Elden Ring has many potential weapons, spells, and skills to use. It can be hard to choose an effective and fun build to play. Here is a list of the best mage builds to try.

2 - Enchanted Knight

The Enchanted Knight uses Carian Sorcerers to attack fight in melee range. Carian Slicer is your primary attack, acting like an enchanted sword. Carian Glintstone Staff boosts Carian Sword Sorceries, increasing the overall damage of Carian Greatsword, Carian Piercer, Carian Slicer, and Adula’s Moonblade. This build uses Adula’s Moonblade rather than Carian Greatsword as Moonblade is the same animation, except it does additional damage with a frostbite wave that can also apply the status effect to enemies. This build also wields a shield in their offhand, with Barricade Shield skill to reduce the stamina cost of blocking. You can also add ranged spells if needed for tough enemies.

  • Primary Stat: IntelligenceSecondary Stat: Mind, Vigor, and Endurance.Weapons: Carian Glintstone Staff.Shield: Carian Knight’s Shield.Armor: Queen’s Crescent Crown, Royal Knight Set.Talisman: Graven-Mass Talisman, Magic Scorpion Charm, Radagon Icon, Stargazer Heirloom.Skills: Barricade Shield.Spells: Carian Slicer, Carian Piercer, and Adula’s Moonblade.

1 - Sorcerer

The Sorcerer focuses on ranged spell casting and avoiding melee range. This build uses the Jellyfish Shield’s Ash of War Contagious Fury, which boosts all damage by 20% for 30 seconds. Combining this with Terra Magica will further increase your ranged spell damage. Your primary spell is Great Glinstone Shard which has a cheap cost and solid damage. Rock Sling is used to stagger aggressive enemies to keep them away from you. Loretta’s Greatbow is a long-range spell that can be charged for extra damage. Comet Azur shoots a beam directly in front of you and will shred enemies as long as they stay in the beam, this spell is situational but well worth using on slow-moving or larger enemies.

  • Primary Stat: IntelligenceSecondary Stat: Mind, Endurance.Weapons: Carian Regal Scepter.Shield: Jellyfish Shield.Armor: Queen’s Crescent Crown, Carian Knight Set.Talisman: Graven-Mass Talisman, Magic Scorpion Charm, Radagon Icon, Stargazer Heirloom.Skills: Contagious Fury.Spells: Great Glinstone Shard, Rock Sling, Loretta’s Greatbow, Terra Magica, Comet Azur.

For more on Elden Ring guides, check out Best Staffs in Elden Ring and What are the best starting classes in Elden Ring?