While Elden Ring doesn’t feature a dedicated Archer class, the game gives you several tools to make different Archer builds. Archery can be tough, as the scaling for most bows in the game is very poor. However, there are ways you can still make a viable Archer that can let you become Elden Lord.
In this guide, we’ll go over two strong Archer Builds in Elden Ring: a traditional Pure Archer build and a Bloody Archer build that combines the excitement of bleed builds with the novelty of ranged combat. Below, we’ve covered everything from the basic stats and weapon setup to the best Spirit Summons and Talisman.
Elden Ring Archer Only Build Overview
The Pure Archer build is about landing the most consistent shots while maximizing your bows’ potential through your stats, Incantations, Wondrous Flask, and Talismans. The Ashes of War that you’ll use on both bows are the bread and butter of this build.
- Class: Samurai
- Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio of HP and FP
- Stats: Strength and Dexterity (primary), Vigor, Endurance, and Faith (secondary)
- Weapons: Uchigatana, Albinauric Bow, and Black Bow
- Ash of War: Mighty Shot and Barrage
- Incantations: Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength
- Spirit Summons: Lhutel the Headless or Black Knife Tiche
- Armor: Black Knife Set or General Radahn Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Thorny Cracked Tear and Opaline Hardtear
- Talisman: Arrow’s Reach Talisman, Arrow’s Sting Talisman, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, and Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
Elden Ring Bloody Archer Build Overview
The Bloody Archer build leverages the Barrage Ash of War to inflict your targets with the blood loss status effect. This build is fairly similar to the previous one regarding stat point distribution, incantations, and Flasks, but overall, it has the potential to be much stronger.
- Class: Samurai
- Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio of HP and FP
- Stats: Strength and Dexterity (primary), Vigor, Endurance, and Faith (secondary)
- Weapons: Black Bow and Uchigatana
- Ash of War: Barrage
- Incantations: Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength
- Spirit Summons: Dung Eater Puppet
- Armor: Black Knife Set or General Radahn Set (with White Mask)
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Greenburst Crystal Tear and Opaline Hardtear
- Talisman: Arrow’s Reach Talisman, Arrow’s Sting Talisman, Ritual Swords Talisman and Shard of Alexander
Best Stats Choices
Archer Build Stats at level 60
| Stat | Pure Archer | Bloody Archer |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 25 | 25 |
| Mind | 11 | 11 |
| Dexterity | 25 | 25 |
| Strength | 27 | 27 |
| Endurance | 16 | 16 |
| Vigor | 18 | 18 |
| Intelligence | 9 | 9 |
| Arcane | 8 | 8 |
Stats at level 100
| Stat | Pure Archer | Bloody Archer |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 27 | 27 |
| Mind | 11 | 11 |
| Dexterity | 37 | 37 |
| Strength | 38 | 38 |
| Endurance | 23 | 23 |
| Vigor | 26 | 26 |
| Intelligence | 9 | 9 |
| Arcane | 8 | 8 |
Stats at level 150
| Stat | Pure Archer | Bloody Archer |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 29 | 29 |
| Mind | 11 | 11 |
| Dexterity | 46 | 46 |
| Strength | 47 | 47 |
| Endurance | 38 | 38 |
| Vigor | 41 | 41 |
| Intelligence | 9 | 9 |
| Arcane | 8 | 8 |
Best Weapons for Archer Build
Since both these builds are centered around Archery, your main weapons will be bows and arrows, but you’ll also need a melee sword as a backup. Starting with the Samurai build allows us to acquire this setup from the get-go, as this class begins with the Uchigatana and the Longbow.
For the Pure Archery build, these weapons will serve you well for the first few opening hours of the game, but the main weapons of this build are the Albinauric Bow and the Black Bow—these weapons scale with Strength and Dexterity, making them the perfect addition to this build. The Uchigatana is not only an excellent starting weapon, but as you upgrade it, it’ll last you through the end of the game, and like the two bows we’ve mentioned above, this weapon also scales with Strength and Dexterity.
You can forego the Albinauric Bow for the Bloody Archer and stick with only the Black Bow due to its Barrage ability. However, you’ll need to use the Bloodbone Arrow to inflict the blood loss status effect. To craft this arrow type, you’ll need to get the Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook [6]. Additionally, you can use the Samurai Classes Uchigatana here due to its inherent blood loss capabilities.
Best Ashes of War Picks
Talking about the Pure Archery Build, for both the Black Bow and Albinauric Bow, we’ll be using their default Ashes of War. For the former, it’s Barrage; for the latter, it’s Mighty Shot. Barrage lets you fire several arrows quickly, which allows you to get in a lot of damage when you’re engaging an enemy from a close distance.
Mighty Shot, on the other hand, is a charged attack that deals a lot more damage. It takes a while to charge up but is perfect for jumping on your enemies, especially on bosses and singular strong foes. Since the Uchigatana isn’t the build’s focus, you can use whatever Ash of War works best for you.
For the Bloody Archer, you’ll be using the same Black Bow. The Barrage ability that lets you fire off arrows in quick succession when combined with the Bloodborne Arrow, lets you build up the blood loss effect extremely quickly.
Best Incantations
Bows are inherently weak in Elden Ring, and while they scale with the stats we’ve built these builds around, the scaling comes out to D at best. For this reason, both these builds use the incantations we’ve listed below to increase the total damage output.
- Golden Vow: This incantation increases your damage output and defense
- Flame, Grant Me Strength: This incantation raises your standard and fire damage output (the latter isn’t relevant to this build)
Best Spirit Summons Picks
Since these builds are built around ranged combat, you’ll want a Spirit Summon that’s melee-focused. This is mainly to give yourself enough headroom to charge up your shots and maintain a good distance when engaging with bosses. For this reason, you can go with either Black Knife Tiche or Lhutel the Headless. You can also use Dung Eater Puppet, but ONLY for the Bloody Archer build.
- Black Knife Tiche: This Spirit Summon is extremely agile and wields a short blade that does respectable damage. You can unlock Black Knife Tiche by defeating Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader, at the Ringleader’s Evergaol in Liurnia.
- Lhutel the Headless: Unlike Black Knife Tiche, Lhutel the Headless is a tank that works more slowly and has harder-hitting attacks and a much larger health pool. You can pick up these Spirit Ashes by defeating the Cemetery Shade boss at Tombsward Catacombs.
- Dung Eater Puppet: The Dung Eater Puppet works best for the Bloody Archer build as it wields a weapon that inflicts the blood loss status effect. Additionally, this Summon is also as tanky as Lhutel.
Best Armor Choices
Like Shields, Armor isn’t a priority for melee builds as you’ll be engaging your foes from a distance. However, you’ll want something that’s lightweight and provides good damage negation. The best armors for these builds include the Black Knife Set or General Radahn’s Set. The former is better if you want something lightweight, while the latter weighs more.
The Black Knife set can be picked up from under an archway behind Ordina, Liturgical Town in the Consecrated Snowfield area. General Radahn’s Set, on the other hand, can be purchased from Enia for 8,000 Runes at the Round Table Hold after you defeat Starscourge Radahn.
| Stats | General Radahn’s Set | Black Knife Set |
|---|---|---|
| Damage Negation | ||
| Physical | 35.5 | 22.5 |
| Physical (Strike) | 34.9 | 21.6 |
| Physical (Slash) | 29.2 | 24.4 |
| Physical (Pierce) | 33.5 | 24.4 |
| Magic | 26.5 | 17.5 |
| Fire | 27.6 | 18.9 |
| Lightning | 24.9 | 13.5 |
| Holy | 26.5 | 22.5 |
| Resistance | ||
| Immunity | 143 | 65 |
| Robustness | 235 | 108 |
| Focus | 100 | 54 |
| Vitality | 91 | 54 |
| Poise | 72 | 40 |
Best Flask of Wondrous Physick for Archer Build
The Flask of Wondrous Physick allows you to use two temporary buffs in a single-use Flask. For the Archer builds, we recommend the following:
Archer Only Build
- Thorny Cracked Tear: The Thorny Cracked Tear increases the effectiveness and damage of attacks after every successful hit. This is especially useful for the Barrage Ash of War.
- Opaline Hardtear: The Opaline Hardtear reduces all incoming damage, giving you a little more leeway during combat.
Bloody Archer Build
- Greenburst Crystal Tear: Increases your Stamina recovery speed. This is very helpful as the Barrage ability eats into your Stamina fairly quickly.
- Opaline Hardtear: The Opaline Hardtear reduces all incoming damage, giving you a little more leeway during combat.
Best Talismans
Talisman allows you to buff your builds in several ways. There are a total of four Talisman slots that you can unlock and use. For the Archer builds, these are the best Talisman:
Archer Only Build
- Arrow’s Reach Talisman: The Arrow’s Reach Talisman increases the range of several projectiles including long and short bows.
- Arrow’s Sting Talisman: This Talisman raises the damage of arrows and bolts by 10%.
- Flock’s Canvas Talisman: Flocks Canvas Talisman increases the effectiveness of incantations by 8%.
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman: The final Talisman for this build increases your physical defense considerably.
Bloody Archer Build
- Arrow’s Reach Talisman: The Arrow’s Reach Talisman increases the range of several projectiles, including long and short bows.
- Arrow’s Sting Talisman: This Talisman raises the damage of arrows and bolts by 10%.
- Ritual Swords Talisman: Increases your attack power by +10% when your health is full.
- Shard of Alexander: Increases the power of Ash of War abilities by +15%.
