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Elden Ring Greatsword Build

Elden Ring Greatsword Build
Contents

Eldest Ring is one of the most famous RPG games around and is as popular as ever. The game continues the Souls-like mechanics and world-building, allowing players to immerse themselves in high-octane action and intricate puzzles.
The game makes you go up above numerous monsters, all with various attack patterns and styles, meaning that you need a different strategy to beat them every time.

It is important to make up your mind about a certain build so that you can continuously level up and upgrade your equipment while honing your playstyle. Among those builds is the Elden Ring Greatsword Build, which this guide will drill into.

Key Takeaways:

  • The game allows players to choose from various weapons, each with unique characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.
  • The Greatsword build is considered one of the strongest options in the game, providing substantial damage even in the early stages.
  • The Vagabond starting class is recommended for the Greatsword build due to its high Strength, Vigor, and Endurance stats, which are essential for wielding the Greatsword effectively.
  • Initially, you’ll need to two-hand the Greatsword until you have 31 Strength stats to one-hand it.
  • The “GreatSword” is a recommended weapon for this build, offering good stats and decent scaling. It can be found in the Caelem Ruins Site of Grace in Caelid.
  • The GreatSword has strong scaling with strength, and upgrading it to level 20 can make it a formidable weapon with high damage output.
  • Talismans are accessories that enhance your character’s abilities. The Arsenal Charm, Starscourge Heirloom, and Bull-Goat’s Talisman are recommended for this build.
  • Patience is key when using a Greatsword due to its slow attack speed. Using a shield and mastering the Greatsword’s unique skills, Upward Cut and Stamp can be highly beneficial.

Elden Ring Builds

Elden Ring allows players to try their hand at various weapons and playstyles. Every weapon has its own unique characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. It depends entirely on you how you choose to play around them to make your way up the skill ladder and become the Elden Lord. 

Among those weapons is the Greatsword. Just as in real life, the weapon shows its greatest potential once held with both hands and excels at dealing massive damage, hitting guard-breaking blows, and stunning enemies.

Elden Ring Greatsword Build

The Greatsword build is one of the strongest builds that you can go for in the game. This is because the weapon allows you to be strong during all phases of the game. Even in the early game, you possess enough damage to take on some of the hardest bosses and defeat them if you find the right timing.

Now that you have decided to go for the Greatsword let’s take a look at what things will help you accelerate your growth and how to go about it. For a greatsword build, the best starting class is Vagabond. This is because of all the stats and perks it provides and their affinity with the Greatsword.

Greatsword

As for the stats, the class provides you with high Strength, Vigor, and Endurance stats with some decent dexterity points. As this weapon doesn’t scale with dexterity points, you don’t have to put point in it and use them to elevate your Strength, Vigor, and Endurance. 

These three stats are the most crucial for wielding a greatsword and will be required to be high if you wish to equip the powerful greatswords you can find in the mid to late game.

As mentioned earlier, you will initially have to two-hand the greatsword as it requires you to have 31 strength stats to one-hand it. For that, you will have to grind first, but for the time being, you can double-hand it to maneuver your way past the stat requirement.

Now that you are aware of where to start, let’s take a look at the best Elden Ring Greatsword build that you can go for.

Weapon

The game offers a wide range of greatswords to choose from, all having various stats. However, the powerful ones aren’t easy to acquire early on in the game and have high-level restrictions for wielding them. So, during the early game, our best pick for the weapon to go for is the fan-favorite “GreatSword.”

Greatsword Info

The weapon is called the Greatsword and is designed after the weapon of a manga character, Guts from Berserk. As the name suggests, the weapon is tall and wide blade in appearance and possesses some good stats for the early game, along with decent scaling.

Also Read: Best Katana Build

Location

To get your hands on the GreatSword, make your way to the Caelem Ruins Site of Grace in Caelid. As much as this is a dangerous area for new players to be wandering around in, the reward is too good to pass up. 

You can easily make your way past the horde of monsters with the right pathing and grasping the right opportunities. The weapon will be located in a Caravan chest just northwest of the ruins and is fairly prominent to find. 

Stats and Scaling

The weapon has 164 Physical attack damage along with 50 damage while guarding. Furthermore, it has a quite potent critical damage of 100 that can do big damage to stun-locked targets. Moreover, the weapon has a C scaling and strength along with E scaling in dexterity, which is quite good for an early-game weapon. 

The weapon is one of the most rewarding weapons, but it also requires some risk-taking. Greatsword has one of the slowest attack speeds in the game due to its heavy weight, making you extra cautious of the timings. Due to its long wind-up animation before attacking, it is very easily punishable.
Hence, you will have to mold your playstyle around it as you go if you want to reap the rewards of this weapon’s tremendous damage. Once it is fully upgraded, it does 401 physical damage to enemies, and that is only the base damage.

Attribute Scaling

If you wish to increase its damage, you can use one of your Ashes of War to allow you to increase its strength, scaling to B. With that scaling, you will be able to increase your damage output by a ton and will be able to easily hammer past any enemy you encounter in your way.

 Additionally, once you upgrade it to level 20, the scaling will become an A, making this weapon a monster, allowing it to deal a whopping 500+ damage per hit. That is one of the highest damaging hits that you can get in the game and is too good to pass up. 

The weapon also possesses a potent skill called the Upward Cut. This Ash of War is multi-purpose and can serve as a crutch if you find yourself in a pickle. Firstly, you can use the stamp of the skill to brace yourself for a hard-hitting attack. 

This allows you to stand firm from powerful swings rather than being blown back. Furthermore, it provides you with an opportunity to follow up with Upward cut to cut through your enemies and win the battle.

Armor

In souls-like games, armor is considered a very trivial thing and is mostly overlooked by the players. Sometimes, it is worthwhile to do so because they drag you down a lot due to their weight, but sometimes, the extra protection and stats they provide can make all the difference between life and death.

As for the greatsword build, putting on armor makes your weight quite significant when paired with the Greatsword. The weight isn’t an issue for players who rely on blocking the enemy attacks with a shield, as it can function just the same.

However, other players like myself that rely on the roll mechanics, this makes quite the difference. With armor and the Greatsword, you reach the heavy load limit, making your walk speed and rolling speed that of a snail. 

In Game

With those movements, it becomes quite hard to dodge anything and can lead to fights ending before you can even get a hit in. To counter this problem, first, you will have to put in Endurance. This will allow you to increase the amount of weight you can carry and the stamina you possess.
Swinging a greatsword takes quite the stamina, and coupling that with the rolling, it most certainly becomes a requirement to have a large stamina bar. You can achieve both a larger stamina bar and a heavier weight limit by putting points in Endurance.
As for which armor to wear, it is up to your preference as the armor doesn’t play that crucial of a role. We advise that you choose a light to medium-weight armor sets so that you don’t instantly crumble from 2 or 3 strong hits and can put some distance between you and your enemies to heal up. If you feel indecisive in your picks, here are some recommendations for you.

Exile Hood

Exile Hood

This is a fairly common hood that can be obtained from an item drop upon killing Exile soldiers. The helm fulfills the requirement of a low-weight armor piece and provides okay stats to make this build work. With only a weight of 4, it certainly has a lot to offer in terms of defense, with 4.4 against Physical, 4.6 against VS Slash, and 3.4 against Holy, among other stats.

Blaidd’s Armor & Gauntlets

As mentioned before, the GreatSword is a weapon that honors Guts greatsword. Thus, it is only right to pair it up with Guts attire to keep that look going and elevate your appearance.

Blaidd's Armor

The Armor has a hide cape showcasing the evidence of battles and survival, befitting that of a soldier. Moreover, the gauntlets appear to be worn out, showcasing the hardships endured and the treacherous path that the character and you have followed and will continue to do so. You can get this armor set by defeating Blaidd.

Also Read: Where Is Blaidd After Radahn’s Battle in Elden Ring?

Blaidd's Gauntlets

They also provide decent stats against Physical, Fire, and Holy damage alongside a comparatively lower weight of 13.7, making them quite worthwhile.

Talismans

Talismans are one of the accessory pieces in Elden Rings that provide you with various special attributes that can elevate your character to the next level. 

You can get them drops upon killing bosses, getting them from a chest, or purchasing them from merchants. There are a number of talismans that you can choose to heighten the prowess of your Greatsword build, so let’s take a look at them individually.

Arsenal Charm

Arsenal Charm

This is a quite powerful charm that increases your maximum load limit by 15%. This enables you to equip the heavier greatswords and armor so that you can have the best offense and defense. Furthermore, it enables you to be able to roll properly and sprint faster, making it easier for you to outmaneuver your opponent’s attacks.
To get this talisman, you’ll have to make your way to the NPC called Nephli Loux. You can find him on your way to the Godrick Boss fight in the Stormveil Castle.

Starscourge Heirloom

Starscoutage Heirloom

This is another decent pick for a talisman as it increases your strength stat, which is the most important for the Greatsword build. Having a higher strength stat allows you to output more damage and decimate your opponents with even single strikes.

Bull-Goat’s Talisman

Bull-Goat's Talisman

This is another great pick of a talisman as it provides you protection during the wind-up time of your attacks. Normally, if you get hit by an enemy attack you while you are winding up your swing, it interrupts your attack, making you find the right timing again to do it. 

This can even cause you to lose fight due to low attack speed. However, with this talisman, you can gain 33% more poise. This allows you to maintain your composure against their barrage of attacks and display your damage.

Tips & Tricks

The Greatsword build definitely has its perks, but it has some shortcomings, so you can have to watch out for them, hence making sure you keep these tips in your mind when playing. 

Wait for the Right Timing

As mentioned, the greatsword attack speed is relatively low and can be punishing if you get caught during it. Hence, you should always be patient in fight and look for the right opportunity to go in, get some hits in, and then get out. If you do it enough times, it will stagger the enemy, allowing you to get some free hits in.

Using a Shield

If you are a player who doesn’t rely on the roll mechanics of the game to dodge attacks, it is quite beneficial for you to pair the greatsword with a shield. A shield can give you even more space to go in, land blows, and then quickly block with your shield. However, to get there, you will have to put at least 31 points in Strength to one hand the greatsword and significant points in endurance.

GreatSword Skill

Practice your greatsword skill, Upward Cut, and Stamp. The Stamp part allows you to minimize the blowback from the enemy attacks and can give you the space to launch a counterattack. If you are proficient in using it, it can become a powerful tool.

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