Madness is one of the newly added status effects in Elden Ring. It is an interesting status because as the meter fills up, enemies take percentage-based damage to their HP and FP. While the damage isn’t as great as in the Bleed build, the FP drain can stop many opposing builds in PvP.
However, the Strongest Aspect of Madness is that players suffering from this status effect will enter a lengthy animation once the Madness meter fills. During this time, you can damage them all you want. In this guide, we’ll explore two extremely powerful Madness builds in Elden Ring for PvP and PvE.
Madness Frenzy Build
The Madness Frenzy Build maximizes the potential of the Madness status effect through frenzied flame incantations. This build is heavily centered around ranged combat and incantation casting. The use of your melee weapon will be limited, though it’ll still come in handy should you find yourself without enough FP to cast an incantation.
- Class: Prophet
- Flask Spread: 1 to 1 ratio of HP and FP
- Stats: Vigor and Faith (Primary) Dexterity and Mind (Secondary)
- Weapons: Vyke’s War Spear
- Ash of War: Frenzyflame Thrust
- Spirit Summons: Nomad Ashes
- Sacred Seal: Frenzied Flame Seal
- Incantations: Frenzied Burst, The Flame of Frenzy, Unendurable Frenzy, and Howl of Shibiri
- Armor: Haligtree Knight Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Faith Knot Crystal Tear and Flame Shrouding Cracked Tear
- Talisman: Faithful’s Canvas Talisman, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, Fire Scorpion Charm, and Godfrey Icon
Madness Tank Build
The Madness Tank Build centers primarily on melee damage with limited incantation usage. Instead of dodging and evading, you’ll be tanking damage by building up your poise and damage resistance. This build requires significant stamina usage.
- Class: Vagabond
- Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio of HP and FP
- Stats: Vigor and Endurance (Primary) Strength and Dexterity (Secondary)
- Weapons: Vyke’s War Spear
- Shield: Fingerprint Stone Shield
- Ash of War: Shield Charge and Frenzyflame Thrust
- Spirit Summon: Mimic Tear
- Sacred Seal: Frenzied Flame Seal
- Incantations: The Flame of Frenzy
- Armor: Bull-Goat Set
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: Opaline Hardtear and Greenburst Crystal Tear
- Talisman: Greatshield Talisman, Radagon’s Soreseal, Great Jar’s Arsenal and Erdtree’s Favor
Best Stats for Madness Build
Madness Build Stats Level 60
| Stats | Madness Frenzy Build | Madness Tank Build |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 23 | 9 |
| Mind | 19 | 10 |
| Dexterity | 22 | 17 |
| Strength | 14 | 34 |
| Endurance | 18 | 26 |
| Vigor | 24 | 26 |
| Intelligence | 9 | 9 |
| Arcane | 10 | 7 |
Madness Build Stats Level 100
| Stats | Madness Frenzy Build | Madness Tank Build |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 36 | 10 |
| Mind | 19 | 10 |
| Dexterity | 29 | 28 |
| Strength | 17 | 36 |
| Endurance | 21 | 43 |
| Vigor | 38 | 35 |
| Intelligence | 9 | 9 |
| Arcane | 10 | 8 |
Madness Build Stats Level 150
| Stats | Madness Frenzy Build | Madness Tank Build |
|---|---|---|
| Faith | 55 | 15 |
| Mind | 25 | 13 |
| Dexterity | 35 | 39 |
| Strength | 20 | 45 |
| Endurance | 24 | 50 |
| Vigor | 50 | 50 |
| Intelligence | 10 | 9 |
| Arcane | 10 | 8 |
Best Weapons for Madness Build in Elden Ring
For both builds, we’ll be using Vyke’s War Spear. This weapon scales with Dexterity and Faith. Considering the stat setup we’ve described above, it’ll be viable for both builds. Generally, you’ll want to keep it at the highest level possible, farm smithing stone whenever possible, and upgrade the weapon when your resources allow.
This weapon can be acquired by killing Festering Fingerprint Vyke in Liurnia of the Lakes. In addition to its incredible range, it causes Madness buildup in your opponents.
Best Shields for Madness Build
For the Madness Tank Build, we’ll be using the Fingerprint Stone Shield. This great scales primarily with strength, which goes hand in hand with the stat setup for that build. This shield lets you tank massive amounts of damage, which is especially useful when trying to get as many hits in as possible to your enemies to build the Madness status effect.
As far as the Madness Frenzy Build is concerned, shields aren’t needed as you’ll be engaging your enemies with incantations from a distance. However, if you want to switch up your playstyle, get up close to your enemy, and use your spear, any light shield will work. Greatshields are out of the question as they require a higher strength stat.
Best Ashes of War for Madness Build
For both builds, we’ll use Vyke’s War Spear’s inbuilt Ash of War, the Frenzyflame Thrust. This attack has a large AOE, deals massive fire damage, and quickly builds up the Madness status effect. Be warned, though, that this Ash of War has a rather long animation. Only use it when you’re confident you won’t be hit.
Since the Madness Tank Build uses the Fingerprint Stone Shield, we recommend pairing it with an Ash of War. In the case of this particular build, use Shield Charge. Since Madness buildup causes your enemy to enter a dazed state, using Shield Charge when they’re in that state allows you to quickly deal large amounts of damage quickly.
Best Spirit Summons for Madness Build
As far as the Spirit Summons are concerned, for the Madness Frenzy Build, use Nomad Ashes. This Spirit Summon uses Frenzy Flame ranged attacks to inflict damage to your enemies. When combined with your own Frenzy incantations, the damage output and Madness buildup increase exponentially. This item is found in the Leyndell Royal Capital, particularly in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds area.
For the Madness Tank Build, use the Mimic Tear. This Ash of War allows you to summon a mirror image of yourself that uses all the items and weapons you do. This can be particularly useful when you’re trying to build the Maddening status effect, as you’ll have two sources that contribute to it. This item can be found in a chest in Night’s Sacred Ground.
Best Sacred Seal for Madness Build
Both Madness builds will use the same seal in Elden Ring; Frenzied Flame Seal. This Seal increases the potency of Frenzied Flame incantations and causes Madness buildup. This seal allows you to maximize the potential of both builds, (more so the Frenzy build) as it buffs all the incantations this build uses.
It scales with Intelligence and Faith. To acquire the Frenzied Flame Seal, you must complete Hyetta’s questline.
Best Incantations for Madness Build
Incantations are relevant for both Madness builds in Elden Ring, but only the Frenzy build makes liberal use of them, as the Tank build’s FP will be much lower. As for the actual incarnations, we’ll use all Frenzied Flame incantations available in the game.
The first and most important Incantation is the Frenzied Burst. This attack releases a blast of Frenzied Flame that deals massive bouts of damage to your enemies and can even pierce through shields. When charged, it deals an additional 23.5% damage. It can be found on the Teardrop Scarab near the Church of Inhibition in Luirnia of the Lakes.
The Flame of Frenzy on the other hand releases bolts of frenzied flame that travel toward your target. It deals fire damage and inflicts the Maddening status effect. Like the Frenzied Burst, this incantation can be charged to deal additional damage. This incantation has a relatively lower FP cost, making it perfect for the Madness Tank Build. It can be picked up in the Callu Baptismal Church in the Weeping Peninsula.
The next incantation you’ll want to use is Unendurable Frenzy, which once again shoots flames that deal maddening damage. This incantation’s biggest advantage is that while it’s in use, you cannot be staggered. It also has a large AOE, and the madness build-up is stronger if you charge it. It can be found within a chest in the Yelough Anix Ruins.
Howl of Shibiri is the final incantation that should be in your arsenal. While it doesn’t shoot flames or inflict burning damage like the rest of the incantations, it causes the greatest Maddening buildup when it is used. The only caveat is that enemies must be in your immediate vicinity to get afflicted.
Best Armor for Madness Build
Both Madness builds have different requirements regarding armor in Elden Ring. For the Madness Tank Build, you want armor that can take tons of damage and prevent you from getting staggered, while for the Frenzy build, you’ll want a set that’s more lightweight and boosts the build’s most important stats.
For this reason, the best armor to use for the Madness Frenzy Build is the Haligtree Knight Set as it increases your faith stat while providing respectable resistance and damage negation. As far as the Madness Tank Build is concerned, the best armor to use here is the Bull-Goat Set, not only does this armor set have the highest poise, but it also boasts some of the highest stats for both damage negation and resistance across the board.
The Bull Goat Set can be acquired after defeating Great Horned Tragoth while parts of the Haligtree set can be picked up separately throughout the lands between.
| Stats | Haligtree Knight Set (Madness Frenzy Build) | Bull-Goat Set (Madness Tank Build) |
|---|---|---|
| Effect | Damage Negation | Damage Negation |
| Physical | 26.5 | 38.5 |
| Physical (Strike) | 24.6 | 38.2 |
| Physical (Slash) | 26.5 | 34.9 |
| Physical (Pierce) | 26.5 | 34.9 |
| Magic | 20.4 | 26.1 |
| Fire | 22.6 | 26.5 |
| Lightning | 19.1 | 28.9 |
| Holy | 22.6 | 25.3 |
| Effect | Resistance | Resistance |
| Immunity | 84 | 170 |
| Robustness | 135 | 197 |
| Focus | 57 | 110 |
| Vitality | 59 | 130 |
| Poise | 47 | 99.99 |
Best Flask of Wondrous Physick for Madness Build
Considering the different requirements for each build, the flask of Wondrous Physick will be unique for both of them. Each mixture will maximize the strengths of its respective build.
Madness Frenzy Flask of Wondrous Physick
- Faith Knot Crystal Tear: Boosts your faith stat for a short period.
- Flame Shrouding Cracked Tear: Boosts your fire attacks for a short period.
Madness Tank Flask of Wondrous Physick
- Opaline Hardtear: reduces all incoming damage for a limited time.
- Greenburst Crystal Tear: increases the rate at which stamina is recovered.
Best Talismans for Madness Build
Talismans further enhance the potency and quality of your build. Each character has a total of four Talisman slots. Make sure to equip one in each slot to maximize the potential of these Madness builds. As with the Flask, The Talisman setup will be unique for both builds in Elden Ring:
Madness Frenzy Talismans
- Faithful’s Canvas Talisman: Increases the effectiveness of all incantations by +4%
- Flock’s Canvas Talisman: Increases the effectiveness of all incantations by +8% (stackable with Fathful’s Canvas Talisman)
- Fire Scorpion Charm: increases all fire damage by +12% however, you take +10% more damage
- Godfrey Icon: Increases the power of charged incantations and skills by +15%
Madness Tank Talismans
- Greatshield Talisman: Reduces the amount of stamina reduction during blocking by 20%
- Radagon’s Soreseal: Increases Strength, Endurance, Vigor, and Dexterity by 5 points each, however, you take +15% more damage
- Great Jar’s Arsenal: Increases the maximum equip load by +19%
- Erdtree’s Favor: Increases HP, stamina, and equip load by 3%, 7%, and 5%, the upgraded version of this Talisman bumps up these values to 4%, 10%, and 8%
