Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build Guide – Dragonscale Daimyo

Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build Guide – Equipment

In this Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build, I’ve set it up to give you different gameplay options. I’ve equipped a Fire Uchigatana in the left hand and the Jellyfish Shield. What I like to do is use Flaming Strike to buff the Uchigatana, giving it extra fire damage. Meanwhile, with the Dragonscale Blade in the right hand, I can use the Ice Lightning Sword skill for additional lightning damage. This setup creates a visually striking effect, with a flaming sword in one hand and a lightning-infused weapon in the other. It also allows you to dual-wield and get extra damage from both fire and lightning, making it both effective and stylish.

It allows you to get bleed buildup with the off-hand. It allows you to get Frostbite buildup with the right hand. And if you do trigger Frostbite, and for some reason by that point the enemy’s not dead, because you have fire in the left hand, then you can re-trigger Frostbite again. It doesn’t happen that often, but it’s just really a deadly combo. 

You don’t have to stick with fire for your left hand; you could choose other elements. For example, you might opt for lightning and use Lightning Slash, which has a similar animation to Ice Lightning Sword. This setup would give you lightning on both weapons—golden lightning on the left hand and blue lightning on the right. The stat distribution would vary slightly, but it’s a viable alternative. This setup offers flexibility to customize the build to your preferred visual aesthetic or elemental damage type while still providing strong damage potential.

The Jellyfish Shield provides not only the ability to perform block counters but also the unique Contagious Fury skill. When you activate Contagious Fury after buffing with Ice Lightning Sword, your attack rating jumps to 908 with our current stats. That’s an incredible boost for a one-handed weapon that strikes quickly and is lightweight. The Jellyfish Shield allows you to block and counter when needed while still maintaining high damage output.

If you need to rebuff, simply two-hand the Dragonscale Blade, use Ice Lightning Sword to reapply the buff, and then switch back to your shield to use Contagious Fury. This setup creates a dynamic combat flow, allowing you to maintain high offensive pressure while also benefiting from the defensive capabilities of the shield. It’s a powerful combination that allows you to dish out substantial damage without sacrificing versatility.

The Jellyfish Shield is a greatshield, which helps deflect enemies, giving you more opportunities for block counters. While its guard boost isn’t exceptionally high, you can still perform block counters on individual enemies with relative ease. It’s a useful way to get extra damage while adding versatility to your combat approach.

It also allows you to choose different combat styles based on your preference and the situation. You can wield the Dragonscale Blade one-handed with the shield, dual-wield with the Fire Uchigatana, or two-hand the Dragonscale Blade for a stronger buff. This flexibility is a significant advantage of the build, letting you switch between offensive and defensive tactics depending on the encounter.

In this Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build, I’m using the Okina Mask for its samurai-inspired look and its bonus of three extra Dexterity points, which is always useful. For the rest of the armor, I’m using the Blaidd’s Armor Set. I’ve customized the chest piece, so it doesn’t have the large flowing cloak, giving it a sleeker appearance that feels like a blend between a knight and a samurai. This unique aesthetic sets it apart, and I personally like the style.

A significant benefit of this setup is that it provides 56 poise, allowing you to withstand most attacks without getting knocked down. This is crucial for this dual-wielding build since you often have to trade hits while building up your attack power through repeated strikes. When using the Ice Lightning Sword skill, there’s no hyper armor during the animation, so if you take a hit, you can be interrupted. With a poise level above 51, you’re more likely to remain standing, making it easier to use Ice Lightning Sword without being staggered. This level of poise helps maintain your offensive momentum and is critical for the build’s success.

Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build Guide – Talismans

When it comes to my talismans, I have Shard of Alexander to increase the damage of Flaming Strike and Ice Lightning Sword.

I have Millicent’s Prosthesis to give me five more Dexterity because this is a quality build, and also to increase our damage as we attack repeatedly. This doesn’t matter whether you’re single-handing or dual-wielding. It’s effective either way.

Then I have Rotten Winged Sword insignia to further increase the damage as we attack rapidly. If you don’t have this one, you can use Winged Sword insignia. Both are very good.

And then your fourth spot is kind of your flex spot. Here, I like to use the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman to give me extra protection, but sometimes you can put the Claw Talisman on if you’re doing jump attacks, or you can put on the Curved Sword Talisman if you find yourself doing block counters.

You can put the Ritual Sword Talisman on if you want more damage and you’re not getting hit, depending on your play style. I tend to be hyper-aggressive, so my health’s always going down and up and stuff from potioning and getting hit. Especially with high poise, you can tank through a lot of hits, so I just want to kill things quickly. But depending on how you play, there are a lot of things you can use there.

I recommend using the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, but there are a lot of options you could use. I don’t recommend using the Lightning Scorpion Charm here, even if you’re using like a lightning offhand weapon with the Uchigatana, because you simply don’t do that much lightning damage. Most of your damage is physical, so taking that increased damage for like a 5% increase in damage, or like 40 to 50 more lightning damage, or not even that much probably, like 30, isn’t even worth it in my opinion. So I wouldn’t recommend using those for this build.

Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build Guide – Gameplay

The playstyle for this Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build offers a lot of flexibility in terms of how you approach combat. I prefer dual-wielding against larger bosses that aren’t prone to quick movements, allowing you to unleash rapid attacks without worrying about missing. Depending on the enemy you’re facing, block counters with the Jellyfish Shield can also be very effective, especially when you use Contagious Fury to boost your attack rating. This buff can bring your attack rating up to 908, which is incredibly strong and nearly as effective as dual-wielding with a one-handed weapon.

Katanas don’t always have the best dual-wield movesets compared to other weapon types like curved swords or straight swords, where the attacks align more often. Despite this, dual-wielding with katanas can be a lot of fun, especially when you add contrasting buffs to each weapon. You also have the option to two-hand a katana for extra damage, but I find that Dragonscale Blade is relatively short. For two-handed play, a longer katana like the Hand of Malenia or Nagakiba can be more effective due to their extended reach, allowing you to hit targets more reliably.

With dual-wielding katanas, you can “blender” smaller enemies up close, which is effective, but the shorter reach of some katanas might require you to get in tight. Overall, the build provides various ways to adapt your combat approach, whether you prefer dual-wielding, single-handing, or two-handing, depending on the scenario and your personal playstyle.

This build doesn’t incorporate any spells. While some people have asked if I would use dragon incantations, I don’t think they fit with this weapon. The Dragonscale Blade has its own built-in buff, and you can’t apply other buffs to it. Plus, it’s effectively a quality weapon, with both Dexterity and Strength scaling. However, after reaching 50 points in Dexterity, the scaling becomes quite poor; you’d gain only about 13 points of damage by increasing Dexterity from 50 to 80. In fact, after a certain point, Strength provides better scaling for this weapon.

That’s why I also use the Fire Uchigatana in this build, as it pairs well with Strength. Fire-based weapons typically scale better with Strength, which complements the Dragonscale Blade, creating a good balance between fire and lightning damage. The setup with the Fire Uchigatana and Dragonscale Blade gives you versatility, allowing you to capitalize on both Dexterity and Strength scaling without over-investing in Dexterity for diminishing returns.

However, I do want to mention that if at the end of NG+, or even moving into NG+ Plus, you could add Faith to this build and swap the fire weapon to like Flame Art, and give yourself Golden Vow and Flame, Grant me Strength to further boost your damage. Again, most of your damage is physical. And that would give you increased defenses and a way to boost your damage further because you’re kind of starting to cap out a little bit at your damage attributes.

Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build Guide – Recommended Attributes Distribution

Speaking of attributes, we have 50 Vigor, 20 Mind, 30 Endurance, 60 Strength, 60 Dexterity, 16 Intelligence, 7 Faith, and 9 Arcane. Note that you don’t need those last three (Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane) for this build—I started as an Astrologer, so these stats were carried over from that starting class. 

Vigor at 50 provides a solid base for health, giving you about 40% physical resistance, which is adequate for mid-to-high-level play. If you’re in NG+, consider raising Vigor to 60 for more survivability during tougher encounters.

Mind at 20 offers enough FP for skills like Ice Lightning Sword, which costs only 25 FP for a 45-second buff. This should be sufficient, but if you use more FP-heavy skills or want more flexibility, aim for 25 or 30 Mind to avoid running out during combat.

Endurance at 30 supports a medium roll with your current armor, talismans, dual-wielded swords, and a shield. This level of Endurance also ensures you have enough stamina for frequent dodging or heavy attack sequences. If you reduce your equipment load by dropping the shield or one of the katanas, you could decrease Endurance. However, extra stamina is always useful.

Strength and Dexterity are both set at 60. This balances the scaling between the Dragonscale Blade and the Fire Uchigatana. The Dragonscale Blade’s Dexterity scaling diminishes after 50, with a minimal gain from 50 to 80. In contrast, Strength scaling provides better returns, particularly for the Fire Uchigatana, which benefits from more Strength. If you’re leveling in NG+, aim to increase Strength to 80 first, as it could yield higher damage for both weapons. The 60/60 setup provides a balanced approach with more reliable damage than a pure Dexterity build.

Looking ahead, focus on increasing Strength and Dexterity to 80, with Strength likely to offer the best scaling. As you progress, consider boosting Vigor to 60 and Mind to around 25-30 for more FP. Once you hit those targets, consider investing in Faith to access Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength to further boost your damage. However, Faith-based skills are typically for NG++.

A notable aspect of this build is that it doesn’t need to be NG++ focused. While the Dragonscale Blade works well in NG+, it can also be acquired early in the game, providing strong damage due to its 160 Lightning damage bonus. Even if you don’t have high stats, Ice Lightning Sword gives you a solid buff.

This makes the Dragonscale Blade an excellent choice for low-level play, invasions, or co-op, allowing you to deal substantial damage with minimal stat investment. While it excels in the early game, it’s versatile enough to remain effective through NG++ and beyond, making it a great all-around weapon choice.

Elden Ring Dragonscale Blade Build Guide – Final Tips

Here are a couple of tips to enhance this Dragonscale Blade build. If you’re using the Flask of Wondrous Physick, choose the Tear that increases your attack power with successive strikes. Since you attack quickly with this build—whether dual-wielding or single-handing—the boost to your damage can be significant over time. It complements the rapid attack pace of the Dragonscale Blade.

For your Great Rune, Radahn’s Great Rune is a strong choice for this build. It provides bonuses to FP, stamina, and health, which are valuable for sustaining combat. Given that this build isn’t particularly stat-hungry, you don’t need to focus on extensive leveling. The extra FP helps with buffing and skill usage, the additional stamina allows for more attacks and dodges, and the health boost increases survivability.

This build likely reaches its optimal point by NG++ or thereabouts, especially if you follow the suggested Faith route for extra buffs like Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength. Beyond that, the build may become less effective, as further stat increases offer diminishing returns. The additional resources from Radahn’s Great Rune will be more beneficial than raw stat boosts in the long run.

That wraps up our Dragonscale Daimyo build. As always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming for Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree so stay tuned for those. If you need help finding the spells, items, or equipment in this build, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check the Elden Ring Map.