Elden Ring Messmer Soldier's Spear Build Guide - (Shadow of the Erdtree Build)

Aug. 12, 2024

Elden Ring Messmer Soldier’s Spear Build Guide – (Shadow of the Erdtree Build)

In this Shadow of the Erdtree guide, I’ll be showcasing myStorm Blessedbuild. This setup centers around theMessmer Soldier’s Spearand a medium shield, allowing for effective parrying while delivering devastating attacks. The build’s name pays tribute to a well-known character—if you know, you know.

In this Elden Ring Build Guide, I’ll be showing you my Storm Blessed build. This is aShadow of the Erdtreebuild that takes place after level 160. A build that utilizes the GreatspearMessmer Soldier’s Spearto deal heavy amounts of damage.

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.

Let’s start with theMessmer Soldier’s Spear. Although it’s technically a great spear and not a regular spear, it comes with modest strength and dexterity requirements. I have it set to the heavy infusion for a couple of key reasons. First, we’ll be two-handing this weapon most of the time, which means we can take full advantage of its strength scaling. This spear has impressive strength scaling, making it a powerful choice. Additionally, the newTwo-Handed Sword Talismanboosts your damage when wielding a weapon two-handed, so not only do we benefit from the strength scaling, but we also gain extra damage while two-handing, which is how we’ll use it most of the time. These factors work incredibly well together.

Another reason for focusing on physical damage is that when you deal counter damage with spears, great spears, or any piercing weapon in this game, it only boosts your physical damage. Since we’re using theSpear Talismanin this build, we aim to keep our damage type 100% physical to maximize its effect. One of the standout features of this weapon, aside from its long reach, is its charged heavy attack, which delivers a double poke.

This makes it easier to land multiple hits with heavy attacks. If you’re usingRotten Winged Sword InsigniaorMillicent’s Prosthesis, you’ll benefit greatly from this. Moreover, if you opt for a status effect build with this weapon—like bleeding, poison, or frostbite—you’ll be able to trigger those effects more efficiently with the charged heavy attack. Although this build focuses on raw damage instead of status effects, you’ll still see massive damage numbers, thanks to counter damage, physical damage, and excellent strength scaling.

Another factor that boosts our damage isRoyal Knight’s Resolve. We’ve integrated this into our build to further enhance the damage of our charged heavy attacks since it applies to both hits of the charged attack, increasing the damage by 80%. Combining counter damage with Royal Knight’s Resolve yields impressively high damage numbers.

For the shield, I’m using theMessmer Soldier Shield. This medium shield is lightweight, has low strength requirements, and is equipped withStorm Wall. This shield has a few benefits: it’s light, with low strength requirements, and when maxed out, it has a 66 guard boost for just 10 strength, which is exceptional. Stormwall provides more parry frames, making parrying easier compared to the standard parry skill. Plus, it fits theStorm Blessedtheme perfectly. Additionally,Storm Wallcan knock projectiles out of the air, which is fantastic.

You could use a great shield for block counters if you prefer, but I like usingStorm Wallfor parrying. I sometimes use theBlade of Mercyin this build, which boosts your attack power after landing a critical strike. Since critical strikes are common with this build, the combination works well. You don’t always need to use the shield, so it’s not essential. You could even set it to “no skill” if you want to useRoyal Knight’s Resolvewhile one-handing the spear. This can be useful when fighting bosses that can’t be parried, like large enemies or dragons. In those cases, setting the shield to “no skill” makes sense. While great shields are viable for gameplay, they weigh more, so you might not be able to light roll.

For armor, I’m using theHighland Attire,Leather Arm Wraps, andLeather Leg Wrapsto match theStorm Blessedtheme. You can use whatever armor you like, but I chose this set for its aesthetic. The great thing about the charged heavy attack on this weapon is that it grants hyper armor after a certain point in the animation. This means your poise is less important, as you’ll see in some gameplay clips where I trade damage but don’t get interrupted. That’s thanks to the hyper armor on the charged heavy attack.

I’m also wearingSt. Trina’s Blossomon my head, mainly because I didn’t want a helmet to fit the theme. It also gives me extra focus, providing more FP for combat. You could go without a helmet or choose another headpiece if you prefer. The armor isn’t crucial for this build, but I like light rolling, so I opted for a lighter set.

Since we have hyper armor on the charged heavy attack, you don’t necessarily need 51 poise for this build. While having more poise could make the game easier, it would also mean medium rolling. It’s up to you.Leda’s Armoris another good choice for this build, as the running attack of this weapon, especially the R2, hits multiple times and can be quite effective.

For this build, when it comes to talismans, I’ve chosen theAxe Talismanto further boost the damage of ourCharged Heavy Attackssince we’re focusing on those most of the time. This talisman is a staple for the build and stays on almost constantly.

Alongside that, theSpear Talismanis crucial because we’re dealing 100% physical damage and frequently landing counter hits, resulting in some seriously high damage numbers. These two talismans are essential for maximizing our output.

The other two talismans can be adjusted based on the situation. TheTwo-Handed Sword Talismanis one of my go-to, especially since we spend a lot of time two-handing our weapon. This talisman further increases our damage, making thoseCharged Heavy Attackswith counter damage even more devastating, especially when boosted byRoyal Knight’s Resolve.

Other talisman options include theBlade of Mercy, which is excellent if you’re focusing on parries, block counters, and staggering enemies. It boosts your attack power for a short time after landing a critical hit, making it another strong choice for this build.

Additionally, theLacerating Crossed-Tree Talismanis worth considering if you frequently use the running attack of this weapon, which is particularly effective. When combined withLeda’s Armor, these talismans stack to increase dash attack damage, making them a powerful option depending on your playstyle.

For this build at level 165, my attributes are set as follows:

55 Vigor,25 Mind,50 Endurance—yes, a whopping 50 Endurance—66 Strength,16 Dexterity,16 Intelligence,7 Faith, and9 Arcane. You can ignore the points in Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane, as they’re left over from starting as anAstrologer.

55 Vigoris crucial since we’re using light armor and might take some hits. You may want to push this up to 60 eventually, but there’s no need to go beyond that.

25 Mindis enough to let us useRoyal Knight’s Resolveliberally, though you could drop it to 20 if needed, but I wouldn’t go any lower. This build doesn’t require much FP.

Strengthis at66because we’re primarily two-handing our weapon. While it might be tempting to increase this further, you won’t see as much benefit when two-handing as you might expect. However, if you find yourself playing one-handed with a shield more often, consider boosting Strength to 80 to enhance your damage output.

Dexterity at 16is just enough to meet the weapon’s requirements.

Now,50 Endurancemight raise some eyebrows since it’s not typical for most builds, and you don’t strictly need it here unless you’re trying to useLeda’s Armor, a different talisman, and notSt. Trina’s Blossomwhile still maintaining a light roll. It can be tricky to keep your weight low enough with this setup, so you may need to adjust your armor or Endurance based on your preference.

You might find droppingEnduranceto 40 or even 30 more comfortable, depending on your armor and how much you value light rolling. Personally, I find50 Enduranceallows me to switch toLeda’s Armor, useSt. Trina’s Blossom, or swap out talismans while still light rolling. I favor light rolling with a spear because I like to poke and roll often, so this setup works well for me.

For theFlask of Wondrous Physick, I use theSpiked Cracked Tear, which enhances charged attack power. This is fantastic for builds focused on charged heavy attacks, as it gives a significant damage boost. Additionally, I include theBloodsucking Cracked Tearto increase damage by 20%, though it comes with the trade-off of steadily draining your health.

If you’re aiming for quick kills, this is a solid choice, but if you’re still learning a boss fight, I’d recommend swapping it out for something likeGreenburst Crystal Tearor theThorny Cracked Tearfor repeated attacks. These might be better suited for longer encounters.

When it comes toGreat Runes, I findRadahn’s Great Runeto be the best fit here. The boost to health, stamina, and FP is highly beneficial for this build.Morgott’s Great Runeis also a good option, especially for increased health. While this build doesn’t particularly suffer from stamina or FP issues, the extra resources are nice, especially if you’re using this build earlier in the game.Malenia’s Great Runecould be useful if you find yourself trading hits often, but in my experience, I don’t trade as frequently, so I don’t get as much value from it.

That wraps up myStorm Blessedbuild. I hope you enjoyed this one—it hits hard, kills bosses quickly, and is versatile in different situations. Whether you’re blocking and performing block counters, parrying, or boosting your damage withRoyal Knight’s Resolve, this build excels. Initially, I experimented with other Storm-based Ashes of War, but frankly, there aren’t many great options.Storm Bladeis fantastic, but I recently covered a build with it, so I decided against using it here.Stormcalleris another strong choice, though I find it works better with status effect builds, which wasn’t the focus for this build. If you want, you could swap inStormcaller, but I personally prefer the extra damage on our charged heavy attacks.

As always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming forElden RingandShadow of the Erdtreeso stay tuned for those. If you need help finding the spells, items, or equipment in this build, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check theElden Ring Map.

Castielle

Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.