Elden Ring: Best Dragon Communion Build (2024)

Fans of Elden Ring’s Dragon Communion are in for a treat with the new items and incantations available in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Not only does the Land of Shadow have an entire region dedicated to dragons capped with an epic boss battle, but players can now become a dragon themselves. Here are a few ways to use both new and old items to maximize your damage output for your Dragon Communion build.

Elden Ring’s base game provides the main key to this build, the Dragon Communion Seal , which can be found in the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave. While this seal scales from both Faith and Arcane, upgrading it to +10 with Somber Smithing Stones increases its Arcane scaling to S Tier, which is the highest possible scaling. The additional 15% bonus to Dragon Communion incantations as well makes this an easy choice. Make sure to pick this seal up to get started on your build.

The Best Stats For A Dragon Communion Build

Faith & Arcane Make A Deadly Combination

Stats are always important in your Elden Ring builds. Your primary stat for this build will be Arcane, an ability that affects both luck and status buildup. While the boost to luck is a welcome addition, we primarily want to push Arcane for the purpose of status buildup and outright damage from your Dragon Communion Seal. Status buildup increases the rate at which statuses, such as Frostbite, Bleed, or Scarlet Rot, are inflicted upon your enemies. The higher the Arcane stat, the more quickly these statuses pop, allowing you to quickly apply multiple status effects to enemies.

Your next damage stat will be Faith, which affects the scaling of your Seal (though a smaller amount), and also allows you to use more incantations. While it is less important for the Dragon Communion incantations, it can be very useful to level Faith in order to use other incantations, such as Golden Vow or Flame, Grant me Strength , to further increase your damage output and mitigation.

An unexpected stat to keep in mind for this build is Dexterity, though that may seem surprising at first. While Dexterity is primarily used by players looking to use weapon-based builds, it is also important for casting builds because it affects the casting speed of sorceries and incantations. Putting points into Dexterity will help your Dragon Communion incantations cast faster, which is very important due to the long windup animations of most of these incantations. The benefits cap at Dexterity level 70, so you do not need to add additional points after this.

The last two stats to level are Endurance and Mind, which affect your total amount of Stamina and FP, respectively. Not only do Dragon Communion incantations require a lot of FP to cast, but they also use up more Stamina than most other spells. Ensuring you have plenty to spare is very important, or else your breath attacks will end early. Try to have at least 50 Mind and 30 Endurance as soon as possible.

Best Dragon Communion Incantations

How To Choose Which Incantations To Use

There are many Dragon Communion incantations to choose from, and your final choices are up to your preferences. However, there are a few rough guidelines that can help make your build more efficient. Dragonmaw and Dragonclaw may seem basic, as they only deal physical damage, but it's not a bad idea to keep one or the other available. In addition to physical damage, both have fairly decent poise damage, which can help keep smaller foes in check.

Incantations that do elemental damage can be excellent for situations where enemies or bosses have a weakness to that type. For example, Fingercreepers and Erdtree Avatars are weak to Fire Damage, and Hoarah Loux is weak to Magic Damage. It is recommended to have at least one elemental damage incantation chosen at any time and swap them out as needed to face certain challenges. You can also further boost this damage using Talismans or your Wonderous Physick for your chosen damage type.

Where this build really shines, though, is with the status damage incantations. By focusing on Arcane, players can increase the rate at which they apply statuses, such as Scarlet Rot and Frostbite, which create damage over time effects and increase damage taken by enemies. Dragonice and Borealis's Mist are both fantastic openers for any boss fight, as applying the Frostbite condition increases their damage taken by 20%. Following up with Rotten Breath or Ekzyke's Decay to apply Scarlet Rot, which will deal significant damage over time. Talismans and armor can also be used to increase damage based on these statuses.

Lastly, Greyoll's Roar is a fantastic, all-around opener for just about any boss battle. While it deals standard physical damage, the roar applies a significant debuff to enemies, decreasing their attack by 15% and defense by 10% for 60 seconds. You can use it at the start of a difficult fight, even before using a Frostbite attack, to further increase damage received from all follow-up attacks. As an additional bonus, this incantation also deals a small amount of poise damage which can help stagger large groups of smaller enemies, and also deals a hard knockback if their stance is broken.

The Best Talismans For A Dragon Communion Build

Maximizing Damage Depending On Your Incantations

The next thing to consider is talismans, such as the Faithful's Canvas Talisman or Flock's Canvas Talisman, which increase all incantation damage by 4% and 8%, respectively. The Roar Medallion increases roar and breath attacks by an additional 10% damage, including the Dragon Communion breath incantations.

For an additional boost, the Radagon Icon will allow you to cast spells even quicker, which can be useful due to the long windup of most Dragon Communion incantations. This works by applying virtual Dexterity, which decreases casting time. However, you can consider upgrading the Radagon Icon to the Beloved Stardust talisman, which greatly increases casting speed at the cost of -30% damage absorption. If you plan on slinging spells from afar, this might be a safe choice for you.

If status afflictions are your style, don’t forget to grab the Kindred of Rot's Exultation which grants you a 20% boost to attack power for 20 seconds when in the vicinity of Poisoning or Rot. Additionally, if you are using a bleed weapon or swapping in a few blood spells, such as Swarm of Flies , the Lord of Blood's Exultation accomplishes the same boost, but for Blood Loss.

If you want to push your damage to the max, there are a few more ways to increase elemental damage. The fire, magic, and lightning scorpion charms each increase their respective elemental damage by 12%, respectively, though they increase physical damage taken by 10%. You should only choose one of these at a time. Ideally, you will only have one incantation slotted for damage, such as Agheel's Flame for fire or Smarag's Glintstone Breath for magic. In a similar vein, Talisman of the Dread increases magma ability damage by 14%, which includes both magma breath attacks and the new incantation, Bayle's Tyranny .

The Best Armor For A Dragon Communion Build

When In Doubt, Add More Arcane

The best armor for a Dragon Communion build is Thiollier's Set, a new armor set from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Both the Mask and the Garb increase Arcane, by +3 and +2 respectively, with no penalties. Besides this set, the Silver Tear Mask grants the highest Arcane boost with a +8, but comes with a penalty to physical attack power at -5%. Likewise, the Albinauric Mask increases Arcane +4 while reducing the recovery effects of your Flask of Crimson Tears.

The Faith armor options come with no penalties, so feel free to use them as you wish. The Circlet of Light, obtained in the DLC, boosts Intelligence, Faith, and Arcane by +1 while also increasing the power of Miquella's incantations. If you opted to have additional incantations slotted that fit this criteria, this may not be a bad option for you. Lastly, the Mushroom Crown raises attack power by 10% when Poison or Scarlet Rot occurs in the area. If you regularly use Rotten Breath or Ekzyke's Decay, this may be a good option for increasing damage output.

However, you may want to forego armor entirely for Shadow of the Erdtree’s newest treat: the reusable item, the Rock Heart. Like the Priestess Heart , this item requires the player to remove all equipment before activating. When used, the player is transformed into an ancient dragon warrior until their next death. Passively, this item gives a +50 boost to all status resistances and 10% increase in all damage negation. When activated again once in dragon form, it provides a 20% damage increase to Dragon Communion incantations for 60 seconds.

Overall, Dragon Communion builds are one of the most powerful casting builds in Elden Ring, though with the detriment of longer casting times and resource cost. The incantation variety allows players to tailor their build to fit their needs, particularly when it comes to enemy and boss weaknesses. It also synergizes well with other successful Arcane and Faith weapons, allowing a sort of hybrid build that has access to buff incantations and strong weapons. Overall, it is a fun, flavorful build that packs a punch.

Elden Ring

RPG

Action

Systems

Platform(s)

PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC

Released

February 25, 2022

Developer(s)

From Software

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op , Online Multiplayer

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence