In honor of the upcoming Elden Ring drop, it's time we took a look back at some of the most fun, overpowered, and wackiest builds in Dark Souls 2. This title has the most variety of equipment of any Souls thus far. Plus, it does not have a soul-level "cap" like the first or third game in the series. As a result, this game can be an incredible outlet for some broken builds early on in the game.
Dark Souls 2 has an immense item pool, many weapons, and armor sets that can go unappreciated. You can find a build for every playstyle and every situation, so scratch that Souls itch and start a new run with one of these fun builds.
Updated March 8, 2023, by Axel Bosso: Elden Ring will be back in a lot of fans' mouths once Shadow of the Erdtree, its upcoming expansion, launches sometime this year. In the meantime, we thought it was a good opportunity to go back to check the best Dark Souls 2 builds you can create and have fun with.
15 Beautiful Butterfly
Have you ever wanted to bring some whimsy to the grim world of Dark Souls? Then this is the build for you. The Moon Butterfly set can be bought in Majula in NG+. This set will build poison in any enemy that comes too close. Combine this armor with the Spotted Whip, and you can build a very unique insect build.
This build does come with some significant drawbacks. Its helmet can only be obtained on NG+2, and whips are very low damage weapons so this build relies on inflicting poison and evading. As such, enemies that are immune to poison will be a huge headache. On the bright side, the wings actually dampen fall damage, so function and fashion! Beware of Heide's Tower of Flame with this build - the Old Knights in this area will be immune to poison. Given that this is an early area, these enemies can certainly provide a headache.
14 The Wall
They say the best offense is a good defense. Never has that saying been truer than in this build. Dark Souls 2 was known for its revamping of the dual-wielding mechanic, making quite literally any weapon viable in a dual-wielding capacity. Slap two massive greatshields into this equation and you have a recipe for one of the most iconic builds of this title.
Wear the heaviest armor you can tolerate for poise. Then collect both the Reeve and Orma Greatsheilds. Pump Vigor, Vitality, and Strength into the character, and prepare to literally steamroll any enemies in your path. This might even be a good build for a beginner. After all, the difficulty of a Souls game is dramatically reduced when nothing can hit you.
13 Dark Magus
More ordinary than the previous builds, but no less effective. Dark sorceries were another innovation for this addition to the Souls saga. As with any new addition to the series, Dark Magic is sufficiently broken.
Place 50 into Intelligence, and 45 into Faith. Dark Magic scales on Faith and Intelligence, but on the lower of the two stats. A dark-infused sunset staff is really all you need to make this build snowball, and it uses twinkling titanite to reinforce, so this can be maxed out fairly early.
12 Smelter Arch-Demon
Any of those who have played through this installment of the Souls series will remember facing down the Smelter Demons, and the headache they inevitably cause. Show off your mastery of conquering these gigantic foes with this build.
Kill the first Smelter Demon to gain access to his armor and sword. Then kill the aged Smelter Demon to access the Aged Smelter Sword. With that done, pump your Strength to 60. This will allow you to effectively dual-wield these massive swords. Dump the rest of your points into vitality and then into Intelligence if you can afford it, to maximize damage. Note that this build will need a few Fragrant Branches of Yore to become accessible, so make sure you have a few on hand.
11 Gone Clubbing
Dark Souls can be a punishing experience when enemies can hit you. Take that challenge away by equipping both the Large Club and the Great Club.
This build requires 42 Strength to effectively dual-wield the weapons together. Once this requirement is met though, combat with normal enemies becomes a thing of the past. These two clubs have unrivaled pancaking capacity, so any mob that dares to approach you will be laid flat on their back in no time. Both weapons require titanite to reinforce so prepare to farm!
10 Little Mac
Live out your fantasy of being a world-famous boxer with this surprisingly powerful build. This build only requires two Caestus, so there is a lot of room to tweak the damage output to your liking.
To dual-wield Caesti, only 15 Strength is required. This means that all stats can be put into Strength and Dexterity for maximum physical damage. Alternatively, if it is determined that a little sting is needed for this build try putting stats into Faith and Intelligence while infusing one with Chaos and the other with Magic.
9 Pyromancer
An oldie but a goodie, Pyromancy is one of the most powerful and versatile trees in Dark Souls 2. With 24 unique Pyromancies to choose from, this build can be tailored to extreme damage or extreme defense based on need. It can be refreshing to constantly swap out spells and techniques, as Dark Souls 2 is one of the longest games in the franchise.
Dual-spec 50/50 into Faith and Intelligence. Put on the Fire Clutch Ring and the King's Ring, both of which increase your fire damage output. Take the Clear Bluestone Ring +2 for a 22 percent spell casting speed bonus. Burn all who oppose you to ash.
8 The True Pursuer
The Purser's ability to only truly pursue through a single room is disappointing. To combat that, this build can make a player into a truly threatening enemy with pursuit as its theme.
Get your hands on the Sacred Chime Hammer, and the Affinity Hex. The Weapon Art of the hammer and the Hex have the same effect. They produce balls of homing dark energy around the player's head. Imbue the Sacred Chime Hammer with Dark to boost the power of its Weapon Art, and let your remnants of humanity pursue your foes until the end of time.
7 Barbarian Scholar
Magic has always been known to be a powerful offensive medium in Dark Souls. But simply pointing and casting at enemies can be a bit boring. To spice things up put away that magic stave and replace it with something a little flashier.
Pump strength to 40 and collect the Aged Smelter Demon Sword again. Next pump Intelligence to 50 but don't collect any spells or staves. Instead, get the Moonlight Greatsword, and equip it as your off-hand weapon. The Moonlight Greatsword's Weapon art is that it shoots powerful magical beams forward. Anytime you'd normally use spells, just use the sword's Weapon Art instead.
6 Havel Cosplay
It should be no surprise that Havel's build continues to be one of the greatest since it seems like a new hero recycles his equipment every thousand years or so. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all.
Collect Havel's set, and pump Strength and Faith to 50. Equip your favorite miracles, and infuse Dragon's Tooth with lightning. Finally, set Vitality up high enough so that you can move. It's a simple build, but Dragon's Tooth can pancake any enemy that gets close, and lightning miracles can be used to snipe any enemies that are out of reach. Not to mention you won't believe the damage this build is capable of once it is completed.
5 Bait And Switch
Nothing feels quite as good as beating an opponent with brains rather than brawn. If this sounds like your play style, try out this next build. For this one, get your hands on the Shadow Dagger, the Eagle Shield, and the biggest "Ultra" class weapon of your choice. The idea with this build is to wear the lightest armor possible and goad enemies into attacking you.
You can riposte their attacks with the shield, and then follow up with a critical attack for major damage. But that's not all this build has up its sleeve. Put the Ultra weapon in the second slot of your main hand after the dagger. Ultra weapons do the highest critical damage in the game, and using the brief riposte frames, switch to the Ultra weapon and really surprise your opponent.
4 Bulldozer
Enemies can be an annoyance in Dark Souls 2, always there to impede progress. This threat can be mitigated if the enemies can never get up off of the ground. For this build get the Shockwave and Soul Bolt Sorceries. For your main weapon, you can have any Great Hammer, but we recommend the Smelter Hammer.
The strategy here is fairly simple: Shockwave and Soulbolt knock enemies down when they hit small enemies. While the enemies are recovering from their first bonk, follow it up with a strong attack from the Great Hammer. This will ensure that enemies can not recover their footing before being squashed.
3 Ultimate Sorcerer
Dark Souls teaches us that we must always honor our history, and so it is that we honor Big Hat Logan with this build. Crystal Sorceries are a must, as well as other high damage sorceries like Soul Greatsword and Soul Geyser. In order to maximize the damage for this build, get your hands on the Unleash Magic Sorcery, and the Staff of Wisdom.
Though Logan's iconic big hat is not available in this title, there are a few pieces of equipment you can find to imitate his look. The Black Set owned by Straid of Olaphis is a great body armor to imitate Logan's Robes. The Astrologist's Hat and the Black Witch's Hat are the closest approximation of Logan's Big Hat available in the title.
2 Fastest Staff In The West
Dark Souls 2 really revamped its sorcery game, and the developers wanted you to know it. Not only are there tons of powerful Hexes and Sorceries in this game, but there is also lots of equipment that can push your build even further.
For this build choose either Dark or normal Sorceries. Next, get your hands on the Lion Mage Robe, Lion Mage Cuffs, Lion Mage Skirt, Clear Bluestone Ring, and the Black Hood. With all of these items equipped, your character will be able to cast spells 46 percent faster. That is unless you can find the Clear Bluestone Ring +2, in which case you can cast 86 percent faster. That nearly doubles your casting speed, meaning you can become a spamming menace early in the game.
1 Unstoppable Vampire
Take the old trope of vampires gaining health from those they have killed, and give them that healing constantly. That sounds unstoppable to us, and that is the purpose of this build. This one does require many items from the Crown of the Ivory King DLC, so be prepared to beat the game at least once before trying this one out.
For this one, get your hands on the Charred Loyce Shield, The Crown of the Ivory King, and the Ring of Restoration. All of these items together will give you a constant Health regeneration of five and a half HP per second. The Eleum Loyce Curved Sword from the same DLC will heal you when you hit enemies with strong attacks. Use these items in conjunction with the Resplendent Life and Warmth Miracles, and you should never have to worry about using Estus Flasks again.