Elden Ring Faith Samurai Build Guide - Black Flame Bushido
Apr. 11, 2024Elden Ring Faith Samurai Build Guide – Black Flame Bushido
In this Elden Ring Faith Samurai Guide, I’ll be showing you my Blackflame Bushido build which is a Dexterity/Faith build at level 150. It’s sort of a combination between the Blazing Bushido build and the Black Flame Spellblade build. If you’ve been wondering how to play a Faith samurai, then this guide is for you.
A Dexterity/Faith Build that uses the Cross-Naginata to to set Hemorrhage and Black Flame on enemies in melee range.
We have over 110Elden Ring Buildsnow, for all classes and playstyles. This Build is recommended for Level 150.
First up, let’s talk about the weapon that we use for this build. In this build, I’m using theCross-Naginata. The reason why I’m using this weapon are: it has bleeding intrinsically which works really well withBloodflame Blade, and you need a polearm type or a twinblade in order to usePhantom Slash.
Phantom Slash is extremely deadly. Essentially, what it does is it shoots a phantom forward that charges and attacks, then you charge an attack which you can follow up with another Phantom Slash. This gives you four hits in the space of a couple seconds, and they hit significantly harder than your regular attacks do. Additionally, what I really love about this ability is that if you’re buffed withBlack Flame Bladeor Bloodflame Blade, the phantom will also use that buff on the target it’s attacking. Phantom Slash is an interesting ability because it takes a little bit to get used to, as you can also use it as an evasion tool. It can also serve as a delay, as you can send your phantom even if you’re getting attacked. This is good in scenarios where you might be finishing off a boss, and you know you can get away with being damaged while throwing this skill. You can also interrupt enemies to stagger them, which’ll give you a window to attack.
You could also use theNagakibafor this build, but you won’t be able to use Phantom Slash. You could use something like Double Slash or Sword Dance if you want to use that instead.
For the seal, we will be usingGodslayer’s Seal. This buffsGodslayer Incantations, which we’ll be primarily using for this build. Even if we aren’t using those, it has very good incantation scaling for this part of the game. It’s one of the best seals you can use for a pureFaithcaster with 60 faith.
When it comes to armor, I’m using theWhite Maskwhich gives +10% attack power if you set the bleeding status effect on an enemy, or if you set it on yourself as long as the enemy is in close range. You aren’t focused on setting bleeding on enemies, but when it does happen you get an extra 10% damage which is good.
I’m also using theWhite Reed Setbecause it has that samurai-feel, sort of like a cosplay. You can use whatever armor you want here, but you’re probably not going to use really heavy armor because we don’t have points in Endurance.
For this build, I have theRadagon’s Soreseal,Shard of Alexander,Godfrey Icon, andDragoncrest Greatshield Talisman.
Radagon’s Soresealis a must for this build because we have the Keen affinity set on the Naginata. The reason for that is if we don’t, and put something like Flame Art, we won’t actually be able to buff it with Bloodflame or Black Flame Blade. We have to keep it on Keen, and that makes the damage a little bit lower. This means we have to invest very heavily into Dexterity in order to keep our damage respectable, so it doesn’t leave us up with a lot of points between Dexterity and Faith. This talisman allows us to free up 20 points, so this is a good talisman to have.
Shard of Alexanderincreases Phantom Slash’s damage by 15%. If you’re going to use this regularly, it only costs 8 FP to use. The follow-up is another 8 FP, which you’ll use on boss fights regularly. You’ll usually kill regular enemies in one L2, so for 8 FP, you get a kill and getting that extra 15% damage ensures that you can usually get that kill in one use, which saves a lot of FP.
Godrey Iconis there because Scouring Black Flame, Black Flame, and Black Flame Ritual are all chargeable. Generally speaking, you’re going to use them when you charge them more than anything. You don’t have a ton of FP with this build. You don’t use ranged attacks that often, but when you do, you want them to go as far as possible, which usually can be done by charging. You’re getting the best bang for your buck when you’re charging them, which is why I like using this talisman in this build.
Lastly, we have theDragoncrest Greatshield Talisman. This reduces the physical damage you take substantially, which will help offset the increased damage off of Radagon’s Soreseal. A lot of times when you’re using Phantom Slash, you’re going to trade damage because the attack fires off anyway even if you get attacked. It’s good to trade damage because you usually come out on the winning side, as you’ll eventually trigger a blood loss or stagger to be able to keep attacking the enemy.
When it comes to spells for this build, we’re going to use:Golden Vow,Bloodflame Blade,Black Flame Blade,Black Flame,Scouring Black Flame,Black Flame Ritual, andBlack Flame’s Protection.
Golden Vowincreases your overall damage by 15%. This includes your weapon skills, regular attacks, and spells. This also increases your defense which we need in order to withstand attacks.
Bloodflame Bladeis there to put fire damage on your weapon. You’ll get a decent amount with it because you have pretty good incantation scaling coming from Faith. It also increases your bleed build-up a little bit and allows it to continue building up after you’ve attacked with the Naginata. When you’re using Phantom Slash, it’ll also apply it with each attack.
Black Flame Bladeis really strong with this build because you have so much incantation scaling from Faith. It adds a good amount of fire damage to each of your attacks, and it’s really strong against enemies that are resistant to bleed. You’ll also want to use this in co-op scenarios wherein bosses have huge health pools.
Black Flameis a great ranged option for this build. As I mentioned, you can charge it for extra damage with Godfrey’s Icon.
Scouring Black Flameis your AoE ability in front of you, and it hits pretty hard. It’s not the hardest-hitting spell, but it has a pretty good radius. It can be hard to hit enemies properly with is sometimes, as it can go up or down depending on the slope of the terrain that you’re fighting in. If you learn to use this properly, it can wipe out packs of enemies in one cast.
Black Flame Ritualmight be my favorite spell with this build. Its FP cost and recovery time has been reduced. What I really like doing with this is charging it up, casting it, then waiting for enemies to walk into it. Bosses are generally pretty aggressive, so they’ll just walk right into this if you cast it early. You can easily use Phantom Slash when they’re inside of the fire, as they’ll be staggered or taking damage from it. It’s very strong against big enemies like dragons, giants, or any enemy that you can get underneath of.
Finally,Black Flame’s Protectionis there to give you increased physical protection. As I mentioned before, you’re going to be trading damage. This spell also stacks with Golden Vow, so you can get your physical resistance fairly high with this. This will allow you to use Phantom Slash without worrying.
When it comes to the stats for this build I have: 50Vigor, 33Mind, 15Endurance, 17Strength, 55Dexterity, 9Intelligence, 60Faith, and 10Arcane.
50 Vigor is there to give you enough health in order to survive attacks while you’re attacking with Phantom Slash and casting your spells. Sometimes you’ll get hit at the end of those animations, and you’ll trade damage. It’s okay to trade damage, it’s not a big deal and you usually come out on top anyway.
33 Mind is there to give you enough FP to use your spells regularly. It’s pretty expensive to cast Black Flame Blade regularly and casting all the other spells you want to use, so having this is good to not pop flasks as much.
15 Endurance is there because we’re using Radagon’s Soreseal. Otherwise, this would be 10. You have plenty of equip load, the stamina is quite good. In fact, you could use a lot more stamina because you chew it up using Phantom Slash. However, we don’t really justify the points because we need to increase our damage as much as possible.
55 Dexterity is there because you have A-scaling with a Cross Naginata. If you’re using the Nagakiba, you’ll also have A-scaling if you go Keen. You need to get as much damage out of this weapon in order to stack damage on top of it with your buffs, even though your attack rating by default is pretty low with this build. Once you’re buffed by Golden Vow and Black Flame Blade, it’s going to be a bit higher.
60 Faith is there to increase the effectiveness of your incantations. You’re getting a lot of benefit out of this, and if you go too much lower, you’re not really going to use the spells that much besides the buffs because their damage won’t hit hard enough. I would consider increasing Faith up to 80 first before bringing Dexterity up.
Lastly, Arcane needs to be at 10 for Blood Flame Blade. Otherwise, you don’t really need it. We’re not using a seal that has Arcane scaling, so increasing it won’t increase the bleed build-up from Blood Flame Blade.
The talismans that I’m using aren’t fixed in stone. You can swap these around depending on what you’re doing. For instance, you can useFire Scorpion Charmif you find yourself casting those spells a lot. You can also use theRitual Sword Talismanif you feel like you’re playing from range, or defensive.
Lastly, I like to use theFlame-Shrouding Cracked Tearin myFlask of Wondrous Physickin order to increase fire damage. This is mainly going to affect your spells. If you’re using Black Flame Blade, it’ll give you a substantial amount of damage, so keep that in mind. You can also use theGreenburst Crystal Tear, as it’ll allow you to cast and attack faster with stamina recovery. This is a great way to get a bunch of stamina recovery without having to take up an equipment slot.
That’s it for our Black Flame Bushido Build Guide! As always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming for Elden Ring andShadow of the Erdtreeso stay tuned for those. If you need help finding items, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check theElden Ring Map. Happy building!
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
