With so many new weapons and spells in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, many older character builds have made a resurgence with updated items and better combos. One of the more popular hybrid-build combinations is Dexterity and Faith.
Here’s the best build to use for a Dex/Faith character in the Elden Ring DLC.
The best Dexterity/Faith build in Elden Ring
Dex/Faith builds in Elden Ring usually revolve around Incantations that scale with Faith and weapons that scale with Dexterity. Our build uses Madness as its theme, channeling its power through Vyke’s War Spear and then enhancing it with talismans such as Aged One’s Exultation from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
This build’s main stats buff its physical damage through Dexterity and fire damage through Faith. As such, we will incorporate various Frenzyflame Incantations into this build. If you’re currently running a different stat build, we recommend going to Rennala to respec your character before getting started.
| Parameter | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Recommended level | 150 or more |
| Primary stats | Dexterity, Faith |
| Secondary stats | Vigor |
| Weapons | Vyke’s War Spear Frenzied Flame Seal |
| Armor | Fire Monk Set |
| Talismans | Aged One’s Exultation Fire Scorpion Charm Millicent’s Prosthesis Ancestral Spirit’s Horn |
| Weapon skills | Frenzyflame Thrust |
| Additional spells | Golden Vow Inescapable Frenzy The Flame of Frenzy Unendurable Frenzy |
Stat distribution
Since this is a Dex/Faith hybrid build, the first two stats to level up are Dexterity and Faith. Once both are at 50, invest points into Vigor for survivability and Endurance for stamina. If possible, get the former to 50 and the latter to 25. Finally, get your Strength up to 16 to meet some stat requirements and Mind to 20 to support your FP needs.
This is what your endgame stats should look like:
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 20
- Endurance: 25
- Strength: 16
- Dexterity: 50
- Intelligence: Base level
- Faith: 50
- Arcane: Base level
Once your stats hit these levels, you can continue to invest points into Dexterity and Faith equally until they hit the soft caps. If you find yourself needing more survivability, getting Vigor up to 60 will help you get through most of the DLC.
Crystal Tear concoction
The best Crystal Tear for any build is the Bloodsucking Cracked Tear. You gain a 20 percent boost to all outgoing damage while gaining a health drain effect that ticks every second. The drain effect is quite minimal, so as long as you have enough healing to mitigate the health loss, you should be doing fine. The other Crystal Tear is negotiable.
For best results, choose the Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear for more physical damage or Faith-Knot Crystal Tear for bonus spell damage. You could also go for the Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear to boost your Fire damage since all of your Incantations deal Fire damage. Half your weapon’s damage is also Fire, making this Tear quite valuable.
Gear breakdown
The main weapon of this build is Vyke’s War Spear. Not only does this weapon scale great with Dexterity and Faith, but its regular attacks cause a build-up of Madness inherently. Half of the weapon’s damage is Fire while the other half is physical, making any Fire damage-boosting items or talismans very worth it for this build.
To channel your Frenzyflame Incantations, you want the Frenzied Flame Seal. This Sacred Seal scales well with Dexterity and Faith, but the main reason for using it is the buff it provides to Frenzyflame Incantations. As long as the Frenzied Flame Seal is equipped, these Incantations are boosted by 20 percent.
You have many choices for armor. Our pick is the Fire Monk Set for its flaming aesthetic. You could also choose Messmer’s Set for a new DLC look or a Madness-themed set to fit this build. Choosing armor is the least important part, though, so as long as you maintain a medium equip load, anything works.
Incantations
These four Incantations work to buff this build:
- Golden Vow: Buffs your attack and defense stats.
- Inescapable Frenzy: Grabs the nearest enemy, building up Madness and dealing damage to them.
- The Flame of Frenzy: Launches a burst of the Flame of Frenzy.
- Unendurable Frenzy: Emits a continuous stream of the Flame of Frenzy.
Talisman breakdown
Four talismans work perfectly for this build:
- The Aged One’s Exultation is a new DLC talisman that boosts your damage output by 20 percent as long as you inflict Madness on an enemy in your vicinity.
- The Fire Scorpion Charm boosts your Fire damage output by 12 percent, increasing the Fire damage of your weapon and the damage of your Frenzyflame Incantations.
- Millicent’s Prosthesis can be worked into any Dexterity build. It boosts your Dexterity and grants you bonus damage as long as you land consecutive attacks on an enemy.
- Ancestral Spirit’s Horn is a great choice for maintaining your FP pool. Killing an enemy will restore three FP, so ensure you land multiple kills.
