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By Sarah James published 27 May 22

Add some brawn to your build.

Looking for inspiration for an Elden Ring strength build? With so many weapons to choose from in the Lands Between, it can be difficult to settle on a build (opens in new tab) that will match your playstyle. And then you have the best talismans (opens in new tab) to consider, and it can all become overwhelming very quickly.

Strength builds generally rely on bigger weapons and heavier armour, though there's a lot of room to change things up. If sword and board is more your style, or if you like to be able to dodge away from enemies with ease, this guide covers those options, too. Here are the best Elden Ring strength builds to get you started.

Weapon: Starscourge Greatsword Armor: Black Raptor Feathers (optional), anything else Talismans: Claw Talisman, Carian Filigreed Crest, Green Turtle Talisman, Great-Jar's Arsenal Stats: Strength/Endurance/Vigor/Intelligence (enough to equip swords)

Radahn's greatsword acts like a fist weapon when two-handed, as you'll dual-wield them without the need to pick them up a second time in a subsequent playthrough. The Starcaller Cry weapon art stuns and pulls enemies towards you, which you can follow with a devastating gravity explosion. It has a pretty wide range, too, so it makes dealing with troublesome flying enemies a breeze. And even without the weapon art, this greatsword deals a load of damage.

The weapon is heavy, so make sure you have enough endurance to keep a medium equip weight and you should stack just enough intelligence to meet the weapon requirement. The Great Jar's Arsenal talisman can help with equip weight, and the Green Turtle Talisman is useful for additional stamina regen.

The Carian Filigreed Crest lowers the FP cost of the weapon art, letting you use it more frequently, and both the Claw Talisman and the Black Raptor Feathers armour will increase the damage of your jumping attacks.

Weapon: Broadsword, Fingerprint Stone Shield (off-hand) Armor: Any Talismans: Curved Sword Talisman, Greatshield Talisman, Green Turtle Talisman, Ritual Shield Talisman Ash of War: Barricade Shield (until you get Fingerprint Shield) Stats: Strength/ Endurance/ Vigor

Playing it safe with a sword and board build can be surprisingly fun, especially if you take advantage of the guard counter mechanic. If timed correctly, you can follow up a blocked attack with a fast heavy attack to deal significant poise damage, giving you more openings for critical hits.

The Curved Sword Talisman gives your guard counters a percentage-based damage increase and the Greatshield Talisman helps reduce the stamina cost of blocking incoming attacks. The Green Turtle and Ritual Shield increase stamina regeneration and boost defence respectively, though these can be swapped out if you feel they're not needed.

Weapon-wise, the broadsword can be switched for any other weapon of your choice, though be aware that the heavier the weapon, the more stamina you'll need for each attack. This can affect how often you can block, and the longer attack animation for bigger weapons can make guard counters feel more sluggish. It's well worth playing around to see which combinations work for you.

Weapon: Giant-Crusher Armor: Raptor's Black Feathers, anything else Talismans: Claw Talisman, Ritual Sword Talisman, Great Jar's Arsenal Ash of War: Royal Knight's Resolve Stats: Strength/ Endurance/ Vigor

This build is also viable with other colossal weapons, and you can dual-wield, too, assuming you have the endurance for the extra weight. Great Jar's Arsenal can help with equip load if you're struggling with that in general, and the Claw Talisman and Raptor's Black Feathers chest armour both buff jumping heavy attacks. Using the Royal Knight's Resolve before a jumping attack will give you massive damage.

Your final talisman slot is largely down to personal choice. You can opt for damage reduction, with something like the Dragoncrest Shield Talisman, if you feel you need it, or the Green Turtle Talisman can help boost your stamina regeneration for more hits.

Finally, you should opt for "heavy" affinity when you apply the Ash of War, as this turns the Giant-Crusher's strength scaling from B to S at +25 upgrade level. 

Elden Ring: Best builds (opens in new tab) Elden Ring: bleed builds (opens in new tab) Elden Ring: faith builds (opens in new tab) Elden Ring: Mage builds (opens in new tab)

Sarah's earliest gaming memories involve playing Jet Set Willy on the ZX Spectrum at a friend's house. These days, and when not writing guides, most of her spare time goes into MMOs—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. She has spent much of the last decade playing the likes of Star Wars: The Old Republic, TERA, Final Fantasy 14, and World of Warcraft. Sarah has been writing about games for several years and, before joining PC Gamer, freelanced for the likes of TechRadar, GamingBible, and Rock Paper Shotgun. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.

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