Elden Ring Lightning Build: Weapons, Talismans & More

Lightning build in Elden Ring will focus on the Faith and Dexterity to utilize the character’s unique abilities, weapons, and incantations. Moreover, this character will also rely on Vigor. You can get started early and add value or expand the arsenal as you progress further in the game. You do not have to start with anything heavier to get overpowered early in the game. The idea for this Build was first started by Moxsy.

However, the ideal practice is to keep a steady pace. This guide will discuss everything from the starting to all the way to level 165 build with mid-game to endgame items for lightning-styled playthrough. With that said, let’s look at the endgame stats for the character. 

Stats for Lightning Build in Elden Ring

For your Elden Ring Lightning build as a Prophet class, here are the recommended endgame character stats at level 165:

• Vigor: 40
• Mind: 35
• Endurance: 25
• Strength: 16
• Dexterity: 30
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 80
• Arcane: 9

For early game stats as a Vagabond or Confessor class:

• Vigor: 15
• Mind: 10
• Endurance: 11
• Strength: 14
• Dexterity: 13
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 9
• Arcane: 7

Here’s a breakdown of the importance of each stat in your Lightning build:

1. Vigor (40): Maximize for higher HP and immunities, ensuring survival in Elden Ring’s dangerous world.
2. Mind (35): Contribute to casting abilities, as casting spells requires FP (Focus Points). More Mind means more FP for casting spells in challenging situations.
3. Endurance (25): Balance equipment load, allowing your character to carry more gear and maintain mobility, crucial for dodging attacks from tough bosses.
4. Strength (16): While not the primary focus, this Strength value provides enough power for specific weapons and armaments used in the Lightning build.
5. Dexterity (30): Essential for increasing casting speed, allowing you to deal damage more efficiently with your spells. Also needed for handling certain heavy weapons.
6. Intelligence (9): Functions as a placeholder, as your build prioritizes Faith and Dexterity for spell damage and casting speed. Intelligence helps with magical resistances.
7. Faith (80): The core stat for your Lightning build, boosting the damage output of magical attacks, including Lightning spells.
8. Arcane (9): Kept at a minimal value, as your build already maximizes its focus on Faith and Dexterity. Arcane contributes to item discoverability and some spells.

These stats will help you create a powerful Lightning build in Elden Ring, emphasizing Faith and Dexterity for effective spellcasting and damage output while ensuring you can survive in the challenging game world.

Armor for Lightning Build

For your Lightning build in Elden Ring, you have a combination of endgame armor sets and early game considerations. Here’s a breakdown:

Endgame Armor Set: Confessor+Meliketh Set

• Combine the Confessor Hood with the Meliketh Chest Armor, Greaves, and Gauntlets for both aesthetics and effectiveness.
• The Confessor Hood mainly contributes to fashion, offering 2.8 Physical and 3.8 Magical Damage Negation.
• Meliketh set provides excellent defense with 29.3 Physical and 23.6 Magical Damage Negation.
• This set balances good protection with medium weight, allowing for agile dodging.
• Maliketh Set, part of the storyline, can be obtained after defeating Maliketh and purchasing it from Enia at the Roundtable Holds for 45,000 Runes.

Early Game Armor Considerations:

• For early game, prioritize armor with at least 50 Poise to withstand hits.
• Mix and match different pieces to create an effective armor setup.
• Consider the Lionel set for good Poise (86) and weight (50.5).
• Combining items from the Veteran’s set with early game armors can also provide unique and beneficial stats for your Lightning build.

Balancing protection and mobility is crucial for your Lightning build, and you can achieve this by carefully selecting and mixing armor pieces throughout your Elden Ring journey.

Weapons for Lightning Build

Keen Uchigatana

For a Lightning character build that balances both melee and magical weapons, here are some powerful options and items to enhance your damage output:

1. Uchigatana: This impressive Katana scales with both Strength and Dexterity, making it a versatile choice. It also plays a crucial role in granting your character unique affinities through the Ash of War system. You can add the “Bloodhound’s Step” Ash of War to the Uchigatana, which aids in dodging incoming attacks, helping you survive intense battles while dealing significant damage.
2. Dragonscale Blade: Another Dexterity-scaling Katana, the Dragonscale Blade offers maximum damage output while aligning with your character’s stats. Its special skill, “Ice Lightning Sword,” allows you to charge an ultimate thunder slash followed by a lightning bolt from the sky, inflicting both lightning damage and a frostbite effect. This combination can result in substantial damage output.
3. Vulgar Militia Shotel: This Dexterity weapon with Lightning upgrades is a valuable addition to your arsenal. Equipping it enables you to benefit significantly from lightning damage and overcome enemy shields.

To enhance your Lightning damage output and spellcasting abilities, consider the following items:

• Lightning Infusion: Apply this infusion to your weapons for added lightning damage.
• Talismans: Utilize talismans to boost your Lightning damage and overall spellcasting effectiveness.
• Lightning spells: Equip lightning spells to harness the power of lightning magic in your character build.
• Ring of the Storm: This ring can increase your Lightning damage output.
• Armor Sets: Look for armor sets that provide bonuses to your spellcasting abilities or Lightning damage.

By carefully selecting weapons, infusions, and accessories, you can create a potent Lightning character build that excels in both melee combat and magic casting.

Talismans for Lightning Build

Talismans are another crucial aspect of Elden Ring that will play a significant role in paving the way for progress. As for the Lightning build, you will need an addition in attribute values, lightning damage boost, and damage resistance for your build. This is possible by filling the Talismans slots with only the worthy ones to achieve a satisfying build in Elden Ring. This brings us to the first Talisman addition for your character. 

Faithful’s Canvas Talisman

Faithful’s Canvas Talisman

Name	Faithful’s Canvas Talisman
Weight	0.7
Effect	Raises potency of Incantations by 4%

The Faithful’s Canvas Talisman is a crucial addition to your Lightning character build. In this build, your character relies on powerful incantations to deal massive Light Damage and eliminate foes. The Faithful’s Canvas Talisman significantly enhances the potency of these incantations, allowing you to incinerate your enemies with ease.

Many players overlook the importance of specific Talismans in their builds and opt for more conventional weapons. However, to truly elevate your damage stats and become a formidable level 165 warrior lord, incorporating Talismans that align with your character’s attributes and build is key. By doing so, you can maximize your damage output and dominate the battlefield with your Lightning abilities.

Godfrey Icon

Name	Godfrey Icon
Weight	0.8
Effect	raises the attack power of charged spells and skills by 15%.

Godfrey Icon is another prominent resource of damage output for the Elden Ring Lightning build. This talisman will increase the power of charged spells and skills attacks, thus putting an end to the enemies in the battleground. 

The legendary warrior of Godfrey wielded the Godfre Icon. He pursued the battle with the Talisman, which is now offered to tarnished to rock the Lightning build. It is worth noting that not every spell in the Elden Ring is available for charging. But if you are using the specific ones for the build available for a charge, then Godfrey Icon is the perfect entry for Talismans. 

Lightning Scorpion Charm

Name	Lightning Scorion Charm
Weight	0.8
Effect	increases lightning damage by 12%, but increases physical damage taken by 10%.

Another best Taliman for the Lightning build will be Lightning Scorpion Charm. As the name implies, it will enhance your character’s intensity of lightning attacks. Unfortunately, this colossal attack bonus comes with a massive cost of Damage Negation. 

This means while using the Lightning Scorpion Charm; your character will be exposed to the potential strikes that may drain the HP quickly. This Talisman will reduce most of the Damage Negation for your character, thus increasing the risk of losing the progress. This is a threat on your side, but with most attack damage coming from the Talisman, it is worth the trouble. 

Ritual Sword Talisman

Name	Ritual Sword Talisman
Weight	0.9
Effect	raises attack power by 10% when HP is at maximum.

Last but not least, Ritual Sword Talisman will work its charms straight off the charts as I have personally used this Talisman. In essence, it will contribute to the total HP of your character to grant the attack power. You can either choose Ritual Sword Talisman or Lightning Scorpion Charm. However, using both these Talismans will yield massive Damage Output, which is exactly what we are pursuing in this build.

You can also add Radagon’s Soreseal if you are having a hard time dealing with maximizing the potential of stats for the character. At times, you will need more points for Vigor or Dexterity. For that instance, Radagon’s Soreseal will come in handy for aiding attributes at the cost of Damage Absorption on your character. Here are some of the best Talismans in Elden Ring that you can consider if they seem fit with your type of Lightning build. 

Incantations for Lightning Build

Next, you will have to employ Incantations to unlock the true potential of the build. Thanks to the attribute’s stats values, your character qualifies for dozens of different Incantations for punching Lightning damage to enemies. 

Fortisaxx’s Lightning Spear

Name	Fortisaxx’s Lightning Spear
FP Cost	35
Effect	Stabs from above with two red lightning spears in tandem
Spell Type	Dragon Cult Incantations
Requires
Intelligence	0
Faith	46
Arcane	0

You might have seen players throwing giant Lightning spears that drain the enemies’ HP as soon as it hits them. If you are wondering what these spears were, you are now qualified to wield the power of Fortisaxx’s Lightning Spear. 

You can now stab the enemies with an intense red lightning spear. This Incantation requires 46 Faith with at least 52 Stamina costs. Since you’ll already have the stats for Strength and Endurance, you might not have to worry about running out of Stamina again and again. 

Flame Grant Me Strength

Requires	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane	Slots Used
	0	15	0	1
FP Cost	28
Effect	raises physical and fire-affinity attack power
Spell Type	Fire Monk Incantations

Flame Grant Me Strength is a fire-focused Incantation with potent Damage on enemies. While using the fire-based Talismans, this Incantation will add a 20% Damage increase for Fire and Physical Damage during attacks. 

Ancient Dragon’s Lightning Strike

Requires	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane	Slots Used
	0	26	0	1
FP Cost	36
Effect	summons red lightning that spreads from impact.
Spell Type	Dragon Cult Incantations

When it comes to the best Incantations for the Lightning build, Ancient Dragon’s Lightning Strike is not an exception. This Incantation will cast several red lightning attacks that will spread and wreak havoc on the enemies. With all the scaling for Lightning damage and boosts from Talisman, Lightning Strike is a death sentence for enemies and bosses. 

Several other notable Incantations like Golden Vow for defensive elements and Vyke’s Dragonbolt lightning strikes with right-hand armament. You have the freedom to choose any of the Incantations for your Lightning build. There are only two factors that you must incorporate: the scaling for Lightning and the Area of Effect for the Incantations. Once these requirements are met, you can experiment until you can find the one with the perfect Incantation for the build. 

Final Words

There is no need to make this build any more complex as it should rely on Faith for employing the Lightning damage for gameplay. Plus, players must not be fixated on single equipment or weapon choice for the build. Elden Ring offers huge potential for self-exploration to identify resources and use them to progress in the game. I highly advise to do the experimentation since every player seeks a unique playstyle. Experiments will come in handy to use optimal resources for the Lightning build.