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Sadly, there’s no in-game number that tells the player how much Stance Damage an attack, Spell, or Incantation inflicts, so it’s up to the players themselves to test it out (including each Patch, as some have already buffed and nerfed some magic). And, after a lot of testing, these are what we came up with as some of the best Sorceries and Incantations to use in Elden Ring to Stance Break any enemy.
8 Incantation: Bestial Sling
First up is Bestial Sling, one of the most deceptively useful Incantations in the game. At a glance, it literally just looks like this “miracle” causes the Tarnished to chuck a handful of rocks at their enemy. But, upon closer inspection, this is a Stance Breaking powerhouse.
All of the Bestial Incantations inflict Physical Damage primarily (especially so if players are using the right Seal) making them great for Stance Breaking, including Bestial Sling. But, more than that, the Stance Damage done in comparison to the Cast Time, FP Cost, and general Damage of the Incantation are also incredible.
Players get up in a dragon’s face, cast four or five Bestial Slings, and get a free Stance Break. Even if they don’t, they’ll still have time to dodge after the third cast or so. The only big downside of this Incantation is its range, but players who are using the Best Seal are likely half-Strength builds anyway.
7 Incantation: Stone Of Gurranq
Next up is the Stone of Gurranq, another Bestial Incantation rewarded by the Beast Clergyman in exchange for six Deathroots. And, like Bestial Sling, the actual “effects” of this Incantation are hilariously simple: the player chucks small conjured Boulders at their enemy.
Now, in comparison to Bestial Sling, Stone of Gurranq may seem much more clunky, and it technically is. But, in exchange, it deals large amounts of Stance Damage per hit, has better immediate Damage and can be cast repeatedly as well.
Additionally, the Stone of Gurranq is also a fantastic Incantation for players who are confident in their aiming skill while not locked on. It turns out this Boulder keeps flying until it hits something, giving it much more range (if aimed properly) than just about any other Spell or Incantation in the game.
6 Sorcery: Glintstone Phalanx
Glintstone Phalanx, as well as any of the other Phalanx Sorceries or Ashes of War, are incredible for “passive” Stance Damage. In fact, there are only a few Sorceries/Incantations that would even count as “passive” as the Phalanx ones are the best.
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When used, the player summons a series of spectral swords in an arch around their head that hone in on the enemy after a few seconds. Each sword on its own doesn’t do a notable amount of Stance Damage, but after all of them have hit, the accumulated Stance Damage is sizeable, especially since players can keep attacking while the swords do their own attacks. Also, apparently, this Spell is part of some “Spell Parrying” exploit, so it has that going for it as well.
5 Sorceries: Meteorite & Meteorite Of Astel
Both Meteorite and Meteor of Astel are incredible Spells for a variety of reasons, but they’re also high-risk high-reward. For one, their default Cast Time is pretty long, making it a big commitment to using them as most Sorcery Builds die in a couple of hits at most.
But, in exchange, their damage is absurd enough to put them on par with Comet Azur as another option to use with the Cerulean Hidden Tear since players can hold down the cast with infinite mana. That said, both of these can be very difficult spells when it comes to gauging the right cast distance, but in a small room, it thankfully doesn’t matter much.
4 Incantations: Aspects Of The Crucible, Horns, Tail, And Breath
The Aspect of the Crucible Incantations are some of the most visually interesting in the game, giving players primordial tails, horns, and the ability to breathe fire.
And, on top of being used by some of the coolest enemies in Elden Ring, the Crucible Knights, they’re also fantastic at dealing large amounts of Stance Damage. In particular, the Tail is best for range and groups of enemies, Horns are amazing for single targets, and Breath is a great best of both worlds.
3 Sorcery: Glintstone Pebble
Glintstone Pebble is the perfect encapsulation of FromSoftware’s Magic design process, both for good and bad. On one hand, it’s the most FP-efficient Spell in the game with regards to damage dealt for FP spent. But, on the other hand, it’s basically just the “Soul Arrow” of Elden Ring that’s incredibly boring visually but can reliably be used to defeat every Boss in the game.
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And, because the Cast Time is so hilariously low, Pebble is also one of the better Stance Damage Spells for immediate Stance Damage if the player thinks the Boss is just about ready to Stagger. It’s the min-maxing dream Spell that’s even useful in PvP but is one of the most boring options for anyone with any sort of active imagination.
2 Sorcery: Gavel Of Heima
Compared to the mundane design of Glintstone Pebble, Gavel of Haima is on the exact opposite end of the spectrum as one of the more hilarious Spells in Elden Ring. Not only that, it’s absurdly good from all angles.
The Cast Time is good, it knocks human enemies of balance (or flattens them) on hit, does fantastic damage, and inflicts a massive amount of Stance Damage as well. Additionally, if a player is Dual-Wielding two different Staves, they can just go back and forth casting the first hit of the Gavel on each arm over and over again.
1 Incantation: Elden Stars
Elden Stars might not seem like an Incantation worth defending (or even worth getting), but we’re still going to try. Yes, this is one of the Spells the final Boss uses that is incredibly annoying to avoid and yes, the damage this Incantation inflicts is hard to even notice, but it’s a great source of Passive Stance Damage for Faith Users.
Unlike Sorcery Builds, Faith users don’t have an Incantation like Glintstone Phalanx that deals damage after being cast and allows the player to keep attacking while it goes off. The closest thing they have is Elden Stars, but the hilariously long Casting Animation almost means it doesn’t count. That said, if players can find a good way to Cast this Incantation during a Boss fight, the Spell will chase the Boss for over a minute, hitting them with tons of microprojectiles that all deal a bit of Stance Damage the entire time.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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