With the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC reigniting PvP chaos across the Lands Between, the community's attention has shifted toward a surprising powerhouse: the Sword Lance heavy thrusting build. While metas rotate between Moonveil enjoyers and skull-spamming sorcerers, this build does something refreshingly direct-it trades face-first, hits like a siege weapon Elden Ring Items, and deletes health bars in a single confirm.

If you've been itching to destroy phantoms with raw counter-damage, absurd burst windows, and one of the cleanest heavy-to-light combos in the DLC, this is the build you've been waiting for.

What Makes the Sword Lance Special?

At first glance, the Sword Lance looks like just another heavy thrusting toy-long reach, tight hitbox, good vertical control. But the weapon's strength isn't just in the move set. It lies in its unique two-step devastator:

 Fully charged heavy → instant light follow-up

 The heavy attack counts as pierce damage

 Pierce damage in Elden Ring gets bonus counter-attack scaling

Translation: if they swing and you swing, you win.

In fact, you don't just win-you erase.

Because the heavy thrust weapon class already excels at dueling and spacing, this weapon turns neutral trades into nuclear exchanges. Land one counter, chain into the free light attack, and watch full-health invaders pop like soap bubbles.

The Core Damage Engine: Trading Like a Monster

Trading is typically a risk in PvP, especially with Moonveil beams and curved sword bloodflurries waiting to chew your poise bar to dust. But the Sword Lance flips the entire economy:

 If you take a hit while landing the heavy, your damage increases.

 That increased damage unlocks the true kill condition: the light follow-up.

With proper talisman stacking, buffs, and Royal Knight's Resolve timed correctly, the combo isn't just strong-it's comedic.

Even without extreme setup, a clean punish leads to HP deletion. With buffs, you enter meme-level burst territory.

Buff Stack (Optional But Cruel)

 Exalted Flesh

 Uplifting Aromatic

 Royal Knight's Resolve

With all three active, his Sword Lance jumped over 1,000 AR, and trades became so lopsided that even tanky blues fell over after one misstep.

The Stat Foundation

This isn't a hybrid, bleed gimmick, or spellblade flavor build. It's caveman strength-refined and mathematically horrifying.

 Maximum Strength investment

 High Endurance for poise tanking and heavy armor

 Enough Vigor to trade without sweating

Strength isn't just stat flavor-it enables the Sword Lance to hit thresholds needed for one-combo burst without relying on cheesy elemental stacking or glitch-tier buffs.

Armor: Poise Is Not a Luxury

If your build lives on trading, poise isn't "nice to have," it's mandatory tech.

 Full Solitude set for raw posture survival

 Bull-Goat Talisman if you want options into colossal hit spam

Trading doesn't work if you flinch every time someone sneezes Moonveil dust in your direction. With this loadout, heavy thrusts land even while you're tanking kamehameha beams, dragon breaths, and wave-of-gold spam.

PvP Performance: One-Shot Comedy in Motion

What makes the Sword Lance amazing isn't just raw damage-it's how casually it dismantles common DLC behaviors:

Moonveil Spammers

Get caught pressing L2 and the Sword Lance sends them straight back to respawn before their beam animation even resolves.

Dragon Breath Goblins

Their flame wall becomes an invitation to trade.

They breathe, you thrust, they disappear.

Skull Sorcerers

Even spam-lock setups can't soak the counter window. You face tank, you thrust, they explode.

The heavy attack animation is also deceptively long-winded, leading to hilarious delayed mind games.

Every encounter plays like a rhythm check the host fails.

Notable PvP Encounters Showcasing the Build

 One-combo phantoms falling over instantly after attempting jump attacks

 Hosts abandoning their own summons mid-fight, only to be traded into oblivion

 Sorcerers dying at full health because they refused to stop channeling skulls

 Double blues, wizards stacked on narrow elevators, collapsing after one counter

 Moonveil users repeatedly saving their own phantom until they themselves got deleted

Across all invasions, the Sword Lance wasn't just killing-it was educating.Weaknesses? Yes, But Manageable

Even an executioner has flaws:

 Long commitment on charged heavies can leave you punishable by true ranged builds

 No great running heavy chase compared to other heavy thrust swords

 Requires good poise management to avoid flinch interruptions

But these are tactical considerations, not dealbreakers. With proper footsies and good prediction, most counters end up feeding into your kill window anyway.

Final Verdict: A Build for Players Who Want Their Trades to Matter

The Sword Lance doesn't rely on bleed meta ticks, frost procs, spell scrolls, or 2022 power creep classics. It thrives on:

 timing

 poise

 counter windows

 trust in your weapon's burst

When it lands, it lands like an artillery strike.

This build rewards boldness and punishes hesitation. It feels old-school-two warriors entering a lane, trading steel, and seeing whose stance shatters first. Only this time, the answer is always your opponent.

Conclusion elden ring items buy

In a PvP climate bursting with spell spam, wave beams, and dragon cosplay, the Sword Lance stands tall as a return to honest brutality. It's simple in concept, savage in execution, and endlessly satisfying to watch if you love seeing invaders and hosts alike disappear to a single, perfectly timed lance counter.

If you've got ideas for other DLC builds, curve experiments, or weapon class spotlights, now's the time to throw them in. The community may be drowning in Moonveil light shows-but you can rise above them with pure steel and a thrust that deletes.