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Magic builds are a staple in all instalments of Dark Souls.
Sorceries are famous for their insane damage capabilities and are often considered the ‘easy mode’ of the games.
But in my eyes, they’re awesome, requiring a good sense of timing and spacing to execute effectively, and dishing out some crazy one-shots to reward you!
But what gear should you use? Today, I’m going to be going through a list of the best options for intelligence-centred builds!
Catalysts
Court Sorcerer’s Staff
The court sorcerer’s staff is the best catalyst for pure intelligence builds.
It has the highest spellbuff and comes with the steady chant skill which buffs spell damage by a further 10%!
For general use and long-range encounters, the court sorcerer’s should be your go-to once you’re in the late-game.
How to get: In the centipede-lady church nestled in the swamp just before the profaned capital.
Preacher’s Right Arm
For more melee-focused magicians, the preacher’s is a fantastic choice.
It shines brightest in PvP, but still can be used generally, especially if paired with a slower mainhand weapon.
The spellbuff is still fantastic, sitting just lower than the court sorcerer’s at 50+ intelligence.
And the weapon skill ‘feasting branch’ provides a super quick, close-range, heavily spammable attack that does decent chunks of damage!
How to get: Found in the ringed city swamp, to the right of the huge judicator giant.
Mage Weapons
Aquamarine Dagger
In my opinion one of the coolest ringed city DLC weapons, the aquamarine dagger saw a surprising amount of dislike on its release.
Whilst it may lack stun-lock capabilities, it does great damage on dex/intelligence hybrids and is incredibly fast, allowing for an in-and-out combat approach.
The flash-factor comes in when looking at its weapon skill ‘crystal blade’, which extends the range of the dagger the that of a straight sword, whilst retaining its dagger swing speed and enabling an awesome new moveset!
Don’t sleep on this weapon, it’s incredibly fun and surprisingly strong.
How to get: Right at the start of the ringed city DLC, guarded by a Harald legion knight up the stairs on the left.
Moonlight Greatsword
The moonlight greatsword is one of (if not the most) iconic weapon of the entire ‘Soulsborne’ series, being present in every game – even Bloodborne!
Being a greatsword you may think it’s a strength/intelligence weapon, but thanks to its pitiful E scaling in strength it’s basically a pure intelligence weapon.
Despite this, it has the highest magic damage of any weapon in the game, an incredibly flashy moveset and weapon skill, and beautiful aesthetics to top it all off.
It’s a fan-favourite for a reason, and I cannot recommend it more.
How to get: Soul transposition with the soul of Oceiros.
Immolation Tinder
Likely not a weapon you see often, but tragically underrated.
The immolation tinder is a halberd/catalyst hybrid that deals split fire damage and entirely thrust damage (hello Leo ring!)
It has great range and exchanges its heavy attacks for the ability to cast your selected sorcery.
It even has a pretty good spellbuff at high intelligence levels, being just a handful of points shy of the court sorcerer’s.
On top of this, it has D/C/A scaling in strength/dex/intelligence respectively, making it great for hybrids, and has an awesome weapon skill that causes fire to chase your foes!
How to get: Dropped by fire witches in the Irithyll.
Sorceries
Crystal Soul Spear
Crystal soul spear is seen as the end-goal for every intelligence build.
And thanks to its intelligence requirement of 48, you’ll need to be high level to use it!
To reward your stat investment, you get the hardest-hitting ranged sorcery in the entire game which pierces enemies and only uses 1 attunement slot!
It’s hard to use in PvP thanks to its obvious windup time, but it’s a staple in general gameplay.
How to get: Sold by Orbeck once given the crystal scroll from the grand archives.
Farron Flashsword
For a more PvP-focused option, it’s hard to go wrong with the Farron flashsword.
This spell conjures a dagger-speed sword of magic to swing at foes, which has incredible range and interrupts enemy actions!
Thanks to its low focus cost it can be spammed heavily, though be careful as your catalyst can be hilariously parried.
It synergises fantastically with a ton of your tools, such as the preacher’s right arm or the immolation tinder!
How to get: Purchased from Orbeck once he’s in Firelink.
Soul Greatsword
Flashsword’s bigger brother and another great PvP sorcery.
The soul greatsword conjures an even bigger sword of magic, and swings it in a huge area before you.
Its obvious windup makes it easy to dodge, but it has great roll-catching capabilities and deals big damage.
Whilst not outstanding by itself, it can be great to swap into mid-combo to catch your foes off guard!
How to get: Sold by Orbeck once you send him to Firelink.
Crystal Magic Weapon
Crystal magic weapon is the sorcery weapon buff.
Using it encases your weapon in sharp, magical gems, and adds a ton of damage based on your catalysts weapon buff.
Essentially, it makes any buffable weapon scale with intelligence.
This is especially fantastic for hybrid builds, allowing you to sharp, heavy, or refined infuse your weapon of choice and still get fantastic intelligence-based damage output!
How to get: Purchased from Orbeck after giving him the crystal scroll.
Accessories
Crown of Dusk
Returning from the original Dark Souls, the crown of dusk is essentially a passive damage buff.
It increases magic damage dealt by 10% but in exchange increasing the magic damage taken.
The increased incoming damage is pretty easy to ignore when compared to the constant damage boost the crown provides, and it’s worth keeping on at all times.
It’s a popular choice for all mages!
How to get: Found at the base of the ivory tree in Farron swamp.
Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring
It doesn’t get much simpler than this.
The bellowing dragoncrest ring increases sorcery damage by a crazy 20%.
That’s all there is to it.
If you’re using sorceries, you cannot go wrong, and this ring should be basically glued to your finger at all times.
Put it on your mages, end of.
How to get: Found in the Irithyll dungeon, beyond the gate unlocked with the jailbreaker’s key.
Sages Ring
The sages ring is another spellcaster essential, provided you’re not running a dex hybrid build.
What you might not know is that spellcasting speed is affected by your dex stat, capping out at 50 dex.
But if you’re not building dex, don’t worry! The sages ring provides a whopping 40 ‘virtual’ dex, at its strongest version of +2.
This essentially inflates your dex level, and therefore cast speed, without giving you the stats themselves, meaning you only need 10 dex to reach the spellcasting speed cap.
How to get: Base version is found in a ruined room in the crab-infested waters outside of Farron keep. +2 version (requires NG++!) is found on the broken staircase in the consumed king’s garden.
Lloyd’s Sword Ring
Lloyd’s sword ring is practically made for long-range attackers who want to keep out of harm’s way.
Or players who can dodge damage flawlessly.
It boosts damage dealt by all sources by a nice 10%, provided you’re all full HP.
This is great for sorcery builds, as they tend to be quite glass-cannon to begin with, and the range of their magics allows them to stay back from enemies.
But even on melee-focused builds it has its applications, as long as you nail your roll timings!
How to get: Found in the cathedral of the deep, on the ground near the first giant encounter.
Magic Clutch Ring
Finally, on the subject of avoiding damage, we have the controversial magic clutch ring.
The magic clutch increases magic damage dealt by 15%, but lowers all physical absorptions by 10%.
It can be seen as a more permanent version of Lloyd’s, as even getting hit won’t disable it, however hits will hurt a lot more!
In PvP, this ring is not worth using- the damage buff is smaller, and the incoming damage is greater.
If you’re confident in your ability to dodge, or want to test your one-shot capabilities, give it a go!
How to get: In the enemy-filled area in front of the Pontiff Sulyvahn bossfight, behind an illusory wall.
A game animator by trade, Tom’s insight into the game development world gives him a strong appreciation for the art form that is video games. Kicking off at the age of 3 with Spyro: Year of the Dragon on the PS1, Tom’s tastes in games has hardened over the 19 years he’s spent playing them. He now lives for the challenge that titles such as Monster Hunter, Dark Souls, Dead Cells, and many more offer him. Enjoying nothing more than a session of number-crunching game data and another platinum trophy on his PlayStation account, Tom is dedicated to leaving no stone unturned in even the most brutal of gaming content.
