Sword of Night is one of the newest Katanas added in the recent Elden Ring DLC. This Katana is really fun to play with. Not only can you shred enemies with ease, but it can also deal a ton of damage if used properly.

I will be covering Shadow Arts Samurai Build with this Katana as the core, and will explain the play style of this build, gear to use, best amulets, and tips for using it. If you are looking for an effective build with Sword of Night, then this guide is definitely for you.

Build Basics

First, let’s go over the basics of this build. Shadow Arts Samurai relies heavily on Sword of Night to deal most of its damage through a rapid succession of strikes or slashes.

In addition, it comes with attack-boosting buffs to increase the damage dealt by its firepower and offensive incantations. This also fits in well with its theme, which is a Samurai who has mastered Dark Arts by wielding Sword of Night.

Shadow Arts Samurai also has high Dexterity and Arcane, and a bit of a Faith Stat. You can use some attack-boosting incantations, which can improve its overall firepower.

Gear

Now that the basic play style is out of the way, let’s move on to Shadow Arts Samurai’s gear.

Main Weapon: Sword Of Night

Let’s start with the chief weapon of the build, which is the previously mentioned Sword of Night. To use this Katana effectively, you need 11 Strength, and 20 Dexterity, and B Scaling for Dexterity.

Now, it may not look that impressive at first glance because of its scaling, but it has its own special moves, which we will go into in depth later.

One thing to note is that this Katana causes the user to deal magic damage, so items and equipment that increase magic damage will be beneficial to this Katana.

Weapon Skill: Witching Hour Slash

Speaking of Shadow Arts Samurai’s main damage attack, its unique skill Witching Hour Slash can do the job. This is a chargeable skill that performs high-speed slashes quickly, and the good thing about this skill is that it cannot be blocked by shields.

This skill hits like a truck, however, because of its long charge time, it takes a lot of time to get used to.

However, you can also perform an uncharged version of this skill by pressing L2, which is fast and hits hard. I recommend making this your default attack compared to your normal attack combination.

The first thing that comes to my mind about Sword of Night’s pros is that its Witching Hour Slash skill does have a lot of range and can hit multiple targets around the user. As mentioned above, this skill can hit hard if used properly, especially when performing its fully charged version. You will shred enemies in seconds.

In addition, this Katana has a native blood-loss build-up and will proc bleeds, so this is also a great bonus or another excellent source of damage.

Finally, this weapon has a unique mechanic that it gains an additional attack boost when traveling at night. But in my opinion, this is just a cool gimmick that can be forgotten.

However, just like any other weapon, it has its drawbacks. The first and most obvious problem that comes to mind is the extremely long recharge time of Witching Hour Slash. This will be the reason for your death if used incorrectly. So it takes time to get used to it, especially against fast-moving enemies.

Another thing is that Witching Hour Slash consumes a lot of FP, and 21 FP points per use will quickly deplete your FP.

Secondary Weapon: Dragon Communion Seal

Moving on to the secondary weapon of the build, I recommend Dragon Communion Seal because we will use Arcane scaling Incantations later and we can also use critical buffs.

Spells

Now that the weapons are covered, let’s move on to the spells I recommend.

The first one on the list is Flame Grant Me Strength, which grants an additional 20% physical attack boost and stamina recovery buff.

Then the next one is undoubtedly Golden Vow. This buff increases overall damage by 15% and adds 10% damage negation, which is very helpful.

The next spell is Bloodboon, which will provide a ranged attack to your build. I rarely rely on its damage, but use it as a decoy tool or to pressure a target, especially when fighting humanoid-type enemies. It will also help you increase blood loss and increase damage over time.

Lastly, is Furious Blade of Ansbach. I use this spell because it fits the theme well, not because of its damage. It’s more for roleplaying purposes and to add a little variety while also helping you increase blood loss. This is also a chargeable Incantation, so keep that in mind.

Talismans

Next, let’s get into the best Talismans for this Samurai Build.

As always, our top pick is Shard of Alexander. This increases skill damage by 15%, especially when performing Witching Hour Slash skill.

The next Talisman is Godfrey Icon, which increases the attack power of charged spells and skills by 15%. I highly recommend slotting this as it further increases the damage of Witching Hour Slash and Furious Blade of Ansbach, as these are rechargeable skills.

Of course, since we are dealing with fast multi-attacks, slotting Millicent’s Prosthesis and Rotten-Winged Sword Insignia is optimal for this build. You will always have the multi-attack buff active while using Witching Hour Slash to quickly clear everything in a short amount of time.

Armor Set

Now that the main gear is done, let’s move on to the armor sets for Shadow Arts Samurai. For this build, I am wearing Night’s Cavalry Set, and in addition to the helmet, I am wearing Iron Kasa to keep the identity of the build.

Of course, you can wear whatever you want as long as you have enough Elden Ring Runes. If you want to optimize your armor set in some way, as long as you have 51 poise, most of the time it will be enough.

Stats

Let’s move on to the stats for Shadow Arts Samurai.

Starting with Vigor, I have assigned 45 points to it. Since I’m used to Glass Cannon Builds, I rarely allocate a lot of points to Vigor. However, you are free to raise Vigor to 50 for increased survivability. You can also lower it if you’re really good at the game.

Next is Mind, which has 30 points allocated to it. I highly recommend not going below 25, as Witching Hour Slash requires 21 points per use, so you’ll run out of FP very quickly.

Next is Endurance, which I consider being the offensive stat in any Soul-like game I play, because the more stamina you have, the more damage you can do.

Note that you need to have at least 11 Strength to wield Sword of Night effectively. Since Dexterity is the main stat for this build, I’ve allocated a total of 75 points, plus we’ve equipped Millicent’s Prosthesis, so it will be 80.

Next is Intelligence. We don’t need any intelligence, so it will be 10 points.

Then there’s Faith. 25 points have been allocated to Faith so you can access the aforementioned Golden Vow and Flame Grant Me Strength, and meet the requirements for using other spells with this build.

Finally, 53 points have been allocated to Arcane, so our Bloodboon and Furious Blade of Ansbach will deal quite a bit of damage in the process.

Gameplay

Now that the stats are out of the way, let’s move on to gameplay and optimization tips for Shadow Arts Samurai.

Improving Your Opener

Before or at the start of a fight, I usually cast Golden Vow and Flame Grant Me Strength, then open my Flask of Wondrous Physick. I then do my best to deal as much damage as possible in this burst opener since all the buffs are active.

Using Witching Hour Slash Wisely

I know you want to rip your enemies to shreds by using Witching Hour Slash, but we all know that’s impossible. However, depending on your level in the game, especially during boss fights, you will know when to use a fully charged Witching Hour Slash without getting hit.

Most of the time, this is when the boss is down or it does an action that requires a long recovery or preparation time. This is when its fully charged version is used. As mentioned above, if you misuse this skill, most of the time you will pay with death.

Choose The Right Talisman

In addition, I recommend changing Millicent’s Prosthesis to Crusade Insignia when exploring the world or dungeons. This Talisman is very effective when dealing with monsters because once you kill an enemy, you will have a persistent attack buff that refreshes every time you kill a new enemy, ultimately saving you a lot of time.

Mastering Shadow Arts Combo

If you are able to master the Shadow Arts combo, you can follow up with the uncharged version of the skill in certain situations. If you do it correctly, you will deal high damage to the target.

All in all, Shadow Arts Samurai is another fun and engaging Samurai build, especially its powerful Slash Damage is addictive. If you want to shred your enemies like a boss, don’t miss this build. See you next time!