Elden Ring has quickly become one of the Elden Ring Runes most celebrated games in the RPG genre, largely due to its intricate combat system, breathtaking world-building, and vast variety of weapons and builds. One of the most exciting aspects of the game is the freedom it offers players to create their own unique builds, combining weapons, spells, talismans, and stat investments to craft a personalized experience.
However, not every weapon or build is about chasing the "meta" or optimizing damage output. Sometimes, the joy in Elden Ring comes from experimenting with weapons that might not be the strongest in the game, but that are incredibly fun, thematic, or just plain cool. Today, we're going to dive deep into some of the most fun and visually stunning weapons and builds that players can use in Elden Ring, focusing on thematic and personal preferences rather than optimal efficiency.
Maricus Hammer: A Faith-Based Strength Weapon with Style
The Maricus Hammer is perhaps one of the most satisfying weapons to wield for players who enjoy the aesthetic of hammers and the power of Holy damage. This massive, imposing weapon may not be the most overpowered weapon in the game, but its appearance and abilities make it a fan favorite.
What makes the Maricus Hammer stand out is its weapon skill, Gold Breaker. Upon activation, the user becomes airborne, delivering a devastating crash to the ground with a large area of effect (AoE). This skill deals over 40 stance damage at close range, sending enemies flying into the air. Not only does it feel incredibly satisfying to land, but it also serves as a great tool for clearing out mobs and dealing with larger foes.
While the Maricus Hammer scales well with strength, pairing it with a Faith build opens up additional possibilities. By infusing the weapon with Sacred Order (which boosts both weapon and spell damage), players can also gain the benefit of boosting their critical attack damage with a Sacred infused Misrecord, an amazing weapon for high critical hits. This infusion, combined with a Faith build, allows players to have a diverse toolkit of offensive spells and buffs, all while maintaining the thematic Holy theme.
For defense, the Brass Shield provides excellent guard boosts and complements the build's aesthetic. When paired with the right talismans, such as the Shout of Alexander (for skill damage), Blade of Mercy (for additional critical damage), and Sacred Scorpion Charm (for boosting holy damage), this build can become a very powerful and satisfying choice for PvE combat.
The Regalia of Oath: A Straight Sword with Arcane Power
While the Maricus Hammer may be a hammer-focused build, Elden Ring also provides players with the opportunity to experiment with straight swords that offer both physical and magical damage scaling. One of the coolest examples of this is the Regalia of Oath, a straight sword that, while perhaps not the most optimal in terms of power, has a charm all its own.
The Regalia of Oath is unique for several reasons: first, it has a fantastic aesthetic, with its ethereal glow and divine-looking swordplay. It’s a perfect fit for players who want to create a thematic build centered around holy and arcane power. Not only does it scale well with Arcane, but its weapon skill, Royal Knights' Resolve, boosts its damage output significantly, and it works well in combination with a wide variety of buffs.
What makes the Regalia of Oath particularly fun is its synergy with an Arcane build, which enhances both physical and magical damage. The build thrives by incorporating several damage-enhancing talismans such as Godfrey's Icon (boosting skill damage) and the Shard of Alexander (for increasing damage of weapon skills). This straight sword's scaling with Arcane makes it effective in combination with various arcane-based spells and buffs. With high Arcane investment, players can cast spells like Dragonfire or Black Blade, all while simultaneously landing powerful critical hits with the Regalia of Oath.
Death Knight's Long Halberd: A Lightning-Fueled Strength-Faith Build
One of the standout weapons in the DLC is the Death Knight's Long Halberd, a weapon that provides players with a unique hybrid of lightning and strength scaling. The weapon's blink bolt skill is an absolute blast to use, allowing players to dodge in and out of combat while delivering a devastating lightning-infused attack.
What sets this weapon apart is its high stance damage and its lightning damage—a rare combination for a melee weapon. The ability to pair this with the faith and strength build creates an extremely fun and dynamic combat experience. Players can use the weapon's long-range attacks to break stances, while the blink bolt skill can be used to dodge and follow up with a massive AoE lightning attack.
Additionally, the long halberd's scaling with both strength and faith allows for the inclusion of lightning-based spells such as Ancient Dragon Lightning Spear and Flame, Grant Me Strength, creating a build that is capable of both ranged and melee damage, with the added bonus of a high-damage buffing potential. When paired with talismans like the Godfrey Icon and Shards of Alexander, this build becomes a force to be reckoned with.
The Claw Marked Seal: A Crucible Dragon Cult Hybrid Build
Another fun build that makes use of the Claw Marked Seal, a weapon designed for players with a strength and faith hybrid build, is the Crucible Dragon Cult build. This build thrives on using both Crucible and Dragon Cult spells, creating a versatile playstyle that involves a mix of both offensive and defensive play.
The main appeal of this build is the Crucible Tail and Crucible Horns, which are excellent for stance-breaking and crowd control. These spells are not the highest damage-dealing abilities, but they work very well for staggering enemies, setting up a follow-up heavy attack, or opening up a combo. They also fit the build's theme of divine and dragon-based powers, giving players a visually exciting way to handle combat.
The Claw Marked Seal is pivotal to this build, providing access to some of the most powerful faith-based incantations like Blessing of the Erdtree for healing or Golden Vow for buffs. Additionally, Dragonfire and Flame, Grant Me Strength provide high-damage potential in addition to the ability to heal and buff when needed.
By combining these elements, players can craft a highly flexible and fun build that not only provides the player with high versatility but also narratively complements the idea of a warrior who harnesses the power of both the Crucible and the Dragons.
Sword of Night and Flame: A Dark, Edgy Build
No discussion of Elden Ring builds would be complete without mentioning the Sword of Night and Flame, one of the most visually stunning and thematic weapons in the game. This katana is the embodiment of edginess, featuring a dark aura and a blade that glows with ominous energy.
The Witching Hour Slash skill allows players to unleash a powerful flurry of strikes that can be spammed for quick damage, and with bleed build-up and dexterity scaling, it’s also very efficient for status procs. While it might not be the most optimized katana for pure damage, its playstyle is deeply satisfying. Witching Hour Slash has a long-range lunge that makes it ideal for closing gaps and punishing enemies at the end of their combos.
By focusing purely on dexterity, this build becomes a fast-paced, high-damage style, aided by talismans like Shards of Alexander (for skill damage), Godfrey's Icon (boosting skill power), and Blade of Mercy (for critical hits).
While the Smithscript Dagger can be used in the off-hand to stop enemies from regenerating poise, the real highlight of this build is its visuals and the sheer enjoyment of wielding the Sword of Night and Flame, making it an undeniably fun choice for players who want both power and style.
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to approach combat in Elden Ring, from grinding for the best meta builds to crafting fun and thematic ones that reflect your personal playstyle. Whether you prefer the raw power of the Elden Ring Items for sale Maricus Hammer or the lightning speed of the Sword of Night and Flame, every weapon has its unique charm, and sometimes it's about the fun of wielding these iconic weapons over optimizing for damage. Thematic builds bring an extra layer of joy and satisfaction to the game, turning combat into an art form rather than just a numbers game. If you're looking to craft your own dream build, remember that in Elden Ring, style and fun often outweigh sheer power.