Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Impenetrable Thorns build

Being a bit prickly

FromSoftware/GLHF

Making an Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Impenetrable Thorns build turns one of the DLC’s best new sorceries into a nearly unstoppable force. The spell’s base damage is nothing to write home about, but it’s one of the best and easiest ways to inflict bleed quickly. Most enemies in Shadow of the Erdtree, including bosses, are weak to bleed, so this is one build you’ll get plenty of use from in the Land of Shadow.

Our Elden Ring Impenetrable Thorns build breaks down what you need to make this sorcery-centric build work and why it’s worthwhile.

If you’re after more Elden Ring help, head over to our Shadow of the Erdtree guides hub, where you’ll find tips for completing Ansbach’s quest and explainers for how to duplicate Remembrances and deal with Furnace Golems

How to make an Elden Ring Impenetrable Thorns build

Make sure you've got some Faith / FromSoftware/GLHF

The first thing you need is the Impenetrable Thorns sorcery itself, so if you haven’t found it yet, make our Impenetrable Thorns location guide your next stop. The spell’s actual damage is less important than the blood loss effect it causes, so you’ll want to focus on accessories tied to bleed effects. Damage output might not be the most important part of this build, but there is one staff that helps bump your numbers up separately from bleed damage.

Elden Ring SotE Impenetrable Thorns build: Best weapon

You have two choices for a good Impenetrable Thorns build. For pure damage, the Staff of the Guilty is your best option. It scales with Faith and eventually has S-tier Faith scaling, and it increases the power of all Thorn sorceries, though there’s not much reason to bring Briars of Punishment and Briars of Sin along. You might get this staff from Thorn Sorcerers in Fort Laiedd and Guardians’ Garrison, and it requires 8 Strength and 12 Faith to work.

The second choice is the Albinauric Staff. This one is in an upper room of Volcano Manor, guarded by an Omenkiller. It increases how quickly an enemy’s bloodloss meter fills, which means you cause the hemorrhage effect more frequently, though it won’t do much for the actual spell’s damage. Still, if you want to invest in a stat that isn’t Arcane, it’s a useful way to avoid losing out on that stat’s effect on bleed. The Albinauric Staff requires 6 Strength, 10 Intelligence, and 12 Arcane to use, and it eventually reaches S-tier Arcane scaling.

No escaping / FromSoftware/GLHF

Good secondary weapon options include Faith-scaling weapons, such as the Blasphemous Sword or Devonia’s Hammer, if you have strength to spare, along with the Lightning Perfume Bottle – also a pick for our Elden Ring Lightning build. Arcane builds could use Romina’s polearm and Eleanora’s Poleblade as well.

Finally, you may want to include a Seal and some Incantations to make the most of your Faith stat.

Elden Ring SotE Impenetrable Thorns build: Best stats

Faith and Arcane are this build’s most important stats, the former for plain damage and the latter for how quickly bloodloss builds. Our stat recommendations focus on those two, but if you’re aiming for a more flexible build with weapons or spells aside from Impenetrable Thorns, feel free to adjust as you see fit.

• Vigor: 50-60

• Mind: 20 (more, if you’re running other spells)

• Endurance: 30

• Strength: 12

• Dexterity: 12

• Intelligence: 30 (lower, if you don’t use other sorceries)

• Faith: 40

• Arcane: 45

High Vigor is important to survive Shadow of the Erdtree’s tough bosses and to offset your own HP loss from using Impenetrable Thorns.

Elden Ring SotE Impenetrable Thorns build: Best spells

Now that's good spell range / FromSoftware/GLHF

The downside about running this build is that you’re giving up most Sorceries in favor of this one, unless you invest more points in Intelligence. Given how frequently Impenetrable Thorns triggers blood loss and how much damage the effect deals, that’s not a huge problem. However, bringing along spells such as Glintstone Icecrag helps you take advantage of additional weaknesses.

Other useful Incantations include Frozen Lightning Spear, Rings of Light, and Sira, though Frozen Lightning aside, you probably won’t get as much damage from them as you will from Impenetrable Thorns.

Elden Ring SotE Impenetrable Thorns build: Best Talismans

Guilty - of being OP / FromSoftware/GLHF

A few Talismans make this build much more potent, especially if you’re using melee weapons alongside Impenetrable Thorns.

• Lord of Blood’s Exultation: Raises attack power by 20 percent for 20 seconds when bloodloss occurs nearby. The buff includes magic attack
• Radagon Icon: Shortens spell casting time
• Graven-Mass Talismans: Buffs all sorceries by eight percent
• Dragoncrest Greatshield: Reduces incoming physical damage

Elden Ring SotE Impenetrable Thorns build: Best armor

You can run any armor set with this build, and medium or heavy armor might be a good idea if you find your defense isn’t cutting it. However, to make the most of your bleed effects, only one set will do: the War Surgeon Set. Well, one part of it anyway, the White Mask. It increases attack by 10 percent for 20 seconds when bleed happens nearby.

Elden Ring’s War Surgeon armor, including the mask, comes from the Nameless White Mask enemies in Mohgwyn Palace. These stop spawning after you defeat Mohg, though, so if you’ve already taken him down, you won’t be able to obtain it.

Having good magic is all fine and well, but don't forget to level up you and your summons by tracking down Revered Spirit Ash locations and Scadutree Fragment locations, too.