Highlights

• Combining spells like Rennala's Full Moon with careful timing can help you dish out damage while avoiding incoming spells.

Magic has always been an element in FromSoftware's fantasy worlds, but in Elden Ring, it feels like a cornerstone of gameplay, rather than a niche build choice. The sheer diversity of sorceries within the world are astonishing compared to past Soulsborne titles.

Sorceries can make the game intimidating at first as you decide which to grind for to ensure you're best equipped for the punishing fights ahead. These sorceries are some of the most useful spells in Elden Ring, including a diverse range of useful options to fit any play style.

Updated on February 22nd, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: The best spells Elden Ring has to offer include aggressive and defensive options to suit any playstyle. While high-damage options still dominate Elden Ring's strongest spells list, counter-attacking choices – like Carian Retaliation – are also among the best sorceries in Elden Ring.

14 Magma Shot

Magma Shot is a staple sorcery for starting fires and setting enemies ablaze with molten-hot liquid magma. Much like Carian Glintblade, Magma Shot was also improved via patch 1.07, which decreased FP cost from 18 to 16 and also increased its attack power. The bar of entry is fairly low, requiring only 19 Intelligence in addition to ten Faith.

This explosive magma lump can burn enemies, causing fire damage and even allowing you to reset frost buildup on any foe hit by this. You may wonder 'Why would I want to reset an enemy's frost meter?' Well, resetting the buildup will allow you to inflict the Frostbite effect multiple times in succession, causing massive damage. Unfortunately, the repeated Frostbites will not stack its damage negation effect.

13 Crystal Torrent

If you like Comet Azur, then you may want Crystal Torrent in your back pocket as a fun alternative. It's very similar to Comet Azur in terms of functionality, shooting a straight beam of energy forward that prohibits other movements until you're finished casting.

Luckily, Crystal Torrent costs far less FP and only takes up a single memory slot. The drawback is that it does less damage, but only slightly so. Despite the reduced damage, Crystal Torrent is well worth the added flexibility if you're struggling with timing or learning how to aim it properly.

12 Stars Of Ruin

If you're having trouble with a boss that's tricky to hit due to high movement speed or confusing patterns, then you need Stars of Ruin. This is a homing spell, which is the perfect trick for any enemy you have trouble locking on; all you need to do is cast and dodge and let the stars do the rest.

Stars of Ruin's FP cost was reduced from 38 to 32, and Stamina usage followed suit, falling to 29 from a previous 33 cost. It is one of the most broken Elden Ring sorceries available due to its quick recovery and reduced costs, making it easy to spam.

11 Glintstone Icecrag

You should take any advantage you can get over a boss with an intimidating health bar, and Glintstone Icecrag presents an advantage that's hard to turn down. This sorcery inflicts Frostbite, a status condition that makes the afflicted take increased damage from all sources. The amount inflicted was increased from 80 to 100, making this spell even more dangerous than it once was.

If you can inflict an enemy with Frostbite and then get a few hits in before it wears off, that bonus damage can save you a lot of time and stress. Without a doubt, it makes this extremely useful and diverse, capable of assisting you with nearly every enemy type.

10 Carian Slicer

If you're craving a little melee action in your mage's life, then look no further than the Carian Slicer. Elden Ring sorceries are capable of more than just hurling strange blobs of energy at your enemies, as you'll discover upon receiving this spell from Miriel, AKA Turtle Pope.

Before you get to slashing, make sure to acquire the Carian Glintstone Staff from the Carian Study Hall — it's easily one of the best staves in Elden Ring. Once your build is set, enjoy the powerful slashes that will chunk HP bars with each swing. This sorcery is excellent in PVE, but be aware that its efficacy was nerfed in PVP to discourage overuse.

9 Loretta's Greatbow

If you like being an archer in Elden Ring, adding a magical bow to your arsenal is not such a bad idea. Loretta's Greatbow is one of the simplest and best sorceries Elden Ring has to offer. It generates a magical bow and arrow and fires like a regular one. Only this arrow deals big damage and shoots incredibly long-range with great accuracy.

A patch also reduced the FP cost of this sorcery from 28 to 24, making it even more viable as a spell that can be used repeatedly throughout longer battles where you want to keep your distance.

8 Magic Glintblade

Magic Glintblade has had a long road to this point, as it was once too weak to really warrant usage in the second half of the game. However, patch 1.07 improved this sorcery's poise damage, attack power, and stamina attack power against guarded enemies when charged.

With its newfound powers, Magic Glintblade can function as a mainstay sorcery against most enemies, especially with its efficient 14 FP cost. The 27 Intelligence prerequisite does require some investment, but won't be much of a roadblock. The best way to use this spell is by approaching your target slowly and casting as many times as you can just as you enter the sorcery's effective range.

7 Terra Magica

Terra Magica makes the most sense for anyone aiming to have fun with a magic-focused build. If you want to go the route of blasting every enemy in Elden Ring with a plethora of spells, there's not a single reason to miss out on Terra Magica. This sorcery places a sigil at the caster's feet, giving a massive buff to all magical damage.

The main downside is that the buff no longer applies once you're outside the sigil. Considering this is a game where you'll often be dodging, it can be difficult to stay in the sigil, but if you can work around the limitation, you'll be dancing around enemies with ease.

6 Night Comet

This sorcery is perfect for a high Intelligence build as its 38 Int requirement keeps it exclusive to those brave enough to fully invest their level-ups into the attribute. When combined with the Staff of Loss, this easily becomes one of Elden Ring's best sorceries and might be the best of the Comet spells (excluding a certain unique variant).

It is easier to use than it once was, having seen a decrease in FP consumption from 24 to 21 points per cast. In addition, the semi-invisible status of the sorcery makes it impossible for NPCs to predict and dodge — yes, including mobile bosses like Malenia. This spell will replace Crystal Torrent's niche and serve as a bridge between that sorcery and Comet Azur.

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5 Eternal Darkness

Eternal Darkness is one of the best sorceries in Elden Ring for fully built mages who want to defend themselves from magic attacks. This Night Sorcery draws in all other spells being fired at you, which is particularly helpful against magic-focused foes.

While the use-case is niche, the benefit of negating incoming spells is extremely high, as there are few options for mages to deal with other spellcasters, aside from simply out-ranging them. Darkness Eternal gives you the confidence to duel with other mages, overpowering them with your skill and timing with one of Elden Ring's best sorceries.

4 Carian Retaliation

Carian Retaliation is technically a Weapon Art that doubles as one of Elden Ring's strongest sorceries in function. When applied to a shield, Carian Retaliation can be used as a parry for magic-based attacks, absorbs the incoming spell or incantation, and then dispels the magic as glintblades back at the attacker.

Each successful parry consumes eight FP, a paltry amount considering that this Skill is both a defensive and offensive tool. If you're looking for the strongest spell in Elden Ring, Carian Retaliation is worth considering, if you're willing to accept the technicality.

Your shield's upgrade level and affinity will affect the glintblades' damage.

3 Rennala's Full Moon

Rennala's Full Moon offers a two-pronged function that puts it in the conversation for the best sorcery Elden Ring offers its Tarnished. The giant moon now only requires 47 FP to cast (down from 55 as of patch 1.07) and dispels all sorceries it touches while reducing damage negation by ten percent when it strikes a target.

This debuff does not stack with others of the same type.

Removing the threat of incoming spells while weakening targets for a follow-up attack on impact gives Rennala's Full Moon plenty of use cases. The timing of the spell will take some getting used to, but when executed perfectly, you will avoid damage while dishing out plenty of your own.

2 Ranni's Dark Moon

Bonus points to this Ranni's Dark Moon for being possibly the flashiest-looking spell and one of the best sorceries in Elden Ring.

Ranni's Dark Moon (named after the Snow Witch from one of the game's best endings) does a good deal of damage and is even more efficient after its FP cost per cast was reduced from 62 to 57 in patch 1.07.

The magical moon this sorcery unleashes is somewhat slow-moving, but offers several methods to buff its damage, notably via the Carian Regal Sceptor and Snow Witch Hat (ten percent boost each). It does less damage than Rennala's Full Moon, but Ranni's Dark Moon can inflict Frostbite – lowering a target's damage negation by up to 32 percent when Frostbite triggers.

1 Comet Azur

If you enjoy playing Elden Ring with others, the Comet Azur strategy is one of the most popular to execute with friends. This sorcery deals massive damage in a continuous, long-lasting beam – provided you have the time and space to cast it. In order to acquire it, you'll have to head to the Hermit Village in Mount Gelmir. In addition, acquiring this sorcery is also part of one of the most missable quests in Elden Ring.

The one downside to Comet Azur is that you're vulnerable to attacks from multiple sides during your cast, and if the enemy you're targeting moves too far to one side, then you've wasted a shot. However, if you can work with one or two other Tarnished who distract the enemy while you cast, you can reduce a health bar to zero in no time. No matter who you ask, Comet Azur ubiquitously remains near the top of Elden Ring's best sorceries.