Elden Ring How to Use Magic Spells
If you need to know how to use magic spells in Elden Ring, you’ve come to the right place. For those that decide to play as a spellcaster, Incantations or Sorceries are going to be your main weapons. If you don’t know what to do with them, you won’t last long. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to cast spells in Elden Ring, but there are differences between Incantations and Sorceries that you have to be aware of. There’s a few other important points to mention, as we’ll show in the guide. So, let’s begin.
How to Use Magic Spells in Elden Ring
To use magic spells in Elden Ring, you’re gonna need different things, depending on whether you’re focusing on Incantations or Sorceries. These are the two types of magic in the game, and they work differently. For those of you that prefer Incantations, you have to have a Sacred Seal equipped in one of your hands. They basically work like weapons in that sense, except you can’t upgrade them with Ashes of War. They usually scale with the Faith stat, as do the spells. You can get more of them from different NPCs which sell Incantations. The first one you’ll meet is likely going to be Corhyn in Roundtable Hold. He’s the guy in yellowish robes, with a wheel around his neck.
So, that’s how you use the Incantation magic spells in Elden Ring, but what about the Sorceries? Well, it’s pretty much the same system as the other spells, except you have to have a staff equipped instead of Sacred Seals. Staffs, or Glintstone Staves, or however you want to call them, scale with Intelligence. You can purchase more Sorceries from several NPCs, such as Sorceress Sellen in Waypoint Ruins in West Limgrave and Rogier in Stormveil Castle. And that’s about all there is to it. One thing that we do have to mention is that you can hold the attack button to charge your spells, and that both kinds of magic drain FP and Stamina. If you have any other questions about the magic system, let us know in the comments.
Very early in your exploration of Elden Ring world you will find out that you need to prepare your character for different tasks. You'll need to learn how to use Ashes of War, how to two-hand weapons, or use magic spells during the course of your adventures. Many secrets are also waiting for you, such as, a hostile NPC Sellen that doesn't let you see her shop, an invisible man in a bush, or a huge turtle with a bell that lets you duplicate some very important items.
There seems to be only one button to cast spells – R1 on PS4? Why doesn’t R2 equip the 2nd spell? I’m new to Souls games and very, very confused right now 🙂
Just like how only one item for quick use will be selected at a time, only one sorcery or incantation will be selected (and toggled with your D-pad up button by default). This is just how the Souls games are.
Hope that answers your question. Next is a personal tip from my experience:
Your R2 button is for “heavy attack” with whatever is in your right hand. If this is a stave, thats simply smacking the enemy with your staff for a pitiful amount of damage. This makes casting tools, such as staves or seals better for your left hand, which would bind the cast to L1. L2 will be used for the special skill on your right-hand weapon (something staves and seals lack anyway). If you then have a melee weapon in your right hand, you’ll be able to light attack (R1), heavy attack (R2) and use special skill (such as from an Ash of War, L2).