How to cast spells in Elden Ring

Here’s how to cast sorceries and incantations in Elden Ring

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

Want to learn how to cast spells in Elden Ring? Spells aren’t for everyone in FromSoftware games, but they can get pretty insanely powerful - particularly in Elden Ring . And with the Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC adding even more powerful spells into the mix, it’s a good time to learn how to cast spells if you don’t already know.

Spells in Elden Ring are divided into Sorceries and Incantations , which we’ll talk about more below. And crucially, each spell type requires a different weapon in order to cast it. In this guide we’ll walk you through everything you need in order to cast spells in Elden Ring , along with tips on where to find early spellcasting weapons, how to get more spells, and which school of magic to focus on.

Take a look at the trailer for Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree here, and then check out ourShadow Of The Erdtree trailer breakdownguide for all the hidden details!Watch on YouTube

How to cast spells in Elden Ring

Here’s what you need to do to cast a spell in Elden Ring:

1. Equip a Staff (for sorceries) or a Sacred Seal (for incantations).
2. Memorise your spells at a Site Of Grace.
3. Select your spell with D-PAD UP .
4. Cast your spell with LB or RB .

There are two spellcasting weapon types in Elden Ring: Staffs , which cast Sorceries; and Sacred Seals , which cast Incantations. You need to have the right spellcasting weapon actually in your hands before you can cast any spells. It’s often a good idea to equip them in your offhand slot, so that you can also wield a melee weapon at the same time in your main hand.

You also need to equip the specific spells you want to cast. To do this, rest at a Site Of Grace and then select the Memorize Spell option to open up the spell selection screen. Here, you can equip as many spells as you can fit into your spell slots. You can equip both sorceries and incantations at the same time if you wish.

After that, you should equip your Staff or Seal, then hit D-PAD UP to switch between the different spells you’ve memorised. With the right spell selected, you can then cast the spell by hitting LB or RB (depending on which hand your spellcasting weapon is in).

Why can’t I cast spells?

If you can’t cast a spell in Elden Ring, it’s generally for one of two reasons:

• You don’t meet the required stats to cast the spell.
• You don’t have enough Focus Points (FP).

All spells have certain stat requirements to cast them. Most sorceries require a certain Intelligence stat, while most incantations require a certain Faith stat. Occasionally, a spell might also require a certain amount in a different stat, like Arcane. Regardless, if you can’t cast a spell, you should first look at the spell’s stat requirements in your equipment and see if your character is able to cast them yet. If not, you should focus on leveling up your character so you meet the requirements.

Casting spells also consumes Focus Points (FP) , which are displayed in the blue bar below your health. Different spells require different amounts of FP to cast, and if you don’t have enough FP, you won’t be able to cast it until you replenish your FP by drinking a Flask Of Cerulean Tears or resting at a Site Of Grace.

The Meteorite Staff can be found fairly early on in the Caelid Wilds (don’t worry, you don’t have to stay there long!). |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

How to get a Staff

If you pick the Astrologer or Prisoner class during character creation, you’ll begin Elden Ring with a Staff. Otherwise, you can quickly procure a staff by heading to the Demi-Human Forest Ruins in the Weeping Peninsula south of Limgrave and defeating the Queen there.

Alternatively, follow our guide on where to find a staff in Elden Ring early on to get your hands on an even more powerful early-game staff which has S-Tier scaling with your Intelligence stat.

How to get a Sacred Seal

The Confessor or Prophet classes will give you access to a Sacred Seal from the very beginning of Elden Ring. But if you picked another class, you can still find a Sacred Seal fairly early on by purchasing one from the Twin Maiden Husks merchant at the Roundtable Hold .

How to get new spells

Spells are generally unlocked by purchasing them from teachers. To purchase Sorceries early on you should speak to Sorceress Sellen , who can be found beneath the Waypoint Ruins in central Limgrave. For early access to new Incantations, speak to Brother Corhyn at the Roundtable Hold.

Of course, the really powerful spells are further afield. To know which ones to watch out for, check out our list of the best spells in Elden Ring .

To increase your spell slots you need Memory Stones, like the one found at the top of Oridys’s Rise. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bandai Namco

How to get more spell slots

To get more spells slots, you need to find Memory Stones. Each Memory Stone unlocks a new spell slot, and you can find up to 8 of them in the Lands Between.

The easiest place to find a Memory Stone early on is to travel to the east coast of the Weeping Peninsula south of Limgrave, and complete the puzzle at Oridys’s Rise . Ascend the tower and open the treasure chest at the top to find a Memory Stone.

To find the rest, check out our Memory Stone locations guide!

Sorceries vs Incantations

Sorceries generally focus on dealing damage in a variety of ways, and as such they have the most powerful damage-dealing spells. Their power scales with your Intelligence stat. Meanwhile, Incantations are more versatile in their use, with many of them designed to enhance your character or your weapon in different ways. Their power scales with the Faith stat.

Both schools of magic have extremely powerful spells, so it’s down to personal preference whether you pick one or the other, or a bit of both. Just be aware that if you want to use both sorceries and incantations frequently, you’ll need to put a lot of skill points into both Intelligence and Faith, which may come at the cost of your more physical stats.

That’s all you need to know in order to start slinging spells left and right in Elden Ring. If you want to balance out your newfound magical skills with some extraordinary melee prowess, check out our guides on the best weapons and best armor sets in Elden Ring . Or to find the perfect combination of melee and magic, consult our best Elden Ring builds guide.

Elden Ring

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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