Despite so many new weapons introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree, none of them is as unique as the Dryleaf Arts. Unlike other weapons, Dryleaf Arts lets you use martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, creating a unique build like no other. But first, we have to acquire the weapon.
How to get Dryleaf Arts in Elden Ring
Dryleaf Arts is a new Hand-to-Hand Art weapon in Shadow of the Erdtree. You can get this weapon by defeating Dryleaf Dane at the Moorth Ruins. To trigger this boss fight, use the “May the Best Win” gesture in front of him. Dane can take a lot of hits, so prepare for a tough fight. Defeating him will yield the Dryleaf Arts weapon.
Similar to Fist weapons in Elden Ring, Dryleaf Arts lets you engage in hand-to-hand combat with your enemies. The weapon scales off Strength and Dexterity, making it great for a Quality build. The quick attacks and flashy moves are also aesthetically some of the best-looking moves in a FromSoftware game to date.
Now that you know how to acquire Dryleaf Arts, we need to work it into a viable build.
The best Dryleaf Arts build in Elden Ring
The Dryleaf Arts build we have chosen is a Quality build. This involves leveling up Strength and Dexterity equally until you gain enough damage scaling from both these stats. If you are currently not using a quality build, you can respec your character before getting started.
| Build parameters | Requirements |
| Recommended level | 150+ |
| Primary stats | Strength, Dexterity |
| Secondary stats | Vigor, Endurance |
| Weapons | Dryleaf Arts |
| Armor | Dane’s Set |
| Talismans | Two-headed Turtle Talisman Shattered Stone Talisman Rotten Winged Sword Insignia Shard of Alexander |
| Weapon skills | Dryleaf Whirlwind |
| Additional spells | N/A |
The next part of this build showcases an ideal stat distribution to make Dryleaf Arts work.
Stat distribution
Since the Dryleaf Arts is a Quality build, leveling up both Strength and Dexterity first is ideal. For best results, get both stats up to 40 before switching over to Vigor and Endurance for survivability. Having 50 Vigor and 30 Endurance is generally enough before moving on to invest the remaining points into Strength and Dexterity.
This is what your endgame stats should look like.
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 10
- Endurance: 30
- Strength: 45
- Dexterity: 45
- Intelligence: Base level
- Faith: Base level
- Arcane: Base level
This build should cap out around levels 170-175. Any excess points left over from the reallocation and subsequent levels are best invested into more Strength and Dexterity for better damage scaling. You can keep investing points into these stats until you reach a soft cap.
Gear breakdown
There is only one weapon in this build: the Dryleaf Arts. To use it effectively, you will need to meet the prerequisite eight Strength and eight Dexterity. Both stats have a D-tier scaling which improves up to a C-tier as you upgrade it close to the max level (25).
The weapon starts with the Palm Blast Ash of War, which is honestly good enough when you first acquire it. However, for this build, we replace it with the Ash of War: Dryleaf Whirlwind for better damage and faster hits. Apart from looking super cool in battle, this Ash of War also scales well with the talismans in this build, making it the superior choice.
In terms of armor, there are a few good sets to choose from in the DLC. For the sake of a Dryleaf Arts build, we decided to stick to the faithful Dane’s Set. Not only is it fairly light, but it also matches aesthetically well with the Dryleaf Arts weapon. The set provides no stat bonuses, however, so you are free to choose other options if they suit your build better.
Talisman breakdown
Four talismans work perfectly with a Dryleaf Arts build.
The Two-headed Turtle Talisman was introduced in the DLC. It grants you the most stamina regen of any talisman, making it great for builds that use rolls and quick attacks. Keep this one on at all times.
The Shattered Stone Talisman is another new DLC addition. It improves the damage of all kicks and kicking skills. Since Dryleaf Whirlwind fulfills that condition, this talisman provides a flat damage boost every time you use the weapon art.
The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia is good for any build that uses weapons with quick attacks. Spamming light/heavy attacks along with Dryleaf Whirlwind will quickly build up stacks of damage for your subsequent attacks.
The Shard of Alexander is the best talisman for any build with a strong Ash of War. This talisman makes your Dryleaf Whirlwind deal significantly more damage every time you cast it. Combine this with the previous two talismans in this build and you have a monster of an ability.
