Elden Ring Strength build – How to create Guts' Berserker build

The Souls series and by extension Elden Ring have drawn huge inspiration from the work of the late Kentaro Miura. This is especially evident in its references to the epic story of Berserk and the story it tells of its main character, the Black Swordsman; Guts.

Elden ring players might want to cosplay as the Guts from the Berserk series, as a homage or to pay respects to the death of one of our generation's greatest influences. So today, we have put together a guide on how to create a powerful Guts Berserker build in Elden Ring. 

Elden Ring Guts’ Berserker build - Stats setup

The Guts build is mainly built on top of a strength-focused character, and you'll see why when we delve into the weapon you'll be swinging around. Below are the stats you're going to roughly need at minimum to create your Guts build in Elden Ring.

• Vigor: 36
• Mind: 23
• Endurance: 42
• Strength: 77
• Dexterity: 22
• Intelligence: 12
• Faith: 30
• Arcane: 15

The stats outlined above focus mainly on strength as we mentioned, but to account for some of the other weapons you'll be using that are similar to Guts’ abilities, you'll also need a few levels to throw into the Faith and Mind stats. 

Elden Ring Guts build - Weapons and Talismans

To pull off the perfect Elden Ring strength build, you'll need more than just stats; however, you'll need the armour and weapons to match your raw power. Below are the weapons and armour we recommend to bring out your inner Black Swordsman, and how to get them. 

Blaidd's armour 

This is the recommended armour set for its likeness to the Berserker armour, and just for how cool it looks. The set can be obtained once you have completed Rannis Questline. Once you return to Rannis Rise, head outside to find Blaidd wandering on the porch.

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You can then slay him and collect his full armour set, it's worth noting that he is a tough fight so be prepared for it. He will also only drop his entire set once you defeat him after Rannis Questline, defeating him before doing so is not guaranteed to drop the set. 

The set he drops will not contain the helm, however, so to find it, go to Seluvis's Rise. Outside the tower, to the left of the entrance, you will be able to jump up the demolished part of the building and find a corpse that you can loot to collect the helm. 

Maliketh set

This is another set that is reminiscent of the Berserker armour and is more metallic in its look. You must purchase the set from Enia in the Roundtable Hold after defeating Maliketh. 

Greatsword

No Black Swordsman would be complete without wielding their massive hunk of iron that is the Dragon Slayer, or in Elden Ring the Great Sword. To find this monster of a blade, head northwest from the Caelem Ruins Site of Grace and find a lonely caravan standing in the open. 

In the back of the caravan, you will find a chest, and inside the Great Sword that you seek. The blade scales off strength so make sure you have the stats to back up this Demigod slaying weapon.

Crossbow

Last but not least, Guts uses the Repeater Crossbow that fires multiple shots at once. A suitable substitute for this crossbow in the Elden Ring is the Pulley Crossbow which fires three shots consecutively. 

You can find the Pulley Crossbow at the Site of Grace near the Craftsman's Shack just south of Mt. Gelmir. 

Elden Ring Guts’ Berserker strength build - Spells, incantations and Talismans

In addition to the weapons, armour and stats needed to pull off your Guts build, you're also going to need some spells, incantations and talismans to bolster your strength and make you Tarnished to be feared. Below are the ones we recommended spells to round off your build as the Black Swordsman. 

Ash of War: Lion's Claw

This As of War grants you the Heavy affinity, which is a move that is essentially the same as the one used by Guts in the anime. Allowing you to do a front flip, and slam down your massive blade, though it is a slow attack, its power is unmatched. 

To find the Lion's Claw, go to the Fort Gael North Site of Grace and head south to Fort Gael. here you'll have to fight the Lion Guardian, once defeated, it will drop the Ash of War. 

Starscourge Heirloom 

This is a basic Talisman that will grant you an increase in Strength. It can be found in a chest on Fort Gael, just outside the watchtower on the upper section of the fort. 

Ritual Sword talisman 

This Talisman will raise your attack power when your HP is at maximum, granting you bonus strength at the beginning of any fight. You can find it in the Lux Ruins, in a chest, after defeating Demi-Human Queen Gilika. 

Radagon's Soreseal

This talisman will increase a few of your stats when equipped, including vigour, endurance, strength, and dexterity. But has a tradeoff in that you will receive more damage, but what Black Swordsman doesn't take risks right? 

To find it, go to Fort Faroth and loot a corpse when you drop down an opening in the roof and explore the wooden walkways. 

Shard of Alexander

The last talisman will boost the attack power of your skills by 15%. It can be obtained when completing Iron Fist Alexander's Questline.

Golden vow

This incantation lasts for 80 seconds and grants you an increase in both attack and defence. You can find it in the Corpse-Stench Shack in Mt. Gelmir. 

Flame, Grant Me Strength

This incantation grants you an increase in physical and fire-affinity attack damage once cast. It can be found behind Fort Gael on a corpse between two of the moveable flamethrowers.

Flask of Wondrous Physick (Strength-knot Crystal Tear and Stonebarb 

Cracked Tear)

Using the Flask of Wondrous Physick you can combine the Strength-knot Crystal Tear, giving you an increase in strength. And the Stonebarb Cracked Tear, giving you an increased chance to break enemy stances. 

The Flask of Wondrous Physick is found at the Third Church of Marika Site of Grace, lying on the ground in front of the statue. The Strength-knot Crystal Tear is found in Stormhill, just northeast of the Stormhill Shack. And the Stonebarb Cracked Tear can be obtained when you slay the Putrid Avatar near the second Minor Erdtree in Caelid. 

Godrick's Great Rune

This Rune will increase all attributes of your build, giving you an overall boost to your stats including your strength. You can obtain it after defeating Godrick the Grafted in Stormveil Castle. 

How to play Guts’ Berserker build in Elden Ring?

Now that you have all the gear, stats and items you need to put together your Guts build, let's look at how you need to play your character to get the best out of it. Since you have a few incarnations and are a strength build, preparing before entering a boss arena is key to dominating any battle.

Before you cross the fog wall, pop your Flask of Wondrous Physick and cast your Flame, Grant Me Strength and Golden Vow incantations. This will give you the increase in strength and poise you need for more or less a minute during the opening phase of the fight, which is plenty of time when you're dealing as much damage as you will be. 

After that, you're all set to put the ultimate smackdown on your enemies and tear through their health pool at an insane rate. But be aware that you can still eat quite a bit of damage since your attacks are slower, but if you can account for that, you'll be the most deadly warrior on the field.

So there you have it, a step-by-step guide to creating a powerful Guts Berserker build in Elden Ring. Enjoy, Tarnished!

For more on the game, head over to our section dedicated to the latest Elden Ring news, guides, tips and more. 

Featured image courtesy of Twitter / dree_the_tree.