Unlike previous Souls games, Stealthing in Elden Ring is a viable way to beat the game. Stealthing lets you quickly dispense most of your enemies without being detected in Elden Ring, which lends you the upper hand in most combat situations.
In this guide, we’ll be looking at the best stealth build in Elden Ring. The build below works at range and up close, allowing you greater versatility when you’re in the heat of the battle. Without wasting any more time, let’s get into it.
Elden Ring Stealth Build Overview
- Class: Bandit
- Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio of HP and FP
- Stats: Strength and Dexterity (primary), Vigor, Endurance, and Faith (secondary)
- Weapons: Misericorde and Golem Great bow
- Ash of War: Assassin’s Gambit and Strong Shot
- Incantations: Darkness and Shadow Bait
- Spirit Summons: Mimic Tear or Black Knife Tiche
- Armor: Black Knife Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear and Opaline Bubble Tear
- Talismans: Millicent’s Prosthesis, Dagger Talisman, Concealing Veil and Assassin’s Cerulian Dagger
Best Stats Choices
Stats at level 60
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Faith | 17 |
| Mind | 15 |
| Dexterity | 26 |
| Strength | 24 |
| Endurance | 17 |
| Vigor | 17 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 14 |
Stats at level 100
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Faith | 20 |
| Mind | 15 |
| Dexterity | 34 |
| Strength | 33 |
| Endurance | 26 |
| Vigor | 28 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 14 |
Stats at level 150
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Faith | 20 |
| Mind | 17 |
| Dexterity | 51 |
| Strength | 50 |
| Endurance | 33 |
| Vigor | 35 |
| Intelligence | 9 |
| Arcane | 14 |
Best Weapons for Stealth Build
We’ll use two weapons for this build: the Misericorde and the Golem Great Bow. Misericorde is a dagger with the highest critical damage in the game, allowing us to inflict massive amounts of damage at once. It scales with Strength and Dexterity and can be found inside the armory room next to the fortress of the Grafted Scion.
The Golem Greatbow, on the other hand, can be acquired from Golem Archers found throughout Caelid and Limgrave. Like the Misericorde, this weapon also scales with Strength and Dexterity.
Best Ashes of War Picks
For the Misericorde, we’ll be using Assassin’s Gambit. This Ash of War allows you to partially conceal yourself and muffle your footsteps for a short period at the cost of a self-inflicted wound. This Skill is perfect for sneaking up on your enemies to quickly backstab them.
For the Golem Greatbow, go with Strong Shot. This Ash of War increases the potency of your arrows by having your character pull the drawstring just a touch more. This Ash of War is great for breaking the armor of enemies.
Best Incantations
As far as the Incantations are concerned, we’ll be using two: Darkness and Shadow Bait:
- Darkness: This incantation allows you to conjure a cloud of smoke that completely conceals you.
- Shadow Bait: The Shadow Bait, on the other hand, creates a shadow that draws the aggro of the enemy away from you.
Best Spirit Summons Picks
As a stealth build, you’ll be better off not relying on summons as they have the potential to break your stealth, but in case you need a summon to aid you, you can use either of the following two:
- 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.
Best Armor Choices
For this build, we’ll be using the Black Knife set. Not only does this set provide great protection and play into the stealthy aesthetic we’re going for, but the chest piece muffles your footsteps, allowing you to stay in stealth for longer.
You can find this armor set in Ordina, Liturgical Town. The set will be on a corpse under an archway. This armor has the following stats:
| Stats | Black Knife Set |
|---|---|
| Damage Negation | |
| Physical | 22.5 |
| Physical (Strike) | 21.6 |
| Physical (Slash) | 24.4 |
| Physical (Pierce) | 24.4 |
| Magic | 17.5 |
| Fire | 18.9 |
| Lightning | 13.5 |
| Holy | 22.5 |
| Resistance | |
| Immunity | 65 |
| Robustness | 108 |
| Focus | 54 |
| Vitality | 54 |
| Poise | 40 |
Best Flask of Wondrous Physick for Elden Ring Stealth 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:
- Dexterity-Knot Crystal Tear: This Tear temporarily boosts your Dexterity, increasing your overall damage output, since both our weapons scale with Dexterity.
- Opaline Bubble Tear: The Opaline Bubble Tear reduces the overall damage you take.
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 Stealth build, these are the best Talismans:
- Millicent’s Prosthesis: This Talisman increases your maximum Dexterity by +5 and reduces the power of successive attacks, making your dagger even stronger.
- Dagger Talisman: The Dagger Talisman increases the damage of critical attacks by +17%.
- Concealing Veil: This Talisman makes you nearly invisible when you’re crouching.
- Assassin’s Cerulian Dagger: With this Talisman, you can restore 15 HP for every critical attack.
