Elden Ring: Intelligence/Faith Build Guide (2024)

An Intelligence and Faith build in Elden Ring allows you to cast both normal spells and Incantations, making you an unstoppable mage that draws on two very different yet equally as strong magic pools. This build is perfect for players wanting to maximize the magic available to them.

In this guide, we’ll outline the strongest Intelligence and Faith build in Elden Ring. We’ll go over the base stats, level progression, the best weapons, armor, spells, Talismans, and much more.

Best Starting Equipment for Intelligence/Faith Build

Carian Knight SetFound in Raya Lucaria Academy near the
Meteorite StaffFound within Aeonia Swamp
Short SpearPurchased from the Twin Maiden Husks
Golden SeedStarting gift
Glinstone Pebble (Spell)Default starting spell
Catch Flame (Incantation)Purchased from Brother Corhyn

Astrologer Int/Faith Build

Elden Ring: Intelligence/Faith Build Guide (1)
  • Class:Astrologer
  • Flask Spread: 3 to 1 ratio, FP to HP
  • Weapons:Gelmir Glintstone Staff, Golden Order Seal, Sword of Night & Flame, and Sacred Relic Sword
  • Armor:Snow Witch Set and Raya Lucarian Sorcerer Set.
  • Stats:Intelligence, Faith and Mind (Primary) Vigor and Dexterity (Secondary)
  • Skills: Spinning Staff (Ash of War), Determination (Ash of War), Spirit Jellyfish (Summon), and Mimic Tear (Summon)
  • Spells:Glintstone Arc, Whirl O Flame, Flame Fall Upon Them, Wrath of Gold, and Roiling Magma
  • Incantations: Black Blade, Bloodflame Build, Lord’s Heal and Catch Flame.
  • Talisman: Cerulean Amber Medallion, Flock’s Canvas Talisman, Graven-School Talisman, and Radagon Icon.

Intelligence/Faith Build Stats Level 10 in Elden Ring

StatsPoints
Faith9
Mind16
Dexterity12
Strength8
Endurance9
Vigor9
Intelligence17
Arcane9

Int/Faith Build Stats Level 60

StatsPoints
Faith26
Mind23
Dexterity15
Strength14
Endurance9
Vigor13
Intelligence30
Arcane9

Intelligence/Faith Build Stats Level 90

StatsPoints
Faith30
Mind30
Dexterity17
Strength14
Endurance9
Vigor15
Intelligence35
Arcane9

Best Weapons for Int/Faith Build in Elden Ring

Elden Ring: Intelligence/Faith Build Guide (2)

You need both a Staff and a Holy Seal to cast incantations and sorceries. So, you’ll need to remember which spell is of which type to be able to cast them from the right item.

You won’t be slinging spells all day though; a sword is required to play this build properly. We’ll be aiming for the mighty Sword of Night and Flame or Sacred Relic Sword.

Combo-ing sword attacks with invocations will be quite challenging, but if you remember to memorize the right order of your spells, you’ll get the hang of it. The melee weapons we’re using for this build scale with both Intelligence and Faith make them the perfect choice.

Don’t forget to also use the powerful skills of weapons like the Sword of Night and Flame or Sacred Relic Sword to round out your offense when spells aren’t doing it.

The Golden Order Seal works perfectly for this build as its incantation scaling also uses both Intelligence and Faith, while the Gelmir Glintstone staff works in much the same way for Spells.

Best Bows for Int/Faith Build in Elden Ring

While an Intelligence/Faith build in Elden Ring will have all your ranged needs covered, it’s always a good idea to have a bow on hand (in addition to a sword) to dispel smaller groups of enemies so you can save your FP for more challenging battles. It is important to know that bows, for the most part, won’t deal as much damage as spells and incantations, the following bows scale with Intelligence and offer moderate damage:

  • Horn Bow
  • Loretta’s Great Bow

Best Shield for Int/Faith Build

For an Intelligence/Faith build, you can go two routes. You can either equip light shields that do not have a lot of damage negation or you can equip Greatshields that do. For the latter, you’ll need to invest more points into strength as all shields in Elden Ring have a strength requirement. This may take away from the potency of your incantations and spells.

  • Carian Knight Shield (scales with intelligence)
  • Haligtree Crest Greatshield
  • Brass Shield

Best Sacred Seal for Intelligence/Faith Build

Elden Ring: Intelligence/Faith Build Guide (3)

Sacred Seals further enhance your character’s Incantation abilties by offering you various buffs. These are the best Sacred Seals to use with an Intelligence/Faith build in Elden Ring

  • Golden Order Seal: This seal scales with both Intelligence and Faith and buffs the Golden Order Incantations like Discus of Light and Triple Rings of Light.
  • Godslayer Seal: The Godslayer seal scales with Faith and Strength and enhances Godslayer Incantations like Black Flame and Black Flame Ritual.
  • Frenzied Flame Seal: This Seal scales with both Dexterity and Intelligence along with strength. It enhances frenzies flame weapons and incantations.

Best Armor for Int/Faith Build in Elden Ring

For an Intelligence and Faith build, your armor must be lightweight as you’ll be engaged in combat from a distance.

The Snow Witch Set is a powerful Intelligence scaling armor that uses both cold and moon sorcery to make effective buffs and give a great deal of damage. This is indeed an ideal armor for Int/Faith Build. Additionally, you can also use the Raya Lucarian Armor Set which also scales with Intelligence.

StatsSnow Witch SetRaya Lucarian Set
Physical10.110.9
Magic23.416.5
Fire23.423.5
Lightning23.211.5
Holy23.420.9
Immunity7885
Robustness66110
Focus146135

Best Spells and Incantations for Int/Faith Build

Elden Ring: Intelligence/Faith Build Guide (4)

When it comes to the spells, both the Glintstone Arc will remain highly effective throughout your playthrough with this build.

The Whirl O Flame spell will help you instantly take out weaker enemies, while Flame Fall Upon Them will allow you to clear out large groups of enemies. With Roiling Magma, you’ll be able to blow up enemies that aren’t yet aware of you, making it the perfect opener spell.

Wrath of Gold is the second strongest spell in this build after Glintstone Arc. It will deal good damage, but it’ll also knock enemies to the ground, allowing you to get further damage on them for free.

As far as Incantations are concerned the starting Incantation, Glinstone Pebble, like the Glinstone Arc will remain highly effective throughout your playthrough. Incantations like Black Blade and Bloodflame Blade, while hard to get are highly effective against larger foes and bosses. Lord’s Heal is an excellent alternative to HP flasks if you want to run a few FP flasks, while Catch Flame can be good at dispelling smaller crowds of enemies.

Best Skills for Int/Faith Build in Elden Ring

Elden Ring: Intelligence/Faith Build Guide (5)

The Spinning Staff Ash of War allows you to pull off a defensive maneuver with your staff, saving you from hordes of enemies should you become overwhelmed. Determination on the other hand boosts all your stats by 60% for ten seconds when you’re casting spells, making it a perfect complement to this build.

As far as summons are concerned, Spirit Jellyfish is an excellent one to keep on hand, not only does it cause poison damage build-up, but also has a very large health pool and can distract bosses for you, allowing you to get a good few hits in. The Jellyfish can last you for pretty much your entire playthrough. Another great option is the Mimic Tear which is essentially a spirit version of your character that works similarly to you.

The build utilizes two major stats that have directions of their own, and you also need Strength and Dexterity to be able to use weapons. Then you also need lots of Mind and Endurance, and Vigor is a must. Meaning that the build is high level and you will be putting in a lot of runes in this build.

Best Talisman for Intelligence/Faith Build

All of the Talisman we’ve chosen for the build enhance and buff your spell/incantation casting in various ways. You can unlock a total of four Talisman slots, so make sure you equip a Talisman in each slot to maximize the potential of your build.

  1. Cerulean Amber Medallion: Raises maximum FP
  2. Flock’s Canvas Talisman: Increases the effectiveness of Incantations by 8%
  3. Graven-School Talisman: Increases the effectiveness of sorceries by 4%
  4. Radagon Icon: Reduces the casting time of spells
Elden Ring: Intelligence/Faith Build Guide (2024)

FAQs

What's better, faith or intelligence in Elden Ring? ›

Faith has better weapon variety and utility/buff spells. Int has better offensive spell options especially after they patched fp costs. So it depends if you want to go more melee with magic as back up or caster. You can go melee with casting as back up with int, but you really only have 3 weapon options.

Are intelligence builds good in Elden Ring? ›

Strength, bleed, and faith builds in Elden Ring offer different playstyles, with high damage potential and quick boss defeats. Intelligence builds with powerful spells and weapons can obliterate enemies with ranged and melee attacks in a hybrid build.

What weapon is intelligence and faith in Elden Ring? ›

Technically, there is only one weapon in the main game of Elden Ring that can scale with both Intelligence and Faith - Elden Ring's Sword of Night and Flame, a Legendary Armament found in the Caria Manor dungeons within the Liurnia of the Lakes region.

Can you beat Elden Ring with a faith build? ›

If that doesn't help, a holy big stick certainly will, assuming prayers and god's wrath don't dent that red bar. That's because the Elden Ring community has proven that Faith builds can be just as busted as dedicated magic or bleed builds.

What weapons scale with both faith and intelligence? ›

In the main game, the only weapon that naturally scales with both Int and Faith is the Sword of Night and Flame.

Is faith build better than intelligence build? ›

Yes. Definitely not untrue. INT is more about offense and lacks variety in anything other than doing the most damage in the least amount of time. FTH has a good mix of defensive/support and offensive magic and requires a bit more thought into how your'e going to approach a battle.

What is the soft cap in Elden Ring intelligence? ›

Intelligence armaments: soft caps are usually at level 20, 50, and 80. Intelligence sorceries: usually level 60 and 80. Magic defense: best benefits until level 20 and slightly less until level 35.

What is the best intelligence weapon Elden Ring? ›

The Death Ritual Spear has accrued popularity among the Elden Ring fandom for its performance with Intelligence/Dexterity builds. Along with longer reach, this spear has a unique horizontal heavy slash attack, making it a formidable option against foes.

Does intelligence increase physical damage in Elden Ring? ›

Intelligence. Intelligence is the key stat for performing Glintstone sorceries, Elden Ring's version of magic. Increasing your Intelligence stat not only boosts the damage output of intelligence-scaling spells but also enhances the potency of intelligence-scaling weapons.

What is the best faith intelligence seal in Elden Ring? ›

The Golden Order Seal is an excellent choice for players who want to maximize their spellcasting output. More specifically, this Elden Ring Sacred Seal is great for a hybrid Intelligence and Faith build, effectively casting both schools of magic in the Lands Between.

Does leveling faith make incantations stronger? ›

Leveling up Faith and upgrading you Finger Seal with smithing stones increases the damage of your incantations, you only need to increase Arcane if you are going for a bleed build or to hit the requirements for the Dragon incantations.

How much faith do I need in Elden Ring? ›

There's tiers of breakdowns for sure. But I'd say if you want absolute physical protection, you need 30 Faith. If you want a hybrid between tank and damage and team buffing and mass elemental resists, you need 25 Faith. If you want just some melee damage buffs, you need 15 Faith minimum.

Are faith builds viable in Elden Ring? ›

Elden Ring Build Guide: Faith/Dexterity

An Elden Ring Strength/Faith build is perfect for smacking foes around with colossal weapons while maintaining access to key Incantations that buff, heal, and deal ranged damage.

What is the best faith armor in Elden Ring? ›

Saying that, our main suggestion for this build is the Haligtree Knight set since it increases your Faith. It also has a solid physical defence. Another option with a higher Poise stat is the Malformed Dragon set. Even though it doesn't give you more Faith, it has a better defence against physical damage.

Is faith useful in Elden Ring? ›

Faith primarily affects a player's ability to cast Incantations, as well as equipping the weapons required to cast them. It is one of the 8 Main Attributes that players can spend Runes on to level up, increasing the Stat's effectiveness and influencing their relative secondary stats.

Is intelligence important in Elden Ring? ›

Intelligence is by far the most important stat players need to be focusing on if they want to run mage builds. That is, for players who are interested in doing the cool sorceries in Elden Ring, Intelligence is the attribute that determines how much damage they deal.

What's better, faith or sorcery in Elden Ring? ›

I'd say faith is honestly the better of the two because it gets support, healing, fire, and lightning. Sorceries get mostly just "magic" element with a little bit of fire.

What's the best starting class in Elden Ring? ›

Vagabond (all-rounder): The Vagabond is arguably the best Elden Ring classes for beginners. Melee builds are generally easy to pick up without having to familiarize yourself with loads of in-game systems, making them great for players unaccustomed to FromSoftware gameplay.

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