Elden Ring Strength Faith Build - Coldstorm Cleric Guide

Apr. 12, 2024

Elden Ring Strength Faith Build – Coldstorm Cleric Guide

In this Elden RingStrength FaithBuild, I’m going to be showing myColdstorm Clericbuild, which is an all-game build that can be used from pretty early on in the game all the way through until endgame and into NG+.

The general concept of this build is that we’re going to be using aFlail, theChainlink Flail, I wanted to show a build using a Flail that you can make a phenomenal build with one that’s absolutely fantastic.

Coldstorm Cleric is a build that makes use of aFlail, such as aChainlink Flail, and its high damage. This is paired with the Stormcaller Ash of War to increase Bloodloss build-up as well asFrostbiteonce you use the Cold infusion maximizing damage output and the chance to stagger opponents.

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The reason we’re using theChainlink Flailhere is it has very high damage, it has high strength scaling generally, and I wanted to use it in aBlock Countersort of shield with aGreatshield, andGreatshieldshave highStrength, so it’s sort of a natural pairing there and it just made sense to put it with theChainlink Flailbecause it has the beststrengthscaling of all Flails you can choose from.

This weapon is not super hard to get, it drops from theMad Pumpkin Headenemies, there are a few of these aroundLimgraveand in theWeeping Peninsulaarea, so if you want to farm this it’s not very hard to do, it just takes time. And I’ve picked up theStormcallerAsh of War, and slapped it on here, that way when you’re spinning around and around you’re hitting enemies for blood loss buildup each swing, and once you eventually set this to thecold infusion, you’ll also build upFrostbiteon them very quickly, triggeringFrostbiteand blood loss, and that does a lot of damage with the repeated strikes that you’re doing.

You might remember that we showcased thisAsh of Waron aReaperweapon in theGrim Reaper build, but we did a little bit differently there, we usedBloodflame Bladeon it, but we’re not doing that here because we’re using the cold infusion, and there are some advantages to using that cold infusion. First of all, it causes enemies to flinch a little bit, interrupting them, and if you cause them to flinch a little bit and then you hit them withHemorrhage, and that causes them to flinch a little bit, which interrupts them, allowing you to keep swinging around more easily.

Additionally, you can pair this build with the IncantationFire’s Deadly Sin, so that when you’re whirling around you’re removing theFrostbitestatus effect and then re-triggering it over and over, giving you increased damage significantly, and since we already have a good amount of faith with this build, this is very easy to add into it.So besides theChainlink Flail, we’re using aGreatshieldhere. I’m using theCuckoo Greatshield. It doesn’t matter whichGreatshieldyou use, you’ll eventually want to use one early on if you’re playing this at the very beginning of the game. Probably just use aMedium Shieldand then upgrade to aGreatshieldwhen you have higher strength. WhicheverGreatshieldyou want to use is fine, there are plenty of good ones out there.

I just happen to like the look of this one matching the fashion that I went with. The seal I’m using is theClawmark Seal, which scales withStrengthandFaithsince we have a decent amount of Strength in this build and some Faith, but I’m really only usingGolden VowandFlame, Grant Me Strengthhere, so it’s not super important which seal you use unless you’re planning on using other offensive spells or maybe some heal spells or something like that. You can add them into this build if you want, which is why I’ve called it aClericbuild because you’re definitely very much set up for that.

I’m not using them here, but you absolutely can. And for armor, I have theMarais Mask, theNoble’s Traveling Garb, and two pieces of theScaled Armorset for the look I’m going for. I kind of wanted this Cleric-y look that was white cloth and armor, and I used theBull-Goat’s Talismanto get over the 51 poise threshold. If you were min-maxing, you would have some heavier armor and you wouldn’t have to fill a Talisman slot with that, but I’m going for fashion here, so I did that.

Other Talismans I’m using for this build areShard of Alexanderto further increaseStormcallerdamage. You could useWarrior Jar Shardif you’re just starting a playthrough to get that 10% damage early on and you don’t mind killingAlexanderbut you’d be able to use it the whole game, whereas if you’re doing a NG+ playthroughShard of Alexanderis easily better.

The other good Talismans for this build areMillicent’s ProsthesisorRotten Winged Sword Insignia. Both of these are good for this build. You could even useWinged Sword InsigniaandMillicent’s Prosthesisif you don’t have both of them. These are just good for repeated strikes andStormcallerhits over and over, so if you hit over and over with your whirlwind, you’re just going to build up your attack power dealing more and more damage.

I also have theCurved Sword Talismanhere for increased Block Counter damage. We are Block Countering on regular enemies to take advantage of the Flail’s increased poise damage and range when doing Block Counters. We’re also using aGreatshieldbecause we have high strength. After all,ChainlinkFlailscales well with strength. So this just works well increasing your damage when you do them. You could use theDagger Talismanfor increased critical strike damage when you follow up as well if you want. That is a bit further in the game to get.

Another good talisman for this build,Ritual Sword Talismanis good if you are at full health and you find you’re not taking damage, which is easy to do when you’re doing Block Counters. You just let enemies attack your shield most of the time and then Block Counter them, stagger them, etc. You could use theAssassin’s Cerulean Daggerto refund your FP when you do Block Counters to be able to useStormcallermore often, etc. But you’re primarily going to useStormcalleron tough enemies.

Primarily, the strategy here is to buff withGolden Vowwhen you’re fighting tough enemies or bosses to increase your damage. You can useFlame, Grant Me Strengthas well, although it’s not going to be as effective in this build because you’re going with the cold infusion. You’re only going to buff part of your weapon damage with it.

You’re not going to buff the whole thing, but it still increases your damage so it’s not bad to have for occasions where you need a little extra damage. But typically it’s going to beGolden Vowbefore you go into a tough fight. And if you are using theFlask of Wondrous Physick, you’re going to want to make sure you have theThorny Cracked Teareventually. That also gives you increased damage the more you successfully attack. So that kind of factors into Stormcaller as well.

So then when you get into your boss fight, you’re going to try and look for an opening and then start usingStormcallerby basically just mashing L2. You can hit it three times in a row in succession, doing a ton of hits to the enemy and that’s going to triggerHemorrhage, triggerFrostbite, and build up your attack power. The main thing here is having enough poise and waiting for the right opening so that you can just keep swinging. Hopefully, you’ll stagger or make that enemy flinch a couple of times when theFrostbitetriggers and theHemorrhagetriggers that you can just keep using it and then the enemy just goes down and the boss just goes down real fast.

As I mentioned, if you’re usingFire’s Deadly Sin, you’ll be able to reapplyFrostbite. And sinceFrostbitetakes 10% of the target’s health off when it triggers if you keep reapplying this as you’re just right on top of the enemy, their health bar is just going to melt. So you absolutely can do that once you get it. I didn’t showcase that here, but it’s definitely something you can do to make this build even more effective.

It’s a bit different than theGrim Reaperbuild where we’re focusing onBloodlossbuildup almost exclusively andPoisonbuildup. Where here we’re really focusing more onFrostbite, debuffing the enemy with that, and then triggering some Bloodloss as well.

So at level 149, I got 50Vigor, 30Mind, 30Endurance, 55Strength, 12Dexterity, 16Intelligence, 25Faith, and 11Arcane. You don’t needArcaneorIntelligenceat all for this build. It started as anAstrologer. That’s why that’s there. I was experimenting with other setups for this build which is why I have a couple of points inArcane. But you don’t need any of these stats. So if you started as a different class you definitely have a better stat spread at this level.

50Vigoris there to just give you enough health to trade hits. You’re going to make sure you have plenty of Vigor with this build because you are just trying to whirlwind through hits basically when you’re fighting tough enemies and just keep the pressure on them so eventually they just melt. You need to have a high enough health pool as you’re leveling up to be able to pull that off. So keep increasing your Vigor as you make this build.

Mindis there to be able to use your buffs and also to useStormcallerwhenever you want. The buffs actually use way more FP thanStormcallerdoes. So if you’re buffing withGolden Vowregularly, the FP pool is nice. But you don’t need that muchMind. This is probably the amount of Mind you’d have at the end of your first playthrough. Having 20-25Mindearly on is probably fine.

Endurance-wise, we have a lot here to be able to use a heavier armor set or to spamStormcallerand not run out of stamina. If you were min-maxing this build you would definitely use a more protective armor set probably. And you can take yourEnduranceup higher to use one if you want.

Strengthis at 55 for this build becauseChainlinkscales really well withStrength, even with thecold infusion. Still does better thanIntelligence. If you wanted to addIntelligenceto this build, eventually it’ll make maybe NG+ to get more damage. At some point, it would catch up to Strength, but I think Strength still does even better than Intelligence up a little bit higher than this. But it does start to drop off a bit around 55 Strength, which is why I didn’t go higher here.

12Dexterityis simply there to meet the requirements for theChainlink Flail. And then 25 Faith is there to meet the requirements forGolden Vow.This also lets you useFlame, Grant Me Strength. AndFire’s Deadly Sinuses 19 Faith to meet the requirements for all these. You can also use other spells that require Faith to use if you want to add some healing spells, likeBlessing’s Boonor something to this build. You can.

You can take yourFaithup higher if you want, particularly if you’re another class and you have a better stat spread than I have. And as far asGreat Runesgo, I thinkGodrick’sis really good for this build. You use a lot of stats. You have six stats that you need for this build. Intelligence doesn’t hurt because you’re doing cold scaling, so that’s extra damage. So really you’re only wasting it onArcanea bit.

Radahn’sis also not bad, giving you more HP, Stamina, and FP. That’s not bad either if you get that one eventually. But I thinkGodrick’sis the way I would go here. So that wraps up the Cold Storm Cleric build. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I like theStormcaller Ash of War. I wanted to showcase it here on one of theFlails, doing it slightly differently with more of a focus onFrostbite.

It’s just a really fun build.Flailsactually decent in this game, even though a lot of people don’t use them. I wanted to showcase a way that you could use one effectively. Stay tuned. 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.