Talismans

Talismans are the quiet half of every Elden Ring build. A weapon decides how you attack; the four charms in your talisman slots decide how much health you have to make mistakes with, how hard your charged attacks land, whether your spells cost half as much, and whether a bleed proc nearby turns you into a wrecking ball for twenty seconds. None of them can be upgraded at a blacksmith, so the whole system is about finding the right ones and choosing which four to wear.

This guide starts with the rules: what talismans do, how the +1 and +2 variants work, how to unlock all four slots, and which effects shrink in PvP. It then covers the Legendary Talismans, groups the best picks by the kind of character you are playing, and finishes with an alphabetical table of every talisman on our wiki with its effect and where to find it. Each name links to a page with the full route.

How talismans work

A talisman is a passive item. Equip it in one of your slots and its effect is on until you take it off, with no FP cost, no duration and no activation. Effects fall into a few families: flat attribute boosts such as the five Strength from the Starscourge Heirloom, percentage damage boosts tied to a situation such as the Ritual Sword Talisman's 10 percent at full health, defensive negation such as the Dragoncrest Shield Talisman's cut to physical damage, resource boosts to HP, stamina, FP cost or equip load, and a handful of utility effects like extra runes or softer landings.

Talismans do not level. Instead, many of them exist in a base version and stronger +1 and +2 variants found later in the game, which is why our pages for the Erdtree's Favor, Flamedrake, Haligdrake, Pearldrake, Boltdrake, Arsenal Charm, Immunizing Horn Charm and Crimson Amber Medallion cover every variant and its location. The base Erdtree's Favor, for example, adds 3 percent HP, 6.75 percent stamina and 5 percent equip load; the +1 raises those to 3.5, 8.5 and 6.5.

Different talismans that touch the same stat stack with each other. Our Godfrey Icon page notes that its charged-attack bonus stacks with the Shard of Alexander, and the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia is built to sit alongside Millicent's Prosthesis. One thing to watch is the PvP tax: several offensive talismans are weaker against other players, so the Claw Talisman's 15 percent jump attack bonus becomes 7.5 percent, and the Lord of Blood's Exultation drops from 20 to 12 percent.

Unlocking all four talisman slots

You begin with a single slot and end with four, one per Talisman Pouch. All three pouches drop only in a first journey, so collect them before starting New Game Plus.

The Legendary Talismans

Eight talismans carry the Legendary tag, and collecting all of them unlocks an achievement. They are not automatically the strongest picks, but every one of them defines a build. The ones with dedicated pages on our wiki are below; the Moon of Nokstella, which adds two memory slots, is covered in How To Increase Memory Slots, and the +2 Erdtree's Favor sits on the Erdtree's Favor page with its lesser versions.

The two Soreseals deserve a word of caution that our pages repeat: five points in four attributes is worth twenty levels, but the 15 percent extra damage taken is real, and both talismans are most comfortable on characters with high Vigor or on casters who never intend to be hit. The lesser Marika's Scarseal at the Siofra River waterfall offers three points to the same caster stats for a 10 percent penalty and is available far earlier.

Best talismans by build

For melee damage

Physical builds have the richest talisman pool, because so many effects key off how you attack. The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia raises attack power the longer you keep hitting, the Ritual Sword Talisman gives 10 percent while your health bar is full, and the Red-Feathered Branchsword gives 20 percent once it drops below a fifth. Jump-attack players want the Claw Talisman, charged-attack players the Axe Talisman, shield users the Curved Sword Talisman for 20 percent more on guard counters, and anyone fishing for backstabs and parries the Dagger Talisman. Bleed builds have no decision to make: the Lord of Blood's Exultation goes on first.

For sorcerers and Faith casters

Casters stack school boosts. Sorcerers take the Graven-School Talisman at 4 percent early and the Graven-Mass Talisman at 8 percent late, and incantation users mirror that with the Faithful's Canvas and Flock's Canvas. The scorpion charms add 12 percent to one element at the cost of 10 percent more physical damage taken: Magic, Fire and Lightning all have pages. Round out the set with the Godfrey Icon for charged casts, the Old Lord's Talisman to stretch buff durations by 30 percent, and the Carian Filigreed Crest to cut skill FP costs by a quarter. The Primal Glintstone Blade does the same for spells at the price of some maximum HP.

For staying alive

Defensive talismans are the ones most players skip and most players should not. The Erdtree's Favor and Crimson Amber Medallion raise health directly, the Blessed Dew Talisman regenerates two points a second in and out of combat, and the Dragoncrest Shield Talisman trims physical damage by 10, 13 or 17 percent depending on the variant. Against a specific boss, swap in the matching drake talisman: Flamedrake for fire, Boltdrake for lightning, Haligdrake for the holy damage that Radagon and Morgott lean on, or Pearldrake for a little of everything. The Crucible Scale Talisman cuts critical damage taken by 30 percent for invaders who keep getting parried, and the Immunizing Horn Charm makes Caelid and the Lake of Rot survivable.

For heavy armour and stamina

Tanks live on equip load. The Great-Jar's Arsenal adds 19 percent, the biggest boost in the game, and the Arsenal Charm adds 15 or 17. The Bull-Goat's Talisman raises poise by a third and shrugs off a quarter of incoming poise damage, the Green Turtle Talisman speeds stamina recovery for anyone swinging a colossal weapon, and the Viridian Amber Medallion raises the stamina bar itself.

For hitting a stat requirement

The heirlooms exist to bridge a gap. Each adds five points to one attribute: Starscourge Heirloom for Strength, Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom for Dexterity, Stargazer Heirloom for Intelligence and Two Fingers Heirloom for Faith. They will not make a weapon scale much better, but they let a Strength character meet a sorcery's requirement or wield a boss weapon a few levels early, and they come off once the real levels arrive.

For archers, riders and explorers

A few talismans serve a niche so well that nothing else competes. The Arrow's Reach Talisman extends arrow range by 65 percent and the Arrow's Sting Talisman adds 10 percent to every projectile, which together make a sniper build work. The Lance Talisman gives 15 percent more damage from Torrent's back, the Longtail Cat Talisman removes non-lethal fall damage and opens shortcuts such as the early drop into Volcano Manor, and the Gold Scarab raises rune drops from every kill, which is why it appears in every rune farming setup.

Every talisman on the wiki

Alphabetical, with the base effect and the location of the base version. Where a talisman has stronger variants, the page linked covers all of them.

The two Branchswords are a matched pair worth knowing together: the red one raises attack by 20 percent when your HP drops below a fifth, the blue one halves the damage you take at the same threshold, and a low-health build can wear both. Neither is a sword, whatever the name suggests.

Elden Ring talismans FAQ

What is the best talisman in Elden Ring?

For most characters it is the Erdtree's Favor, because health, stamina and equip load help every build at once. For damage, Radagon's Soreseal early and the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia or Lord of Blood's Exultation late. Casters rarely take off the Graven-Mass or Flock's Canvas.

Are there five talisman slots?

No. Four is the maximum: your starting slot plus one pouch each from Margit, Enia and Godfrey.

Can talismans be upgraded?

Not at a blacksmith. Stronger versions exist as separate +1 and +2 items found deeper in the game, and each of our variant pages lists where every version is.

Do talisman effects stack?

Different talismans stack freely, which is how the Godfrey Icon and Shard of Alexander combine on charged-attack builds. You cannot benefit from two copies of the same effect line at once, so pick one variant of each.

Which talismans are Legendary?

Eight in total, including Radagon's Soreseal, Marika's Soreseal, the Godfrey Icon, the Lord of Blood's Exultation, the Erdtree's Favor +2 and the Moon of Nokstella. Finding them all unlocks the Legendary Talismans achievement.