In Elden Ring, Talismans are powerful accessories that grant players a variety of buffs, enhancing their performance in combat, exploration, and survivability. These items can significantly alter your build’s effectiveness, whether you’re optimizing for offense, defense, or utility. As one of the core components of character progression, Talismans add another layer of customization, allowing you to tailor your Tarnished to specific playstyles Elden Ring Runes and challenges.
In this guide, we’ll dive into the locations of some of the best Talismans in Elden Ring, how to incorporate them into various builds, and rank them based on their usefulness across different stages of the game.
What Are Talismans in Elden Ring?
Talismans in Elden Ring are equipable items that provide a range of stat boosts or special effects. Unlike armor or weapons, Talismans are designed to enhance your combat abilities, defensive capabilities, or grant unique abilities that can complement your preferred playstyle. Players can equip up to four Talismans at a time, but this is subject to their Weight and the Talisman slots available. Choosing the right set of Talismans can greatly influence the outcome of your battles and your overall success in the Lands Between.
Talismans come in a variety of types, such as those that:
Increase damage (e.g., boosting specific weapon types, magic, or overall attack power).
Boost defenses (e.g., raising resistance to certain elements or improving poise).
Provide utility (e.g., allowing faster stamina recovery, boosting FP regeneration, or enhancing health recovery).
Grant unique buffs (e.g., boosting certain attributes, improving invincibility frames, or providing resistance to specific debuffs).
Top Talismans and Their Locations
Here are some of the best Talismans in Elden Ring, along with their locations and descriptions.
1. Radagon's Scarseal
Effect: Increases strength, dexterity, endurance, and vigor by 8, but also raises damage taken.
Location: Forbidden Lands (part of the endgame area). You’ll need to travel to the Divine Bridge, then cross the bridge and head toward the site of grace where the seals are located.
Why It’s Great: Ideal for high-damage builds, particularly for players looking to stack multiple stats for a more balanced melee character. The trade-off is the increased damage taken, but this is often mitigated with proper poise or defensive items.
2. Radagon’s Source Seal
Effect: Increases all physical stats (strength, dexterity, endurance, vigor) by 10, but increases damage taken by 15%.
Location: This Talisman can be found after defeating Radagon in Leyndell, the Royal Capital. The Talisman’s reward is the ultimate boost for a generalist build.
Why It’s Great: Excellent for aggressive builds, as the stat increases are substantial, making it ideal for melee-centric characters who can handle the extra damage output.
3. Great-Jar’s Arsenal
Effect: Increases maximum equipment load, enabling you to carry heavier armor and weapons without sacrificing mobility.
Location: Found in the Caelid region, near the Smoldering Wall Site of Grace. The Talisman is located on top of a ruined tower and requires solving a series of puzzles involving combat with summoned invaders.
Why It’s Great: This is essential for players building heavy tank characters who need to wear bulky armor without severely impacting their stamina or rolling speed. A must-have for defensive builds.
4. Bull-Goat's Talisman
Effect: Greatly increases poise, allowing you to resist stagger and maintain attacks even when hit.
Location: Found in the Crumbled Farum Azula, in a large area full of ruins and debris. It’s accessible once the player reaches the endgame Azula section.
Why It’s Great: If you’re playing a tank build or a character reliant on blocking, this Talisman is invaluable. It allows you to tank hits without being interrupted, especially for strength-based builds.
5. Green Turtle Talisman
Effect: Increases stamina regeneration by 15%, making it excellent for sustained combat.
Location: Located in the Stormveil Castle area. It’s relatively easy to find and often overlooked by players who rush through the area.
Why It’s Great: For builds that focus on stamina-based combat (such as dual-wielding or bow builds), this Talisman will drastically improve your ability to keep attacking without running out of stamina.
6. Carian Filigreed Crest
Effect: Reduces the FP cost of sorceries by 10%.
Location: Found in Liurnia of the Lakes near Ranni’s Rise. You will need to make your way up the towers to access the chest containing this item.
Why It’s Great: A fantastic choice for spellcasters and intelligence builds. This Talisman enables you to use magic more efficiently, granting more spell casts per flask and allowing for extended engagement without running out of FP.
7. Radagon's Scarseal
Effect: Increases strength, dexterity, endurance, and vigor by 8 but raises damage taken.
Location: Forbidden Lands (endgame). Found at a divine bridge near the site of grace.
Why It’s Great: Best for players seeking to stack stats, especially on high-damage builds. The downside of increased damage taken can be mitigated with other defensive buffs or armor sets.
Best Talismans for Different Builds
Choosing the right Talismans for your build is crucial in Elden Ring. Here are some recommendations for different types of builds:
Melee (Strength/Dexterity Builds)
Bull-Goat's Talisman: Essential for maintaining poise and being able to trade blows without being staggered.
Radagon’s Scarseal: Boosts physical stats for a higher damage output.
Great-Jar’s Arsenal: Allows for heavier armor while maintaining mobility and stamina efficiency.
These Talismans are ideal for players building tank-focused or high-damage melee builds.
Spellcaster (Intelligence/Faith Builds)
Carian Filigreed Crest: Reduces FP costs for sorceries, enabling longer spellcasting periods.
Radagon's Source Seal: Boosts all attributes, making sorcery builds even more versatile.
Green Turtle Talisman: Increases stamina regeneration, which is useful for casters who need to dodge and sprint while keeping distance.
These are essential Talismans for casters who need sustainability in both combat and spellcasting.
Hybrid Builds (Dexterity + Faith or Intelligence)
Green Turtle Talisman: Ensures stamina recovery for those who mix melee and magic attacks.
Radagon's Scarseal: Increases multiple combat stats for both magic and melee.
Radagon's Source Seal: A great all-rounder for hybrid builds that require both stat boosts and survivability.
Tank Builds (Heavy Armor, Shield Focus)
Bull-Goat's Talisman: Increases poise significantly, perfect for shield-wielding players.
Great-Jar’s Arsenal: Helps maintain mobility with heavy gear.
Radagon’s Scarseal: Helps increase physical stats, boosting damage mitigation and survival in the long term.
These Talismans are ideal for defensive playstyles focused on tanking damage.
Ranking the Top Talismans
Given the wide array of Talismans available in Elden Ring, ranking them is no easy feat, but here’s a list based on their general effectiveness across a variety of builds:
S-Tier Talismans
Radagon's Source Seal
Green Turtle Talisman
Bull-Goat's Talisman
These Talismans are universally useful for all types of builds. They offer excellent stat boosts and are ideal for combat-focused and survival-heavy builds.
A-Tier Talismans
Radagon’s Scarseal
Great-Jar’s Arsenal
Carian Filigreed Crest
These are great choices for specific builds like casters and tanks, offering utility and stat benefits.
B-Tier Talismans
Radagon’s Scarseal
Giant’s Talisman
These Talismans provide solid benefits, but they’re not as universally applicable as the top-tier options. Still, they’re a good fit for specialized builds.
Conclusion
Talismans in Elden Ring provide a unique and flexible way to tailor your character to specific needs. Whether you’re looking to increase your damage output, boost your survivability, or enhance your magical prowess, there’s a Talisman for you. Strategic selection based on build type and combat style can make all the difference in the difficult and rewarding world of Elden Ring.
By utilizing the best Talismans for Elden Ring Items your character, you can optimize your build and tackle the most challenging aspects of the Lands Between. Happy adventuring, Tarnished!