Best Elden Ring Samurai Build (2024)

How to Play a Samurai Build in Elden Ring

Being a perfect balance between speed and damage, the Elden Ring Samurai build has it all.

It’s one of the most well-balanced builds you can go for, which gives you multiple options to extend the build towards your preferences.

In this guide, we will be discussing its strengths, weaknesses, how to level, best weapons, best skills, best armor, best talismans, and best summons.

To see other Dexterity options, check out our Best Elden Ring Dexterity build guide.

Pros

• Strong passive damage with almost every Katana having Bleed buildup on it to trigger hemorrhage.
• Good speed and damage in combination while not subjecting yourself to too much danger.

Cons

• Katana’s best value comes out when 2handing them. This means you will not be wielding a shield, which in terms gives you a lot less defensive capabilities.
• Katanas all have a very similar moveset, which means for some people this can become boring.
• With very limited weapons available, a lot of them have different weapon requirements, which means once you start investing in a specific weapon, it’s hard to switch to another.

How to Level Attributes

There are 2 main level paths we can go, 1 is intended if you plan on going the Moonveil or the Meteoric Ore Blade, while the other is intended for the rest. First, let’s do the one that is for all other Katanas. Do keep in mind we start as the Samurai Class.

Default Samurai Level Path

	Starting Stats	Lv25	Lv50	Lv100	Lv150
Vigor	12	15	25	40	40
Endurance	13	13	20	23	30
Strength	12	18	18	18	18
Dexterity	15	22	30	50	66
Mind	11	11	11	11	11
Intelligence	9	9	9	9	9
Faith	8	8	8	8	8
Arcane	8	8	8	20	47

The first checkpoint, LV25 will have us investing in both Strength and Dexterity. This will allow us to wield the Nagakiba if you want, and almost any other Katana. After reaching 22 Dexterity we start putting more stats into Vigor to get that to 25 for now.

Once we reach the Second Checkpoint, LV 50, we will have a lot more Vigor and Endurance which will allow us to more easily manage our resources. The rest of the stats we will invest into Dexterity allowing us to increase our damage even more.

Checkpoint 3, LV 100, is where we start heavily investing in damage, getting our Dexterity up to 50, and starting our leveling of Arcane. Arcane is good to level with Katanas because it increases the amount of blood buildup your weapons will do. We also get vigor to 40, where we will keep it for the rest of the run.

For the final Checkpoint, LV150, we will take Endurance up to 30, level Dexterity up to 66, and level Arcane up to 47. We stop leveling Dexterity at 66 because once you Dual Wield your Katana it increases its efficiency by 1.5.

Magic Samurai Level Path

	Starting Stats	Lv25	Lv50	Lv100	Lv150
Vigor	12	20	23	40	40
Endurance	13	14	20	20	20
Strength	12	12	12	12	12
Dexterity	15	22	22	30	40
Mind	11	11	11	20	21
Intelligence	9	9	25	41	80
Faith	8	8	8	8	8
Arcane	8	8	8	8	8

For Checkpoint 1, LV25, we will mostly invest like the standard build, except we don’t put stats into Strength, if you want to wield the Meteoric Ore Blade you can take it up to 15, but we take the Moonveil in mind for this. Take Dexterity up to 22 and leave it there for now.

Checkpoint 2, LV50, is where we heavily change things. We want to take Intelligence up to 25, you need 23 to wield the Moonveil and 18 for the Meteoric Ore Blade. Aside from that, we take Endurance up to 20 to make stamina management easier.

For Checkpoint 3, LV100, we will pull Intelligence above 40 because Moonveil scales the most on Intelligence. We also want to take mind up to minimally 20, because at this point we start using the Weapon art a lot, prioritize this if you have FP problems. Take Dexterity to 30 and Vigor to 40 like before cause this is the prime place for it to be.

For the final Checkpoint, LV150, we take Intelligence to 80, this is where it has its max value. We also take Dexterity to 40 for Max Damage, this should leave you with a single level, which I put into Mind.

Weapons

Uchigatana

With our starting class being the Samurai you start with this weapon, which makes it all the more surprising it’s one of the best weapons in Elden Ring. It has amazing scaling once you put either Blood or Keen on it. It has great flexibility and a very good moveset. The weapon also allows for adding your ash of war. This however is not needed because Unsheathe(the standard weapon art) works very well with this weapon!

• Location: Starting weapon for Samurai, or found inside the Deathtouched Catacombs in Limgrave.
• Required Stats: 11 Strength, 15 Dexterity.

Nagakiba

Nagakiba is one of the longest weapons in Elden Ring. This makes for amazing reach giving it a great advantage over all other Katanas with no direct downside. It is a direct upgrade to the Uchigatana. The only thinkable downside is that you need to kill Yura to obtain it early which means you cannot do his quest.

• Location: Dropped by Bloody Finger Hunter Yura North of Murkwater Cave upon death. It can also be obtained at the end of his quest.
• Required Stats: 18 Strength, 22 Dexterity.

Meteoric Ore Blade

The Meteoric Ore Blade is one of 2 unique Katanas that scale with intelligence. This makes for more of a magical Samurai than the pure Dexterity one. Meteoric Ore Blade has good scaling, a decent weapon art, and can complement an intelligence-based Samurai.

• Location: Caelid Waypoint Ruins found inside a chest at the back of the underground hall.
• Required Stats: Strength 15, Dexterity 14, Intelligence 18.

Moonveil

Moonveil is considered the best Katana for a reason. It has amazing scalings, a very good moveset, one of the best weapon arts in the game, and a full-on powerhouse in both PVE and PVP. The only downside this weapon has is that once you invade somebody and kill them, they will be very pissed off.

• Location: Obtained upon defeating Magma Wyrm in the Gael Tunnel in Caelid.
• Required Stats: 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, 23 Intelligence.

Rivers of Blood

One of the hardest nerfed weapons in Elden Ring, and for a good reason is Rivers of Blood. This was mostly due to it having the best weapon art in the game, fittingly named: Corpse Piler. This weapon is still amazing, just not on the same level it used to be. This weapon still has the best Bleed application in the whole game. You sadly only find this weapon very late game.

• Location: Dropped by Bloody Finger Okina in the Church of Repose found on the Mountaintops of the Giants.
• Required Stats: 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, 20 Arcane.

Dragonscale Blade

My personal favorite for its very unique Weapon art. The Dragonscale Blade is the only Katana that does Lightning damage and Frostbite damage. this makes for an amazing weapon even after receiving some minor nerfs. Having very good scaling and a great move set, the only downside is that it’s found in one of the worst areas of the game.

• Location: Dropped by the Dragonkin Soldier in the Lake of Rot
• Required Stats: 12 Strength, 20 Dexterity.

Honorable Mentions

With only a few options as Katanas, there are only 2 outliers for weapons that feel weaker than the competition. Hand of Malenia’s weapon art is very risky and not great, while requiring heavy investment, and dropping from one of the final bosses. Serpentbone Blade on the other hand is very unique in being one of the only weapons that applies poison. Sadly poison is not a very good debuff which makes the Serpentbone Blade despite it being unique very niche.

• Hand of Malenia
• Serpentbone Blade

LV 25	LV 50	LV 100
Uchigatana	Moonveil	Dragonscale Blade
Nagakiba	Meteoric Ore Blade	Rivers of Blood
	Serpentbone Blade	Hand of Malenia

Skills

Sadly most katanas have their own Ash of War making it impossible to add skills to them, however, for the ones that do here are some listed below.

Piercing Fang

This Ash of War makes for a great offensive tool for a lonesome enemy. It’s a piercing attack that cannot be blocked dealing great damage which often is guaranteed or needs to be dodged. This makes it a great tool into shielded enemies.

• Location: Piercing Fang is found on the Nagakiba and can be stripped off it by Smithing Master Hewg. though it already works great on the Nagakiba.

Unsheethe

Unsheethe is an Ash of War with 2 attacks, a normal slash, or a heavy overhead. both do amazing damage and great guard damage as well making it great for guard breaking. This is the standard ash of war for the Uchigatana which is its greatest Ash of War.

• Location: Dropped by a Teardrop Scarab Southeast of Agheel Lake.

Spinning Slash

Spinning slash deals amazing AOE damage to groups of enemies. This is considered the best Ash of War to use on the Nagakiba due to its amazing range, effectively deleting groups of enemies easily.

• Location: Sold by Knight Bernahl at the Warmaster’s Shack

Seppuku

Seppuku is amazing for making bleed weapons even better. Often used outside of Katana’s, it’s still great to use with them. Upon use it grants the blood effect for 60 seconds in exchange for some HP

• Location: Northeast of the Mountaintop of the Giants at the Freezing Lake Site

Armor

With a limited amount of fitting armor, this section is a bit shorter than usual. It however boasts the Okina mask which boosts your Dexterity, and the White mask which boosts your damage after bleeding an enemy.

Land of Reeds Set

• Location: Starting armor for Samurai, or sold by the Isolated Merchant’s Shack in the North of Caelid in the Dragonbarrow section.

White Reed Set + Okina Mask

• Location: The armor can be found in the Spiritcaller’s Cave on a corpse on the Mountaintops of the Giants. The Okina Mask drops from defeating Bloody Finger Okina at the Church of Repose in the same area.

Ronin’s Set

• Location: Obtained by killing Yura once Shabiri has taken over his body in the Mountaintops of the Giants.

Briar Set

• Location: Purchased from Enia in the Roundtable Hold after defeating Elemer of the Briar in The Shaded Castle at Altus Plateau.

White Mask

• Location: Dropped by killing one of three Nameless White Mask NPC invades inside the Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum area.

Best Talismans

Even with its more limited weapon arsenal, some talismans complement the builds well!

Radagon’s Soreseal

Greatly raises attributes at the cost of increased damage taken.

• Location: Found on a corpse in Fort Faroth

Stargazer Heirloom

Increases your Intelligence by 5. Only use with Moonveil or the Meteoric Ore Blade.

• Location: Found on a body on top of the Divine Tower of Liurnia.

Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom

Increases your Dexterity by 5

• Location: After finishing the sidequest given by Cowry in Caelid, return to Millicent to receive the talisman.

Shard of Alexander

Boosts the attack power of Skills by 15%.

• Location: Drops upon completing Iron Fist Alexander his questline.

Lightning Scorpion Charm

Increases your Lightning Damage by 12% but increases your Physical Damage taken by 10%. Only use this in combination with the Dragonscale Blade

• Location: Found in the Wyndham Catacombs sealed behind an Imp Statue which requires a Stonesword Key

Rotten Winged Sword Insignia

Increases damage with successive attacks up to 13%

• Location: Given to you by Millicent after helping her defeat her sisters.

Lord of Blood’s Exultation

Raise your Attack power by 20% after Blood loss occurs around you.

• Location: Drops from Esgar, Priest of Blood in Leyndell Catacombs.

Consumables and Flask Distribution

The flask distribution depends on the weapon you are using. If you use either Rivers of Blood, Dragonscale Blade, Moonveil, or Serpentbone Blade I would highly recommend running at least 2 Flasks of Cerulean Tears for their Ash of War. Otherwise, you can forgo that and run either 1 or 0, fully investing in healing.

Summons

Because as a Samurai we are up in the enemy’s face a lot, we can have ranged summons to support us or buff us improving our gameplay.

Latenna the Albinauric

A heavily underrated summon, Latenna can deal massive damage from the back of an arena as long as she is not interrupted or focused. She is not good in multi-boss fights because of this. However, when you face a single boss, she can almost solo it as long as you keep it off her.

• Location: Latenna gives you her ashes once you start her questline by talking to Albus in the Village of the Albinourics and visit her afterward in the Lakeside Crystal Cave after the boss.

Mimic Tear

Even though Mimic Tear has been nerfed into the floor, its viability with bleed builds is still a massive plus. It makes for a super easy time to get Hemorrhage damage on the enemy, dealing massive damage.

• Location: Locked behind an Imp Stattue requiring a Stonesword Key in the Night’s Sacred Ground in Nokron, Eternal City.

Black Knife Tiché

He is unique in that he has the Deatflame weapon art. This is a max HP scaling burn that also lowers the enemy’s HP. Next to that, he is very aggressive with a decent amount of HP. He is considered the best summon in the game. Even for Samurai, this debuff can be insanely useful.

• Location: Dropped from Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader upon defeating him inside the Ringleader Evergaol. This can only be accessed upon completing Ranni’s quest in the south of Liurnia.

Perfumer Tricia

Though Tricia is not very strong as a frontline, she has very good buffs she will apply to you, next to that she does have amazing zoning making it harder for you to be attacked.

• Location: Rewarded for defeating Perfumer Tricia and Misbegotten Warrior in Unsightly Catacombs on the Altus Plateau.