In fantasy, a Paladin is a Holy Knight who brandishes a sword and shield and uses spells to take out their enemies. In Elden Ring, several Paladin classes can be created thanks to the game’s robust suite of customization features and build opportunities.
In this guide, we will look at two Paladin builds for Elden Ring: a tank Paladin build that deals and absorbs tons of damage and a Golden Order Paladin that significantly uses incantations.
Elden Ring Paladin Tank Build Overview
The Paladin Tank Build takes the conventions of the Paladin. It fits them into a Tank build that not only does a respectable amount of damage but can also use incantations to buff themselves in several ways.
- Class: Confessor
- Flask Spread: 3 to 2 ratio of HP to FP
- Stats: Faith, Strength, and Vigor (primary), Endurance and Mind (secondary)
- Weapons: Great Stars
- Shield: Haligtree Crest Greatshield
- Ash of War: Prayerful Strike and Barricade Shield
- Incantations: Golden Vow, Wrath of God, Radagon’s Ring of Light, and Order Healing
- Spirit Summons: Black Knife Tiche or Mimic Tear or Lhutel the Headless or Dung Eater Puppet
- Armor: Haligtree Knight Set or Mausoleum Knight Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Faith-knot Crystal Tearand Crimsonburst Crystal Tear
- Talisman: Shard of Alexander, Great Jars Arsenal, Sacred Scorpion Charm and Green Turtle Talisman
Elden Ring Golden Order Paladin Build Overview
The Golden Order Paladin build is all about being aggressive with your incantations and weapons to deal the most damage possible.
- Class: Confessor
- Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio, HP to FP
- Stats: Faith, Strength, and Vigor (primary), Endurance and Mind (secondary)
- Weapons: Miquellan Knight’s Sword
- Shield: Brass Shield
- Ash of War: Sacred Blade
- Incantations: Golden Vow, Discus of Light, Litany of Proper Death, and Triple Rings of Light
- Spirit Summons: Black Knife Tiche or Mimic Tear or Lhutel the Headless or Dung Eater Puppet
- Armor: Haligtree Knight Set or Mausoleum Knight Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear and Faith-knot Crystal Tear
- Talisman: Shard of Alexander, Sacred Scorpion Charm, Flock’s Canvas Talisman and Radagon Icon
Best Stats Choices
The stats for both builds are given below:
Stats at level 60
| Stat | Tank build and Golden Order build |
|---|---|
| Faith | 27 |
| Mind | 17 |
| Dexterity | 12 |
| Strength | 22 |
| Endurance | 12 |
| Vigor | 21 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 9 |
Stats at level 100
| Stat | Tank build and Golden Order build |
|---|---|
| Faith | 38 |
| Mind | 20 |
| Dexterity | 12 |
| Strength | 36 |
| Endurance | 25 |
| Vigor | 30 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 9 |
Stats at level 150
| Stat | Tank build and Golden Order build |
|---|---|
| Faith | 51 |
| Mind | 20 |
| Dexterity | 12 |
| Strength | 52 |
| Endurance | 33 |
| Vigor | 43 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 9 |
Best Weapons for Paladin Builds
For the Paladin Tank build, we’ll be going with Great Stars. This weapon is a hammer capable of doing great amounts of damage and can potentially cause your enemies to bleed. The best thing about Great Stars is that it heals you for every bit of damage you do, which perfectly ties into our tank build. This weapon can be found in the Atlus Plateau, near the Broken Greatbridge.
We recommend picking up the Miquellan Knight’s Sword for the Golden Order Paladin Build. This weapon scales primarily with Faith and Strength and deals physical and Holy damage, perfectly aligning with the rest of the build. You can find this weapon at the top of the bell tower near Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree.
Best Shields
For the Tank build, we’ll opt for the Haligtree Crest Greatshield as it provides great damage negation and is perfect for tank builds in general. This shield can drop from the Haligtree Knight in the Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree dungeon.
On the other hand, for the Golden Order build, we’ll go for the simple Brass Shield. Since tanking damage isn’t a big priority, a light shield like this works just fine. This shield can drop from the Godrick Soldiers near the Gatefront Ruins in Limgrave.
Best Ashes of War Picks
The Great Stars hammer works best with the Prayerful Strike Ash of War. This skill works similarly to the Great Star’s innate healing capabilities, allowing you to recoup double the amount of health with each strike. In keeping with the Paladin theme of the build, this Ash of War also deals Holy damage.
We recommend pairing the Sacred Blade Ash of War with Miquellan Knight’s Sword. This skill imbues your weapon with Holy damage and lets you fire a holy strike projectile from your sword, greatly increasing your range.
No Ashes of War are necessary for the Brass Shield as it only serves as a rudimentary line of defense, the Haligtree Crest Greatshield, however, should be used with Barricade Shield. This skill makes the Haligtree Crest Greatshield completely impenetrable, letting you tank even the strongest attacks from bosses.
Best Incantations
Both these builds heavily use Golden Order Incantations and some Erdtree Incantations, in keeping with the Paladin Theme. For the Tank build, our incantations are mainly centered around tanking and buffing, while for the Golden Order build, the incantations used are on the offensive side.
Paladin Tank build:
- Golden Vow: Golden Vow increases all damage by +15% and all damage negation by +10% for 80 seconds.
- Wrath of Gold: This incantation produces a golden shockwave that knocks back all foes and deals holy damage
- Radagon’s Ring of Light: Creates a ring of light around you that deals holy damage to any enemy that tries to come near you
- Order Healing: Alleviates Deathblight buildup
Golden Order Paladin Build
- Golden Vow: Golden Vow increases all damage by +15% and all damage negation by +10% for 80 seconds.
- Discus of Light: This incantation casts forth a disc of light that deals holy damage
- Litany of Proper Death: Creates an image of the Golden Order that deals holy damage to all nearby enemies
- Triple Rings of Light: This incantation casts three rings of light that target your enemies and deal holy damage
Best Spirit Summons Picks
There aren’t any theme-appropriate Spirit Summons for Paladin builds in Elden Ring, so we recommend choosing any of the four we’ve listed below.”
- Mimic Tear: The Mimic Tear conjures a replica of your build that fights alongside you. This summon is extremely powerful and is a great way to increase your total damage output.
- Black Knife Tiche: Black Knife Tiche is a fast-moving summon that deals bleed damage to your enemies.
- Lhutel the Headless: Lhutel the Headless is a tank that works slowly, with harder-hitting attacks and a huge health pool that makes him perfect for tanking enemy attacks while you use your sorceries.
- Dung Eater Puppet: The Dung Eater Puppet is a tanky single-unit summon that deals bleed damage to enemies. His large health pool makes him a worthy addition to your arsenal.
Best Armor Choices
You can use the Haligtree Knight Set or Mausoleum Knight Set for both builds. These armors provide excellent damage negation and are in keeping with the Paladin theme of these builds.
Pieces of the former are scattered around Miquella’s Haligtree, while pieces of the latter can be found throughout Luirnia of the Lakes
| Stats | Mausoleum Knight Set | Haligtree Knight Set |
|---|---|---|
| Damage Negation | ||
| Physical | 22.7 | 26.5 |
| Physical (Strike) | 19.4 | 24.6 |
| Physical (Slash) | 24.5 | 26.5 |
| Physical (Pierce) | 21.9 | 26.5 |
| Magic | 18.6 | 20.4 |
| Fire | 19.4 | 22.6 |
| Lightning | 17.5 | 19.1 |
| Holy | 19.4 | 22.6 |
| Resistance | ||
| Immunity | 69 | 84 |
| Robustness | 107 | 135 |
| Focus | 47 | 57 |
| Vitality | 45 | 59 |
| Poise | 45 | 47 |
Best Flask of Wondrous Physick for Paladin Build
With a single-use flask, the Flask of Wondrous Physick lets you buff your character for a limited time. Each flask has a single charge per rest and can hold two buffs in the form of Tears
Paladin Tank Build
- Faith-knot Crystal Tear: This Tear boosts your Faith stat
- Crimsonburst Crystal Tear: The Crimsonburst Crystal Tear automatically restores your health for a short period
Golden Order Paladin Build
- Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear: The Holy-Shrouding Cracked tear boosts the power of your holy attacks
- Faith-knot Crystal Tear: This Tear boosts your Faith stat
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 Scythe builds, these are the best Talisman:
Paladin Tank Build
- Shard of Alexander: Boosts the power of all Ashes of War by +15%
- Great Jars Arsenal: This Talisman significantly raises your equipment load
- Sacred Scorpion Charm: The Sacred Scorpion Charm raises holy damage by +12% but also increases the amount of damage you take by +10%
- Green Turtle Talisman: Raises the rate at which you recover stamina
Golden Order Paladin Build
- Shard of Alexander: Boosts the power of all Ashes of War by +15%
- Sacred Scorpion Charm: The Sacred Scorpion Charm raises holy damage by +12% but also increases the amount of damage you take by +10%
- Flock’s Canvas Talisman: Increases the power of Incantations
- Radagon Icon: Radagon Icon reduces the time it takes to cast incantations and spells
