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Since its release, Elden Ring has seen its share of updates and tweaks, improving weapons, abilities, and talismans alike. One talisman that has become especially noteworthy following recent patches is the Rana's Camera Talisman. This talisman, initially useful but somewhat niche, has received a significant buff that enhances its synergy with stance-based skills, making it a much more valuable tool for players across various builds.

Let's delve into how this patch has transformed the Rana's Camera from a decent choice into a top-tier option for anyone wielding stance-based weapons.

Key Changes to the Rana's Camera Talisman

Before the patch, the Rana's Camera Talisman was considered a solid but situational talisman that provided a 15% damage increase for fully charged stance-based attacks. While useful, its 1.5-second charge time often made it difficult to take full advantage of in many fast-paced boss fights.

Post-patch, several important changes have turned the Rana's Camera into a powerful talisman:

  • Charge Time Reduction: The charge time for the stance-based attacks has been reduced from 1.5 seconds to just 1 second, which represents a 50% increase in charge speed. This half-second may not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference during tight windows of opportunity in boss fights, allowing players to charge up more consistently.

  • Increased Damage Buff: The damage boost has gone up to 45% for fully charged stance-based skills, a major upgrade from its previous 15% bonus. This change significantly increases the value of fully charged stance skills, pushing the talisman from a solid B-tier into the coveted S-tier.

Impact of the Patch: Stance-Based Skills Shine

Now that Rana's Camera offers a 45% damage boost for fully charged stance-based skills, it has made a profound impact on a wide variety of builds, particularly those focused on stance damage and heavy-hitting skills. Even if players only manage to benefit from the full charge 30% of the time, they'll still enjoy a damage boost comparable to the Shard of Alexander, which is another top-tier talisman that increases the attack power of skills by 15%.

This shift turns the Rana's Camera from a talisman you might use in niche situations to a must-have for any stance-based weapon build. While there are still cases where fully charging your stance skill isn't optimal (e.g., when fighting bosses with limited windows for attacks), the sheer benefit from even occasional use makes this talisman a staple in many builds.

Situations Where Rana's Camera Shines—and Where It Falls Short

The Rana's Camera is an excellent choice for stance-based weapons and skills that give you the time to fully charge attacks. For many bosses, this increased efficiency in charge time and the enhanced damage output make the talisman a near-perfect companion.

However, there are some caveats:

  • Aggressive Bosses and DLC Fights: Some bosses, particularly in the DLC, offer very few windows for players to fully charge their stance-based attacks. In these cases, faster, uncharged skills might be a better choice, since using the skill twice in quick succession may lead to more damage than one charged attack. For example, in these fast-paced encounters, skills like Unsheathe or Moonveil Katana's Transient Moonlight may be better used for back-to-back quick attacks rather than relying on the longer animation of a fully charged stance attack.

  • FP Efficiency: Using charged skills can be FP-efficient, but in certain scenarios, it might make more sense to forgo the charge and just spam the skill twice. Though you lose out on the full benefit of the talisman, using a skill twice can deal more damage overall, especially against bosses where maximizing uptime is critical.

Ranking the Stance-Based Skills

With the Rana's Camera upgrade, it's also worth examining how this affects the hierarchy of stance-based skills. Below is a brief ranking and analysis of the top stance-based skills in Elden Ring, based on how well they synergize with the talisman.

1. Knight and Flame Stance (Sword of Night and Flame)

This weapon has long been a favorite, and it remains the top pick even after the patch. The Knight and Flame stance provides both fire and magic-based projectiles that scale excellently with intelligence and faith. The added 45% boost from Rana's Camera makes this already potent weapon even more powerful. The range and versatility of the Sword of Night and Flame—with a solid combination of single-target and AoE attacks—make it a top choice for any caster or hybrid build.

2. Wing Stance

The Wing Stance is a significant beneficiary of Rana's Camera changes. With its quick, multi-hit light attack and hard-hitting heavy attack, this skill can easily take advantage of the shorter charge time and higher damage buff. This makes it one of the most improved skills post-patch. Its ability to break the stance of tougher enemies while dealing piercing damage adds to its overall versatility, making it an ideal choice in almost any scenario.

3. Square Off

This underrated stance skill, exclusive to straight swords, has become a monster post-patch. Both its light and heavy attack versions offer incredible stance damage for very little FP cost. With the heavy attack dealing more stance damage than even some colossal sword attacks, Square Off has become an excellent option for FP-efficient playstyles that still want to maximize damage.

4. Transient Moonlight (Moonveil Katana)

The Moonveil Katana has always been a strong contender, and its stance-based projectile attack benefits significantly from the Rana's Camera buff. The projectile nature of Transient Moonlight makes it a safer option than many other stance-based skills, as it can be charged at a distance with less risk of being interrupted.

5. Unsheathe (Katana)

The classic Unsheathe skill is still powerful, but it benefits the least from Rana's Camera compared to other stance skills. The Unsheathe stance is incredibly fast, and while it can be charged, most players opt to use it in rapid succession rather than holding the charge. Still, the option is there to fully charge for certain fights, and when it works, the boost is substantial.

Final Thoughts on the Rana's Camera Talisman

The patch that improved Rana's Camera Talisman has turned it from a niche Elden Ring items into an essential one for stance-based builds. Its ability to enhance damage by 45% with just a 1-second charge time makes it versatile enough to include in a wide variety of playstyles, from fast-moving bosses to long-standing enemies with more predictable attack patterns.

The only real downside is that some builds and bosses may not allow for fully charging stance attacks all the time, but when used appropriately, Rana's Camera is undeniably one of the best talismans in the game right now.

For any Elden Ring player looking to maximize their damage, especially with stance-based weapons, it's worth experimenting with Rana's Camera to see just how much more damage you can squeeze out of your skills. If you haven't revisited this talisman since the update, it might just become a new favorite.