As an avid Elden Ring player with over 1000 hours logged, I‘ve had the chance to experiment extensively with dragon incantations. These spells allow you to unleash the power of ancient dragons to decimate groups of enemies or take down bosses.
In this guide, I‘ll be counting down my picks for the 10 best dragon incantations in Elden Ring. I‘ve ranked them based on damage output, utility in combat, FP cost, and acquisition difficulty. Whether you‘re running a faith, intelligence, or arcane build, you‘ll find some exceptionally strong options here.
10. Dragonfire
While one of the most basic dragon incantations, Dragonfire has its uses, especially early on. This spell unleashes a sweeping torrent of fire from your character‘s hand. It can strike multiple enemies at once, igniting them for additional fire damage over time.
The main advantage of Dragonfire is its low FP cost and stat requirements. You only need 12 faith to cast it. In the early game when your options are limited, Dragonfire can provide some extra punch against groups. Late game, it falls behind higher tier dragon and fire incantations in damage.
FP Cost: 14
Requirements: 12 Faith
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating Agheel, Dragon of Limgrave and trading in his Dragon Heart.
9. Glintstone Breath
For sorcerers, Glintstone Breath is the equivalent of Dragonfire. Your character spews out a wide torrent of glintstones, pelting enemies with magic damage. It‘s on the weaker side for a dragon incantation, but has the advantage of very approachable stat requirements.
With just 15 intelligence and 12 arcane, nearly any sorcery build can make use of Glintstone Breath situationally. It can whittle down groups of enemies from range or finish off low health targets. While not exceptional in power, its low cost makes it handy to have slotted as a backup ranged option.
FP Cost: 36
Requirements: 15 Intelligence, 12 Arcane
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating any dragon and trading in their Dragon Heart.
8. Rotten Breath
Next up we have Rotten Breath, one of two dragon incantations that apply Scarlet Rot instead of direct damage. This grotesque spell has your character regurgitate a sweeping breath of festering rot towards enemies. Any targets caught within suffer continuous Scarlet Rot buildup.
Rot damage ticks away at a fixed percentage of max HP, making it extremely deadly against bosses and tough enemies. The catch is that various enemies have different rot resistance. Rotten Breath is often enough to infect standard foes, but may take multiple casts on resilient bosses.
In addition, this spell deals a bit of magic damage on impact as well. It‘s a great tool for nasty prolonged damage over time effects.
FP Cost: 36
Requirements: 15 Faith, 12 Arcane
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating any dragon and trading in their Dragon Heart
7. Agheel‘s Flame
Up to this point, the dragon incantations have been relatively standard fare. Agheel‘s Flame is where things get more interesting. To cast it, your character rears back and spews an arcing torrent of fire. This heavy-hitting spell is unique in that charging it empowers the attack.
At base stats, Agheel‘s Flame gushes fire for moderate damage. But fully charging ups the volume, range, and power noticeably. It transforms into a snaking inferno that can crush groups or quickly melt bosses. The charged version costs more FP but devastates single targets.
FP Cost: 36 (76 Charged)
Requirements: 23 Faith, 15 Arcane
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating Flying Dragon Agheel and trading in 2 of his Dragon Hearts.
6. Frozen Lightning Spear
Here‘s where dragon incantations start getting more flashy. Frozen Lightning Spear conjures a massive lance of ice charged with electricity overhead. You can then hurl this floating weapon to impale enemies, discharging the frozen lightning stored within.
In functionality, it resembles the standard Lightning Spear miracle. But the ice aspect causes Frostbite, steadily sapping away health after the initial spear impact. This dual elemental damage makes each spear hit brutally hard. And you can toss them in quick succession.
The downside to Frozen Lightning Spear is predictability. Forewarned enemies can roll under or to the side. But when you catch an opening, that icy spear can chunk even endgame bosses with the right stats.
FP Cost: 38
Requirements: 34 Faith
How to Get: Automatically obtained after defeating Dragonkin Soldier in Deeproot Depths
5. Ekzykes‘s Decay
If Rotten Breath wasn‘t potent enough, meet its nastier cousin Ekzykes‘s Decay. This enhanced rot breath calls down waves of scarlet rot from above in a wider area. In addition, it deals significantly more impact damage on top of the debilitating rot buildup.
Ekzykes‘s Decay demands higher attributes to wield, costing slightly more FP too. But it infects enemies faster with Scarlet Rot, which ticks for percentage health damage. That makes it absolutely melt tanks with massive HP pools.
Against agile enemies the casting time can be risky. But unleashed at the right moment, a breath of Ekzykes‘s Decay can trigger intense damage over time effects.
FP Cost: 48
Requirements: 23 Faith 15 Arcane
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating Ekzykes and trading in 2 Dragon Hearts (1 from Ekzykes, 1 from any other dragon)
4. Dragonice
Thus far dragon incantations have brought only fiery destruction. Dragonice proves dragons wield mastery over frost as well. This icy variant launches forth billowing breath that freezes those caught within it, encasing them in ice momentarily.
In addition to high frost damage on impact, frozen enemies are briefly incapacitated and vulnerable to critical attacks. This provides prime opportunities to unload huge damage combos against bosses. After the freeze thaws, frostbitten enemies have stamina regeneration slowed too.
With just 36 FP cost and slightly lower requirements, Dragonice is quite accessible. It can lock down enemies more easily than other breath types. Just beware using it up close, as you aren‘t immune to getting frozen yourself!
FP Cost: 36
Requirements: 15 Faith 12 Arcane
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating any dragon and trading in their Dragon Heart.
3. Dragon Claw
Raising the bar for power is Dragon Claw. As its name suggests, this concentrated force incantation forms your arm into a massive ethereal dragon claw. You can then activate it for a brutal upward slash that launches enemies.
The unique aspect of Dragon Claw is charging it. Hold the cast to amp up claw size and damage exponentially. A fully charged Dragon Claw can flatten even later game story bosses in a few brutal strikes.
Take care though, as fully charging leaves you open without guarding. Enemies can and will punish whiffed hits. But properly aimed, Dragon Claw dominates with some of the highest strength of all dragon incantations. It also fluidly chains into melee combos once foes get knocked airborne by the uppercut.
FP Cost: 24 (65 Charged)
Requirements: 17 Faith 13 Arcane
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating any dragon and trading in their Dragon Heart.
2. Placidusax‘s Ruin
The penultimate dragon spell on this list comes from Dragonlord Placidusax himself. This reality-warping incantation conjures floating portals around you. After a brief delay, searing golden beams erupt from the portals, vaporizing anything caught within.
Placidusax‘s Ruin boasts unrivaled area coverage and damage among dragon incantations. It can also combo from using other spells beforehand. All it takes is a second of enemies staying put within the swirling portals and they will get obliterated by the raining lasers.
Its only real checks are the sky-high FP consumption and stat requirements. You‘ll need at least 50 points in both faith and intelligence just to equip Placidusax‘s Ruin. But once obtained, nothing compares to its sheer magical destruction potential. It is by far the flashiest and hardest hitting dragon spell out there.
FP Cost: 80
Requirements: 36 Faith 60 Intelligence
How to Get: Trade in Remembrance of the Dragonlord obtained by defeating Dragonlord Placidusax in Farum Azula
1. Borealis‘s Mist
And taking the #1 spot for top dragon incantation is Borealis‘s Mist. This frosty incantation calls down billowing hoarfrost clouds from above, chilling enemies to the bone. It stands above all others in practical combat utility and damage output.
When cast, Borealis‘s Mist instantly forms a sprawling mist zone that persists for over 20 seconds. Any enemies inside have Frostbite rapidly applied alongside continuous magic damage. This makes it phenomenally potent against large or slow bosses—just engulf them in the mist and watch their health get shredded away.
Borealis‘s Mist also has one of the largest area of effect ranges out of all incantations. And since the chilling fog hurts while active, you‘re free to fight up close or cast other spells freely. There is no competing with the raw damage numbers this dragon spell puts out if foes get caught within.
FP Cost: 48
Requirements: 23 Faith 15 Arcane
How to Get: Purchase from Cathedral of Dragon Communion after defeating Borealis the Freezing Fog and trading in their Dragon Heart.
Those are my picks for the definitive top 10 best dragon incantations available in Elden Ring. I aimed to highlight spells with immense damage potential, wide attack patterns, or long term effects like frost, rot, and fire. These complement melee character builds extremely well too.
Let me know your own favorites! The cool mechanics behind dragon cult and communion spells offer creative options to destroy all who stand against your Tarnished. Try mixing and matching different breaths to see what works for your playstyle. Dominating enemies with the power of ancient wyrms never gets old.
