Summary
It’s no secret thatElden Ringis a difficult game, but players can eventually reach the point of being able to one-shot the game’s major bosses. This may sound like a trivial way to experienceElden Ring, but most of these one-shot builds require a significant amount of skill and preparation to successfully pull off.
One-hit builds are the pinnacle ofbuilds inElden Ring, and they require a time-sensitive setup combining buffs in a specific order so that they stack properly and last long enough to put them to use. It can be an intimidating process to learn, but the outcome of successfully pulling it off is extremely satisfying. It’s also worth mentioning that some of the one-shot setups require players to debuff themselves by lowering their health or applying status effects in order to activate some of the damage-boosting buffs. Consequently, pulling off these setups not only lets players one-shotElden Ring’s bosses but also leaves players vulnerable to being killed in one hit themselves.
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How to Set Up Damage Buffs in Elden Ring for One-Shot Builds
Regardless of what weapons players use, most of thedamage buffs inElden Ringare universal. This means that there is a standardized process for setting up one-shot builds that players can perform in full or partially, depending on how much extra damage is needed. Certain weapons innately do more damage and the resistance and max health of some bosses vary, so sometimes the complete buff setup process is optional. Ultimately though, it’s helpful to understand the full process for universal damage buffs just in case.
The order for the best setup that players have discovered forElden Ring’s universal damage buffs is as follows:
Inflict Frenzy Status Effect on self while wearing this helmet
Commander’s StandardWeapon
Use Rallying Standard Ash of War
Lord of Blood’s ExultationTalisman,White MaskHelmet, and any weapon with Seppuku Ash of War
Use Seppuku Ash of War to inflictBleed Status Effectwhile wearing this Talisman and helmet
Kindred of Rot’s ExultationandMushroom CrownHelmet
Inflict Poison Status Effect on self while wearing this Talisman and helmet
Red Feathered Branch-Sword Talisman
Stay below 20% of maximum health
Performing this setup in this order is a solid foundation that will significantly increase the player’s damage across the board. Because it requires players to switch around their inventory, the time it takes to finish this setup means that players will have to act fast before any of the buffs wear off, or any of the negative Status Effects kill the player. A popular strategy is to inflict the targeted enemy withthe Sleep Status Effectso that players can safely perform this setup without any interruptions, which is also helpful because this Status Effect inElden Ringmakes enemies take increased damage. There are additional damage buffs, but these generally only apply to specific weapons, attacks, and/or Spells inElden Ring.
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Additional Buffs:
The Comet Azur build is known as the beginner-friendly one-shot build because it’s surprisingly powerful without having to rely on setting up the majority of the long damage buff process. Because it doesn’t require much setup, this build is great forbosses inElden Ringwith multiple phases, or otherwise for boss fights where the universal buff setup can’t be safely performed.
Players can trigger this unique parry spell through various exploits that are easy to set up or by parrying an incoming attack, and then the spell will automatically attack bosses once they are within range. Like the Comet Azur build, Carrian Retaliation has the added benefit of being a spell, combining the spell-specific buffs with the universal buffs for the best of both worlds. This spell is both an Ash of War and aSorcery inElden Ring, but it’s believed that the Sorcery version is more powerful between the two.
This is one of the few melee-weapon builds inElden Ringthat is capable of one-shotting bosses. Generally, this is one of the hardest builds to pull off since it relies on a heavy amount of buffs and puts players within melee range of bosses. On the plus side though, there are a variety of additional buffs specifically for physical damage that players can potentially replace some of the universal buffs with since these can be risky to activate. Because this build uses Colossal weapons that weigh a lot, it’s best to also invest in equip load through stats or buffs to maintain high mobility and avoid heavy-rolling.
One-shot builds are essentially a race between the player and the boss for who can land the first and hopefully the only attack, so ranged weapons help to make sure the odds are in the player’s favor. There are multiple ranged weapons that have one-shot potential, but using a shield as an offensive weapon gets bonus points for practically being a meme. ThisShield inElden Ringbenefits from projectile buffs, as well as Fire damage buffs. Not to mention, this weapon deals AoE damage, so it can potentially kill multiple bosses in a single well-placed attack.
Elden Ringis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
