's so refreshing to just forget about meta, or competitive use, and just have some builds that are just genuinely cool in concept and are still viable.

[@TheD404]

I might have to get back into Elden Ring now, always did want to try out that archer build

[@rezokiladze2334]

it is still crap :/