Top 6 Elden Ring BEST Faith Builds [DETAILED]

Builds in Elden Ring are few and far between – just about anything you can imagine can be well-adapted in this game. For instance, if you’re a huge fan of strength weapons, you can make a pure strength build that capitalizes off your Strength and ensures the highest physical damage output possible.

Here is a comparison table of my curated list of Faith Builds. Each stat can be sorted to view the highest and lowest values, which has been done for your convenience:

No.	FAITH BUILDS	Speciality	VIGOR	MIND	ENDURANCE	STRENGTH	DEXTERITY	INTELLIGENCE	FAITH	ARCANE
1	Arcane Dragonslayer (Level 100) [By Fextralife]	The Best Arcane-Faith Build for Spell - Melee Combo.	40	20	25	20	15	9	30	50
2	Dragon Cult PvP God (Level 125) [By RPJames]	The Best Faith Dexterity Build for Ranged Attacks.	40	26	20	20	40	9	50	10
3	Holy Paladin of Leyndell (Level 100) [By Fextralife]	The Best Faith Build for Melee Attacks with Holy Damage.	25	17	34	34	22	9	34	9
4	Godslaying Tank (Level 150) [By iSeraph]	The Strongest Tanky Faith Build with Black Flame Attacks.	45	20	24	23	39	14	55	9
5	Bi-Elemental Caster (Level 150) [By Moxsy]	Top Tier Build with massive Incantation buffs.	35	25	25	16	30	9	80	9
6	Blasphemous Pyromancer (Level 150) [By iSeraph]	The Best Flame Faith Build for late game.	45	25	25	40	15	9	60	9

And just like that, the possibilities become endless. While that is a debatable discussion and too much for the scope of simply one guide, I will list 6 of the Best Faith Builds that I have tried, had my friends recommend me, or seen other players use in PvP and co-op.

Arcane Dragonslayer (Level 100) [By Fextralife]

Award: The Best Arcane-Faith Build for Spell – Melee Combo.

Since the 1.03 patch fixed the Arcane scaling bug, Arcane builds have surged in popularity within the Elden Ring community. Currently, bleed builds are leading this trend. Arcane is a newly introduced stat in Elden Ring that affects various effects, including Item Discovery from previous Dark Souls games.

Importantly, it now serves as a scaling attribute, allowing any weapon in Elden Ring to scale with Arcane, making it viable for creating one of the best Faith Builds.

• Vigor – 40 
• Mind – 20
• Endurance – 25 (Could be turned down – I’ve used it mainly for my armor choice)
• Strength – 20 (Enough to wield my weapon of choice)
• Dexterity – 15 
• Intelligence – 9
• Faith – 30 
• Arcane – 50 (Second Arcane soft cap)

Weapon Choice

Dragon Communion Seal

Attribute	Attack	Guard
	25	25
Magic Damage	0	15
Fire Damage	0	15
Lighting Damage	0	15
Holy Damage	0	15
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	15
Incant Scaling	60	-

Type	Grade	Requirement
Faith	D	10
Arcane	C	10

I recommend the Dragon Communion Seal for Arcane Faith builds. It’s the only sacred seal in Elden Ring achieving an S-scaling in Arcane. Initially, it requires 10 Faith and 10 Arcane, offering a natural scaling of C in Arcane.

Upgrading to +10 with Somber Smithing Stones, it reaches a B scaling in Faith and S scaling in Arcane. Additionally, it boosts Dragon Incantations by 15%, ideal for this build’s focus. Fortunately, you can obtain it early in the game at the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave, near the Stranded Graveyard Site of Grace, with two Stonesword keys.

Iron Greatsword

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	149	73
Magic Damage	0	39
Fire Damage	0	39
Lighting Damage	0	39
Holy Damage	0	39
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	47

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	C	18
Dexterity	E	10

I suggest the Iron Greatsword as the primary weapon for a Faith build. You will want a weapon with good arcane scaling, naturally or infusing with an Occult Ash of War, like Bloody Slash.

The Iron Greatsword requires 18 strength and 10 dexterity, boasting a base damage 149. Obtain it later in the game from large red-maned Misbegotten field bosses in various locations.

Pros

• Good Arcane Scaling (B when upgraded).
• Highest Damage while imbued with Bloody Slash Ash of War.

Cons

• It’s heavy and reduces mobility.

Smoldering Shield

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	58	79
Magic Damage	0	38
Fire Damage	37	56
Lighting Damage	0	14
Holy Damage	0	38
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	41

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	10
Dexterity	-	9
Faith	D	12

A shield is crucial for support in Faith builds, and having one that scales with Faith is a bonus. The Smoldering Shield is the only shield in the Elden Ring with natural Faith Scaling.

It’s effective for blocking and parrying, requiring 10 strength, 9 dexterity, and 12 faith. Plus, it provides a D scaling in faith, upgradable to C through normal reinforcement up to +14 with Smithing Stones. Find it near the Prison Town Church Site of Grace in Volcano Manor alongside a Golden Rune [9].

Armor Combination

For this build, the armor combo is versatile. The Silver Tear Mask is essential, dropped by the Mimic Tear boss in Nokron, Eternal City, weighing 4.6 units and boosting Arcane by 8 points.

You can choose the other three armor pieces to match your fashion and allow for medium rolling to avoid fat rolling.

Related: Best Faith Armor Elden Ring

Talisman Options

Radagon’s Soreseal

Effect	Increase
Vigor	5
Endurance	5
Strength	5
Dexterity	5
Damage Taken	15%

For talismans, I start with Radagon’s Soreseal, a high-risk, high-reward choice. It boosts attributes but increases damage taken. I use the Golden Bow incantation to minimize this risk, enhancing both attack and defense. This combo is highly effective and features in my list of Faith Builds multiple times.

Curved Sword Talisman

Effect	Increase
Counter Damage	20%

With the Smoldering Shield scaling with your 30 Faith, you have a reliable blocking and guard counters tool. Elden Ring introduces guard counters as a valuable combat mechanic. The Curved Sword Talisman, tailored for enhancing guard counters, is your best choice to maximize their damage and stagger output.

Flock’s Canvas Talisman

Type	Increase
Incantations	8%

Lastly, I’ve chosen the Flock’s Canvas Talisman as my final talisman, which will be available later in the game. It significantly boosts incantations’ potency, which covers enhanced damage, shortened casting time, or increased support when using a support incantation.

Magic Scorpion Charm

Effect	Increase
Magic Damage	12%
Physical Damage	10%

The two primary powerhouse incantations in this build deal significant magic and fire damage. To optimize, use your fourth Talisman slot for one that boosts either of them, as a Talisman boosting both simultaneously doesn’t exist.

Personally, I prefer the Magic Scorpion Charm, which raises magic damage by 12% at the expense of a 10% damage reduction.

Spells to Memorize

Agheel’s Flame

Attribute	Requirement
intelligence	0
Faith	23
Arcane	15

The first Dragon incantation to learn is Agheel’s Flame. It summons Flying Dragon Agheel, delivering fiery breath attacks. It costs 36 FP and 60 stamina, excelling in short to medium-range damage, ideal for bosses and groups of enemies. To acquire it, defeat Flying Dragon Agheel in the Dragon-Burnt Ruins, one of the early field bosses in Limgrave.

Smarag’s Glintstone Breath

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	23
Arcane	15

The second Dragon Incantation ideal for this Faith Arcane build is Smarag’s Glintstone Breath. The Magic Scorpion Charm enhances its magic damage output. Smarag’s Glintstone Breath is essentially the regular Glintstone Breath incantation but deals a significant 12% more damage on steroids.

You can acquire it by defeating the Glintstone Dragon Smarag during Ranni’s Questline.

Lightning Spear

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	17
Arcane	0

None of the Faith Builds in Elden Ring are complete without a lightning spell, and seeing that this build has some strong AOE spells, I decided to toss in a quick ranged spell – the Lightning Spear.

Upon activation, your player will generate a spear made of lightning in the palm of their hand and hurl it towards their enemy. This chargeable weapon art increases both in length, damage, and area of effect.

Golden Vow

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	25
Arcane	0

Do not confuse this with the Golden Vow ash of war, as this is its incantation counterpart. As mentioned earlier, this is a good combination with Radagon’s Soreseal as it helps greatly offset its cost of raising your attributes at the cost of damage. Furthermore, the attack and defense buff veils over you and your allies last 80 seconds!

Flame, Grant Me Strength

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	15
Arcane	0

Having buffed Smarag’s Glintstone Breath with the Magic Scorpion Charm, it would be unfair to leave Agheel’s Flame as it is – which is why the final spell in this build is Flame, Grant me Strength.

Upon casting, it grants you a 20% damage increase to physical and fire attacks, making Agheel’s Flame deal much more damage than before! It is found between two huge flamethrowers located behind Fore Gael.

Dragon Cult PvP God (Level 125) [By RPJames]

Award: The Best Faith Dexterity Build for Ranged Attacks.

Lightning used to be just one category of spells in previous Dark Souls games. However, with the release of Elden Ring, I’ve noticed that different kinds of lightning spells, each distinct in their color, have been integrated, mainly known as Dragon Cult Incantations.

These incantations are very powerful and rival the blood-red energy emitted by several dragons encountered in the game, making a build centered around them one of the Best Faith Builds.

• Vigor – 40 (Sufficient for PvP)
• Mind – 26
• Endurance – 20 (As this is a Faith build, we will rely more on FP-consuming attacks)
• Strength – 20 (Good enough for the equipment I’ll be using)
• Dexterity – 40
• Intelligence – 9
• Faith – 50
• Arcane – 10

Weapon Choice

Finger Seal

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	25	25
Magic Damage	0	15
Fire Damage	0	15
Lighting Damage	0	15
Holy Damage	0	15
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	15
Incant Scaling	114	-

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	4
Faith	C	10

The Finger Seal, one of the best and readily available sacred seals in the Elden Ring, is part of the Confessor’s starting kit. If you didn’t choose Confessor, you can purchase it from the Twin Maiden Husks at the Roundtable Hold for a reasonable 800 Runes.

This seal has modest stat requirements of 4 strength and 10 faith and offers a C-scaling with Faith. Its Faith scaling reaches an impressive S-scaling at +14 reinforcement using Smithing Stones, although I recommend maximizing your spell buff.

Bolt Of Gransax

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	98	60
Magic Damage	0	31
Fire Damage	0	31
Lighting Damage	63	47
Holy Damage	0	31
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	40

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	D	20
Dexterity	D	40

What sets this build apart from other Faith Builds in Elden Ring and makes it the connoisseur of Dragon Cult incantations is the main weapon, the Bolt of Gransax. It’s one of the nine legendary armaments in Elden Ring, requiring wielders to have 20 strength and 40 dexterity, rewarding them with D scalings in both stats.

While it lacks faith scaling, it still synergizes well with the build due to its weapon art, Ancient Lightning Spear. When activated, my character charges the spear with ancient dragons’ red lightning, hurling it at distant foes with incredible speed and power.

Pros

• Insane Ranged Lightning Damage.

Cons

• Heavy Dexterity Requirements.
• No scaling with Faith.

Banished Knight’s Shield

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	81	100
Magic Damage	0	49
Fire Damage	0	57
Lighting Damage	0	31
Holy Damage	0	48
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	55

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	D	14

Running a spear armament build truly shines when paired with a shield. For this PvP build, I recommend a lightweight shield with a solid guard boost, like the Banished Knight’s Shield, categorized as a Medium Shield with a base guard boost of 55.

To maximize its effectiveness, infuse the shield with the Barricade Shield Ash of War, boosting its guard to 100, allowing you to withstand attacks with minimal stamina damage. This enables a cautious playstyle, using the shield to protect while poking enemies with the spear from behind it.

Armor Combination

I chose the Drake-Knight set for this build purely for its fashion appeal. You can find the Drake-Knight set in the Crumbling Farum Azula, specifically the Beside the Great Bridge site of Grace. Instead of heading towards the Malekith boss room, go opposite towards the building’s outside balcony.

From there, you’ll spot a Beastman below, signaling you to jump down and sprint across the bridge. Take the elevator down to the outskirts, where you’ll discover the Drake-Knight set tucked away in a chest.

Talisman Options

Two Fingers Heirloom

Type	Increase
Faith	5

Moving away from the high-risk, high-reward model brought about by Radagon’s Soreseal, we will adopt a more straightforward strategy – gain without loss.

Starting with the Two Fingers Hierloom, the talisman is found in the lower levels of the Purified Ruins in the Liurnia of the Lakes continent. The Two Fingers Hierloom increases your Faith by 5 attribute points.

Flock’s Canvas Talisman

Type	Increase
Incantations	8%

The Flock’s Canvas Talisman is an excellent Talisman responsible for significantly raising the potency of incantations. The talisman is obtained a little late into the game and requires you to complete Millicent’s questline, after which upon returning to Gowry, you will find him dead with the talisman peacefully resting on his corpse.

Old Lord’s Talisman

Type	Increase
Spell Duration	30%

The Old Lord’s Talisman, similar to the Drake-Knight set, is found in the Crumbling Farum Azula, so you should pick it up on the way. Weighing in at only 0.5 units, the talisman blesses you by extending the duration of your spell effects, which is significant for this build as you will want to keep your buffs active for as long as possible in PvP.

Starscourge Heirloom

Type	Increase
Strength	5

The Starscourge Heirloom, as you may expect from its name, has its origin tied to Starscourge Radahn, arguably the mightiest Demi-god in Elden Ring.

It is obtained in Fort Gael in Caelid – you’ll find it in a chest right outside the watchtower in the later levels of the fort. Similar to the Two Fingers Hierloom, this talisman increases your Strength by 5 attribute points.

Spells to Memorize

Golden Vow

The Golden Vow is a very common incantation you’ll observe on most of the builds I have listed on my Best Faith Builds, partially because it increases your attack (by 15%) and defense (by 10%) and benefits your allies – at the reasonable cost of 47 FP.

Furthermore, it can be found in Mt. Gelmir, in the Corpse-Stench Shack. The Golden Vow is commonly paired with the Radagon’s Soreseal to help minimize its damage negation reduction.

Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	26
Arcane	0

The Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike is a powerful Dragon Cult incantation that can rain terror upon your enemies. Requiring only 26 faith to memorize, casting the incantation summons a flurry of red lightning from the sky that spread in the form of an AOE attack. Using this up close on your enemies will almost guarantee them getting caught in the crossfire.

Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Spear

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	32
Arcane	0

Right behind the Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike, I am going with the Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Spear, an incantation similarly obtained by giving Brother Corhyn or Mirei, Pastor of Vows, the Ancient Dragon Prayerbook, a vital relic of the Dragon Cult. Upon activation, your player will generate a red lightning spear in their hand and unleash it on the ground to generate a massive shockwave.

Frozen Lightning Spear

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	34
Arcane	0

The Frozen Lightning Spear is a powerful incantation that is dropped from the Dragonkin Solider of Nokstella boss encountered in Ainsei River. Requiring a whopping 34 faith to even use, the incantation allows you to conjure a blue spear from the palm of your hand and stab to create a two-stage attack, one a shockwave and the other a lightning burst.

Lightning Blade

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	28
Arcane	0

No faith build is complete without a lightning spell, and seeing that this build has some strong AOE spells, I decided to toss in a quick ranged spell – the Lightning Blade. Upon activation, your player will generate a spear made of lightning in the palm of their hand and hurl it towards their enemy. This chargeable weapon art increases both in length, damage, and area of effect.

Holy Paladin of Leyndell (Level 100) [By Fextralife]

Award: The Best Faith Build for Melee Attacks with Holy Damage.

You first encounter a patrolling Leyndell Knight quite early game, outside the Artist’s Shack in Liunaria of the Lakes. From the first moment I looked at these strut knights roaming the lands in gold, shiny armor with mastery over the lightning arts, I knew I wanted to cosplay them somehow and transcend them into one of the Best Faith Builds in Elden Ring.

This will be a melee-faith build, more leaning on the melee side that you can prep at level 100.

• Vigor – 25 (Sufficient as I will focus more on poise)
• Mind – 17
• Endurance – 34 (More stamina is essential for a melee-leaning build)
• Strength – 34
• Dexterity – 22
• Intelligence – 9
• Faith – 34 (Good enough for scalings and the incantations I will be using)
• Arcane – 9

Weapon Choice

Gravel Stone Seal

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	25	25
Magic Damage	0	15
Fire Damage	0	15
Lighting Damage	0	15
Holy Damage	0	15
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	15
Incant Scaling	60	-

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	4
Faith	C	18

As Level 100 falls within the mid-game stages of Elden Ring, the Gravel Stone Seal serves as an excellent catalyst. It has an easy stat requirement of 4 strength and 18 faith, naturally possessing a C in Faith.

Furthermore, its scaling in both stats reaches an impressive S-tier when reinforced up to +16 with Smithing Stones, though I’d recommend going all the way to +25 to maximize the spell buff. I chose this sacred seal mainly because it boosts Dragon Cult incantations, which aligns perfectly with the focus of this build.

Treespear

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	122	55
Magic Damage	0	35
Fire Damage	0	35
Lighting Damage	0	35
Holy Damage	79	48
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	45

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	D	15
Dexterity	D	22
Faith	D	18

Given the thrusting nature of Leyndell Knights, you must’ve quickly expected me to use the Treespear as my Armament, or at least some thrusting weapon that deals holy damage.

The Treespear requires a heavy stat investment of 15 strength, 22 dexterity, and 18 faith, although it scales equally well in all three attributes (D-tier). However, at +25 reinforcement with Smithing Stones, it peaks at a massive 193 holy damage on top of 298 physical damage.

Its holy damage can be further buffed with its weapon art, Sacred Order, making it highly effective against undead enemies.

Pros

• Scales a little more in Dexterity (up to C) when upgraded. 
• Decent melee attack range.

Cons

• Requires heavy stat levels in Strength, Dexterity, and Faith.

Golden Greatshield

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	113	100
Magic Damage	0	57
Fire Damage	0	60
Lighting Damage	0	57
Holy Damage	0	68
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	70

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	D	34

For the holy knight aesthetic in your top-tier Faith Build, the Golden Greatshield is a perfect match. You’ll need 34 strength in this level 100 build to wield it, as it’s the heaviest part of your loadout.

This greatshield complements the Treespear, and I recommend infusing it with the Barricade Shield Ash of War for a 100% guard boost, allowing for effective guard counters.

Armor Combination

True to the build’s name, a Leyndell Knight build isn’t complete without the Leyndell Knight set. You can farm Leyndell Knights outside the Outer Wall Phantom Tree Site of Grace in the Capital Outskirts to acquire it. There, you’ll find three separate Leyndell Knights, easily taken out one by one using stealth or with the assistance of the Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot to boost item discovery when farming. The Leyndell Knight set weighs 28.1 units and provides 40 poise, making it quite self-sufficient.

Talisman Options

Radagon’s Soreseal

The Radagon’s Soreseal is a talisman I wanted for this build because it greatly increases my attributes by 5 points each. It comes at the cost of reduced damage negation.

Nevertheless, in a faith build like mine, where I can utilize support-based incantations, I can effectively counteract the drawbacks of this talisman with the Golden Vow incantation, making the combination very successful!

Spear Talisman

Type	Increase
Counterattack Damage	15%

Given that this is partly a melee build, you might want to capitalize off our spear as much as possible – this is where the Spear Talisman comes in. Spears have the unique trait of inflicting counterattacks due to their thrust-based moveset, and that is exactly what this talisman complements by increasing the damage dealt by the Treespear when striking an enemy that’s in the middle of an attack animation.

Curved Sword Talisman

While there are no Curved Swords on this build, don’t be misled by the item’s name. At its very essence, the Curved Sword Talisman is supposed to enhance damage dealt by guard counters by 20%, making it uniquely useful on this build.

With the Treespear combined with the Golden Greatshield (infused with Barricade Shield), guard counters will become a common part of your play style.

Green Turtle Talisman

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	81	87
Magic Damage	0	44
Fire Damage	0	39
Lighting Damage	0	43
Holy Damage	0	46
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	49

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	D	14

Stamina is a very important proponent of this build, as it will be expended in maintaining your weight, blocking against incoming attacks, and swinging your spear. Therefore, you should invest in faster stamina regeneration using the Green Turtle Talisman, which raises stamina recovery speed by almost 18%, reflecting about 8 stamina points per second.

Spells to Memorize

Blessing’s Boon

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	24
Arcane	0

The Blessing’s Boon is a really good support incantation that constitutes as one of the ancient Erdtree incantations found in the game. Upon activation, your player will pledge to the Erdtree and be bestowed with its blessings which will be shared among your allies.

This blessing comes in the form of passive HP regeneration, almost 8 HP per tick. What’s more, the buff lasts a whole one minute 30 seconds!

Golden Vow

Do not confuse this with the Golden Vow ash of war, as this is its incantation counterpart. As mentioned earlier, this is a good combination with Radagon’s Soreseal as it helps greatly offset its cost of raising your attributes at the cost of damage. Furthermore, the attack and defense buff veils over you and your allies last 80 seconds!

Electrify Armament

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	15
Arcane	0

Electrify Armament is a very important part of this build, requiring as little as 15 faith. Your character will enchant the Treespear with lightning damage upon activation (in the form of 0.75x incantation scaling), adding to its already great holy damage. Additionally, this incantation only requires 21 FP and 10 stamina to use and lasts for a total of 90 seconds, making much of the boss fights a damage frenzy.

Honed Bolt

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	24
Arcane	0

The Honed Bolt is one of the strongest lightning incantations in the Elden Ring, dating back to the incantations used by the ancient dragon cult. Upon activation, your player will raise their sacred seal to the sky, calling down lightning bolts on your enemies. This incantation has solid tracking and deals impressive damage at the cost of just 12 FP.

Lightning Blade

No faith build is complete without a lightning spell, and seeing that this build has some strong AOE spells, I decided to toss in a quick ranged spell – the Lightning Blade. Upon activation, your player will generate a spear made of lightning in the palm of their hand and hurl it towards their enemy. This chargeable weapon art increases both in length, damage, and area of effect.

Godslaying Tank (Level 150) [By iSeraph]

Award: The Strongest Tanky Faith Build with Black Flame Attacks.

Suppose you have faced the Godskin class of bosses, like the Godskin Apostle and the Godskin Noble. In that case, you will likely realize that god-slaying techniques in Elden Ring primarily involve black flame incantations. Interestingly, even Godskin bosses employ black flame attacks, especially during their second phases.

Taking inspiration from these black flame masters, I introduce the Godslaying Tank build—a formidable build with immense power, earning its place in our faith builds.

• Vigor – 45 (Good amount of HP coupled with high poise = tank)
• Mind – 20
• Endurance – 24 (Don’t worry, we’ll be using a talisman to increase our equipment load)
• Strength – 23
• Dexterity – 39
• Intelligence – 14
• Faith – 55
• Arcane – 9

Weapon Choice

Godslayer’s Seal

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	25	25
Magic Damage	0	15
Fire Damage	0	15
Lighting Damage	0	15
Holy Damage	0	15
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	15
Incant Scaling	129	-

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	4
Faith	C	27

I’ve chosen the Godslayer’s Seal for this build because it’s the only sacred seal in the Elden Ring that boosts Godslayer Incantations. Although obtainable early in the game (from Stormveil Castle), it requires 4 strength and 27 faith, offering a C scaling in Faith.

Reinforcing it to +14 with Smithing Stones gives it an impressive S scaling in Faith. At +25 reinforcement, it reaches a spell buff of 274! It’s an excellent catalyst for incantations and ideal for this build due to its affinity for Godslayer Incantations.

Gargoyle’s Twinblade

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	123	48
Magic Damage	0	32
Fire Damage	0	32
Lighting Damage	0	32
Holy Damage	0	32
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	32

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	C	18
Dexterity	E	15

Using a twinblade in this build indicates potential high damage. The Gargoyle’s Twinblade, dropped by the Valiant Gargoyle (Twinblade), requires 18 strength and 15 dexterity and scales well with Strength.

To enhance faith scaling, you can infuse it with the Black Flame Tornado ash of war, obtained from the Godskin Duo boss fight, granting it a C scaling in Faith.

Pros

• Decent C scaling in Faith.
• Immense damage with adequate range.

Cons

• Poor Dexterity scaling.  

Buckler

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	68	61
Magic Damage	0	30
Fire Damage	0	30
Lighting Damage	0	16
Holy Damage	0	30
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	37

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	8
Dexterity	D	13

A shield isn’t essential for this build since you’ll mainly be two-handing the Gargoyle’s Twinblade or switching to the Godslayer’s Seal for incantations. Whether or not to use a shield and which one to use is up to personal preference, as long as it doesn’t affect equipment load and poise.

I prefer the Buckler because it’s light and excellent for parrying, thanks to its extended parry frames. If you want a lightweight shield with great parrying capabilities, the Buckler is a solid choice.

Armor Combination

There’s a lot of freedom in choosing armor for this build. The key is to aim for an overall poise of around 100. Personally, I like the Veteran Armor, Gauntlets, Greaves, and the Black Wolf Mask for their connection to Blaidd, a revered NPC in Elden Ring.

The rest of the Veteran Set has a sturdy appearance, fitting since it drops from Commander Niall. With this armor combination, you should reach 100 poise (considering the following talismans) while maintaining 42.8 units of mass.

Related: Best Elden Ring Early Game Armor

Talisman Options

Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman

The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman is a unique talisman that depicts the ancient dragon itself, signaling powerful effects. It does live up to that by massively boosting your physical damage negation, adding to the poise I am going for in this build.

More specifically, it grants you a 20% multiplicative resistance on top of your current resistance – you can do the math!

Bull-goat’s Talisman

The Bull-goat’s Talisman is a distinctive talisman located in the later levels of the Dragonbarrow Cave. To find it, head into the cave’s entrance, take a hard left, and stealthily search the area to locate it on a corpse.

In terms of its effects, it boosts poise by approximately 34%, bringing the total poise from your armor combination to almost 100.

Curved Sword Talisman

While there are no Curved Swords on this build, don’t be misled by the item’s name. At its very essence, the Curved Sword Talisman is supposed to enhance damage dealt by guard counters by 20%, making it uniquely useful on this build.

With the Treespear combined with the Golden Greatshield (infused with Barricade Shield), guard counters will become a common part of your playstyle.

Faithful’s Canvas Talisman / Flock’s Canvas Talisman

The Faithful’s Canvas Talisman can be obtained quite early in the game, right in Sellia Crystal Tunnel, to which you can warp early on from a chest in Dragon-Burnt Ruins.

It boosts your incantations in general and is a good alternative for the Flock’s Canvas Talisman; it requires quite a bit of effort and questline progression to get it. But if you’re willing to go that extra mile, feel free to!

Spells to Memorize

Black Flame

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	20
Arcane	0

The Black Flame is one of the most fundamental Godslayer Incantations in Elden Ring, requiring you only to have 20 faith. The incantation allows you to hurl a ball of black flame at your enemies to the point where you can charge it up for a more potent but delayed execution.

The spell can be purchased from Brother Corhyn after giving him the Godskin Prayerbook, which was found pretty early (Stormveil Castle).

Black Flame Ritual

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	42
Arcane	0

The Black Flame Ritual is a superior Godslayer incantation compared to the preceding Black Flame incantation, making it a core component build. It’s best used when facing hordes of enemies due to its higher FP and stamina cost.

When activated, it envelops you in a protective layer of black flame. You can obtain this incantation by defeating the Godskin Apostle and Noble in Spriticaller Cave.

Scouring Black Flame

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	28
Arcane	0

The Scouring Black Flame, lying somewhere between the Black Flame and the Black Flame Ritual, is something you should usually rely on for crowd control.

Upon expending 27 FP and 36 stamina, your player will use their sacred seal to sweep the area before them with a deadly black flame that will scorch anything in its path. It is obtained from the Godskin Apostle defeated in the Weeping Evergaol.

Black Flame’s Protection

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	30
Arcane	0

Like the previous three, the Black Flame’s Protection is more of a buff-type incantation than an offensive one. Requiring 30 FP and 13 strength, it buffs your physical damage negation by 35% for a 70-second period at 20% less healing from your Flask of Crimson Tears.

The incantation can be obtained from Gideon Ofnir, the leader of the Roundtable Hold, after unlocking Miquella’s Haligtree.

Flame, Grant me Strength

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	15
Arcane	0

Flame, Grant me Strength is the polar opposite of the Black Flame’s Protection, focused more on the offensive-related buffs. Upon casting, it grants you a 20% damage increase to physical and fire attacks, which are highly beneficial towards my build, regardless of whether it is a Fire Monk Incantation. It is found between two huge flamethrowers located behind Fore Gael.

Bi-Elemental Caster (Level 150) [By Moxsy]

Award: Top Tier Build with massive Incantation buffs.

Magic, a powerhouse in FromSoftware games, remains potent in Elden Ring. Half of the spells scale well with Faith. By investing heavily in Faith and applying buffs, you can create a top-tier build

• Vigor – 35 (Will be increased with Radagon’s Soreseal)
• Mind – 25
• Endurance – 25
• Strength – 16
• Dexterity – 30
• Intelligence – 9
• Faith – 80 (Maximizing damage output at the hard cap)
• Arcane – 9

Weapon Choice

Uchigatana

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	115	45
Magic Damage	0	30
Fire Damage	0	30
Lighting Damage	0	30
Holy Damage	0	30
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	30

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	D	11
Dexterity	D	15

As emphasized in my magic guides, a melee weapon is essential for close-quarters combat when casting. Instead of a faith-based weapon, I recommend that any generic weapon infused with suitable ash of war become faith-based.

In this case, I’ll infuse the Keen Uchigatana with the Royal Knight’s Resolve weapon art, increasing damage output by 80% on the next swing, including incantations. This setup potentially allows my Faith build to achieve one-shot kills.

Pros

• Buffs’ damage for any next attack, including Incantations.
• Gives immense Lightning damage when used with Vyke’s Dragon Bolt. 

Cons

• Heavy Dexterity stat requirement due to scaling in Dex. 

Gravel’s Stone Seal

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	25	25
Magic Damage	0	15
Fire Damage	0	15
Lighting Damage	0	15
Holy Damage	0	15
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	15
Instant Scaling	60	-

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	4
Faith	C	18

Since my build relies on lightning, a sacred seal that enhances it would be great, and the Gravel’s Stone Seal fits the bill. This seal boosts Dragon Cult Incantations, which encompass lightning-related spells.

It requires 4 strength and 18 faith and has a natural scaling of C in Faith. With +16 reinforcement using Smithing Stones, it reaches an S-tier scaling in Faith, making it the perfect catalyst for dragon cult incantations.

Giant’s Seal

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	25	25
Magic Damage	0	15
Fire Damage	0	15
Lighting Damage	0	15
Holy Damage	0	15
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	15

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	4
Faith	C	14

For the fire and lightning aspects of the build, I use the Giant’s Seal, which boosts fire incantations, and the Gravel’s Stone Seal, which enhances lightning-related spells. The Giant’s Seal requires 4 strength and 14 faith, while the Gravel’s Stone Seal needs 4 strength and 18 faith.

Both achieve S-tier scaling in Faith at +16 reinforcement using Smithing Stones. With these two catalysts, I’m well-prepared to deal significant damage with fire and lightning incantations.

Armor Combination

With one of the Best Elden Ring Faith Builds, I aimed for a dark magician theme and obtained the Maliketh Set. To acquire this set, you must defeat Maliketh, the Black Blade, in the challenging Crumbling Farum Azula area. Afterward, you can purchase his set from Enia in the Roundtable Hold.

If that’s too difficult, you can substitute it with the Night Cavalry’s Set, dropped by the two Night’s Cavalry escorts in Consecrated Snowfield. For the headpiece, a hood works well; my personal favorite is the confessor hood, which enhances the dark magician look.

Talisman Options

Radagon’s Soreseal

The Radagon’s Soreseal is a widely sought-after talisman due to its benefit of greatly increasing attributes, each by 5 points, but at the cost of less damage negation.

Given that this is a faith build where we can utilize support-based incantations, this talisman’s counter-effect can be significantly negated with the Golden Vow incantation, thus making the combination very viable!

Flock’s Canvas Talisman

While the Flock’s Canvas Talisman is much better than the Faithful Canvas Talisman, I would strictly recommend running it and not its weaker counterpart since we want to maximize the potency of our incantations.

The Flock’s Canvas Talisman, at the cost of significantly raising incantation potency, weighs 0.7, which is almost a steal. However, nothing good comes for free, and this talisman requires a lengthy quest to complete.

Godfrey Icon

The Godfrey Icon is particularly suitable for this build as I will use several chargeable incantations. What’s better than the Godfrey Icon in this regard? Dropped from Godefroy the Grafted, a variation of Godrick encountered in the Golden Lineage Evergaol, the legendary talisman depicts the First Elden Lord Godfrey himself!

Fire Scorpian Charm / Lightning Scorpian Charm

Ideally, it would be best if you had both charms, as I am going for a dual-elemental build featuring two major powerhouse elements: fire and lightning. As their name states, the Fire Scorpion Charm raises fire attack at the cost of some damage negation, greatly benefiting my pyromancies.

In contrast, the Lightning Scorpian Charm raises lightning attack at the cost of equal damage negation, greatly benefiting my dragon cult incantations.

Spells to Memorize

Fortissax’s Lightning Spear

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	46
Arcane	0

The Fortissax’s Lightning Spear is a very powerful incantation reminiscent of the Lichdragon boss. You obtain the incantation itself by trading the Remembrance of the Lichdragon with Enia at Roundtable Hold.

Regardless, when used, the incantation allows you to spawn not one but two red lightning spears and shove them into the ground in quick succession. You want to stand beside your enemy to maximize the damage output.

Golden Vow

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	25
Arcane	0

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	23
Arcane	0

The Golden Vow is a beneficial support-based incantation that just about any faith-build user should consider memorizing. As mentioned earlier, this is a good combination with Radagon’s Soreseal as it helps greatly offset its cost of raising your attributes at the cost of damage. Furthermore, the attack and defense buff veils over you and your allies last 80 seconds!

Vyke’s Dragonbolt

The Vyke’s Dragonbolt is one of the incantations in this list of Elden Ring Best Faith Builds that imbue your right-hand Armament, such as the Uchigatana.

This incantation buffs your weapon with red lightning damage for 70 seconds, similar to the Electrify Armament incantation, but with an added 15% increase in equipment load. You can obtain it by defeating the Roundtable Knight Vyke at the Lord Contender’s Evergaol.

Giantsflame Take Thee

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	30
Arcane	0

Giantsflame Take Thee will be our main source of lightning damage on this bi-elemental caster build, purchased from either Brother Corhyn or Mirei, Paster of Vows after handing them the Giant’s Prayerbook found in the Mountaintops of the Giants.

This incantation is essentially Fireball but not steroids, unleashing a much bigger, much more damaging fireball – thus, it takes two memory slots instead of one.

Flame, Grant me Strength

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	15
Arcane	0

You must’ve seen this coming, considering I’m utilizing fire incantations in this build! If you’re even half a pyromancer, you must use this incantation! Upon casting, it grants you a 20% damage increase to physical and fire attacks – we take those.

It is found between two huge flamethrowers located behind Fore Gael.

Blasphemous Pyromancer (Level 150) [By iSeraph]

Award: The Best Flame Faith Build for late game.

Coming in as the last of my six Faith Builds, we have the Blasphemous Pryomancer – this is for all the pyromancer lovers out there who have always wanted to see the mighty Blasphemous Blade get integrated one of these days.

The Blasphemous Pyromancer is a somewhat balanced build between melee and pyromancy, but it is certainly very hard-hitting and one of the best ways to utilize the Blasphemous Blade.

• Vigor – 45
• Mind – 25 (Sufficient FP to utilize incantations and weapon arts)
• Endurance – 25
• Strength – 40
• Dexterity – 15 (Enough to wield the Blasphemous Blade)
• Intelligence – 9
• Faith – 60 (Soft cap for Faith scaling)
• Arcane – 9

Weapon Choice

Blasphemous Blade

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	121	72
Magic Damage	0	39
Fire Damage	78	54
Lighting Damage	0	39
Holy Damage	0	39
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	50

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	D	22
Faith	D	21
Dexterity	D	15

The Blasphemous Blade is undoubtedly one of Elden Ring’s best greatswords, inspiring me to create a build around it immediately. You’ll need 22 Strength, 15 Dexterity, and 21 Faith to wield it effectively.

This investment pays off with substantial scaling improvements at +10 reinforcement with Somber Smithing Stones. A Blasphemous Blade +10 boasts C scaling in Strength and Dexterity and B scaling in Faith. Its unique weapon art, Taker’s Flames, makes it formidable in both PvP and PvE.

Pros

• High fire damage affects a wide range.
• C scaling in Faith favors this build.

Cons

• High stat requirements to wield it.

Giant’s Seal

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	25	25
Magic Damage	0	15
Fire Damage	0	15
Lighting Damage	0	15
Holy Damage	0	15
Critical Damage	100	-
Boost	-	15

Nothing serves a pyromancer better than the Giant’s Seal, a sacred seal forged for boosting fire incantations that I will use extensively in this build! The Giant’s Seal only requires you to have 4 Strength and 14 Faith to properly use, rewarding you with a C scaling in Faith that can easily compete with the best.

Don’t believe me? Reinforce it to +16 with Smithing Stones, and you’ll notice that it achieves a whopping S scaling in Faith, which, coupled with its affinity towards fire incantations, makes it a force to be reckoned with in the hands of a pyromancer.

Parrying Dagger

Attribute	Attack	Guard
Physical Damage	75	25
Magic Damage	0	20
Fire Damage	0	20
Lighting Damage	0	20
Holy Damage	0	20
Critical Damage	110	-
Boost	-	15

Type	Grade	Requirement
Strength	E	5
Dexterity	D	14

While the Blasphemous Blade and the Giant’s Seal are sufficient for this build, I recommend adding a parry tool to use the extra weapon slots. A good parry tool has more parry frames, providing a larger window for parrying physical attacks.

While the Buckler is a viable option, the Parrying Dagger is a strong contender for this particular build. Although its parry frames are slightly fewer, you can also riposte with it, making it a versatile parry tool.

Armor Combination

This build favors melee combat over being a pure caster pyromancer. You can choose armor for both style and poise. The Night Cavalry’s set, obtainable by defeating the two Night’s Cavalry escorts in Consecrated Snowfield, offers 44 poise at 30.5 units, making it a worthwhile choice.

Talisman Options

Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman

Damage negation is quite important for melee-leaning builds, considering how close you are to the enemy more than half the time. This is where the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman comes in, significantly boosting your physical damage negation, more specifically by a multiplicative factor of 20%. The talisman is found near the Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree site of grace, in a chest on a raised platform.

Ritual Sword Talisman

If you’re wielding the Blasphemous Blade, you must abuse its weapon art, Taker’s Flame, by spamming it from a distance to catch your enemy off guard.

Most of the time, you will do this when you are at full HP, which is why the Ritual Sword Talisman will benefit you by increasing attack power and maximizing the damage output of Taker’s Flame from a safe, optimal distance!

Faithful’s Canvas Talisman

As this build is not extremely incantation-heavy, you can make do with the Faithful’s Canvas Talisman and don’t need to go out of your way to get the Flock’s Canvas Talisman. The Faithful’s Canvas Talisman is obtained quite early in the game, all the way in Stormveil Castle, and will serve you well by increasing the potency of the fire incantations you’ll be using.

Fire Scorpion Charm

The Fire Scorpion Charm is a must-have for pyromancers as it increases fire attack, both from your incantations and from the Blasphemous Blade, by 12%.

At the cost of such a perk, you lost 10% damage negation, which you can make up for with a certain incantation. Regardless, the talisman is found on a wooden platform to the best of Fort Laiedd in Mt. Gelmir, just outside Volcano Manor.

Spells to Memorize

Flame, Fall Upon Them

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	28
Arcane	0

The Flame, Fall Upon Them is a Fire Giant Incantation, a subset of Fire Incantations that only takes up one memory slot. Upon activation, your player will lift their sacred seal and use it to unleash a flurry of fireballs that will spread out in all directions, raining hell upon your enemies.

It can be purchased for 10,000 runes from Brother Corhyn or Mirei, Pastor of Vows, by handing them the Giant’s Prayerbook.

Flame, Grant me Strength

Attribute	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	15
Arcane	0

Flame, Grant Me Strength is an integral incantation on this build, as it benefits your fire incantations and the Blasphemous Blade. Upon casting, you will be granted 20% increased fire damage and 20% increased physical damage, giving your greatsword that extra oomph. To obtain this incantation, you must go to Fort Gael and go around it to find it between two flame-throwing machines.

Burn, O Flame!

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	27
Arcane	0

Burn, O Flame! is special fire incantation obtained through trading the Remembrance of the Fire Giant with Enia at Roundtable Hold – quite a challenging boss to beat if I say so myself. Regardless, this incantation is good for protection, especially when you’re overwhelmed with multitudes of ads because it surrounds you with a protective ring of fire that scorches anyone who dares to cross it.

Giantsflame Take Thee

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	30
Arcane	0

The Giantsflame Take Thee fire incantation will be your biggest source of damage next to the Blasphemous Blade, and thus, it rightfully takes up two of your memory slots. It requires 30 faith even to memorize, and when activated, it uses up 32 FP and 43 Stamina to generate a huge fireball that explodes on impact and has a solid area of effect. What’s more, is that you can also charge it up!

Black Flame’s Protection

Type	Requirement
Intelligence	0
Faith	30
Arcane	0

I mentioned countering the damage negation loss from the Fire Scorpion Talisman earlier, and this incantation accomplishes that. The Black Flame’s Protection costs 30 FP and boosts your damage negation by 35%, effectively offsetting the side effects of the Fire Scorpion Talisman for 70 seconds. However, it reduces healing from your Flask of Crimson Tears.

What Is My Recommendation?

In my opinion, the top two standing Faith builds are Dragon Cult PvP God and the Blasphemous Pyromancer.

The Dragon Cult is one of the classic Faith-Dex builds that use the Lightning spells as their primary weapon. Its equipment is easy to acquire, and this build becomes even easier if you choose the Confessor class initially. 

For the Blasphemous Pyromancer, the main weapon is the Blasphemous Blade, which you can acquire in the mid-game and is based on Str-Faith build. It features a fire damage blade that can one-shot most elite enemies or kill bosses easily. Although it has a ranged attack, it’s a bit slower but worthwhile for PvP fights once you master this build. 

Now that you are here, why not check out:

• Elden Ring Best Arcane Weapons.
• Elden Ring Best Ending.