Welcome Tarnished! In Lands Between, few classes embody the shadows and mysteries of this realm quite like the necromancer. With the proper build, you can overwhelm foes with legions of the undead, summoning rotten allies to do your bidding before overwhelming survivors with potent sorceries. Follow this guide to uncover the secrets of Elden Ring’s deadliest caster build, ranking among the game’s absolute best for both PvE and PvP. If you need cheap Elden Ring runes and items, Gamebuygold.com is always the best store to visit.
Class Choice: Prophet
The Prophet is the logical choice to begin your journey as a Lord of Death. With a starting Gift of the Black Knife, you’ll get a head start on inflicting Death Blight. More importantly, Prophet affords a solid Mind stat for more powerful incantations.
Stats: Focus Mind and Arcane
Vigor: 30-40
Mind: 60
Endurance: 20-25
Strength: 12 (minimum for weapons)
Dexterity: 12 (minimum for weapons)
Intelligence: 9 (minimum for requirements)
Faith: 60
Arcane: 50-60
Prioritize Mind and Faith for incantation scaling. invest enough Vigor and Endurance to survive, then pump Arcane for weapon and summon scaling. With decent Intelligence, you’ll access some utility sorceries too.
Weapon: Eochaid’s Dancing Blade
This unique Dagger is your ideal companion. It boasts S-tier scaling with both Faith and Arcane, dishing out enormous rot and standard damage. Best of all, its special ability lets you spawn angry spirits to do your bidding each hit! Truly fitting for the master of undeath.
Shield: Black Dumpling Shield
A wonderful and rare tool with great stats. Not only does it boost Faith and Arcane, its unique skill lets you conjure swarming flies as a distraction in combat! Very helpful when surrounded.
Incantations
- Swarm of Flies: Your signature bread-and-butter spell. Low cost, fast cast incantation that spawns a distracting cloud of maggots. Sets up enemies for other spells.
- Ekzykes’ Decay: Launches an exploding projectile that inflicts deadly Scarlet Rot upon foes. Finish off weakened opponents or break guards.
- O, Death: Powerful death-aligned lightning that delivers high damage and Death Blight buildup. Great finisher or casting while enemies are rotting.
- Plague Lady’s Fetid Mist: Summons a lingering poisonous mist that deals damage over time and applies Scarlet Rot. Controls areas well.
- Tibia’s Summons: Call forth two skeletal warriors to overwhelm and distract foes. Combined with your knife, you’ll swarm opponents relentlessly.
- Rotten Breath: Costly but sprays a wide breath of Scarlet Rot ahead of you. Great clearing large groups when ambushed.
Talismans
- Rotten Winged Sword Insignia: Boosts damage against enemies afflicted with Scarlet Rot or Death. A must-have.
- Graven-Mass Talisman: your incantations will cast much faster. Use to spam spells more relentlessly.
- Marika’s Soreseal: Boosts all attributes at the cost of more damage taken. Well worth the trade as a spellcaster.
- Ritual Sword Talisman: Boosts damage of your unique weapon skill spawns even further.
Gameplay
Engage at range with Swarm of Flies to open and apply status effects. Throw out Tibia Summons for added heat, then dish damage from afar with Ekzykes’ Decay and Plague Lady’s Fetid Mist. Once foes are rotting, combo into O, Death for vicious damage boosted by Rotten Winged Sword Insignia.
Surrounded? Spray Rotten Breath while weaving your dagger’s spirits. Shield with Black Dumpling, then harass with more flies and summons. Let status effects do much of the work wearing enemies down before finishing them off.
Against bosses, play patiently and focus on safely casting your spells from afar. With the right talismans and high Arcane, you’ll melt even the toughest opponents while rarely needing to approach. Simply control the battlefield with summons and status effects until victory is yours!
PvP Tactics
Pvp as a caster favors ambush and zone control even more than PvE. Lead engagements by opening with Rotten Breath to rapidly apply Scarlet Rot from safety. Then dance around summoning tibias and spawning dagger spirits to distract your opponent(s) as Ekzykes’ Decay chips away at their health.
Play very reactive – shield with Black Dumpling then whip out Swarm of Flies the moment foes approach for breathing room. Bait attacks and whittle down opponents patiently with status effects rather than going for direct damage. Save O, Death for finishing blows once foes are weakened and rotting.
Most importantly, stick with teammates for back up. Gank squads can easily overwhelm a lone caster, so fight near summons, blue phantoms, or cooperators whenever possible. With your abilities, you’ll tilt any fight solidly in your allies’ favor wherever you join the fray.
Few classes reward dedication and mastery quite like the necromancer. By focusing properly on Faith, Arcane and utility incantations, you can control any battlefield while barely needing to risk your own life. Command legions of the restless dead to overwhelm enemies as you dance amid the shadows, raining poison and decay from afar to claim victory. May the power of Elden Ring’s death magic serve you well, fellow Lord of Death! Let none survive your malignant grasp.
