Which Element Damage ONLY Build is Best in Elden Ring?

Different element damage types can be useful in different areas of Elden Ring, but one of them HAS to be the best right? Well, this week we did FOUR different runs for each element damage type to decide once and for all which is best. Check out all of these elementary builds using Comet Azur, the Carian Slicer, Black Flame, the Envoy Horn, the Black Blade, Lightning Spear, and Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike to blast, burn, zap, and bless all of the remembrances in the lands between!
Tulok's Twitch: / tulokthebarbrarian
Tulok's Patreon Link: / tulok
D&D Channel: / @tulokthebarbrarian2033

[@FlyingPenguin196]

Lightning might be weaker than the other damage types, but you have to admit it looks way cooler, those ancient dragon spells are fabulous.

[@deedatkhan5072]

Lightning is good at deleting late game bosses

[@deedatkhan5072]

There lies the problem, "late game"

[@alenezi989a3]

It's not weaker, you just don't start with the strongest incantation like Catch flame which is arguably the strongest fire spell in the game, or Magic where you can get an an S scaling weapon and tons of magic spells in just the start of the game. Lightning incantations at later stages of the game and require more faith. Holy starts of pretty strong but by the end it gets pretty weak. Early game or late game doesn't shouldn't be a reason to judge whether an element is weak or not but is it accessible or not.

[@Jasar25]

​@@alenezi989a3 Prophet, pick up +10fth tear, four belfries, wrong warp to farum azula, profit. But it require using a wrongwarp glitch so if you are against it then its a L for lightning. I say it with a broken heart because i love lightning spells in ER.

[@_batm.n]

@@alenezi989a3 Black blade -_-

[@Ipherix]

I know it had frostbite and therefore isn't allowed in PURE lightning, but ice lightning spear CARRIED my first playthrough once I got it. So good

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Yeah, ice lightning is pretty saucy

[@Tatumisthegoat]

I never used that spell cause I'm deathly afraid of bugs 💀

[@numetalklass]

​@@Tatumisthegoat Yeah I had a hard time going through Siofra

[@LowinBayrod]

@@Tatumisthegoat so... don't try Bloodborne if you haven't already, you're really not gonna like some encounters.🕷

[@Tatumisthegoat]

@@LowinBayrod l don't own ds2 nor blood borne this reason specificly

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

"If you're trying to say I play favorites, I'll have you know I love all my children equally" **earlier that day** "I don't care for Holy."

[@AwesomeWookiee]

Commander Niall NO! Stay away from that Loose Seal!

[@arcticbanana66]

"I love all my children equally. I just love some of them more equally than others."

[@dmonsterlove]

Poor holly

[@noahsan92]

hell yeah we love an arrested development reference

[@SebastianTheSaiyan]

I think this should just be titled "Tulok learns the power of the black flame"

[@ClarksonNo1]

Its not even the best. Catch Flame has absurd DPS and is better apart from on Firegiant and maybe Beast. And Burn O FLame can destroy most bosses

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

I already knew it haha

[@thatsnotgonewellatall5517]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 it was the literal only spell i used in my first play through outside of black flame blade. Its so insanely good purely cause its consistent

[@DingusBoi]

Yeah, Godslayer spells (and weapons) are really good.

[@thatsnotgonewellatall5517]

@@DingusBoi shame the greatsword looks so silly but the Ash of War for spears and twin blades etc is an absolute boss destroyer as it procs the % health effect like 5 or 6 maybe even 7 times

[@corbincoleman2314]

I did a lightning based character in my first playthrough, and the anticipation for you to get ancient dragon lightning strike was killing me. Lightning absolutely ⚡ S H R E D S ⚡ in endgame

[@yxngrayy8821]

You can get that spell early but doing the farum azula wrong warp I do it all the time still working 1.09

[@Cantthinkofname-rp3iw]

I got inspired to play after an ai president video said the word lightning spear and I thought that was the coolest sounding weapon ever anyways 5 hours in and I got my lightning spear incantation and I'm wondering is the spear of gransax is still the best weapon for a lightning build I saw a video about a Raiden build but idk if it's outdated or not

[@lrwkobra1]

​@@Cantthinkofname-rp3iw bolt is still fantastic!

[@envytee9659]

Honestly, the element doesn't even matter. It's the Ancient Dragon Lightning Strike spell itself that is so busted. If it dealt any other damage type (except maybe holy) it would still shred through all the bosses just as quickly

[@cyrus6461]

​@@envytee9659 if it did holy damage it would be great until Malaketh onward, considering 80% damage resistance

[@ratgameing8307]

Lightning will always be the best in my heart mostly because of ancient dragon spells but still

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

Lanseax's Glaive is a monster of a spell.

[@prehistoriccreator9600]

I honestly just see a skill issue whenever he's using the lightning

[@ratgameing8307]

@@prehistoriccreator9600 Yeah rewatching the video def skill isue

[@deedatkhan5072]

​@@prehistoriccreator9600 true

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Yeah honestly skill issue, this guy sucks

[@tectonical5347]

i feel lightning only really picks up momentum late game, but once you get there it is absolutely insane from what i have found

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

I found the same thing 😏

[@hereticFox716]

After you get the book from the knight in liurnia lightning starts to pick up speed, of course it doesnt scale as fast as fire but its still not terrible, especially if your working on dex and faith

[@gamingrexshow1832]

@@hereticFox716get the ancient dragon lighting, every incantation are absolutely diabolical

[@Ytinasniiable]

ADLS is stupidly overpowered It's hard not to use it, even on ancient dragons it's effective and they get 80% vs lightning

[@lilitaly44]

Based on my experience from the game without watching the full video Lightning is amazing late game but really struggles early game needing higher faith and dex stat investment Holy is good early game but struggles late game due to bosses high resistances late game Fire and magic both are great all around having lots of access to many different spells and ashes of war for both throughout all part of the game

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Pretty much how it went, but holy also wasn't good early game

[@DanielFerreira-ez8qd]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 I get a feeling that was because of the added restriction of not doing any physical damage, which is pretty extreme. without that you could've used the GOAT golden halberd lol

[@paracame8162]

conclusion? start with holy and end with lightning for the best incantation build

[@michaelbarnes2126]

Lightening is beast late game and fire damage pretty much every enemy in the game pretty well. Use Giantflame Take Thee on the huge ants that are underground and in Miquella’s Haligtree lol

[@bloody4558]

​@@paracame8162I'd d.just that if not for the fact that we are few Str options for Lightning. Meanwhile there are huge options for Str builds in Holy

[@sukugaru5167]

You touched on this in the Malenia fight. If you use the uncharged Lightning Spear, human/NPC enemies don’t dodge it. Some of your earlier difficulties with Lightning would have been much simpler with an uncharged Lightning Spear.

[@gostreiver8036]

Even better is to unlock. Fully charge and then only lock on as you throw. This works with many protectiles as malenia only dodges based off an AI script based on your targeting. Also she is WAY more aggressive while locked on. But will mostly just walk around slowly if you are not

[@s1oops1oop]

@@gostreiver8036this is huge information thanks

[@EnvysWRLD]

@@gostreiver8036just block parry dodge

[@burrito9327]

This builds put into perspective just how easy it was for the Fire Nation to take over.

[@pockystyx4087]

Fire has: a STR scaling infusion that falls off late game, a FTH scaling infusion, tons of viable weapons, good ashes of war, great incantations, some niche spells, and variety for frenzy/blackflame/pure pyromancy theming. Magic has: Cold infusion, INT scaling infusion, another ton of viable weapons, pretty good ashes of war, more spells than you can shake a staff at, and dragon breath incantations if you don't want to be a spellsword or mage. Holy has: a FTH scaling, probably the weirdest selection of incantations that require you be fighting the right kind of enemy or invest into INT as well, meme weapons that are actually viable, some surprisingly good ashes of war, and probably the dumbest way to kill the elden beast with an element he SHOULD be strong against. Lightning has: a DEX scaling infusion that falls off late game, no FTH scaling infusion to match with Holy/Fire, its weapons all scale with DEX and not FTH, its incantations all scale with FTH and not DEX, no spells, a lack of ashes of war til mid-to-late game, a lack of strong incantations to mid-to-late game, and again; its needs you to REALLY invest into either DEX or FTH exclusively to really make a themed build around it. Real talk: Lightning in general, Death Sorceries and their weapons, and Magma Sorceries and their weapons, Sleep weapons, all of them have probably the most confusing, and most inconsistent scaling allocations in the game. I kinda just wish there was a patch to the game that made them normal lol

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

I just think Gravel Stone should scale with dex

[@pockystyx4087]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 it'd at least make all the DEX investment more rewarding to a DEX/FTH; in a similar way to a STR/FTH build using the Clawmark Seal.

[@iheartblock3792]

There’s mods for it, yea

[@TREVORVADER]

@@pockystyx4087 seriously. Don’t know why it doesn’t work this way

[@TREVORVADER]

Yeah the fact that there’s no lightning art like there is Flame Art sucks. I also wish there were more int/fth weapons for death and magma stuff to match. Like you know…the death weapons that scale only int or fth. Or Rykard’s sword that’s only faith. You get what I mean.

[@eggmug562]

Woah dude. Discus of light is pretty great actually. Two hits for 3 fp and it goes through enemies and can be angled on its way back by moving.

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Two hits that do 1/10th the damage of a straight sword, yippee

[@lukelofquist3734]

yeah, too bad it deals like, no damage

[@eggmug562]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 wut? I had it killing things pretty easily in leyndell

[@eggmug562]

@@lukelofquist3734 I dunno I've had it kill things pretty easily.

[@lukelofquist3734]

@@eggmug562 very well

[@Platinum-db8rc]

I understand that it makes sense mathematically but I have never thought of black flame in that way. 50 hits to kill any boss just sounds so broken. I knew I loved the black flame stuff in my first playthrough, but wow. Thanks for explaining it like that.

[@sternguard77]

Usually less since you’re also doing damage with the attack itself against most bosses.

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Yeah, and 50 is the maximum. It usually more like 25-30.

[@Sharkamfss]

Doesn't really sound broken when you account for how long each cast takes and then compare it to different spells and weapons.

[@zorro8027]

@@Sharkamfss Quick tip; fast hitting weapons+black flame blade; Fist weapons deal about 10-11 hits on their full combo; you can melt anything in moments. (I know because I use them)

[@Sharkamfss]

@zorro8027 wouldn't that only reapply the 2% DOT and not stack it like individual blackflame fireballs would?

[@BubleBlwin2xBby]

Gideon’s scepter could make holy damage more useful against Radagon and Elden Beast. Bad news is you’d also take more holy damage

[@Aaron-km5sl]

Holy damage heals the elden beast so I wouldn't use it for him.

[@wilderposey]

@@Aaron-km5sl no, the Elden Beast doesn’t heal from holy.

[@NikLoserkid]

Doesn’t the scepter require intelligence tho? Hard investment if so

[@amberhernandez]

​@@Aaron-km5slThis was misinformation someone put on Fextralife, and it spread wayyy too far before being corrected.

[@paracame8162]

​@@Aaron-km5sl I love that you had the confidence to say this despite the video showing an Elden Beast kill with pure holy damage

[@fishnutz5196]

Im a sucker for magic purely due to Carian Slicer

[@thomasdevlin5825]

"The mimic is actually good and could have been the whole time! But after Maliketh so only for the last three bosses" Considering Radagon and Elden Beast are both incredibly strong against holy damage though that is actually still pretty great. Not sure how big of a difference the black blade incantation would have made for the run, but it could have cut out a bit of time

[@KreatorKid6622]

It's fire, it's always fire, it was fire is Dark Souls, and so few things in Elden Ring can defend it

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Fire definitely cooks, no denying that

[@EldenRingBuildsArchive]

??? It has always been Lighting>Dark>Magic> Fire in pve. Ds1 has tons of bosses that resist, or are outright immune to fire, no scaling weapons and spells like chaos storm are a goofy attempt at WoG, DS2 even introduced the wet aspect to make fire even weaker, and its strongest spell, forbidden sun, costs lots of slots and cannot be farmed, flame weapon is bugged and inferior to other buffs, straight up, if you were building a pyromancer, you would unequivocally switch to a hexer, since they have similar setups and are a direct upgrade, ds3 they got better with chaos bed vestiges obtainable (relatively) early, but again, a chaos infusion is inferior to a dark infusion, even in pvp too, as dark defense only rises through faith, fire had it rough in dark souls, demon souls too, as magic there hits majority of enemies for good damage.

[@skoogadoo]

in ds it was always either lightning or dark overall

[@sanlorenzo7896]

My uncle always told me fire is the universal element that beats monsters in scary movies. 😂

[@soleo2783]

@@skoogadoo I think it was lightning in 1, dark in 2, and fire in 3

[@sammy-6179]

I'm really surprised you didn't get bolt of gransaxx in lyndel for the lightning run. The ash of war is just lightning spear on steroids and has as much range as frenzied burst.

[@LFS16409]

it does physical damage *I was wrong

[@Sharkamfss]

​@lucastiller4397 The ash of war is 100% lightning

[@chasepeace191]

The Dex requirements tho

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

​@@chasepeace191so? Dex and lightning spear mingle well for dakka speed.

[@chasepeace191]

@trazyntheinfinite9895 yes but then he might not have enough faith for his incantations

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

I like how magic only kept up because its primary weapon was melee, and it still had the worst time. And seemed to be the only one struggling with running out of resources, as well. The entire game being curbstomp or lose really affects the rankings, because it means you don't really die as much.

[@brandandixon3943]

hes just a bad magic player, too much hp not enough mind, AND HE LEFT OUT COMET

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

@@brandandixon3943 Every build needs hp, but Mind being a hard limit on the maximum damage you can deal in one life is a major problem for casters. Weirdly, it should have been a problem that every build here shares, except Holy thanks to the pata, but for some reason magic was the one it really came up regularly for. Yeah though, regular comet is THE pure magic spell. Highest dps with a respectable damage/FP. Azur is hilarious mega-trash without the hidden tear active, and plain old comet still beats azur's dps even with the tear active.

[@robodwarf0000]

@@dontmisunderstand6041 It's twofold for the mind issue though, in this case because of the sheer amount of mana restored from flasks you end up crippling your own mana regeneration if your mind doesn't keep up with your flask level. Not to say it was the entire issue, but of all the elements magic is the most Mind heavy which means sacrificing some Body for more offense ends up paying off in the longhaul.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

@@Hestaka Cannon is good, but finding an opening to fire it off isn't really reliable in most fights. Glintblade is an underrated utility spell but has abysmal dps and isn't quite FP efficient enough to make up for that... and still isn't quite accurate enough against the dodgers to make any fight easy. And both of them struggle against aggressive enemies, which make up almost the entirety of the game. You're also failing to notice the comparisons between builds. Easy and easier are different things. Elden Ring is a pretty easy game in general, if your build is put together coherently pretty much every boss will be easy. However, there's a pretty big gap between the constant resource management and mental math that a caster or archer has to do, and a sword and board player who holds the block button and occasionally attacks, who barely even has to look at the screen during the fight.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

@@Hestaka I mean, yeah. I've done the bow run too. It's not hard, you just have to actually learn how to dodge bosses forever. You play defense for extremely long periods of time while your miniscule damage adds up. There are a few bosses where you cannot win unless you learn how to menu mid-fight to equip a 3rd stack of arrows, but not as many as you'd think. IMO, doing the archer run kinda kills the fun of future playthroughs, because you learn the attack patterns so well that you just can't die in future runs. My first 4 runs were a basic magic playthrough, then a sorcery only challenge run, then bow only, and only then did I do my first ever melee build... and I died 3 times total in the process of 100% completion on that build. There is one thing I'd like to say as a direct response to the idea of the bow run not being difficult, just requiring patience... that's how all FromSoft games are. Not the builds, just the game. One of the lessons these games teach you is that if you haven't lost yet, you still can win. Play defensively and you will eventually succeed. That's just how it goes.

[@RamadaArtist]

You continue to be one of my favorite Elden Ring content creators, for a number of reasons: 1. You don't take shit too seriously, so these videos are always fun. 2. You demonstrate a lot of build variety, so I'm often actually learning things about the game that I might not normally encounter otherwise. 3. You have a very friendly voice, which makes it very easy to throw one of these videos on in the background. 4. Cosplay in Fromsoft games is like, 97% of the reason why they exist in the first place.

[@sethescope]

#4 reminds me of my hot take that most people aren't ready for: elden ring is a dress up game, and that's why I love and respect it

[@RamadaArtist]

@@sethescope I mean, if you've been around longer than just Elden Ring, you'll know it isn't even that much of a hot take. "Fashion Souls is the real endgame" has been a consistent mantra so much in the older games that it's only beaten out in popularity by "git gud" and "try tongue but hole."

[@sethescope]

@@RamadaArtist nope, this is my first FromSoft game lol I've heard of the phrase "fashion souls" but to me, there's caring about your characters aesthetic and a dress up game, if that makes sense. also, the fact ER is just a bigger game than anything that came before means there's more potential for dressing up because there's even more armor choices lol

[@scienceviking4490]

If black flame is allowed, I'm betting fire will be the strongest, because the damage over time effect from black flame deals %HP damage, so you have an easier way of getting past enemies that resist fire, like the Fire Giant. On the other hand, the damage over time could be considered a status effect, since it's %HP damage rather than elemental damage. If black flame isn't allowed, then fire could still be the best, but there's a good chance that magic will be better.

[@StanleyG23]

When a weapon like the Death's Poker exists, it makes Magic seems like the most obvious answer as the best element. However, Fire really is the way to go in most scenarios unless you're fighting the Fire Giant or any of the Godskins. But still, having said all that, Black Flame really has the potential to overpower everything. Plus, some of the most powerful weapons in the game like the Blasphemous Blade or Mohgwyn's Sacred Spear do Fire damage as well having really powerful Ashes of War that also do Fire damage.

[@R-XI_Sulla]

Dont forget the Godslayer GS That shit burns trough everything I used it against foreskin duo That dmg was bonkers

[@evantheatheist]

Godslayer sword is the best weapon in the game dont @ me

[@asdergold1]

Fire Giant is fine with Black Flame. You're thinking of Mogh's 80% Fire Resistance.

[@jmell458]

Between the Beast Clergy spells and Rock Sling/Meteor I feel like a Physical element would've been cool to see as well

[@trazyntheinfinite9895]

Physical is every weapon, its the easiest magic. the magic of massive bonk. Its cast stat is multirole and its ressource replenishes itself.

[@eeyun5279]

Yea why no rot or poison either? Maybe even blood could work but probably not

[@Lanthardol]

@@trazyntheinfinite9895just change the rules for the physical one that all the damage must be done via spells or ashes of war, problem solved, limits your options and it requires resource management (for the fp)

[@AceAviations2]

Grabbing the Coded Sword when you first got access to Leyndell would have been a strait upgrade over the Cipher Pata, also Triple Rings and Radagon's Rings of Light are really good spells. The range on the latter is surprising when fully charged, which can be viable. The Holy Damage run could have gone better if you used that and got the Black Blade Incantation sooner.

[@VileLasagna]

I kept thinking of Coded Sword all of the time, especially for the mimic tear

[@blackhat4206]

He didn’t have the INT. (For Triple Rings at least)

[@alexandrusava6131]

The "Google _____ on your work computer" are geting progressively more shameless and need more setup but I'm here for that. Always crack me up

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Yeah, I've kind of dug myself into a hole, and should probably try to pull out if I don't want things getting messy. To find out more, google-

[@kimbyd24]

Definitely would have made more use of night comet on the magic build myself. It does great damage with the right build, but the fact that enemy AI ignores it makes the spell god-tier.

[@TalhahIsARunner]

Night comet becomes an s tier build during the second playthrough when you can get 2 staffs of loss and enough levels for some basic faith buffs

[@kylefulton4713]

In my first playthrough, INT level 80, staff of lass in off hand and Carian regal scepter casting, night comet became my best sorcery. It did as much damage as Ranni's dark moon, but casts way faster. Most enemies were 1-shot kills. On my NG+1 now, INT 80 and FTH 80, using only incantations, of which I have all of them, and still none have the DPS and usefulness of staff of loss + regal scepter - but lightning looks cool!

[@grahamrevare]

Tip for hardswapping-after you’ve swapped, you can close the menu immediately with the start button (or whatever button you use to open the menu) instead of clicking through three different menus to get back to the game

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Oh that sounds better...

[@SirSkyro]

I can already tell this will be good

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Oh we cooked up something special this week

[@kohrakthehorriblebionicle6187]

I love the concept of this! Great fun to see you get through all these different runs. The farum azula wrong warp for early Ancient dragon incants would really have given lightning a well needed boost imo

[@akajesusx]

Love to see Stars of Ruin get the love it deserves. Lusat's Crown boosts its damage as well. Also I have to say fire would be even more busted if Flame Grant Me Strength was included. Granted it only boosts the initial burst of Black Flame.

[@kajnicholson241]

1:41 um actually, you can get lighting without dealing any damage. Use Rejection (which deals no damage) to push the knight who drops the Dragon Cult Prayerbook off of a cliff. You’ll need to cast it a few times to get him close to the cliff, but it’s completely doable. I’ve done it.

[@bjeremy5583]

The most fun I've had on an elden ring run was smol holy discus of light spam with the erdtree great shield. Use golden retaliation when your ring returns and you have a chunky blast with high range, high damage and low fp cost overall. The starter discus scales really well into the end game too compared to its more expensive kin

[@theenbee8222]

I was expecting an A:TLA reference at the start of the video and was not disappointed, good job ^w^ (Also Crimsonwhorl is good against Elden Beast and BS AoE elemental attacks you see coming since it basically just cancels their damage; it's a get out of jail free card)

[@lukelofquist3734]

WE NEED MORE LOVE FOR LIGHTNING GRAVEL STONE SEAL SHOULD SCALE WITH DEXTERITY

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Fact! *ignore the last half of this video, lightning needs more damage

[@WalmartBlackGuy]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033like it or not, he’s telling the truth

[@AwesomeWookiee]

Didn't even include my boy Osmium. SMH Tulok, you absolute hero and madlad. This is incredible.

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Idk who that is and I'm worried it's like ligma

[@TheGreatSquark]

So, Tulok sent a bunch of us here from his stream if we hadn't seen the video. And I gotta say, this was impressive.

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Yeah, it was more interesting than us 2 shotting everyone with my fire stick

[@ethanhritz2035]

Over an hour of elden ring, my day is already good

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

And it's just gonna get better 😌

[@piersonfisher4919]

Awesome work, love the content!

[@georgiocostavan1244]

i can’t remember the last time i watched an hour long youtube video but your videos are very well put together and entertaining i also love the comedy thrown in definitely subscribing

[@quantumshenanigans]

More than a year after release, I think surely I must've seen all the good 'longform post-commentary over Elden Ring runs' channels there are. But then for whatever reason the algorithm decides to reveal you to me, and I couldn't be happier. Great video, excited to watch more.

[@davidleedecker9889]

This popped up and my immediate response was "OH RIGHT IT'S FRIDAY" and I clicked without hesitation. Favorite part of the week.

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Happy Friday, have a great weekend!

[@davidleedecker9889]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 You too my dude, and keep up the great videos!

[@Suntoria236]

I didn’t think it was possible to use Shard Spiral incorrectly on Rykard, but here we are. Just stand in the lava, hug his body, and Rykard dies within 45 seconds each phase. If you’re medium distance away, the Shard Spiral doesn’t get it’s full damage going through the body

[@Brendanvideos]

Idk about a lightning only build because I've never tried it. But a lightning heavy build is pretty fun. The red lightning aoe spell that takes awhile to cast hits like a truck on steroids.

[@SomeRandomGuy1098]

Love this kind of video. Always look forward to your work my king

[@jacksonpillow7309]

lighting gets way better early game if you're not against some glitches. specifically wrongwarping to farum azula makes it much better cause you can grab the ancient dragon prayerbook. plus there's a somber 7 there which combined with dragonbarrow, igi, and volcano manor, gets you to +9 on the erdtree seal. you can also do varres questline really early to get the ancient smithing stone at moghwyn

[@acid2415]

you should do a madness only playthrough (the spells, vykes spear, and the fingerprint shield)

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

I kinda did that with the Lio Fotia run?

[@acid2415]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 i didnt watch that run lol, sorry

[@acid2415]

ill make sure to watch it later

[@godofmisfortune992]

I have a holy build currently and discuss of light is like my go to incantation. Him immediately calling it doggy doo hurt a little

[@kasa4501]

Really like the music references that you do for basically every video I've seen

[@mason-.]

Is this the kind of stuff you learn in Elementary school? I never went, but that sounds right

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Hey, I make that joke somewhere in here haha

[@mason-.]

​@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 oh nooooooo

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

@@mason-. 11:57 there it is

[@dumpsterfire6992]

Yeah but,atleast lightning looks coool

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

OK, but also it picks up really hard, keep watching

[@dumpsterfire6992]

​@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 sir yes sir o7

[@charwyrm8702]

Been binging your channel for a while, you don't know how chuffed I am to see an hour and ten minute long video from you. I'm grinning like an idiot

[@enlongjones2394]

19:11 this might show up later, but for Rennala, you could always stock up on Fire Pots to hit the kids.

[@yKuroKenshi]

man just ignored Wind ;-;

[@Blackflashmaybe]

Awesome vid

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Thank you!

[@MorizonPlays]

For the very beginning of the holy run you could have used any smithing stone weapon with the ash of war sacred blade. It deals a decent amount of damage and the scarab with it is directly next to the third church of marika saving a lot of running

[@howdyfriends7950]

great video! would love to see this kind of comparison with other variables, like the various schools of magic,like what group made a certain spell, or with like sorcery vs incantations vs pyromancy, or slash vs pierce vs blunt, or all bleed weapons vs all poison weapons vs all scarlet rot weapons etc. there's a lot of cool ideas for multi-runs with this method of comparison

[@KatrinaAmaxas]

Personally, I would say that Magic is the best damage-type since anything that isn't SPECIFICALLY Fire, Holy or Lightning deals magic damage and I mean literally ANYTHING. Like, for example, did you know that the NIHIL AoW on Mohg's trident deals magic damage? Or both of the Thorn sorceries? Or even most gravity-based spells or AoWs? And that's not even going into how busted the stronger sorceries in the game are. Night Comet hits like a freight train with powerstanced Staff of Loss, has good range, can penetrate through multiple targets, can be buffed by Godfrey Icon and, best of all, enemies that are coded to auto-dodge spells won't dodge it because, like all Night Sorceries, it's described as being "semi-invisible".

[@johndipietro9301]

I promised I'd be here when the video went up. I am glad to keep that promise.

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

🫡🫡🫡 hell yeah

[@johndipietro9301]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 Post-video commentary: as awesome as I expected. I do wonder if doing a "Four Elements" run (only Elemental damage, but can use all four elements) would be smoother than the four separate runs. Lightning, Fire, and Holy all work off Faith, so in theory, they could cover each other (Cipher Patas would be great for those times when a boss was a loss early game due to no mana, using ADLStrike for Rykard to keep from having to use Black Flame, etc). But then Magic kind of gets left out since it's Intelligence only and throws the stats. Still, may have to try an "Avatar" run myself in the future.

[@MrKyltpzyxm]

Great video overall. Very enjoyable. Good gameplay footage. Good analysis. Good level of explanation detail. But the thing that got me to sub is all the pop culture references and music gags. Very fun. 😁

[@Oathk3eper]

Loved all of the KH call outs. Have you considered posting challenge runs in that series? Magic only is usually fun

[@lyinarbaeldeth2456]

An entire hour! Oh, happy day!

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Take a long lunch/poop today, you've earned it

[@ethan4life732]

As a pure Holy build, I can say, hitting end-game and getting the Black Blade is just the most satisfying feeling cause you just get to delete anything that exists with like 3 strikes. P.S: Holy Water Pots are fun.

[@KassFireborn]

It'll always hurt a little that Fire finished blazing at 4 hours 19.

[@joshspinney]

Great format for this! Also metroid music makes any video better

[@Phantom_of_Black]

A few things to consider for those who want to make actual comparisons: Tulok is not using Magic optimally. For certain bosses Crystal Torrent may end up being just a better Comet Azur since it actually tracks a little. Shattering Crystal can kinda similarly chunk big enemies since its a shotgun-blast of individually hitting projectiles and since it's just a single cast you don't have to worry about said big enemy hitting you mid-channel. Stars of Ruin is actually nerfed - it now has worse tracking than Star Shower (what is supposed to be a weaker version of Stars of Ruin). One can probably get better results with Ancient Death Rancor if you invest the 24 needed faith. If not for the self-imposed limit of not using statuses, Ranni's Dark Moon is just a flatly better version of her Mom's Spell because it has REALLY high Frostbite build-up. Also Night Comet is just flatly the best projectile spell in the game. Also, if you are having trouble with your fp going away too fast on your sorcerer, switch to the Carian Regal Scepter. It does less damage than the Lusat sure but it has a much more efficient damage to fp-consumption ratio.

[@a.t.6610]

To be fair, from my understanding, he couldn't use Frostbite since that's a status effect, so Ranni's Dark Moon is out of question. So with that in mind, and considering Rennala's slightly higher damage for slightly less FP, it's totally understandable. It's part of the challenge. So that I get. But yeah some of the other choices...don't make as much sense considering what was available. My first thought was also that the Carian Regal Scepter would have been better since the Lusat Staff only out-damages it by about...maybe 11%, yet basically make your spells cost 50% more FP, and Tulok didn't seem like he prioritized investing into the flasks upgrades. Like running out of FP in the late bosses of the game seems crazy to me, that has never happened to me. Not to forget he's using the Mimic which takes HP rather than FP, and also basically double the amount of spells fired at the bosses. Didn't really understand the Stars of Ruin strategy either because since the nerf, but honestly...even before that if you want my opinion, it always had the reputation of having pretty poor damage for its FP consumption. If you add the 50% increase from the Lusat Staff....... Yikes. That's just so much FP consuption for so little damage. Literally he'd be better off firing some Night Comet with the Staff of Loss in his off hand. You don't need better tracking when the bosses isn't even trying to evade the Night Comet.

[@AlexisFloofer]

Tulok didn't really run 3 of these even close to optimally. Magic had the issues you mentioned. Holy should have used Discus to reach the better spells instead of the Cipher Pata, as well as swapping from Cipher Pata to the Coded Sword when he got to Leyndell. It may have also been a good idea to pick up the Erdtree Greatshield for it's projectile reflecting, pure holy AoW, especially because it can trigger from the Discus and Triple Rings on return. Lightning he should have gone straight for the Leyndell Knight with the prayerbook the moment he got the Lightning Strike spell, then put that spell away for the rest of the run. It's not a hard fight if you know how to dodge the bolt it calls down. Doing that cuts most of the deaths in the first 2 hours, and lets you get started on bosses much faster. He probably could have finished all remembrances with that extra time. Fire was pretty close to optimal, Catch flame is probably the best non-Blackflame fire spell in the game, so most of his time losses are pretty minor.

[@__lifeline__]

I’m not sure when I got them but I’m surprised you didn’t use the the lightning tear for the lightning play through. Also why not use any of the lightning ashes of war?

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

I did use the lightning tear, and the lightning ashes of war that are good (bolt of gransaxx) are capital locked. By the time we get there we're already built as a caster, not a dex fighter.

[@apex_plus8073]

@@tulokthebarbrarian2033 If you’re okay with wrong warping you can get bolt of gransaxx without fighting a single boss. Through the trap chest in weeping peninsula wrong warping into the capital. Then you just make a few easy jumps to get bolt. You don’t even need to kill Godfrey.

[@Purriah]

This video was amazing. Thank you for doing this.

[@scarlet2847]

defiantly your best video by far and thats a high bar

[@dieguy3080]

Holy being so widely resisted probably has something to do with the fact the black blade exists and could trivialize a lot of endgame bosses if you built fully around it and they only had around 10-20% resistance.

[@xxX6SnorlaX9Xxx]

Nice vid

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

Thanks, I'm a big fan of your Belly Drum resto-chesto set

[@derrikthegreat4133]

black flame is one of my favorite types of magic in elden ring. I think this video does a good job of showing why

[@plumberpool]

So this was the first of your videos I found. And after watching all 49 in the playlist I've decided to subscribe. But the internet history on my work computer definitely raises some questions.

[@redbowrose4831]

Honestly shocked that you didn't go for the Bolt of Gransax! That Weapon art with the matching dexterity is insane, and I'm pretty sure it's pure lightning damage as well! Carried me through the endgame.

[@malpheus4299]

It is strong as well as the placidusax great thrusting sword but I think the general issue with lightning is that it has you going all in on either pure faith or pure dexterity, you don't get good results mixing both.

[@luxiken6719]

Hey, discus of light is actually crazy good. It has one of the best range of any spell in the game, it does really good damage and costs a whopping 3 fp. And it can be chain casted while also hitting 2 times max. So yeah, discus of light is kinda busted

[@cody5631]

I had my seal maxed to +10 and faith at 60 it wasn’t hitting hard…. Not like rock sling

[@asdergold1]

​​@@cody5631 Which seal? Did you bother to offhand the Golden Order Seal and wear the Goldmask Mask? Or ever use the Holy Tear or anything to boost the spell's damage? Also it absolutely should do better than rock sling, it's a you problem.

[@robertocartagena7776]

I think you should try an occult build. Would be fun to watch

[@krishnansubramoni7801]

A lot of people talking about end game lightning spells and here I am using the basic Lightning spear because it is just good in any scenario. (Also because the feel of this version of Lightning spear is what I wanted since Dark Souls 1 😅)

[@deltad994]

Fun fact: red lightning is super affective against dragons.

[@TroyColey]

Tulok and Mango, thank you for you’re hard work, we all appreciate it. You’re an amazing, wonderful, incredible, and awesome person. ☺️☺️😄😃🤩😍😎 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@matthewstarnes9147]

I was waiting for Captain Planet after that start 😂

[@S.A.F.T.I]

The Cold Greatsword is an auto 'I win' button. Funnily enough despite Radagon being immune to statuses/elements but apparently he can still be affected by Frostbite... Yeah I don't know why either.

[@oskarthenarrator]

Imagine basing your early lightning opinions on Lightning Strike and not Lightning Spear Edit: Oh my godskin how could you disrespect Discus of Light, it is literally the most efficient damaging spell in the game

[@slimloco2917]

That vine boom sound effect got me every goddamn time.

[@AndresD.deLeon]

This man just throws one-liners in non-one-liners fashion. I not only respect him. I fear him

[@DieSpielhoelle]

I love that even if you showed als Basic Elements, thanks to the variety in Spells, you were only scratching the surface.

[@naikus3d]

The axel memes "Two?!" were perfect and you have my sub lmao

[@noahpenman3493]

A tip that I figured out a little while ago. You don’t have to unlock the academy to get to Altus plateau. There is a spirit jump near the first stone bell bearing cave. Just use that jump and you can get up to the belum church.

[@cavemanbuddyolpal]

You can also just run up the hill south from the path to ruin strewn village and get straight to bellum church

[@tulokthebarbrarian2033]

The warp is faster than the running

[@mismagia]

Lightning spear carried my first playthrough love that spell Also interesting that you grab meteorite staff but not the dragon communion seal

[@That__Guy]

Damn, your commentary is on a different level. Perfect blend of information and jokes. Also your puns are .. and I'm a dad, so I know one or two things about puns.

[@theULTIMATElife50]

I am surprised you didn't get the Bolt of Gransax or the Thunderbolt ash of war.

[@turtle_jones]

Requires a bit of setup. But if you dedicated a holy run with golden order seal in the off hand if you didn’t wanna commit to int/faith and the gold mask which is chilling in Altus, you’ll have two items to boost golden order incants. That and holy scorpion and that baby discus of light becomes an extremely long ranged, FP conservative frisbee. Super fun for trash mobs. And the boomerang effect really starts to stack. Really fun utility.

[@weskintime4177]

Haven’t watched the video but Lightning is the most fun. Also seeing mimic pullout shit like Fortissax’s Lightning Bolt and Lanneasaxx’s Glaive is funny. Also also Frozen Lightning Spear.

[@barrackobama7962]

i've been watching this channel for 2 weeks now and i've always thought he had 2 million subscribers or so, his videos are superb

[@werbearjack]

That was fun. The end result wasn't that surprising but the way there was entertaining. But we all know the best element is a club to the head.

[@FatalKenshen]

Death sorceries definitley give me the old dark souls series hex nostalgia, two spells providing fire or frostbite, even though im primarily int i have delved into faith and the incantation buffs are very supportive in jolly cooperation.

[@jasonallen5276]

Subbed solely because of the amount/work you put into this!

[@arellajardin8188]

Currently playing a lightning paladin, ala DS2. Not a "pure" damage type, granted. But early game, I'm finding Electrify Armament + Repeating Thrusts to be a formidable dps burst, and Lightning Spear is always a good range option.

[@g4greed502]

love your sense of humor. subscribed

[@MasterofLaziness]

I think lightning would have benefitted from an early Dragon Communion seal, assuming there were levels to spare after reaching minimum faith for lightning spear. It does insane damage, especially compared to the finger seal, and since the proper boosting seal is in Leyndell, you get at least 2 demigods worth out of it. Could even get away with "wandering" the knight carrying it into the nearby chariot, or just coming back with a basic seal to fight him normally if that's illegal for this run.

[@glazdont1382]

I'm not gonna lie I was pretty surprised that lightning was bad at first, but then I realized I never tried lightning until NG+ and already had access to all of the good stuff.

[@stealthyremote7424]

That Eve6 reference hit me like a truck. Talk about a blast from the past