Best Talismans in Elden Ring, ranked

The Talisman slot in Elden Ring is a highly competitive field with many different options to fill. These Talismans can often make-or-break the build, providing upwards of 50 percent damage or damage reduction depending on your choices of jewelry.

Let’s touch on 10 Elden Ring Talisman options that are consistently useful for multiple builds—providing a baseline and foundation for more specific options or allowing builds to exist in the first place.

10. Radagon’s Soreseal

There is no early-game seal as impactful as Radagon’s Soreseal. Available almost immediately by beelining to Fort Faroth, this Talisman bumps all Physical stats by five while increasing damage taken by 15 percent. Any build appreciates five Vigor and Endurance, and most builds don’t mind the extra damage from Strength and Dexterity.

The only problem with this Talisman is you’ll scale out of it, and that 15 percent damage is pricey when you have 45-50 base Vigor, Strength, or Dexterity anyway.

9. Two-Handed Sword Talisman

One of the newest Talismans in Shadow of the Erdtree, the Two-Handed Sword Talisman bumps up two-handed damage by 15 percent. This Temple Town Ruin special is great for Blue Dancer Talisman builds but rarely outdamages dual-wielding or outdoes the utility of having a free off-hand. Still, any build that can get away with an open extra hand has to consider this Talisman, making it inch onto our list.

8. Beloved Stardust

Another new Shadow of the Erdtree charm, the Beloved Stardust caps out your casting speed at the cost of around 30 percent damage mitigation. This Talisman can give casting builds up to 60-65 Dexterity in terms of cast time, nearly doubling how fast you can cast your magic in some cases. The extra damage does hurt quite a lot, but with how easy it becomes to dodge attacks, it’s well worth it. But you do have to get it during Ymir’s questline, making it a bit hard to get early in a run.

7. Erdtree’s Favor +2

One of the better defensive Talismans in the game, the Erdtree’s Favor +2 provides a small boost to HP of about four percent, Stamina of around 10 percent, as well as around eight percent equip load. This small batch of upgrades gives you shocking amounts of durability and enough Stamina to swing once or twice more before running on empty. Its placement, however, in the Ashen Capital makes it a difficult build-around piece—the game is almost over by the time you have it.

6. Fire/Magic/Sacred Scorpion Charm

The Scorpion Talismans provide a 12 percent damage bonus to their relevant element while making you take around 10 percent bonus physical damage. This raw damage upgrade is perfect for casters, with the Magic Scorpion Charm being one of the most consistent damage-ups for a magic user build. The Sacred Scorpion Charm is part of the reason pure Faith builds can be viable, even in Shadow of the Erdtree. However, that damage bonus makes it hard to place it far on this list.

5. Rotten Winged Sword Insignia

The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, earned upon the end of Millicent’s questline, where you help defend her from her sisters, can let you deal up to 13 percent bonus damage on each attack. Many builds benefit a lot from this, especially fast-hitting Knife, Fist, and Katana builds. With the only downside being you need to land consecutive attacks, this is one of the freer damage buffs possible.

4. Claw Talisman

A Strength-build special, the Claw Talisman is available from the rooftops of Stormveil Castle. Providing a 15 percent damage bonus to jump attacks, this Talisman makes one of the safest playstyles in the game deal significantly higher damage. Even lighter weapon builds, like Longswords and Halberds, can use jump attacks to safely deal huge damage and quickly roll away, and the Claw Talisman can make fights using that strategy much faster.

3. Lord of Blood’s Exultation

While the Lord of Blood’s Exultation only specifically fits Bleed builds, it provides such a high bonus that it’s hard to ignore. 20 percent damage whenever you apply bleed is ludicrous, especially with the easy-to-access Seppuku Art of War. This Talisman single-handedly makes Bleed a powerful option in almost any encounter.

The other Exultations, like for Poison, Madness, and Sleep, are also fantastic. But, they are all are more difficult to keep online.

2. Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman

From high damage to high damage mitigation. The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman is the best defensive Talisman in the game, providing a 20 percent increase to Physical defenses. Found at the bottom church of the Haligtree, throwing this on basically any build is a smart idea—bosses tend to hit you physically more often than elementally.

However, be sure to swap this out with more relevant defensive Talismans from Shadow of the Erdtree, like the +3 Drake Talismans, when a boss calls for it. Promised Consort Radagan, for instance, does plenty of Physical and Holy damage. Make a judgment call about which damage type is catching you more.

1. Two-Headed Turtle Talisman

The Two-Headed Turtle Talisman is one of the most ubiquitous and powerful Talismans in Elden Ring. A 22.2 percent boost to Stamina recovery means you can often hit a boss, run out of stamina, and get your Roll back online before the boss can punish you. It’s much easier to Sprint during fights, be aggressive with attacks, and be defensive without missing a punish window. As your build gets heavier and heavier, this Talisman becomes more and more important.

But even casters can benefit from getting their much-needed Stamina back faster. This Talisman is truly one of the most versatile and excellent charm slot options for any build in Elden Ring.