Playing Sorcerer in Elden Ring requires planning and preparation before burning enemies to the ground with powerful magical beams.
Regardless of how powerful enemies are in Elden Ring, with the right magic build, it’s possible to make fighting them seem like an easy task. The potential of these builds comes from using the right spells and gear.
In case you want to play Elden Ring as a spellcaster, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, you find a complete explanation of the best Sorcerer build in Elden Ring, learning the best stats, weapons, armours, and talismans to run.
On this page:
- How to play with the Sorcerer build
- Best Sorcerer stats
- Best Sorcerer weapons
- Best Sorcerer armor
- Best Sorcerer talismans
How to play with the Sorcerer build in Elden Ring
In Elden Ring, you find a variety of magic-centred builds or some that mix the ability to cast spells with physical damage. For this specific build, however, we’re aiming for the traditional glass cannon Sorcerer who focuses on finding the right opportunity to cast primeval sorceries.
Playing with a build like this requires a little bit of patience, because the main sorcery you will rely on, Comet Azur, is a channelling spell. When using it, you need to charge Comet Azur for a few seconds to cause the maximum damage possible with it. During this period, you’re vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks. So, timing correctly when to start casting your next attack is crucial to play this build.
To combo with Comet Azur, you always want to start the fighting casting Terra Magica. By casting this spell, you create a sigil on the ground that increases your magic damage as long as you stand on it. Considering that Comet Azur forces you to stand in when using it, Terra Magica is the perfect combination. This is a difficult spell to constantly cast during a fight though. Take advantage of any downtime of a boss to get Terra Magica up and cast Comet Azur.
While you get Comet Azur by talking to Primeval Sorcerer Azure, who you can find north of the Hermit Village in Mt. Gelmir – or visit during Sorceress Sellen’s quest –, the Terra Magica is a spell that you acquire in the Academy Crystal Cave. Take the lift behind the bosses of this dungeon to find the chest.
In the early stages of the build – or between Comet Azur casts –, you should focus on using the following sorceries. First, Rock Sling is an amazing basic spell that causes some good damage and also affects enemies’ stances. You can find this spell in Caelid, in an underground cellar in Street of Sages Ruins.
The other two important for this build are the Magic Glintblade and the Carian Slicer. While the former is great for tricking enemies’ AI and hitting them from afar, the latter is your go-to option for melee combat situations. These are two great fillers, which means that you want to cast them in moments you can’t stand still and cast Comet Azur. The Magic Glintblade is sold by Miriel at the Church of Vows. You can also buy the Carian Slicer from Mirial – or any other spell trainer – after delivering the Royal House Scroll, which you can find a camp east of the site of grace called Agheel Lake South.
Elden Ring Sorcerer best stats
As a build completely based on Intelligence, allocating the stats points is simple when it comes to the Sorcerer. In order to reach the final figures indicated below, we suggest the Astrologer as your starting class. It not only gives you sweet 16 Intelligence points from the get-go, but it also has 15 Mind, which affects how many FP you have to cast spells.
Below, you’ll find the figures you want for this build to function.
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 45
- Endurance: 16
- Strength: 10
- Dexterity: 17
- Intelligence: 80
- Faith: 7
- Arcane: 9
As you can see, most of your points will go to Intelligence since most spells calculate their damage based on this stat. But, if during the process of leveling up your character, you decide this is not the right build for your play style, you can easily change it to something else by using the Elden Ring’s respecing system.
Virgor and Mind come as the other two priorities in this build for a matter of survivability. On the other hand, you might want to pump a couple of the secondary stats, such as Strength and Dexterity, depending on the kind of modification you plan armour-wise. Keep in mind that, if you want a pure spell caster, all you need is more Intelligence.
Elden Ring Sorcerer best weapons
When it comes to the best Sorcerer weapons, you can’t get anything different from some magical sceptres. Because there aren’t as many different types as it happens with swords or hammers, it takes a while for you to upgrade your staff. For this Sorcerer build, we want a combination of two weapons.
In your right hand, you want to use Lusat’s Glinstone Staff, which, since when the game was released, has remained a powerful piece of equipment. Now, on your left hand, you should have the Azur’s Glintstone Staff, so you can still benefit from its passive which increases Dexterity which only affects the casting time of your spells.
To find Lusat’s Glintstone Staff, you need to defeat the Nox Swordstress and Nox Priest bosses in Sellia, Town of Sorcery in Caelid. After defeating them, you can open the chest where you will find this weapon. While you can acquire Lusat’s Glintstone Staff considerably early in the game when compared to other great weapons in Elden Ring, it requires 52 Intelligence points to properly work.
The same goes for Azur’s Glintstone Staff. You find this weapon in Raya Lucaria Academia, after climbing the ladder which you find on the second floor of the Church of the Cuckoo. There is a site of grace with the same name located in this place. But, even though you can explore Raya Lucaria Academia in the first hours of the game, this staff requires 52 Intelligence points as well, making it a great option to run during later segments in the game.
During the early levels, when you’re still in Limgrave, you should visit Caelid to get the Meteorite Staff. By only requiring 18 Intelligence and 6 Strength, this staff is one of the best early options you have. It also buffs Gravity sorceries, which is a great feature considering how important the Rock Sling spell is for this build.
A second option is the Carian Glintstone Staff, which you can find as you explore the Carian Study Hall, right before you find the second lift in the building. This staff requires 24 Intelligence, 8 Dexterity, and 6 Strength. The passive ability of this staff is to boost the damage caused by the sorceries such as the Carian Piercers and Carian Slicer, two spells you want to have with you in this part of the game. Keep in mind that acquiring this one doesn’t mean you need to stop using the Meteorite Staff. Either can be wielded off-hand so you can take advantage of their passive abilities.
Elden Ring Sorcerer best armor
Like Paladin and other builds, a couple of armour pieces are extremely helpful and make your build stronger, but they aren’t mandatory for it to work. Consider this if you’d rather have a more thematically centred set instead of the one we are suggesting here. But, in terms of synergy with the rest of the build, the best armour set is the Azur’s Glintstone, which you can acquire at the end of Sorceress Sellen’s quest by revisiting Azur.
There are other great sets for spellcasters in the game, like the Lusat’s set. However, Azur’s set, more specifically the Azur’s Glintstone Crown, is perfect for this build because it buffs the Comet Azur’s damage. As a downside, this crown also increases the FP cost of all sorceries. However, by the time you get this piece of equipment, this will hardly be a problem for you.
While you don’t have the Azur’s Glintstone set to wear, you have a couple of good options to use during early and midgame. In case you decide to tackle The Academy of Raya Lucaria after Limgrave, you look for the Raya Lucarian Sorcerer Set. The pieces for this armour set drop from Glintstone Sorcerers and Twinsage Sorcerers, two enemies you find inside Raya Lucaria Academy. The Twinsage Glitstone Crown is the best variation of this set’s helms and you can get it by defeating a Crystal Crab, which you can find by leaving the Church of the Cuckoo and turning right.
The Raya Lucarian Sorcerer Set is great but it doesn’t offer a lot of damage resistance. If you’re struggling to dodge attacks and want to have a higher chance of surviving throughout a fight, you may want to consider using the Carian Knight Set. This armour is heavier than the Raya Lucarian Sorcerer Set but it is still possible to wear it and keep a medium weight. You can find the Carian Knight Set in Raya Lucaria Academy in a lower level of the graveyard you find outside the Church of the Cuckoo.
Elden Ring Sorcerer best talismans
To match the concept of this build, the talismans listed here are meant to increase magic damage and uptime. The first is the Green Turtle Talisman, which you find in the Summonwater Village, west of Smoldering Church. Take a Stonesword Key with you since this item is inside a locked room in the underground. With this talisman, you recover stamina faster, which means less downtime waiting for your bar to replenish before you’re back to casting powerful explosions at enemies.
The Magic Scorpion Charm is another one you want to run with this guide. By having this talisman equipped, your magic damage increases as well as the damage you take. This might look like a bad idea, but no enemy is a threat if they are dead. With more damage, killing them becomes faster and easier. To get this one, you need to progress through Seluvis’s questline, which becomes available after you have unlocked Ranni’s rise.
The last one is the Radagon Icon talisman. This item increases your Dexterity, reducing the cast time of your spells. You definitely want this considering the focus of this build is to cast Comet Azur. The effect of this talisman doesn’t overcap the Azur’s Glintstone Staff and since we have low Dexterity you want to be running both pieces of equipment to compensate for it. This talisman is found inside the Raya Lucaria Academy in a treasure chest close to the site of grace called Debate Parlor.
Next build: Sword of Night and Flame build
Need more help? Jump back to our list of Elden Ring builds or our Elden Ring walkthrough.
