Best Gazing Finger build in Elden Ring

Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC introduces several unique boss weapons to the base game. One of the more interesting weapons, the Gazing Finger, is a reward for defeating an optional Remembrance boss. It’s a powerful weapon, so here’s how to build around it.

The best Gazing Finger build in Elden Ring

The Gazing Finger is a powerful Colossal Weapon in Elden Ring that scales primarily with Strength, and has secondary scaling with Intelligence and Faith. So, the best build for the Gazing Finger is a Strength build that uses heavy attacks and the weapon skill, Kowtower’s Resentment.

If your current build is not a Strength build, you should use a Larval Tear to respec your character before getting started.

Stat distribution

You’ll deal most of your damage with heavy swings of the Gazing Finger, so first of all, focus on getting your Strength to at least 40. Next, focus on survivability by getting your Vigor to 40 and Endurance to 30 for a healthy amount of HP and stamina. Invest some points into Intelligence and Faith for a bit more scaling, then move back to Strength.

This is what your endgame stats should look like:

• Vigor: 50
• Mind: 20
• Endurance: 30
• Strength: 50
• Dexterity: 10
• Intelligence: 20
• Faith: 20
• Arcane: Base level

You should reach these stat levels at around Rune Level 180. Put any additional points into Strength for more damage. If you find yourself dying too often, invest more points into Vigor until you hit the 60 soft cap. You also need 10 Dexterity to wield the Sacrificial Axe.

Crystal Tears concoction

The ideal combination of Crystal Tears for your Flask of Wondrous Physick is the Bloodsucking Cracked Tear and Crimson-Sapping Cracked Tear. The former increases your damage output by 20 percent, but it also causes your health to drain every second while it is active. It lasts for three minutes.

To counteract the effect, the Crimson-Sapping Cracked Tear causes you to regain health every time you deal damage. Both these Crystal Tears were introduced in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC and work for high-damage builds. Remember to allocate most of your flask charges to health with a leftover charge or two to restore FP if you need it.

Gear breakdown

This build utilizes two main weapons: the Gazing Finger and the Sacrificial Axe. The Gazing Finger deals heavy Physical damage with its B-tier Strength scaling, while its weapon skill, Kowtower’s Resentment, does massive Holy damage. The longer you charge the skill, the more Holy damage it deals.

In your offhand, you’ll be wielding the Sacrificial Axe to mitigate your FP costs. This weapon restores four FP every time you kill an enemy in your vicinity. The passive buff applies even when the weapon isn’t in your active hand, so you can wield the Gazing Finger in both hands and still benefit from the Sacrificial Axe’s FP restoration.

When it comes to armor sets, there are a lot of choices. A helm that might interest you is the Greathood for its Intelligence and Faith stat increases, but it also lowers your maximum HP by nine percent. For the rest of your armor, you can equip any other set pieces as long as you maintain a medium equip load.

Talisman breakdown

Four talismans work perfectly for this build:

• The Two-handed Sword Talisman is the Talisman you need whenever you wield your main weapon in both hands. This new DLC talisman increases the overall damage output of your Gazing Finger by an additional 15 percent as long as you’re wielding it with both hands.
• The Two-headed Turtle Talisman greatly increases your stamina regeneration, which is excellent for boss battles. Since you’re wielding a Colossal Weapon, your stamina drain is quite high, making this talisman almost mandatory for this build.
• The Sacred Scorpion Talisman is a classic choice for any build that outputs Holy damage. This talisman boosts your Holy damage output by 12 percent, granting a flat damage buff to Kowtower’s Resentment at the cost of taking 10 percent increased Physical damage.
• The Ancestral Spirit’s Horn rounds out your build by granting you three additional FP every time you kill an enemy in your vicinity. This effect stacks with the Sacrificial Axe, keeping your FP topped off while you’re slaying groups of enemies.