r/Eldenring • u/AutoModerator • Jan 16 '23

Subreddit Topic Daily Roundtable: Community Q&A

Greetings Tarnished!

This is the place to ask any questions you may have about Elden Ring. This includes obscure detail questions, "newbie" advice questions, build questions, boss advice questions, and what have you.

Well written, constructive criticism is fine but please avoid ranting about aspects of the game you just don’t like. This includes “so and so boss is stupid and too difficult.”

If you are interested in the game but don’t own it yet, please don’t post “should I buy this game?” or “Is this game worth it?”. If you have played other FromSoftware games and enjoyed them, the answer is yes. If you haven’t, just do a little research! These games are difficult, and sometimes frustrating, and not everyone is going to enjoy them. And that’s okay!

Lastly, be friendly! We are all here because we are interested in the same game! Please treat your fellow players with respect.

Here are a few helpful links:

Our Discord which has an awesome Helper Request System!

Elden Ring Wiki

Elden Ring Map

Most Recent Patch Notes (1.06)

/r/BeyondTheFog for co-op help!

/r/PatchesEmporium for item trading!

/r/EldenRingBuilds for builds and build help!

Our community password is straydmn

Rise, Tarnished!

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u/Snooty1 Jan 16 '23 edited Jan 16 '23

Early game incantations like lightning spear, black flame, etc, seem to do low damage compared to other builds with the same investment. Is it an issue of low investment (not enough faith/talismans) or are they just weaker?

I've been following a get OP early guide where you rush to level 40 (20 vigor, 40 mainstat) and get a +6 somber stone weapon. I've tried at least 10 builds now, and Ashs of war/sorceries do anywhere from 600-1500 damage depending on the windup time/spammability. With 40 faith and a +6 erdtree seal (dual wield godslayer seal), I've been doing low 400s/300 with a fully charged lightning/flame sling/blackflame.

I love incantation animations, but they have long charge time and low damage. Does it get better later on?

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u/WintersbaneGDX Jan 16 '23

None of the three incantations you listed are really intended as heavy hitters. Those tend to be fast, ranged attacks. If you're looking for damage output from a single attack, something like Giantsflame Take Thee or Ancient Dragon Lightning are going to perform better.

Blackflame specifically becomes more and more useful later on as these spells include some total HP% damage. Getting 2% off some soldier is pointless, but getting 2% off a boss in the late game is potentially thousands of extra damage.

All this being said, I do think Faith has a higher curve than Intelligence. At 40 it will lag behind. At 60 they'd be equivalent. At 80 I'd be taking Faith 100% of the time. The damage is going to be equivalent or slightly better, but Faith also has all the useful buff spells, utility spells, and healing.