While it may be true that many of the possible Incantations players can buy at the Church and Cathedral of Dragon Communion are not all that impressive, some of them are pretty powerful, and they deserve to be acknowledged. After all, there is only one way to make use of Dragon Hearts, so why not spend them on something that can actually come in handy when traversing through the Lands Between?
Updated on January 22, 2023, by Maciej Grzymkowski: With some of thebuilds preferred by Elden Ring players getting nerfed in the many updates that have come about since the game’s release, Dragon Communion incantations gained newfound interest among players looking to retain their magic-based playstyles and not let their accumulated Arcane, Faith, and Intelligence points go to waste. All those wanting to unleash their inner dragon in Elden Ring should look no further than this list, which has been updated with a few more of the best Dragon Communion incantations in Elden Ring to suit a larger variety of approaches.
11 Rotten Breath
Alongside Bleed and Poison damage, Scarlet Rot is one of the most universally powerful damage types in the entire game. The Rotten Breath Incantation, while not necessarily impressive in terms of dealing immediate damage, can help players get through tough encounters by effectively infecting their foes with the Rot. It’s one of the best dragon incantations for those looking to avoid direct combat encounters for as long as possible.
Particularly useful against tough late-game bosses like Maliketh, the Black Blade as well as dispersing groups of enemies, Rotten Breath is a worthy addition to any player’s Incantation repertoire. Moreover, its Faith requirement is only 15, which means that even builds that do not prioritize that particular stat will be able to make good use of it.
10 Dragonmaw
This Dragon Communion incantation also generates a dragon’s head on top of the player, this time rapidly biting away at any opponent that strays into its path. Costing only one Dragon Heart, this low-cost incantation is particularly useful in the early-to-mid stages of the game. However, it costs a lot more Faith than the Rotten Breath spell and makes for a slightly worse choice for players who aren’t looking to invest a lot of their skill points in that particular attribute.
However, Faith-based builds should have a field day with Dragonmaw, as it combines particularly well with melee strikes, allowing skilled Tarnished to unleash deadly flurries of attacks finalized by this quick sequence of dragon bites. This ability scales with Faith, and in order to be able to equip it, one needs to have at least 26 Faith points and 16 Arcane.
9 Dragonice
Another low-cost Dragon Communion Incantation, Dragonice can be used by non-magic focused builds to stun enemies and apply elemental damage to gain the upper hand in battle.
With the Dragonice Incantation activated, the caster’s head turns into a dragon, spewing icy breath on everything that stands in their way. Much more useful against hordes of mob enemies than major bosses, Dragonice is the ideal choice for melee-focused builds who want to dabble in a tiny bit of magic.
8 Smarag’s Glintstone Breath
Players looking for powerful Incantations that are also visually stunning should look no further than Smarag’s Glintstone Breath. It lifts the player a few feet off the ground and projects a hefty amount of magic damage onto enemies.
Contrary to Dragonice or Rotten Breath, this Incantation requires slightly more Faith to use (23 points), but it is well worth the skill point investment, considering how effective it is at draining the health bars of non-magic resistant bosses. Smarag’s Glintstone Breath also comes in handy when coming up against large or flying mobs.
7 Theodorix’s Magma
Unlike direct Fire damage, Magma Incantations are great at dealing prolonged damage to enemies. Obtainable for 2 Dragon Hearts after defeating the Great Wyrm Theodorix, Theodorix’s Magma is an incantation that will slow enemies down in their tracks, preventing them from getting close enough to dish out melee damage.
Very useful for any STR/FTH build (which is one of the more popular Elden Ring builds), this Incantation can be utilized in a variety of ways, but it’s most effective against fire-susceptible bosses and mobs. The fact that it spews the destructive magma from above is an additional advantage.
6 Greyoll’s Roar
Obtainable after defeating Greyoll, the Elden Dragon residing in Caelid’s Dragonbarrow, Greyoll’s Roar is one of the easiest dragon-specific incantations to get, simply because this boss does not directly attack the player. Instead, Greyoll relies on the five lesser dragons gathered around him to strike at the Tarnished. However, with the help of Torrent and some manual skill, their advances can easily be avoided, allowing the player to focus on reducing Greyoll’s health bar to zero by hitting his tail.
Greyoll’s Roar costs three Dragon Hearts at the Altar of Dragon Communion, but it’s well worth the investment, especially for players with Faith builds. It unleashes a powerful AoE attack that doesn’t only damage enemies directly, but also reduces the power of their attacks and makes them more vulnerable to the player’s hits for 60 seconds. Greyoll’s Roar requires 28 Faith and 17 Arcane to equip.
5 Agheel’s Flame
As is the case with other powerful Dragon Incantations in Elden Ring, Agheel’s Flame also only becomes available after defeating a specific dragon. In this case, the necessary foe is the Flying Dragon Agheel. Although still a formidable boss, he is not as difficult as some dragons encountered in the game and can be found in Limgrave.
With a high enough Faith level, this Incantation is arguably one of the most powerful fire spells in the game, both due to its long range, as well as the fact that it spews flames from above, which increases its effectiveness against shielded and high-poise enemies.
4 Dragonfire
Dragonfire is very similar to the Agheel’s Flame in that it’s also a Fire incantation that transforms the caster into a dragon. Contrary to Agheel’s Flame, though, this one has a slightly shorter range and does not elevate the player above the ground.
Despite being less powerful than Agheel’s Flame, Dragonfire is arguably the superior Dragon Communion Incantation out of the two. This is because it costs much less Faith to use (15 vs. Agheel’s Flame’s 23), and can be purchased with a single Dragon Heart. It is useful for all sorts of builds, and while players who do not focus on Faith might have a hard time making full use of it against bosses, it can easily be utilized to tear apart mob enemies.
3 Borealis’s Mist
Elden Ring Dragon Communion enables some pretty visually stunning attacks, with Borealis’s Mist taking the cake as arguably the most beautiful “breath” incantations. It unleashes a mist of ice onto the opponents, dealing hefty amounts of Frostbite damage in the process. It is an improved version of the Dragonice attack but requires a bit more Faith to equip – 23 points to be precise.
In order to unlock Borealis’s Mist, players need to head all the way to the Mountaintops of the Giants and defeat Borealis, the Freezing Fog. He can be found to the southeast of the Freezing Lake Site of Grace. He is a formidable foe, but those who’ve defeated a few other named dragons before should have a pretty solid idea of how to battle him, as he has the same basic attacks as Decaying Ekzykes or Flying Dragon Agheel. After killing Borealis, the Tarnished can buy Borealis’s Mist at an Altar of Dragon Communion for 2 Dragon Hearts.
2 Ekzykes’s Decay
Obtainable after beating Decaying Ekzykes, this Incantation is another Scarlet Rot spell, but it’s infinitely more powerful than Rotten Breath (which is already quite a formidable force by itself).
The reason for this is the fact that like most other Incantations named after a specific creature, Ekzykes’s Decay elevates the player a few feet above the ground, increasing the area covered by its effect. The larger, thicker cloud of Scarlet Rot infects enemies much faster, getting them to drop more HP than any other Rot-based spell.
1 Placidusax’s Ruin
A very powerful late-game spell that allows players to spew Golden Breath from above, the Placidusax’s Ruin is the only Dragon Cult Incantation that can’t be obtained in the Church or the Cathedral of Dragon Communion. Instead, players can claim it by exchanging the Remembrance of the Dragonlord for it with Enia at the Roundtable Hold.
Undeniably the strongest of all the Dragon Communion Incantations, this monster of a spell requires 36 Faith and is the only spell in this category that has 360⁰ control and can be aimed during the cast. Whether it’s melting down hordes of minor enemies or taking away chunks of bosses’ health bars at a time, Placidusax’s Ruin is one of those overpowered Elden Ring spells that can resolve most combat encounters within seconds.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
More: Elden Ring: All Legendary Sorcery And Incantation Locations
