Master the Storm: The Definitive Elden Ring Lightning Build Guide

Lightning strikes from your spells sunder foes. Your thunder-wreathed blades cut them down. Supreme offensive power combines with lightning reflexes to dominate all before you. Such is the fantasy fulfilled by properly executing Elden Ring‘s iconic lightning battle mage build.

But mastering the storm is no simple feat. Without the right balance of attributes, equipment, combat flow and general know-how, your electrifying aspirations will fizzle out.

As a seasoned lighting buildcrafter having extensively played similar hybrids since Demon‘s Souls, I‘m here to expertly guide you through unlocking the true potential of this battlemage archetype. You too shall harness the unrestrained power of storms to rise above all threats in the Lands Between.

We will cover everything you need to know including:

• Optimal Dexterity/Faith stat allocation from early to end game
• Matching weapons, spells and gear to synergize with the build
• Navigating combat and ability rotations for maximum impact
• Playstyle and gameplay tips from extensive personal testing

You may have dabbled with faith or dexterity builds before, but by journey‘s end the secrets of mastering lightning will be laid bare. So plug into this ultimate guide and prepare to become a storm!

Starting Class and Early Game Progression

Your first choice when stepping forth into the world of Elden Ring is which heroic origin to assume. Twoclasses in particular lend themselves well to the lighting path:

The Prophet – High starting Faith lets you access basic lightning spells for early power. However, lacking melee stats demands heavier early investment.

The Vagabond – Excellent base Vigor and Dexterity to wield weapons effectively right away. You‘ll need to rush leveling Faith though.

While both work, through extensive testing I recommend Vagabond to start. The core stats allow you to cleanly focus Faith for lightning abilities without struggling in melee combat early against challenging foes.

Here‘s the advised step-by-step stat progression:

Level	Vigor	Mind	Endurance	Strength	Dexterity	Intelligence	Faith	Arcane
1	15	9	12	14	13	9	6	7
20	20	12	16	14	18	9	23	7
40	26	20	21	14	26	9	38	7
60	33	25	23	16	33	9	55	7

This gives you a balanced build by mid game with solid survivability from good Vigor, ample Stamina thanks to decent Endurance, Dexterity to bolster lightning cast speed and damage, and heavy Faith investment to access all but the most advanced lightning incantations.

From there it‘s largely improving scaling towards endgame.

Endgame Attribute Targets (Level 150)

After achieving the Kingdom of Storms ending and gaining access to respec via Rennala, here are the final target numbers to shoot for:

• Vigor: 60
• Mind: 50
• Endurance: 25
• Strength: 16
• Dexterity: 80
• Intelligence: 9
• Faith: 80
• Arcane: 9

Let‘s analyze the significance of each:

• Vigor – 60 provides 1900+ HP allowing you to take hits from late game bosses without instantly dying. Survival is key.
• Mind – 50 Mind translates into 296 FP, giving you substantial casting resources before running dry. You‘ll need it for high cost lightning spells.
• Dexterity – Scales lightning spell damage directly while allowing you to wield advanced weaponry. We‘re maxing this offensive stat out.
• Faith – Similarly, hitting the cap here powers strength of incantations to insane degrees. Combined with Dexterity your storm shall overwhelm all.

Stats like Strength or Arcane remain just high enough to equip certain weapons and items. The true damage lies squarely upon Dexterity and Faith – the storm‘s fury incarnate.

You‘ll often see players neglect these two key build components by overinvesting in Vigor or split across too many stats. But by specializing as the game‘s ultimate lightning weapon, none can stand before you for long!

Now let‘s talk optimal weaponry…

S Tier Weapons – Blades of High Voltage Death

While incantations invoke impressive lightning phenomena, you still need to cut down foes personaly in close quarters. Many innate lightning or dexterity-aligned armaments exist to enable a swift combat flow between ranged spells and melee skirmishing.

However through extensive in-game testing of available movesets plus build synergy, these three S tier weapons stood out above the rest:

Dragonking‘s Cragblade (Dex/Faith)

This colossal weapon seen wielded by dragonlord Placidusax himself morphs between a greatsword and polearm moveset, offering adaptable attacking angles.

While demanding higher strength investment, the default holy damage also scales incredibly with faith (B) and dex (C) to dish out immense damage augmented further by its weapon skill – bringing lightning strikes down from the air.

S Tier because of sheer damage numbers and the cinematic visual appeal.

Vyke‘s War Spear (Dex/Faith/Madness)

An often overlooked but excellent choice for faith builds, Vyke‘s war spear has very high lightning scaling when fully upgraded. In addition, attacks inflict madness buildup to break foe‘s stance.

The weapon skill slams the ground erupting in lightning, complementing incantations well. Extremely long range poke attacks maximize safety. Just watch for breaking the weapon skill‘s poise!

Easily S tier thanks to sheer faith scaling damage and range.

Bolt of Gransax (Dex/Faith/Lightning)

Retrieved from Leyndell after it was used to slay the ancient dragon Gransax, this legendary spear delivers brutally effective dex/faith lightning damage in addition to buffing lightning spells a further 20% simply by wielding it.

The weapon art throws a massive lightning spear which also does physical piercing damage even if enemies dodge the lightning itself. Wonderful utility, buffs and damage cement it as S tier.

Plenty of other great lightning/dexterity weapons exist like the Darkmoon Greatsword or infusable katanas. But these three capture that ideal blend of damage, utility and visual spectacle to perfectly supplement your storm sorcerer skillset.

High Voltage Sorceries – Essential Lightning Spells

While your weapons serve you well in direct melee, embracing the raw unfettered power of lightning itself through incantations opens new dimensions of possibility – and enemy melting damage potential.

Veteran Souls players will be familiar with many bread and butter lightning staples like Lightning Spear. However Elden Ring also introduces spectacular new tools of thunderous destruction to your arsenal.

Here are the elite top tier picks:

Fortissax‘s Lightning Spear

The ultimate "I Win" button of dragon cult lightning sorceries. Calling lightning down from the heavens behind you to impale enemies with two massive red spears for extreme damage. Costly on FP but nothing compares to the sheer power spike. Mandatory in any self-respecting lightning caster‘s toolkit!

Vyke‘s Dragonbolt

Blood tinged dark red exploding lightning projectile that inflicts madness buildup. Fired from your hand so you can cast it while wielding any weapon. Low FP cost and can be rapidly spammed. Melts foes at close range and breaks poise well. Highly underrated lightning blast.

Magma Wyrm‘s Scalesword

Creates a fan wall of lightning scales to hurl at groups of enemies. Inflicts a defense debuff making them take more damage. Costs only 12 FP for a large sweeping lightning attack. Deals physical, holy and lightning damage making it very difficult for enemies to resist. High utility!

Plenty of other situational lightning spells have niche value like Lightning Strike or Lansseax‘s Glaive. But these three offer the most bang for buck while looking visually spectacular doing so. They form the crux of your high lethality playstyle.

Advanced Combat Tactics and Ability Rotations

Simply equipping storm sorceries and an electrified armament does not an expert lightning battlemage make however. You must direct the storm judiciously towards key enemies in the right sequence. Follow these advanced tactics and rotations to truly excel:

Prebuff Offensively

Lightning spells offer no innate damage boosting. So each encounter start by casting Golden Vow to gain a 12% damage buff for 90 seconds. Follow with Flame Grant Me Strength for an additional 20% fire/physical boost.

These two self-buffs empower all your attacks significantly at low repeated cost. You can then swap back to special FP regen talismans like Cerulean Hidden Tear to ensure steady casting resources mid-fight.

Pull and Burst Groups

Against packs of enemies, initiate by throwing Gransax Bolt or a short range Dragonbolt to pull them together, then swapping to Vyke‘s War Spear two handed for crowd control poke attacks to thin their numbers.

Once clustered close, punish the group severely with your AoE spells like Magma Wyrm‘s Scalesword or by charging up Fortissax‘s Spear for maximum carnage.

This ability rotation mops up small fry with satisfaction.

Duel Dangerous Foes

Against major threats like Crucible Knights, swap to your Cragblade or Gransax Bolt weapon single handed. Spend more time evading attacks only punishing larger whiffed strikes with your own combo retaliation.

Use targeted lightning abilities like Dragonbolt or even Ancient Lightning Spear to pressure at range waiting for that satisfying counter attack where you vaporize their health bar. Survival takes priority in these tense mano a mano lightning duels!

Swarm Invaders

Should you choose to engage in Jolly Cooperation or invasions, pack on every lightning damage boosting talisman and physick possible. The moment you spawn in, immediately charge up Fortissax‘s Spear or Cragblade weapon skill aimed right at the invader.

One shot builds may be cheesy but are extremely effective at instant retaliation. Follow up with constant pressure from Dragonbolt and Gransax Bolts to apply madness while evading desperately with Bloodhound Step. Fight cheap with cheap!

These advanced ability rotations focus on quickly stacking a multitude of damage modifiers before aggressively unleashing your most lethal spells and skills. Mastering the setup flow separates the truly elite battle storm masters from mere novices.

Playstyle and Build Tips For Victory

Wielding the forces of storms in battle requires not just equipment and stats but general situational awareness which only comes from extensive playtime. Here are critical tips I accrued maxing numerous lightning warriors:

• Lightning damage stacks quickly causing most bosses to focus aggro on you. Be ready to evade knowing attacks will target you first.
• Many end game enemies have extremely high lightning damage negation – have backup weapons like the Blasphemous Blade ready for pure physical punishment.
• Mind soft caps at 50 – only raise it further if you heavily rely on costlier recipes like Fortissax‘s Spear which drains FP quickly.
• Hybrid talismans like Lightning Scorpion Charm are great but wear good physical damage reduction armor so the downside doesn‘t get you killed by basic enemies.
• The Cranial Vessel Candlestand helm boosts faith by 3 – useful to hiterd thresholds for new spell unlocks.
• Lastly don‘t forget to use consumables! Lightning and physical attack greases enhance your weapons nicely. Craft them often.

While the core fundamentals have been laid out here, part of mastering this build comes from learned experience tailoring it to handle each unique challenge. Through proficiency manifests the true storm!

Conclusion

And with that final thunderous note, you now possess all the knowledge needed to craft your Elden Ring lightning battle sorcerer. By carefully investing in Dexterity/Faith scaling you gain access to the most spectacular electrical attacks magic can conjure. Backed by equipment specifically to heighten the lightning forces at your command you will dominate both groups and solo targets that dare cross your path.

Will you focus purely on offensive casting might? Or adopt a more balanced dex/int melee approach? Does swapping between colossal and standard weapons with their unique special attacks appeal most? The choice lies in your hands!

Just remain steadfast upon the path to storm mastery. From humble bolts of Gransax you shall ascend to wielding the fury of Fortissax itself – a true lord of lightning reborn!

Now go forth dear reader, through Lands Between to places unknown and show all who oppose you the roaring power of the ultimate Elden Ring lightning battlemage!