Elden Ring Build Guide: Strength (2024)

Sometimes you just need to hold onto a big hammer and slam something into oblivion. Other times, you just want to cosplay as Guts from Berserk. Heck, you might want to grab the biggest, baddest weapon around, and play whack-a-mole. If this is you, then going for a Strength build in Elden Ring will be right up your alley.

Elden Ring's Strength builds require the guts to go toe-to-toe with the large monstrosities that litter the Lands Between. For every meaty swing you take, another build could take two, three, or even more.

Updated March 16, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: The best Strength build in Elden Ring isn't just about finding and swinging the heaviest weapon available – though that is part of it. Rather, an Elden Ring Strength build requires some tanking ability for your Tarnished, some essential Talismans, and a massive amount of Strength.

We've updated this Strength build ahead of Shadow of the Erdtree with tables for our Talisman recommendations and further formatting changes.

What Is A Strength Build?

Elden Ring's best Strength builds focus on the Strength stat above all else.

Big weapons require bigger muscles, and praying for that one thunderous blow to land is all part of the fun.

It doesn’t matter how big, small, fast, or slow your opponent is, you must pump your Strength as high as possible, fill up your Stamina bar, and get to swinging.

Strength Build – Stats To Aim For

Since you are mostly focusing on pure Strength with very little - if any - investment in other areas, you want to pump Strength to 80.

That’s not to say you want to neglect your other stats, however.

Vigor and Endurance are incredibly important as you need HP to tank hits, and the Stamina and Equip Load to carry your stick.

As a general rule, you want to pick a weapon(s), and then quickly stack stats until you reach the minimum requirements.

Remember, you will be required to invest some points in Dexterity in most instances.

From here, start increasing your Endurance and Vigor. Aim for 50-60 Vigor and as much Endurance as you can pump.

You could also consider putting some points into Mind. Even though you aren’t using Magic, your Weapon Art still uses FP and having a decent pool lowers downtime.

15-20 Mind should be enough, but consider cutting this stat first if you need stats allocated elsewhere.

Strength Build – Giant Crusher

Overview

This is the ultimate Unga-Bunga route for a Strength build in Elden Ring.

You take the biggest hammer you can find, you equip the heaviest armor you can wear, and you jump attack things into oblivion.

Very few Strength builds can match your single-swing damage. If you want to run and slam with reckless abandon, then this is for you.

Weapons And Talismans

For the best Strength build in Elden Ring to work, you will need the Giant Crusher.

To make the Giant Crusher sing, you will want to make it a Heavy Giant Crusher and equip the Royal Knights Resolve Ash Of War.

This Ash will make your next attack deal around double damage, which is ludicrous considering the weapon you are using.

Since Jumping Attacks come out quickly and deal massive damage, you should equip the Claw Talisman.

As for your other talismans, you can use what you feel is right, but here are some options:

1. The Green Turtle Talisman can increase your Stamina regeneration
2. The Axe Talisman can make your charge attacks stronger
3. The Great Jar’s Arsenal will bump up your Equip Load

Armor

The armor is simple - take the heaviest armor you can wear, whilst still being able to Medium Roll.

You can also push your Equip Load to Heavy for a slow Roll, and then mix the Winged Crystal Tear into your Flask of Wondrous Physick to have 3 minutes of Light Rolling regardless of Equip Load.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

The Winged Crystal Tear is certainly one of the best Tears to mix into your flask, but there are other essentials:

1. The Strength-Knot Crystal Tear will give you a +10 to your Strength, increasing your damage nicely.
2. The Spiked Crystal Tear will boost your Charge Attacks, which would go well with an Axe Talisman.
3. The Leaden Crystal Tear will give you perfect Poise for ten seconds, which can be handy but is more situational than anything else.

Strength Build – Lion’s Claw

Overview

This Elden Ring Strength build is an offshoot of the Unga-Bunga build but doesn’t rely on the gimmick of stacking Royal Knights Resolve.

Instead, this build is designed around Poising through every attack and landing monstrously powerful single-hit swings using the Lion’s Claw Weapon Art.

Weapons And Talismans

An Elden Ring Strength build can be used with just about any Strength-based weapon, but choose the Greatsword for its fantastic moveset, incredible damage, early-game location, and low stats required to wield it.

The Ash Of War can be found nearby too, by heading to Fort Gael in southeast Caelid.

As is normally the case, you want to upgrade the Greatsword to a Heavy Greatsword to maximize Strength scaling.

With Lion’s Claw, you will be able to hit for thousands of damage with ease once the build is finished.

Don’t forget to bring along the Commander’s Standard for that extra boost in attack damage.

The benefits of Lion’s Claw are numerous, but its damage is the most obvious.

The real strength of the Ash Of War comes from its incredible Poise. This Ash Of War will power through everything Elden Ring has to throw at you.

In short, when you use this attack, it is landing no matter what.

For Talismans, consider bringing anything that can boost your Stamina or Stamina Regeneration.

Lion’s Claw uses a hefty chunk of Stamina, and you want to be able to dip out after you’ve used it to prevent follow-up damage.

On top of this, Shard of Alexander will make Lion’s Claw even stronger.

Armor

Once again, Armor should be the biggest, bulkiest set you can find.

If you care about rolling, then aim for Medium Rolling.

If you don’t, then slap on Bull-Goats or Banished Knights for maximum defense and poise.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

Winged Crystal Tear continues to be a fantastic option if you want to wear the heaviest of armors while still having a Light Roll.

Strength-Knot will also do work, increasing your damage even further.

The Opaline Crystal Tear could be used to buff up your Magic damage resistances based on the situation.

Strength Build – Flame, Grant Me Strength

Overview

This is the best Elden Ring Strength build where Magic is used in any capacity - specifically, Flame, Grant Me Strength.

The gimmick of this build is to stack as much split damage as possible and use big weapons wreathed in fire.

This build takes more setup since more buffs are required to make it sing - but when it’s all there, it hits like a truck.

Weapons And Talismans

Just about any weapon will work here; provided it’s big, heavy, and can be infused with fire, then it's good to go.

Halberds, Colossal, and Greatswords are all excellent choices as they have phenomenal movesets and great range. Don’t forget to use the Commander’s Standard to buff your attack before any encounter.

For weapon arts, you want either Flame Of The Redmanes or Flaming Strike.

Of the two, Flaming Strike is best for single-target damage, while Flame Of The Redmanes can clear hordes more easily.

For Talismans, you can bring anything that complements your playstyle – Axe if you use Charge Attacks, and Claw if you prefer Jump Attacks.

To boost your damage, absolutely bring the Fire Scorpion Charm, which buffs your attacks and your Ash Of War.

The Shard Of Alexander is a great addition for general usage.

Armor

Nothing has changed here; you still want the bulkiest armor you can find.

However, since your Flask Of Wondrous Physick is going to be busier, you may want to dial back from the Heavy Load+Winged Tear combo and stick to Medium Load.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

If you are dedicated to the Light Roll, then packing the Winged Crystal Tear is a must.

However, if you want more damage, then combining the Strength-Knot Crystal Tear with the Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear will be your best bet.

Incantations

The only incantation you need here is Flame, Grant Me Strength.

This incantation is a double whammy buff that increases both Physical Damage and Fire Damage.

Since you are using both of these damage types, your damage is buffed twice.

You could also consider bringing along Golden Vow to boost your stats further, but this can easily be replaced with the Commander’s Standard.