As a hardcore Elden Ring enthusiast with over 800 hours logged across 5 complete playthroughs, I‘ve intimately experienced nearly every build the game has to offer. And of all styles tested, my absolute favorite is the Dragon Priest.
Harnessing the chaotic powers of ancient dragons through faith and intelligence, this build unleashes devastating arcane arts upon foes. I‘m thrilled to share everything I‘ve learned about mastering this incredible playstyle today.
In this comprehensive guide, you‘ll discover:
- The origins of dragon cult magic
- Ideal stat distribution and playstyle overview
- Best dragon priest weapons, spells and gear
- How to acquire essential dragon incantations
- Combat tips and enemy weakness exploitation
Let‘s dive into the secrets of the dragon cult!
Origins of Dragon Cult Magic
To understand a Dragon Priest‘s formidable powers, we must look back to Elden Ring history itself.
In ancient times, an Eternal City residing deep underground was home to the ancient dragon Greyoll, Mother of all Dragons. When she perished, the city worshipped her remains as a goddess.
This sparked the founding of the Dragon Cult fraternity. They believed that by communing with her blood they could ascend to true enlightenment.
The cult fiercely guarded Greyoll‘s temple, fanatically practicing their unique dragon cult magic derived from her blood. This manifested as the otherworldly dragon incantations we can now utilize.
So by slaying Greyoll‘s ancient descendants that carry her bloodline and taking their hearts to the Dragon Communion altar, we too can invoke these primordial dragon arts, becoming a feared Dragon Priest ourselves!
Now let‘s examine how to optimally build and play such a priest.
Dragon Priest Playstyle Overview
A Dragon Priest combines ranged dragon cult spells with supporting magic or melee attacks. Your goal is to relentlessly pressure enemies at range with incantation combinations before they ever reach you.
This means managing proper spacing through good positioning and baiting attacks is crucial. Pay close attention to the casting times and effects of your various dragon breaths available to string effective combos.
Swiftly swapping between offensive tactics prevents foes from adapting, keeping them off balance. Dragon Priests excel at relentlessly exploiting weaknesses too thanks to their versatile magic damage types. Master this fluidity and you‘ll emerge victorious from even tense boss encounters!
But to unleash this true potential, you need to spec your priest correctly…
Optimal Stat Distribution
Here are the ideal stats to enable dominating gameplay as a dragon cult caster:
- Vigor – Get this to 60 initially for ample health to cast spells safely from range
- Mind – Level up to 50 for a massive FP pool so you can dish out more deadly expensive dragon arts
- Intelligence – Pump this to 80 to meet spell requirements and maximize magic damage
- Faith – Similarly boost faith up to 80 to greatly strengthen dragon incant scaling
- Arcane – Raise to 25-30 to enhance status build-up from scarlet rot – deadly with Ekzykes‘s Decay
The exact numbers can scale beyond this if going above level 150. But focus on massive intelligence/faith investment first to empower your dragon heart arsenal to the fullest.
Trading some points from endurance/strength/dexterity for the sake of wielding devastating magic is part of the tactical tradeoff that pays off big time with this exciting battle mage archetype.
Acquiring Dragon Cult Incantations
Wondering how to get access to all these vile dragon breaths? Here are the steps:
First, you must collect dragon hearts as loot drops by slaying dragons roaming The Lands Between like Agheel or Greyoll. Each heart carries remnants of their power.
Next, offer these hearts to the Dragon Communion altar to "Devour Dragon Heart". This allows you to purchase unique Dragon Cult Incantations from the old woman slaying nearby.
These spells draw from the strength of legendary dragons, invoking wrathful magic that often inflicts potent damage over time effects or crowd control.
Now let‘s cover ideal equipment…
Best Weapons for a Dragon Priest
Your main damage dealers are deadly dragon incantations. But these battle mages still benefit from some solid melee weapons when foes encroach too close for comfort.
Golden Order Greatsword
This blessed heavy greatsword once wielded by Godfrey iconically slams a spectral golden foot down to crush enemies. Alongside dealing magic and holy damage on hit, the skill emits shockwaves that stagger groups.
Golden Order Greatsword Stats:
- Damage: Standard/Magic/Holy
- Skill: Wave of Gold
- Effects: Area burst shockwaves
- Scaling: Strength/Intelligence/Faith
- Weight: 16 units
The exciting skill chains nicely into incants, while magic boosting raises damage respectably despite minimal stat investment due to high base magic values. A great melee choice!
Siluria‘s Tree
This massive sentinel tree spear is imbued with ancient dragon power drawn from roots below the Erdtree. By launching enemies skyward with impaling attacks and blasts of wind, it creates openings for long range dragon spells.
Siluria‘s Tree Stats:
- Damage: Physical/Holy
- Skill: Borealis Mist
- Effects: Freeze burst shards
- Scaling: Strength/Dexterity/Faith
- Weight: 11 units
Siluria‘s Tree requires some strength and faith, but offers ranged pokes that combo smoothly into your freezing dragon magic for vicious frostbite enabling combos.
Best Armor for a Dragon Priest
These armor sets enhance your mystical dragon cult image while providing solid protection against the threats you‘ll face:
Skeletal Mask
The eerie skeletal mask is perfect for portraying a sinister dragon worshipping priest conducting eldritch rituals. It also boosts holy damage negation which pairs nicely with the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman.
Skeletal Mask Stats:
- Damage Negations: 2.8 Physical / 2.8 Strike / 3.1 Slash / 3.1 Pierce
- Immunities: 23 Robustness / 14 Focus / 24 Vitality
- Weight: 3 units
Slap on the imposing skeletal mask when embracing the darker dragon cult aspects!
Dragon Cult Incantor Set
If fully committing to the dragon worship theme, the Dragon Cult Incantor robes visually convey your fanatical devotion to dragon magic perfectly.
Dragon Cult Incantor Set Stats:
- Damage Negations: 7.5 Physical / 5.6 Strike / 8.2 Slash / 5.9 Pierce / 17 Magic / 7.9 Fire / 4.2 Holy
- Immunities: 52 Robustness / 28 Focus / 37 Vitality
- Weight: 11 units
The Incantor garb lacks strong raw defenses. But fantastic magic resistance coupled with extremely light weight helps offset reliance on ranged attacking. Roar menacingly casting forbidden dragon magic!
Best Talismans for a Dragon Priest
These talismans amplify your dragonslayer power:
Dragoncrest Greatshield
Given dragon cult magic heavily utilizes fire, boosting fire damage negation by 20% saves your hide. Survive and unleash more epic spells.
Radagon Icon
Speed up casting to swiftly chain dragon incants that ransack enemies with blistering magic bursts. Prevent punishing trade hits mid-animation.
Magic Scorpion Charm
Boost all magic by a formidable 12%. Empower already deadly sorceries and dragon incant damage to delete enemies faster than ever.
Godfrey Icon
Many beastly dragon breaths are charged attacks. Gain a 15% damage bonus on these thanks to the Godfrey Icon‘s blessing.
Now let‘s examine these central dragon cult spells…
Best Dragon Cult Incantations
Here are the signature dragon cult spells that enable you to unleash pure primordial magic:
Greyoll‘s Roar
This bellowing war cry once inspired terror boosts damage negation and debuffs groups of foes so they take more damage. Highly spammable for added durability mid combat too.
Ekzykes‘s Decay
Inflict vile scarlet rot that eats enemies alive over time across a wide area. This extreme damage over time bypasses shields – and stacks with standard rot spells!
Agheel‘s Flame
Spew blazing hot dragon fire that explodes on impact, burning surrounding enemies for major damage. Great range and aim lets you snipe targets.
Theodorix‘s Magma
Call scorching waves of magma that cascade over enemies, setting them ablaze for damage over time burn torture. Visually spectacular!
Together these four staple dragon cult incants form the core of our magics. But don‘t be afraid to weave in other options like Glintstone Breath, Borealis Mist or Dragonclaw for even more versatility!
Mastering Dragon Priest Combat
Here are some advanced combat tips and strategies to truly master the Dragon Priest archetype:
Punish greed ruthlessly – Foes that chase you down with risky gap closers get caught in lengthy beast roar or frost mist casts. deleted by surprise explosions.
Manage range and spacing – Since dragon incants have startup, position intelligently to avoid trades. Bait attacks then punish whiff recovery windows.
Mix up magic strategically – Transition between melee combos, sorceries and various dragon breaths unexpectedly to stay unpredictable.
Exploit elemental weaknesses – Lightning drakes dislike getting ravaged by scarlet rot. Frost wyverns abhor searin hot chaotic magma. Adapt!
Chain crowd control effects – Entomb groups in Theodorix‘s Magma then blanket them with supportive Ekzykes Decay to stack burning DOT.
Use range to avoid crowds – Pull individuals away using Glintstone Sorceries. Isolate threats then crush them under hails of Agheel Flame barrages.
Master key fundamentals like proper spacing, attack commitment punishing and weakness exploitation supplemented with advanced ability combos cements your reputation as a lethal dragon cult battle mage!
And there you have it – everything you need to know about constructing the ultimate Dragon Priest character in Elden Ring. By fusing together devastating dragon cult magic, supporting spells and tactical fundamentals, this build unleashes pure devastation.
I absolutely relish sundering foes at range with forbidden dragon arts as a priest. Calling waves of scorching magma before silencing enemies in contagious deadly scarlet rot never gets old. The ability to constantly mix up your approach with access to many damage types and crowd control effects makes each encounter an engaging battle of wits.
If you love slinging flashy magic from range while dismantlingmonster weaknesses, I strongly recommend trying this build! Let me know your own thoughts and experiences playing a Dragon Priest in the comments below. May the ancient dragon flames you invoke reduce all before you to ashes!
