Highlights
- Elden Ring players can one-shot major bosses with skill and preparation, using time-sensitive setups and specific buffs.
- The best setups include meticulous attention toward equipment, talismans, weapons/spells, skills, Physick flasks, and additional buffs.
- The Comet Azur, Carian Retaliation, Colossal Weapon Jump Attack, and One-Eyed Shield builds are examples of one-shot builds that players can use to defeat bosses.
It's no secret that Elden Ring is 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 experience Elden 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 of builds in Elden 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-shot Elden Ring’s bosses but also leaves players vulnerable to being killed in one hit themselves.
How to Set Up Damage Buffs in Elden Ring for One-Shot Builds
Regardless of what weapons players use, most of the damage buffs in Elden Ring are 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 for Elden Ring's universal damage buffs is as follows:
Equipment | Process |
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Black Dumpling helmet | Inflict Frenzy Status Effect on self while wearing this helmet |
Winged Greathorn weapon | Use Soul Stifler Ash of War near the enemy/boss |
Commander’s Standard weapon | Use Rallying Standard Ash of War |
Lord Of Blood’s Exultation Talisman, White Mask helmet, and any weapon with Seppuku Ash of War | Use Seppuku Ash of War to inflict Bleed Status Effect while wearing this Talisman and helmet |
Kindred of Rot’s Exultation Talisman and Mushroom Crown helmet | 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 with the Sleep Status Effect so that players can safely perform this setup without any interruptions, which is also helpful because this Status Effect in Elden Ring makes enemies take increased damage. There are additional damage buffs, but these generally only apply to specific weapons, attacks, and/or Spells in Elden Ring.
Comet Azur One-Shot Build
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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 for bosses in Elden Ring with multiple phases, or otherwise for boss fights where the universal buff setup can't be safely performed.
Carian Retaliation One-Shot Build
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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 a Sorcery in Elden Ring, but it’s believed that the Sorcery version is more powerful between the two.
Colossal Weapon Jump Attack One-Shot Build
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This is one of the few melee-weapon builds in Elden Ring that 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-Eyed Shield One-Shot Build
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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. This Shield in Elden Ring benefits 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 Ring is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
