Best Poison build in Elden Ring

A slow, worrisome death is not usually what you expect to kill a boss in Elden Ring, but poison builds can be excellent and even efficient ways to cheese out difficult bosses.

This guide is going to also touch on Rot, the stronger version of Poison in Elden Ring. While there are significantly fewer Rot synergies compared to Poison, you can still use it to deal more significant damage to a boss.

Best stats for a Poison build in Elden Ring

If a weapon scales with Arcane, it boosts the scaling of the weapon’s innate Poison. We’re going to want a healthy amount of Arcane while also giving enough Dexterity or Strength to deal good physical damage. For this purpose, we start as a Bandit—though most starting classes can get to this point without an issue. This build is also designed around level 120, though higher levels simply pump similar stats.

• Vigor: 40
• Mind: 25
• Endurance: 15
• Strength: 10
• Dexterity: 32
• Intelligence: Nine
• Faith: Eight
• Arcane: 60

Poison scales off of Arcane, as long as the weapon or Seal you use to apply the poison has arcane scaling. 60 is Arcane’s soft cap, making it a pretty good point to stop. 40 Vigor is similarly around where every point of Vigor gives diminishing returns compared to previous levels, so getting there is a great idea.

Then, with a baseline of Bandit, you only have to bump a few other stats. 32 Dexterity lets you use your preferred weapon and most other solid Poison weapons. 25 Mind is to use Weapon Skills since your Poison Weapon is going to want to use its Weapon Skill to cover it in poison. This slightly ups your Poison ticks, making it very easy to actually poison your foes.

A Strength of 10 is just barely what you need for the build, letting you heft your Thrusting Blade. 15 Endurance is just for letting you wear heavier armor, so feel free to drop it lower if you are okay with the hit to Stamina.

Best weapons and gear for a Poison build in Elden Ring

Your primary build for this is going to be the Antspur Rapier. This peculiar thrusting sword applies Rot by default, allowing you to apply Rot and Poison simultaneously with a Poison Affinity. Add in the dual-wield Rapier attack string and you have an excellent way to build stacks of damage over time. In addition, you likely want a ranged option like the Scorpion Bow to deal poison damage from afar, cheesing enemies, or drawing aggro safely.

The Antspur Rapier is obtained via fighting the Invader, Maleigh Marais, Shaded Castle Castellan, to the west of the Shaded Castle. It’s one of the few weapons in Elden Ring with innate Rot on it as well as the ability to add an Ash of War to it. Add Poison Mist and you’ve got yourself a very good Poisonous weapon that can simultaneously apply a more damning variant. Just make sure you dual-wield another Poison Rapier so you can get the very quick triple-thrust attack that makes the Antspur Rapier able to apply its poison extremely efficiently. Another Antspur Rapier is optimal for this, but that requires you to play New Game Plus. Any other Thrusting Sword works in this slot, as long as it has the Poison affinity.

Since we don’t have any Faith in this build, getting a valid ranged option is a smart idea. The Serpent Bow is the only Bow that scales off of Arcane and provides a small poison effect to any Arrow you fire. Overall, this lets you cheese bosses without even getting close to them. Alongside Rot Arrows, you can very easily apply very high damage over time to any foe at any range.

Best armor for a Poison build in Elden Ring

There aren’t any specific body armor pieces that work best for a poison build, so wear what you like. For helms, the Silver Tear Mask or Mushroom Crown are must-have items to improve your ability to quickly burn through health bars.

The Silver Tear Mask grants a massive plus-eight to Arcane, at the cost of some physical attack damage. For most bosses this is a great trade, letting you apply Poison and Rot in one or two fewer hits. You essentially get it for free once you reach Nokron since it’s a reward for killing the Mimic Tear boss.

However, if the boss you’re fighting is weak to Poison or Rot, then the Mushroom Crown is great. This grants a 10 percent bonus to damage when something gets afflicted with your Poison. If the boss is consistently getting poisoned, this 10 percent bonus is one of the easier things to keep online. However, you have to traverse the Lake of Rot to get this item, which is annoying at best.

Best Talismans for a Poison build in Elden Ring

You don’t get too many Talismans for a Poison build but can make great use of one of the strongest Talismans in the game. The following can make you deal fantastic damage while poisoning your foes:

• Kindred of Rot’s Exultation: This 20 percent damage boost is essentially permanent for someone like you. Get it from the Seethewater Cave boss fight.
• Erdtree’s Favor +2: This is probably the best defensive item you can ask for here. The extra Stamina and Health are useful for you. Though, you’ll need to clear part of the Ashen Capital to get this.
• Green Turtle Talisman: Being able to weave in and out of your foes is great when you’re poisoning them. The Green Turtle Talisman works great for this role. And you can get it quite early in Limgrave.
• Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: Because you’re power-stancing Rapiers, you get a lot of benefits out of multi-hits. This Talisman becomes more and more useful as your foes get more and more resistant to Rot or Poison. Malenia, for instance, can be annoying without this damage boost.

Alternatively, you can replace an offensive Talisman with a Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman for the 20 percent physical defense boost. We found this to be a bit overkill in most cases, but certainly helped us during the slog against Malenia.