Elden Ring: Best Stealth Build

Fromsoft's epic open-world soulslike Elden Ring is sure to go down as one of the best RPGs of its generation. Whether it's the unique approach to the open-world formula, the challenge of taking down a boss, or the beautiful art direction and soundtrack that players love, the game has become special to a lot of people. Yet, with Fromsoft's projects after the recent Elden Ring: Nightreign seemingly heading in a non-Elden Ring-related direction, fans might have to wait a while to see more from that universe.

With that in mind, it's as good a time as any to start a brand new playthrough of Elden Ring. One of the best ways to make a playthrough feel fresh is to try a new build, ideally one with a new playstyle. This Elden Ring stealth build is one idea that can make the game feel dramatically different. For players who want a little Assassin's Creed in their Elden Ring, or want to get away with some sneaky PvP antics, this build is for you. This is a full breakdown of the best stealth build in Elden Ring.

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Any items or equipment marked with SotE are only available with the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. These are useful additions, but the build can still be used with only base game items.

Starting Class & Best Stats To Level

Bandit Coded

Starting Class: Bandit / Wretch
Main Damage Stat: Dexterity
Secondary Stats: Vigor, Endurance
Potential Support Stats: Intelligence, Faith, Mind, Arcane, Strength

There are no stats that help with sneaking in Elden Ring, so players are best focusing on Dexterity as their main damage stat, and boosting health and stamina alongside it. This build will focus on maximizing critical hits, which means that weapons with high critical multipliers are a good choice, and that mostly means Dexterity-based weapons like daggers.

Depending on what parts of this kit players want to use, they'll need to hit some minimum stat values in other areas like Intelligence, Faith, Arcane, or Strength. The Bandit starting class has the stat spread that will get players there most easily, and starts with a dagger. It's also viable to start as the Rune level 1 Wretch if players want to min-max their own way.

Weapons

Melee and Ranged Options

Right-Hand Weapon 1: Black Knife Blade
- Stat Requirements: 12 DEX, 18 FTH, 8 STR
- Location: Black Knife Assassin, Sainted Hero's Grave, Altus Plateau
Right-Hand Weapon 2: Misericorde
- Stat Requirements: 12 DEX, 7 STR
- Location: Stormveil Castle, Armory Room (Stonesword key required)
Right-Hand Weapon 3: Black Bow
- Stat Requirements: 20 DEX, 9 STR
- Location: Leyndell Royal Capital, Rooftops (before defeating Maliketh)
Left-Hand Weapon 1: Reduvia
- Stat Requirements: 13 DEX, 13 ARC, 5 STR
- Location: Bloody Finger Nerijus, Outside Patches' Cave, Limgrave
Left-Hand Weapon 2: Godslayer Seal
- Stat Requirements: 27 FTH, 4 STR
- Location: Stormveil Castle, Rampart Tower (Stonesword key required)
Left-Hand Weapon 3: Buckler
- Stat Requirements: 13 DEX, 8 STR
- Location: Bandit starting gear , or Stormveil Castle (purchase from Gostoc)

This is one way of setting up if players want a stealthy build, focusing on an assassin-type character wielding dual daggers. Leaning on the Black Knife Assassin aesthetic for this build gives it a nice lore-friendly flavor, so the Black Knife Blade is the main weapon choice. This gives players access to the Blade of Death ash of war, but requires a decent amount of Faith to wield. Players may also choose to use Misericorde in their main hand, as this has the highest crit multiplier of any dagger, and can be infused with a variety of ashes of war.

For dual dagger wielding, Reduvia is used in the off-hand. If players infuse the Misericorde with Bleed and wield it alongside the Reduvia, the bleed buildup potential can provide a significant advantage when dealing with certain bosses, especially if players lean into the Arcane stat a little. For a shield, the Bandit starts with the Buckler, which has one of the most generous parry timings in the game. Sticking with this is not a bad option, as this will allow for more critical hits. If players want a sturdier blocking shield, use the ashes of war Golden Parry or Carian Retaliation instead to achieve a similar effect.

The other two weapons listed here are highly optional. The Godslayer Seal boosts black flame incantations, but it's only going to be effective if players invest significantly in Faith. The Black Flame and the Flame of Death have a connection via the lore of the Gloam-eyed Queen, so it's thematically appropriate, but this is really here to give players some ranged damage options.

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Other potential options here include using the Arcane-based Dragon Communion Seal for its low requirements, or even investing in Intelligence instead and using a Glintstone Staff for access to the Unseen Form spell, and Int-based offensive options. Players may also choose to use a bow, like the Black Bow, for ranged damage and stealth attacks (although stealth conveys no bonus to ranged damage like bow shots).

Ashes Of War

Useful Moves

Blade Of Death (Black Knife Blade)
Raptor Of The Mists (Raya Lucaria, assisting Bloody Finger Hunter Yura)
Bloody Slash (Fort Haight, Godrick Knight)
Bloodhound Step (Dragonbarrow, Lenne's Rise, Night's Cavalry)
Barrage (Black Bow)
Buckler Parry (Buckler)

Some of the Ashes of War here are predetermined as they come along with weapons, like the Black Knife Blade and Blade of Death, and can't be switched. However, players have some options for customization, especially with the Misericorde. Using a Bleed infusion from an attack like Bloody Slash can be an effective option, but it's also possible to use defensive moves like Bloodhound Step or Raptor Of The Mists, feeding into the stealth assassin fantasy and allowing players to evade attacks and strike back with style.

Armor

Stealth Boosting Set

Head: Black Knife Hood
Body: Black Knife Armor
Arms: Black Knife Gauntlets
Legs: Black Knife Greaves
Location: Ordina, Liturgical Town, beneath the large staircase at the back of the town

For players who want to focus on stealth, there's only one set to pick, and that's the Black Knife Armor set. Not only does this set have a cool-looking assassin's style, it also completely masks the wearer's sound. This makes a big difference to enemy detection in Elden Ring.

Players only need the armor equipped to get this bonus, and with it, they can run and jump with no more sound than a crouch-walk. This makes getting backstab critical attacks a lot easier, and can give players an advantage in starting fights in a lot of situations. This also gives players the freedom to add in one of the various stat-boosting helms that can be found in the game, as long as they don't mind sacrificing fashion.

Talismans

Stealth, Crits, & Range

Slot 1: Dagger Talisman (Volcano Manor, near Temple of Eiglay, stonesword key required)
Slot 2: Blade of Mercy (SotE, Scorched Ruins, chest)
Slot 3: Concealing Veil (Altus Plateau, Sage's Cave, Black Knife Assassin)
Slot 4: Assassin's Crimson Dagger (Deathtouched Catacombs, Black Knife Assassin)
Alternatives: Lord of Blood's Exultation, Crepus's Vial, Sharpshot Talisman (SotE), Arrows' Soaring Sting (SotE), Millicent's Prosthesis, Flock's Canvas Talisman

The talisman setup above is focused on critical attacks, meaning backstabs and ripostes. The Dagger Talisman boosts the power of these attacks, and the Blade of Mercy raises attack power after a critical hit (though this is only available to players with the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC). The Assassin's Crimson Dagger supports by restoring some health on a critical hit. Concealing Veil is the one stealth-related talisman that can be moderately useful. It makes the player harder to detect when crouched, decreasing enemy aggro range slightly. It's a very niche use case, but it can be used to get into bow range and draw enemies away from groups in some cases.

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Another good option here the Lord of Blood's Exultation, especially if players are focusing on Bleed buildup for a boss fight. Players who want to boost their ranged attacks can swap in talismans like Flock's Canvas Talisman, or Arrow's Soaring Sting, depending on what they've chosen for ranged damage. If players don't want the Black Knife Armor set for whatever reason, they can use Crepus's Vial to get the same soundless movement.

Spells & Incantations

Silent Spellcraft

Sorceries (Intelligence)

Unseen Form (16 INT, Altus Plateau, Mirage Rise)
Night Shard (18 INT, Sellia Town of Sorcery, purchase from Gowry)
Night Comet (38 INT, Sellia Town of Sorcery, chest behind Seal)
Miriam's Vanishing (26 INT, SotE, Cathedral of Manus Metyr, purchase from Count Ymir)

Incantations (Faith)

Darkness (18 FTH, Roundtable Hold, Bottom Floor, Assassin's Prayerbook)
Black Flame (20 FTH, Stormveil Castle, Rampart Tower, Godskin Prayerbook)
Scouring Black Flame (28 FTH, Dominula Windmill Village, Godskin Apostle)
Black Flame Ritual (42 FTH, Mountaintops of the Giants, Spiritcaller Cave, Godskins)

The set of spells and incantations above aren't designed to be used at the same time. Players would have to spread a lot of points between both Intelligence and Faith to achieve this, and leave their build lacking in other areas. Instead, players going for a stealth build might want to choose either INT or FTH as a secondary stat and use the corresponding set.

With the INT-based sorceries, players have access to Unseen Form, which makes them harder to detect and thus aids in stealth. Night Shard and Night Comet go along with the stealth assassin build by providing silent magic projectiles that are difficult for enemies to anticipate and dodge. Miriam's Vanishing is only available with Shadow of the Erdtree, but this spell gives players the ability to vanish and reappear a short distance away in any direction. It comes with more I-frames than a regular dodge, so it can be a useful defensive move.

For the FTH-based incantations, players can first find the Assassin's Prayerbook in the lower part of Roundtable Hold, behind the stonesword key doors. This gives access to Darkness and Assassin's Approach. Darkness is particularly useful to this build as it allows players to actually break enemy aggro and potentially either disengage, or get backstabs in the middle of combat. Assassin's Approach isn't essential as the build has other ways to mask sounds, but it can be used to mitigate some fall damage. The offensive spells are the Black Flame Incantations, boosted by the Godslayer Seal listed in the weapons section.

Spirit Ash

Compatriots Or Meat Shields

Black Knife Tiche (Liurnia, Ringleader's Evergaol)
Mimic Tear (Night's Sacred Ground, chest)
Greatshield Soldiers (Nokron, Eternal City, corpse)
Taylew The Golem Smith (SotE, Taylew's Ruined Forge, Furnace)

The obvious choice of Spirit Ash for this build is Black Knife Tiche. She's a fellow Black Knife Assassin, and wields the same Black Knife Blade that the player is using. Tische is a legendary Spirit Ash, found in the Ringleader's Evergaol in Liurnia (accessed via Ranni's questline). As alternatives, players can double up on Assassins in a different way by cloning themselves with the Mimic Tear. Or, if players would rather just have a Spirit Ash that can take aggro and tank, then the best bets are the humble Greatshield Soldiers from the base game, or Taylew the Golem Smith, a Shadow of the Erdtree Spirit Ash.

Consumables

Helpful Items

Bewitching Branch
Crystal Dart
Charming Branch (SotE)
Uplifting Aromatic
Polter Stone (SotE)

There aren't any consumables that directly affect the player's ability to stealth attack or sneak around in Elden Ring, but there are a few helpful items players can craft or purchase nonetheless. The Bewitching Branch is a purchasable item that can charm enemies temporarily. The idea is to sneak in, charm a target, and have them fight the mob while you pick off others. The Crystal Dart can have a similar effect, but only if it's used on one of the many stone constructs players find throughout the game, like the imps that are found in many catacombs.

The Charming Branch works similarly to the Bewitching Branch, with the advantage of being slightly easier to hit with, but it's only available with Shadow of the Erdtree. The Uplifting Aromatic is a solid defensive item that will help with tougher boss fights. An outside choice that stealth players might make use of is the Polter Stone from the DLC, as this thrown item can make sound and draw enemies towards it.

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