RPGs are known for their gameplay variety. How that variety manifests through mechanical differences in combat or in unique dialogue options changes from game to game, but the appeal of the strength build is everlasting. While some games allow players to take on a more nimble role to dodge attacks or don the wizard’s cap, the simple power and presence of a strong hand is satisfying in its own right.
In the right circumstances, a high strength stat turns the player into both an immovable object and an unstoppable force, capable of trading blows with bosses and breaking the guard of the most disciplined foes. Whether you’re swinging giant hammers in a punishing Soulslike or using your physique to unlock new paths in a CRPG, these games carry the title for the best strength-based gameplay.
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Pathfinder: Wrath Of The Righteous
Cut Through Demons Like Butter
While CRPGs like Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous often have many viable strategies and approaches to both combat and roleplaying, few come close to the joy of making your player character gigantic and attacking across the battlefield using melee attacks with your reach weapons. Strength’s utility is so great that even traditional casting classes, such as the Sorcerer, have absurdly powerful options for Strength-based builds.
Focusing on Strength is particularly useful for martial classes, however, as they won’t need to spend a feat on getting proficiency or to gain a full bonus on attack and damage from Strength. Wrath of the Righteous is an excellent and massive game, with many ways to boost your Strength to greater heights, while other stat boosts are more limited. When using the Legendary Proportions spell, weapons like glaives and polearms become far-reaching death dealers, and your character gains additional armor and damage resistance. It’s nice to be able to smash your way through world-ending problems, isn’t it?
Dark Souls 2: Scholar Of The First Sin
Use Power Stance To Crush Your Foes
Dark Souls games are always a great time for Strength builds. Classic weapons like the Dragon Tooth in Dark Souls and the Dragonslayer Greataxe in Dark Souls 3 are fun to smack your foes with, and pancaking enemies with Smough’s Hammer is equally satisfying. That said, few builds can match the sheer bliss of dual-wielding Smelter Hammers or Fume Ultra Greatswords.
Dark Souls 2 introduced the Power Stance mechanic, allowing players to hold two of the same weapon type for a more powerful and unique moveset. This mechanic is often misunderstood, but it is a powerful tool in the right circumstances. The combinations of armors and weapons you can use for a Strength-based build are quite extensive, so your options aren’t strictly limited to the “Great” class weapons, either. That said, the big weapons give higher poise, allowing players to tank hits when attacking. If you want to feel like an unstoppable force, Strength builds are the way to go.
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Cyberpunk 2077
Go, Go, Gorilla
Cyberpunk 2077’s options for strength are a bit limited on the combat side, with the “Body” stat being truly useful for only a small pool of weapons. Of these, the Gorilla Arms are the most interesting and notable. These cybernetic arms allow players to punch their way through any problem, jumping on and smashing everything along the way. They’re just as useful for strength-based checks outside of combat, as well, adding a bonus to door opening or other tasks that would normally require a higher Body score.
In dialogue, Body is mainly used for intimidation or solo-based choices, letting players take on the role of a certified tough guy in conversations. Body also increases health levels and regeneration, damage mitigation, stamina usage with weapons, and more through available perks. It’s an all-around great attribute to focus on if you’re looking to take charge and be the undying beast you’ve always dreamed of.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Nioh 3
Break The Yokai’s Ki With Your Heaviest Attacks
In Nioh 3, Strength is a required stat for many of the game’s heavier equipment, and increasing it also confers benefits to life and ki damage dealt. Given Nioh 3’s large variety of weapon types, Strength has many options for players to take advantage of the attribute scaling for damage. Tonfas, axes, odachi, and more all benefit from Strength.
Axes in particular fulfill the strong samurai fantasy, allowing players to take big, heavy swings to squash their foes. For equipment, pieces like the Kintaro Set offer additional Strength damage scaling and allow players to stay in the fight through life drain and reducing damage taken. Nioh 3 rewards aggression in its exciting combat, and Strength is the perfect path if you want to annihilate the offending yokai.
Code Vein 2
Who Needs To Dodge When You Can Just Flatten Your Foes?
The weapon choices for Strength builds in Code Vein 2 are varied, with many halberds, two-handed swords, and hammers scaling greatly off the attribute. There are options in the other weapon classes, as well, allowing players to choose whichever style of play suits them best.
Given the “Blood Code” system and its absolutely massive effect on player damage and attributes, your actual stats matter much less than the equipment you are using — though it does help to increase them for many reasons. Ultimately, the power of two-handed swords, like Iron Mass and Cultist’s Ritual Blade, makes for a great time, leaving your foes bloodied and broken beneath the blades.
Caves Of Qud
Utilize Your Mutations To Become One With The Apes
In Caves of Qud, Strength is the primary determinant for melee attack damage, ensuring you can wield powerful weapons like axes and cudgels while taking down foes quickly before they can harm you. Strength builds can also make use of incredible mutations such as Double-Muscled to push their might even higher.
Strength is such a powerful attribute for many reasons, but being able to consistently stun enemies in your vicinity is absurdly powerful, allowing players to end a fight before it ever really begins. While combat isn’t always recommended, Strength can be useful for ranged attacks as well, with equipment like the Turbow scaling off of it rather than Agility.
One of the funnier builds out there involves taking a mutation like Multiple Arms many times and maximizing your Strength stat to enable uncapped damage scaling through the use of Fist of the Ape God. Strength also has benefits outside of combat, with skills like Slam from the Cudgel tree relying on the attribute to break down doors and walls.
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Dragon’s Dogma 2
Stagger The Big Guys And Squash The Small Ones
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a bit of a unique case, as by the end of the game, all the players’ stats will be capped. While leveling as one class or another gives boosts to specific attributes, such as Warriors having additional Strength gain, by the time players reach level 200, all stats will be equally maximized.
Where Dragon’s Dogma 2’s forte lies more in the application of vocation movesets, rather than a specific leveling strategy. Of the available vocations, the bloodthirsty Warrior is the ultimate expression of strength, using massive, two-handed weapons to send smaller enemies flying and staggering large monsters with ease. The ability to charge attacks also prevents flinching, letting the warrior line up devastating strikes with precision.
Esoteric Ebb
The Ultimate Expression Of Masculinity
Esoteric Ebb features all of your traditional Dungeons & Dragons ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma. Of these, making a Strength-based build is an interesting direction to take, in particular, as the Cleric class does not traditionally focus heavily on the ability score.
Aside from general Strength checks like opening doors and intimidating people with your presence, “Strength” is also an aspect of the main character’s personality. All stats are manifested as chimes, inner voices that guide the player by providing information and opinions on the events of the game.
Strength’s domain is that of masculinity and nationalism, so most of its input is all about being “a man” and praising your god and country. This makes for some hilarious dynamics with the other chimes while also informing NPC interaction with the player character. Having your Cleric running around threatening to punch people in the name of the state is just a funnier visual than many give it credit for.
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