But sometimes you want to get your hands on a colossal sword and smack some enemies around.
After all, even Gandalf had a sword.
Everything you should probably know about Faith/Strength builds in Elden Ring.
What Is An Intelligence/Strength Build?
The key factor for creating a successful Intelligence/Strength build in Elden Ring is the stat distribution.
Intelligence, while still important,is more of a secondary stat.
The focus is on melee combat, which is backed up withpowerful spells.
All in all, it’s a very flexible playstyle.
Spellsare magic affected by yourIntelligencestat whileIncantations are governed by Faith.
Settle for60 Strengthas this is the soft capfor Strength gains.
Intelligence is at 45,so you might use plenty of different spells.
This will let you pick and choose your favorites.
50 Vigor, though not ideal, is definitely enough to keep you alive.
To this end, you’ll want to plan out the order you level your stats up.
Try toaim for these general milestones, in the following order:
Get yourEnduranceandMindlevels up as needed.
You’ll notice when you start to lag behind the difficulty curve a bit.
Not only that, but this Elden Ring Int/Str build hasamazing crowd controlto add the final cherry on top.
Weapons
For this build, you are running theStarscourge Greatsword.
This weapon scales at aB-scaling in Strengthat max level and comes with a serviceableD-scaling in Intelligence.
When you swing this thing, you are going to take chunksout of your target.
The Weapon Art is also fantastic, dealinghuge amounts of AOE damageand displacing everything in a large area.
Nothing is safe when you are carrying this thing.
Stars Of Ruinis an amazing spell that launches 12 fast-moving, homing, and highly damaging projectiles at enemies.
Its quite expensive to cast, but it can be used togreat effect against nimble opponentswho love to dodge.
Night Cometis your go-to sorcery, launching a comet at foes, and dealing heavyMagicdamage.
This spell is incredibly effective for its cost.
The final must-have sorcery (technically an Ash of War) for the build isCarian Retaliation.
Carian Retaliationis perfect forabsorbingspells cast at you from a distance and converting them into glintblades above your head.
This Gravity-based spellcauses shards of stone to erupt from the ground,damaging enemies.
Talismans
Talisman
Effect
Graven-Mass Talisman
Raises thepotency of sorceries(spells) by eight percent.
Magic Scorpion Charm
Increases Magic Damageby 12 percent (eight percent in PvP).
Increases Physical Damage receivedby ten percent (15 percent in PvP).
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
Enormouslyreduces Physical Damage takenby 20 percent (five percent in PvP).
Beloved Stardust
Increases your casting speedby the utmost, but you will receive more damage.
Two-Headed Turtle Talisman
Greatly raisesStaminarecovery speed.
Talisman of Lord’s Bestowal
Increases poiseafter using your flask.
Both theGraven Mass TalismanandMagic Scorpion Charmare fantastic additions to this build as they both increase your magic damage.
The Magic Scorpion Charm alsomakes your Starscourge Greatsword deal more damage, as it has a split damage profile.
TheDragoncrest Greatshield Talismanwill offset the reduction to your resistance that comes with the Magic Scorpion Charm.
Feel free to swap this out for thePearldrake Talismanwhen needed.
This is a fantastic Talisman for general usage outside of this build as well.
Armor
For armor, you want to stack as muchPoiseandDamage Reductionas you might while maintaining aMedium Roll.
You could also consider equipping theQueens Crescent Crownfor a slight boost inIntelligence.
This might clash with your drip, however, so be aware of the fashion sacrifice.
TheMagic-Shrouding Tearwill increase all of yourMagic damage(including weapons) forthree minutes, which is a great buff.
For maximum damage output, combining the Intelligence-Knot with Magic-Shrouding is the way to go.
