The Best Elden Ring Black Flame Build
Looking to turn up the heat with the best Black Flame build in Elden Ring? This Elden Ring guide will take you through what you need to burn through the Lands Between.
Update: The Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has now been released and the creeping damage-over-time offered by Black Flame builds is still a powerful option to bring into the new content. We've updated this page with level spreads for the whole of the game, including the DLC, as well as with new weapons and gear options.
An early favorite in the original incarnation of Elden Ring, the Black Flame build is an offensive powerhouse of a build, combining the best attributes of Faith and Dexterity into a threatening package.
This is because the best Black Flame build in Elden Ring allows you to deal huge damage over time to high-health enemies thanks to the unique traits of Black Flame damage. For those who like to stay up close and personal, burning away bosses with consistent damage, the Black Flame build is for you.
It's not the absolute best Faith build however, but thanks to varied stats and powerful Incantations this is also a very versatile build which will prove useful in a variety of situations.
This build requires an early investment into not just Faith, but other key stats to collect a few critical items and some top-tier incantations. However, once you’ve got your hands on the key pieces of kit, this build allows for a surprising amount of flexibility and personalization for each and every player.
Best Elden Ring Black Flame Starting Class and Stats
There are three stats that you should prioritise with any Faith build in Elden Ring, but especially a Black Flame one. These are Mind, Faith, and Vigor.
- Mind is crucial for this build due to the sheer amount of spells you’ll be casting. Your primary source of magical damage - Black Flame Blade - is a short-duration weapon buff that’ll have to be quick-casted consistently in boss fights. As such, a high mind stat will provide the FP needed to stay up close and dealing damage, rather than backing out and chugging for a FP refill.
- Faith is also crucial. To start using Black Flame Blade you’ll need at least 17 faith, while Black Flame requires 20 and the Godslayer’s Seal requires a whopping 27. Not only that, but all your Black Flame incantations scale with faith. What this all means is that faith will be your primary dump stat, a focus early on as you rush to reach those aforementioned milestones and where you’ll invest your level ups later on for more damage.
- Vigor is hugely important. As you’re going to be up close and in melee range with this Black Flame Faith build, you’re going to want a healthy investment in vigor to save yourself from being oneshot in fights. Especially since Endurance isn’t a crucial stat here, you won’t be able to rely on heavy armor or greatshields.
- Finally, Strength and Dexterity are critical to this build too. This is to meet the requirements for the plethora of great weapons you can add to your arsenal.
Secondary stats to focus on include Endurance to open up more armor options, and Intelligence, as some Faith weapons and Incantations require INT as well. If you wanted to throw Dragon Incantations in the mix, you could plan on investing at least 10 points in Arcane.
But it's also worth noting you'll eventually get diminishing returns from your stats. Faith and Intelligence start dropping off after level 50. For Mind, you'll get roughly 120 FP between levels 30 and 50, and a further 70 FP between 50 and 60. Don't bother leveling Mind after 60, as the drop in returns makes it a bit of a waste.
You have two choices for starting class: First, we recommend starting as a Prophet if you want to go straight for a Black Flame Faith build in Elden Ring. The reason being is the early allocation of points into Faith that you’ll need later on, as well as the Catch Flame incantation being immediately available. This is a great filler incantation that can chew through enemies in the early game around Limgrave super easily.
However, you can also choose to start as a Samurai. Why would you do that when their Faith is so low? It's because their Strength and Dexterity is already decent, allowing you to get them both up to 16 quickly to wield the Winged Scythe - a great early Faith Weapon - while also giving you the fantastic Uchigatana to wield while you grind up your Faith to 24.
Early Game Stats - Level 30+This is the Black Flame build stat-spread to aim for in the very early game if you want to grab the Winged Scythe immediately, assuming you start as a Samurai. Once you've got the stat requirements to wield your Faith weapon and get the build rolling, you can push more points into Vigor to feel less squishy. Alternatively, if this is your first playthrough or you're less confident, take a slower approach and level Vigor and Endurance to a comfortable level before piling everything into Faith.
- Vigor: 12
- Mind: 11
- Endurance: 13
- Strength: 16
- Dexterity: 16
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 24
- Arcane: 8
Around this point in the game is where you can transition away from your Winged Scythe and to your main Black Flame weapon, the Godslayer's Greatsword. You have enough Faith to wield the Godslayer's Seal and enough Strength to wield the greatsword one-handed, so both of those stats can stay where they are for now until your Dexterity reaches 60.
- Vigor: 30
- Mind: 20
- Endurance: 20
- Strength: 20
- Dexterity: 22
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 30
- Arcane: 8
With the Godslayer's Greatsword in-hand, Dexterity has now overtaken Faith as your main offensive stat and should be where the majority of your focus goes. You can then increase Vigor to counter increasingly difficult enemies and Mind to make more use of your amazing Ash of War and Incantations.
- Vigor: 40
- Mind: 28
- Endurance: 22
- Strength: 20
- Dexterity: 42
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 30
- Arcane: 8
As you reach the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC areas, you need to have at least 50 Vigor and your main attacking stat at the soft cap of 60. This is because the DLC enemies hit very hard compared to the base game and you want to maximise your damage output as well. If you feel like you've got too much Mind, you can drop this down and pump Faith for more damage.
- Vigor: 50
- Mind: 28
- Endurance: 22
- Strength: 20
- Dexterity: 60
- Intelligence: 9
- Faith: 32
- Arcane: 8
Best Elden Ring Black Flame Weapons
You can equip a number of strong weapons to a Black Flame Faith build in Elden Ring, but here are a few that stand out.
One main weapon you’ll want is the Godslayer’s Seal to boost Godslayer Incantations. These include all your Black Flame spells, and as such make this handy little seal a cornerstone for this build. This requires four points in Strength and 27 in Faith.
Luckily it's found in Stormveil Castle right at the start of the game. Just go into the courtyard at the top of the main carriageway - y'know, the one where everyone shoots bolts at you if you try and run up it. There's a side room in the bottom corner where you can slot a Stonesword Key to collect both teh Seal and the Prayer book for Black Flame spells. Then take this to Corhyn at the Roundtable Hold to learn the Incantation.
To get the Winged Scythe for the early game, head to Tombsward Ruins in the northwest of the Weeping Peninsula and loot it from the cellar. You can go here literally as soon as you start the game.
When it comes to primary melee weapons, there are two trains of thought. You can go all in on the Black Flame with weapons like the Godslayer’s Greatsword found by defeating the Godskin Apostle in the Caelid Divine Tower or the Godskin Peeler from the Godskin Noble boss in Volcano Manor. This provides more opportunity for you to deal big damage and apply the Black Flame debuff, and would lead to what many would call a 'true Black Flame build'.
But with that said, the Godslayer's Greatsword, which requires 20 Strength, 22 Dexterity, and 20 Faith to wield is the better weapon here. It has D scaling with Faith and C with Dexterity, and its skill, The Queen's Black Flame, can produce a sweeping slash of Black Flame damage that will reduce an target's HP. The Godskin Peeler, on the other hand, only needs 17 Strength and 22 Dexterity to wield, with no Faith scaling. It's definitely a great weapon for those pumping points into just Dex, however.
Alternatively, you can lean towards a hybrid Black Flame / Bleed build. The reason for doing this is simple, both Bleed and Black Flame do percentage health damage. Since you’re already going to be attacking all the time to keep the Black Flame debuff on enemies, having a weapon like the Wakizashi dagger, Nagakiba or Bloodhound’s Fang with built in blood loss can provide an additional surge of damage.
That said, all three of the above Bleed weapons do scale with Dexterity, so ultimately pumping points into Dex or finding a suitable Faith weapon will be your priority when choosing a solid, strong weapon. You could always use one of these while you work up to getting the Godslayer's Greatsword.
If you'd rather use Strength weapons with this build, the Nightrider Glaive requires 26 Strength and 10 Dexterity to use, while having C scaling with Strength (this changes to S scaling at +20). You can also infuse it with a Black Flame Blade Ash of War where needed. There's also the Treespear, which requires 15 Strength, 22 Dexterity, and 18 Faith to use, which is ideal for Faith builds. It scales with all three of its stat requirements, and can inflict Holy Damage as well.
We recommend experimenting with as many of the weapons as you can to see what you prefer. Early game, secure the Godslayer’s Seal and Black Flame Blade incantation, then mess around with your weapon of choice. It's also worth bearing in mind that not all enemies actually can bleed in Elden Ring, so you’ll want to rely on Black Flame incantations either way.
Best Elden Ring Black Flame Talismans
As for talismans, the Green Turtle talisman is a brilliant option across many builds including this one. As you’ll be on the offensive, having a higher stamina regeneration rate is key when wanting to keep the pressure up. If you have access to the Shadow of the Erdtree, there's a new double-headed version of this to pick up that's more potent.
You can also use talismans like the Ancestral Spirit’s Horn to recover some of that lost FP from enemies as you make your way through the game. In boss fights, swap this out for other universally great talismans like the basic Crimson Amber Medallion or other options that boost your HP or healing.
As an incantation-focused build, the Faithful's Canvas Talisman is a great pick. This simply boosts the effectiveness of your incantations by 4%, so will provide additional power to your Black Flame incantations. For a similar, but even better Talisman, use the Old Lord's Talisman, which extends the duration of spells (this includes incantations) by 30%, so you can deal further damage with your incantations over an extended period of time.
However, if you want to take a more advanced approach to your Talismans, you can collect the Shard of Alexander by mercilessly killing your friend, the Living Jar Alexander. You monster. Or you can complete his quest for the better version. This will buff the power of your showpiece Ash of War on the Godslayer's Greatsword.
Because Dexterity is so important, you can use the Prosthesis Heirloom or Millicent's Prosthesis from Millicent's Quest. You can also add the Rotten Wing Insignia to the mix if you took that path.
Next, to buff your Incantations you can use the Godfrey Icon that you get from the Evergaol version of Godefroy the Grafted in Altus Plateau at the Golden Lineage Evergaol.
Finally, for the risk-takers among you, there's the good old Radagon's Soreseal in Fort Faroth in the Dragonbarrow or the Fire Scorpion's Charm from Fort Laiedd on Mt Gelmir near the Volcano Manor.
Best Elden Ring Black Flame Incantations
This build uses a core set of two or three incantations that make up the core of the build’s playstyle, but you can obviously experiment however you want to find what works best for how you play Elden Ring. Some of these core incantations are, as mentioned above, the Black Flame Blade and Black Flame.
The Black Flame incantation requires 20 Faith to use, and simply put, will throw a ball of Black Flame at a target. The Black Flame Blade incantation, on the other hand, requires 17 Faith to use and will enchant your right-hand armament with Black Flame if it doesn't have a unique Ash of War and secondary damage type, increasing the damage that your chosen weapon will deal.
As mentioned you find the prayer book for these Incantations in Stormveil Castle.
However, as you progress through the game you may come across other useful Black Flame incantations that can be used to great effect. Scouring Black Flame, which requires 28 Faith, is a brilliant incantation for clearing out packs of enemies or hitting multiple strong foes at once.
Noble Presence, acquired from defeating the Godskin Noble in Volcano Manor and requiring 26 Faith to use, is not the best of incantations, but it is relatively underrated. It’s a great PvP incantation that can catch enemies trying to sneak around you for backstabs or roll into your for quick damage, and once the timing of it is mastered, it's great to use solely for the fact that its a guaranteed knock to an enemy or PvP player.
Black Flame's Protection is an incantation that can be used to negate Physical damage in particularly tough fights, but it will simultaneously reduce any incoming healing by 20%. It's certainly worth using against enemies with high Physical damage outputs, but consider equipping a Talisman like the Crimson Seed Talisman mentioned above alongside it. You'll also need 30 Faith to use it.
Best Elden Ring Black Flame Armor
While the armor you use isn’t hugely important, there are a few pieces of strong armor that can make a slight difference for this Black Flame Faith build in Elden Ring.
The first is the Ruler’s Mask. You can find this by the Abandoned Coffin Site of Grace in the Atlas Plateau. Simply make your way up the hill, and you’ll find this mask resting on a corpse on the left side of the pile up of coffins carriages. It'll increase your Faith stat by 1.
Alternatively, if you feel confident in your ability to dodge attacks, the Incantation Scarab is a good option for a head piece. This is your reward from the Homing Instinct Painting puzzle, found in the Artist’s Shack in Limgrave. Once equipped, it is fantastic for negating a little bit of every damage-type.
Another piece of armor to consider is the Godskin Noble Robe, which can be acquired by beating the Godskin Noble near the Divine Tower or Liurnia. This robe will increase damage inflicted by the Noble Presence incantation by approximately 20%, making it a must-have if you're running that incantation.
That wraps up our Elden Ring Black Flame faith build! For more Elden Ring guides, check out our pieces on the best armor for mages and melee classes, as well as our guide on how to respec in case you want to shift into this Black Flame build right now!