As an avid Soulsborne fan with over 800 hours across the series‘ games, I was immediately drawn to Elden Ring‘s colossal weapons – especially the beefy greatswords. Their balanced blend of raw strength and weighty blades suit my aggressive playstyle perfectly.
Of all the greatswords, one stood out as the perfect fit for roleplaying as Guts from the iconic Berserk manga – the Iron Greatsword. From its broad, heavy blade to the thick metal slab at its tip, the Iron Greatsword is nearly identical to Guts‘s famous Dragonslayer sword.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll cover everything you need to know to create the ultimate Guts cosplay build centered around the Iron Greatsword. You‘ll crush enemies and bosses with staggering power attacks worthy of the legendary Black Swordsman himself.
Why Roleplay as Guts?
For those unfamiliar with Berserk, the story follows Guts – a warrior cursed with brand that draws demonic forces to him. After enduring tremendous tragedy and torture, he finds solace in hunting down gruesome monsters with his trusty Dragonslayer greatsword.
Guts embodies raw power and fiery rage. He plows through demons with heavy swings, relying on his strength and sword mastery versus finesse. This aggressive style naturally lends itself to a greatsword build.
Roleplaying as Guts also provides fantastic inspiration for playing aggressively and decisively while wearing badass black armor. Few video game characters have as much presence as the Black Swordsman himself.
Best Weapons for Guts Build
While no greatsword perfectly matches the Dragonslayer, two come extremely close.
Iron Greatsword
Found on a carriage in Limgrave, the Iron Greatsword bears an uncanny resemblance to Guts‘s iconic weapon. From the broad blade to the curved tip, it looks and feels nearly identical to the Dragonslayer when swung.
The Iron Greatsword also packs tremendous raw power with S/B scaling. Its standard Ash of War is the Lion‘s Claw somersault that crushes enemies under the blade‘s weight.
Zweihander
If you want something longer but similar, the iconic Zweihander greatsword serves as an excellent alternative. Its moveset focuses more on vertical chops and crushing slams versus wide horizontal swings. But an argument can be made this better matches Guts‘s forceful swings versus finesse style.
As a bonus, the Zweihander‘s Weapon Skill: Stamp (Upward Cut) aligns perfectly with Guts signature leaping diagonal slash attack.
I prefer the Iron Greatsword for pure cosplay purposes, but the Zweihander also works fantastically.
Stats & Attributes
As an aggressive juggernaut, Guts relies on tremendous Strength and Endurance to relentlessly hack away at demons. Therefore, this build places heavy investment into Vigor, Endurance, and Strength.
- Vigor: 60
- Mind: 15
- Endurance: 50
- Strength: 80
- Dexterity: 16
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 9
- Arcane: 9
Vigor gives you the health pool to absorb hits between relentless attacks. Mind provides enough FP for weapon skills and buffs. Massive Endurance lets you wield the gigantic blade while wearing bulky armor.
Strength should be pushed to 80 – the soft cap. This provides S-tier scaling that transforms greatswords into absolute monsters. Get just enough Dexterity to wield your chosen weapon.
The rest of the attributes are useless for this brute force build.
I suggest starting out as either the Hero or Vagabond class, then putting all levels into Vigor, Endurance, and Strength.
Best Ashes of War
Ashes of War allow you to customize weapon skills. For the Guts build, focus on ones adding or enhancing physical damage.
Lion‘s Claw
This is the default Iron Greatsword skill – fitting as Guts signature move is a leaping somersault attack. Lion‘s Claw enhances this move, imbuing the blade with a golden aura as you crash down onto enemies. It hits brutally hard, especially on jump attacks. Stick with Lion‘s Claw on the Iron Greatsword.
Royal Knight‘s Resolve
An alternative to further bolster the Zweihander‘s destructive chops. This Ash buffs your next attack, encouraging trading blows. Time it properly after dodging enemies for explosive damage.
Both skills align nicely with Guts‘s ruthless aggression.
For added damage, use the Heavy affinity on either greatsword to get Strength scaling near or at S. This noticeably bolsters their assault within the build‘s high Strength allocation.
Armor – Embrace Your Inner Black Swordsman
Guts wears a distinctive black armor set with a flowing red cape. To complete the menacing look:
Helm: Commoner‘s Headband (Altered)
Chest: Exile Armor
Hands: Banished Knight Gauntlets
Legs: Exile Greaves
Great rune: Godrick‘s Rune for +5 to Strength, Dexterity, and Vigor
This combination perfectly encapsulates Guts‘s dark black iron armor. Godrick‘s Rune provides welcome stat boosts useful for any melee build.
Prioritize heavier sets with high poise like Lionels or Veterans if you want to hyper-armor through enemy combos. But for aesthetics, the above perfectly channels Berserk‘s rage-filled demon slayer.
Talismans
These four talismans complement the hyper-aggressive greatsword style:
Claw Talisman: Boosts jump attack power
Bull-Goat Talisman: Massively increases poise
Great-Jar Arsenal: Raises equip load to wear heavy weapons and armor
Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: Successive attacks increase damage
Bull-Goat Talisman lets you relentlessly cleave enemies without staggering. Great-Jar Arsenal equips heavy gear. Rotten Wing boosts consecutive strikes. Claw enhances the signature leaping chop.
Flask of Wondrous Physick
Further enhance performance with the Physick:
- Axgard‘s Bolt
- Lightning Shrouding Cracked Tear
Axgard temporarily buffs charged attacks like colossal weapon strong strikes. Lightning Shrouding adds 50% physical damage for 15 seconds. Both nicely complement the trade-oriented juggernaut playstyle.
Fighting Like Guts
The gameplay embodies Guts‘s relentless aggression. Get right up in enemies‘ faces and pressure them with infinite stamina from Great-Jar Arsenal.
Use jumping heavy attacks to exploit openings. Bull-Goat Talisman allows you to hyper-armor through combos as you counter-slam. When facing groups, stagger with Lion‘s Claw, then mop them up with charged power stance strong attacks.
Against bosses, wait for openings then buff with Royal Knight‘s Resolve or the Physick. Time the subsequently devastating strikes properly to chunk 2/3rds of most bosses‘ HP. Play reactively and guard/dodge until you see wide openings to fully utilize the build‘s astronomical AR (attack rating).
Conclusion
And there you have it – everything you need to roleplay as Guts from Berserk within Elden Ring through the legendary Iron Greatsword. This comprehensive build guide includes tips ranging from cosmetic armor choices to specialized tactics focused on crushing enemies with overwhelming brute force attacks.
I‘ve tailored this around maximizing colossal weapon damage to match Guts‘s trusted Dragonslayer blade. Use the recommendations around attributes, weapon skills, talismans and Physick to optimize blowing away foes with charged attacks after repeated aggression saps their stamina.
Let me know what you think of the build and if you have any tweaks from your own greatsword experience. And may your greatsword strikes make enemies cower in fear as you charge at them draped in black iron and clenched rage, ready to unleash explosive attacks like the famed Black Swordsman himself.
Hope you have fun roleplaying one of anime‘s most badass warriors!
