Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC introduced several new weapons with completely different playstyles compared to the base game’s weapons. One of the more interesting ways to play is by using Perfume Bottles with different elements.
To get the most out of Perfume Bottles, try out our Perfumer build.
The best Perfumer build in Elden Ring
Perfume Bottles come equipped with different elements and status effects in Elden Ring. Our build revolves around picking an elemental damage Perfume Bottle and building around it. You can choose between Fire, Ice, and Lightning, but for the sake of this build, we went with the Firespark Perfume Bottle.
If you’re trying out Perfume Bottles coming from the base game with a different build, you should respec your character before getting started.
| Build parameters | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Recommended level | 150 or more |
| Primary stats | Dexterity |
| Secondary stats | Vigor, Endurance |
| Weapons | Firespark Perfume Bottle Fire Nagakiba |
| Armor | Any armor set (maintain medium load) |
| Talismans | Fire Scorpion Charm Perfume Talisman Millicent’s Prosthesis Crusade Insignia |
| Weapon skills | Flaming Strike Wall of Sparks/Rolling Sparks |
| Additional spells | N/A |
Stat distribution
The Perfume Bottle and the Nagakiba both scale primarily off Dexterity, which makes it the main stat to focus on for this build. You can pump Dexterity up to 50 before investing points into Vigor and Endurance for survival. Once both stats are at acceptable levels, continue leveling up Dexterity until it hits the 80 soft cap.
This is what your endgame stats should look like:
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 15
- Endurance: 30
- Strength: 18
- Dexterity: 80
- Intelligence: Base level
- Faith: Base level
- Arcane: Base level
This build should cap out at around level 175, if not earlier. You don’t need more than 18 Strength (prerequisite for Nagakiba) for this build. Beyond that, you can continue investing points into Vigor until you hit the 60 soft cap, or just go ham and push Dexterity to 99 if you’re feeling adventurous.
Gear breakdown
The two main weapons of this build are the Firespark Perfume Bottle and the Fire Nagakiba. The Firespark Perfume Bottle is your primary tool of incineration, backed by either the Rolling Sparks or the Wall of Sparks Ash of War. Both of these weapon skills work amazingly well with your fire damage output, so you can choose which one better suits your playstyle.
If you run into troublesome enemies that don’t take too much damage from your fire attacks, you can weapon swap into the Fire Nagakiba. Even though this weapon deals fire damage, it also deals a good chunk of physical damage that scales with your Dexterity. Being a katana, this weapon also has an inherent bleed effect that can whittle down tankier enemies with high health pools.
As is with most endgame builds in Elden Ring, the armor choices are quite flexible. If you want to refresh your look with a more flaming aesthetic, equipping the Fire Knight Set or Messmer’s Set is one way to go. If you invested more points into Endurance, you can’t go wrong with the new Solitude Set to powerstance through most enemy attacks.
No matter which armor set you eventually choose, just ensure that you maintain a medium equip load at all times.
Talisman breakdown
Four talismans work perfectly for this build.
- The Fire Scorpion Talisman is a classic choice for any fire damage build. This talisman boosts all fire damage by 12 percent, which includes damage from both of your weapons and their fire-based weapon skills. However, this talisman also makes you take 10 percent increased physical damage, so be prepared to stay on your toes.
- The Perfumer’s Talisman is a new talisman introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree and is the main talisman of this build. When you have this talisman equipped, your Perfume Arts will gain a 20 percent bonus to their damage output. This applies to normal attacks with the Perfume Bottles as well as their weapon skills.
- Millicent’s Prosthesis is the perfect talisman for a Dexterity build that uses quick attacks. The consecutive attacks made by both the Perfume Bottle and the Nagakiba will increase the weapons’ damage output by 11 percent. This talisman also provides a bonus of five Dexterity, adding to your endgame damage potential and cast speed.
- The Crusade Insignia is another new talisman introduced in the DLC. This powerful talisman boosts your damage by 15 percent every time you defeat an enemy in your vicinity. Considering you will be incinerating enemies constantly with your Perfume Bottles and Fire Nagakiba, this buff will proc quite often.
You can acquire the Firespark Perfume Bottle quite early in the game. Once you traverse through the Gravesite Plain area and go northeast past Ellac Greatbridge, you will reach the entrance to Castle Ensis. There are a couple of enemy camps stationed right outside the entrance to the castle, one of which consists of Perfumers and Messmer Soldiers guarding the weapon.
Defeat them to find the Firespark Perfume Bottle and begin your Perfumer adventures.
