Best Elden Ring Strength build: Important weapons, items, and stats for an Elden Ring Strength build
Learn how to make the best Strength build in Elden Ring
Looking for the best Strength build in Elden Ring? Strength is a key attribute for any melee build in Elden Ring, but focusing solely on raising your Strength stat allows you to wield some of the biggest and best weapons in Elden Ring. The Giant-Crusher is one such weapon, and it is capable of crushing any foe with ease. Yes, even that boss that you've been struggling against for the past five hours.
In this guide, we'll break down the best Strength build in Elden Ring. We'll cover where to get the Giant-Crusher, how to distribute your attribute points as you level up, and which items and spells you should use to gain crucial buffs.
Best Elden Ring Strength build
Our Elden Ring Strength build is all about dealing huge chunks of damage in a single hit. To achieve this simple goal of unparalleled strength, we use a range of items to buff the physical damage that you deal with your weapon. For this build, we focus on the Giant-Crusher, a truly phenomenal weapon that you can evel dual-wield in new game plus. With all of the buffs combined, this Strength build becomes one of the best builds in Elden Ring.
Where to find the Giant-Crusher in Elden Ring
The Giant-Crusher is a colossal weapon that you can get in the Altus Plateau. Head to the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Site of Grace and then go South until you reach a large carriage in a guard encampment. Open the container on the carriage to retrieve the Giant-Crusher. Be careful, though, as a large boss will slam down into the camp as you arrive. Dart in, grab the Giant-Crusher, and run for the hills.
Those playing in new game plus can return here to grab a second Giant-Crusher. If you dump points into Endurance, you can wield them both at the same time, as we'll explain below.
Elden Ring Strength build stat requirements
This Elden Ring Strength build requires the following stats:
- 60 Strength
- 60 Endurance
- 15 Faith
60 Strength is necessary to wield the Giant-Crusher, and you shouldn't need to push much higher. Attributes in Elden Ring tend to have diminishing returns as you raise them further, and most stats have multiple soft caps that mark drastic drops in the gains from each level. Strength has a significant soft cap at around level 55, so push up to 60 to use the Giant-Crusher and then focus on raising your Endurance. You can continue to increase the damage of your Giant-Crusher by upgrading it with Smithing Stones.
60 Endurance is the next goal for this build, and it is crucial. If you get 60 Endurance, along with some crucial talismans that we'll break down in the next section, then you can maintain a medium equip load while dual-wielding Giant-Crushers and using the Bull-Goat armor, which is one of the best armor sets in Elden Ring.
Faith might seem like an odd focus for a Strength build, but it’s incredibly important here. While 60 Strength might be the soft cap, this won’t stop you from raising your physical damage in other ways. If you get 15 Faith, you can use the Flame, Grant me Strength incantation. Flame, Grant me Strength is one of the best spells in Elden Ring, as it briefly raises your physical attack power. For the next 30 seconds, each swing with the Giant-Crusher will deal roughly 20% more damage, which is huge when you are already dealing thousands of damage points per hit.
To find the Flame, Grant me Strength incantation, head to Fort Gael in Caelid and loot the spell from a corpse behind two flame chariots. You will find these enemies around the outer edge of the Fort Gael walls.
Important gear for the Elden Ring Strength build
Flame, Grant me Strength is integral to this build, but it isn’t the only way to increase your damage. Below, we’ll explain important items, including talismans, an Ash of War, and two Crystal Tears, that you need for this Elden Ring Strength build.
- Claw Talisman: a talisman that boosts the power of jump attacks. A few well-timed jump attacks will easily stagger most foes, leaving them vulnerable to a visceral attack. Since your attack strategy will likely consist of lots of jump attacks, the Claw Talisman is a safe bet to help you deal more damage. You can find it by heading to the Rampart Tower Site of Grace in Stormveil Castle and climbing up to the rooftops. Once there, you’ll find a corpse with the Claw Talisman on top of a tower.
- Great-Jar’s Arsenal: a talisman that increases your equip load significantly. This is essential for a Strength build, as you will need a high equip load to use heavy weapons and the best armor sets in Elden Ring. You will find the Great-Jar's Arsenal by following the canyon near the Siofra River well in Caelid. This leads to the small bit of land that stretches out to the North of Caelid. Once there, kill the nearby invaders for the Great Jar to gain the talisman.
- Arsenal Charm +1: also increases your equip load. You will find the Arsenal Charm +1 on a corpse in the Altus Tunnel cave. However, those who want a similar boost earlier can get the standard Arsenal Charm from Nepheli Loux in the Roundtable Hold after defeating Godrick the Grafted.
- Erdtree's Favor +2: is a talisman that raises your max health, stamina, and equip load. Like the other talismans mentioned above, this is essential if you want to be able to maintain a medium equip load while dual-wielding Giant-Crushers and wearing heavy armor. You can find the Erdtree's Favor +2 talisman in a courtyard to the North-East of the Queen's Bedchamber Site of Grace. This is only available once Leyndell has transitioned into the it's endgame state (which we won't spoil here for new players). Those seeking the Erdtree's Favor talisman earlier can find the standard version in Fringefolk Hero's Grave, which is a dungeon right next to the Stranded Graveyard in Limgrave, where your adventure first started.
- Royal Knight’s Resolve: an Ash of War skill that grants an 80% damage increase on your next melee attack when activated. This almost doubles your total damage, taking your damage numbers to ridiculous levels. You can find the Royal Knight’s Resolve Ash of War by taking the lift up from the Temple of Eiglay Site of Grace in Volcano Manor. At the top, follow the path ahead until you reach a grand stairwell. Climb it until you reach the top and head through the nearby door to find a room filled with hanging cages. Hop down the cages until you reach the bottom and then turn West and go through the door ahead to find the Royal Knight’s Resolve Ash of War.
- Stonebarb Cracked Tear: a Crystal Tear that makes enemies stagger more frequently from your attacks. When paired with the Claw Talisman, you should find that you can deal massive damage with jump attacks and easily stagger enemies, leaving them vulnerable to a follow-up visceral that should secure the kill. You can find the Stonebarb Cracked Tear by killing the Putrid Avatar at the base of the Minor Erdtree in Dragonbarrow.
- Strength-Knot Crystal Tear: a Crystal Tear that temporarily increases your Strength stat by 10 levels. This will give you a significant damage boost with the Giant-Crusher (or any other Strength weapon). You can find it very early in your adventure, on the cliffs northeast of Stormhill Shack.
After getting both Crystal Tears, mix them in the Flask of Wondrous Physick at a Site of Grace.
That covers everything you need to know to make the best Elden Ring Strength build. Once you have all of the items listed above, you can test out the build by challenging the hardest bosses in Elden Ring. If you want to find the nearest boss, take a look at our list of every boss in Elden Ring. If you want to 100% Elden Ring with this build, use our Elden Ring walkthrough and Elden Ring sidequests guide to clear every region, boss, and NPC quest in the game.
