How to make the best Strength-Faith build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree 

Elden Ring's base game is already filled with numerous options for Strength builds, from the Colossal Weapons to massive swords. Some of these are literally made out of ancient ruins, a la Ruins Greatsword, and Maliketh's Black Blade. With the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, there are even more options for you to choose from, if you're going for a Strength setup.

That said, you know what's better than a plain old Strength build? Mixing it up with a bit of Faith, which should be perfectly doable if you're using a Level 150+ character for the DLC. Investing a few points into Faith basically allows you to almost double your base AR, making your attacks hit like a freight train, smashing everything in your way.

Here's a comprehensive guide on how to create the best Strength-Faith build possible, in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, alongside a few additional weapon recommendations.

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Breakdown of the best Strength-Faith build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

For the Strength-Faith build, the weapon we're going for is one that you can acquire fairly early - the Black Steel Greathammer. I chose this hammer over other Colossal Weapons in the game simply due to two major factors - swappable Ash of War and the very damaging counter-attack via "guard counter."

The best Strength-Faith build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (Image via FromSoftware)

You can choose to pair the Greathammer with the Black Steel Greatshield as well as the Black Knight armor set. However, since we're not going for a cosplay build, it's not really necessary. Additionally, equipping the Greatshield will increase the build's total encumbrance significantly, which we don't want.

For the Seal, you can go with the Dryleaf Seal or the Fire Knight's Seal. Both of them are good choices that scale incredibly well with Faith and also buff specific Incantations. For the best Strength-Faith build, I chose the Fire Knight's Seal since we will be using a couple of Messmer's Flame Incantations, but you should be fine with the Dryleaf Seal as well.

That being said, here's a breakdown of the best Strength-Faith build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree:

Weapon(s):

• Cold Black Steel Greathammer +25
• Fire Knight's Seal

Talismans:

• Erdtree's Favor +2
• Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Two-Handed Sword Talisman
• Faithful's Canvas Talisman

Incantations:

• Golden Vow
• Black Flame's Protection
• Beastial Vitality
• Flame, Grant Me Strength

Armor:

• Crucible Axe armor set (You can go with any armor set you like)

As for the stats, I went with a Level 205 New Game+2 character. However, you can make this build even with a Level 160 character on standard New Game. Here's a breakdown of the stats for this build:

• Vigor: 60
• Mind: 30
• Endurance: 40
• Strength: 50
• Dexterity: 20
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 67
• Arcane: 8

The Faithful's Canvas Talisman buffs your Incantations (Image via FromSoftware)

For the Ash of War, I went with the Chilling Mist, since it allows me to imbue the weapon with Frost instantly, and on top of that, inflicts a ton of Frost damage on direct impact. However, if you want alternatives for Ash of War, you can go with Bloody Slash, or even better, Cragblade with Bleed infusion. I do recommend using Shard of Alexander if you're using Cragblade.