Best Elden Ring spells and incantations

What are the best Elden Ring spells? Whether you prefer Intelligence-based sorceries or Faith-based incantations, magic is a powerful tool in the Lands Between. With just a pinch of mana, you can restore your health when all your flasks are expended, cure status effects with cleansing fire, or send a comet hurtling at distant enemies. With the new challenges that await in Shadow of the Erdtree, picking up a spell or two can mean the difference between life and death. The question is, which ones?

With over 171 sorceries and 115 incantations to discover following the Shadow of the Erdtree release date, tracking down the best spells in Elden Ring can be a real challenge. However, we’re here to help you ascertain which ones are suited to any Elden Ring build, their stat requirements, and most importantly, where to find them. With these spells on hand, you should be able to overcome the toughest Elden Ring bosses – especially if you pair them with Elden Ring talismans to bolster their effects.

Here are the best Elden Ring spells:

Best Elden Ring sorceries

Rock Sling

• Type: Gravity Sorceries
  Location: Caelid Swamp – head into the western part swamp to find the Rock Sling spell.
• FP cost: 18
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 18

If you’re okay with putting yourself in temporary danger, Rock Sling is worth snagging up early. It raises three rocks from the earth for you to fling at enemies. Considering its effectiveness, it’s a fantastic early game spell as it does great damage, and its FP cost is rather cheap. Be sure to pick up the Meteorite Staff as it buffs to gravity-type sorceries like Rock Sling, making our list one of the best Elden Ring staffs you can find.

Rock Blaster

• Type: Glintstone Sorceries
  Location:  Sellia Crystal Tunnel – you can travel to Caelid early in the game and heading to the Dragonburnt Ruins east of The First Step in Limgrave. Open the chest and take the teleport to Sellia Crystal Tunnel. Inside the shacks, there is a chest that has the spell.
• FP cost: 22 (4)
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 21

Rock Blaster isn’t related to Rock Sling, so you can’t use the Meteorite Staff to buff it. However, its massive shockwave hits just about everything around you, knocking back and preventing you from getting swarmed by smaller foes.

Carian Slicer

• Type: Carian Sorceries
  Location: Sold by Miriel, Pastor of Vows, Sorceress Sellen, or Preceptor Seluvis after giving any of them the Royal Scroll.
• FP cost: 4
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 14

Perhaps the most cost-effective sorcery in Elden Ring is Carian Slicer. This significantly damages enemies for a really low FP cost, and the casting speed is extremely fast. Luckily, it’s one of the spells you can buy from a merchant, so long as you give them the Royal House Scroll.

Roiling Magma

• Type: Magma Sorceries
  Location: On a corpse in the Hermit’s Shack southeast of the Magma Wyrm close to Fort Laiedd.
• FP cost: 28
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 21, Faith 12

Not only is this a powerful spell that hurts a lot to any target that doesn’t resist fire damage, but it also creates a pool of magma at the point where it lands. This further damages anything unfortunate enough to be inside its radius and slows it down significantly. It does cost 28 FP per use, but by this point, you should have had a few uses for this potent spell before needing to restore FP.

Adula’s Moonblade

• Type: Cold Sorceries
  Location: Dropped by Glintstone Dragon Adula in Liurnia of the Lakes. First, face it near Ranni’s Rise, then chase it to the Cathedral of Mana Celes once it takes enough damage. Complete the Elden Ring quest from Ranni and defeat Astel to get it.
• FP cost: 22
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 32

This cold-enchanted spell conjures up a huge blade to slash at foes in front of you twice, which will also fire a frosty shockwave for a fairly long distance. The blade itself will smack enemies like a truck, but the icy blast hits for about a third of the damage, which hurts a fair bit too. You can boost the damage from this spell by holding the Carian Glintstone Staff and Snow Witch hat. It also got a considerable buff so that the FP cost is now 22 rather than 26, making it more tempting to use.

Comet Azur

• Type: Primeval Sorceries
  Location: Found on Primeval Sorcerer Azur in the cliffs northeast of Hermit Village in Mt. Gelmir.
• FP cost: 40 (10)
• Memory slots: Three
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 60

Another essential spell you can pick up is the Comet Azur sorcery. This powerful, colossal blast of energy fires in a beam of blue light like something out of Dragon Ball Z. All of this power comes at a hefty cost to equip, and in addition, it costs 40 FP to cast. As such, you can only use it a handful of times without restoring your FP, but it’ll obliterate anything in front of you.

Best Shadow of the Erdtree sorceries

Fleeting Microcosm

• Type: Finger Sorceries
• Location: Buy from Count Ymir after ringing the second hanging bell.
• FP cost: 30
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 42

Fleeting Microcosm is an excellent crowd-control sorcery that inflicts disruption and knockback against smaller enemies, while still making a decent dent in larger health pools. It spawns directly below your target, giving them very little time to react or move out of the blast zone before the microcosm reaches its zenith and explodes. Even if they do manage to avoid the initial blast, its second explosion has an even wider area of effect. Fleeting Microcosm boasts a relatively quick animation time and low FP cost despite its power, allowing you to easily chain-cast enemies to death, especially if they’ve got low poise and are prone to flinching. Just be sure not to accidentally break the Shadow of the Erdtree Count Ymir quest in your pursuit to get it.

Blades of Stone

• Type: Gravity Sorceries
• Location: Give the Remembrance of the Wild Boar Rider by handing it to Enia at the Roundtable Hold.
• FP cost: 18
• Memory slots: Two
• Stat requirements: Intelligence 48

Blades of Stone does take up two Memory Slots, but it’s more than worth the space and the tousle with Commander Gaius to get it. This long-range AoE shockwave bursts through the floor directly below your target. When fully charged, Blades of Stone packs a real punch, though its damage output is offset by the lengthy animation time. However, once this spell does reach full capacity, it triggers three times in a row while also tracking its target around the battlefield. Blades of Stone excels at crowd control, though the delay between cast and spawn can make it suboptimal when going up against lightning-fast enemies. However, it’s also an excellent spell when going up against enemies ordinarily resistant to Magic, which should come as a relief to the dedicated mages out there.

Impenetrable Thorns

• Type: Scadutree Sorceries
• Location: On a corpse on a balcony below the outer stairs leading up from the seventh floor of the storehouse in Shadow Keep.
• FP cost: 18
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Faith 24

If you’re partial to the Briars of Punishment sorcery in the base game, let me introduce you to Impenetrable Thorns. This low-cost spell causes three pillars of thorns to burst out of the ground beneath the target and explode on impact. While these pillars offer decent crowd control at long range, the damage output of all three hitting a single target at close range is staggering. Literally. Its base damage alone can chew through boss health bars at speed, but the bonus Blood Loss passive effect catapults this spell from powerful to straight-up broken. It doesn’t take long to cast, and even the fastest enemies can struggle to avoid getting caught up in it.

Sure, Impenetrable Thorns does take a sliver of your health to cast, but the damage is negligible in comparison to the amount of damage you inflict upon your foes – and the Blessed Dew Talisman can help you regain what you’ve lost without being forced to expend a health flask. It’s almost certain this will receive a nerf in the future, so enjoy it while it lasts.

All Elden Ring sorceries

Here are all the Elden Ring sorceries and their locations:

All Shadow of the Erdtree sorceries

Here are all the Shadow of the Erdtree sorceries and their locations:

Best Elden Ring incantations

Heal

• Type: Two Fingers Incantation
  Location: Start as a Prophet or buy from Brother Corhyn at the Roundtable Hold for 1,500 Runes.
• FP cost: 32
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Faith 12

Firstly, we highly recommend getting the Heal incantation, as it’s a great way to recover health in the early game. Since you’re still somewhat frail and don’t have access to many flask charges, it can mean the difference between staying alive or getting taken down by a rogue arrow. Just make sure you give yourself some breathing space away from enemies before attempting to cast it, as the spell can take a while to kick off.

Flame Sling

• Type: Fire Monk Incantation
  Location: Buy from Brother Corhyn at the Roundtable Hold for 800 Runes.
• FP cost: 11
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Faith 10

This spell is a powerful early game choice for any budding pyromancer. Its great casting and projectile speed make it a good starting option that’s only outclassed by Black Flame spells in the late game. You can also charge for a bit more firepower to blast away any nearby foes as the fireball explodes.

Frenzied Burst

• Type:
  Location: Dropped by a Teardrop Scarab which appears near some frenzied rats in northeast Liurnia of the Lakes, south of the Church of Inhibition site of grace.
• FP cost: 24
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Faith 22

Sometimes, you just need a bit more firepower. This spell will fire a chargeable laser beam to burn enemies to a crisp. Because it’s a frenzied spell, you can fire it for a slightly reduced FP cost compared to similar spells. The catch is that because you’re shooting freakin’ beams of fire from your eyes, it’s going to build up your madness. If it ever fills up the entire madness bar, it can kill you outright.

However, as long as you’re careful, it’s a hugely advantageous spell for the early game. It’s also a flame-based spell, so any fire-buffing items, such as the Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear you get from the Putrid Avatar in Caelid, will increase the damage you inflict. You can also get a helmet that boosts damage for 60 seconds after suffering madness from the skittering enemies in Volcano Manor, preventing one death from filling the bar entirely.

Beast Claw

• Type: Bestial Incantations
  Location: Give five Deathroots to Gurranq, Beast Clergyman in Bestial Sanctum in Dragonbarrow.
• FP cost: 10
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Faith 8

Beast Claw’s low FP and casting costs are deceptive, as its unlock requirements are a little steeper than the early game spells. This incantation can easily clear away several foes in a cone by slicing foes with a wave-like projectile, and you can charge it up for greater power and damage potential. Larger foes are also likely to stagger back upon being hit, leaving them vulnerable to further swipes.

Black Blade

• Type: Erdtree Incantations
  Location: Give the Remembrance of the Black Blade to Enia at Roundtable Hold.
• FP cost: 26
• Memory slots: Two
• Stat requirements: Faith 46

Those working with a Faith/Strength build will absolutely get a kick out of this massive enchanted sword. Not only does it hurt a lot, but with its recently lowered stamina cost, resulting in multiple consecutive hits. It can also sap enemy health, reduce their max health by ten percent for 15 seconds, and deal a lot of stance damage. It really is the complete package.

Best Shadow of the Erdtree incantations

Knight’s Lightning Spear

• Type: Dragon Cult Incantations
• Location: On the upper level in the Scorpion River Catacombs. Use the ledge to the left of the two statues to cross to the far side of the room, then head through the tunnel.
• FP cost: 36
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Faith 36

Knight’s Lightning Spear will have die-hard Dark Souls fans itching to cosplay as Lord Gwyn. If you’ve ever wanted to sling lightning at your enemies but found the garden variety Lightning Spear lacking, now’s your chance. Knight’s Lightning Spear is a burst of projectile damage with a follow-up flurry of six smaller projectiles that can disrupt crowds and cause single targets to flinch. Its swift animation time and low FP cost make it easy to spam, letting you tear through health bars before enemies can get close enough to interrupt you.

As a Dragon Cult incantation, Knight’s Lightning Spear best suits full Faith builds. It’s most advantageous going up against dragons or armored foes, though a general lack of resistance to Lightning damage across Elden Ring’s bestiary means it’s rarely ineffective in combat. Just make sure to have plenty of Cerulean flasks on hand.

Multilayered Ring of Light

• Type: Incantations
• Location: Drops from Misbegotten Crusader spirit in the Stone Coffin Fissure.
• FP cost: 23
• Memory slots: One
• Stat requirements: Faith 36

If you prefer to keep your distance from those pesky swords, spears, and other melee weapons, then The Multilayered Ring of Light is the perfect long-range AoE incantation to add to your repertoire. Of course, the value you get out of it depends on how many enemies are caught in its area of effect; if you’re going up against a group, it’s an ideal way to take a bite out of several health bars at once without putting yourself in danger.

Once it reaches its target, the Multilayered Ring of Light remains in place for a few seconds, meaning that slower enemies are in for a world of pain. It’s not liable to stagger but can cause smaller enemies to flinch. Generally speaking, the farther away you cast it the better, though we do like the burst of damage it can provide at close range when a skirmish is getting a little hairy.

Light of Miquella

• Type: Incantations
• Location: Give the Remembrance of a God and a Lord to Enia at Roundtable Hold.
• FP cost: 48
• Memory slots: Two
• Stat requirements: Faith 72

Light of Miquella might require you to defeat one of the most difficult bosses in FromSoftware history, but once you do, you’ll have easy access to an incantation that can melt through bosses and regular mobs alike. This vertical beam of light appears directly below your target, and covers a wide area that also nukes any other enemies caught in the blast. It’s large enough to take out large crowds in one fell swoop, and makes a noticeable dent in larger health bars.

Of course, all this raw power at your fingertips comes at a high FP cost, and a slow cast animation makes it easy for foes to interrupt it in PvP. The stat requirements to cast Light of Miquella are also exorbitant – but this shouldn’t be an issue for dedicated Faith builds. As long as you position yourself well and stay stocked up on Cerulean flasks, you should be able to melt anything that so much as looks at you wrong.

All Elden Ring incantations

Here are all the Elden Ring incantations and their locations:

All Shadow of the Erdtree incantations

Here are all the Shadow of the Erdtree incantations and their locations:

Now that you’re armed with the best spells in Elden Ring, be sure to pair them with the best Elden Ring staff you can find in the soulslike game. There are also plenty of Elden Ring crystal tears to enhance the effects of your favorite spells even further. Finally, check out Shadow of the Erdtree review to discover what else awaits in Elden Ring’s first expansion.

Original article by Dave Irwin.