If you like hitting things very hard and very slowly, this is your build. It two-hands the Giant-Crusher, one of the heaviest weapons in the game, and leans on huge stance damage to knock bosses over so you can land a critical hit. It is simple to play, forgiving on stats and great fun in co-op.
| Playstyle | Slow, heavy two-handed hits and staggers |
|---|---|
| Starting class | Hero |
| Target level | 150 |
| Main weapon | Giant-Crusher |
| Damage | Physical (strike), Heavy affinity |
Stats at level 150
| Vigor | 60 |
|---|---|
| Mind | 15 |
| Endurance | 44 |
| Strength | 66 |
| Dexterity | 18 |
| Intelligence | 7 |
| Faith | 8 |
| Arcane | 11 |
Two-handing counts your Strength as 1.5 times its value, so 66 Strength reaches the 99 cap while you hold the weapon in both hands. That frees points for 60 Vigor and enough Endurance to wear medium armor and still carry a colossal weapon. Dexterity only needs to cover the Greatsword backup.
Weapons
- Giant-Crusher with the Heavy affinity, upgraded to +25. Put Lion's Claw on it for a flipping slam that breaks a boss stance in a few hits.
- Greatsword with the Heavy affinity as a slightly faster backup with a similar moveset. It also works well with Lion's Claw.
Talismans
- Great-Jar's Arsenal: a big boost to equip load, so you can wear real armor with a colossal weapon.
- Claw Talisman: jump attacks hit harder, and jumping heavy attacks are this build’s bread and butter.
- Axe Talisman: raises charged attack damage, which pairs nicely with charged heavy hits on a staggered boss.
- Erdtree's Favor +2: a little extra HP, stamina and equip load.
Armor
We used the Night's Cavalry set. It gives solid poise and keeps you under 70% equip load with the talismans above, so you still get a medium roll. Any set with similar weight works just as well.
Spirit Ash
Mimic Tear Ashes copies your whole build, which means a second Giant-Crusher on the field. Bosses rarely know who to deal with first.
How to play it
- Lead with jumping heavy attacks. They hit hard, build stance damage fast and let you hop over some sweeps.
- Watch for the stagger animation and run behind or in front of the boss for a critical hit.
- Use Lion’s Claw to close distance or finish off a nearly broken stance.
- Your swings are slow, so learn when a boss pauses between combos and punish only then.
Once you are comfortable, try swapping in other colossal weapons from our weapons list. Most Heavy-infusable ones play the same way.
Stats, equip load and attack ratings were checked with our Build Planner. Numbers are based on patch 1.09 data, so later balance patches may nudge them a little. Want to compare other setups? Browse all our builds.