12 Best Spells For Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree (2024)

Elden Ring's Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC introduces some of the best Incantation and Sorcery spells in the game that you can use in your next magic-themed character build. Around 42 different spells can be found as you explore the Land of Shadow. Although most of these are powerful to some degree, a few stand out as being versatile enough to work with many playstyles.

Spells in Elden Ring are divided into Incantations and Sorceries, with the first being tied to your Intelligence stat while the second relies on your character's Faith stat. Incantations typically have healing properties and offensive magic to damage foes. Sorceries include nuanced utility spells alongside offensive magic as well, but both categories can take out enemies effectively if you scale their connected stats.

12 Minor Erdtree

Place Down Some Easy Healing Magic

The Minor Erdtree Incantation spell creates a small Erdtree on the ground that continuously heals you and your allies in a large area. This is great magic for conserving Flasks of Crimson Tears or as a last resort when you run out of resources. Since this spell also affects summons and Spirit Ashes you call upon for help, you can create an aura of healing to keep your character and allies alive during intense fights.

11 Watchful Spirit

Conjure Projectiles For Protection

One of the downsides of spells is how long they take to cast, leaving your character vulnerable to enemy attacks from time to time. The Watchful Spirit Incantation summons a golden skull as a guardian spirit above your head that fires twisting spirals of light a few times before extinguishing. During this period, you can move around, perform attacks, or even cast more magic while this spell continues automatically.

Unlike every Incantation in Elden Ring, Watchful Spirit gives you the freedom to perform other actions while the magic keeps going. The fast casting time and low FP cost make this spell perfect to use in between enemy strikes as a quick buff. This spirit is a consistent source of protection and extra damage without much sacrifice or risk on your character's part as you continue to navigate through the Land of Shadow.

10 Ghostflame Breath

Spew Cold Flames For Crowd-Control

Acquired from the Grand Altar of Dragon Communion in Shadow Of The Erdtree, the Ghostflame Breath spell summons the head of a Ghostflame Dragon in Elden Ring to spew cold flames of death upon your enemies. This breath may cost a large amount of FP, but it deals a ton of damage across a wide area. This can affect multiple enemies or build up against a bulkier target to tear through their health fast.

9 Messmer's Orb

Spread Destruction Through Messmer's Flame

As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator Youwy, Messmer's Orb is a destructive fire spell that creates an orb of exploding flame to injure opponents. This spell deals damage first with the initial fireball, then again with a massive AoE explosion that consumes considerable FP. However, this magic originally used by Messmer the Impaler in Elden Ring is deceptively fast, making it easy to use more than once.

The damage alone from this spell makes it worth using in Faith builds for your character. Even if an enemy dodges the first fireball, they are unlikely to get away in time to avoid the follow-up explosion. Many bosses, who do not retreat from any attack, can even have their poise broken by this combination and fall to the ground for you to follow-up the spell with a devastating visceral attack.

8 Dragonbolt of Florissax

Call Down Lightning For Defensive Buffs

Another dragon Incantation, Dragonbolt of Florissax , calls down red lightning to buff your character and any nearby allies. When robed in this lightning, all forms of damage negation are increased, including physical damage inflicting by various enemies. When combined with your normal armor and Scadutree Fragments, you can easily reduce the damage of the ruthless bosses present in Shadow Of The Erdtree.

7 Furious Blade of Ansbach

Tear Through Enemies With Quick Bloodflame

Some Bloodflame spells inflict the Bleed condition, but many leave you too vulnerable to continuously cast the magic enough times to impose Blood Loss onto enemies. The Furious Blade of Ansbach spell creates a short-reaching bloodflame blade that carves through foes in two quick slashes. You can charge this move to add another strike, giving you a way to reliably impose Blood Loss without exposing yourself much.

6 Gravitational Missile

Drag Enemies Into Their Demise

Gravitational Missile is a Sorcerey spell that fires a dark orb of purple magic forward, dealing damage and dragging weaker enemies closer over the distance it travels. Eventually, the orb stops and explodes into a broad AoE to deal even more damage. The low FP cost of this spell makes it easy to use over and over on bosses and basic foes for an easy source of reliable damage across mid to long-range.

5 Midra's Flame of Frenzy

Unleash Chaos Everywhere You Look

Defeating Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame in Elden Ring can give you the Midra's Flame of Frenzy spell from the boss' Remembrance. This magic creates a huge orb of Frenzy Flame above your head that lashes out like tendrils all around your character to damage nearly everything in your path. Your character can walk around while doing this spell to spread chaos everywhere and deal heavy damage to enemy groups.

Although this magic can be difficult to control, it is one of the best spells in Shadow Of The Erdtree simply from how unique it looks compared to every other Incantation and Sorcery. Those looking to make a Frenzied Flame build for their character should have this spell equipped as the pinnacle of their chaos magic.

4 Bayle's Flame Lightning

Deal Huge Damage To Single Targets

Those struggling to pick which Dragon Communion Incantation to create from the Heart of Bayle The Dread in Elden Ring should think about choosing Bayle's Flame Lightning . This Incantation spell conjures Bayle's massive bone talon wreathed in the boss' signature flame lightning. Your character rises when casting this magic before slamming down into the ground to create a huge shockwave of elemental damage.

The damage of this magic cannot be understated, as it deals nearly as much injury through a single shockwave as most dragon breaths do from their entire casting. Those looking to deal massive DPS at the cost of heavy FP may want to have this spell at the ready. Unlike Bayle's Tyranny , the breath attack spell from the same boss, the Flame Lightning is easier to use quickly without putting your character in a bad position.

3 Impenetrable Thorns

Summon Twisting Brambles To Break Poise

The Impenetrable Thorns spell conjures three huge lines of brambles that burst into the air to deal damage to your enemies. Each tower of thorns summoned from the earth deals huge damage to an enemy's Poise, causing most opponents to stagger after a few casts of this magic. The low FP cost makes this spell easily used in rapid succession for consistent damage and offense to use against a variety of enemies.

2 Knight's Lightning Spear

Create Projectiles For Consistent Offense

Those who recognize Gwyn, Lord of Cinder's attack from the original Dark Souls' opening cutscene, will find some semblance of the same attack through the Knight's Lightning Spear spell. This magic creates a spear of lightning your character throws before several additional spears appear to follow it. This spell can be cast fast, making it the perfect Incantation to use reliably in fast-paced battles to deal good damage.

According to the above YouTube video by ConCon, Knight's Lightning Spear can be found in a dungeon near the Moorth Ruins Site of Grace. This same place is where you receive the Imp Lion Helm armor piece, which does not belong to any set. Due to the nature of this magic, you can enhance it by using the right Talismans to boost its elemental damage along with the scaling of your Faith stat.

1 Light of Miquella

Decimate Enemies With Holy Light

Defeating Promised Consort Radahn in Elden Ring will give you the Remembrance to make the Light of Miquella Incantation, which is perhaps the best spell in the DLC. This magic imitates the strongest attack of Shadow Of The Erdtree's final boss during their last phase. A giant pillar of light can be summoned to annihilate enemies through holy beams of energy that burst around a large area.

This attack not only represents the climax of the DLC but is also the ultimate magic for Faith builds to use. No other Incantation carries the spectacle of this move or lasts for nearly as long when you attempt to cast it on an enemy or boss. Those looking for the best spells in Elden Ring's Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC will want to use this magic to share their triumph over the difficult expansion as they return to The Lands Between.

Source: Youwy/YouTube, NorZZa/YouTube, ConCon/YouTube

Elden Ring

Platform(s)

PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC

Released

February 25, 2022

Developer(s)

From Software

Publisher(s)

Bandai Namco Entertainment , From Software

Genre(s)

RPG , Action

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence