Life Lessons: This Venomous Vanguard Build Lets Your Tarnished Demolish Enemies With Their Bare Hands in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

With Shadow of the Erdtree making its much-anticipated debut, a lot of attention is being given to the brand-new weapon types that FromSoftware has introduced to Elden Ring’s one and only expansion. And from our initial impressions of the Land of Shadow, they are everything we wanted them to be and more.

With a brilliant mix of weapon types working in tandem with brand-new animations, Shadow of the Erdtree has managed to add a staggering number of build options to a game that had a ton of them in the first place. It is a game in which players can truly create something that is uniquely their own and take on a plethora of well-designed enemies and bosses.

A Combination of Substance and Style

We’re the first to admit that the Dryleaf Arts caught our eye from the very first trailer that FromSoftware released for Shadow of the Erdtree. We made a beeline for this unique weapon that sees your Tarnished use a devastating mix of punches and kicks to shred any enemies unfortunate enough to stand between them and Miquella.

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You will need to beat Relanna, Twin Moon Night, to enter the Scadu Altus region in order to pick up this Hand-to-Hand Weapon. At the Highroad Cross Site of Grace is a new gesture called May the Best Win, along with Hornsent, who hands over the mysterious Monk’s Missive. It is an invitation from Dryleaf Dane, who can be found in the Moorth Ruins to the northeast. Performing this gesture in front of him triggers a one-on-one fight against him. Defeat him to claim the weapon for yourself.

Life Lessons: This Venomous Vanguard Build Lets Your Tarnished Demolish Enemies With Their Bare Hands in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

The first step towards making this build is to upgrade your Dryleaf Arts as much as possible. If you have all the Smithing Stone Miner’s Bell Bearings handed in, the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold can sell you all the upgrade materials you need. With that done, it’s time to head on over to Renalla to respec your character.

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You will need a balance of Dexterity and Arcane to make the most of this build. Based on your level, you could look at having both stats at 50 for some serious damage while also maintaining a healthy amount of Vigor and Endurance. Try and hit the soft-caps for both these stats, ensuring you have the health and stamina you need to sustain a constant barrage of attacks while tanking a bit of damage from enemies.

Next, head on over to Master Hewg to add the Poison Affinity to your Dryleaf Arts, adding poison buildup and Arcane scaling to your new weapon. You are now ready to use your bare hands to shred enemy health bars with your fists even as the poison damage you inflict eats away at them from the inside! While the default Palm Strike Ash of War is great to use, we swapped it out for the Bloodhound Step to be able to dodge in and out of combat with relative ease.

Your Talismans would include either Millicent’s Prosthesis or the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia to add a damage buff on multiple strikes in quick succession. The Kindred of Rot’s Exultation is next, further buffing your damage when you inflict poison on an enemy.

The third Talisman is a choice between the Ritual Sword Talisman, which gives you a damage buff at full health, or the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, for a flat-out reduction to all physical damage received. Finally, the Crusade Insignia further buffs your damage when you kill an enemy (swap this one out when fighting bosses, preferably boosting a particular type of elemental defense based on the situation).

Your build is now ready to go! In combat, try to use jump attacks or heavy attacks to start fights, as these come with a bit of stun damage, allowing you to transition into a series of strikes with your palms, quickly racking up damage buffs while poisoning your enemies. The Bloodhound Step should let you dodge enemy attacks easily while counterattacking at blinding speed as long as you position yourself well. Managing your Stamina is an important part of this build until you can level up Endurance enough.

If you are using the Bloodhound Step, you can slap on heavy armor without worrying about your equip load, but you are free to use any armor you like if looking good while taking down enemies is more your style. If you stick to using Palm Strikes, light armor is the way to go. You can choose any Hidden Tears for your flask of Wondrous Physick based on the situation.

We recommend equipping a Turtle Shield in your off-hand in order to improve your stamina regen, two-handing the Dryleaf Arts with it on your back. This allows you to keep attacking enemies and never letting them gain any momentum in a fight while the poison chips away at their health and you continue to shred their health bars with impunity.

Your Venomous Vanguard build is ready to go! If raw physical damage is more your style, you could always push all your offensive stat points into Dexterity and swap out the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation for the Two-Headed Turtle Talisman for even more Stamina regen while you assign the Keen or Quality Affinites based on your investments into Strength and Dexterity.

For more on Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree, do check out our guides to make the most out of your time in the Land of Shadow!