5 best dexterity builds in Elden Ring to prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree

Dexterity builds in Elden Ring are essential to consider in your preparation for Shadow of the Erdtree. With the DLC on its way, the game's meta is sure to be shaken up a little as newer weapons will lead to more builds. While this is exciting, there are already some very strong dexterity builds in the RPG that should set you up nicely to take on the upcoming enemies in the expansion.

This article lists five of the best dexterity builds in Elden Ring ahead of Shadow of the Erdtree's release.

Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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What are the best dexterity builds in Elden Ring before Shadow of the Erdtree?

1) Dragon King's Cragblade

Dragon King's Crabblades is at the center of some of the best dexterity builds in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware || YouTube/Youwy)

• Vigor: 50
• Mind: 20
• Endurance: 29
• Strength: 18
• Dexterity: 80
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 14
• Arcane: 9

This Elden Ring build is based around the Dragon King's Cragblade, which is a heavy sword. You can get your hands on the weapon by trading the Remembrance of the Dragonlord at the Roundtable Hold.

Dragon King's Cragblade is great at doing posture damage. It can easily break the posture of enemies with a single hit of its weapon art, the Thundercloud form. Once this happens, you can switch and stab them for bonus damage. You might want to use a different weapon for riposte or backstab attacks for additional damage.

You can equip a shield in your non-weapon hand so you can block and attack at the same time while using the Dragon King's Cragblade.

Use the Dragon King's Cragblade to posture break enemies, then close in to hit them with a riposte or backstab. Rinse and repeat, and you'll be able to make short work of most enemies.

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2) Bloodhound's Fang

Bloodhound's Fang is one of the best weapons in the game (Image via FromSoftware || YouTube/Youwy)

• Vigor: 50
• Mind: 22
• Endurance: 23
• Strength: 30
• Dexterity: 60
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 25
• Arcane: 10

Bloodhound's Fang is perfect for dexterity builds in Elden Ring as it is one of the best weapons in the game. It is a curved-blade sword that does bleed damage. Moreover, its Ash of War, the Bloodhound's Finesse, greatly extends its range.

You can buff Bloodhound's Fang using the Bloodflame Blade and Blackflame incantations against enemies who you can't bleed dry. Finally, you can use Golden Vow and Flame Grant Me Strength to further boost your damage.

You might want to pick up the Frenzied Flame seal for these buffs. With all these buffs acting in tandem, you will be able to obliterate most enemies in the game.

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3) Hand of Malenia

Using a Katana power stance is brutal and key to one of the best dexterity builds in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware || YouTube/Youwy)

• Vigor: 50
• Mind: 20
• Endurance: 29
• Strength: 18
• Dexterity: 85
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 14
• Arcane: 9

This is one of the best Dexterity builds in Elden Ring and makes use of both the Hand of Malenia and the Nagakiba.

The Hand of Malenia is one of the best weapons in the game. Its Ash of War, Waterfowl Dance, allows you to quickly close the distance between you and your enemies. It also deals a lot of physical and stagger damage. The Nagakiba, on the other hand, will use the Thunderbolt Ash of War to give your build more range.

You can power-stance the two together to boost your damage and increase bleed buildup. Since you're often going to rely on your Ash of Wars when using this build, it is a good idea to equip the Shard of Alexander talisman to boost damage. You should also equip the Godskin Swaddling Cloth as it will heal you when you land consecutive hits.

The Hand of Malenia excels at landing consecutive hits, so you will constantly be healing while dealing damage to your enemies.

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2) Guardian's Keen Swordspear

Phantom Slash can deal massive amounts of damage (Image via FromSoftware || YouTube/Youwy)

• Vigor: 50
• Mind: 22
• Endurance: 22
• Strength: 17
• Dexterity: 75
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 25
• Arcane: 9

This build mainly makes use of the Guardian's Keen Swordspear. This weapon has a unique move set and some amazing running attacks, allowing you to be very fast in combat.

You can add the Phantom Slash Ash of War to the Guardian's Keen Swordspear, allowing you to deal massive amounts of damage for not a lot of FP. Moreover, you should buff the spear with Electrify Armament for bonus damage.

Your secondary weapon will be a bow that gives you a little bit more range. While this weapon's damage may not be great, you will still be able to snipe enemies.

Additionally, you can use both Arrow Talismans and the Shard of Alexander to get a good boost to your damage, making this one of the best dexterity builds in Elden Ring.

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1) Bolt of Gransax

Bolt of Gransax is great for dexterity builds in Elden Ring (Image via FromSoftware || YouTube/Youwy)

• Vigor: 50
• Mind: 22
• Endurance: 27
• Strength: 20
• Dexterity: 85
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 14
• Arcane: 9

The Bolt of Gransax is excellent for dexterity builds in Elden Ring as it is one of the best Legendary Armaments in the game. You can use it along with another spear to gain access to fast yet deadly moves.

You can use the Ancient Lightning Spear Ash of War to snipe enemies from a distance while dealing large amounts of damage.

If you're low on FP, you can power stance your spears and rush in for some quick hits. If you end up breaking the enemy's posture, you can switch the Bolt of Gransax with a weapon like the Misericorde for bonus critical damage.

Use the Milicent Prosthetic for a boost to Dexterity and damage, as well as the Shard of Alexander for even more damage with your Ash of War.

This is one of the few dexterity builds in Elden Ring that lean more towards precision than destruction. However, if you're patient with your attacks, you can defeat almost any enemy in the game with this setup.

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Check out our other articles covering Elden Ring:

• What are the requirements for ER Shadow of the Erdtree?
• ER stat cap, recommended level for Shadow of the Erdtree
• 5 things you might've missed in ER Shadow of the Erdtree story trailer
• Best Armor Sets to get before Shadow of the Erdtree
• Top 5 builds in Elden Ring