Elden Ring best Perfumer build, stats, and weapons (2024)

Giving your build a real spark

Shadow of the Erdtree finally makes it possible for you to put together a viable Elden Ring Perfumer build, and you have a lot of flexibility in deciding how you want it to work. You can opt for elemental builds – assuming you have the stats for it – use Perfume Bottles as secondary weapons augmenting another build, or ignore all other weapons and just throw sparks at enemies. A particularly strong Ash of War unique to Perfumers makes that last option a stronger possibility than you might think.

Our Elden Ring Perfumer build breaks down what stats you need to make this work and which weapons and talismans work the best.

Elden Ring Perfumer build

Elden Ring Perfumer build: Weapons

You have a few Perfumer weapons to choose from, and you should pick more than one. The selections are:

• Firespark Perfume Bottle (fire damage)
• Chilling Perfume Bottle (Frost damage, builds Frostbite)
• Lightning Perfume Bottle (lightning damage)
• Frenzyflame Perfume Bottle (fire damage, builds madness meter)
• Deadly Poison Perfume Bottle (physical damage, builds poison meter)

Perfume Bottles are light enough to where even builds with low endurance and equip loads can bring two and possibly even a light melee weapon, sorcery staff, or faith-based seal.

Our pick for the best perfume bottle that does well in almost any situation is the Deadly Poison Perfume Bottle, which you can get early in the expansion after meeting and speaking with Thiollier the first time. He lets you buy some poison-themed items after the conversation ends, and the bottle set is among them. This set deals physical damage, so you can take a chunk out of an enemy’s HP even if they have poison resistance.

The downside is that you need some investment in Arcane for the poison set, which you probably don’t have unless you’re running an Elden Ring bleed build or using dragon incantations. It limits your choice of secondary bottle to fire, unless you’re at a very high level with stat points to spare. You may want to consider supplementing the poison set with a katana or, for a lighter equipment load, a hand weapon from the martial arts category.

If you do pick a second bottle, our top choices are Lightning Perfume or Chilling Perfume. Chilling is excellent at inflicting Frostbite, a condition many foes and even bosses are prone to in Shadow of the Erdtree, and comparatively few enemies in the base game or DLC have lightning resistance. You can’t go wrong with either choice.

One other thing worth noting is that you can dual wield Perfume Bottles, and using the left-hand attack button will spew a stream from each bottle. There's an odd quirk attached to dual-wielding, though, where this double attack deals less damage than using either bottle separately, so bear that in mind.

Elden Ring Perfumer build: Best stats and class

You’ll need to tweak your stats depending on which Perfume Bottle you go for, but dexterity is the common stat between them all.

• Dexterity: Dexterity helps you cast spells and skills more quickly and generally just makes you more nimble. Every Perfume Bottle scales with Dexterity as its main stat, so this is the area you want to invest a fair amount of skill points. While you’d ideally want to aim for the soft stat cap of 50-60, every Perfume Bottle with a secondary stat – that’s all of them except Firespark – scales higher with their secondary start.

• Secondary stat: So, unless you’re using Firespark, focus on your bottle’s secondary stat – Faith for the Lightning, Arcane for Poison, and Intelligence for the Chilling bottles. Frenzyflame requires strength and intelligence as well, though as the scaling is low, you get lower returns at higher levels. That set is primarily good as a secondary weapon for a build with strength as its priority.
• Vigor: You won’t last long in Shadow of the Erdtree without plenty of Vigor, the stat that governs your HP, so make sure you’ve got at least 50 invested there.
• Class: Your starting class really doesn’t matter by this point, so don’t worry about it.

• Vigor: 50
• Mind: 30
• Endurance: 30
• Strength: 15
• Dexterity: 40
• Intelligence: 9 (45-50 if it’s your secondary stat)
• Faith: 9 (45-50 if it’s your secondary stat)
• Arcane: 9 (45-50 if it’s your secondary stat)

These are just general guidelines to follow, though if you’re starting Shadow of the Erdtree at level 150 or higher as FromSoftware recommends, you can manage a good chunk of it before even setting foot in the Land of Shadow. Make adjustments as you see fit, depending on how it suits your playstyle. For example, if you’re not using any spells, you could drop the Mind stat down a fair bit, as the Perfume Bottles and their Ash of War skills use very little FP.

It’s also worth noting that some players have had fantastic success with far-from-optimized builds, where their main stats were often 10 points lower than the soft cap.

Regardless, make sure to prioritize Vigor, Dexterity, and your secondary stat before anything else. If you’re running another weapon alongside, choose your melee weapon based on your main bottle’s secondary stat – Darkmoon Greatsword for the Chilling bottles, for example, or Blasphemous Sword for the Lightning bottles. You could also invest a bit more in Dexterity and run Dryleaf Arts from Dryleaf Dane alongside the Perfume bottles.

Elden Ring Perfumer build: Ashes of War

Perfumers have a small, but useful selection of Ashes of War to choose from, though if you want to maximize your damage, only one will do.

• Rolling Spark: Rolling Spark creates a cone of perfume sparks that explodes, dealing damage aligned with whatever element your bottle is. The damage is heavy, and the cone’s reach is deep enough that you can hit enemies even at a distance. This is an excellent choice in general, but especially if you’re running a light build without sturdy armor
• Raptor of the Mists: Raptor of the Mists is useful for a quick getaway, as it briefly sees you vanish into mist if a melee attack comes your way. The downside is that you’re sacrificing damage output and will have to rely on strong attacks for your bottles to reach further.
• Wall of Sparks: This one is okay. It sees you spin in a full circle and create, well, a wall of sparks. That sounds fancy and looks neat, but it’s only useful if you’re surrounded by enemy mobs. Sparks only deal damage once, so you’re better off just dodge rolling to safety.
• Horah Loux’s Earthshaker: This version of Earthshaker is one that works with any armament, and it’s useful for staggering enemies and keeping them at a distance. It won’t deal exceptional damage, though, so consider using this only if the Perfume Bottle is your secondary weapon.

Elden Ring Perfumer build: Best Talismans

Perfumers only get one Elden Ring Talisman specific to them, but there are a few others that make your build more potent as well.

• Perfumer’s Talisman: This one is a must, as it raises the damage of all Perfumer attacks by 20 percent. That’s an easy buff to get without any strings attached.
• Alexander’s Shard: Alexander’s Shard buffs all skill power – that’s your Ash of War and weapon skills – by 15 percent, making it an essential choice if you’re running Rolling Spark.
• Erdtree’s Favor +2: Erdtree’s Favor raises your Vigor, Endurance, and equip load, which is a handy set of buffs that frees you to invest stat points elsewhere.
• Blue Dancer’s Charm: If your build doesn’t have much Endurance, this is a solid fit, as it increases your attack power when your equip load is low.
• Dragoncrest Greatshield: Dragoncrest reduces the physical damage you take by 20 percent, making it a must-have if you're running with medium or light armor and low equip load.

Elden Ring Perfumer build: Incantations and Sorceries

You can run magic with Perfume without much issue, since Perfumers have to invest in Intelligence or Faith. Most of these are alternative attack methods, since Elden Ring doesn't have many elemental buff spells to draw on. Consider equipping spells that cover your elemental weaknesses - Glintstone Icecrag if you're using the Firespark bottles, for example, or Frozen Lightning Spear to complement the Poison bottles.

Elden Ring Perfumer build: Best armor

Elden Ring has a Perfumer armor set, but it’s really just there for looks and roleplaying. The set has absolutely nothing to offer a Perfume build – or anything else, for that matter. That said, it is a lightweight set, so if your equip load is low, consider wearing it.

Most stat-raising helmets come with a cost, save for those you can occasionally pilfer from dead enemies and some Shadow of the Erdtree-exclusive items.

• Imp Head (Cat): Faith +2
• Imp Head (Elder): Arcane +2
• Queen’s Crescent Crown: Intelligence +3
• Thiollier’s Mask: Arcane +3
• High Priest Hat: Arcane and Intelligence +2

Consider picking one of those up if you need a little extra help getting your non-Dexterity stats up. They aren’t essential, though, so you’re free to wear whatever works best with your build and needs.

For more Elden Ring help, check out our guides for where to find all map fragments, how to complete Leda's quest, and how to access Rabbath's Rise for more secrets.