Elden Ring Star Fist Build Guide – Howling Star Fist

In this Elden Ring Dexterity Fist Build Guide, I’m presenting my Howling Starf Fst build. This is a level 150 build focused on Fists, combining Bleeding and Beast’s Roar for powerful results. This build is designed to utilize fast-paced combat with a heavy emphasis on Dexterity, while also leveraging status effects and special abilities to maximize damage output.

Elden Ring Star Fist Build Guide – Howling Starfist

A Dexterity Build that uses Fists to set Bleeding and to range down enemies with Beast’s Roar.

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Elden Ring Star Fist Build Guide – Equipment

Let’s start by discussing Fists in general. Many players have asked for a build focusing on fist weapons, but I was hesitant. Fist weapons have a shorter reach compared to most other weapon types, often leading to missed attacks even when you believe you’re in range to strike. This limitation makes fist builds challenging, as you have to be right up against an enemy to land hits.

Despite these challenges, I’ve found a balanced approach with this build and want to share how to make fists work while addressing their range-related weaknesses. The key here is to use Beast’s Roar as the Ash of War for the Star Fist.

The reason behind this choice is to compensate for the lack of range inherent in fist weapons. Beast’s Roar provides an effective long-range option, with good tracking and fast projectile speed, allowing you to engage enemies from a distance. This helps mitigate the disadvantage of fist weapons and adds versatility to your combat style.

If you’re struggling with the limited range of fist weapons, consider adding an Ash of War that provides a ranged attack like Beast’s Roar, or supplementing your build with a bow or crossbow that scales with Dexterity or Strength. This additional range gives you flexibility and helps cover the gaps in fist weapons’ reach, allowing you to engage enemies more effectively at various distances.

I chose the Star Fist for this build because it has innate Bleeding, which can be amplified with Bloodflame Blade to increase bleed buildup. Additionally, the Star Fist has a powerful R2 attack. Unlike other fist weapons that use a one-two punch, the Star Fist’s R2 raises both fists and strikes simultaneously, delivering a double hit. This not only causes significant damage but also boosts bleed buildup by hitting twice, making it more likely to trigger Hemorrhage quickly. This combination of intrinsic Bleeding and a strong R2 attack makes the Star Fist an ideal choice for a bleed-focused build.

When testing different fist weapons with the Keen affinity, I found that most had a B scaling in Dexterity, offering similar results. The Star Fist stood out because it has intrinsic bleeding, which is valuable for this build.

Choosing Keen is important because Beast’s Roar, the Ash of War, scales with Dexterity. This means the damage depends on the weapon’s level and your Dexterity stat. The Keen affinity ensures Beast’s Roar deals optimal damage. With the Star Fist’s innate bleed and Keen’s Dexterity scaling, you get a potent combination of high damage and consistent bleed buildup. This makes the Star Fist the ideal choice for this build.

The seal I’m using for this Star Fist build is the Frenzied Flame Seal. I don’t have it upgraded, but you could do so to increase the fire damage dealt by this build. However, you won’t get much additional damage from upgrades since this build doesn’t have points in Faith. You’d get a few extra points of fire damage, but it’s not necessary. One of the reasons I like this seal, aside from its ability to boost fire damage, is that it has no weight, adding nothing to your equip load. You could use another seal for similar reasons, but the Frenzied Flame Seal offers the advantage of being weightless.

The Highland Axe is also part of this build, and it increases roar damage. Since we’re using Beast’s Roar, the Highland Axe gives about a 7.5% boost to its damage. What’s great about fists is that even though you’re dual-wielding them, you can still get the passive benefit from the Highland Axe in your left hand without having to actively use it. This allows you to gain the roar damage bonus while continuing to dual-wield fists.

Regarding armor, I use the White Mask because this build sets bleeding fairly often, granting a 10% attack power boost when it occurs. It might not trigger constantly, but it provides a good attack power increase when it does. Beyond the White Mask, focus on armor with high poise.

This is important because you’re likely to trade blows with short-range weapons or when dual-wielding. High poise helps ensure you can complete your attack combos even while taking hits, allowing you to trigger bleeding or stagger enemies. This build also relies on charged R2 attacks, which can cause stagger, so having high poise helps maintain stability while engaging in close combat.

Elden Ring Star Fist Build Guide – Talisman

For talismans in this Star Fist build, I primarily use Shard of Alexander and Roar Medallion since they both boost the damage of Beast’s Roar, which you’ll use frequently.

Another key talisman is Lord of Blood’s Exultation, which increases attack power by 20% when you set bleeding, ideal for when you’re using Bloodflame Blade or other bleed-inducing abilities. It’s especially useful against bosses vulnerable to bleeding.

The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia is another talisman I use for this build because it increases attack power with successive hits. However, if you’re fighting flying enemies where fists are less effective, consider swapping it for the Ritual Sword Talisman for a 10% boost in attack power when at full health. This switch helps if you rely more on Beast’s Roar and less on direct attacks.

The Axe Talisman is great for this build because it boosts Charged R2 damage. Charged R2s are effective with this build since they hit with both fists, adding to the damage and bleed buildup, and increasing stagger potential. This makes it ideal for high-damage melee attacks.

Finally, the Arrow’s Reach Talisman can extend the range of Beast’s Roar and maintain its damage at longer distances. This is useful if you prefer a longer-range approach with Beast’s Roar or want to ensure your attacks reach distant targets without significant damage drop-off.

Elden Ring Star Fist Build Guide – Spells

For this build, Bloodflame Blade is the key spell. It enhances your attacks with additional bleed buildup. Although your weapons already have innate bleed, buffing with Bloodflame Blade accelerates bleed buildup with each strike. This boost also applies to Beast’s Roar, so if you hit an enemy a couple of times and they back off, hitting them with Beast’s Roar can continue building up their bleed, leading to Hemorrhage. This synergy is powerful because it allows you to trigger Hemorrhage even from a distance if you keep using Beast’s Roar.

Out in the open world, you can pick off enemies with Beast’s Roar to soften them up, then finish with fists. How you engage is flexible, but using charged R2 attacks on regular enemies works well if you can predict their patterns, often resulting in staggers and critical strikes.

In boss fights, your approach will depend on the boss’s behavior. If they are aggressive, you can trade blows with fists due to your high poise. If they play more defensively, Beast’s Roar can keep them at bay. Some bosses mix aggression with distance attacks, like Malenia, so you need to know when to use fists versus when to rely on Beast’s Roar.

Don’t forget to keep Bloodflame Blade active for boosted bleed buildup. This is especially important if the boss moves out of melee range. Consistent buffing ensures that you maintain the pressure, leading to a high likelihood of triggering Hemorrhage and maximizing damage output during fights.

Elden Ring Star Fist Build Guide – Recommended Attributes

For the stats in this Star Fist build, I have 50 Vigor, 25 Mind, 29 Endurance, 12 Strength, 80 Dexterity, 9 Intelligence, 14 Faith, and 10 Arcane.

The 50 Vigor provides enough health to withstand hits, which is crucial for a melee-focused build where you’re likely to trade blows. The high Vigor ensures you can survive while dealing significant damage.

With 25 Mind, you have plenty of FP to use Beast’s Roar and maintain the Bloodflame Blade buff. This might be more than strictly necessary, but it offers flexibility.

The 29 Endurance allows for medium rolling while wearing heavy armor for protection and poise. Since fists are light weapons, you can wear heavier armor without needing extremely high Endurance. However, the extra stamina is useful for rapid attacks and spamming Beast’s Roar.

The build only requires 12 Strength, as it’s primarily focused on Dexterity. At 80 Dexterity, you maximize damage output for both regular attacks and Beast’s Roar, the Ash of War used in this build. The high Dexterity is crucial because it significantly boosts the effectiveness of your melee attacks and the damage from Beast’s Roar.

This build doesn’t require any Intelligence, and the 14 Faith is due to the Confessor starting class. If you’re using a different class, you might have less Faith, which could allow for more points in other critical stats like Dexterity. Arcane is at 10 to meet the requirement for Bloodflame Blade, providing additional bleed buildup.

This stat distribution balances the need for high Dexterity to boost damage while maintaining adequate health, stamina, and FP for a melee-focused build. You can adjust Mind and Endurance to suit your playstyle, but keeping high Dexterity is essential for maximizing this build’s potential.

Elden Ring Star Fist Build Guide – Final Tips

Here’s a final tip for this build: If you’re preparing for a boss fight or any difficult encounter, and you’re using the Flask of Wondrous Physick, I suggest including the Greenburst Crystal Tear for faster stamina recovery. Since you’re frequently spamming Beast’s Roar and dual-wielding attacks, which consume a lot of stamina, you’ll need to recover it quickly to maintain your attack momentum.

Additionally, consider using a Tear that increases poise damage. This can help you break a boss’s poise more efficiently. Remember that while Beast’s Roar doesn’t inherently cause significant poise damage, with enough repeated melee attacks and spamming Beast’s Roar, you can break an enemy’s or boss’s poise and create openings for critical attacks. This combination of quick stamina recovery and increased poise damage can be crucial in tough battles.

This wraps up the Howling Starfist 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.