‘More upvotes than damage’: Elden Ring players slam terrible DLC spells

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has been live and kicking for over a month, and that’s plenty of time for players to rigorously field-test all the new Incantations and Sorceries. Now, the verdict is in—the new DLC spells are frustratingly bad.

Players on Reddit have been complaining about Shadow of the Erdtree‘s spells since the expansion dropped, but a July 25 Reddit thread succinctly describes the problem.

The Redditor explains how a couple of spells like Knight’s Lightning Spear and Fire Serpent are “decent,” but most others, like Electrocharge and Aspect of the Crucible: Thorns, totally miss the mark. They “fully drain your FP in seconds” to deal “[Bloodborne] bullets of damage,” while spells like Rain of Fire are lackluster and even miss enemies standing on a flat surface.

“Hey Rain of Fire worked very hard for that 36 damage,” the top comment reads. One Redditor agreed: “My guy your comment is currently already working harder than Rain of Fire.” It’s hard to argue otherwise—even on a character with tons of Faith, these spells are vastly outperformed by cheaper, more easily accessible options. “More upvotes than damage from the incant lol,” another Redditor added. The new DLC spells all look very impressive, with flashy explosions and particle effects left, right, and center, but there’s a big discrepancy between the damage and visuals.

Elden Ring players were keen to point out even more interactions in Shadow of the Erdtree that seem unintentionally weak or broken: “I find it hilarious how almost none of the spells scale with Godfrey’s Icon, like they just forgot it existed lol,” another comment reads.

FromSoftware is no stranger to introducing lackluster spells, but Elden Ring saw the developer making frequent balance changes for the first time in its history. Elden Ring’s most recent update, 1.12.3, made a few adjustments, but fans agree we’re due another. I’m hoping FromSoftware answers our prayers and buffs the DLC’s weakest spells so we have a reason to mix up our caster builds.