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In this guide, we're diving deep into the Dragon Priestess build, a community favorite with over 109,000 votes. This build focuses on using Dragon Cult incantations, especially the new Knight's Lightning Spear, to devastate your enemies. Let's break down how this build works, its spells, talismans, and attributes, so you can master the Dragon Priestess and dominate the Lands Between.

Core Concept of the Dragon Priestess Build

The Dragon Priestess build revolves around the potent Dragon Cult incantations, with Knight's Lightning Spear at its core. This incantation boasts incredible range and significant stance damage, making it one of the best in the game. The projectile's persistence even if you're interrupted mid-cast ensures you get your damage off, adding reliability in chaotic fights.

Knight's Lightning Spear

Knight's Lightning Spear is our primary offensive tool. It can be charged for extra damage, and its high stance damage allows you to break bosses' stances, creating windows for devastating follow-up attacks. This is particularly effective against medium to large bosses. A deadly combo is to stance break a boss with Knight's Lightning Spear and follow up with a charged Ancient Dragon Lightning Strike, often finishing off the boss if they're below half health.

Secondary Incantations

While Knight's Lightning Spear is the star of the show, other incantations play crucial roles in this build:

Lightning Spear

This staple spell is excellent for ranged single-target damage. It's cheaper than Knight's Lightning Spear and great for dealing with regular enemies you can kill in one hit. Use it to conserve FP while exploring.

Lightning Strike

Ideal for dealing with groups of enemies, Lightning Strike sends a zigzagging line of lightning, perfect for wiping out clustered foes. Line up your shots to maximize its efficiency.

Honed Bolt

An alternative to Lightning Spear, Honed Bolt can be chained rapidly after the first cast. It's useful for hard-to-kill enemies if you can get the drop on them, but Knight's Lightning Spear generally performs better.

Ancient Dragon's Lightning Strike

For large AOE damage, Ancient Dragon's Lightning Strike is unmatched. Charge it up against groups of enemies or staggered bosses to unleash devastating power.

Incantations to Avoid

Not all Dragon Cult incantations are worth your time:

Dragonbolt Blessing

While it provides damage negation, its benefits are comparable to Golden Vow, which also boosts your attack. It's hard to obtain and not worth the effort.

Electrify Armament

This spell's damage is negligible, and it doesn't boost the charges of Rotten Winged Sword Insignia or Millicent's Prosthesis. It's best avoided until a potential future patch makes it more viable.

Sacred Seals and Equipment

For this build, we use the Erdtree Seal for its high incantation scaling with 80 Faith, and the Gravel Stone Seal in the offhand to further boost Dragon Cult incantation damage. If you can get an extra Gravel Stone Seal, using two is slightly better than the Erdtree Seal and Gravel Stone Seal combo.

Armor

We're using the Priestess Heart, a reusable Elden Ring items that transforms you into a Dragon Priestess, providing 7% damage negation and increased resistances. This allows for light rolling and mobility, crucial for dodging attacks. Alternatively, the Death Knight Armor Set offers more protection but less damage, making it a good option for those new to the DLC.

Talismans

Talismans play a significant role in maximizing our build's effectiveness:

1. Flock's Canvas Talisman: Increases incantation damage.

2. Godfrey Icon: Boosts charged spell damage, benefiting Lightning Spear, Knight's Lightning Spear, and Ancient Dragon's Lightning Strike.

3. Lightning Scorpion Charm: Further boosts lightning damage.

4. Crucible Knot Talisman: For increased damage when killing enemies.

Flask of Wondrous Physick

Your Flask of Wondrous Physick should include the Lightning-Shrouding Cracked Tear for increased lightning damage. For the second slot, consider:

    • Stamina Recovery: If you need more stamina.

    • Opaline Hardtear: For more protection.

    • Stonebarb Cracked Tear: To increase stance damage, synergizing with Knight's Lightning Spear.

Attributes

At level 159, here are the recommended attributes:

    • Vigor: 55

    • Mind: 38

    • Endurance: 20

    • Strength: 8

    • Dexterity: 12

    • Intelligence: 16

    • Faith: 80

    • Arcane: 9

Key Points

    • Vigor: Boosts health for trading damage.

    • Mind: Provides sufficient FP for casting spells.

    • Endurance: Allows for light rolling and enough stamina for casting.

    • Faith: Maximize at 99 for the highest damage output.

Tips and Strategies

1. Knight's Lightning Spear: Use this as your primary offensive tool, especially for stance breaking bosses.

2. Ancient Dragon's Lightning Strike: Follow up on staggered bosses to finish them off.

3. Adapt Your Talisman: Switch talismans depending on the situation—more damage, protection, or stamina recovery.

4. Priestess Heart: Use it to transform and boost your damage without draining FP.

5. Stay Agile: Light rolling is crucial for dodging attacks due to the low protection of this build.

Final Thoughts

The Dragon Priestess build is powerful, versatile, and voted on by our fantastic community. It excels in dealing with bosses and groups of enemies alike, leveraging the strength of Dragon Cult incantations. Experiment with different spells and talismans to find what works best for your playstyle. As always, stay tuned to P2Pah for more Elden Ring builds and guides or buy Elden Ring Runes. Happy hunting, Tarnished!