The best Elden Ring mage builds (2024)

Looking for fun Elden Ring mage builds? Sorcery has stepped up a notch in FromSoftware’s latest game with many different schools of magic and a shedload of staves with which to cast your spells. When you add all of the Elden Ring talismans that buff magic or cast speed, and the Ashes of War that infuse your weapons with magic damage and skills, you end up with one of the most complex classes in the game.

It’s strange really, because sorcery is actually very simple: spell go brrr, buff intelligence for more damage, and so on. But some players don’t just want pure power, and as with Dark Souls, thematic builds often win over those that just melt every enemy in sight. Mages also have to deal with risk and reward. Glintstone Crowns buff intelligence, but have their own drawbacks, and the same is true for powerful talismans like Primal Glintstone Blade, Marika’s Soreseal, or even Lusat and Azur’s Glintstone staves.

So, whether you’re the kind of player who wants to obliterate bosses with Comet Azur and Terra Magica, or you’re more interested in sneaky PvP spells like Night Comet, here are our best Elden Ring mage builds to strengthen your sorcerer.

Best Elden Ring mage builds

Glintstone Crowns and sorcery-boosting talismans like the Magic Scorpion Charm and Primal Glintstone Blade can decrease HP and combat stats, so it's up to you how heavily you want to lean towards becoming a glass cannon, and how much you want to invest in combat stats alongside your spells.

Gravity Sorcerer

Staff: Meteorite Staff
Weapon: Meteoric Ore Blade
Armor: Any Glintstone Crown and sorcerer robe
Talismans: Graven Mass Talisman, Primal Glintstone Blade, Radagon Icon, Moon of Nokstella
Stats: Intelligence, Mind, and Dexterity
Best spells: Rock Sling, Collapsing Stars, Meteor of Astel

For those that get jealous of faith builds and their Bestial Incantations, Gravity Sorceries are the perfect salve. Like beast spells, these deal physical damage, and are amazing at breaking poise and staggering enemies. It’s easy to build right from the start of the game, too, since you can grab the Meteorite Staff in the Swamp of Aeonia for its strong intelligence-scaling, and get Rock Sling from the Street of Sages ruin.

You can also grab the Meteoric Ore Blade from the Caelid Waypoint Ruins, or just defeat the Onyx Lord on the beach next to where you start for his Ash of War: Gravitas. Whack this onto most weapons for intelligence-scaling and a cool skill that flattens flying enemies. In terms of talismans, you have a lot of choice: Graven Mass or Graven School are a must since they buff sorceries, and the Radagon Icon improves cast time. That said, neither are available at the start of the game, so you’ll want anything that boosts intelligence or FP, such as Marika’s Scarseal in Siofra River. Since the Meteorite Staff doesn’t upgrade, you’ll also need to change staff eventually to keep up those damage gains. The Carian Regal Scepter is a good replacement.

Snow Witch

Staff: Carian Regal Scepter
Weapon: Darkmoon Greatsword
Armor: Snow Witch Hat
Talismans: Graven Mass Talisman, Radagon Icon, Magic Scorpion Charm, Primal Glintstone Blade
Stats: Intelligence, Mind, and Strength
Best spells: Ranni’s Dark Moon, Adula’s Moonblade, Freezing Mist

Gone are the days of Hoarfrost Stomp being used by every invader, but Cold Sorceries are still pretty darn good—if you specialise in them you also get a reason to wear Ranni’s fancy-looking witch hat. There is no staff that boosts Cold sorceries, but the Carian Regal Scepter has great intelligence-scaling, and will boost Ranni’s Dark Moon. Since Cold Sorceries are all about frost buildup, you’ll also want a weapon that applies it, and there’s no better than the Darkmoon Greatsword you get at the end of Ranni’s quest.

For something a little earlier on, it’s best to grab the Chilling Mist or Hoarfrost Stomp Ashes of War near Caria Manor and add them to a strength-scaling weapon. There are Frost weapons in the form of the Frozen Needle and Icerind Hatchet, but they primarily scale with dex and don’t line up stat-wise with the Darkmoon Greatsword. You’ll need to head to Caria Manor anyway to purchase Cold sorceries from Seluvis. For talismans, the Graven Mass buffs sorceries, the Radagon Icon reduces cast time, and the Magic Scorpion Charm increases magic damage. For your last talisman, you could use Primal Glintstone Blade for FP reduction, or any other talisman you choose.

Primeval Sorcerer

Staff: Azur’s Glintstone Staff
Weapon: Lazuli Glintstone Sword or Carian Knight’s Sword
Armor: Azur or Lusat’s Glintstone Crown
Talismans: Graven Mass Talisman, Primal Glintstone Blade, Radagon Icon, Magic Scorpion Charm
Stats: Intelligence and Mind
Best spells: Comet Azur, Terra Magica, Stars of Ruin

If you desire maximum power and to annihilate bosses with a giant beam like many do with Comet Azur, Primeval Sorceries are your best bet. Everything in this build is about boosting damage and the key spell for doing that is Terra Magica. This AoE boosts magic potency by a whopping 35 percent for anyone standing in it, and can be found after the Academy Crystal Cave dungeon in Liurnia. Azur’s Glintstone Staff has strong intelligence-scaling and reduces cast time, which is useful when you’re using big, slow spells. If you favor Comet Azur, you should also wear Azur’s Glintstone Crown as it boosts the spell’s damage by a further 15 percent. You can get both Comet Azur and the crown through the Sellen quest, while Azur’s Staff is located in Raya Lucaria on the upper level of the Church of the Cuckoo.

Weapons like the Lazuli Glintstone Sword or the Carian Knight’s Sword are a good choice for this build since they need minimal Strength and Dexterity, but still have Intelligence scaling for damage. For talismans, Graven Mass and Magic Scorpion Charm are a must for extra sorcery damage, while the Radagon Icon reduces cast time even further. Primal Glintstone Blade reduces FP consumption, so is a good way to offset the increased FP costs of Azur’s Glintstone Crown and his staff.

Night Sorcerer

Staff: Staff of Loss
Weapon: Moonveil or Wing of Astel
Armor: Night Maiden set and whatever Glintstone Crown you prefer
Talismans: Graven Mass Talisman, Magic Scorpion Charm, Radagon Icon, Concealing Veil
Stats: Intelligence, Mind, and Dexterity
Best spells: Night Comet, Night Maiden’s Mist, Unseen Form

Invisibility Sorceries are an increasingly popular spell type in Elden Ring as they can fire unseen projectiles that go through blocks, making them strong in PvP. This school of sorcery is located in Sellia in Caelid and a lot of the spells come from there, as does the Staff of Loss. This offers a damage boost to all of the spells you’ll be using here. If you want to lean into the PvP aspect of this build, then Moonveil is always a strong weapon choice. But for a more thematic setup, you could use the Wing of Astel, the Nox Flowing Sword, or Urumi, all of which are dex-scaling weapons. Dexterity reduces casting time, so dex weapons are beneficial for spellcasters.

The outfit doesn’t matter so much for this one, and you can wear any of the Glintstone Crowns based upon whatever stat you’re willing to sacrifice for more Intelligence. Either that, or you can go thematic again and wear the Night Maiden set. Lastly, you’ll want the usual talismans in terms of Graven Mass, Radagon Icon, and Magic Scorpion Charm. But if you want to lean into the stealth aspect of this build, Concealing Veil can be used in PvE or PvP for sniping at foes, which makes for some great fun.

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