These are the best Elden Ring PVP builds for each stat

There are a limitless number of builds that are viable for beating Elden Ring, but thriving in PVP is another matter entirely.

Players can make anything from incantation-only runs to double greatsword builds work in Elden Ring’s story mode. The trouble is that real players aren’t going to sit in place to get melted by Comet Azur or wait for their health to get emptied by Scarlet Rot. This means players need to follow some guidelines to succeed in PVP duels or invasions with any kind of regularity.

The good news is that no matter what statistical direction Elden Ring players took their character in, there are strong builds to work with. Here are the best options available for strength, dexterity, faith, and intelligence.

Top tips for new Dark Souls players after Elden Ring

Moonveil is the best PVP build for INT players

In theory, intelligence builds trade damage in PVP for safety and range. Despite that, the best INT builds for Elden Ring PVP basically ignore magic entirely in favor of the Moonveil.

The Moonveil is a wildly overpowered katana that scales primarily off of intelligence, as well as some from dexterity and strength. Its ability is Transient Moonlight, essentially a massively upgraded version of Unsheath for the Uchigatana. By activating it with an R1, it releases a wave of energy with a horizontal slash. The wide arc even deals bonus damage at close range. The R2 activation does a vertical slash that does even greater damage alongside enormous posture damage.

With high intelligence, a single vertical slash with Transient Moonlight can shave off up to 75% of an opponent’s health. Couple that with Swift Glintstone Shard to pick off fleeing enemies and you have a powerful PVP build.

The best DEX build for PVP is Rivers of Blood

Using Rivers of Blood has become a bit of a faux pas within Elden Ring. Naturally, that stems from the fact that it’s utterly broken.

Rivers of Blood is another katana, but this one scales off dexterity and arcane. Though Rivers of Blood says in the menu that its arcane scaling only tops out at D, this isn’t actually true. It’s unclear if this is a glitch or a hidden mechanic, but damage from arcane scaling is superior to dexterity with Rivers of Blood. On top of that, arcane further boosts the weapon’s ability to proc hemorrhages by improving bleed buildup.

That’s important because Rivers of Blood is arguably the best weapon in the game for this. Its Corpse Piler ability is absurdly strong. The combo of attacks has incredible range, deals huge damage, and can potentially proc bleed with just a few hits. This can absolutely melt players in PVP settings.

Greatsword is arguably the best STR weapon

Greatswords are actually viable in PVP and the regular Greatsword is possibly the best option with the right build. The weapon has good strength scaling and got some significant buffs in the last balance patch. With the right Ash of War and creative use of some little-known game mechanics, it’s capable of overcoming the slow speed of its regular swings.

For the Ash of War, roll with Lion’s Claw. This is a jumping somersault strike that deals huge damage and has infinite poise, allowing players to truck through any counterattacks. 

Alongside this, it’s important to use crouching attacks with the Greatsword. While players usually exclusively utilize crouching for sneaking up on NPCs, it’s very useful in duels and PVP. A crouching light attack offers instant access to the rolling attack without actually rolling. In the case of the Greatsword, this is a quick thrust attack that is invaluable against players.

The combination of the crouching light attack with the Lion’s Claw Ash of War gives the player two quick attack options to offset the slower default attack animation.

Winged Scythe is the best Elden Ring weapon to build up for faith users

The Winged Scythe is the best option available for faith-based PVP players in Elden Ring.

The scythe is a straightforward weapon for the most part, but it’s set apart from other items by its amazing skill. Angel’s Wings is a unique skill that deals decent damage, but is useful for its ability to prevent enemy players from healing with their flask. Angel’s Wings has an effect similar to Albinauric Pots, something that’s devastating in both duels and invasions.

It’s not a bad idea to equip another alternative weapon in the primary hand, as well as both a weapon and seal for the off-hand. The various sorceries obtained from Gurranq are generally strong for PVP, but there’s plenty of work that can be done with buffs and healing as well.