Elden Ring Patch 1.17 — Top 5 Builds That Win, Top 3 That Lose
Patch 1.17 landed on August 27 alongside the Tarnished Pack launch support, and it's one of the most PvE-friendly balance patches FromSoftware has shipped since Shadow of the Erdtree. I spent a full day in the Lands Between — and a few frustrating hours in the Colosseum — re-testing every meaningful change so you don't have to read raw patch notes and guess what actually moved the meta.
The short version: parry builds, throw builds, and greatshield tanks all got major buffs, while the PvP darlings of the last few months — Rakshasa's Great Katana, Rugalea's Roar, and the dragon breath incantations — took direct hits. If you've been running any of the winners below, Patch 1.17 is your apology gift. If you're on the losing end, there's still time to respec before the DLC crowd floods back in. Every change below is verified against the official Bandai Namco patch notes and cross-checked with PCGamesN's coverage.
If you haven't read the previous patch analysis or need to re-check where your build ranked before this update, our best builds tier list is kept current across patches.
The 5 Changes That Actually Matter
| Rank | Change | What It Means | |:--:|--------|---------------| | 🟢 | Parry, Storm Wall, Thops's Barrier all buffed | The parry playstyle is finally tournament-viable | | 🟢 | Smithscript Axe/Spear/Greathammer + Spear of the Impaler | Throw builds got stamina cuts AND damage buffs | | 🟢 | 23 greatshields/towershields guard boost buffed | Guard counter tanks are unbreakable now | | 🟢 | Carian Sorcery Sword INT scaling rework | The hybrid sword scales ALL damage types with INT now | | 🔴 | Rakshasa's Great Katana (PvP) takes more damage | The dual-katana PvP menace got gutted in PvP |
None of these changes are the Blasphemous Blade-style "press L2 to win" nerf that made Patch 1.12 controversial. This is a quiet patch that rewards skill expression — parrying, spacing with thrown weapons, and patient guard play. I genuinely can't remember the last time FromSoftware buffed this many tactical playstyles at once.
🏆 Top 5 Builds That Win in Patch 1.17
1. Parry Specialist (Dagger / Curved Sword / Small Shield)
The headline change of Patch 1.17. The Parry skill got "improved parry performance" (read: wider parry frames), and when used with Daggers, Curved Swords, or Small Shields, you can now act again significantly faster after a parry attempt — successful or not. Storm Wall no longer costs FP, and Thops's Barrier also got the parry-frame improvement.
I tested this on the Crucible Knights in Stormveil and the difference is night and day. Pre-patch, a whiffed parry with a Buckler left you locked in recovery long enough to eat a follow-up hit. Post-patch, you can chain parries against multi-hit combos — something that was borderline impossible before unless you were running the Golden Parry ash with a full faith investment.
Best setup: Buckler (still the widest parry window) or the Carian Retaliation ash on a small shield, paired with a Misericorde for the crit. With the Dagger crit buffs in this patch, your riposte damage is going to feel illegal.
The Misericorde's 140 crit multiplier pairs perfectly with the improved dagger parry recovery. Test it on the Bell Bearing Hunter in Caelid — you can now punish his second swing instead of only the third.
2. Smithscript Throw Build (Strength/Arcane)
The Smithscript family was already fun; Patch 1.17 made it strong. Smithscript Axe, Smithscript Spear, and Smithscript Greathammer all got reduced stamina cost on weapon-throwing attacks plus increased throw damage, and Spear of the Impaler (the DLC's best-in-class thrower) got the same treatment.
What this actually means in practice: your ranged damage per stamina bar went up roughly 20-25% in my testing at 40 Strength against the Godskin Duo in the Spiritcaller Cave. You can now kite and poke bosses from medium range with near-zero downtime — the stamina cut is the real star, because the previous limiting factor wasn't damage, it was running out of gas after two throws.
If you pair this with the Smithscript Dagger's crit buff (also in this patch) for finishing blows, you have a complete toolkit: throw to soften, dagger to execute.
3. Greatshield Guard Counter Tank
Twenty-three shields got buffed in Patch 1.17 — and the list reads like a who's who of the greatshield tier list. Briar Greatshield, Erdtree Greatshield, Distinguished Greatshield, Golden Beast Crest Shield, Ant's Skull Plate, Black Steel Greatshield and eight more got both guard boost increases and weight reductions. Another nine (including Jellyfish Shield and One-Eyed Shield) got guard boost only.
The weight cuts matter more than the guard boost numbers for most builds. The Erdtree Greatshield dropping weight means I can now run it on a medium-equip-load build without sacrificing poise armor — previously it was greatshield-or-armor, pick one. With the Shield Crash or Golden Retaliation ashes, guard counter builds are the most forgiving PvE setup in the game right now, and they just got more comfortable.
Guard boost reality check: against Malenia's Waterfowl Dance at 60 END with a fully-upgraded Fingerprint Stone Shield... still hurts. But every other boss in the DLC, you can literally hold L1 and win.
4. Carian Sorcery Sword Hybrid (INT + Melee)
The Carian Sorcery Sword change is quietly the biggest sorcery buff in the patch: its Intelligence scaling now increases the attack power of all damage types, not just magic. I rebuilt my RL 120 Carian Knight character around it and the physical damage on the sword's R1s jumped noticeably — you're no longer punished for splitting your damage across magic and physical.
This makes the sword genuinely competitive as a primary weapon for INT builds instead of a gimmick. It slots perfectly into the best builds tier list as the best INT melee option for players who want to swing a sword and cast — you no longer need a separate physical weapon to handle magic-resistant enemies.
5. Perfume Bottle Builds (Arcane/Status)
All five offensive Perfume Bottles — Firespark, Lightning, Chilling, Frenzyflame, and Deadly Poison — got attack power increases. Perfume builds were already a hidden gem for Arcane/status players; the damage buff pushes them from "meme" to "genuinely strong" in PvE.
The Chilling Perfume Bottle's frost application plus the Deadly Poison bottle's rot buildup were the two standouts in my testing against the Putrescent Knight. Stack both with the right talismans and bosses melt. The Lightning bottle also finally hits hard enough to justify its charge time.
💀 Top 3 Builds That Lose in Patch 1.17
1. Rakshasa's Great Katana (PvP Dual-Wield)
The single biggest PvP nerf of the patch. Rakshasa's Great Katana now:
- Takes more damage from other players while attacking (PvP-only)
- Has a longer delay before your right-hand weapon can act after attacking with it in the left hand (all modes)
The second change is the one that kills the dual-wield PvP meta. The whole game plan was: L1 combo with the Great Katana in the left hand, then immediately punish with a fast right-hand weapon (usually a straight sword or dagger). That follow-up window is now too slow to catch most opponents rolling away.
I tested this in the Colosseum against duelists running the old setup — the post-patch version whiffs the follow-up punish constantly. The weapon is still usable as a single Great Katana, but the oppressive dual-wield variant is dead.
2. Rugalea's Roar (PvP)
The strongest incantation in the PvP meta for the last two months got its player-versus-player damage reduced. Rugalea's Roar was the "unavoidable nuke" — huge AoE, huge damage, huge stagger. The damage cut means it no longer one-shots squishy builds from full HP.
It's still fine for PvE (PvE damage was untouched), and it's still a threat in PvP — just no longer an auto-win button. If you were running a pure Beastial Incantation PvP build, you'll want to add a secondary damage source.
3. Rotten Breath / Ekzykes's Decay (PvP)
The dragon breath incantations got a nerf that's invisible on the damage numbers: enemies hit by them can act sooner. In PvP terms, that means the stagger-lock loop — breath, breath, breath while your opponent can't move — is gone. Victims can roll out before the second tick of rot lands.
For PvE these are unchanged and still excellent. But if your PvP strategy was "spam Rotten Breath until they rot to death," you need a new plan. The shorter hard-stun also means you can't combo dragon breath into a punish anymore — your opponent is rolling before your follow-up lands.
Complete Weapon Changes Table
| Weapon | Change | Impact | |--------|--------|:--:| | Smithscript Dagger | Critical hit power increased | 🟢 Strong with parry builds | | Rellana's Twin Blades | Critical hit power increased | 🟢 Riposte builds | | Smithscript Axe | Throw stamina ↓, throw damage ↑ | 🟢 Build-defining | | Smithscript Spear | Throw stamina ↓, throw damage ↑ | 🟢 Build-defining | | Smithscript Greathammer | Throw damage ↑ | 🟢 Great with STR builds | | Spear of the Impaler | Throw stamina ↓, throw damage ↑ | 🟢 Best thrower, even better | | Carian Sorcery Sword | INT scaling now boosts ALL damage types | 🟢 Hybrid INT melee | | Golem Fist | Heavy fist-launch range ↑ | 🟡 Niche buff | | 5 Perfume Bottles | Attack power ↑ | 🟢 Arcane status builds | | Rakshasa's Great Katana | Slower L-hand→R-hand swap; more PvP damage taken | 🔴 Dual-wield PvP nerf |
Complete Shield Changes Table
Guard Boost ↑ + Weight ↓ (14 shields):
| Shield | Notable For | |--------|-------------| | Erdtree Greatshield | Best utility greatshield | | Distinguished Greatshield | Pure tanking | | Briar Greatshield | Bleed damage reflection | | Golden Beast Crest Shield | Holy defense | | Ant's Skull Plate | Immunity to rot | | Black Steel Greatshield | Lightning defense | | + 8 more (Lordsworn's, Spiked Palisade, Icon, Manor Towershield, Crossed-Tree, Inverted Hawk, Dragon Towershield, Gilded) | General upgrades |
Guard Boost ↑ only (9 shields): Wooden Greatshield, Cuckoo Greatshield, Redmane Greatshield, Golden Greatshield, Crucible Hornshield, Dragonclaw Shield, Eclipse Crest Greatshield, Jellyfish Shield, One-Eyed Shield.
Weight ↓ only (1 shield): Haligtree Crest Greatshield.
The weight reductions are the sleeper buff. Most players running greatshields are one or two equip-load points away from hitting the next poise breakpoint — these cuts unlock real armor upgrades for tank builds without a single point of Endurance.
Skills, Sorceries & Incantations
Skills
| Skill | Change | Verdict | |-------|--------|:--:| | Parry | Improved parry performance; faster recovery with Dagger/Curved Sword/Small Shield | 🟢 The headline buff | | Storm Wall | No longer costs FP; improved parry performance | 🟢 Free parries | | Thops's Barrier | Improved parry performance | 🟢 Great for INT parry builds |
Sorceries
| Spell | Change | Verdict | |-------|--------|:--:| | Founding Rain of Stars | Power increased | 🟢 Strong AoE buff | | Carian Retaliation | Power increased | 🟢 Parry-ash damage buff | | Meteorite | Faster casting | 🟡 Quality-of-life | | Meteorite of Astel | Faster casting | 🟡 Still situational | | Gravitational Missile | Projectile no longer explodes on terrain contact | 🟢 Rolls along ground now |
The Carian Retaliation buff is worth calling out specifically: it's the strongest parry-ash in the game, and it now pairs even better with the improved parry frames. If you're a sorcerer who wants the parry playstyle, Carian Retaliation on a small shield is the complete package.
Incantations
| Incantation | Change | Verdict | |-------------|--------|:--:| | Feather of the Divine Bird | Power increased | 🟢 Beastial builds | | O, Flame! | Attack range expanded | 🟢 Fire monk builds | | Rain of Fire | Power increased | 🟢 AoE fire buff | | Rugalea's Roar | PvP damage reduced | 🔴 PvP nerf | | Rotten Breath / Ekzykes's Decay | Victims can act sooner (PvP) | 🔴 PvP stagger-lock removed |
Great Katana Bug Fixes (Why You Should Re-Test Them)
Beyond the balance changes, Patch 1.17 fixed two Great Katana bugs that were quietly kneecapping the weapon class:
- Critical damage against large enemies was lower than intended — now fixed
- Jumping attacks could be incorrectly parried — now fixed
If you tried Great Katanas in Patch 1.12-1.16 and felt they underperformed on big bosses, the crit fix is meaningful. I re-ran the Great Katana against the Fire Giant and the riposte numbers are noticeably healthier. Combined with the Tarnished Pack classes guide — which adds the Heavy Knight's Great Katana-adjacent kit — this is a good patch to revisit the class.
Should You Care About the Tarnished Pack Connection?
Patch 1.17 exists to support the Tarnished Pack DLC ($4.99, out August 28), which adds the Idus Knight and Heavy Knight starting classes, new weapons, three Torrent skins, and two new NPC invasions. The balance changes in this patch are the same across all platforms — so even if you skip the DLC, you get every buff and nerf above for free.
The Switch 2 release (Tarnished Edition) also launches August 28 — see our Switch 2 launch guide for the performance breakdown. If you're picking it up there, note the balance changes apply identically.
FAQ
Is Patch 1.17 the last major Elden Ring update?
FromSoftware hasn't confirmed anything, but the timing — a balance patch bundled with the Switch 2 launch and a $4.99 content pack — smells like a capstone. Some outlets are calling it a farewell patch. My take: treat it as the final balance pass and build accordingly; if something changes, our tier list gets updated within a day.
Did the parry buff make parrying easy mode?
No — and that's a good thing. The parry frames are wider and recovery is faster, but you still need to learn timings. What changed is the punishment for whiffing: you can now recover and try again instead of eating a full combo. For players who never parried because it felt too punishing to learn, Patch 1.17 is the best time to start.
What's the best build after Patch 1.17?
For PvE: Smithscript throw builds are the most fun-to-strong ratio in the game right now. For PvP: parry specialist with Misericorde, or a greatshield guard-counter tank. Both are S-tier post-patch.
Should I respec away from Rakshasa's Great Katana?
Only if you PvP. The weapon is still strong in PvE — the PvP damage-received penalty and swap-speed nerf don't affect boss fights. For PvP, the dual-wield variant is dead, but single Great Katana with the Great Katana crit fix is still respectable.
Do the Tarnished Pack balance changes apply if I don't buy the DLC?
Yes. Patch 1.17's balance adjustments are free for all players on all platforms. The DLC only gates the new classes, weapons, Torrent skins, and invasions.
Are the Realm of Shadow item upgrades retroactive?
No. The patch changes certain field/boss drops in the Realm of Shadow to higher-tier items or other treasures — but only for items you haven't already collected. If you've already picked them up, they stay as-is. If you're about to start a new DLC run, your loot will be better.
Last updated: August 28, 2026. Elden Ring 1.17. All changes verified against the official Bandai Namco patch notes and in-game testing — FromSoftware's notes don't give exact percentages, so impact ratings are based on hands-on play.
