As a seasoned Tarnished with hundreds of hours traversing the Lands Between, I‘ve tested all manner of builds. But I keep coming back to the humble Vagabond as my favorite class to play.
If you‘re tempted to pick the Vagabond Class when starting a new game, then you need to know all about crafting the Best Vagabond Build in Elden Ring!
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll be sharing extensive research and personal insights on how to transform the Vagabond‘s balanced stats into utterly devastating strengths able to withstand even the mightiest foes.
Why Experienced Players Recommend the Vagabond
While "git gud" advice jokes about new players always defaulting to the Vagabond, there‘s some truth in that for good reason.
Prominent community figures like FightinCowboy and IronPineapple highlight the Vagabond as their top pick precisely because of the class‘s well-rounded stats and equipment.
As IronPineapple states in his best class breakdown:
"An excellent starting class that requires no weird stat investments to use a strong weapon and armor set right from the get go"
This builds a fantastic foundation for both newcomers and veterans alike. Let‘s examine why.
Balanced Stats Enable Build Flexibility
The Vagabond begins with a vigilant 15 Vigor and up to 14 Strength, alongside modest Dexterity, Endurance and Arcane.
This contrasts directly with extreme spread classes like the Prophet or Wretch. Such versatility lets you efficiently test out many melee weapons without messy respecs.
Jumping right in with a comfortable health pool and damage also makes the initial Stormveil Castle and Limgrave encounters significantly more manageable.
Reliable Starting Arsenal
While the Heater Shield and respectable Longsword armaments seem plain, having mastery over them from the beginning builds critical combat fundamentals.
Many early game deaths stem from panicking while unfamiliar with basic controls. The Vagabond‘s modest starting gear allows calmly learning attack patterns and defense tactics essential for survival.
Plus, you can never go wrong with a trusty sword and board!
Embodying Your Medieval Warrior Dreams
Who wouldn‘t feel like a badass holy warrior adorned in the Vagabond Knight armor while exploring the dark fantasy realm of Elden Ring?
The class lore of once noble warriors now grazing the land as ronin-esque mercenaries feeds directly into the shonen anime fantasies of many fans.
Enjoy embodying that compelling vagrant knight identity before evolving into even more imposing forms.
Now let‘s get into min-maxing this mighty class into the stuff of legends!
Optimal Stat Progression – Prioritizing Might and Vigor
While the Vagabond‘s well-balanced stats enable flexibility, you‘ll need to carefully funnel growth into specific attributes to unearth explosive potential.
Pump Vigor – Survival Above All Else
Vitality forms the foundation for all builds so heavily invest in Vigor first. Having spare health margins eliminates frustration from getting one-shot and facilitates smoothly learning attack patterns.
"Get Vigor to 40 ASAP so you can make more mistakes while mastering enemy movesets without punishing deaths" – IronPineapple
With the soreseals boosting your damage vulnerability in exchange for stat boosts, maintaining sufficient Vigor becomes even more critical.
Max Out Strength
Once you hit 40 Vigor, rapidly build up Strength to 60 to fully unlock devastating colossal weapon damage.
The key Strength milestones are:
- 50 – Wield the iconic Grafted Blade Greatsword
- 55 – Unleash the monstrous Giant-Crusher
- 60 -Devastate foes with colossal weapon‘s maximum scaling
This table shows the dizzying damage 790 extra Strength can provide on colossal weapons at key upgrade levels:
| Upgrade Level | DMG at 16 STR | DMG at 60 STR | DMG Difference | Percentage Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0 | 198 | 264 | 66 | 33% |
| +10 | 402 | 536 | 134 | 33% |
| +24 | 572 | 790 | 218 | 38% |
Such incredible gains massively accelerate defeating epic bosses and formidable foes.
Modest Endurance & Just Enough Dexterity
Level Endurance alongside Vigor up to 40 for ample dodging stamina and sufficient equip load to wear bull goat armor. Only raise Dexterity if required to meet a chosen weapon‘s minimum requirement.
Magic Is Optional
With pure melee damage coming from Strength, you can ignore Intelligence and Faith. After hitting the essential Vigor, Strength and Endurance breakpoints, funnel any spare levels into Mind for bonus FP if you want access to basic magic utility.
Best Talismans for Boosting Damage to Insane Heights
While attributes set base damage, multiplying it are the true power spikes coming from upgraded weapons and complementary talismans.
As you amass Great Runes slaying shardbearer demigods, the following accessory boosts rapidly compound to one-shot territory:
Radagon‘s Soreseal
- +5 to Strength, Dexterity, Vigor and Endurance
- Location – Castle Morne in Weeping Peninsula
Yes you take more damage, but early game the 20 level boost is well worth it.
Claw Talisman
- Boosts jump attack power by 15%
- Location – Volcano Manor questline reward
Pair with raptor feathers for even bigger plunge attacks. Savage!
Spear Talisman
- Increases counterattack and riposte damage by a massive 20%
- Location – Fort Faroth crystal tunnel treasure
Punish enemy mistakes with massive critical hits.
Shard of Alexander
- Boosts skill damage by 15%
- Location – farum azula beside the beserker armor set
Weapon skills become absolutely destructive.
Arm Yourself with Destructive Colossal Weapons
Now for the fun stuff – equipping your empowered Vagabond with earth-shattering colossal weapons! Here are my go-to choices:
Starscourge Greatsword
- Two ultra greatswords wielded simultaneously
- Weapon Skill: "Gravity Bolt" concentrates gravity into explosive ranged attacks
- Location – defeat Starscourge Radahn boss in Caelid
Dual wielding these bespoke ultra greatswords just oozes flamboyant power fantasy.
Fallingstar Beast Jaw
*colossal weapon with greathammer moveset
- Weapon Skill "Gravity Bow" – fires streaking gravity arrow projectiles
- Location: Mt. Gelmir reward from Alexander Warrior Jar quest line
Pummel foes with crushing overhead slams then bombard enemies from afar with magic infused gravity arrows. Extremely versatile moveset.
Giant-Crusher
- Highest burst damage ultra colossal weapon if fully upgraded
- Location – within final dungeon Farum Azula treasures
- Requires 60 Strength and 50 Dexterity
Nothing screams peak Vagabond energy like hefting around this chunky slab of iron bigger than your character. Trading slow wind ups for literally the highest damage potential in the game makes for nail-biting risk vs reward play.
We‘re just getting started building up this juggernaut of a play-style!
Best Medium Armor Sets for Optimizing Damage Negation and Poise
While the highest defense heavy armors like Lionel‘s Set are tempting, carefully chosen medium sets balance both survival and maneuverability.
Raging Wolf Armor
- Dropped by Vargram the Raging Wolf boss at Bestial Sanctum in far northeast Caelid past the river
- Excellent poise to medium weight ratio
- Unique risk taker design balanced with flowing scarf
Slay a ferocious beast and adopt its regalia to gain beastly poise. Fashion souls win!
Tree Sentinel Armor
- Farmed from field and evergaol tree sentinel enemies
- Second highest poise armor under heavy bull goat
- Iconic golden plating fit for a holy paladin
Few things sell that stoic vagrant knight vibe better than gilded tree sentinel armor.
Bloodhound Knight Armor
- Reward from the Volcano Manor questline
- Highest physical damage negation among medium sets
- Blood red tattered cape signals intense duels
Perfect choice for when you want less bling but crave rugged warrior monk aesthetics.
Now let‘s seal the deal on this build with some epic Vagabond gameplay tips.
Conquer All With Hyper-Aggressive Trading Blows Tactics
Elden Ring hands you all the tools needed to craft impregnable defense. But the sheer thrill of overwhelming even the hardiest enemies comes from clobbering them down with relentless assaults.
Your massive health bar and substantial poise facilitates aggressively trading blows to ignore enemy combos while slamming them with jumping heavy attacks.
Mix in guard counters from behind your greatshield after blocking attempts to shatter posture.
Don‘t let up the pressure even when low on health. Pop flasks while continuing your onslaught.
With charged colossal weapon slashes crashing down like meteors, most major fights conclude before bosses can initiate their deadliest powers.
Now let‘s address some frequently asked questions about min maxing your Vagabond:
FAQ – Optimizing Your Vagabond Build
How important is upgrading weapons versus attributes?
Upgrading armaments gives the biggest damage returns for rune investment. Get required stats for desired weapons then pour upgrades into them before adding more levels.
Can I respec attributes if I don‘t like my build?
Yes! After defeating Starscourge Radahn, you can access unlimited character resets to reassign all your levels.
What weapon type best complements colossal swords on a hybrid build?
Add a keen affinity katana like Rivers of Blood to quickly apply hemorrhage blood loss between slower colossal weapon strikes. The contrasting attack speeds pair perfectly.
Should I dual wield colossal weapons?
Only certain curved greatswords like the Starscourge are intended for dual play. Ultras like Giant-Crusher are too cumbersome. Instead two-hand them for 1.5X stat scaling!
And there you have it – everything you need for dominating Elden Ring as a devastating Strength oriented Vagabond. This build carried me through Journey 2 and beyond with thrilling challenge at every corner. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!
May your foes fall swiftly before you, Tarnished warrior. Now raise those colossal swords with pride!!!
