An Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree lightning build gives you the tools to take down most foes in spectacular fashion, even in Shadow of the Erdtree. Fewer enemies have lightning resistance compared to foes who withstand fire or frost, and the selection of lightning magic is one of the strongest in the game.
Our Elden Ring lightning build guide breaks down the best weapons, recommended stats, and top Incantations for a strong lightning playthrough with several options for all styles.
If you’re after more help, head over to our Shadow of the Erdtree guides hub, where you’ll find tips for completing Ansbach’s quest and explainers for how to duplicate Remembrances and deal with Furnace Golems
Elden Ring is a bit skimpy with its lightning options, so any lightning build is going to either focus on a selection of Incantations or a small number of Ash of War skills for melee weapon users. Or both. Lightning Ash of War skills increase dexterity scaling, so you could feasibly run a Dex/Faith build and have more than one way to fling thunder from heaven at your foes.
Elden Ring lightning build: Best stats
Which stats you prioritize depends on what kind of lightning build you run, but unless you’re planning a melee-only run, you’ll want to invest in Faith at least a little bit. That goes double if you opt for the Lightning Perfume Bottle, which scales on Faith and Dexterity. In general, for an endgame or DLC build, aim for something like this:
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 20-30 (higher if you’re running a Faith build)
- Endurance: 30-40
- Strength: 12
- Dexterity: 40-50 (lower for pure magic builds)
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 50-60
- Arcane: 9
Top on the list of lightning build weapons is the Lightning Perfume Bottle, which you can get in the northern part of Cerulean Coast if you enter via Charo’s Hidden Grave. These have low Dexterity and Faith requirements and scale primarily with Faith as you enhance them. That said, you can get some really solid results even from low stat investments. They’re light and work as a primary or secondary weapon, and you can get an excellent Ash of War that bumps their damage output even further.
If you want something a bit more traditional that also deals physical damage, your best bet is a standard weapon that doesn’t have exceptional Dexterity scaling already. Lightning Ashes of War drop damage output and Strength scaling and raise Dexterity scaling slightly, but on some weapons that already have strong Dex scaling – two-handed katanas, for example – you actually end up taking a slight hit in your damage output.
Just check the scaling before deciding to add your Ash, and if it drops damage more than you like, consider running it alongside a more potent weapon with no elemental alignment.
The easier option if you’re running a Dexterity build already is the Bolt of Gransax weapon, found in Leyndell. It has a decent bit of lightning damage built in, and its built-in Ancient Lightning Spear skill is a quick and easy way to deal heavy lightning damage fast. It requires 40 Dexterity and 20 Strength to equip, but by the time you start Shadow of the Erdtree, you should be able to get that without sacrificing other important stats, such as Vigor.
Faith builds should use the Gravel Stone Seal, which you can get near the West Rampart Site of Grace in Leyndell. Gravel Stone Seal increases the damage output of all Dragon Cult Incantations, which is a fancy way of saying “anything with lightning,” including Frozen Lightning Spear and Fortissax’s incantation.
Elden Ring lightning build: Best Incantations
“What about sorceries,” you might be asking, and the answer is there are no lightning sorceries for plot reasons. If you want lightning magic, you’ll have to run a Faith build.
On the bright side, there are plenty of Incantations to choose from. Our top picks are:
- Ancient Dragon Lightning Spear
- Lightning Spear
- Frozen Lightning Spear
- Honed Bolt
Frozen Lightning Spear might be unwieldy compared to some of the other lightning Incantations, but it’s worth using for its fantastic Frostbite utility alone. Most Shadow of the Erdtree bosses are weak to Frostbite, so keeping this one on hand is a solid way to vary your arsenal and make tough fights a bit easier.
If you want the best possible damage output, you’ll have to take a slight risk and cover your weak spots with Talismans.
- Lightning Scorpion Charm: Increases all lightning damage, but also increases damage taken
- Dragoncrest Greatshield: Greatly reduces incoming physical damage
- Flock’s Canvas: Greatly raises the power of Incantations
- Shard of Alexander (for melee builds): Increases skill power
- Perfumer’s Talisman (for lightning bottle builds): Raises the power of perfume bottle attacks
Elden Ring lightning build: Best Ash of War skills
If you’re not using Incantations, Ashes of War are where your fancy lightning attacks come from. There aren’t many lightning Ashes of War in Elden Ring, but the ones you can pick from are quite good. Our recommendations are:
- Lightning Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Blinkbolt
Lightning Slash is a standard lightning-infused sword attack, but standard doesn’t mean weak. It packs a big punch. Thunderbolt lets you cast safely from a distance, and the casting animation is shorter than you have to deal with for most Incantations. Finally is Blinkbolt, a Shadow of the Erdtree-exclusive skill you get from the Fog Rift Catacombs. It briefly boosts your movement speed and imbues your body with lightning before delivering a final strike – handy if you need to be mobile during a battle.
If you're playing Shadow of the Erdtree, make sure to track down Scadutree Fragment locations and Revered Spirit Ash, or no build will do you much good.
