Elden Ring has a plethora of weapons and spells to choose from. With physical damage and magical damage builds dominating the PvP meta, Faith builds generally fall to the wayside.
An often-forgotten Faith weapon for a melee build is the Coded Sword. Here’s the best build to use with the Coded Sword in Elden Ring.
The best Coded Sword build in Elden Ring, expained
Coded Sword builds are quite rare compared to other builds. This is because there aren’t many powerful endgame Faith-scaling Straight Swords compared to other weapon types. But if you enjoy dealing Holy damage and watching enemies drop like flies, this Coded Sword build is for you.
Since you get the Coded Sword toward the midgame, you can’t start working on this build until about level 70 to 80, or whenever you make it to Leyndell. Before then, you can use any Faith caster build or stick with the Golden Halberd if you want a Str/Faith hybrid build. After finding the weapon, prepare to respec for this endgame build.
| Build parameters | Requirements |
| Recommended level | 100 to 150+ |
| Primary stats | Faith |
| Secondary stats | Vigor, Endurance |
| Weapons | Coded Sword, Erdtree Seal |
| Armor | Radiant Gold Mask Any armor that maintains medium roll |
| Talismans | Sacred Scorpion Charm Carian Filigreed Crest Flock’s Canvas Talisman Primal Glintstone Blade |
| Weapon skills | Unblockable Blade |
| Additional spells | Radagon’s Rings of Light Triple Rings of Light Golden Vow Blessing of the Erdtree |
Getting the weapon is the only major obstacle in the early-to-mid-game. The rest of the armor and spells are acquired through exploration and defeating bosses. Since your damage type is primarily Holy damage, mix the Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear in your Flask of Wondrous Physick to further boost your Holy damage output towards the endgame.
Before we break down the equipment and playstyle, we’ll tell you how to allocate your stats and skills.
Stat and spell breakdown
The Coded Sword build is almost entirely a Faith build, which means you’ll be investing most of your points into one stat. Start by reaching 25 to 30 Faith before leveling up Vigor and Endurance a bit. Level Faith to 50, then Vigor and Endurance to 40. Your remaining points will go into more Faith.
Your endgame stats should look something like this. The remaining stats can be allocated based on what you need. Since this build doesn’t have gear or weapon requirements other than Faith, the allocation can be quite flexible.
- Vigor: 40-50
- Mind: 30
- Endurance: 40
- Strength: Base level
- Dexterity: Base level
- Intelligence: Base level
- Faith: 60+
- Arcane: Base level
Since this is primarily a caster build, you have a bunch of spells to work with. Your primary damage-dealing Incantations are Radagon’s Rings of Light and Triple Rings of Light. The former deals high damage and catches evasive enemies when they try to dodge. The latter is great for clearing out groups of enemies and farming Runes.
On the defensive/utility front, adding Golden Vow to your arsenal is a no-brainer. It buffs your attack and defense for a short time. If you’re running the Golden Halberd from early in the game, you get this as an Ash of War.
The final defensive Incantation you need is Blessing of the Erdtree. This Incantation heals you slowly over time, reducing your reliance on healing flasks while you traverse the overworld and explore dungeons. The small bit of regeneration also comes in handy during boss battles, because you can keep recovering health as long as you keep blocking or evading incoming damage.
Weapon breakdown
The only weapon this build needs is the Coded Sword. It’s a unique Straight Sword that entirely scales using Faith and inherently deals Holy damage, making it great against most enemies right up until the endgame. Its Unblockable Blade skill releases a long-range Holy damage slash that damages all enemies in front of you.
For your casting needs, picking up an Erdtree Seal is the best option. It might not boost any specific Incantations but its S-tier Faith scaling more than makes up for it. It also has no weight, allowing you to experiment with heavier armor. You can pick up this sacred seal from a corpse in Volcano Manor after defeating the nearby Omenkiller.
Armor breakdown
Having the right armor isn’t necessary for most builds in Elden Ring. You generally just need light enough armor to medium roll, but for the Coded Sword build, the Radiant Gold Mask is a great choice. This helm increases the power of Golden Order Incantations by 10 percent, which stacks with your other boosts.
The rest of your armor is quite flexible. You can use the Haligtree Knight Set for a small boost in your Faith stat or go with the Crucible Tree Set for more poise. Higher poise will ensure that your attacks will not be interrupted, allowing you to cast your Incantations safely. Since your overall equip load will be low by default, mixing medium-heavy armors into your build will work.
Talisman breakdown
The final part of this build involves using the right Talismans for that endgame power boost.
The Sacred Scorpion Charm is the backbone of this build, improving your Holy damage output at the cost of reduced physical defense. This means increased damage from your Incantations as well as your Coded Sword and its Unblockable Blade.
The Carian Filigreed Crest is usually a great option for any build that utilizes a weapon art. The FP cost negation allows you to spam Unblockable Blade more than you normally could, provided you have enough points invested into Mind.
Flock’s Canvas Talisman is a must-have for any Incantation caster build. The potency of all your Incantations improves while wearing this Talisman, including the damage of your offensive Incantations and the utility boost from your defensive Incantations.
The Primal Glintstone Blade will reduce all of your FP costs by 25 percent. However, this Talisman will also reduce your maximum HP. You can negate this effect by investing more points into Vigor and wearing heavier armor to compensate for the health loss.
How to get the Coded Sword in Elden Ring
The Coded Sword is a Straight Sword in Elden Ring. Most Straight Swords scale with two primary stats: Strength and Dexterity. The Coded Sword is an exception, though: It’s the only Straight Sword that scales primarily with Faith, allowing you to mix in a few Incantations with your melee attacks.
You can find the weapon in the Fortified Manor in Leyndell, Royal Capital. Go to the original Roundtable Hold and head to the throne room where the Two Fingers would be. Pick up the Coded Sword from the throne at the back of the room.
However, bear in mind that you can only get the Coded Sword before you beat Maliketh. Afterward, this area of Leyndell becomes inaccessible. So, make sure you pick up the Coded Sword before you make your final decision regarding the Erdtree.
