Elden Ring Thrusting Sword Build Guide – Crimson Duelist

In this Elden Ring Thrusting Sword Build Guide, I’ll be showing you my Crimson Duelist build. This is a New Game Plus build centered around thrusting swords, parries, and critical attacks. A lot of players have been requesting a duelist-style build that uses thrusting swords and parrying, and in my tests, I found that dual thrusting swords can be incredibly effective.

However, my focus with this build was to use a single thrusting sword and a parrying shield in the offhand, giving you the flexibility to deal damage while also having the option to parry. This setup allows for strong attack potential with the thrusting sword while maintaining the ability to parry for critical strikes. Although dual-wielding thrusting swords is powerful, this build is designed for those who want to balance attack and defense with parrying.

Before diving into the build, I should mention why this is a New Game Plus build. You can play this build at the endgame in a regular playthrough, but it requires the Seppuku Ash of War, which is found about four-fifths of the way through the game. Since Seppuku is a key component of this build, you might not be able to fully set it up until late game.

Additionally, I wanted to challenge myself by creating a duelist build for New Game Plus, proving that it’s possible to play this style at a higher difficulty level. That said, this build can be adapted for endgame in a regular playthrough; this guide just covers the New Game Plus version.

Elden Ring Thrusting Sword Build Guide – Crimson Duelist

An Arcane build that uses Rogier’s Rapier and Sepukku to bleed enemies to death very quickly.

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Elden Ring Thrusting Sword Build Guide – Equipment

Let’s start with the weapon for this Elden Ring Thrusting Sword build. I use Rogier’s Rapier, which you get early in the game from Rogier’s questline. The key reasons I chose this weapon are its high critical rating and unique R2 attack. With a critical rating of 110, this rapier deals more damage from critical hits and backstabs compared to other thrusting swords with lower critical ratings. This is significant when parrying and then following up with critical attacks.

Another feature that sets Rogier’s Rapier apart is its unique R2 attack. It hits twice quickly, allowing you to build up bleed effects faster. When combined with the Blood Infusion and Seppuku, which adds additional bleed to your weapon, this R2 attack can quickly trigger Hemorrhage, often resulting in massive damage to regular enemies and bosses alike.

Regarding the parrying shield, I use the Man-Serpent’s Magic Shield. The small shield is ideal because it has the best parry frames—9 startup frames and 11 active frames—which makes it easier to parry compared to medium shields or other weapons that can parry. The Carian Retaliation Ash of War is also helpful, as it offers a more forgiving parry window while allowing you to parry spells and projectiles without costing FP, except when parrying spells.

For talismans, I use Shard of Alexander and Roar Medallion to boost the damage of Beast’s Roar, a key part of this build. Lord of Blood’s Exultation is great for when you set bleeding on enemies, boosting attack power by 20%. Rotten Winged Sword Insignia is useful when you know you’ll be doing a lot of rapid attacks with your thrusting sword. If you’re using more ranged attacks, consider swapping to the Ritual Sword Talisman for a 10% damage boost when at full health. Axe Talisman, which boosts charged R2 attacks, is also valuable since charged R2s can lead to stagger and critical strikes.

As for spells, Bloodflame Blade is essential because it boosts the bleed buildup on your attacks, enhancing the overall effectiveness of this build. Using this spell can make a significant difference, especially when it also affects Beast’s Roar, allowing you to maintain bleed buildup even from a distance.

In terms of armor, the White Mask is ideal because it boosts attack power by 10% when you set bleeding. Besides that, aim for light armor that allows you to light roll, which helps with mobility. If you want to min-max, the White Mask combined with other light armor pieces will help you stay agile while benefiting from the increased attack power.

These components together create a versatile and powerful build that focuses on thrusting sword attacks, parrying, and critical strikes. Using these tips, you’ll be well-prepared to handle boss fights and challenging encounters.

Elden Ring Thrusting Sword Build Guide – Talismans

Here are six talismans I typically use for this Thrusting Sword build, depending on the scenario. My primary setup consists of Millicent’s Prosthesis, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Lord of Blood’s Exultation, and the Spear Talisman.

Millicent’s Prosthesis and Rotten Winged Sword Insignia both increase your attack power as you land multiple hits in quick succession. If you don’t have Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, you can use the regular Winged Sword Insignia. Since this build is about fast-paced attacks, these two talismans work well together.

The Spear Talisman enhances your counter damage when using a thrusting weapon against an enemy who is mid-attack. Given that the main weapon in this build is a thrusting sword, this talisman can significantly boost your damage, especially during aggressive combat.

Lord of Blood’s Exultation increases your attack power by 20% when you cause a bleed effect, which this build does frequently. Keep this on for almost any fight unless you’re facing bosses or enemies that are immune to bleed.

If you encounter bleed-immune enemies, swap out Lord of Blood’s Exultation for the Dagger Talisman, which increases your damage when landing critical hits after a parry. It’s useful for bosses or enemies where parrying is the key to winning the fight. Additionally, you might consider switching your weapon’s Ash of War from Seppuku to something like Royal Knight’s Resolve, which boosts R2 and charged R2 damage for more straightforward damage against bleed-immune enemies.

Assassin’s Crimson Dagger is another useful talisman, especially if you’re practicing parries or aren’t consistently landing them. It grants health when you land a critical strike, which can be a lifesaver if you miss a parry and take damage. Given the health-flask-heavy setup for this build (12 or more health flasks and only 1 or 2 FP flasks), Assassin’s Crimson Dagger can be a helpful backup.

The build uses Cold scaling on Rogier’s Rapier and a high Arcane stat to maximize bleed buildup. Buffing with Seppuku adds extra bleed damage, allowing you to trigger Hemorrhage quickly, which can devastate most enemies with a single R2 attack. If you’re using the White Mask, the attack power boost from it and Lord of Blood’s Exultation will further increase your damage. With Millicent’s Prosthesis and Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, your attack power can reach impressive levels with just one R2 press, helping you dominate fights even without needing to constantly buff with Seppuku.

Elden Ring Thrusting Sword Build Guide – Recommended Attributes

The attribute spread for this Elden Ring Thrusting Sword build is 60 Vigor, 15 Mind, 30 Endurance, 8 Strength, 22 Dexterity, 16 Intelligence, 7 Faith, and 80 Arcane. This build doesn’t require Strength, Intelligence, or Faith.

The requirement for Rogier’s Rapier is 7 Strength, which is usually met by most starting classes, so the 8 Strength here is fine. I started as an Astrologer, so the Intelligence and Faith aren’t needed for this build.

The high Vigor is crucial because of the light armor and lack of Dragoncrest Greatshield, providing a buffer against high-damage attacks and preventing one-shots. Since this build is aggressive, the extra Vigor is a good idea.

Mind isn’t a priority for this build since Seppuku and Carian Retaliation have low FP costs, so you don’t need a large FP pool. This makes 15 Mind more than enough.

30 Endurance allows you to light roll with the equipment used in this build. If you opt for different or heavier armor, you may need more Endurance to maintain mobility. This stat also gives you a larger stamina pool for attacking and dodging, which is useful given the aggressive playstyle.

22 Dexterity is the minimum required for Rogier’s Rapier, and 17 Dexterity is the base requirement, with an additional 5 Dexterity for Millicent’s Prosthesis. The high Arcane of 80 is necessary for maximizing bleed buildup and damage output. The scaling for Arcane drops off after 80, so further stat increases should be directed toward Dexterity for additional damage.

Elden Ring Thrusting Sword Build Guide – Final Tips

For the Flask of Wondrous Physick, the Thorny Cracked Tear boosts damage with consecutive hits, which pairs well with this build’s rapid attacks. The Greenburst Crystal Tear enhances stamina recovery, allowing you to stay mobile during intense fights where you might need to dodge frequently or make repeated heavy attacks.

Regarding Great Runes, consider Rykard’s Great Rune, which provides HP recovery on enemy kills. This can be especially useful if you’re parrying or playing aggressively, allowing you to regain health without using health flasks. Morgott’s Great Rune is another solid choice because it boosts your maximum HP, offering additional survivability and helping you endure potentially deadly attacks.

That pretty much covers the build details and some final tips to help you get the most out of this Elden Ring 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.