Best Sword of Night build in Shadow of the Erdtree

✓ At a Glance

• Weapon – Sword of Night and Witching Hour Slash Ash of War
• Stats – Dexterity and Vigor
• Incantations – Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength
• Talismans – Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Shard of Alexander, Carian Filigreed Crest, and Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
• Armor – Night armor set
• Mixed Physick – Thorny Cracked Tear and Opaline Hardtear

Not to be confused with the Sword Night and Flame the base game, the Sword of Night allows you to cosplay as Jolan Swordhand of Night, Count Ymir’s curt pal in the Cathedral of Manus Metyr. As the lore goes, the sword is endowed with such all-consuming, bottomless black that light can’t even shine on it. Spooky.

The weapon makes a solid foundation for a katana-style build that dishes out magic-infused slashes that cause damage through guards and shields. Standard physical damage, blood loss buildup, and tasty Dexterity scaling are also thrown into the mix for good measure. Getting the Sword of Night involves a bit of running about but is well worth it to get through the second half of the expansion.

Stats and Attributes

Other than a healthy number of levels into Vigor given the lethality of the new enemies and bosses in Shadow of the Erdtree, the primary attribute is Dexterity. A decent amount into Endurance and Mind will prevent fat rolling and give you the FP needed to chain the sword’s superb Ash of War. 25 levels into Faith go towards hitting the requirements for the Incantation buffs we’ll use. Beyond that, sink levels in Dexterity and Vigor, in that order. Here’s a rough goal for level 150:

Attribute	Level
Vigor	60
Mind	25
Endurance	34
Strength	11
Dexterity	60
Intelligence	7
Faith	25
Arcane	7

Weapon

No surprise here, our weapon for this build is the Sword of Night. It falls under the katana category alongside weapons like the Moonveil or the Hand of Malenia, meaning it lacks the length, and therefore range, of the newer Great Katanas. It makes up for this with swift attacks, combined physical and magic damage, and a killer Witching Hour Slash Ash of War. Upgraded to +10, the Sword of Night has B Dexterity scaling. It also produces 45 blood loss buildup.

To get the Sword of Night, you’ll need to complete Count Ymir’s quest, which involves tracking down three different Finger Ruins in the Realm of Shadow. At the end of the quest, talk to Jolan at the Cathedral of Manus Metyr and give her an Iris of Occultation. She’ll cough up the sword.

Sword of Night stat requirements:

• Strength – 11
• Dexterity – 20

Ash of War

Given its status as a unique weapon, the Sword of Night has a fixed Ash of War called Witching Hour Slash. Luckily, it’s a good one. You’ll unleash three slashes of black magic with more range than standard attacks. It can also be charged to again boost both the range and damage output. The affinity is set so no tinkering required on that front.

Incantations

Golden Vow	Increases attack and defense for self and allies
Flame, Grant Me Strength	Raises physical and fire-affinity attack power

We’ll use Golden Vow and Flame, Grant Me Strength to buff the Sword of Night before big fights. Golden Vow boosts attack and defense, while Flame, Grant Me Strength increases physical attack power. Combined, they offer a significant kick to overall damage.

Talismans

Rotten Winged Sword Insignia	Greatly raises attack power with successive attacks
Shard of Alexander	Greatly boosts the attack power of skills
Carian Filigreed Crest	Lowers FP consumed by skills
Dragoncrest Greatshield Tasliman	Enormously boosts physical damage negation

We’ve chosen the Shard of Alexander and the Carian Filigreed Crest to further increase the potency of the Witching Hour Slash Ash of War and also keep its FP cost down. The successive attack power boost from the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia incentivises aggressive combos, which the Sword of Night excels at. Lastly, the Dragoncrest Greatshield Tasliman works as a bit of a safety net, upping damage negation significantly.

Armor and gear

• Helm of Night
• Armor of Night
• Gauntlets of Night
• Greaves of Night

We’ve got to look good doing all this, so we’ve gone for the Night armor set. There are no particular benefits other than a low weight, which should allow you to hit a light load for more mobility during fights. The defensive stats are decent, too, but feel free to mix and match as you see fit.

Mixed Physick and Great Rune

For the Mixed Physick, we’re going for the Thorny Cracked Tear and the Opaline Hardtear. The former enhances successive attack power pairing with the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia talisman, while the latter boosts all damage negation as an extra layer of protection, especially against hard-hitting bosses.

For the Great Rune, we’ll go for Radahn’s, which increases maximum HP, FP, and stamina for a balanced boost in all those areas.

General combat Tips

Before an important combat encounter, do the following:

• Use Golden Vow
• Use Flame, Grant Me Strength
• Chug Mixed Physick
• Top up on FP with the Flask of Cerulean Tears

The basis of this build in the Sword of Night’s Witching Hour Slash skill. You’ll want to use it as often as possible, especially the charged version to whittle down health bars. Alongside, combo-ing standard attacks and the excellent charged two-slash will trigger the talisman and Mixed Physick buffs, while also eventually triggering bleed at regular intervals. Due to the build’s low equip load, abuse the light roll to stay out of harm’s way.