KEY POINTS

  • Offensive Faith spells can be obtained relatively early in the game
  • Early Faith builds can transition to Arcane hybrid builds for Dragon Incantation use
  • Incantation damage scales with both Faith and the level of equipped seals

Building a character around the Faith stat in “Elden Ring” has a lot of nuances in the early game. The general lack of Faith-scaling weapons and offensive spells hampers the player’s damage significantly, but gaining access to these things alleviates much of these worries.

Now that much of “Elden Ring” has been explored, players have found a way to transform their characters into lightning-throwing demigods even before beating the first real story boss of the game. Here’s a quick guide on how to make an effective early game Faith build.

Recommended Classes and Items

Start by picking either the Confessor or Prophet for their high starting Faith stat. The former allows for easier access to some weapons and armor, while the latter lets players access some Incantations earlier on. Any normal weapon will work just fine with this build so long as it can be buffed or infused. Any of the starting gifts are also viable, but getting the Golden Seed is highly recommended for beginners.

Incantations

To make this build work, players will need the Order’s Blade or Electrify Armament to buff their weapon as well as the Lightning Spear and Honed Bolt Incantations that will serve as their main damaging spells.

Honed Bolt, Lightning Spear and Electrify Armament can be obtained by defeating a lone knight found directly south of Liurnia’s Artist’s Shack and giving the Dragon Cult Prayerbook to either Miriel or Corhyn. Players can reach this area early by using the hidden path to Liurnia in Stormhill by the broken bridge.

For maximum damage against bosses, consider getting the Flame of Frenzy Incantation from the Callu Baptismal Church in the forest leading to the Weeping Peninsula.

Friendly phantoms aiding a player in Elden Ring
Friendly phantoms aiding a player in Elden Ring From Software

Stat Requirements

Players will need to meet the following minimum requirements before they can use the Incantations mentioned above:

  • Electrify Armament: 15 FAI
  • Flame of Frenzy: 16 FAI
  • Lightning Spear: 17 FAI
  • Honed Bolt: 24 FAI
  • Order’s Blade: 13 INT, 13 FAI

Ideally, put as many points in Faith as possible to maximize the damage done by Incantations and any weapon infused with Holy or Lightning damage. However, try to allocate some stat points to Vigor and Mind to increase maximum HP and FP.

As a final tip, don’t forget to upgrade both the main weapon and the seal to make sure maximum damage is being dealt by all sources at all times.

RELATED STORIES