The Ultimate Elden Ring Lightning Build Guide: Wrath of the Storm

Harness the primordial fury of lightning itself with this comprehensive min/max build for Elden Ring. I‘ve played over 500 hours as a lightning-focused Prophet across multiple playthroughs. Now I want to share my passion and knowledge to help you vaporize enemies with raw elemental wrath!

Below I‘ll cover everything you need including starting class, target stats, best weapons and spells, key talismans, and tactical gameplay strategies I‘ve refined through extensive testing. Read on to master the way of lightning!

Why Lightning?

Veterans know the Souls series has always heavily favored melee builds. So why bother with a glass cannon lightning warrior? Simply put – facing challenging enemies and bosses with the full offensive power of Thor himself never gets old!

Scoring massive damage by hurling electrified spears or calling down the fury of ancestor spirits keeps combat exciting. This build rewards aggression and risks that pay off in bloody, spectacular fashion.

Yes, you sacrifice some defense compared to established builds like bleed or frost. But lighting‘s offensive potential outpaces both when fully optimized. I can‘t count the number of occasions I‘ve laughed maniacally seeing health bars disintegrate before my Eyes of Death.

Let‘s begin properly building your angel of destruction.

Starting Class and Target Stats

As a devout Prophet, you‘ll channele faith through dexterous combat honed from grueling lessons. Begin with the Prophet class wielding nothing but cloth garments, a simple wooden seal and devotion to lightning‘s wrath.

These make ideal starting stats to then mold into an unstoppable stormbringer:

Let‘s analyze the reasoning behind this stat distribution:

• Vigor – Hits 50 soft cap to give needed HP without heavy armor. Survive most attacks if alert.
• Mind – With 25 FP can reliably cast 4-5 incants in a row when needed .
• Endurance – 120 stamina keeps you aggressive longer. Increase if fat rolling.
• Strength – Enough to wield Dragon King‘s Cragblade and Halo Scythe.
• Dexterity – Max casting speed to bombard faster. Scales innate lightning weapons.
• Intelligence – No sorceries needed. Keep just high enough to know what bolt grenades are.
• Faith – ALL IN for maximum lightning devastation! Offensive bread and butter.
• Arcane – Boosts bleed/poison we don‘t use. Forget this exists.

As you progress and gain runes focus on hitting minimum requirements first:

• 25 Dexterity > 80 Faith > 50 Vigor = Winning Priority

Let‘s make sure you can cast quickly, hit like the wrath of god, THEN bulk up enough HP to not get 1-shot before unleashing Armageddon.

Best Weapons for Smite Build

Now for gear to harness lightning with heroic valor! We want dexterity/faith scaling melee weapons that chime with incantations.

Uchigatana

This reliable katana carries lowly warriors to god-slaying legends. With Keen affinity granting S rank dexterity scaling, it hits ludicrous base damage for fast attack speed.

Slap on Lightning Armament to push even further against lightning resistant foes. The electric bath melts armor and poise.

I used this as my mainhand weapon through Journey 1 and 2 obliterating most story bosses in under a minute. Uchi‘s modest stat requirements also make it super beginner friendly.

For ashes consider Bloodhound Step to dance between doughy mobs and djinn-like Night‘s Cavalry.

Dragon King‘s Cragblade

Upon defeating Magma Wyrm Makar, claim his primordial might. This colossal sword scales best with Keen for A rank dex scaling.

Activate Electrify Armament before unleashing the weapon skill to discharge a rippling wave of lightning forward. This heavily staggers groups and knocks even Rock Trolls on their butts.

I perfected tactically baiting Crucible Knight duo to clump together then nearly one-shotting them simultaneously with an electrified shockwave. Feel that dopamine rush!

Halo Scythe

For slaying Those Who Live in Death, accept this gift from Valiant Gargoyle duo. Deceptively fast for a colossal weapon, the Halo Scythe inflicts holy and physical damage with each broad swing.

Further increase wrathful might by making Sacred for B Strength/D Faith scaling. Add sacred/lightning grease to double down on the holy damage before clapping Demi-Human cheeks.

This became my crowd control weapon of choice in Mountaintops of the Giants. I cackled each time I spun in circles while mimics and Misbegotten Warriors popped like grotesque pinatas under the Scythe‘s relentless strikes.

Essential Lightning Incantations

What good is a lightning prophet without thundering spells to dominate battlefield and small courtyard alike? Equip these essentials to vaporize anatomical matter:

Ancient Lightning Spear

The extra FP cost over basic Lightning Spear pays dividends through sheer damage and range. I live for the sick pleasure of watching health bars disintegrate from across the furthest castle rampart.

Up close, barrage stunned foes like a heavy metal drum soloist on coke. Strike true by manually aiming just above heads to catch the spear‘s arcing descent at the perfect moment.

Electrify Armament

Imbueweapons with holy lightning carnage for 20 seconds. Fantastic for stacking Lightning Spear with spinningweapon skills like Halo Scythe. Also helps counter enemies resistant to physical damage from your usual slashes.

Plus who doesn‘t love the visual crackle of electricity encompassing your equipment? Intimidation matters when channeling Thor.

Golden Vow

Because what‘s better than MORE DAMAGE? Golden Vow boosts attack power by 10% for you and nearby cooperators. Also gains a separate 5% defense buff.

Lightning incants already wreck stuff, so double dip with this accessible holy boost for overkill. Also helpful to bait invaders at First Step grace by appearing weak before RAWR MOTHERCLUCKER!

Talismans – Unleash the Storm

To push our lightning prophet to maximum smite potential equip:

Flock‘s Canvas Talisman

Increasing lightning attack by 15% seems an easy choice, yes? Your go-to Ancient Lightning Spear turns from strong skill to literal finger of god.

Up the devotions with higher poise too! Tank an extra hit while waiting to finish casting and unleash pent up retribution.

Claw Talisman

Having trouble wielding my recommended colossal weapons without fat rolling? This talisman effectively saves five attribute points by increasing dexterity scaling. Invest in more vigor and endurance instead!

Radagon Icon

The bane of sluggish incantations. Greatly speeds up casting to throw more spells in smaller windows. Swap to Two Fingers Talisman if wielding Sacred/Lightning weapons for better dex scaling.

Lightning Scorpion Charm

Further boost lightning by 12% in exchange for physical defense. Well worth it when focusing offensive spells and skills. The glass cannon playstyle either kills before being killed or…actually just gets killed a lot. But so damn fun!

Tactics & Playstyle – Wrath and Ruin

Now let‘s examine how to pilot this storm-focused build to obliterate enemies through aggressively seeking vulnerable openings.

The key lies balancing offense and defense. Lightning abilities quickly slay most foes but drain resources fast. Mind magic meter (blue bar) and green stamina to know limits.

Rule #1: DO NOT GET GREEDY! Many attack animations have long recovery during which savage counter blows swiftly cut you down. Dodge often and properly time combos between retreats.

Against solo enemies like Crucible Knights, strafe just outside melee range while bombarding Ancient Spears. Punish whiffed shield bashes or tail end of combos with a spear then melee combo. Keep them staggered and unable to retaliate.

For groups, always isolate tougher enemies first. Draw lone Fallen Knight soldiers away from worker mobs to char them 1v1. Prevent flanking to control the chaos. Horizon Spin on Halo Scythe shines here.

Don‘t forget support! Flask of Crimson Tears to heal is obvious. But Repair sorcery saves lots of runes fixing weapons/armor after repeated deaths instead of buying Smithing Stones.

Finally, know when to fold ‘em. If portrait edges flash red during prolonged encounters, make distance and re-engage on your terms. Survive at all costs to keep runes and sanity.

Expert Build Analysis

Let‘s crunch numbers explaining exactly why this build concentrates on faith.

Based on private testing, Lightning Spear‘s attack rating scales as follows:

So Faith 80 gives nearly triple the attack rating compared to base 10 required just to unlock Lightning Spear! This directly translates to insane damage stacking additional bonuses from talismans and buffs.

I confirmed similar mathematical scaling occurs with all lightning incants including Ancient Lightning Spear and Lightning Armament. Thus faith is the undisputed offensive bread and butter for this build to exploit.

Additional Build Options

While I‘ve outlined the purest lightning warrior path, this flexible build allows ample room to tailor your own righteous fury. Try out:

Electrify Armament + Bolt of Gransax – Proc spear skill during electro-buff for silly damage. Add Lightning Spear before/after for overkill!

Sacred/Lightning Twinblade – Spin-to-win weapon skill absolutely shreds poise bars. Embrace the blender warrior fantasy.

Vyke‘s War Spear – Unique Ash of War impales humanoid foes with red lightning! Extreme style points.

Death Lightning – High FP cost but spammable and aggressive homing barrage. Great for piles of weak enemies.

Noble‘s Presence – Want to team fight with friends? This low FP buff emboldens cooperators with lightning defense and stamina regen.

Horseback Combat – Lightning Spear gains range/accuracy on Torrent. Drive-by enemy camps raining spears.

Min-maxing has limits. Part of mastering this build means matching playstyle preferences through gear experimentation. Follow the wisdom etched in sacred dragon stones: "improvise, adapt, overcome!"

Conclusion

And there we have it. A complete guide to dominating enemies as an Elden Ring lightning battlemage. By combining ranged and melee options focused solely on exploiting the incredible power of Faith-based lightning attacks you‘ll conquer lands between with god-slaying satisfaction.

I‘m confident these weapon, spell, stat and gameplay recommendations provide optimal chances succeeding with this notoriously challenging build. Will you answer the call, listener of grace? Take up talisman and golden seal to unleash the storm upon both monstrous and humanoid foes!

Now if you‘ll excuse me, I have a Hero‘s Rune 5 surplus with the name Godrick scribbled across them. Time to test my might in Journey 3 and beyond. See you at the Erdtree burning party! Praise the sun \[T]/