The Vagabond is one of the easiest classes to start with in Elden Ring. This class is the classic knight with sword and shield combo that FromSoftware fans have come to love. While this class is easy to master, given the number of build options Elden Ring throws you, you can build it in several ways.
This guide will explore two of the best Vagabond builds in Elden Ring. The guide below covers everything from the basic stats and flask allotment to Talisman setups and the best Spirit Summons. Let’s get into it.
Elden Ring Vagabond Tank Build Overview
This build is primarily centered around tanking and dealing with damage. It requires considerable investment into the Endurance stat as the items we equip in this build will quickly slow you down. If you’re a player who wants to maximize the defense potential of a build and play the game with the standard sword and shield combo, this build is for you.
- Class: Vagabond
- Flask Spread: HP only
- Stats: Vigor, Endurance, and Strength (primary), Dexterity (secondary)
- Weapons: The Sword of Night and Flame
- Shield: Erdtree Greatshield
- Ash of War: Night and Flame Stance and Golden Shield
- Spirit Summons: Mimic Tear or Lhutel the Headless or Spirit Jellyfish
- Armor: Bull-Goat Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Opaline Hardtear and Stonebarb Cracked Tear
- Talisman: Great-Jar’s Arsenal, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, Greatshield Talisman, and Erdtree’s Favor
Elden Ring Vagabond Strength Build Overview
On the other hand, the Strength build is less about defense and more about dealing damage. This build is primarily specced for Strength and Dexterity, allowing you to wield various strong weapons. If you want to maximize your damage output, use the build below:
- Class: Vagabond
- Flask Spread: HP only
- Stats: Strength and Dexterity (Primary), Vigor and Endurance (secondary)
- Weapons: Serpent God’s Curved Sword or Grafted Blade Greatsword
- Shield: Inverted Hawk Heater Shield
- Ash of War: Bloodhound Step
- Spirit Summons: Mimic Tear or Spirit Jellyfish or Lhutel the Headless
- Armor: Blaidd’s Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Strength-knot Crystal Tear and Crimsonspill Crystal Tear
- Talisman: Starscourge Heirloom, Erdtree’s Favor, Radagon’s Soreseal, and Green Turtle Talisman
Best Stats Choices
Vagabond build stats level 60
| Stat | Tank build | Strength build |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 9 | |
| Mind | 10 | |
| Dexterity | 16 | 23 |
| Strength | 22 | 30 |
| Endurance | 28 | 18 |
| Vigor | 28 | 23 |
| Intelligence | 9 | |
| Arcane | 7 | |
Vagabond build stats level 100
| Stat | Tank build | Strength build |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 9 | |
| Mind | 10 | |
| Dexterity | 24 | 38 |
| Strength | 36 | 46 |
| Endurance | 46 | 29 |
| Vigor | 38 | 31 |
| Intelligence | 9 | |
| Arcane | 7 | |
Vagabond build stats level 150
| Stat | Tank build | Strength build |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 9 | |
| Mind | 10 | |
| Dexterity | 35 | 49 |
| Strength | 56 | 54 |
| Endurance | 53 | 42 |
| Vigor | 50 | 49 |
| Intelligence | 9 | |
| Arcane | 7 | |
Best Weapons for Vagabond Build
For the Vagabond Tank Build, the best weapon to use is The Sword of Night and Flame. This weapon scales primarily with Strength and Dexterity, making it a perfect complement to our stat distribution and the overall intent of the build. The Sword of Night and Flame can be found in Caria Manor.
The Vagabond Strength Build, on the other hand, will work best with the Serpent God’s Curved Sword. This weapon scales with Dexterity and Strength and possesses some of the highest damage in the game, which is better as you level up your primary stats. You can find this weapon in Ruin-Strewn Precipice within Liurnia of the Lakes.
For the Strength build you can also go with a two-handed weapon to maximize your damage output, however, you’ll need to forego your shield if you wish to do so. The Grafted Blade Greatsword is a good option as it scales with Strength and Dexterity. You can acquire this weapon by defeating Leonine Misbegotten in Castle Morne.
Your starting weapon should work perfectly fine for both builds until you can acquire the main weapons for each build.
Best Shield Picks
Since the Tank build is about absorbing as much damage as possible, you’ll need a Greatshield to achieve this goal. We recommend using the Erdtree Greatshield for this build, as it provides the best defense in the game. It scales with Strength and can be acquired by defeating the Tree Sentinel Duo near the outskirts of Lyndell.
You can go with the Inverted Hawk Heater Shield, one of the game’s best light to medium shields for the Strength build. The Strength build prioritizes mobility much more than the Tank build, and using a Greatshield will considerably hinder this. The Inverted Hawk Heater Shield is near the Hallowhorn Grounds in Siofra River.
Like with the weapon, your starting shields will serve you fine during the initial stages of the game.
Best Ashes of War Picks
The Sword of Night and Flame for the Tank build comes equipped with the Night and Flame Stance Ash of War that can neither be removed nor changed. The best thing about this Ash of War is its versatility, as it comes with two stances: a Night Stance and a Fire Stance. The former is used to cast a beam of magic damage, while the latter is used to deal fire damage along a wide AOE. Magic damage doesn’t fit into the theme and mechanics of this build, but the Fire Stance attack is an excellent way to deal with large crowds.
The Serpent God’s Curved Sword’s default Ash of War, Spinning Slash, is the best one to use on this weapon. It sends a spinning attack, followed by a downward ground slam when activated. This attack is good for targeting large crowds of enemies and single targets.
If you go two-handed and wield the Grafted Blade Greatsword, you’ll again want to use this weapon’s default Ash of War, Oath of Vengeance. This skill temporarily raises all your stats, strengthening you in every regard, including damage output, defense, and agility.
For both shields, we recommend using the Shield Bash Ash of War as it works well for both builds; however, for the Tank Build, you can keep the Erdtree Greatshield’s default AoW, Golden Retaliation, if you decide to use the Sword of Night and Flame’s Flame Stance. Since both of these abilities scale with Faith, you’ll be able to have a good combo of two ranged attacks.
As we pointed out above, you will need to put some points into Faith to make these Ashes of War more powerful; however, using them in their default state should work just fine, too.
Best Spirit Summons Picks
Regarding the Spirit Summons, you can use any of the three highlighted below for either of the builds.
- Lhutel the Headless: Lhutel possesses significant health and hits extremely hard. He is the perfect complement for the Tank build. However, he works just as well for the Strength build. You can get this Spirit Summon by defeating the Cemetery Shade boss at Tombsward Catacombs.
- Spirit Jellyfish: The Spirit Jellyfish unleashes ranged poison attacks that can quickly afflict your enemies with the poison status effect. This is all around great Spirit Summon that works well for both builds. This summon can be picked up from the Stormhill Shack.
- Mimic Tear: The Mimic Tear is perhaps the best Spirit Summon in Elden Ring, as it allows you to conjure up a replica of your exact build that fights alongside you. This Summon works well for all builds and can be found by opening a chest in Nokron, Eternal City.
Best Armor for Elden Ring Vagabond Build
The Bull-Goat Set is an excellent choice for the Tank build as it provides some of the highest defense in Elden Ring and possesses the highest Poise at 99.99. This means most enemies and some bosses will find it extremely hard to stagger you, letting you deal damage and pull off combos without being interrupted. You can get your hands on this armor by defeating Great Horned Tragoth in the Altus Plateau.
For the Strength Build, we’ve gone with Blaidd’s Set as it weighs much less than the Bull-Goat Set but still provides respectable damage negation. Blaidd’s Set can be acquired by completing Ranni’s questline.
| Stats | Bull-Goat Set | Blaidd’s Set |
|---|---|---|
| Damage Negation | ||
| Physical | 38.5 | 28.5 |
| Physical (Strike) | 38.2 | 25.4 |
| Physical (Slash) | 34.9 | 28.5 |
| Physical (Pierce) | 34.9 | 29.7 |
| Magic | 26.1 | 22.6 |
| Fire | 26.5 | 25.1 |
| Lightning | 28.9 | 20.9 |
| Holy | 25.3 | 23.6 |
| Resistance | ||
| Immunity | 170 | 91 |
| Robustness | 197 | 169 |
| Focus | 110 | 60 |
| Vitality | 130 | 60 |
| Poise | 99.99 | 60 |
Best Flask of Wondrous Physick Choice
The Flask of Wondrous Physick allows you to use two temporary buffs in a single-use Flask. For the Vagabond Builds, we recommend the following:
Vagabond Tank Build
- Opaline Hardtear: This tear temporarily boosts all damage negation.
- Stonebarb Cracked Tear: The Stonebarb Cracked Tear makes it easy to stagger your enemies.
Vagabond Strength Build
- Strength-knot Crystal Tear: The Strength-Knot Crystal Tear temporarily increases your strength stat
- Crimsonspill Crystal Tear: This Tear gives you extra health if the Wondrous Physick is active.
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 Vagabond builds, these are the best Talisman:
Vagabond Tank Build
- Great-Jar’s Arsenal: This Talisman raises your maximum equip load by +19%, which is especially useful given the heavy equipment this build requires.
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman: This Talisman reduces all incoming physical damage by 20%.
- Greatshield Talisman: Reduces stamina consumption during blocking by 20%.
- Erdtree’s Favor: Erdtrees Favor raises your equip load with your HP and Stamina.
Vagabond Strength Build
- Starscourge Heirloom: Grants you +5 strength
- Erdtree’s Favor: Erdtrees Favor raises your equip load with your HP and Stamina.
- Radagon’s Soreseal: Radagon’s Soreseal raises Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dexterity by 5 but also increases the damage you take by +15%.
- Green Turtle Talisman: Increases the rate at which you recover your Stamina.
