None of the starting classes in Elden Ring look sillier and play more interestingly than the Prisoner. This hybrid caster has the potential to deal a lot of damage from afar and more damage up close. Let’s talk about what your endgame Prisoner build might look like.
The Prisoner is a starting class in Elden Ring, predisposed towards Intelligence and Dexterity. We will stick to this build plan but offer enough Strength to use all major Intelligence-based weaponry in the game. This leaves us with enough Intelligence to cast the most powerful magic in Elden Ring.
For this article, we’ll have more general stats so you can use different options and try things out. For a more focused version, check out our Dex/Int build guide.
Best stats for a Prisoner build in Elden Ring
The following are our recommended stats for a level 120 build. Leveling up to this point, we recommend prioritizing Intelligence to 30, then Vigor to 40, then Dexterity to 30.
- Vigor: 40
- Mind: 27
- Endurance: 11
- Strength: 24
- Dexterity: 30
- Intelligence: 52
- Faith: Six
- Arcane: Nine
40 Vigor sets you at around 1450 health and is when leveling up Vigor more starts to have diminishing returns. 52 Intelligence is a bit lower than you’d want for an Astrologer but lets you cast strong magic like Loretta’s Mastery and Comet. Investing more into Intelligence can let you cast stronger magic, though at the cost of your defensive and weapon stats.
30 Dexterity is not the high end of weapons but allows you to use most Intelligence-based weaponry without issue. 24 Strength lets you one-hand almost all Intelligence weapons outside the Colossal options. You can even two-hand the Fallingstar Beast Jaw, leaving you with a single Strength-based Intelligence weapon you can’t wield—the Starscourge Greatsword. Still, this is a wide array of options.
We prioritize Mind quite a bit for this build. The Prisoner gets a lot of value from casting spells and Weapon Skills, and 27 Mind puts you at a healthy 158 FP. That’s enough to cast higher-end spells multiple times without needing a refill. Bring Cerulean Tear Flasks if you plan on taking on dungeons with a Prisoner, however.
While we like Mind quite a lot, that doesn’t mean it’s required for a build. If you don’t like casting spells or Weapon Skills often, you can get away with moving Mind into Strength for more weapon access, Intelligence to cast stronger spells, or Endurance to wear different armor.
Beyond level 120, spread your level ups between Dexterity and Intelligence. Getting both of those stats to 60 is excellent for capping out your damage.
Best weapons and gear for a Prisoner build in Elden Ring
You want weapons that scale off your fantastic Intelligence and a strong Glintstone Staff to make a Prisoner tick. For this role, the Dark Moon Greatsword, Moonveil Katana, and Carian Glintblade Staff are excellent options.
Your melee options tend to be high Intelligence-scaling weaponry. While these aren’t common about Elden Ring, you can get the Moonveil Katana relatively early. And the Dark Moon Greatsword is a fantastic reward for completing the Ranni questline. Until you reach that point, using Ashes of War like Thops’s Barrier can make any generic weapon scale with Intelligence.
Your casting implements changes often throughout the game. With an Intelligence of 52, you can’t quite use the biggest spells in the game. However, the Carian Glintblade Staff buffs most sword-based Sorceries, making it a great way to focus on a specific spell school. The Azur’s Glintstone Staff allows quicker casting at a cost to FP, making it decent for difficult encounters. The Academy Glintstone Staff still provides excellent Spell Scaling for a more general build. Having a few of these staves upgraded is a good idea.
Best armor for a Prisoner build in Elden Ring
The Prisoner build is in a unique position to make great use of the Spellblade Armor set. Because you are an Intelligence-based Melee fighter, the Spellblade Armor grants you a small bonus to magic damage done through Weapon Skills. The Spellblade’s Pointed Hat can be replaced with an Intelligence-boosting hat to get to higher levels of Intelligence or a Sorcery Scarab if you want easier spellcasting.
The Spellblade set is granted to you after Rogier’s questline. You can readily replace the Spellblade set with slightly tougher armor, though you might want additional Endurance before making that decision.
As for headpieces, the Spellblade’s Pointed Hat provides the final two percent damage bonus to weapon skills, which is great. However, getting an Intelligence-boosting hat might help you in the long run. The Twinsage Glintstone Crown, for example, offers a great boon to Intelligence at the cost of Health and Stamina. The Sorcery Scarab can offer lower-priced spells at the cost of physical defense. There are other Intelligence-boosting items without downsides, like the Queen’s Crescent Crown, that are also worth considering.
Best spells for a Prisoner build in Elden Ring
Because of our choice of staff, the best spells for our build are Carian Glintblade Sorceries—Carian Phalanx, Carian Retaliation, Glintblade Phalanx, Greatblade Phalanx, Magic Downpour, and Magic Glintblade. Your high Intelligence allows you to use nearly any Sorcery in the game, so be sure to pick ones that work best for your playstyle.
Glintblade Sorceries are a great choice for magic. They cover a wide variety of spells without being a terrible gimmick—with solid range, homing attacks, and even an area-of-effect option. They shouldn’t be your only tools, though, since they almost universally have delayed casting. Augment your repertoire with classics like Glintstone Pebble and Comet Azur if you lack good range or very high damage. Using these spells alongside a Wondrous Physick with a Cracked Cerulean Tear can lead to fantastic damage opportunities, albeit for a short time.
Best Talismans for a Prisoner build in Elden Ring
The Talismans that a Prisoner should use range include weapon skill buffs, Sorcery buffs, or/and defensive items to keep your frail butt alive. We’ll list a handful for you, but the first is a must-use that every Prisoner should place in their build.
- Magic Scorpion Charm: A 12 percent damage boost to all Magic Damage, at the cost of 10 percent damage taken, is really good. You’ll need to work with Preceptor Seluvis to get this, though, so I hope you like puppets.
- Graven-Mass Talisman: An eight percent boost to all Sorceries is quite helpful for you. It’s late-game, stuck in a tower in Consecrated Snowfield, but well-worth the effort. The Graven-School Talisman will work until you get here.
- Erdtree’s Favor +2: A great all-round item for health boosting.
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman: A basic item, boosting physical defense by 20 percent. Great to counteract your Magic Scorpion Charm.
Here are a few additional aggressive Talismans, if you don’t get hit as much as we do.
- Ritual Sword Talisman: This Talisman provides a flat 10 percent bonus to damage dealt with weapons, as long as you’re full health. You can get it quite early on in the Altus Plateau, in the Lux Ruins.
- Shard of Alexander: This questline reward gets you a ton of extra Skill Damage, which can be fun with specific Intelligence-based weaponry like the Moonveil Katana.
