Shadow of the Erdtree Build Guides - Elden Ring Guide - IGN (2024)

The beasts and bosses of Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion can give even the most experienced Tarnished trouble. When that happens, the solution might be powerful incantations, skillful martial arts, elegant swordplay, or smashing everything in sight. There are many different playstyles, and we’ve got a few favorite builds to recommend! Here’s an overview of Elden Ring builds to try out in the Land of Shadow.

• Overpowered Beast Claws Build
• Castlevania Belmont Build
• Dual Wield Colossal Hammer Build
• Light Greatsword Build
• Martial Arts Build
• Messmer’s Overpowered Inferno Build
• Throwing Blade Build

Overpowered Beast Claws Build

When you first enter the Realm of Shadow, you’re likely to come across some new weapons that are very powerful. An easy standout are the Beast Claws, which are possibly the best fist weapon now in both the Realm of Shadow and the Lands Between. With an overpowered ash of war that can destroy some of the game’s toughest bosses, this is a must-have weapon that will fit many builds. With a light weight and low requirements, plus the ability to change its affinity – the Beast Claws are absurdly good. This is why we’ve put together the very best beast claw build to shred bosses in seconds!

• Main Weapon: Beast Claw
• Off-Hand Weapon: N/A
• Shield: N/A
• Armor: White Mask
• Talismans: Shard of Alexander and Millicent’s Prosthesis
• Optional Talismans: Lord of Blood’s Exultation, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia
• Required Attributes: 10 Arcane for Bloodflame Blade
• Recommended Attributes: 80 Strength, 60 Vigor, 25 Endurance, 18 Mind, 15 Faith
• Recommended Tears: Faith-knot Crystal Tear, Thorny Cracked Tear
• Buffs: Golden Vow, Bloodflame Blade, and Flame, Grant Me Strength

For this build, we want to go with the longest duration buffs first. Drink your tear, which lasts around 3 minutes. After that cast Golden Vow, which lasts close to 2 minutes and adds 15% damage and defense. Then use Bloodflame to coat the weapon and net you around 85 bleed build up. Lastly, use Flame, Grant Me Strength which lasts 30 seconds and gives you 20% more fire AND physical damage output.

Savage Claws is our unique Ash of War, which manages to stun lock bosses like Malenia easily and is an effective strategy for taking her down. Despite Malenia’s reliance on attacks like Waterfowl, we can easily apply pressure and stack both physical damage and bleed. This stops her from doing anything and is one of the fastest ways now to take her down with ease. We are getting around 500 AR with 80 strength of course, and with Bloodflame Blade around 85 bleed in total. Unlike Blood Affinity which has a physical damage reduction, Bloodflame Blade will allow us to keep our solid AR in Heavy while still dishing out bleed damage! This ultimately leads to taking down Malenia in a single try, and we can be certain that this will be the best fist weapon to fight her with. If you’re ever stuck on this incredibly challenging boss, try out this Beast Claw build to take her down fast!

These powerful fist weapons destroy mobs as well and may even be one of the best weapons in the DLC in its entirety. With so many new cool fighting options, the Beast Claw fist weapon will likely stand out among the crowd. You’ll be easily cruising through mobs, bosses and whatever else stands in your way! Another benefit here is staying a strength build, since we have good endurance, allows you to have a lot of variety and weapons you can switch to that are of the bonk variety. This weapon's charged hits also do good poise damage and can be boosted by the Axe Talisman and charged tear, if you prefer a slower moveset. The light attacks are also good, although it may be better in most situations to use the ash Savage Claws for the maximum bleed build up and physical damage. This is truly a beast of a weapon!

Check out our complete video showcase with this build against Malenia and various mobs of enemies, including where to get Beast Claws and key talismans!

Castlevania Belmont Build

Ever since Bloodborne, we’ve all been clamoring for a new 3D Castlevania in the same style. And with the new throwable weapons in Elden Ring’s new DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, we’re now much closer to living our best Belmont life. Here’s a fun Castlevania build for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

• Main Weapon: Giant’s Red Braid or any whip that scales best for your build, Smithscript Axe, Smithscript Cirque
• Off-Hand Weapon: Smithscript Dagger
• Shield: N/A
• Armor: Leather Arm Wraps and Leather Leg Wraps from the Highland Warrior Set, Elden Lord Crown, Tap to Reveal,Tap to Reveal
• Talismans: Smithing Talisman
• Optional Talismans: Viridian Amber Medallion +3, Two-Headed Turtle Talisman
• Recommended Attributes: enough Vigor to survive, enough Endurance to carry everything, and primary damage stat at 80 (Faith for using Giant’s Red Braid)
• Additional Items: Holy Water Pot, meat like Raw Meat Dumplings, Sacred Bloody Flesh, Pickled Turtle Neck, or Exalted Flesh

For this build, we’ll be focusing on the aesthetics and feel of playing as a Belmont, the family of vampire slayers that star across the Castlevania games. We’ll optimize where we can, but if there’s ever a choice between a cool roleplaying idea and just making a super strong character, I’ll be going with the roleplaying every time. The important thing is just to make sure the correct Ashes of War are equipped to your weapons to scale with the stat you’re focusing on for damage, whether that be Strength, Dexterity, or Faith. And also enough Endurance so you can carry everything and won’t always be running out of stamina with your throwing weapons.

Check out our complete video guide for where to get your weapons, items, and equipment for the Castlevania Belmont Build!

Dual Wield Colossal Hammer Build

The Anvil Hammer and Devonia’s Hammer are a pair of Colossal warhammers unique to the land of Shadow that can bring even the biggest Elden Ring enemies to their knees. Individually, they are powerful, but together, they form a devastating combination that hits for exceptional damage, staggering anything in their path. Here’s how to make this hilariously destructive build in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

• Main Weapon: Devonia’s Hammer
• Off-Hand Weapon: Anvil Hammer
• Shield: Fingerprint Stone Shield
• Armor: Crucible Hammer-Helm, Crucible Tree Armor, Crucible Gauntlets, Crucible Greaves, Raptor’s Black Feathers
• Talismans: Claw Talisman, Arsenal Charm +1, Shard of Alexander, Ritual Sword Talisman
• Optional Talismans: Hammer Talisman, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Required Attributes: minimum 39 Strength, 13 Dexterity, 11 Intelligence, 20 Faith
• Recommended Attributes: at least 50 Vigor, 40 Endurance, up to 80 Strength

Devonia’s Hammer and the Anvil Hammer are two excellent hammers, and both pair excellently with a fully upgraded Fingerprint Stone Greatshield, for it’s great Guard Boost, and the improved guard counters from the Curved Sword Talisman. Or you could two-hand one of the hammers and take advantage of the extra damage you get doing that with the Two-Handed Sword Talisman.

But why build around one giant hammer when you can have two? Both of these colossal hammers have similar attribute requirements, so fulfilling the enormous strength requirements for one means both are in play, and that’s when the fun begins. Wielding both does two important things:

• First, it creates enormous damage potential when you swing both in unison.
• Second, it allows you to deliver blows that tear through enemy poise, leading to frequent stagger that open you up for critical hits. Many fights will end in a single blow, or shortly thereafter.

You can’t change the affinity or Ashes of War on either hammer, but that’s fine because Devonia’s Vortex is exceptional. Not only does it do great damage in its area of effect, but it can be charged up for added effect, and it is great at crushing enemy pose. With that in mind, Devonia’s Hammer should go in your right hand, while the Anvil Hammer goes in the offhand, that way you can use Devonia’s Vortex with a simple touch of a button.

Check out our complete video guide for where to get your weapons, talismans, and armor for the Dual Wield Colossal Hammer Build!

Light Greatsword Build

Coming soon.

Martial Arts Build

Coming soon.

Messmer’s Overpowered Inferno Build

Throwing Blade Build

Coming soon.