Elden Ring Best Faith build: Stats and Weapons
The best Faith build in Elden Ring revolves around this godly greatsword, which is still brilliant in Shadow of the Erdtree!
If there’s one thing to remember when crafting an Elden Ring build, it’s that you gotta have Faith. Even with the release of Shadow of the Erdtree, the best Faith build relies on a classic weapon with immense power!
The early game is always going to be difficult, but, ironically, that’s especially true when putting together advanced builds with restrictive stat requirements for specific weapons.
The best Faith build in Elden Ring requires a potent mix of Faith, Strength and Dexterity, which means you may have to neglect Vigor, Endurance and Mind in the short term, but the results are definitely worth it.
The ultimate goal of this Faith build is to wield the Blasphemous Blade, a godly greatsword derived from the Empyrean demigod, Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Its gigantic Ash of War is so powerful that it’s been tweaked and nerfed several times over the years, but it remains one of the most explosive (and fun) techniques across the Lands Between.
I used this Blasphemous Blade Faith build on my very first runthrough of Elden Ring back when the game was released, so it has more than a hint of nostalgia value for me. But once you get to grips with a slightly different cadence of combat to manage both your massive sword swings and the extravagant animation that launches your Ash of War, I’m sure it will become a favorite of yours too!
How do you make the best Faith Build in Elden Ring?
More so than almost any other type of build, the best Faith Build in Elden Ring focuses on having a sky-high Faith stat, while all other stats are secondary.
The Blasphemous Blade is far from one-dimensional, however, its Taker’s Flames Ash of War will be your primary attacking move and you should spam it as much as possible once you finally gain access to it.
From there, your objective is to buff your fire and Ash of War damage as much as possible, while also adding in Incantations that catch your eye to add a touch of variety to your build. Sometimes, the Blasphemous Blade is simply too good and you can feel like it’s playing the game for you.
Resist that feeling, you deserve a break.
So, to sum it up, the best Faith build revolves around the Ash of War of one powerful weapon, so you’re doing everything in your power to get as much out of it as you can!
Elden Ring Faith Build: Stats and Class
How you approach your stats will vary depending on how familiar you are with Elden Ring, and how quickly you want to transition into using Faith exclusively as your main attacking threat. If you’re role playing a pure Faith character, then you can choose Prophet as your starting class. However, they have low Endurance and their starting gear isn’t the best.
If you’re not as bothered about role play, I’d recommend choosing Samurai as your starting class to make the early game easier, then grind out a ton of Faith levels and make the switch once you can wield the first really good Faith weapon, the Winged Scythe.
When building your character, remember the “soft cap” for stats in Elden Ring is 60. Any points in a skill past 60 will have a much diminished effect on your overall power level effectively rendering them wasted. Don’t put any of your stats manually higher than 60.
- Faith is your primary stat for this most pious of builds. It's the main scaling stat for the Blasphemous Blade’s Ash of War and will increase the Holy damage of your earlier game weapons. When in doubt, Faith it out!
- If Faith is a virtue, then so is Strength. To wield the massive weapons that come along in Elden Ring one-handed, you need the pre-requisite Strength stat. You can technically cut these requirements in half by two-handing a weapon, but I prefer to use Strength as a secondary damage scaling stat anyway.
- Next, because you’re technically a melee build using heavy weapons and armor, Vigor and Endurance will be important. Incantations and Ashes of War require stamina to cast, meaning you will need more stamina than you think to spam them effectively.
- Finally, you will need more Mind than even the average Ash of War based build here. This is for two reasons. The first is because Taker’s Flames has a higher than average FP cost, while the second is that you’ll be using it even more than something like the best Bleed build.
Early Game Stats - Level 30+
This is the stat spread for if you want to start the best Faith build immediately at the beginning of the game with the Winged Scythe. However, because you need so much Faith, you can feel very squishy without much Vigor. If you need more health and stamina, feel free to start as a Samurai and use the solid Uchigatana while you level up Faith more gradually - you’ll see a massive power spike when you switch to the Scythe!
- Vigor: 12
- Mind: 11
- Endurance: 13
- Strength: 16
- Dexterity: 16
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 24
- Arcane: 8
Mid-game Stats - Level 80+
Around the mid-point of Elden Ring, the best Faith build will start to transition towards the Blasphemous Blade, depending on how soon you can get to Rykard. Make sure you have enough Vigor and Mind, while also buffing Strength to reach the weapon requirement.
- Vigor: 33
- Mind: 18
- Endurance: 20
- Strength: 20
- Dexterity: 16
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 35
- Arcane: 8
Late-game Stats - Level 120+
At this point you should be fully invested into the Blasphemous Blade and can therefore use a Larval Tear to remove the single extra point of Dexterity from your build if you wish (the Scythe needed 16, whereas the Blade only needs 15). Since you Ash of War scales from Faith, prioritise that first. But once you reach the soft cap of 60, begin levelling Strength for secondary damage scaling.
- Vigor: 45
- Mind: 23
- Endurance: 22
- Strength: 22
- Dexterity: 15
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 55
- Arcane: 8
Shadow of the Erdtree Stats - Level 150+
Now, as you prepare to enter the end-game DLC areas, you should have both your primary damage and health stats at or approaching the soft cap of 60, with enough Endurance and Mind to suit your playstyle with the Blasphemous Blade.
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 25
- Endurance: 22
- Strength: 40
- Dexterity: 15
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 60
- Arcane: 8
Elden Ring Faith Build: Weapons
My favorite weapon to start a Faith build with is the Winged Scythe because you can get it literally as soon as you start the game. However, it can be tricky to handle because of high weapon requirements: 16 Strength, 16 Dexterity and a massive 24 Faith. It’s found in the northwest of the Weeping Peninsula, inside the Tombsward Ruins.
This means if you spec out your character to wield it immediately, you’re going to have very low health and stamina, which can make the early game punishingly hard - especially if this is your first runthrough. If that sounds like you, I’d recommend starting as a Samurai, which will give you a really good starting weapon and make it easier to reach the Strength and Dexterity target, while also raising Vigor and Endurance to a comfortable level. Then when you’re ready to start the Faith build, start dumping all of your points into that!
Next, once you reach Altus Plateau, make a beeline straight for the Volcano Manor and Mt Gelmir. The fight with Praetor Rykard is technically what’s called a “gimmick fight”, since you’re given the Serpent Hunter spear which deals extra damage to him at the start of the fight. It therefore shouldn’t be too difficult if you’ve got enough Vigor - but then you’re really cooking and the best Faith build comes into its own.
Once Rykard is no more, you can collect the Blasphemous Blade from the Finger Maiden next to the Two Fingers in the Roundtable Hold.
It’s a particularly spooky-looking greatsword with an undulating animation that never fails to make my skin crawl. On top of strong physical and fire damage, the Blasphemous Blade gives you passive health recovery whenever you defeat an enemy, which is good for clearing dungeons.
This is supported by a solid basic moveset, with strong sprinting R1 and R2 combos that allow you to finish off small enemies quickly and score solid damage on larger ones consistently.
Then its unique Ash of War, Taker’s Flames, is a bombastic special move which has a lot of utility from a practical sense, but even more from an aesthetic perspective - it’s a lot of fun. Spam this as much as possible and watch everything fall before your might!
If you want to cast Incantations, you also need a Sacred Seal. The Finger Seal from the basic Maiden Shop at the Hold works. But you could also use the Godslayer’s Seal from the Stonesword Key room off the courtyard in Stormveil Castle. The Clawmark Seal is also easy to get if you start D’s quest.
Finally, if you want to use Dragon Incantations, the Dragon Communion Seal is found behind the Stonesword key door you pass as soon as you start Elden Ring, in the Stranded Graveyard.
Elden Ring Faith Build: Ashes of War
The best Faith builds in Elden Ring are blessed with unique weapons with their own Signature Ashes of War, so you will never really need to attach a new one.
The Winged Scythe has Angel’s Wings which is great for closing distance and smashing enemies with your basic weapon damage.
However, it has nothing on the Blasphemous Blade’s Taker’s Flames, which deals powerful fire damage in a wide-reaching AoE attack. This is great for breaking through tough guards, crowd control, hitting big bosses and generally causing havoc.
Elden Ring Faith Build: Talismans
Heavy weapons and powerful Ashes of War require a lot of stamina, so a solid, basic choice that everyone will have is the Green Turtle Talisman. Once you reach the DLC, you can use the Double-headed variant as an upgrade. The basic variant is in Summonwater Village behind a Stonesword Key door, while the new one is found on the Ellac Riverbed.
Another easy to find and basic choice is the Two Fingers Heirloom, which boosts Faith - a stat you want a lot of. It’s found in the Purified Ruins in the southeast of Liurnia.
Then there’s the final classic choice, Radagon’s Soreseal, from Fort Faroth in the Dragonbarrow is a rock solid boost to your stats at the expense of a damage resistance debuff. It sounds scary, but since you can whack enemies from a distance with Taker’s Flames it’s even less of an issue.
However, if you want to take a more advanced approach to Talismans, make sure you complete Living Jar Alexander’s quest to get the Shard of Alexander, which will boost your Ash of War damage even more.
Next, check out the Fire Scorpion Charm. This boosts the Fire damage of both your Ash of War and basic swing by a huge amount, but at the expense of a damage resist debuff like the Soreseal. Do not use the Soreseal and Charm together for this reason! You can grab it from Fort Laiedd on the northern side of Mt Gelmir past Volcano Manor.
Elden Ring Faith Build: Incantations
A key part of any great Faith build, Incantations are the Faith equivalent of spells and they have a wide variety of uses.
First, you have lots of buffs. The classic pairing is Flame, Grant Me Strength and Golden Vow, both of which give your character powerful boosts to attack power.
The Flame Incantation is also particularly relevant to the Blasphemous Blade because it deals Fire Damage.
You get Flame, Grant Me Strength from Fort Gael in the southwest of Caelid, while Golden Vow comes from what is surely a holiday hotspot in the Lands Between, the beautifully named Corpse-Stench Shack on Mt Gelmir towards the Volcano Manor.
We have a full page on how to make a Black Flame build, but you could also have the basic Black Flame Incantation ready if you like the look of it.
Finally, If you’re willing to sacrifice some attack power for versatility, you can also invest a few points into Arcane to gain access to Dragon Incantations. These are procured from the Dragon Communion Altar and offer lots of different status afflictions.
My favorites are Rotten Breath which inflicts Scarlet Rot, Dragonice which deals Frostbite and Glintstone Breath for dealing with enemies who can only be hit by magic damage.
Elden Ring Faith Build: Armor and Gear
Like most builds in Elden Ring, the Armor you wear is primarily personal preference and should focus mostly on what you think looks cool! However, there are two things you need to pay special attention to: Equipment Load and Poise.
Firstly, you need to make sure that you retain a medium equipment load. If you slip into heavy, it will massively impair your ability to dodge enemy attacks. Surely, I don’t need to tell you that’s not good.
Because of the weight of the Blasphemous Blade, you’re slightly more restricted on the kinds of armor you can equip. But I’d suggest using pieces of Radahn’s outfit, Blaidd’s Outfit, or even the Blackgaol Knight’s armor if you have access to Shadow of the Erdtree.
This is because they offer a huge boost to your Poise. Poise is the stat which determines how many hits you can take before your attack is interrupted. So if you’ve ever wondered why some enemies stagger easier than others, it’s because of their Poise stat.
Why this is important for you though, is because high Poise will allow you to trade hits with weaker enemies and bludgeon through their smaller health bars. With stronger enemies, it will also allow you to push through their aggressive pressure and wear them down more easily, since they can’t just whack you once and rush you down while you’re stunned.
Again, you can get good helms - like the Fire Knight Helm, or Mask of Confidence - which give stat boosts without much weight, so I’d recommend heavier body pieces to get as much Poise as possible.