Richter Belmont is one of the most iconic Castlevania characters ever to appear in Elden Ring. If you want to get a better start playing as him in Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, which releases on June 21, then this guide is for you.
Here we’ll go over Richter Belmont’s play style, gear to use, and the best Talismans to complete this build, as well as tips for using the game and more. Let’s get straight into it!
Basics Of The Build
Richter Belmont is a descendant of the powerful Belmont Clan, and he wields the legendary Vampire Killer, one of the deadliest weapons in the cleansing of Dracula’s legion.
For this build, Richter relies heavily on hard-hitting incantations to deal as much damage as possible, while also having the ability to be agile in combat. If the enemy is resistant to Holy damage, Richter will use whips to make the enemy bleed, making him a well-rounded fighter.
Richter Belmont has high Faith and Dexterity. You will be using spell combinations to deal a lot of damage to your enemies, especially when fighting humanoid-type enemies.
Weapons
Now that the basic play style is covered, let’s move on to Richter Belmont’s equipment.
But before we dive in, I will not include all of his possible original movesets, such as his Throwing Axe, Holy Water, so that the build still flows well. Having so many spells and weapons on a build would make it unwieldy to use, so I limited it while trying to maintain the identity of the build.
Hoslow’s Petal Whip
With that said, let’s start with Richter’s major weapon, which is without a doubt Hoslow’s Petal Whip. We are trying to mimic his Vampire Killer Whip, so Hoslow’s Petal Whip, Giant’s Red Braid, and Regular Whip are the best Whips for the job.
If you want to use it effectively, you need 10 Strength, 20 Dexterity, and it scales mostly based on the above stats.
Bloodhound’s Step
Besides that, it’s a natural Bloodloss Build, which is a huge plus for this build. Hoslow’s Whip is incorporated into Bloodhound’s Step to mimic his quick dash from Castlevania Symphony of Night, allowing him to gracefully dodge enemy attacks and counterattack with his whip with ease. I recommend setting it to Keen Hoslow Whip, though, as we’ll be buffing it later.
Erdtree Seal
Moving on to his secondary weapon. Since we’ll be using spells, I decided to go with Erdtree Seal. It scales well overall, and it looks like Richter is carrying a cross that fits the theme.
This Seal requires 40 Faith to use effectively, which isn’t a problem for Richter. Of course, you can also choose some better Seals, but that’s also more demanding on your Elden Ring Runes budget.
Incantations
Next, let’s look at Incantations required for this build.
Golden Vow
The first Incantation in the list is Golden Vow, which increases your damage by 15% and adds 10% damage negation across the board. Since Whip usually needs a damage boost and also increases the damage of spells, Golden Vow is highly recommended for this build. And the cross-like graphic provided by Golden Vow matches Richter’s identity very well.
Bloodflame Blade
Next is Bloodflame Blade spell. Vampire Killer emits light, and most of the time it applies burning and explosion to enemies, so Bloodflame Blade is the best choice for this job. Not only will it grant whip fire damage and make the whip glow, but it will also help Richter trigger Hemorrhage faster.
Discus Of Light
One of Belmont’s signature sub-weapons is the cross, which they throw like Boomerangs, and it returns to the user’s hand after throwing. With this idea in mind, I decided to use Discus of Light because it is the closest spell when it comes to emulating Cross Sub-weapon.
Discus of Light may seem weak at first glance, but just like Cross Sub-weapon, when Discus returns, it will deal damage to the target twice. If the user is experienced enough, consecutive casts of Discus of Light will deal considerable damage.
Aspects Of The Crucible: Horns
Moving on to the next spell, which is Aspects of the Crucible: Horns. Richter will perform a charge attack using a whip or kicking enemies. Since Martial Arts are not yet available in the game, I decided to slot in Aspects of the Crucible: Horns. This spell will mimic the mentioned charge attack, and can deal stance damage to the target or even send the target flying, especially against humanoid type ones.
I tend to use this spell when closing the distance to the target, and it can be a deadly spell when paired with Wrath of Gold, as stun locks can be inflicted.
Wrath Of Gold
The next spell is Wrath of Gold, which is Richter’s strongest damage spell. Note that both Aspects of the Crucible: Horns and Wrath of Gold can be charged to deal more damage.
Compared to the previous spell, Wrath of Gold is easier to use because of its close-range AOE. We usually use it when dealing with a large group of enemies, or use it as a counterspell in boss fights.
Talismans
With weapons and spells out of the way, it’s time to look at Richter’s Talismans.
The first Talisman on the list is Sacred Scorpion Charm. Since Richter relies on Wrath of Gold for damage, the extra 12% Holy damage provided by this Talisman will be beneficial to this build. In exchange, physical damage taken is increased by 10%.
Next up is Godfrey Icon, which increases the charged attack of spells and abilities by 15%. The extra charge attack damage provided by this Talisman applies to your Aspects of the Crucible: Horns and Wrath of Gold, making them very effective in combat.
Next up is Flock’s Canvas Talisman. This Talisman further increases the damage of our offensive spells by 8%, and it stacks with your other buffs, so I highly recommend slotting this one.
The last one is Green Turtle Talisman, which increases stamina recovery. This is one of the main Talismans we use, because my gameplay and strategy always revolves around ultra-aggressive strategies, so most of the time, my stamina is completely depleted. Therefore, the faster my stamina recovers, the more damage we can do to the enemy.
For Richter, he will benefit greatly from this, because you will find yourself always needing stamina, and continuously launching his most deadly combos will usually consume 70% to 80% of his stamina.
Stats
Moving on to Richter Belmont’s stats. Note that I will standardize all of my builds at around level 200. It is up to you if you want to upgrade your build above 200.
Starting with Vigor, 40 points have been allocated to it, feel free to increase it to 45 to 50 if you feel you need more HP to survive. Since we’ll be using Godrick’s Great Rune later anyway, I rarely invest a lot of points into Vigor.
Next up is Mind, which has 35 points assigned to it. Since this is FP-hungry build, setting up buffs while constantly using spells will definitely deplete your FP in a short period of time.
Talking about Endurance next, we’ve assigned 33 points to it since a lot of stamina is needed when dealing with continuous spells or a lot of whip attacks. 33 points of Endurance can sometimes feel insufficient, so feel free to adjust it to 40 if you feel it’s necessary.
At least 10 points in Strength so that you can use Hoslow’s Petal Whip.
The next stats on the list are Dexterity and Faith, which are the main stats in this build. I recommend setting Dexterity to at least 61 and Faith to 75 to help you deal a decent amount of damage in whip attacks and spells.
If you’re really good at the game, you can sacrifice your Vigor points and allocate them to Endurance and more Faith to get a more ideal result.
Finally, make sure you have at least 10 Arcane to use Bloodflame Blade and 13 Intelligence to meet Discus of Light requirement.
Gameplay
Now that stats are out of the way, let’s move on to Richter Belmont’s gameplay and optimization tips.
Optimize Your Opener Burst
The first tip on the list is to optimize your Opener Burst. When the fight starts, I usually start by casting Flask of Wondrous Physick, which can deal more holy and physical damage if you have Thorny Cracked Tear slotted in.
Next is to cast Golden Vow to deal more damage, then cast Bloodflame Blade. Depending on the boss, I’ll either prepare a spell combo or keep whipping attacks until I bleed. During this time, do your best to counter as many attacks as possible to take advantage of the stacking holy damage buff.
Incantation Combo
The next tip is to take advantage of Richter’s incantation combo, especially when against humanoid types of enemies.
To start the above combo, you can use Discus of Light multiple times to disrupt and lure the enemy, even dealing damage in the process, and follow up with a fully charged Aspects of the Crucible: Horns.
If the enemy is hit, it will fly into the air and hit the ground, giving you enough time to perform your next killer move, which is a fully charged Wrath of Gold. It will knock the target back further, and then you can finish it off with a whip jump attack and follow up with a normal whip combo. If this move is used correctly, not only will the enemy take a lot of damage, but it will also allow you to build up blood loss in the process.
Mastering Whip Line
For some people, using the whip can be a challenging task. Two attacks are usually safe in most cases, while three attacks will get you into trouble most of the time. Therefore, I strongly recommend intentionally using whip attacks to master Whip line.
Are you a fan of Richter like me? Do you like this character build? Regardless, with this guide, you will eventually master the power of Belmont family and have fun in the upcoming DLC.
