Best Elden Ring Mage Builds Guide

Mages have the potential to be some of the strongest builds in Elden Ring, owing to the great breadth of options you have. The game has several spells that are fit for almost every occasion. However, it can be hard to make an effective build.

This is where we come in, in this guide, we’ll go over two extremely powerful Mage builds in Elden Ring, that will let you excel in almost every situation. The guide below covers everything from stats and weapons to Talismans and Spirit Summons.

Elden Ring Battle Mage Build Overview

The Battle Mage Build combines the flexibility of melee combat with the devastating damage of spells. This build makes you versatile as you can switch between melee and magic on the fly. There is an equal focus here on both combat strategies to let you excel in every situation.

• Starting Class: Astrologer
• Flask Spread: Equal split between HP and FP
• Stats: Intelligence and Vigor (primary), Strength, Mind, and Endurance (secondary)
• Weapons: Helphen’s Steeple
• Ash of War: Ruinous Ghostflame
• Spirit Summons: Twinsage Sorcerer or Mimic Tear
• Staff: Lusat’s Glintstone Staff
• Spells: Glintstone Pebble, Carian Slicer, Ranni’s Dark Moon and Comet Azure
• Armor: Carian Knight Set with Azur’s Glintstone Crown
• Flask of Wondrous Physick: Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear and Cerulean Hidden Tear
• Talisman: Graven-School Talisman, Graven-Mass Talisman, Ritual Shield Talisman and Ancestral Spirit’s Horn

Elden Ring Pure Mage Build Overview

The Pure Mage Build focuses exclusively on spells and makes no use of Melee combat. This build comprises eight different sorceries that are well-rounded for every situation in the game.

• Starting Class: Astrologer
• Flask Spread: FP Favoring
• Stats: Intelligence and Vigor (primary), Mind and Endurance (secondary)
• Spirit Summons: Lhutel the Headless or Dung Eater Puppet
• Staff: Lusat’s Glintstone Staff and Carian Glintstone Staff
• Spells: Cannon of Haima, Gavel of Haima, Carian Slicer, Collapsing Stars, Star Shower, Carian Piercer, and Comet Azure
• Armor: Carian Knight Set with Azur’s Glintstone Set
• Flask of Wondrous Physick: Magic Shrouding Cracked Tear and Cerulean Hidden Tear
• Talisman: Radagon Icon, Graven-School Talisman, Graven-Mass Talisman and Godfrey Icon

Best Stats Choices

Stats at level 60

Stat	Battle Mage	Pure Mage
Faith	7	7
Mind	25	20
Dexterity	12	12
Strength	16	8
Endurance	12	22
Vigor	24	29
Intelligence	34	32
Arcane	9	9

Stats at level 100

Stat	Battle Mage	Pure Mage
Faith	7	7
Mind	30	35
Dexterity	12	12
Strength	25	8
Endurance	19	26
Vigor	33	40
Intelligence	44	42
Arcane	9	9

Stats at level 150

Stat	Battle Mage	Pure Mage
Faith	7	7
Mind	45	54
Dexterity	12	12
Strength	25	8
Endurance	36	41
Vigor	42	46
Intelligence	53	52
Arcane	9	9

Best Weapons for Mage Builds

For the Battle Mage build, the best weapon is Helphen’s Steeple. This Greatsword scales primarily with strength and intelligence, allowing it to fit perfectly in this build. recommend doing so as often as your materials and Runes allow.

Helphen’s Steeple can be found in the western portion of the Mountaintops of the Giant area. You’ll need to kill the Tibia Mariner found near Castle Sol to acquire this weapon.

Pair this Greatsword with Lusat’s Glinststone Staff as it scales with Strength and Intelligence. This Staff enhances the damage of multi-projectile sorceries and can be found within a chest in Sellia, Town of Sorcery. We’ll be dual-wielding both armaments for this build.

As far as the Pure Mage build is concerned, we’ll be using Lusat’s Glinstone Staff once again and we’ll also be using the Carian Glintstone Staff. The latter is great for boosting sword-type sorceries like the Glintblade Phalanx. For this build, you’ll once again be dual-wielding both Staffs, as equipping the Carian Staff in your off-hand grants you the buffs even when you’re using Lusat’s Glinststone Staff.

Best Ashes of War Picks

Only the Battle Mage build will use an Ash of War. For Helphen’s Steeple, we’ll stick with its default Ash of War, Ruinous Ghostflame. This skill has two benefits; firstly, it imbues the weapon with magic damage and secondly, it allows the sword to deal frost damage. This makes for an extremely strong combo that can quickly shave off large chunks of health from any enemy.

Best Sorceries

Sorceries are the bread and butter of our Mage builds, as they are used heavily. The Battle Mage build uses fewer spells than the Pure Mage build due to its reliance on melee combat and due to the Pure Mage’s build’s need to adapt to every combat situation.

Battle Mage Build Sorceries

1. Glintstone Pebble: This is the most basic sorcery in Elden Ring and allows you to fire a single projectile from your Staff that deals a decent amount of damage. The quick casting speed of this spell allows you to get in several shots very quickly.
2. Carian Slicer: The Carian Slicer summons a magic sword that quickly delivers a few swift blows. This attack only deals magic damage.
3. Ranni’s Dark Moon: Ranni’s Dark Moon is an extremely powerful sorcery that fires a large projectile that deals damage along a large AOE.
4. Comet Azure: Comet Azure is another powerful spell that fires a long projectile for a few seconds. This is a great spell to use when starting boss battles to get lots of damage early on.

Pure Mage Build Sorceries

1. Cannon of Haima: This Spell fires a large projectile that explodes upon impact and deals AOE damage. This sorcery can be hard to aim correctly and works best on stationary targets.
2. Gavel of Haima: Gravel of Haima is a great spell for dealing massive damage up close. It conjures a large hammer that slams down into the ground.
3. Carian Slicer: The Carian Slicer summons a magic sword that quickly delivers a few swift blows. This attack only deals magic damage.
4. Collapsing Stars: Collapsing Stars is a great priming spell to be used as before, like Gavel of Haima, as it pulls your enemies towards you.
5. Star Shower: As the name suggests, Star Shower creates a shower of magic projectiles that fall over your enemies. This is great for dealing with a large group of enemies.
6. Carian Piercer: Carian Piercer works similarly to Carian Slicer, but it works to pierce a single target instead of hitting several targets.
7. Comet Azure: Comet Azure is a powerful spell that fires a long projectile for a few seconds. This is a great spell to use when starting boss battles to get lots of damage early on.

Best Spirit Summons Picks

Below, we’ve discussed the best Spirit Summon picks for the Battle Mage and Pure Mage builds.

Battle Mage Build

For the Battle Mage build, the best strategy is to have a summon that attacks alongside you. For this reason, you can go with either the Mimic Tear or the Twinsage Sorcerer:

1. Mimic Tear: The Mimic Tear summons a replica of your build that fights alongside you. With this Spirit Summon, you’ll essentially have twice the damage output.
2. Twinsage Sorcerer: This Summon lets you have another Sorcerer with you that fires several sorceries at your enemies.

Pure Mage Build

The Pure Mage Build requires a slightly different approach since you’ll be at the mercy of only your spells, so that’s why you’ll need to use summons that are good at tanking damage and distracting enemies:

1. Lhutel the Headless: Lhutel the Headless is a large tanky unit that does well to distract your enemies as you fire off your spells.
2. Dung Eater Puppet: Dung Eater Puppet works similarly to Lhutel the Headless, though he is better at repositioning.

Best Armor Picks Choices

We recommend using the Carian Knight Set and Azur’s Glintstone Crown, which is part of Azur’s Glintstone Set for both builds. The Carian Knight Set provides excellent protection overall, while the Glintstone Crown buffs several of the sorceries we’ve listed above.

The Carian Knight Set can be found in Raya Lucaria Academy, while Azur’s Glintstone Set can be obtained once you finish Sorceress Sellen’s Questline.

Stats	Carian Knight Set
Damage Negation
Physical	23.5
Physical (Strike)	21.6
Physical (Slash)	24.5
Physical (Pierce)	23.5
Magic	24.5
Fire	23.5
Lightning	19.1
Holy	23.5
Resistance
Immunity	66
Robustness	110
Focus	50
Vitality	55
Poise	40

Best Flask of Wondrous Physick for Elden Ring Mage Builds

The Flask of Wondrous Physick allows you to use two temporary buffs in a single-use Flask. For both Mage builds, we recommend the following:

1. Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear: The Magic-Shrouding Crystal Tear increases the effectiveness of all magic attacks by +20% for 3 minutes, letting you deal increased damage. Since this build makes ample use of spells and magic, this Tear will significantly raise your damage output.
2. Cerulean Hidden Tear: The Cerulean Hidden Tear, on the other hand, eliminates all FP consumption for 15 seconds, which means you’ll be able to cast spells without eating into your FP budget.

Best Talismans

Talisman allows you to buff your builds in several ways. There are a total of four Talisman slots that you can unlock and use. For the Mage builds, these are the best Talisman:

Battle Mage Build

1. Graven-School Talisman: The Graven-School Talisman increases the potency of all sorceries by +4%, lending you a decent damage buff.
2. Graven-Mass Talisman: The Graven-Mass Talisman, on the other hand, increases damage from your sorceries by an additional +8%. You can attain a +12% damage buff when used with the Graven School Talisman.
3. Ritual Shield Talisman: The Ritual Shield Talisman reduces damage taken by +30% when your HP is full. This is especially useful when casting spells like Ranni’s Full Moon and Comet Azure that have long casting animations
4. Ancestral Spirit’s Horn: The fourth and final Talisman, Ancestral Spirit Horn, restores 3 FP when you defeat an enemy. Considering how often you’ll use spells and the Ruinous Ghostflame Ash of War, this item is a game changer.

Pure Mage Build

1. Radagon Icon: Radagon Icon greatly reduces the casting time of all sorceries by giving you 30 virtual Dexterity.
2. Graven-School Talisman: The Graven-School Talisman increases the potency of all sorceries by +4%, lending you a decent damage buff.
3. Graven-Mass Talisman: The Graven-Mass Talisman, on the other hand, increases damage from your sorceries by an additional +8%. You can attain a +12% damage buff when used with the Graven School Talisman.
4. Godfrey Icon: The last Talisman raises the attack power of charged spells by +15%.