Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Best Sword of Night Build
Here’s how to create a versatile, fiery build using the Sword of Night in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree.
Swordhand of Night, Jolan is one of a few NPCs to be discovered in Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree, and while she doesn’t initially have much to say, advancing Count Ymir’s quest will earn you her trust. That is until you completely destroy that small semblance of trust, anyway.
As you conclude your time getting to know Jolan, you’ll have an important choice to make that can land you with her weapon, the Sword of Night. This black katana performs sweeping slashes that dish out Magic damage, and it looks damn cool, so here’s our guide to the best Sword of Night build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree.
- Best Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Sword of Night Build
- Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Stats and Class
- Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Weapons
- Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Ashes of War
- Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Talismans
- Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Incantations
- Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Armour and Gear
Best Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Sword of Night Build
The Sword of Night is a cool, witchy weapon that the Tarnished can receive at the very end of Swordhand Night Jolan’s quest in Shadow of the Erdtree, by giving her an Iris of Occultation to consume. It has incredibly low requirements of just 11 Strength and 20 Dexterity to wield, with an S scaling with Dexterity once it’s been upgraded to +10.
That said, even though the weapon is capable of dishing out a mixture of Physical and Magic damage, it isn’t anywhere near as overpowered as other katana counterparts, such as the Moonveil or Rivers of Blood. Though, you can create a powerful Magic-Fire hybrid build around it that’s good fun to use across the Realm of Shadow.
To do this, we’ll be focusing primarily on leveling our Dexterity stats, but we’ll also be putting some levels into Faith where possible to be able to use some fiery Incantations alongside the sword.
Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Stats and Class
This is a build that uses weapons and other gear from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, with some gear - the Sword of Night, mainly - only accessible after major quests have been completed. As such, this build is recommended for those who are currently exploring the Realm of Shadow or venturing into New Game Plus, and your starting class doesn’t matter all that much.
That said, if you are starting fresh and happen to have the gear necessary (it’s ok, I won’t ask how), you should consider either the Warrior or Bandit class for the high starting Dexterity stat.
I recommend a 10-4 Flask spread, with 10 Crimson Flasks and 4 Cerulean Flasks. This should do you fine for most fights, but of course, if you find yourself not using much FP, then give yourself an additional Crimson Flask.
The below recommended stats are catered to a build that is approximately Rune Level 200. If you’re closer to Rune Level 150, you can forgo some Vigor and all of your Faith levels while still finishing the base game.
- Vigor: 60
- Mind: 20
- Endurance: 20
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 55
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 30
- Arcane: 8
After entering the Realm of Shadow, however, we recommend aiming for 60 Vigor as soon as possible to help you avoid boss fights being cut short by fatal attacks.
Similar can be said for Faith. We use our 30 Faith levels to wield a Sacred Seal and Incantations, so that we have a ranged option for when the Sword of Night isn’t quite getting the job done (as well as some buffs, which are necessary for tougher fights). You can forgo this in the base game if you feel you don’t need it, but as you approach the endgame, we highly recommend beginning to give the Faith stat some TLC.
Mind and Endurance can sit at 20 Rune Levels, and this should be more than fine. If you are running out of Stamina often, I recommend the Two-Headed Turtle Talisman if you can’t afford to spare any more Rune Levels. For Mind, you can always try equipping the Preceptor’s Big Hat for +3 Mind levels.
Strength and Intelligence are two stats we can completely ignore in this build too, as long as you have the 11 Strength needed to wield the Sword of Night effectively. Our most important stat is Dexterity, which we want to bump up to the soft cap of 55 as soon as possible, to really make the most of the Sword of Night. After this, you can continue bumping it up to the next Dex soft cap of 80, if you’ve the capacity (and Runes) to do so.
For your Flask of Wondrous Physick, it’s up to you and how you play. The Opaline Hardtear is a popular pick and personal favourite, as it’ll boost all damage negations temporarily. You can consider pairing this with the Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear or the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear to boost your fire attacks or magic attacks respectively.
Alternatively, if you’re not planning on using much Faith but would still like to use buff Incantations, you can consider using the Faith-Knot Crystal Tear to increase your Faith enough to use the buffs before a fight.
Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Weapons
In our Sword of Night build, you want to have the - you guessed it - Sword of Night in your primary hand. You’ll get this weapon by giving the Swordhand of Night, Jolan an Iris of Occultation at the end of her quest.
In your off-hand, however, you want to equip the Giants’ Seal and the Firespark Perfumer’s Bottle. These will act as our secondary way of dealing damage against foes, allowing us to deal AoE damage to mobs and apply buffs before big boss fights.
Fortunately, the Sword of Night has a B scaling with Dexterity at +10, and the Firespark Perfume Bottle has a B scaling with Dexterity at +25, so they’ll both work off our Dexterity stat.
The Giants’ Seal instead has S scaling with Faith at +25, which is great as the Incantations that we’ll be using with it are Faith ones. This Sacred Seal also buffs Giants’ Flame and Fire Monk Incantations, with the former - Giants Flame - being what we’re primarily using for this fiery Sword of Night build.
Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Ashes of War
As we’re using the Sword of Night for this build - a Somber weapon with the unique Witching Hour Slash Skill - Ashes of War don’t really apply to this build.
That said, you’ll have a choice between the Rolling Sparks and Wall of Sparks Ash of War for your Firespark Perfume Bottle. Wall of Sparks allows you to conjure perfume mist around your head, which explodes a few seconds later. Rolling Sparks, on the other hand, fires out a cone of mist that explodes almost instantly.
I highly recommend using Rolling Sparks here and aiming it at the floor below your opponent to deal as much damage with it as possible. It’s a lot more effective than Wall of Sparks!
Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Talismans
This fiery Sword of Night build supports a few Talismans, though some are situational.
- Shard of Alexander - greatly boosts the attack power of skills.
- Millicent’s Prosthesis - boosts dexterity, raises attack power with successive attacks.
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia - greatly raises attack power with successive attacks.
- Two-Headed Turtle Talisman - greatly raises stamina recovery speed.
- Fire-Scorpion Charm - increases fire damage by but increases physical damage taken. Only equip this with the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman also equipped.
- Blessed Blue Dew Talisman - slowly restores FP.
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman - enormously boosts physical damage negation.
I’m currently running the Fire-Scorpion Charm with the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman to boost my fire attacks, as well as the Two-Headed Turtle Talisman because I like to run around a lot, and the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia to boost my quick-succession light attacks.
You can swap these around as you see fit, and they largely depend on how you play or where your build is currently at. If you need a small Dexterity boost, use Millicent’s Prosthesis. If you’re using Witching Hour Slash a lot, use the Shard of Alexander, and so forth.
Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Incantations
This Sword of Night build recruits a few Giants’ Flame and Fire Monk Incantations, all of which are buffed by using the Giants’ Seal. The outliers here are Golden Vow and Lightning Spear.
Golden Vow is our buff spell, but we’re also equipping Lightning Spear to give us the option of using lightning damage against foes, which has proved effective against most bosses. This particular Incantation is also useful for precise aiming at range.
- Golden Vow - increases attack and defense for self and allies.
- Flame, Grant Me Strength - increase physical and fire attack power.
- Giantsflame Take Thee - hurls a huge ball of fire at the target.
- Flame Fall Upon Them - hurls multiple balls of fire at a target, at a long and wide range.
- Burn O Flame! - creates multiple fiery pillars around the caster. A great AoE attack for mobs, or for staggering weaker bosses.
- Lightning Spear - hurls a spear of lightning at a target.
While you’re starting out, you can neglect your Faith stat and these Incantations. You’ll have both the Sword of Night and Firespark Perfume Bottle to get you through most sticky situations in the meantime. When you have the Rune Levels to spare, though, you’ll want to reach 30 Faith to use all the above Incantations.
If you’re only planning on using buff Incantations, such as Golden Vow and Flame Grant Me Strength, you will still need 25 Faith to use the former. Any Sacred Seal will do here, but I prefer the Golden Order Seal for buffs alone, which requires 27 Faith. You can always consider the equipping the Two Fingers Heirloom or Godrick’s Great Rune to help with your Faith stat, as well as the Faith-Knot Crystal Tear for your Flask of Wondrous Physick.
Elden Ring Sword of Night Build: Armour and Gear
Armor still doesn’t matter so much in Shadow of the Erdtree, so go for whatever you think looks cool. I’m currently rocking the Armor of Night - Jolan’s armor set - to match the Sword of Night.
That said, Maliketh’s armor set and the Black Knight armor set (farmable from Black Knights in the Realm of Shadow) are also fashionable picks that match the weapon nicely.
You can also consider the Okina Mask from the base game if you require an additional +3 boost to Dexterity, but it will decrease your Focus (which thus decreases your resistance to Sleep and Madness status effects).
For more on Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, take a look at our Impenetrable Thorns build, our Lightning Milady build, and our Freezing Perfumer build.