In this Elden Ring article, I’m going to be showing you my Dual Sword Duelist build. This is a build that focuses on using the Horned Warrior’s Sword and some unique properties of this weapon. I haven’t made any builds in a good long time, but I thought with the Night Reign announcement, it kind of inspired me a little bit. So let’s get into how this build works.
Horned Warrior’s Sword Build - Dual Sword Duelist
In this Elden Ring Build Guide, I’ll be showing you my Duelist Duel Sword build. This is aShadow of the Erdtreebuild that takes place after level 160. A build that puts focus on theHorned Warrior’s Swordand the properties it provides.
We have over 110 Elden Ringbuilds. Each one is meticulously crafted to offer unique playstyles, strategies, and experiences, ensuring there’s something for every adventurer in the Lands Between. Whether you seek the raw power of heavy weapons, the finesse of spellcasting, or the versatility of hybrid builds, our collection has you covered. Explore the depths of the game’s mechanics and unleash your full potential with our diverse array of builds.
Elden Ring Horned Warrior’s Sword Build - Equipment and Skills
As I just mentioned, the weapon that we’re using for this build is theHorned Warrior’s Sword. This is acurved sword, and there are some unique things about this sword that make it very special, and the reason that I selected it for this build. Firstly, it is apaired weapon. There have been a fewcurved swordsthat arepairedadded with theShadow of the Erdtree DLC, but this is one of them. This allows you to use the weapon single-handed or bothcurved swordsat the same time for much less weight. In addition, it allows you to hold something in youroffhandand get the effects while you’re stilltwo-handingif something has a bonus feature like adding health back on kill orFPback on kill or something like that. So that is a very good strength of this weapon.
Secondly, because it is apaired weapon, you can actually block using theL1 buttonwith it, which is important for this build. You wouldn’t think you’d be blocking withcurved swords, but I’ll get into why that’s important in a minute. But the fact that you can block with apaired weaponis absolutely fantastic compared to using twocurved swordsthat are notpaired, because then you cannot block.
Thirdly, it does 100%physical damage, even though it has scaling withstrength,dexterity, andfaith, making it one of just a few weapons in the game that actually hasfaith scalingbut deals 100%physical damage. And lastly, itsweapon skill,Horn Calling,deals 100%holy damage, which is great against enemies that are weak againstholy damage. And typically what you find with weapons that haveholy damageweapon skillsis that a lot of the weapon damage is alsoholy, and some bosses and things can resistholy damage. So that’s typically bad, but in this case, because the weapon itself does 100%physical damageand theweapon skilldoes 100%holy damage, you can use whichever damage type makes the most sense for what enemy or boss that you’re facing.
Horn Callingis an absolutely devastatingweapon skillwhen used properly, and it’ll be primarily used out on the landscape or when inlegacy dungeons. You don’t tend to use it as much in boss fights. It really depends on the boss. Some bosses are aggressive. That prevents the use of thisweapon skill. Others hang back a bit, and you may use it. But where it really shines is out on the landscape when you’re fighting groups of enemies because it has such a goodAOE radius. It can be used at a safe distance. It has a relatively fast cast speed. And if you build properly, it can deal fantastic damage, often one-shotting a lot of enemies simultaneously, making short work of just exploration in general.
So in myoffhand, one of myoffhand slots, I’m using theErdtree Seal. Well, that’s because I have a lot offaithfor this build. One of the great things about the way this weapon scales is that you can put a lot of points infaithand still get decent damage out of it.Dexterityscales much better thanstrengthandfaithdoes, but that’s why we have a lot ofdexterityin this build. Butfaithis probably second to that. And that allows you to actually create a build that you can usespell castingwith if you have enough points, at least to some degree, right? You’re going to meet the requirements for some spells. You might not have the most damage when you’re casting damaging spells, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still use them in pinches or if you know what enemy is specifically weak againstfire, you can cast afire incantationorlightningor something like that. You can add that into your build if you want.
So we have this in ouroffhand, predominantly to use buffs likeGolden VowandFlame, Grant Me Strength. That’s predominantly what we have it there for. So you want to ensure you have at least 25faithin order to use both of those spells. Because again, the weapon itself does 100%physical damage. SoFlame, Grant Me Strengthis really good for that. AndGolden Vowwill buff not only your regular attacks but also theweapon skill, even though it dealsholy damage. So it’s good for that as well.
Now, if you really wanted to min-max this build, you could put something in your second backup slot in youroffhand, likeSacrificial Axe, and then after you buff yourself, swap to theSacrificial Axeand then starttwo-handingyourcurved swordsin order to getFPback when you kill something. Or some other weapon that provides some sort of benefit like that. You tend to go through a lot ofFPwhen you’re exploring from usingHorn Calling. So I would recommend theSacrificial Axeif you want. But there are certainly other options available to you as well.
Now for armor, it’s not super important what armor you use. I haveLeda’s Armorfor my chest piece simply because it increases the damage after rolling or sprinting. You tend to do that a lot in this game in general, particularly withcurved swords. So that’s really nice here. And the other pieces are just mainly for fashion, but I wanted to make sure I had at least 51poisein order to not be interrupted with a single attack from an enemy or boss. So make sure you have at least 51poiseno matter what armor you’re set up with.
Elden Ring Horned Warrior’s Sword Build - Talismans and Flasks
Now fortalismans, there’s a lot of greattalismansfor this build, and I typically mix up thetalismansdepending on what I’m doing. So when I’m exploring out on the landscape, I usually haveShard of Alexanderslotted andSacred Scorpion Charmslotted in order to boost the damage ofHorn Calling.
And I haveRitual Sword Talismanslotted for a similar reason because I’m trying to kill enemies at a distance with it before they even get to me in order to damage me so those are all really good.Crusade Insigniais also not bad as that’s going to increase your attack power after you kill something for a certain amount of time. So if you kill a group of enemies withHorn Calling, then you quickly move to the next one and you’ll have even more damage on those. So that can be really beneficial when you’re exploring as well.
Now inboss fights, I tend to mix things up a bit because you can’t really useHorn Callingeffectively in everyboss fight. Someboss fightsyou can, and in thoseboss fights, you might want to use some of these minusCrusade Insigniaobviously in order to make sure that when you’re hitting withHorn Calling, you’re doing a lot of damage. Or you might want to mix and matchtalismans. Generally inboss fights, I make sure I have at least theTwo-Headed Turtle Talismanslotted because I use a lot of stamina between dodging, attacking with dual wield, and also usingHorn Calling.
Horn Callingis like a stamina hog. SoTwo-Headed Turtle Talismanis almost a must for anyboss fightif you’re going to use thisweapon skillat all.
Other good options fortalismansareMillicent’s Prosthesis, which gives you more damage the more you hit enemies and also gives you extradexterity. Obviously, this weapon scales predominantly withdexterity, so that’s a good addition.Rotten Winged Sword Insigniais also good for similar reasons, stacking up your attack power as you hit more and more. If you find you’re doing lessHorn Callingin aboss fightand more dual wield attacks, then that’s a good one.
Another goodtalismanfor this build is aCurved Sword Talisman, which increases your block counter damage. You might be wondering why you’d be doing block counters with this build, but I’ll get into that in just a second. Another one isBlade of Mercy, which increases your damage after doing a critical strike. Because you do get block counters, you will stagger enemies regularly on the landscape. So that can also be a good one as well or inboss fightsas well.
So this brings us to theFlask of Wondrous Physick, and we’re using theGreenburst Crystal Tearin order to increase stamina recovery. Because we just need stamina recovery. If you’re out on the landscape exploring, you can switch this to extraholy damagein order to makeHorn Callingdeal even more damage if you want. But in aboss fight, you’re absolutely going to want this to be stamina recovery. Because again,Horn Callingis very expensive stamina-wise, and you are going to be dodging and attacking a lot with huge combo chains.
And the other one is theDeflecting Hardtear. Now theDeflecting Hardtearis what really makes this build shine in my opinion. What makes it kind of unique compared to other builds. Because you’re dual wielding a paired weapon that allows you to block and then you can use theDeflect Hardtearto block successfully. If you can time your block properly. Allowing you to stand toe to toe withbossesand difficult-to-kill enemies. And block counter them and stagger them. Get critical strikes on them or just use your combos effectively. And you don’t have to dodge as much when you can block, which is really great.
So you’re going to get the benefit of a shield here without having to have one because you can block because of the paired weapon nature of this weapon. And I think this is what again kind of makes this unique. You can do this with other paired weapons as well if you want. But this is one that I did kind of around this weapon.
Elden Ring Horned Warrior’s Sword Build - Recommended Attributes Distribution and Great Runes
Forattributes, I have50 Vigor, which provides plenty of health to survive tough encounters. I’ve got31 Mindbecause this build uses a lot ofFP. Between usingHorn Callingregularly and buffing withGolden Vow, you’ll need a decent amount ofFPto keep things running smoothly. You don’t want to rely on blue flasks inboss fightsany more than you have to, so having a solid pool ofFPhelps minimize interruptions.
Enduranceis also really high for this build. As I mentioned earlier,Horn Callingis a stamina hog. Inboss fights, where you’ll use it the most, it’ll eat up large chunks of stamina. A highEndurancestat ensures you have enough stamina to keep attacking or dodging when necessary.
ForStrength, I have14—just enough to meet the weapon requirements.Dexterityis where most of the scaling comes from for this weapon, so it’s the stat I’ve invested in the most. However, it tapers off after a certain point, so you don’t need to push it too far. I started as anAstrologer, so myIntelligenceis higher than needed, but for this build, you don’t need anyIntelligenceat all.
I also have40 Faith, which is equally important for this build. BothStrengthandFaithscale similarly with this weapon, but I leaned more intoFaithbecause it synergizes better withincantationslikeGolden Vow,Flame Grant Me Strength, and any other utilityincantationsyou might want to use. This approach makes sense if you plan to incorporateincantationsinto your playstyle.
Lastly, I have9 Arcane, but you don’t need anyArcanefor this build unless you’re trying to meet specific requirements for certainincantations. It’s not essential otherwise.
Now forGreat Runes,Godrick’s Great Runeis a solid choice because it boosts 6 out of the 8 stats, which is usually my baseline for recommending it. It’s versatile and gives you a nice all-around buff.Radahn’s Great Runeis another great option, as it increasesFP,HP, andstamina—all of which are extremely valuable for this build. I’d recommend picking between these two depending on what you prioritize most for your setup.
Final Thoughts
And lastly one tip I’ll just say is that if you like this play style and you like this build but you’re not in love with the weapon that we’re using for this build. You could also try using theFalxCurved Swordsfor this. Because this weapon has native bleed build on it. Which should make this build even more powerful in boss fights. But obviously it’ll be a lot less useful outside of boss fights when you’re exploring. Because the weapon skillRevenger’s Bladeis notHorn Callingin that regard.
You can still useRevenger’s Bladevery successfully. It’s not a bad weapon skill by any means. But it kind of changes the nature of the build. Making it more effective in boss fights and less effective on the landscape. So if you’re someone who struggles more with bosses. And you want to be a bit more effective. You could use that weapon instead.
So that wraps up our Dual Sword Duelist build. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. I think I’m probably going to do at least one or two more build guides over the holiday season. ForElden RingandShadow of the Erdtree. So stay tuned for those. We have morePath of Exile 2content coming up, Including some more class guides if you’ve been enjoying that game. We will have some surprises in January, so stay tuned for that.
