Elden Ring Dragon Cult Incantations Build - Dragon Priestess (Shadow of The Erdtree)

Jul. 15, 2024

Elden Ring Dragon Cult Incantations Build – Dragon Priestess (Shadow of The Erdtree)

In thisDragon Cult Incantations Build, I will be showcasing myDragon Priestessbuild. This is a build that focuses on usingDragon Cult Incantations, and this is a build that was voted on by our community with over 109,000 votes. So without further ado, let’s get into how this build works.

In this Elden Ring Build Guide, I’ll be showing you my Dragon Cult Incantations build. This is aShadow of the Erdtreebuild that takes place after level 150. If you’ve been looking for a lightning build for Shadow of the Erdtree burst down enemies then you might want to check this build-out.

We have over 110 Elden Ringbuilds. Each one is meticulously crafted to offer unique playstyles, strategies, and experiences, ensuring there’s something for every adventurer in the Lands Between. Whether you seek the raw power of heavy weapons, the finesse of spellcasting, or the versatility of hybrid builds, our collection has you covered. Explore the depths of the game’s mechanics and unleash your full potential with our diverse array of builds.

This build uses the newDragon Cult Incantation,Knight’s Lightning Spear, which is incredibly powerful. It’s one of the best incantations in the game with great range. The projectiles come out even if you’re interrupted mid-animation, as long as the display above you appears. You can charge this for extra damage. Compared toLightning Spear,Knight’s Lightning Spearhas significant stance damage, allowing you to stance break bosses. This lets you use other spells or continue hitting them withKnight’s Lightning Spearfor massive damage.

A deadly combo is stance-breaking a medium to large boss withKnight’s Lightning Spear, then using a chargedAncient Dragons’ Lightning Strike. This can finish off most bosses if they’re below half health. It works best on medium to large bosses, ending fights quickly.

Other newDragon Cult incantationsincludeDragonbolt of Florissax, which provides damage negation but isn’t worth it. Golden Vow offers similar damage negation plus an attack buff, making it better for this build.

Other spells for this build includeLightning Spear, a staple forDragon Cultbuilds. It’s a good ranged single-target spell that you can charge for extra damage. Use it for regular enemies you can kill in one hit. It’s cheaper thanKnight’s Lightning Spear, making it ideal for exploration.

Lightning Strikeis a straight-line AoE spell, effective against grouped enemies. You can usually wipe out groups with one cast if you line up properly, saving FP and avoiding charging enemies.

Honed Boltis a fast-casting alternative toLightning Spear. It’s useful for hard-to-kill enemies at range but Knight’s Lightning Spear is generally better. You can use it as an alternative toLightning Spearin some cases.

Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strikeis great for large AoEs or medium to large enemies. Use it when you stagger bosses or need a strong AoE.

Electrochargeis not very effective. Its damage is minimal, and it doesn’t seem to increase charges ofRotten Winged Sword InsigniaorMillicent’s Prosthesis. It also doesn’t maintain stance damage on bosses, making it less useful.

ForSacred Seals, use theErdtree Sealfor high incantation scaling with 80 Faith. TheGravel Stone Sealin the offhand boosts Dragon Cult incantation damage. If you have twoGravel Stone Sealsin New Game Plus, using both is slightly better than theErdtree SealandGravel Stone Sealcombination. If not, stick with theErdtree SealandGravel Stone Sealsetup.

Armor-wise, we’re not using any armor, opting instead for a new reusable item called thePriestess Heart. This functions similarly to theRock Heartfrom theDragon Godbuild. It transforms you into aDragon Priestess, granting a flat 7% damage negation across the board and increasing your resistances. It’s very light, allowing for light rolling and better dodging, though it provides limited protection and zero poise, making you susceptible to interruptions during animations.

This is whyKnight’s Lightning Spearis advantageous, as its projectiles still release even if you’re interrupted mid-animation. Once transformed, using the Priestess Heart again gives you a 20% damage boost toDragon Cultincantations for 60 seconds at no FP cost. This allows you to boost your spell damage without constantly draining FP withGolden Vow.

Alternatively, you could use theDeath Knight Set, which grants a 2% boost toDragon Cultincantations and skills for each piece worn, totaling 8% with the full set. However, this results in 12% less damage compared to thePriestess Heart. TheDeath Knightset offers more protection, making it suitable for players new to the DLC or those learning boss fights. However, it doesn’t provide 51 poise, necessitating a talisman slot for theBull-Goat’s Talismanor swapping out armor pieces, which can compromise damage slots.

You can also use theGolden Order Sealfor high incantation scaling. You can also use theClawmark Sealin your offhand forBestial Incantations. This setup benefits strength characters needing to use incantations without high faith, though it results in lower damage spells.

For this build, I useFlock’s Canvas Talismanto boost incantation damage, which applies to all offensive incantations.

TheGodfrey Iconenhances charged spell damage, benefiting spells likeLightning Spear,Knight’s Lightning Spear, andAncient Dragon’s Lightning Strike, as well as any other chargeable spells you add.

TheLightning Scorpion Charmfurther increases lightning damage, useful since all the spells in this build deal lightning damage. Keep in mind it also increases damage taken, so upgrade your Scadutree Fragments as much as possible for better protection.

TheDragoncrest Greatshield Talismancan also be used for additional physical protection, especially when exploring.

In my fourth slot, I use theCrucible Knot Talismanto increase damage after killing enemies, which is useful when moving through groups but not as effective in boss fights.

For boss fights, consider theDragoncrest Greatshield Talismanor theRitual Sword Talismanfor higher damage at full health.

Alternatively, theTwo-Headed Turtle Talismancan help with stamina recovery, which is beneficial since this build consumes a lot of stamina.

This build is withScadutree Fragmentsupgraded to only +7, including challenging fights like theBayleandMetyr, Mother of Fingersbossfights. If you upgrade yourScadutree Fragmentsto the recommended level for these bosses, your build will perform even better and look more impressive. Most players will likely achieve better performance depending on their Scadutree Fragment upgrade level.

Getting into attributes here, we have at level 159:

55Vigor, 38Mind, 20Endurance, 8Strength, 12Dexterity, 16Intelligence, 80Faith, and 9Arcane. You literally don’t need anyStrength,Dexterity,Intelligence, orArcanefor this build. Those stats are the lowest I could get based on my starting class. So, you won’t need any of those.

Vigoris at 55 because we’re going to trade damage sometimes with this build and you just need higher health to stay alive in theDLC, particularly if you have no protection like we do. You’ll want to get this to 60 eventually.

Mindis at 38 to give us plenty ofFPto cast spells, and you might even want to take it higher than this eventually, but you minimally want 38.

Enduranceis at 20. This allows us tolight rollwith ourequip load. Light rolling is a good way to dodge attacks. We don’t need a lot of endurance with this build. You do go through some stamina casting likeKnight’s Lightning Spirit, just spamming it back and forth, so you will go through some stamina. Having some more endurance isn’t necessarily bad. If you went theDeath Knight’s Armor Setroute, you’ll probably need more than this tomedium roll, so this might be 25 or 30 depending on if you went that route or not.

Lastly, we have 80Faithhere to take advantage of theErdtree Sealto get the most out of it. You’ll eventually want to take this up to 99 just to get the most damage out of this build that you can because that’s the way to increase damage here.

So for theFlask of Wondrous Physick, there are a couple of ways you can go. First of all, theLightning-Shrouded Cracked Tearis really good. This will increase your lightning damage, and all of our spells do lightning damage. You always want that one in there for basically anything that you’re doing. Other than that, there are a couple of options.

You can go withGreenburst Crystal Tearsince you use a lot of stamina and don’t have a ton of endurance with this build. You can also use theOpaline Hardtearfor more protection because we don’t have a lot of protection with this build, which is also good.

Alternatively, you can go with theStonebarb Cracked Tearfor stance damage to try and stance break bosses faster withKnight’s Lightning Spear. This is not a bad way to go either, because if you can stance break bosses and then follow up withAncient Dragon’s Lightning Striketo melt them, you’re not getting hit, making it a viable strategy.

When it comes toGreat Runesfor this build, I thinkRadahn’s Great Runeis the best bet. It gives youFP, stamina, and health, which is good. Morgott’s Great Rune is also not bad for just more health in general since you have basically no protection, and getting an extra big chunk of health can help keep you alive.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that this build can have difficulty when enemies get point-blank. You can either punch them—sometimes in a pinch, you can just punch them to death quickly, which works—or you can slot something like the Coded Sword and use that for when enemies get into melee range. Just switch to it quickly. This weapon usesFaithand scales predominantly off Faith, dealingHoly Damageinstead of lightning. While we’re not optimized for the most damage out of it, because you don’t need any investment in other stats, it’s not a bad backup weapon to use when you need to melee enemies quickly.

So that wraps up ourDragon Priestessbuild. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. This is the one you voted on. I will be doing more builds moving forward. I’m looking forward to doing aBow build, so you might see that next. If there are other builds you want to see, please leave them in the comments below. As always, let us know if you have questions or other tips in the comments below. We have a ton more builds coming forElden RingandShadow of the Erdtreeso stay tuned for those. If you need help finding the spells, items, or equipment in this build, and securing some personal objectives, make sure to check theElden Ring Map.

Castielle

Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.