InElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, there’s an abundance of new boss weapons to try out. One weapon that definitely sticks out is the Poleblade of the Bud. This exceptional Halberd relies heavily on the wielder’s Arcane Stat to deal damage and is initially seen in the hands of Romina, Saint of the Bud.
This guide will discuss how to build a character to make the most of the Poleblade of the Bud inElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, discussing useful Talismans, Armor, and recommended stats. Since this weapon operates a bit differently to other Arcane weapons in some ways, it’s worth knowing what to expect when building a character around it.
Poleblade of the Bud Weapon Overview
The Poleblade of the Bud is a Halberd that scales off the wielder’s Strength, Dexterity, and Arcane. Arcane is the highest scaling stat here and will provide most of the weapon’s damage. The Poleblade of the Budalso inflicts Scarlet Rot build-up on anything it hits, though it is important to note that this build-up is not influenced by any stats or the weapon’s upgrade level, remaining locked at 55. This is identical to the Scarlet Rot build-up inflicted by the Antspur Rapier, though the Poleblade’s moveset isn’t as fast and will not build up Scarlet Rot as quickly. When building around this weapon, it’s important to remember that it focuses on inflicting direct damage first and foremost, with the Scarlet Rot build-up being a secondary bonus.
The Poleblade of the Bud has the unique weapon skill “Romina’s Purification”, which cloaks the halberd’s blade in Scarlet Rot Butterflies before performing two sweeping slash attacks. This lifts the wielder off the ground while in use and can deal a lot of damage, causing a small aftershock explosion as the butterflies left in the attack’s wake explode. This builds up Scarlet Rot faster than the Poleblade’s normal attacks and can move you quite a long distance while in use. Proper timing and good aim can let you land attacks while repositioning however you choose, though it takes some practice and requires you to unlock from your target.Iron Jar Aromatics can be used to help mitigate the low poise and hyper armor of this attack, while the skill itself mitigates the lowered mobility imposed by those Aromatics.
Recommended Stats (Wretch Starting Class: Level 150)
Your primary stat for increasing the Poleblade’s damage is Arcane,so we’re going to aim for the 60 soft cap.Naturally, since the DLC areas can be dangerous, we’re also going to go for 60 Vigor to get a good amount of Health. For our recommended Armor, Talismans, and secondary weapons, you’ll need 20 Endurance too. Since the Poleblade of the Bud requires 14 Strength and 22 Dexterity to wield one-handed we’ll be raising those stats to the minimum for it. Ideally you’ll only be swinging this weapon two-handed with this build, but it’s still helpful to be able to one-hand it while using a Seal. On that note, we’ll be getting our Faith to 28 to meet the requirements for some Dragon Communion Incantations, along with the ever-useful Golden Vow.
Your Level 150 Stats should look like this:
Armor and Other Weapons
For this build, we’re recommending theRakshasa Armor, acquired bydefeating the boss of the same name in the Eastern Nameless Mausoleum.This armor provides a 2% damage bonus per armor piece to all damage types. In exchange, this armor is noticeably worse at mitigating damage than other armor sets with similar weights. If you want a more defensive set that weighs the same, you could swap it for Maliketh’s Armor.
While the item description implies otherwise, the Rakshasa Armor does not apply any sort of debuff to the player that increases the damage they take. The description is instead intended to point out the noticeably worse defensive stats when compared to armor of similar weights.
You should grab the Dragon Communion Seal to wield in your left hand, two-handing the Poleblade whenever you aren’t actively using incantations to take advantage of the Two-Handed Sword Talisman (Explained more in the Talisman section).Have the Antspur Rapier in your second right-hand slotso you can switch to it as needed, making sure to apply theAsh of War: The Poison Flower Blooms Twiceon it. This provides you with an alternative weapon that can strike faster (though it deals less damage) and can be used to exploit Scarlet Rot on a target for massive damage.
Generally, this build focuses on dealing damage directly and uses Scarlet Rot as a secondary damage source, but you’ll still be proccing Scarlet Rot regularly enough to make good use of this Ash of War. The Antspur Rapier can also be used to build up Scarlet Rot faster if desired.
Talismans
When selecting Talismans for this build, we decided to focus on boosting direct damage and powering up our incantations a little too. So we’ll be using theTwo-Handed Sword Talismanto gain a 15% damage bonus whenever we’re two-handing the Poleblade. By using this Talisman in conjunction with the Rakshasa Armor you can get a lot of extra damage out of the Poleblade, but we can take that a little further by using theKindred of Rot’s Exultationto get a 20% attack power boost for 20 seconds whenever we proc Scarlet Rot.
Resetting Scarlet Rotby using The Poison Flower Blooms Twicewill allow you to trigger this bonus more often and keep it active for a greater portion of the fight, while also dealing a lot of burst damage. We can also use theRoar Medallionto gain a 15% damage boost on our Dragon Communion Incantations, such asGhostflame BreathandEkzykes’s Decaywhich isn’t essential but can help us deal some extra damage while we set up Scarlet Rot and Frostbite on a strong foe.
For that fourth Talisman Slot, we can use defensive Talismans like theGolden BraidorDragoncrest Greatshield Talismanto mitigate incoming damage and help shore up our underwhelming defenses. Pick a defensive talisman to deal with a boss' most dangerous attacks, based on the damage type they deal, for best results.
Incantations
There are a decent number of Incantations that this build can use, and which benefit this build greatly.DragonclawandDragonmawprovide heavy-hitting physical attacks that can flatten smaller foes and quickly stagger larger foes, whileGhostflame BreathandEkzykes’s Decaycan be used to apply Frostbiteand Scarlet Rot while dealing damage at a distance. Frostbite increases all damage the afflicted creature takes, which can be huge when paired with the damage bonuses we’re stacking.
You can also grabGolden Vowfor a powerful offensive and defensive buff, pairing it withFlame, Grant me Strengthto further empower your Poleblade swings.Barrier of Goldand the various other defensive Incantations can prove very useful against many enemies and bosses too. As you explore the Land of Shadows and gain some more Runes,you could push past level 150and increase your Faith to 35, gaining access toBlack Flame’s ProtectionandScarlet Aeonia. The former is a very powerful defensive buff that reduces incoming physical damage, while the latter is a devastatingly powerful Scarlet Rot burst that inflicts the strongest variant of Scarlet Rot in the game.
