Best Leda’s Sword Builds in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Making a build in Elden Ring can be a tricky process. Doubly so if you plan to limit yourself to specific weapons and abilities. Using Leda’s Sword from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC as the basis of a build is actually an amazing way to play, as it’s both powerful and fun to use.

How to Make Leda’s Sword Builds in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Leda’s Sword is from a new class of weapon in Shadow of the Erdtree: the LIght Greatsword, a long, elegant weapon class with great range, damage, and attack speed. Its main issue is the lack of posture/Poise damage it does to enemies, a trait shared across the class. Leda’s makes up for that one deficiency with its Ash of War, Needle Piercer, which can not only chunk down enemies in both PvE and PvP but removes most buffs if any one of the eight needles of light connects.

With that in mind, there are two core concepts when making a build with Leda’s Sword: maximizing its overall damage output and enabling its Ash of War. The first part takes a few forms, but there are a few non-negotiables, starting with the stats.

Best Stats for Leda’s Sword Builds in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

There are three stats you must level when making any Leda’s Sword build: Vigor, Dexterity, and Faith at a distant third. The values will depend on what level you want the build to be. For our purposes here, I’m assuming three separate builds at 90, 125, and 200. If you plan to go above 200 or below 90, you’ll need to either forget most of my suggestions (for 200+) or make additional stat point sacrifices. The values listed are minimums. Adjust as you see fit.

• Vigor: 45/55/60
• Dexterity: 50/60/75
• Faith: Base Class Default/25/60

Leda’s Sword primarily scales off of Dexterity, with a strong B rating at +10. Both its Strength and Dexterity scaling is at a D rating, meaning both provide about the same amount of additional attack rating when leveled. Strength technically provides a few points more, but you need at least 19 Faith to even use Leda’s, plus using Incantations like Golden Vow outstrip any minor benefits a Strength/Dex setup might provide.

Best Talismans for Leda’s Sword Builds in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

I’m not going to go into armor sets for Leda’s Sword because while there are lots of good choices out there, you should focus on the fashion you like best and make adjustments to your stats so you have enough Endurance to Mid Roll. Your Talisman choice, however, is very important.

The Talismans you equip while using Leda’s Sword can make a huge difference. For me, two are almost must-picks: Crimson Amber Medallion +3 and Millicent’s Prosthesis. Crimson Amber +3 grants a 10% increase to your HP, allowing you to have a bit less than 60 Vigor — down to around 50 — and still have the equivalent HP value of 1900 without a Rune Arc.

Millicent’s Prosthesis is necessary for two reasons. The first is the simplest: free +5 Dexterity. The second is just as valuable: up to an 11% increase to your attack power, provided you get fast, consecutive hits. And because Light Greatswords excel at consecutive hits, you can easily have the buff active. The effect also stacks with the Rotten Winged Sword Talisman for an even larger boost.

Speaking of, here are the other Talismans I recommend when using Leda’s Sword:

• Crimson Seed Talisman +1 for extra healing
• Rotted Winged Sword Talisman for the stacking consecutive attack damage
• Shard of Alexander for tons of extra Ash of War damage
• Blade of Mercy for extra damage after a critical (parry, guard break riposte, backstab)
• Retaliatory Cross-Tree for extra damage after a backstep or a roll
• Two-Handed Sword Talisman for extra damage while two-handing Leda’s Sword
• Two-Headed Turtle Talisman for tons of extra Stamina regen
• Great Jar’s Arsenal for extra Equip Load if you need it
• Flock Canvas Talisman for extra Incarnation damage

Of that selection, Crismon Seed and Rotted Wing Sword are by far my favorites, with Shard of Alexander coming a close third. They’re useful no matter you’re level you’re at, and their effects are either passive or, in the case of Rotted, very easy to activate. The additional options all have their place.

Best Spells for Leda’s Sword Builds in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

As a weapon with a fairly sizeable Faith requirement, Leda’s Sword makes a fantastic pairing with Incantations. Bare in mind that a level 90 build won’t have much room to put many more points into Faith for good spell damage, but you can probably squeeze out 25 Faith for Golden Vow, Flame Grant Me Strength, Bestial Vitality, and some lower-cost damaging spells.

Higher-level builds will, of course, have much more freedom. Depending on whether you want to cosplay as Leda or just want a good Incantation setup, the following spells from Shadow of the Erdtree are fantastic:

• Miquella’s Light for the huge burst damage
• Multilayered Ring of Light for solid PvE and PvP performance
• Knight’s Lightning Spear for the best Lightning Spear in the game
• Fire Serpent for pressure and chasedown
• Dragonbolt of Florissax for one of the best protection buffs in the game
• Heal from Afar if you plan to do much co-op, Seamless or not
• Minor Erdtree for more co-op synergy and lore

The following Incantations from the base game are also hard to beat:

• Golden Vow because always have Golden Vow
• Flame Grant Me Strength for the massive damage boost
• Bestial Vitality for low-cost additional health regen
• Giantsflame Take Thee because explosions
• Fortissax’s Lightning Spear for its powerful AoE damage
• Frenzied Burst for long-range damage
• Catch Flame for its universal utility and damage
• Barrier of Gold for a modest Magic Defense buff
• Flame of Frenzy for a low-cost, catch-running-enemies option
• Wrath of Gold if you’re feeling spicy

Which Sacred Seal you use will depend on your stat spread, but the Erdtree Seal is the best-in-slot for 80 Faith, with Giant’s Seal, Dryleaf Seal, and even Frenzied Flame having their place between 60 and 80.

Example Leda’s Sword Build in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

Let’s put everything together in a solid build that works in any situation. It looks something like this:

Stats

• Vigor: 60
• Mind: 24
• Endurance: 20
• Strength: 14
• Dexterity: 75 (80 with Millicent’s Prosthesis)
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 70
• Arcane: 7

Weapons

• Leda’s Sword +10
• Ansbach’s Bow +10
• Erdtree Seal +10
• Sacred Milady +10

Armor

• Helmet: Oathseeker Knight Helm
• Chest: Ansbach’s Attire
• Gloves: High Priest Gloves
• Boots: Oathseeker Knight Greaves

Talismans

• Crismon Amber +3 (forgive the +2 in the screenshot)
• Shard of Alexander
• Flock’s Canvas Talisman
• Millicent’s Prosthesis

Hotbar

• Wondrous Physick: Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear, Winged Crystal Tear
• Fan Daggers
• Boiled Crab

Equipped Incantations

• Golden Vow
• Flame Grant Me Strength
• Wrath of Gold
• Multilayered Rings of Light
• Elden Stars
• Lansseax’s Glaive
• Fortissax’s Lightning Spear
• Frozen Lightning Spear

For more on Elden Ring and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, check out our guides hub.