A powerful new weapon introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree is the Sword of Darkness. This new Straight Sword has a strong moveset and a unique Ash of War that can turn the tide of battle in your favor.
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How to get the Sword of Darkness in Elden Ring
The Sword of Darkness is one of the more interesting weapons introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree. The Darkness weapon skill is an intriguing choice for battle, and acquiring the weapon will lead you to follow a unique process.
First, you must acquire the Stone-Sheathed Sword from one of three locations: The Fog Rift Catacombs, the Ruins of Unte, or the Ancient Ruins of Rauh. Once you get the weapon from any of these locations, you can transform it to either the Sword of Light or the Sword of Darkness at any other two altars.
Likewise, if you have the Sword of Light, as shown above, you can transform it into the Sword of Darkness at an altar. Now that you know how to acquire the Sword of Darkness in Elden Ring, we need to work it into a viable build.
The best Sword of Darkness build in Elden Ring
Since the Sword of Darkness scales with three different stats, the build we are working with doesn’t follow the rules of a conventional build. If you’re coming from the base game with a different build, you should respec your character before getting started.
| Build parameters | Requirements |
| Recommended level | 150+ |
| Primary stats | Strength |
| Secondary stats | Dexterity, Faith |
| Weapons | Sword of Darkness Sacrificial Axe |
| Armor | Haligtree Knight Set (optional) Any armor set (maintain medium load) |
| Talismans | Crusade Insignia Ancestral Spirit’s Horn Sacred Scorpion’s Charm Shard of Alexander |
| Weapon skills | Darkness |
| Additional spells | N/A |
The next part of this build showcases an ideal stat distribution to make Sword of Darkness work.
Stat distribution
Since the Sword of Darkness scales with three stats, leveling them up can be tricky. Having 40 Vigor to survive hits and 35 Endurance to support your medium/heavy armor is ideal. For weapon scaling, getting up to 40 Strength, followed by 25 to 35 Dexterity and Faith with maximum weapon upgrades will benefit both of your weapons.
This is what your endgame stats should look like.
- Vigor: 40
- Mind: 15
- Endurance: 35
- Strength: 40
- Dexterity: 25
- Intelligence: Base level
- Faith: 35
- Arcane: Base level
This build should cap out around level 180, which is very possible if you farm runes in the Land of Shadows. Any additional points can go into Faith for more Holy damage, which hits a soft cap at 50, or Strength if you prefer more raw damage instead.
Gear breakdown
Even though there are two weapons in this build, you will use the Sword of Darkness in battle. This weapon requires 14 Strength, 11 Dexterity, and 24 Faith, and scales well with all three stats, dealing physical and holy damage. Its Darkness weapon skill unleashes a wave of Darkness around the caster, dealing holy damage that scales with your Faith stat.
The Sacrificial Axe will be your offhand weapon thanks to its passive ability. You gain four FP every time you kill an enemy, allowing you to use Darkness more effectively. This effect is maintained even if you wield the Sword of Darkness two-handed, so it’s best to keep the Axe on your back in most cases.
Armor is generally the least important part of any build. For more Faith, we recommend equipping the Haligtree Knight Set. As long as you can maintain a medium equip load, feel free to swap out different armor pieces if it suits your build better.
Talisman breakdown
Four talismans work perfectly with a Sword of Darkness build.
The Crusade Insignia is a new talisman introduced in the DLC. This talisman grants you 15 percent bonus damage for 20 seconds every time you defeat an enemy. Since you will kill enemies constantly with Darkness, this effect should almost always be maintained.
The Ancestral Spirit’s Horn restores three FP every time you defeat an enemy. This effect stacks with the Sacrificial Axe, granting you even more FP whenever enemies die in your vicinity.
The Sacred Scorpion Charm Increases your Holy damage output by 12 percent, benefiting your weapon’s Holy damage and the power of Darkness. However, you will also take 10 percent more physical damage from all sources, so be wary.
The Shard of Alexander is the best talisman for any build with a strong Ash of War. This talisman boosts the power of your Darkness by an additional 15 percent, which stacks with the other talismans, granting you tons of FP and bonus damage.
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