Out of all the status effects in Elden Ring, sleep is the most underrated one. This is mostly because no enemy in the game inflicts sleep, and only a few weapons can deal with this status effect. Many players are oblivious to its existence, but it can be a good niche build if you know what you’re doing.
In this guide, we’ll look at the best Sleep build in Elden Ring that emphasizes putting your enemies to sleep while being stealthy enough to sneak up on them. Thanks to the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, a new Talisman has been added that specifically boosts your attack power whenever you inflict sleep.
Elden Ring Sleep Build Overview
- Starting Class: Confessor
- Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio of HP and FP
- Stats: Dexterity, Faith, and Vigor (primary) Endurance and Mind (secondary)
- Weapons: Sword of St. Trina (dual wield or single wield)
- Shield: Beast Crest Heater Shield
- Ash of War: Mists of Slumber
- Incantations: Assassin’s Approach, Darkness, Golden Vow, and Flame, Grant Me Strength
- Spirit Summons: Dung Eater Puppet or Mimic Tear
- Armor: Royal Knight Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Opaline Hardtear and Crimsonspill Crystal Tear
- Talisman: St. Trina’s Smile, Green Turtle Talisman, Millicent’s Prosthesis and Carian Filigreed Crest
Best Stats Choices
| Stat | Level 60 | Level 100 | Level 150 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faith | 28 | 40 | 53 |
| Mind | 19 | 24 | 33 |
| Dexterity | 30 | 45 | 55 |
| Strength | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Endurance | 17 | 19 | 30 |
| Vigor | 15 | 21 | 28 |
| Intelligence | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Arcane | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Best Weapon for Sleep Build
Any weapon you see with St. Trina in its name can build up Sleep and, therefore, should be preferred in this build. The Sword of St. Trina sits on top of these weapons, and it should be your primary weapon.
Sword of St. Trina is a straight sword that deals 66 Sleep per attack. The best thing is that it scales majorly with Faith and Dexterity, which makes it perfect for a melee/incantation build. A few attacks will put your enemies to sleep, and if you don’t mess it up with another attack that wakes them up, you can get an easy riposte.
The sword can be found immediately after you enter Limgrave, inside the Forsaken Ruins. If you’re looking to maximize the sleep build-up of this build, you can dual-wield this weapon by picking a second one during NG+.
Best Shields
The Beast Crest Heater Shield is the shield to go with if you’re not planning on dual-wielding the Sword of St. Trina or haven’t started NG+ yet. For this build, you’ll need to be quick on your feet and have ample protection, and this shield does exactly that.
You can find the Beast Crest Heater Shield inside an enemy camp in West Limgrave.
Best Ashes of War Picks
Mists of Slumber is the best special skill that resonates with this build and comes pre-installed on the weapon. It releases a purple mist to the enemies and puts them to sleep. Using the skill also grants an effect similar to the Sporific Grease. This effect further increases the sleep buildup for the weapon.
As mentioned before, Sleep is the most underrated ailment in Elden Ring, but it doesn’t make it useless. Sleep Build is one of the more unique builds in the Elden Ring universe, and most players are not equipped to deal with it, increasing its effectiveness.
Best Incantations
Since this build is centered around Faith and Dexterity, making use of Incantations will greatly increase the effectiveness of this build. We recommend the following:
- Assassin’s Approach: The Assassin’s Approach lowers the volume of your footsteps, allowing you to easily sneak up on your enemies. This can be useful if you’re trying to get a few hits to start the sleep build-up effect.
- Darkness: Darkness encases you in shadowy smoke, letting you disengage from your enemies and gain the upper hand on them.
- Golden Vow: This Incantation increases your attack and defense by +15% and +10%, respectively.
- Flame, Grant Me Strength: This incantation raises your damage output by an additional +20%.
Best Spirit Summons Picks
Below we’ve picked out two Spirit Summons that you can use for the Sleep Build:
- 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.
- Mimic Tear: The Mimic Tear summons a replica of your build that fights alongside you. With this Spirit Summon, you’ll essentially have twice the damage output.
Best Armor Choices for Sleep Build in Elden Ring
Since you’ll need to be in close range to inflict sleep build-up on your enemies, you’ll want an armor set that provides good damage negation and for that reason, we recommend going with the Royal Knight Set.
You can purchase this armor set from Enia at the Roundtable Hold, after you defeat Loretta, Knight of the Haligtree.
| Stats | Royal Knight Set |
|---|---|
| Damage Negation | |
| Physical | 31 |
| Physical (Strike) | 28.2 |
| Physical (Slash) | 33.5 |
| Physical (Pierce) | 32.3 |
| Magic | 27.6 |
| Fire | 26.1 |
| Lightning | 24.6 |
| Holy | 25.6 |
| Resistance | |
| Immunity | 120 |
| Robustness | 159 |
| Focus | 84 |
| Vitality | 84 |
| Poise | 53 |
Best Flask of Wondrous Physick for Elden Ring Sleep Build
The Flask of Wondrous Physick allows you to use two temporary buffs in a single-use Flask. For the Sleep build, we recommend the following that increase your defenses:
- Opaline Hardtear: This Tear boosts your damage negation by +15%
- Crimsonspill Crystal Tear: The Crimsonspill Crytal Tear Increases your maximum HP by +10%
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 Sleep build, these are the best Talisman:
- St Trina’s Smile: St. Trina’s Smile increases your attack power when Sleep occurs in the immediate vicinity.
- Green Turtle Talisman: This Talisman increases your stamina recovery rate.
- Millicent’s Prosthesis: Millicent’s Prosthesis increases your Dexterity by +5 and increases your attack power with successive hits.
- Carian Filigreed Crest: This Talisman reduces the cost of FP when using Ashes of War by 25%.
