Elden Ring, best Poison build, stats, weapons, armor and talismans

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How to play with the Poison version in Elden Ring

Like most games, in Elden Ring Poison is a detrimental effect that, once an enemy is inflicted with it, begins to lose some health for a period of time. Among the effects present in the game, Poison is one of the easiest to set up. However, while we won’t complain about the damage over time caused by this effect, this build focuses on inflicting Poison to trigger the response of the Poison Moth Flight Ashes of War and cause a lot of damage.

To acquire this War Ash, you must defeat the Night Cavalry found at Caelid’s house. There are plenty of field bosses patrolling the main roads in the game. You’ll usually find the one you need on the road to Castle Redman during the night.

If you’re not familiar with the Poison Moth Flight skill, it’s pretty simple. Using it momentarily imbues your weapon with Poison and performs an attack that damages enemies and causes Poison to build up. But, if the enemy is already poisoned, the skill removes the effect and deals damage based on the enemy’s maximum HP. Since the enemy stops being poisoned, you can reapply it to repeat the process. With a simple concept, this build is capable of depleting the enemy’s health bar quite quickly.

Based on this gameplay loop, the Poison version brings together tools that synergize with harmful effects. In Elden Ring, a few pieces of equipment buff you when certain effects are triggered. By using them in this build, poisoning not only becomes your main source of damage, but also increases it as the fight goes on. Alongside this equipment, you can also use secondary effect weapons, like Bleed, which also receive buffs.

However, for this build to work, you need to play aggressively and put pressure on enemies. Harmful effects are triggered after enemies have been hit a certain number of times by attacks of that specific type. For this reason, Poison and Bleed are more likely to trigger using quick attack sequences. So in most fights, you want to take every opportunity you have to land as many shots as possible. This more aggressive – and therefore more dangerous – playstyle pays off since it’s able to kill enemies before you have to worry too much about dodging their most complicated attack sequence.

Elden Ring best Poison build stats

Different from builds focused on a single stat, the Poison build has two to three main stats depending on your goal. For the idea we’re working on here, most of our points will be split between Arcana, dexterity and vigor.

The best starting class in Elden Ring for this build, given the initial stat distribution, is the Bandit. If you want to follow this suggestion, you can do so without much hassle, as it is always possible to respec your character later in the game.

Below, you find the ideal distribution of stats for a level 150 character:

• Vigor:55
• Spirit: 15
• Endurance: 20
• Strength: 20
• Dexterity:51
• Intelligence: 16
• Faith:7
• Esoteric:55

It is possible to allocate a few points from the main stats to secondary stats such as Faith in case you want to use a few incantations to improve your attacks and defense. Even if you do, it’s important to keep Arcane at high numbers, as this is the attribute that determines how quickly harmful effects stack up.

Elden Ring, best poison build weapon

As for weapons, you can use any medium sized sword (curved, thrusting or katanas are also included) or dagger of your choice. We’re limiting the options to just these two weapon types, as they’re the only ones you can infuse Poison Moth’s Ashes of War into. Another aspect that you should consider when choosing your weapon is its speed. To quickly add poison buildup, hitting enemies multiple times is the best strategy.

Because you can’t acquire Poison Moth Flight Ash of War early in the game, the initial weapons you use until you reach Caelid aren’t that important. Consider using a few bloodletting weapons, like the Uchigatana or Nagakiba katanas. The first can be found in the Deahtouched Catacombs in Limgrave, while the second is given as a reward for completing the Bloody Finger Yura quest. You can choose to kill Yura if you want to follow her questline.

If you want to continue using Blood alongside the Poison effect, then you should consider getting the Curved Scavenger Sword near the place of grace called First campsite on Mount Gelmir. It’s not only a great sword for inflicting bleed, but you can also infuse it with war ashes.

Later in the game, you will be able to acquire the Snakebone Blade, a katana you earn by completing quests given by Tanith in Volcano Manor. In addition to being thematically compatible with this build, the Serpentbone Blade has a decent poison buildup rate. However, by choosing this weapon, you are inevitably forced to use another one at the same time as the Poison Moth Flight Ash of War, since you cannot infuse skills into Serpentbone Blade.

Elden Ring best armor build Poison

Since you won’t be spending too many points on Stamina, we’ll have to travel light when playing the Poison version. There is only one mandatory piece of armor that you must use, but you cannot obtain it until you reach the later regions of the game, so you have the option to choose the others according to your preferences.

If you followed our suggestion and started the game as Bandit, you already have a few pieces from a good set called Raptor Set. To find the main parts of the helmet and chest, you need to explore the Cave of the Sage located on the Altus plateau.

Now the only piece you need at the end of the game is the Mushroom crown. This rather special helmet has the effect of improving your attack power each time Poison or Rot is triggered nearby. In other words, you have a constant buff that you activate naturally by simply keeping the gameplay loop this build was designed for.

Our final suggestion is to consider running the Coil Shield with this construction. This is a pretty fun shield to use since it has a skill called Viper bite which can hit enemies far away from you and inflict deadly poison on them, which is a slightly more powerful type of poison. Using this shield to apply Poison is a good introduction to combat as well as a strategy for keeping your buffs available during times when you can’t directly hit enemies. You can find the coil shield in the Volcano Cave at Mt. It’s not coming.

Elden Ring best Poison building talismans

For this build, we are looking for very specific ones to skyrocket your damage. Most of these are late game talismans, so you have to play a large portion of the game without them.

One of the most important talismans in this version is the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation. To acquire this item, you need to explore Seethewater Cave in Mt. Gelmir and defeat the Kindred of Rot boss. This may seem like too much work for just one talisman, but it’s definitely worth it. Kindred of Rot’s Exultation improves your attack power when Poison or Rot effects are triggered nearby, which is the same effect as Mushroom Crown. By having these two items with you, the effects stack, so the buffs become more powerful and your damage even greater.

The second talisman you absolutely want for this build is the Shard of Alexander, which increases the damage of your skills. Since the Poison Moth Flight Ash of War plays a central role in our build, this talisman is extremely important. You can only get this talisman by completing the Iron Fist Alexander questline. After completing it, you will have one of the best talismans in the game.

If you end up keeping weapons that inflict bleed, you might consider using the Exultation of the Blood Lord. This talisman increases the power of your attacks when Bloodloss is triggered nearby. An effect similar to Kindred of Rot’s Exultation. With this talisman you ensure that there is always at least one buff activated. You receive this talisman as a reward for defeating Esgar, Priest of Blood in the Leyndell Catacombs, a dungeon located underground in the capital.

Need help? Return to our Elden Ring boss list or our Elden Ring walkthrough.