Best Builds In Dark Souls, Ranked (2024)

Why, oh why do you keep coming back to Lordran? Is it the sense of purpose in an endless maze of hopelessness and abyss? Or perhaps you only feel the rush of life among the dregs of fallen kingdoms? Whatever the reason, we won't judge you for wanting more power and flame. There is no more familiar home and haven for those indoctrinated into the masoch*stic embrace of Souls-like games than the original Dark Souls.

As a veteran Chosen Undead, you'll not settle for candlelight when you can grasp the whole firestorm. Nothing makes subsequent runs in Dark Souls more exciting than being able to unleash vengeance upon those adversaries that oppressed you during your neophyte days. So reclaim that flame once more using these powerful, thematic, and occasionally hilarious builds.

Updated on March 04, 2024, by Marco Vito Oddo: Thanks to a clever mix of PvE and PvP challenges, every game in FromSoftware's beloved line of action RPGs remains extremely popular. That includes Dark Souls, the first entry in the studio's groundbreaking trilogy. Thanks to the unprecedented success of Elden Ring, many players are returning to Lordran or discovering the fallen kingdom for the first time. It's dangerous to go alone, so you should plan ahead and stick to a build that will help you slay mighty bosses and destroy your opponents as an invader or host.

13 MLG Sorcerer

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MLG stands for Moonlight Greatsword (not Major League Gaming). But beyond that, this is a pure sorcery build. You'll mostly rely on the spells, before buffing up your weapons with Crystal Magic Weapon to push back anyone who gets close using the MLG or Balder Sword.

12 Faith Build

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This build plays out similarly to the MLG sorcery build, except you hurl miracles at your enemies instead of sorceries. Great Lightning Spear is your main damage source. If anyone comes close, use Emit Force or buff your weapon with Sunlight Blade and make their flesh grossly incandescent.

11 Pure Pyro Build

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For something a bit hotter, but also more offense-focused, this Pyromancy build will not disappoint. If the target is far, use the Chaos Fireball. If they get near, burn them with everything you got. If they're still not dead, skewer them with Quelaag's burning sword and turn them into a kebab.

10 Dexterity And Bleed

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Oh no, Dexterity? Well, it's a Bleed build, so you can excuse that. In any case, it's not as annoying or as tedious as Dark Souls 3's Bleed build, where you have to keep reapplying the Bleed infusion on the weapon. The Scythe does that for you already. All you have to do is keep landing those attacks to build up the bleed stacks. The target will eventually drop.

9 Quality Build

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'Quality' is Dark Souls jargon for a healthy combination of the Strength and Dexterity stats. This opens up many opportunities for both weapons and armor, so armor choice is really up to you — and you can even opt for the Zweihander instead of the Halberd. The playstyle requires that you learn to dodge and poke enemies. The damage is reliable enough to carry you through most duels and fights and pyromancy spells are great as panic buttons.

8 Kirk Knight Of Thorns

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The beauty in cosplay builds that work both in PvE and PvP is that you get to look stylish. It beats donning min-maxed armor that looks like a fantasy character trope. This is by far one of the most intimidating builds in Dark Souls. On top of the shock factor, the Kirk build also has the potential for a Bleed setup.

7 Knight Artorias

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Another cosplay build that will surely put fear into the hearts and minds of your enemies is the legendary Corrupted Knight Artorias. With this one, you'll also have to play offensively, since it doesn't have as many tricks as the spellcaster builds or Bleed builds. The things it does have going for it are staggering capability and good damage. Black Flame is a backup that many PvP players won't expect from something like this.

6 Slow-Walk Build

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The Slow-Walk build, courtesy of JerpDoesGames, is the very antithesis of the current and most popular meta in Dark Souls PvP. Instead of all the flipping ninja Havel moms and dads, this one is content with a slower movement speed. Poise is still great due to the giant set, and trading blows is one of the most effective tactics here.

5 Ayriak's Quality Pyromancer

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For a Pyromancer that can still do a bit of everything — including fighting in melee range, then this build from Ayriak does the job well. As always, you'll have to pelt and pepper your enemies with fire spells from a distance, and then skewer them with the halberd once they get close. It can catch some PvP players by surprise, especially if they think you're a helpless Pyromancer in melee.

4 Crestfallen Warrior

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Everyone knows by now that the Longsword is a powerful meta weapon in Dark Souls. The best thing about this weapon is that it still allows cosplay builds like this to function properly. This time around, you're the Crestfallen Warrior, and you're getting tired of just sitting around in the Firelink Shrine. So, you might as well collect some Humanity or kill some gods.

3 Bonewheel Skelly

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This one's more of a joke build, but it still works surprisingly well in multiplayer. It's a cosplay of those wretched Bonewheel Skeleton enemies in the Catacombs. The dual Bonewheel Shields can prove enough as weapons, and you can just keep attacking and dodging lightly thanks to the monstrous Stamina allowance. At the very least, you'll strike some fear into the hearts of PvP enemies.

2 Oroboro's Falchion Build

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From Oroboro himself comes this notorious build that is as close to being a hate-mail magnet as the Giant Dad build. You'll simply need to cast either Darkmoon Blade or Sunlight Blade on a Falchion, and just spam two-handed attacks. Wrath of the Gods will help you deal with multiple enemies. It also works well in PvE, thanks to the fast attack speed.

1 Giant Dad

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Speaking of legends in the Dark Souls mythos, none can match the notoriety and esteem of the fan-created Giant Dad character. It's a build so cheesy and efficient that it shoved its way into the game's fan canon as an extra character. The idea is simple: use the Zweihander's staggering ability to stun-lock enemies in PvP; they usually go down in three to four swings. Be prepared for some toxic post-PvP mail, but just tell them that's how it is and that you're an in-game boss — because the legend never dies.