Sometimes you want to embrace your inner weeb and go all out - just this once. A Dex build in Elden Ring is fast, deadly, and cunning, much like its users. The best Dex build Elden Ring has to offer might not rock the raw damage numbers of the Giant Crusher, but it can still decimate HP bars in other ways.

What makes Elden Ring Dexterity builds so appealing is the sheer quantity of viable weapons that FromSoftware put into the game. Katanas in particular are incredibly strong this time around thanks to amazing Weapon Arts, solid damage, and fast attacks.

Updated March 12, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: With the Shadow of the Erdtree looming large, you'll need the best Dex build in Elden Ring to get you through the adventure. Whether you're a Dex build expert or a relative newcomer from the realm of Strength lovers, you're welcome to these tips for the best Dex build Elden Ring has to offer.

What Is A Dexterity Build?

If you're wondering what Dexterity does in Elden Ring, imagine Dexterity builds as the polar opposite of Strength builds.

Instead of slow, ponderous attacks supported by infinite poise and ludicrous armor, you focus on rapid attacks, swift movement, and in some cases, status ailments.

You won’t be killing bosses in a single hit, but you will be able to tear them apart with grace and finesse.

Recommended Starting Class

As a Dexterity-focused build, your starting class should reflect this with more Dexterity than other classes. However, a bit of Strength, Endurance, and Vigor will be helpful too.

The Warrior is the consummate Dexterity starter class, followed in close second by the Samurai.

The Warrior starts with twin Scimitars, while the Samurai starts with the Uchigatana and a Longbow.

The Warrior comes with a few extra starting points in Intelligence and Arcane, so the Samurai is recommended as your starter if you plan on running a pure Dexterity-based build.

The Vagabond is another decent choice that shouldn't be overlooked.

You might not start with a lot of Dexterity, but you will start with a lot of Vigor and Strength which meet the minimum requirements for many early-game weapons.

Dexterity Build Stats To Aim For

As a Dexterity user, you will want to hit the hard cap for Dexterity pretty quickly; aim for 80, then stop.

Your second most important stat will be Vigor. It doesn’t matter how fast you are, you are going to take a hit.

60 Vigor is the target, but you could drop it as low as 50 if you wanted to invest points elsewhere.

Mind and Endurance are your resource stats, and both are very important.

Mind determines your FP, and Endurance manages your Stamina - among other things. Any spare points you have should be put here.

Mind needs to be around 20, so you can use your Weapon Arts without having to constantly sip on your Flask, while Endurance should be around 25 or 26, so you've still got ample stamina to dodge and strike.

Put 18 points in Strength, purely to have some flexibility with your weapon choice.

If you are dead set on a lighter weapon, like the Uchigatana, then drop this stat to meet that weapon’s requirements and invest the extra points into Endurance or Mind.

Elden Ring's Best Universal Katana Build

Overview

If you’ve played Elden Ring for any length of time, you know how effective katanas are. Not only that, but they are a lot of fun to mess around with, and you have a bunch of katanas to choose from when deciding your build.

Whether you want to use a katana and shield, two katanas, or two-hand a single katana, this build has you covered.

Weapons

Of all the katanas in the game, the Uchigatana, Nagakiba, and Hand Of Malenia are the best for pure Dexterity builds.

The Uchigatana is a fantastic starting weapon, with a second obtainable within minutes of starting the game.

Fast, high damage, and amazing scaling make the Uchigatana the full package and arguably one of the best katanas in the entire game.

Make it a Keen Uchigatana to fully benefit from your Dexterity.

The Nagakiba deals just slightly less damage, but in exchange for smaller numbers, it has a much longer range.

The Nagakiba is almost twice as long as the Uchigatana, and this makes it fantastic for staying at a safe distance and clipping enemies with the tip.

The downside to the Nagakiba is the Strength requirement of 18, but it’s well worth it if you want to have a bit of reach. Again, make this a Keen Nagakiba and you are good to go.

Finally, the Hand of Malenia is a very late-game weapon locked behind one of the hardest bosses in the entire game - possibly the entire Soulsborne series.

It is the highest damage katana, has fine scaling, a range comparable to the Nagakiba, and a flashy Weapon Art that can shred single enemies and even bosses if timed well.

The downsides to the Hand Of Malenia? Despite its high base damage, it doesn’t have the best scaling - which is both surprising and disappointing.

With only a B-scaling in Dexterity, it won’t benefit as much as your Keen Uchigatana or Keen Nagakiba in further playthroughs.

Considering the lack of customization options, the Hand Of Malenia is strong but restrictive.

Moonveil and Rivers of Blood are both excellent katanas, but they require Intelligence and Arcane.

Consider a hybrid build if you plan to use either of these katanas.

Ashes Of War

For your Ashes Of War, you have plenty of choices to make your katanas sing.

Bloody Slash is devastatingly powerful and is a perfect fit for your Uchigatana as it extends your range significantly.

Bloody Slash received the following buffs in patch 1.07, which remain unchanged as of 1.09:

– Increased status build-up and attack power.

– The delay for starting the slash after a prior animation was reduced.

The katana default, Unsheathe, is also fantastic since it’s fast, has two attack options, and deals great damage to boot.

If you want to be a bit more defensive, then Bloodhound Step can turn you into a dodging god, and Parry could lead to some devastating counter-based gameplay.

If you are running two Katanas, then you should put Bloodhound/Parry on your offhand to give you extra options in combat.

If you want to boost the Bleed damage on your katanas, then Seppuku will drastically increase your damage output at the cost of HP.

Talismans

For Talismans, you have several options worthy of consideration.

To increase your damage in combat, you can choose from the Lord of Blood's Exultation or the Shard Of Alexander.

These choices enable you to build around a powerful katana like Rivers of Blood for damage dealing.

Other options like the Claw Talisman and Winged Sword Insignia can be excellent selections if you prefer jump attacks (Claw) or rapid swinging (Winged Sword).

For more quality-of-life-focused boosts, you can turn to Great Jar’s Arsenal or Erdtree’s Favor if you need a higher equip load to wear heavier armor.

The Green Turtle Talisman's stamina recovery is appreciated for any build, but it is particularly useful in builds that spam Weapon Arts.

Armor

For armor, you want to run the heaviest armor you can while maintaining a Medium Roll.

You could also try and aim for a Light Roll if you want more I-Frames but less damage reduction.

If you are relying on your Bleed or using Seppuku, then the White Mask is a fantastic headpiece that will give you a damage boost that stacks with the Lord Of Blood’s Exultation.

If you are going to use a lot of jump attacks, then using Raptor’s Black Feathers chest armor is a must.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

Just about any combination of Tears will work for this build, but the combination of Stonebarb Cracked Tear and Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear excels.

Stonebarb increases your stagger, perfect for katanas as their lack of stagger is one of their biggest weaknesses.

The Dexterity-Knot will push your Dexterity to 90 and increase your damage as a result.

The Best Urumi Dexterity Build

Overview - Whip It, Whip It Good

Whips are massively overlooked in Elden Ring, which is a shame since they are surprisingly good.

The Urumi, in particular, is outstanding, and this is due to its phenomenal moveset, stackable buffs, and hilariously high damage. If you want to run something a little different, this is the best Urumi build.

Weapons

There is only one weapon that can work with this build: the Urumi.

Other whips wouldn’t work here since you are building towards the Urumi’s unique strength – its Charged Heavy Attack.

Urumi also has an S-scaling in Dexterity when turned into a Keen Urumi.

What makes this attack so interesting, is that the Urumi becomes a spear and thrusts out for incredible range and damage.

The attack is staggeringly fast, deals more damage than you could imagine for a whip, and can be buffed to make it even better.

If you want to run a second whip, then Hoslow’s Petal Whip makes for a fine off-hand whip for dual-wielding.

Ashes Of War

One of the downsides to whips, in general, is that there aren’t many Ashes Of War that synergize.

That being said, you can still be creative.

Bloodhound Step is likely the best choice, functioning essentially as a hyper roll that gives an incredible amount of mobility.

Talismans

Erdtree’s Favor and Green Turtle are all-around great picks, but the big winner for this build is the Axe Talisman.

The Axe Talisman will boost your Charge Attacks substantially, making the R2 attack on the Urumi even more powerful.

Armor

As per usual, you want to run the heaviest armor you can while aiming for a Light or Medium roll based on preference.

If you want to look especially dapper, however, then Hoslow’s Armor looks fantastic on any whip user.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

The two Tears you need for this build are the Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear to boost your Dexterity to 90 (which is even better thanks to that S Scaling on the Urumi) and the Spiked Cracked Tear.

The Spiked Cracked Tear will boost your Charge Attacks, further enhancing Urumi’s incredible R2.

The Best Bloodhound’s Fang Dexterity Build

Overview - Slamma Jamma Dex Build

If you want to swing something a bit heavier - with a bit more damage - then this build is for you.

What the Bloodhound’s Fang misses in speed it makes up for in raw damage and a brilliant Weapon Art.

Weapons

The Bloodhound’s Fang is a brilliant weapon that will deal more damage per swing than any other weapon on this list.

It comes with a decent B Scaling in Dexterity, great base damage, and the wonderful Curve Greatsword moveset.

Topping it all off is its amazing Weapon Art that combines Bloodhound Step with a devastatingly powerful attack that can, and will, strike for 1000+ damage.

Talismans

Talismans are a bit more important for this weapon as it requires a higher investment in Stamina to swing.

Erdtree’s Favor and Green Turtle will help mitigate this cost nicely.

Winged Sword will give you a nice boost to your damage if you land several successive attacks.

The big winner is the Shard Of Alexander, however, as this will boost your Weapon Art, making it even better.

Armor

As is always the case, run armor that lets you Medium or Light roll based on preference while maintaining the highest amount of Damage Reduction possible. Blaidd’s armor is pretty great for this role and looks amazing to boot.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

As is always the case, Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear works wonders on this weapon.

However, consider combining it with the Strength-Knot Crystal Tear. Bloodhound’s Fang has a C scaling in Strength, and that Strength boost can help push your damage that bit further.

The Best Storm Blade Dexterity Build

Overview - A Storm's Brewin'

There are many Ashes of War that work well with the best Dext builds in Elden Ring, from Sword Dance to Double Slash.

But ever since update 1.07, Storm Blade offers Dexterity-based builds a unique opportunity for extreme ranged damage.

Storm Blade propels a current of air at enemies that are normally out of reach.

The projectile does fine damage on its own, but you'll deal double damage to enemies that are within Storm Blade's initial swipe.

Weapons

The beautiful thing about Storm Blade is that this Ash of War can be infused onto almost any sword, which includes the Dexterity-based Katanas from our earlier build.

Storm Blade works on the Uchigatana or the Nagakiba, daggers such as the Misericorde or Erdsteel Dagger, or even greatswords like the Claymore or Flamberge.

Pick a weapon that you enjoy and also has good scaling with Dexterity.

Although most of your damage will be coming from Storm Blade, it's good to be comfortable with your weapon's base moveset, as you won't have enough FP to spam Storm Blade early on.

Talismans

This build consumes a bit more FP than the previous builds, so your choice in Talismans is mainly to keep those Storm Blades coming.

Ancestral Spirit Horn and Carian Filigreed Crest will both help immensely with Storm Blade's FP cost.

Shard of Alexander will boost your damage, but you can use Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom until you find Alexander.

Armor

As always, take whatever armor you can that offers maximum protection while still being able to Medium or Light roll.

If you can manage to find the Long-Tongued Imp Head helm, you'll get a bit of extra Dexterity from it, as well as Okina's Mask at the cost of some Focus.

Flask Of Wondrous Physick

Cerulean Hidden Tear can be very helpful on this build as it completely removes FP costs, allowing you to spam Storm Blade at will.

Other than that, Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear for a little extra damage and Greenburst Crystal Tear to keep you from running out of Stamina.