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What Is A Scarlet Rot Build?
Stats To Aim For
The Best General Scarlet Rot Build
Elden Ring is jam-packed with unique weapons that allow you to experiment with just about any play style imaginable. Even status ailments like Scarlet Rot can be turned into lethal builds capable of killing everything from basic enemies to late-game bosses.
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Elden Ring's Scarlet Rot builds by themselves are deadly enough, but thankfully, there are plenty of ways of building them to cover all manner of situations. It’s time to awaken your inner Malenia.
Updated August 1, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: If you've been considering making a Scarlet Rot build, Elden Ring opened the doors to even more options with the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. We've added recently-buffed Incantations and some of the best new DLC weapons and Talismans to complete your Elden Ring Scarlet Rot build.
What Is A Scarlet Rot Build?
Scarlet Rot builds are all about infecting enemies with the potent damage over time debuff, Scarlet Rot.
Scarlet Rot is like Poison but more potent.
It will rapidly burn through an enemy's health pool, and providing you don’t die before it burns them away, you should be able to tackle the vast majority of Elden Ring’s challenges.
Stats To Aim For
Stats | Value |
|---|---|
Vigor | 60 |
Mind | 20 |
Endurance | 25 |
Strength | 12 |
Dexterity | 20 |
Intelligence | 9 |
Faith | 15 |
Arcane | 63 |
Because you are trying to kill enemies with damage over time, you need plenty of HP to soak up damage while you wait for them to die. This is all fine and dandy since you can just pump your Vigor to 60 and wait out the timer.
The core of this build is Arcane, which should be pumped to 60ish. This will make everything from Bleed to Scarlet Rot more effective.
It will also make your Arcane scaling weapons and spells much more effective.
While not as important as Arcane, Faith will be required to make this build click.
Push Faith to 15 to give you access to Rotten Breath, among other things. This is one of the strongest Incantations in the game, and it primarily scales on Arcane but requires a small investment in Faith to cast.
Finally, Mind and Endurance are pushed as high as you can to give you plenty of FP and Stamina.
The high Endurance will also allow you to wear heavier armor, keeping you alive longer when you are waiting for enemies to succumb to the Scarlet Rot.
The Best General Scarlet Rot Build
Overview
This build focuses on inflicting Scarlet Rot to do consistent damage - even when you are not attacking.
While Scarlet Rot is the focus of the build, it is not the only way you will deal damage.
This Elden Ring Scarlet Rot build is incredibly malleable and can deal plenty of raw damage to end fights without simply running away.
Weapons
Antspur RapierDLC-Exclusive
Poleblade of the BudCrafted Items
Hefty Rot PotThe Poleblade of the Bud is a fantastic and fun weapon to use from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, but when it comes to the best Elden Ring Scarlet Rot build, few weapons exceed the tried-and-true Antspur Rapier.
Many weapons in Elden Ring inflict Scarlet Rot, but few are as effective as this rapier.
Not only does it share the moveset with a standard rapier, but it also builds Scarlet Rot faster than anything else by landing multiple rapid hits.
The Antspur Rapier is one of the few Scarlet Rot weapons that can be customized with Ashes Of War, allowing you to change its scalings giving you far more utility than you would expect from such a narrowly focused build.
With all of this considered, you will want to make your Antspur Rapier Occult to maximize your Arcane Scaling - pushing it to a B.
This will tank your other scalings to E and D, but that isn’t an issue for this build.
For weapon arts, anything goes.
Bloodhound's Step Skill can get you away from trouble, 
Ash of War: Repeating Thrust can inflict a lot of damage and Rot very quickly.
The key thing to remember is that this weapon is versatile. Put what you need on it for any given situation, then swap it out when needed.
To top this all off, you can apply grease and weapon buffs to the Antspur Rapier, and this is something you will be using often to take full advantage of your build.
While Occult Scaling will boost Bleed build-up, it will not add Bleed to your weapon if it doesn’t already have it. Pick Occult for the scaling and to make your Scarlet Rot build-up more effective.
A Hefty Rot Pot is an excellent item to keep in your back pocket to toss at enemies just out of your range, which can help you begin or finish applying Scarlet Rot.
Don't be afraid to rely on more than just weapons and try some of the best crafted items in your Elden Ring Scarlet Rot build.
Incantations
Bloodflame Blade
Poison Armament
Ekzykes's DecayDLC-Exclusive
Rotten ButterfliesPoints should be invested into Faith, so you can access incantations like Rotten Breath, Bloodflame Blade, and Rotten Butterflies.
All three of these Incantations are effective for this build, and using all three at different times can drastically increase your damage output.
Firstly, Rotten Breath. This Incantation deals hundreds of damage when cast and is key to a Scarlet Rot build. It is incredibly useful when dealing with large groups of enemies since your Rapier is much more of a single-target weapon.
Bloodflame and Poison Armament are going to require some micromanagement, but the combination is brutal.
Firstly, apply Poison Armament to your Antspur Rapier. This will let you stack both Poison and Scarlet Rot at the same time, increasing your damage over time.
Once Poison has been applied, unequip and then equip your Antspur Rapier and then apply Bloodflame. This buff will cause short-lasting damage over time and burn effect on every hit, increasing your damage over time sources to three for maximum effect.
You will want to use the 
Dragon Communion Seal for all of your Incantations as it has an S-scaling in Arcane.
Ekzyke's Decay and Rotten Butterflies will help you inflict the Scarlet Rot effect on enemies by applying Rot build-up quickly with successive hits.
Talismans
Talisman | Effect |
|---|---|
Raises attack power by 20 percent for 20 seconds when Poisoning or Rot occurs in the vicinity. | |
Raises HP, Stamina, and Equip Load by a maximum of four, ten, and eight percent, respectively (using Erdtree's Favor +2). | |
Enormously reduced Physical Damage taken by 20 percent (five percent in PvP). | |
Reduces Elemental Damage taken by a maximum of 11 percent (using Pearldrake Talisman +3). | |
Raises Stamina recovery speed by eight per second (17.7 percent). | |
Raises your attack power with each consecutive attack (six percent, eight percent, 13 percent). | |
Greatly raises your Stamina recovery speed by 22.5 percent. | |
Slowly restores your FP. |
Kindred of Rot's Exultation
Erdtree's Favor +2
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
Pearldrake Talisman +3
Two-Headed Turtle Talisman
Blessed Blue Dew TalismanNot many Talismans synergize with Scarlet Rot, but any that do are must-haves.
The Kindred Of Rot’s Exultation will trigger every time something near you is afflicted with Scarlet Rot or Poison, giving you an attack boost. Because you are triggering Scarlet Rot so often, this is a near-permanent buff to your stats.
Everything else is more for utility.
Erdtree’s Favor grants you increased HP, FP, Stamina, and Equip Load.
Dragoncrest Greatshield and Pearldrake increase your defenses significantly - ideal for a slow-burner build like this. Green Turtle will increase your Stamina regeneration.
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia will boost your attack when using successive attacks, which is entirely possible thanks to the rapid attacks of the Antspur Rapier.
The Two-Headed Turtle and Blessed Blue Dew options will help your general play, restoring your Stamina for quick follow up attacks, and your FP so you can use your Incantations to apply Scarlet Rot.
Excellent weapon damage is the perfect complement to any Scarlet Rot build.
Armor
Mushroom CrownSimilar to Talismans, there are very few armor pieces that synergize with Scarlet Rot.
Thankfully, there is one that is too good to pass up - the Mushroom Crown.
Similar to the Kindred Of Rot’s Exultation, the Mushroom Crown increases your attack stats when something near you is suffering from Scarlet Rot or Poison.
The effects stack, allowing you to double-dip on the buff.
Your other armor slots should be used to stack as much defense and Poise as possible whilst maintaining a Medium Roll. You want to stay alive long enough for your DOTs to do their thing, so having plenty of armor is a must.
Flask Of Wondrous Physick
Leaden Hardtear
Faith-knot Crystal TearThe Leaden Hard Tear increases your Poise, giving you more opportunities to tank hits and land your own.
The Faith Knot will increase your Faith stat by ten for three minutes, noticeably increasing all of your damage.
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