Best Star-Rimmed Sword Build in Shadow of the Erdtree

People who are new to the Star-Lined Sword in Shadow of the Erdtree will quickly learn how broken and OP it is. With an innate bleed, a sleek Ash of War, and split magic and physical damage, this is the new Dex/Intelligence sword you've been looking for. You can only get this weapon from the Demi-Human Queen Marigga boss on the Cerulean Coast. Here's what the best Star-Lined Sword build looks like.

Stats and Attributes

To equip the Star Sword, you need 10 Strength, 23 Dexterity, and 21 Intelligence. The Strength points should already be there based on your starting class, but the main stats for it are Dex and Intelligence. Unfortunately, the Star Sword cannot be imbued with magic, nor can you alter its war ashes. As such, you must double the weapon's innate stats and supplement it with the magic you wish to use. Here is a table outlining the stats you want:

As with all Dex and Int builds, you'll want to diversify your offensive options with Terra Magica and Azure Comet. We highly recommend these two spells, as Azure Comet is one of the most powerful spells in the game. Feel free to take any other spells you want. We've chosen these two spells to help you out when you don't want to bother using Starsword. You have 60 Int, so why not use it?

It's probably not worth upgrading Lusat's Glitterstone Staff to +10, but you can do it if you have the Dark Forgestones to spare. This is most useful for getting a slight increase in sorcery scaling, which will improve the overall damage of your spells with this staff. Generally, you'll want to use the Star-Rimmed Sword with both hands, then only use the Staff to blast objects into oblivion with the Azure Comet.

Ashes of war

• Star-Lined Sword – The star line of our sword. Corrected, impossible to modify.
• Lusat's Shimmering Stone Staff – No skill.

You cannot modify this weapon's War Ash because it is a unique weapon. This means you're stuck with the Star Line of Eleven. Unfortunately, this means you can't benefit further from the innate blood loss buildup on the weapon. You will trigger bleeding intermittently, which will help in prolonged fights. The good news is that Eleven's Line of Stars is an incredibly stylish Ash of War, with a multi-hit combo and a super cool final slash from above. Lusat's Staff doesn't have War Ash, meaning you can still use the Starline Sword attack without having to put it away.

Witchcraft

As we explained, you want to use Comet Azur and Terra Magica. While these are the two we recommend the most, you can choose to use all of your spell slots with more abilities. Having something to throw at enemies from a distance can be useful, so taking something from Glintstone Nails, or even Glintstone Icecrag, will help you deal with a wide variety of encounters. If you bring any other offensive magic, you want to make sure it has a low FP cost or fits your flavor and theme. Other than that, you can use whatever sorcery you want to play with. You'll have over 60 Int, so have fun with it.

You have a little freedom with this version. Since the focus here is on the best Star Sword build, we highly recommend focusing more on melee damage than anything else. This Talisman setup will help you do both very well, so don't hesitate to experiment and lean more towards magic if you live for Comet Azur.

Feel free to replace these items with something more optimal that will improve your stats. We don't think it's entirely necessary and believe that having style is more important than maximizing your damage.

Mixed Physick and Great Rune

For your Mixed Physique, we chose Cerulean Hidden Tear and Stonebarb's Cracked Tear. The former will eliminate your FP usage for 15 seconds while Stonebarb will allow your attacks to do more balance damage to break their stance easily. You can remove Stonebarb for Opaline Bubbletear if you want to be a little more careful, but that's entirely up to you. If you open a battle with Azure Comet, it will help you burn the enemy with little resistance. Likewise, you can spam Eleven's Star Line with infinite FP for a while. Either way, it suits either playstyle, melee or magic.

For your Great Rune, we recommend using Godricks Rune. This rune gives you a boost to all of your stats across the board, which will allow you to deal more damage and help make up for the HP you lose from taking the Primal Glintstone Blade Talisman. Likewise, if you feel like you need more HP and FP, go for the Great Rune of Radahn.

General Combat Tips

For this build, Comet Azur is completely optional. If you don't want to use it, you can just rush straight in to deal melee damage. However, if you want to use Comet Azur to soften them up first, you can do the following to buff them up beforehand:

• Launch Terra Magica.
• Drink your Physick.
• Blast away with the Azure Comet / Launch melee attacks with your Ashes of War.
• If anything survives the Azure Comet, deal melee damage to it.
• Cut your enemies to ribbons with the Star Sword.

With your buffs active, initiate a fight using the Azure Comet to burn lots of HP. The bubble will help you take any damage you take while standing still and casting a spell. If you don't want to start with the Azure Comet, go straight in to deal melee damage. Close the distance and use your War Ash to deal multiple hits and hopefully stun your enemies causing them to lose blood. If you need to create space, you can flee and use magic to cover your retreat.