Elden Ring: Every Main Attribute, Ranked (2024)

Every Elden Ring character starts with a set of attributes, most of which govern multiple other stats. You're probably familiar with them: Strength, Dexterity, Vigor, and so on. These attributes are arguably more important than anything else in the game, even your weapon choices. Each of the combat stats have powerful builds associated with them, and the others effect stats that most builds will make at least some use of.

However, certain attributes are definitely more niche than others, usually because they aren't as universally useful when compared to their counterparts. Let's see if we can figure out which of these attributes are truly the strongest, and which are merely exceptionally powerful.

8 Strength

Putting levels into Strength increases your defense against Physical damage, presumably because the attacks bounce off your impressive muscles. However, the real reason to invest in this attribute is if you want to hit things very hard.

And if that is your goal, don’t let Strength's low ranking on this list turn you off; you can absolutely beat Elden Ring by investing primarily in it. It’s just more limited than the other attributes, lacking both the versatility of the spellcasting options and the universal usefulness of something like Vigor.

7 Faith

Faith is the only attribute on this list with exactly one application; however, that use case is extremely versatile, largely due to the wide variety of effects Incantations possess. The spell type is surprisingly versatile, capable of outputting significant damage while also providing powerful defensive options.

There are plenty of builds, especially at the higher levels, that start investing in Faith so they can add buffs like Golden Vow, boosting their power exponentially. As a result, Faith appears in significantly more builds than you might expect.

6 Intelligence

The comparison between Faith and Intelligence is an interesting one. In general, Sorceries are going to outperform Incantations when it comes to raw damage, but lack the latter’s versatility, making Intelligence much worse as a complimentary attribute, but often better as a primary one.

Unlike Faith, though, Intelligence has a secondary effect; it gives you Magic resistance, which is going to be extremely helpful against certain enemies. As an interesting consequence, sorcerers actually have better innate defenses against other sorcerers than most builds do.

5 Dexterity

People make a lot of jokes about Dexterity builds, but you can’t deny how powerful they are. These fast-attacking playstyles are some of the strongest in the game, and they get stronger the more Dexterity you have.

There are quite a few less obvious aspects of Dexterity as well, the most impactful of which is that it also determines how fast you cast your spells. There are other ways to increase your casting speed, so pure spellcasters probably won’t bother investing in this attribute, but it does provide a unique advantage to builds that use both Dexterity and Intelligence.

4 Arcane

Arcane increases the damage of some extremely potent Weapons, like Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear, Reduvia, and the Dragon Communion Seal. That alone is extremely important, but the attribute has multiple other potent effects as well.

First is that it increases your item discovery, which can come in handy when farming for items; it also boosts your Holy defense and your Vitality (Death Blight resistance), the first of which will come up all the time, and the second will be extremely crucial when it happens. But the real benefit is that Arcane gives you increased scaling for your status effects, like Bleed and Poison (though notably not Frostbite), making it necessary for those builds.

3 Mind

FP is usually associated with clerics and sorcerers, for whom it’s arguably the most important stat in the game. However, it has a core place in almost every build. Sure, there are some builds that only use basic attacks, but most melee-focused characters will still rely on Weapon Skills for a significant amount of their damage.

Focus is a decent defensive stat as well, though not one that will compel you to invest in Mind solely for its own sake. Protection from Sleep and Madness is certainly nice, but you don’t see them especially often, even in PvP.

2 Endurance

Stamina is one of the most important stats in Elden Ring, and without it, you can’t do much of anything, whether it’s dodging, attacking, or sprinting; in other words, no Stamina means no gameplay. And if you want to actually play the game, you’ll need to put points in Endurance.

Endurance also governs Equip Load, which might be the best secondary function of any main attribute. Having a higher Equip Load allows you to either light roll, or wear the heaviest armor you can and Poise through enemy attacks while still medium rolling.

1 Vigor

Some players might take issue with Vigor being ranked so highly on this list. After all, you can technically beat the entire game without getting hit a single time, and in that case, congratulations! Vigor is completely useless to you.

But if you are a more normal player, you are going to take damage every so often, and in that case, having extra HP will be a massive benefit. Vigor increases your defenses in other ways as well, as it dictates your Immunity, which provides resistance to both Fire and Poison/Scarlet Rot, threats you are going to encounter fairly often in the Lands Between.