TheCarian Sorcery Swordis a complex weapon inElden Ring. On the surface, it’s fairly easy to figure out - it’s just a sword that can be used to cast spells. But as you delve into what makes the weapon tick, you’ll find a world of complex questions every spellcasting Tarnished should be asking themselves. For example, at what point is it better to just use a staff over the Carian Sorcery Sword? When is it better to just use a magic-damage thrusting sword instead?
It’s easy to equip this sword and use it as just a much weaker staff, and asking yourself when you’re getting the best value from this sword is an important question to answer. This guide will give you an idea of how to make the most of this unique weapon.
- Replaces Ash of War with spellcasting
- Replaces Ash of War with spellcasting
- Fast attacks with decent poise damage
- Worse spell boost than some staves
- Provides flexibility for spellcasting and melee
- Weak physical and magical damage
- Pairs well with other weapons
- Only scales with magic-damage spells
- When paired with the right weapons and spells, it can create some tricky mixups in PvP
On paper, the Carian Sorcery Sword is riddled with drawbacks. Other Thrusting swords like a magic-infusedCleanrot Knight’s Swordwill deal more damage when it comes to regular attacks, and staves likeLusat’s Glintstone StaffandAcademy Glintstone Staffwill outperform it on the spellcasting side.For spellcasting, this difference only gets worse when you start investing more than 60 points into intelligence, where staves with better Intelligence scaling will widen the damage gap.
So what’s the benefit of this weapon if it gets outperformed by other tools?
The answer lies in the Carian Sorcery Sword’s flexibility.Using the Sorcery Sword gives you access to your spells, offers a decent melee moveset to compliment your spellcasting, and you don’t have to waste an equipment slot on a focus. This means you can use an additional weapon like a shield or a second Thrusting Sword to give you more options with your spellcasting. However,if you’re only spellcasting with this sword then you’re better off just using a staff, while if you do nothing but attack you’ll be better off with a Magic-infused Rapier.Being able to use both halves of Carian Sorcery Sword with an off-hand weapon is what makes it a strong option.
You should always compare the Carian Sorcery Sword to just swapping to a staff with better Intelligence scaling. If you only use this sword to cast spells, you could have been better served if you just ran a staff.
Recommended Spells
Since your spellcasting damage will be weaker than a staff’s, you’ll want to build spells that are optimal forharassing enemies at long range, orspells that offer plenty of utility despite their low damage.
In PvP,the best kinds of spells to use with the Carian Sorcery Sword should be effective at long range or midrange, and track enemies extremely well. Ideally, these spells will force opponents to dodge toward you, which in turn forces them into melee range for the more damaging parts of your build to take over. Additionally, fast ranged spells allow you to punish any attempts at healing or running away if the opponent is low on HP.
Spells that accomplish these goals are the following:
In comparison, mixing in utility spells with your long range harassment will make you a far more deadly fighter.
Here are some useful utility options you should consider:
Recommended Shield And Weapon Pairings
Shields are great to pair with the Carian Sorcery Sword. Not only do Thrusting Swords have a special light attack when you’re holding up a shield and a strong Guard Counter, butshields also provide amazing defensive options for your buildlikeCarian Retaliation Skillfor all your parrying needs. Additionally, they can be buffed with Scholar’s Shield which can help against bosses that may hit your shield fairly often.
For shields, anything with 100 physical damage resistance, decent resistances against other elements, and a high guard boost will be the best options. Here are the best shields to use:
As far as weapons go, you’ll either want to pair the Sorcery Sword with a weapon that benefits from a Thrusting Sword’s fast off-hand attack speed, or a second thrusting sword so you’re able to benefit off the power stance attacks. Here are some of the options to consider:
Best Stats for the Carian Sorcery Sword
The Carian Sorcery Sword shines best when you’re at 60 intelligence and below.If your Tarnished is above 60 intelligence then other staves or Magic-imbued weapons will outperform it by a larger and larger margin. Instead of putting all your points into intelligence like a regular mage build would, you can instead put 40 - 60 points into intelligence, then put the remaining points toward another stat like Endurance, or Dexterity.
While it’s a minor buff, Dexterity does also help you cast spells slightly faster. It’s useful when you want to rattle off a bunch of spells then immediately attack afterward.
Best Talismans for the Carian Sorcery Sword
The Carian Sorcery Sword works well with most talismans since it wants to do a little bit of everything. While choosing a talisman for this build will vary based on what weapon you choose to pair with the Carian Sorcery Sword, you’ll still benefit from having talismans like theTwo-Headed Turtle TalismanandErdtree’s Favor +2.
Magic Scorpion
Since the Carian Sorcery Sword deals magic damage in addition to physical damage, and most of the spells you’ll be casting will also have a heavy lean into magic damage, theMagic Scorpion Charmis the perfect fit for this build if you plan on maximizing your damage output.
Radagon Icon
Radagon Iconpractically adds 30 dexterity for the purposes of casting speed. For other magic builds, this doesn’t result in a large increase in casting speed, but for Carian Sorcery Sword builds, quickly casting your spell means you can go into an attack much faster.
Greatshield Talisman
When theGreatshield Talismanis combined with Scholar’s Shield on a decent medium shield (or a Greatshield), you’ll become a nigh unstoppable tank. Even bosses like Commander Gaius who have powerful physical attacks will struggle to break through your defences.
Rotten Winged Icon
TheRotten Winged Sword Insigniaadds more damage for each successive hit, which is perfect for builds that can strike fairly quickly. For the Carian Sorcery Sword, this is perfect because of how fast the thrusting sword moveset can attack. However, this talisman truly shines when the Carian Sorcery Sword is powerstanced with another thrusting sword or with the Main-gauche dagger.
