Best New SOTE Fun Builds – Part III: It’s All About Katanas

Fellow Tarnished! Welcome back to our journey through the Lands Between. In today’s installment, we’re diving deep into the art of the blade – and not just any blades, mind you. We’re talking about two bonkers katana builds that’ll have Malenia herself taking notes.

First up, we’re exploring The Winged Lion Slasher, a build that makes the most of Shadow of the Erdtree’s newest toy – the Great Katana. If you thought regular katanas were impressive, wait until you see these bad boys in action. Then, for those of you who’ve been yearning for a fresh take on an old favorite, we’re breathing new life into the Moonveil with The Lunar Spellblade build. Think you’ve seen everything the Moonveil has to offer? Think again, Tarnished.

Grab your flasks and settle in – whether you’re a returning reader or just stumbled upon our little corner of the Roundtable Hold, you’re in for a treat. Let’s dive into these builds that combine style, substance, and enough damage to make even Let Me Solo Her do a double-take.

The (Double) Great Katana Build

The Winged Lion Slasher, a Great Katana build leverages the new weapon class introduced in Shadow of the Erdtree, offering a perfect blend of power and grace. I have decided to go with the Great Katana as the main weapon for this build, as it offers you the possibility to buff the weapon with Magic or Consumables. Depending on your preferences you can go with either of the other two available Great Katanas as your secondary weapon. The Dragon Hunter’s Great Katana gives you a great option against dragons (+30% damage against dragons and +15% against ancient dragons), as well as some range with its skill Dragonwound Slash. Rakshasa’s Great Katana on the other hand comes with some hyper armor on its attacks, has a unique R2 thrusting poke and received a speed update for the Weed Cutter weapon skill with patch 1.13.
Dual-wielding identical weapons gives you the flexibility to either use them as a pair or wield one two-handed as needed.

Key Equipment

• Weapons:
  • Primary: The Great Katana (with the default weapon skill “Overhead Stance”, imbue: Fire or Lightning)
  • Secondary: Dragon Hunter’s Great Katana or Rakshasa’s Great Katana
• Shield: A medium shield with high stability, if you want to have this option as well (e.g., Serpent Crest Shield – Infusing it with Fire or Flame Art gives you a fire negation of 78.75% and 95% physical damage negation).
• Seal: Clawmark Seal – scales with both Strength and Faith, enhances bestial incantations
• Armor: The most obvious choice would be the Rakshasa Set as it gives you an overall 8% (2% per piece) attack boost, but I waived that for some points in individuality and style – even though style is in the eye of the beholder…
  So instead we are going with the Winged Serpent Helm, Fire Knight Armor, Young Lion’s Gauntlets and Young Lion’s Greaves for 52 poise.

• Talismans:
  I give you a selection of six talismans that you can combine according to your personal preferences – all of them make perfect sense for this build.
  • Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman: Boosts physical damage negation by reducing physical damage taken by 20%
  • Rellana’s Cameo: After holding a stance for about one second, grants a damage boost of 45% and works perfect with the “Overhead Stance” skill of the Great Katana.
  • Shard of Alexander: Boosts the attack power of Skills by 15% – stacks with Rellana’s Cameo.
  • Rotten Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent’s Prosthesis or both as they stack: Both raise your attack power with successive attacks. RWSI (6%, 8%, 13%) vs. MP (4%, 6%, 11%), but the later one gives you additional +5 in dexterity.
  • Two-Handed Sword Talisman: Attacks with two-handed weapons get a 15% attack boost.
• Flask of Wondrous Physick:
  • Opaline Hardtear: Increases all damage negation types by 15% for 3 minutes.
  • Thorny Cracked Tear: Increases damage by 9%, 13% and 20% for consecutive attacks for 3 minutes.
• Great Rune: Radahn’s Great Rune

Key Incantations

I suggest the following incantations for this build, which provide a nice mix of strengthening and ranged offensive options:

Golden Vow: Raises armament and pledges to honor the Erdtree, granting increased attack power and defense to self and nearby allies. Lasts 80 seconds, increases damage by 15% and raises damage negotiation by 10%. Stacks with Flame, Grant me Strength.

Flame, Grant Me Strength: Temporarily boosts fire-affinity and physical attack power. You can stack this buff with other buffs for increased damage output. Lasts 30 seconds, increases physical and fire damage by 20%.

Bestial Vitality: Grants gradual HP recovery over time. Useful for sustained healing during exploration or prolonged battles. Gives you 5 HP/s for 120 seconds, costs 18 FP and 10 stamina.

OR

Black Flame’s Protection: Creates a protective aura that reduces damage taken. Effective for improving survivability in tough encounters. Last 70 seconds and increases physical damage negotiation by 35%, but reduces all healing by 20%.

Bloodflame Blade: Coats the weapon in bloodflame, adding blood loss buildup to attacks. Particularly effective against enemies vulnerable to bleed effects. Lasts 60 seconds.

Pest-Thread Spears: Fires multiple homing, piercing threads at enemies. Useful for dealing damage to evasive or flying targets.

Stat Distribution (Level 200)

Strategy

This build capitalizes on the unique properties of the new Great Katana weapon class. Two-hand your Great Katana to maximize damage output and take full advantage of its moveset. The balanced Strength and Dexterity stats allow for significant damage scaling.

Use quick attacks for swift strikes and heavy attacks for devastating blows. The Great Katana class excels at stance-breaking, so focus on guard counters and jump attacks to quickly open up enemies for critical hits.

Advanced Tactics

• Utilize the weapon skill “Overhead Stance” for powerful downward slash attacks, effective for breaking enemy poise, especially after holding your stance for around one second to get the attack boost from Rellana’s Cameo.
• Take advantage of the Great Katana’s reach to outspace enemies while still delivering powerful strikes.
• Against draconic enemies, switch to the Dragon Hunter’s Great Katana for increased effectiveness.
• Consider applying Cold or Blood infusion to add extra status effects to your attacks.

Where to Find Key Items

• The Great Katana: Found early in the DLC, near a sleeping Ghostflame Dragon in a lake west of the Abandoned Ailing Village site of Grace in Gravesite Plain.
• Dragon Hunter’s Great Katana: Can be obtained in the Dragon’s Pit dungeon, located in the Gravesite Plain area of the Shadow Realm.
• Rakshasa’s Great Katana: Can be found in the Eastern Nameless Mausoleum in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.
• Serpent Crest Shield: Find the Incursion Painting in the Artist’s Shack in western Gravesite Plain, then travel east of Belurat, Tower Settlement to a hill between two lakes where a ghostly figure will disappear, leaving the shield behind.
• Rellana’s Cameo: Can be obtained by defeating Moonrithyll, Carian Knight, in Castle Ensis and collecting the talisman from the altar inside the chapel he guards.

---

This build offers a perfect balance of speed and power, making it highly effective against both groups of enemies and tough bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree. The versatility of the Great Katana class allows for adaptation to various combat situations, while the unique weapon skills provide both defensive and offensive options.

The Moonveil Katana Redemption Build

The Lunar Spellblade, a Moonveil Katana Build that I had been somewhat thrilled to use, as I started playing Elden Ring after FromSoftware had dealt the Monveil a bad card and degraded it to a still very good, but no longer outstanding weapon. Let’s first have a little dive into the history books and learn what made the Moonveil Katana first fall and than top notch again.

The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of the Moonveil Katana

When Elden Ring launched, the Moonveil Katana wasn’t just a weapon – it was THE weapon. This Int-scaling blade had everyone and their Torrent spamming Transient Moonlight to stagger-lock everything from invaders to demigods. Then came the Great Nerf of 1.03, hitting our beloved blue beam stick harder than a Giant-Crusher to the face. Less damage? Check. Reduced poise damage? You bet. Shorter range? Triple check. While the Moonveil remained a strong weapon, especially for Intelligence builds, it no longer outclasses other options to the same degree.

But plot twist! Patch 1.14 and Shadow of the Erdtree’s Rellana’s Cameo just changed the game entirely. While the old Moonveil was all about that stance-break life, the new meta is pure magical destruction. The weapon’s Transient Moonlight skill, which involves a brief stance before unleashing a powerful attack, synergizes perfectly with the talisman’s effect. Rellana’s Cameo 45% boost to attacks after a one-second stance hold turns that blue beam from annoying to apocalyptic.

How it works:

1. Equip the Moonveil Katana and Rellana’s Cameo
2. Hold the Weapon Skill button (L2 by default) for Transient Moonlight for about 1 second
3. A red aura will appear, indicating the buff is active
4. Release the attack for a massive 45% damage increase

Throw in the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear, and you’re not trying to break poise anymore – you’re just breaking the game. It’s like they turned the Moonveil from a precision stagger tool into a magical delete button.

Different approach, same result: the Moonveil is back to terrorizing the Lands Between, just with more boom and less bonk. This dramatic revival of the Moonveil Katana through the interaction with the buffed Rellana’s Cameo demonstrates how new items and balance changes can radically shift the meta in Elden Ring.

Key Equipment

• Weapons:
  • Main-hand: Moonveil Katana, two-handed.
  • Off-hand: Carian Regal Scepter (for a solid scaling with included FP management) or Lusat’s Glintstone Staff (for more damage output, but increased FP costs) or you equip both, one in each hand, when you intend to go for some pure casting in between.
• Shield: Actually, no shield, as you either two-hand the Katana or hold a staff in your off-hand.
• Armor: You might raise an eyebrow at this peculiar combination: Bull-Goat Helm, Spellblade’s Traveling Attire, Spellblade’s Gloves and Bull-Goat Greaves. But trust me, there’s method to this madness! The two Spellblade pieces grant us a sweet +4% boost to magic damage, which directly enhances the Moonveil Katana’s weapon skill. Aiming for that crucial 51 poise threshold means we need some hefty armor pieces, and the Bull-Goat components deliver exactly that while keeping us looking surprisingly stylish. The end result? We hit exactly 51 poise while maintaining a decent fashion sense – not too shabby after all!

• Talismans:
  • Shard of Alexander – boosts skill damage by 15
  • Rellana’s Cameo – enhances attacks executed after maintaining the same stance for about 1 seconds by 45%
  • Magic Scorpion Charm – increases magic damage by 12%, but also increases physical damage taken by 10%
  • You have various options for the fourth talisman: Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman (reduces physical damage taken by 20%), Two-Headed Turtle Talisman (increases recovery speed by 22%), Graven-Mass Talisman (raises potency of sorceries by 8%) – all three have any right to exist in this build.
• Flask of Wondrous Physick:
  • Opaline Hardtear: Increases all damage negation types by 15% for 3 minutes.
  • Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear: Raises magic attack power by 20% for 3 minutes.
• Great Rune: Radahn’s Great Rune or Godrick’s Great Rune

Stat Distribution (Level 200)

Key Spells

With 80 Intelligence there is a plethora of sorceries available to spice up your life in the Lands Between and let you create devastating damage. Choose eight out of eleven for your build or exchange some depending on the situation.

• Comet Azur: Unleashes a powerful, continuous beam of magical energy that deals massive damage.
• Terra Magica: Creates a magical sigil on the ground that boosts magic damage for those standing within it.
• Adula’s Moonblade: Summons a large magical blade that deals frost damage in a wide arc.
• Night Comet: Fires an invisible projectile that’s difficult for enemies to dodge.
• Greatblade Phalanx: Conjures multiple magical swords that orbit the caster and launch at enemies.
• Carian Greatsword: Summons a large magical greatsword for a powerful sweeping attack.
• Stars of Ruin: Fires multiple homing star projectiles that track and damage enemies.
• Gavel of Haima: Summons a large magical hammer for a devastating area-of-effect attack.
• Star Shower: Rains down a barrage of small magical projectiles over a wide area.
• Cannon of Haima: Conjures a massive magical cannon, which fires a large explosive projectile that deals heavy damage.
• Carian Piercer: Conjures a magic greatsword to impale foes.

Strategy

This build leverages the high Intelligence scaling of both the Carian Regal Scepter and Moonveil Katana. The Spellblade’s set enhances magic-based weapon skills, boosting Moonveil’s Transient Moonlight ability. The Bull-Goat pieces provide much-needed poise and physical defense.

In combat, start by casting Terra Magica. Use Moonveil’s weapon skill for quick, high-damage strikes. For ranged combat, switch to the Carian Regal Scepter for powerful sorceries.

Lusat’s Glintstone Staff in the secondary main-hand slot allows for boosted Night Comet casts, which are particularly effective against enemies that dodge other spells. Swap to it when needed for an extra edge.

Advanced Tactics

Skill Chaining: Start encounters with Transient Moonlight’s vertical slash to close distance, then follow up with the horizontal slash for area control. This combo benefits from both Shard of Alexander and Magic Scorpion Charm.

Poise Trading: With 51 poise from your armor, you can trade hits effectively. Use this to your advantage when executing Transient Moonlight, as you can withstand lighter attacks without interruption.

Great Rune Synergy: Radahn’s Great Rune complements your high poise strategy, while Godrick’s enhances your overall stats. Choose based on the encounter.

Spell Weaving: Incorporate spells between Moonveil attacks. Use quick-cast spells to maintain pressure or Carian Slicer for close-range magic damage.

Buff Stacking: Layer your buffs (Physick, Great Rune and talismans) before tough fights to maximize your damage output and survivability.

Where to Find Key Items

• Moonveil Katana: Obtained by defeating the Magma Wyrm boss at the end of Gael Tunnel, located on the border between Limgrave and Caelid.
• Carian Regal Scepter: Can be obtained by defeating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, and exchanging her Remembrance with Enia at Roundtable Hold.
• Lusat’s Glintstone Staff: Found in a chest north of the Nox Swordstress & Nox Priest boss chamber in Sellia, Town of Sorcery, located in Caelid, after solving the town’s barrier puzzle and defeating the dual bosses.

---

In closing, this Moonveil-centric build offers a potent blend of sorcery and swordsmanship, allowing you to adapt swiftly to various combat scenarios. The carefully chosen armor pieces strike a balance between poise and magical prowess, while the talisman selection amplifies your strengths in both melee and spell casting.

Final Words

And there you have it, fellow Tarnished – two devastating katana builds that’ll have you slicing through the Lands Between like a hot blade through Godrick’s remaining limbs. Whether you choose the raw power of the Winged Lion Slasher or the mystical precision of the Lunar Spellblade, you’re in for some seriously satisfying gameplay.

But hey, the conversation doesn’t end here! Drop a comment below and let me know which build you’re planning to try first, or share your own katana-wielding tales. Have you found any clever modifications to these builds? I’d love to hear about them!

Found this guide useful? That’s just the beginning! Dive into our complete collection of Elden Ring builds to discover even more powerful character combinations.

Until then, keep those blades sharp and your rolls sharper. And remember – death is just another learning opportunity in the Lands Between!