Elden Ring gives players an incredible amount of freedom to build their ideal character to explore the Lands Between with. With hundreds of weapons to choose from, finding the right one can quickly be overwhelming, but the abundance of choice only leads to an incredible amount of build variety.
One option is a purely strength-focused build, using larger weapons that sacrifice speed for more powerful attacks. While some weapons can simply be found around Elden Ring's open world, some weapons will need you to hunt down specific targets to get their special weapon. One of these special weapons is that of the half-man, half-wolf Blaidd.
Obtaining The Royal Greatsword
To obtain the Royal Greatsword, players must first complete all of Ranni The Witch's side quests, also giving players the ability to choose her ending. After completing this questline, return to Ranni's Rise and head to the steps before the tower. There Blaidd will be waiting, already hostile, with your needing to defeat him to obtain his weapon. Blaidd will immediately attack the player, with you being able to sneak up on him by teleporting into the tower and coming up behind him.
Blaidd is a fast-moving opponent despite his weapon's larger size. Be sure to constantly be moving outside of his long-range while not going too far. Blaidd has a long-range leaping attack that will quickly close the gap while also dealing a large amount of damage. Should you see his weapon begin being surrounded by ice particles, keep a far distance, as his next attack will end with a frost blast that can deal quite a bit of damage alongside his usual physical damage. While Blaidd doesn't have any significant resistances aside from magic damage, he has no resistance to fire or pierce damage, making it your best option to take him down.
Using The Royal Greatsword
The Royal Greatsword requires 26 strength, 18 dexterity, and 22 intelligence to wield. This weapon is a bit larger and will have slower attacks and a heavier weight that requires more endurance to be able to use while moving quickly. This weapon deals both physical and magic damage, with its magic damage being more prominent. As it's upgraded, this weapon scales decently in an equal amount of both strength and intelligence.
A strength-intelligence build best uses this weapon. It comes with the unique skill Wolf's Assault and cannot be infused with other ashes of war. This skill will seem recognizable from Blaidd as you launch forward to attack your enemy and end the combo with a blast of frost damage. This skill costs 20 FP and is incredibly useful for a weapon that is usually a bit slower at closing a gap between you and your enemy.