Latest Update: August 7, 2026 – Categories: Enshrouded
If you’re wondering how to build the Best Greatsword build in Enshrouded, we’ve got you covered! This guide shares everything you need to know about a Greatsword build in Enshrouded including weapons, skills, gems, armor, and more!
🏹 Related
- NEW Enshrouded 1.0 Features!
- Enshrouded 1.0 Release Date
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- Ultimate Enshrouded Beginner Guide
This guide has been updated for Enshrouded Update 8, Forging the Path. Expect many combat changes, including heavy attacks, weapon abilities (ultimate), and revamped skill tree. Moreover, the gear like armor and accessories can now be upgraded, giving you even more bonuses and options. Below we go through the entire updated build giving you tips and selections to make the Greatsword build shine in 2026.
Enshrouded Greatsword Build Overview
The Greatsword build is based on a new weapon type introduced in Update 7, Wake of the Water. Greatswords are a Two-Handed cutting weapon with it’s own unique skill and attack chain. Different than Axes and Hammers, also two-handers, the Greatsword attacks in a three swing chain with a mix of area (AOE) and single target damage. What makes the weapon and build a strong choice is the raw damage you get from all the great passives. Moreover, the Titans Edge passive gives the Greatsword only a 15% damage boost, making it a great choice for melee users.
The main downside to melee builds is ranged damage. The developers added two skills to pull enemies with your grapple. While this does work on smaller creatures, it still makes any ranged fight difficult or stamina intensive. The Assassin which uses daggers and bow has an advantage in that regard because both weapon types use dexterity to scale in effectiveness, while strength is used for two-handed, dex for bow, and intelligence for staff. Thus, you mostly melee dependent and will suffer with range targets.
However, the Greatsword build is worth playing because it’s raw damage and self-healing. Due to Battle Heal skill and Gemini Rings, you can simply attack repeatedly and self-heal through damage. This makes the playstyle fun, rewarding, and effective especially at clearing out massive groups of enemies. Let’s walk you through the Greatsword build and how to setup your character in Enshrouded.
Enshrouded Greatsword Build Summary
- Best Skills: Crash Down Attack, Barbarian, Titan’s Edge
- Weapon: Horned Greatsword
- Armor: Sunpiercer’s Set
- Accessories: Gemini Ring
- Best Gems: Gem of Bleeding
- Consumables: Fried Rice, Black Coffee
- Damage Type: Cutting
Attributes Distribution and Optimization – Greatsword
In Update 8 of Enshrouded, you will now find that armor and rings have additional bonuses for skills. The only skill to directly increase Strength (outside of strength nodes) is Barbarian. This change is important because no longer are armor sets merely about stat increases, but also critical skills that push your builds power even further.
Additionally, Update 7 overhauled food, so that too will no longer increase your max stats, but rather damage to range, melee, or magic. The result your primary stat (Intelligence) is harder to come by and skills that scale in effectiveness based on stats will be weaker.
For the Greatsword playstyle, your damage scales directly with the Strength stat. Therefore, you want to pour most of your skill points into Strength and rely on food to further boost your damage output. The most effective way to gain bonus damage outside of skills and gear is through consumable items like the Fried Rice, Creamy Mushroom Spaetzle, or Open Sandwich, which provides a significant percentage bonus to melee damage.
Your second most important stat for longevity is Constitution, which increases your maximum health. The most critical way to establish passive healing is through the Battle Heal passive skill. Dealing critical damage with a melee weapon will heal you for 5% of your maximum health. This means, the higher your health, the more significant passive healing you’ll receive from landing crits.
Lastly, Stamina can be a concern, especially when frequently using Whirlwind Crescendo, Grappling Hook or the double jump skill. You can choose to consume a stamina food for an immediate boost to the maximum pool or rely on stamina recharge foods. If you find yourself in a desperate situation, consider quickly switching to a Staff or a Wand. This lets you deal minor damage at range, regain stamina, and double jump back into the melee fray without running dry.
In summary, for the two-handed Greatsword build, focus on maximizing Strength for damage and Constitution for survivability, balancing them with enough Endurance and resource generation skills for sustain.
Greatsword Build Skill Progression (Level 1-45)
Enshrouded skills are currently capped at 184 skill points at max level 45 (Update 8). The final zone is Veilwater Basin, and in each zone you can collect additional skill points from Shroud Root and Elixir Wells. Therefore, you should look to clear each zone of these before progressing alongside your level increase for max skill points.
When building an effective Greatsword, it is crucial to prioritize strength and passives like Titans Edge, Slasher, and Butcher to boost Cutting and Greatsword damage. At the start, double jump attack constantly to get space and AOE damage, then swap to more single target swings to heal. As you progress, you’ll want to kill a low HP target to trigger blood rage giving you a huge 20% damage boost for 20 seconds.
You need to mix many important nodes from the warrior skill tree, barbarian skill tree and others to optimize the Greatsword build. Just make sure you stick with one weapon type like Greatsword and Cutting damage based on your skill selection in the Warrior tree. If you need to change weapons, make sure to respec your skills like Slasher, etc! All the skills you need to select are listed below in order.
Best Greatsword Armor, Accessories, and Sets
| Slot | Equipment | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Sunpiercer Helmet | 13% Melee Critical Strike Chance 15% Crit Strike Damage 2min Wet Duration Reduction +1 Barbarian’s Path |
| Upper Body | Sunpiercer Chestplate | +360 Health +36 Stamina 3 Min Wet Duration Reduction +1 Blood Rage |
| Arms | Greatsword Gauntlets | 21% Two-Handed Damage 18% Damage against flying enemies +36 Parry Power +12 Stam Regen +1 Athlete +1 Vigorous Deflection +1 Titan Edge |
| Lower Body | Golden Bulwark Pants | +135 Health +9 Stam Regen 2 min Wet Duration Reduction |
| Feet | Quetzal Hunter Shoes | +135 Health +9 Stam Regen 2 min Wet Duration Reduction +1 Shiny Plates |
| Ring 1 | Gemini Ring (or Ring of the Ancients) | +30 Health +5% Health Leech +5% Damage against Fell +1 Well Rested +3 Health Regeneration +1 Inner Fires (+2 time in shroud) |
| Ring 2 | Gemini Ring (or Ring of the Ancients) | +30 Health +5% Health Leech +5% Damage against Fell +1 Well Rested +3 Health Regeneration +1 Inner Fires (+2 time in shroud) |
The recommended armor set for maximizing the Greatsword build’s effectiveness in Update 8 is the Sunpiercer Set. However, the best individual piece is the Greatsword Gauntlets which gives 21% Two-Handed damage and is 3% higher than Sunpiercer. This unique glove can be found be found in the Goldrock Saddle in within Veilwater Basin. The Sunpiercer set, however, directly supports the core of your damage output, providing increases to Two-Handed Damage, Critical Strike Chance, and Critical Strike Damage.
The roles of the armor pieces can generally be broken down by their primary utility:
- Chest and Legs (Survivability/Core Health): These pieces are your main source of raw defense and health pool. Look for sets and specific items that grant the highest possible maximum Health (HP) to increase your damage absorption and maximize the healing benefit of the Battle Heal passive (which scales with Max HP).
- Feet and Head (Resource & Utility): These pieces contribute heavily to resource sustain. Prioritize finding bonuses here for Health Regeneration and/or Stamina Regeneration to help you maintain resources during prolonged engagements.
- Gloves and Head (Primary Damage): These are your key sources for boosting offensive stats. The two most important stats to look for are Critical Strike Chance and Two-Handed Weapon Damage. Maximizing critical strike chance is essential, as it directly feeds into both your primary damage output and your core passive healing mechanism (Battle Heal).
In summary, aim for the Sunpiercer Set or equivalent pieces that grant Two-Handed Damage and Crit Chance/Damage, and supplement them with accessories like Gemini Rings to ensure maximum healing and survivability.
Early Game
When you start the game, you can craft the basic Rags from your manual crafting screen at level 3. From here, look to get a set of Fur Armor set at level 5 from the Blacksmith. Then, at level 8, you will get your first Two-handed specific set via the Blacksmith called the Rising Fighter set. What’s confusing is, the armors offer similar bonuses, but not always identical. Consider picking up the soldier armor set as well in the chest and legs. Here’s your starting armor priorities:
- Level 3: Rags (Manual crafting)
- Level 5: Fur Armor (Blacksmith)
- Level 8: Rising Fighter (Blacksmith)
As a general rule, your chest doesn’t offer much offensive bonuses thus you can wear tank set armor in the chest and legs and HP. Your gloves and head is where your damage sources come from while boots and legs are for regeneration and other stats. Therefore, be careful with your gloves and helmet selection as you want two-handed damage not dagger or something else. Since you’re playing a melee build using heavy armor, you can find all the items at the Blacksmith. If you struggle with stamina, look for some medium armor sets at the Hunter which offer better stamina regeneration.
If you can, get two Gemini Rings from the Fell Banshee in the Moth’s Grove area due north from the start. These help massively with health and survival.
Mid Game
After you’ve reached midgame, look to acquire these crafting sets for the Greatsword build:
- Level 13: Adventurer Set
- Level 18: Mercenary Set
- Level 23: Soldier Set
- Level 25: Radiant Paladin Armor (Kindlewaste world drop)
- Level 33: Mountain’s Shadow (Blacksmith)
You will also start finding “named” item sets that are usually +2 levels above. For instance, level 25 areas have the Radiant Paladin set. This is a better version of Soldier and can carry you to max level gear, at level 33. However, it’s often time not worth spending hours and hours getting this gear just to move off of it in a few hours of gameplay. Therefore, collect, store but don’t sweat the minor bonuses from crafting gear.
If your survivability is good, swap rings to Ring of the Ancients. This ring gives stat bonus of +1 to all, which increases your damage and self-healing. This is one of the only rings that can do so. You can find it from the boss in Northern area called the Pike or via chest in Kindlewastes.
Best-in-Slot Greatsword Gear Setup
For the best gear setup for a Greatsword, use this armor:
- Head: Sunpiercer Helmet
- Chest: Sunpiercer Chest
- Arms: Greatsword Gauntlets
- Lower Body: Golden Bulwark Pants
- Feet: Quetzal Hunter Shoes
- Rings: 2x Gemini Ring
Best Greatsword Weapons
| Item | Equipment | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Primary (Two-Handed) | Horned Greatsword | Adds 10% Piercing damage Retaliation:10% of incoming damage is dealt back to the attacker Precise: Increases critical hit chance by 5% Retaliation:10% of incoming damage is dealt back to the attacker 5% Stamina Leech |
| Secondary (Staff) | Staff of the Moor | +5% Health Leech +20% Magic Shroud Damage +5% Mana Leech +20% Magic Shroud Damage +5% Stamina Leech |
| Wand (Mana Regen) | Mythic Wand | +20% Magic Shock Damage 5% Mana Leech +20% Magic Shock Damage 5% Crit Strike Chance 5% Crit Strike Chance |
| Bow (Stun Arrows) | Devilish Bow | +20% Poison Damage +20% Backstab Damage 20% Crit Strike Damage Stam Regen on Kill +20% Backstab Damage |
| Shield | Prismatic Ward | 17 Block 268 Parry Power +7 Mana Regen +10% Ice Resistance +10 Shock Resistance |
The best weapon for the Greatsword in update 8 for Enshrouded is the Horned Greatsword. What makes it special is the two bonuses to retaliation and stamina leech. This not only helps reflect damage back when fighting in melee, but helping resource sustain which can be difficult in Update 8. The Retaliation trait stacks with the Counterstrike skill from Trickster skill tree and makes a helpful combination.
Weapon drops are random, therefore look for traits in this order:
- Leech (stamina or health)
- Critical Chance
- Critical Damage
- Elemental Damage
- Merciless Damage
How to get Weapons
Most weapons are found randomly by killing bosses or looting chest. You cannot craft end game two-handed weapons for the Greatsword build. Thus, you should spend some time grinding in your current location and marking maps. If you take a look at the picture above, you can find gold chest and mark them which give the highest chance of legendary weapon drops. We have a chest farming guide here.
Therefore, you want to login, setup flame altars near these chest, and make a rotation killing bosses, opening gold chest, and finding that perfect weapon with your ideal trait. You can always go with health leech which is effective on every build and playstyle. Note, in update 8, chest will take a long time to respawn and the log out and log in trick will not work. Thus, do a sweep of the chest locations then do other gameplay before checking some hours later.
Whirlwind Crescendo
The most important mechanic to use in a Greatsword build is Whirlwind Crescendo. This is an “ability” that triggers a circular attack based on the two-handed weapon you’re using. With a Greatsword, you need to melee attack four times in a row without being interrupted for this to trigger. You will see a circular yellow flash that deals great damage in a 360 radius. Thus, it’s your AOE clearing damage tool, but be aware it cost a ton of stamina (75).
The trick to using Whirlwind Crescendo is not getting interrupted. Sometimes, you can start the attack chain further away just to get the first one to two attacks off before reaching the target. When you Whirlwind, it will lock onto the target and or travel in a great distance. Thus, don’t be worried to start the attack chain without hitting anything to avoid being interrupted.
Best Greatsword Consumables and Buffs
| Food | Type | Duration | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fried Rice | Rare (Grain) | 45 min | +10 Stamina +21% Melee Damage |
| Crab Cakes | Rare (Meat) | 50min | +280 Health +21% DMG against wildlife |
| Popcorn | Rare (Fruit) | 4 min | +20 Stamina regen +4% melee damage |
| Black Coffee | Uncommon (Liquid) | 55 min | +30 Stamina +30 Stamina Regen +6% Melee Damage |
The best consumables for the Greatsword build are Fried Rice, Crab Cakes, Popcorn, and Black Coffee. You gain your melee damage bonus from Fried Rice, health from Crab Cakes, and resource sustain from Popcorn and Black Coffee. Plus Popcorn and Black Coffee also increase melee damage another 10% when combined!
Fried Rice can be difficult to craft due to the egg requirement. Therefore, use Open Sandwich instead if you lack the materials.
Focus on melee damage, health, and sustain, specifically stamina, for the best Greatsword build food in Enshrouded’s current update.
Utility & Healing: Potions, Bandages, and Elixirs
Beyond your four permanent food buffs, you need a reliable set of healing, utility, and special-area buffs.
Health regeneration and healing come in three forms: berries (slowest), bandages (sustained healing), and potions (instant burst). These can be crafted at the Alchemist or looted from the world.
- Superior Health Potion: Instant burst of +1000 Health. Your emergency panic button.
- Improved Bandage: Provides 8% healing per second for a short duration. Great for topping off between pulls.
- Superior Mana Potion: +250 Mana. Necessary for builds that use a strong-mana cost utility skill.
Damage and Specialty Buffs
These items offer powerful, temporary boosts for challenging content:
- Elixir: Massive +30% damage multiplier. Essential for tackling bosses or high-level areas.
- Flask of Fell: Provides +20 Stamina for 20 minutes. A significant boost to your overall resource pool.
- Greater Ectoplasm Soup: A specialty item for The Hollows. It trades -100 health for +12% damage against hollow and a +9% chance of life leach against them, greatly increasing your effectiveness in that area.
Best Greatsword Gems
The best gem for a Greatsword build is Gem of Battle Mania. This will only work with an Elixir buff active, but will grant you a massive boost in resources as you attack. Health, stamina, and mana regeneration. This allows you to swing big and keep using Whirlwind Crescendo without running out of resources. Just realize it will have a cooldown if you aren’t hitting anything within 10 seconds, so stay aggressive.
An alternative gem is the Gem of Bleeding which adds cutting damage and bleeds targets for extra damage on a critical hit. This allows you to swing wildly in an AOE and trigger many criticals. Then, you’ll get passive damage over time bleeding targets slowly. Plus, the base gem last for almost 7 seconds, ensuring almost 100% up time on this debuff.
Another alternative gem would also be the Gem of Bloodlust.
Best Glider
The best Glider for this build in Enshrouded is the Ghost Glider. The Ghost Glider is a level 30 legendary glider with increased range and speed compared to others in the game. Unlike previous Gliders which can be crafted, you must find this one in a Gold Chest at the top of the South-East Sun Temple.
Travel south from the Kindlewaste Ancient Spire and past the Scatterbone Scavenger area. The Ghost Glider is through the temple which will require some fighting and puzzles.
Changelog and Updates
- v1.8.0 – August 7, 2026 – updated best gems and gem links.
- v1.7.0 – May 9, 2026 – updated skill and gear links.
- v1.6.0 – April 29, 2026 – Updated gear, armor, and weapons.
- v1.5.0 – April 22, 2026 – Updated skill progression chart (Update #8 v.0.9.1.0)
- v1.4.0 – April 2, 2026 – updated best Glider information
- v1.3.0 – February 10th, 2026 – changed best foods and fixed skill progression (Hotfix #35 v.0.9.0.4)
- v1.2.0 – January 14, 2026 – updated best food and consumables, Update 7, Patch 12
- v1.1.0 – December 22, 2025 – Updated best weapons for Patch 12.
- v1.0 – November 23, 2025 – Created in Patch Update 7 – Build Version 848844
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