New INSANE Build in Elden Ring – RIVERS OF POISON

For every one that hates the Rivers of Blood users in PVP and wants to beat them at their own game, this is for you. They will not see this coming at all! 

Alternatively, if you’re just looking to rinse a boss easily and spamming Rivers of Blood is getting a bit boring for you, this is also for you. Although it works like Rivers of Blood, this new Rivers of Poison build has enough variety to keep the game fun AND keep your PVP opponents guessing. 

And HERE IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED FOR RIVERS OF POISON!

STATS

So firstly let’s talk stats, 

For this build you’re going to want to focus on Arcane for that poison to pack a punch, Then Dex as your weapon scales primarily with Dex, and finally Mind, you don’t have to go crazy with Mind, I personally stack mine, just because I just like to have more health flasks, and not have to rely on refilling my FP every two seconds. Try to have a decent level of Vigor too if you’re going to be going into PvP fights. Everything else stat wise is up to you! 

WEAPONS

For this build, you’re going to want the Nagakiba katana. It’s the insanely long one with more range than a bow and arrow. It’s actually super simple to find, it isn’t hidden behind a boss, or the far end of an endgame area, it’s literally right at the beginning of the game. From the first step Site of Grace simply run over to Murkwater cave, you’ll be invaded by an NPC, if you leave it long enough, a hunter NPC called Yura will spawn in to help. After killing the invader, Yura will be standing against the wall to the north, kill him and he’ll drop the Nagakiba.

You’re going to need two of these, there are a few ways to do this. If you’re in NG+, it’s likely that you would’ve picked one up in your travels before, so you’ll simply need to head over and grab it again. If not, we have a video on duplicating weapons and runes, I’ll link it in the description, and we have a discord filled with hundreds of Elden Ring players looking to duplicate, trade, and fight bosses together, so definitely go get some help in there.

ASH OF WAR & AFFINITY

Now that you’ve got a pair of swords taller than you, let’s talk Ash of War and Affinities. So the Nagakiba actually does a good amount of bleed damage which is a great little boost. The high Arcane we talked about earlier is going to help boost that as well as the poison you’ll be adding on. For Ashes of War, put Double Slash on your right hand, this will imitate the exact movement that the Rivers of Blood does. For the affinity, you’re going to choose poison… obviously. and on your left, this is going to be your secret weapon that catches enemies off guard, equip the Spinning Slash Ash of War, and choose the poison affinity again. This is great for enemies that close the gap and try to get really close, simply one hand your left Nagakiba and spam the Spinning Slash Ash of War for an easy kill.

You can find the Double Slash Ash of War in Selia Understair. Just climb on top of the root that spans the town, and run to the west. You’ll see one of those bugs, just kill it, and boom.

Then the Spinning Slash Ash of War, it’s sold by Knight Bernahl at the Warmaster’s Shack for 1,200 runes. You can find the shack here.

That high-level Arcane and Dex we talked about earlier is really going to come in handy for both Ashes of War.

ARMOUR

For your head, you’ll want to use the Mushroom Crown, this boosts damage when poison is in the vicinity. It will boost your damage by 10%.

The Mushroom Crown can be found on a corpse hanging off of a pillar ruin in the southeastern corner of Lake of Rot, right here.

For the chest, hands, and feet, you’re going to want something to give you a decent poise level without causing you to fat roll. I went with the Crucible Knight Armour, but anything will do. The reason for the high poise is due to being vulnerable when doing the Spinning Slash attack. However, not that many players will be able to hit you because this attack is more likely to break enemy poise anyway.

TALISMANS

All of these talismans are useful and contribute to insane amounts of damage, so don’t skip any.

Firstly we have Radagons Soreseal, this gives a +5 to the attributes Vigor, Endurance, Strength, and Dex. The trade-off is that you take an extra 15% damage. But you’re not going to get hit much. You can get ahold of the Soreseal at Fort Faroth in Caelid.

Secondly, we’ve got the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation, this gives a 20% boost to attacks when poison or rot is in the vicinity. Spoiler alert, there will always be poison or rot in the vicinity. You can get the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation from the Kindred of Rot in Seethwater Cave.

Then, we’ve got the Shard of Alexander which greatly raises the attack power of skills. Again, we’re always going to be using the skills.

To get the Shard of Alexander you’ll need to do his questline, the final location for Alexander will be in Crumbling Faram Azula, I won’t spoil how you get it, but have fun. 

Finally, you’ll want the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia which greatly raises attack power with successive attacks. The attack boost will start at 6% but keep climbing to a whopping 22% attack boost with each hit. The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia can be earned by siding will Millicent at the end of her quest in the Haligtree. If you choose to kill Millicent you’ll get the prosthesis, which is also a decent talisman for this build. 

GREAT RUNE

For your Great Rune, go for Godrick’s Rune as this boosts all of your attributes by 5.

TEARS

The Stonebarb Cracked Tear is incredibly important to use here, it boosts stamina recovery speed which will help out a lot considering we’re going to be jumping and swinging our swords around. 

The second tear is incredibly important, it ties all of this together beautifully! All of the other equipment you’ll be wearing gives just a 100% boost to your damage, you’ll also be using sepukku, on top of this, AND remember that your weapons are set to the Occult affinity which, if you set your stats right, will already mean crazy damage for your dual swords. 

Well this tear, the Thorny Cracked Tearmakes consecutive attacks grow stronger the longer they continue, meaning each time you hit the enemy, the damage increases ON TOP of the 100% damage boost from everything else. I’m pretty sure there are more intricate and impressive ways that these items are stacking together, but I don’t have a calculator to hand, and you don’t care, so let’s just say BIG DAMAGE.

HOW TO DESTROY BOSSES AND PVP WITH RIVERS OF POISON

So, how does the build work? Well, before you walk into the boss room or start swinging your sword at an enemy player. Drink your Wonderus Physic and you’re ready to go. Spamming L2 for PlayStation or LT for Xbox will use the Double Slash Ash of War, this hits the enemy with an attack that strikes them 4-5 times, which triggers everything that boosts successive attacks. The poison caused by the swords will also kick in and trigger everything that boosts attack power when poison is in the vicinity, your high-level arcane will then boost that AND the small amount of blood loss on the swords.

And then, your secret weapon, switching to your left blade and spamming the Spinning Slash Ash of War, will also trigger everything, but it will also break the enemies poise, which is made even easier thanks to the Stonebarb Cracked Tear, and then spamming it again, will likely kill your opponent before they even know what hit them. If they do manage to get out alive, they’ll be heavily poisoned.

With each strike, you’ll do more and more damage, and everything will continue stacking so it’ll only be a matter of time before you win the fight. 

HELPFUL TIP

And as a very helpful tip to anybody that has stuck with me through the whole guide, when playing on your own, use the Mimic Tear summon with this build, the fact the summon has all of this equipment as well, doubles the rate in which you kill bosses. Not only are they a great distraction for letting you get in those extra hits, but they’re great at keeping the poison going for your attack buffs. 

Enjoy the RIVERS OF POISON build, and have fun!

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