So, you’re in the market for an Elden Ring staff. You might’ve seen other players using powerful spells to damage enemies from a mid-range distance, and now you want a piece of that action.
If you picked one of the non-magical classes at the start, don’t worry, it’s still possible to pick up a staff in Elden Ring and use it to dish out some magic attacks.
You’ll need to do a bit of legwork (and level up your Intelligence stat) to catch up with those magic-using players, but it shouldn’t take you too long in the grand scheme of things.
Keep on reading for some top tips on getting an Elden Ring staff, understanding magic-based stats, and learning some sorceries nice and early in the game.
Where to get the best early staff in Elden Ring
If you’re relatively new to Elden Ring and looking to try out some Glintstone magic attacks, you’ll want to pick up a staff that doesn’t require too much preamble before letting you loose with spells aplenty.
We’d wager that the Meteorite Staff is the best early staff in Elden Ring. The requirements to wield it aren’t that high, and it has some of the best scaling in the game (meaning that your attacks will increase in power nicely as you level up your Intelligence stat). You should be able to find it relatively easily by using the video guide below.
Essentially, you need to find a portal in Limgrave (downstairs at the Dragon-Burnt Ruins) that will allow you to teleport over to a region called Caelid. Here, after a bit of running about, you’ll pick up the Meteorite Staff from a corpse that doesn’t need it anymore.
The best Elden Ring staffs and where to find them
If you’re looking for one of the very best staff options in Elden Ring, there are a couple of things to bear in mind when it comes to picking which Elden Ring staff best suits your needs and capabilities.
The two main stats to be aware of are Sorcery Scaling attack power (the higher number the better) and Intelligence Scaling (S is the best one followed by A, B, C and so forth). These stats combine to determine how much damage your magical attacks will do, and how much that damage will increase as you level up your Intelligence stat.
It’s also important to note that each staff requires you to reach a specified Intelligence level before you’ll be able to use it – the higher that number is, the more you’ll need to level up your Intelligence stat before you can wield this staff in combat.
With all of that in mind, we’ve listed some of the very best Elden Ring staff options for you below, with links that will show you where to find them. Pick a staff that isn’t too far off your current Intelligence rating, or the number you’re willing to grind up to, and you should be off to the races!
Lusat’s Glintstone Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 300
- Intelligence Scaling: B
- Required Intelligence: 52
- Found by defeating a boss in Selia, Town of Sorcery (see video guide)
Academy Glintstone Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 168
- Intelligence Scaling: B
- Required Intelligence: 28
- Found by killing Thops or giving him the second Glintstone Key (see video guide)
Astrologer’s Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 166
- Intelligence Scaling: C
- Required Intelligence: 16
- Received by default if you pick the Astrologer starter class (or buy it here)
Glintstone Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 163
- Intelligence Scaling: B
- Required Intelligence: 10
- Received by default if you pick the Prisoner starter class (or find it here)
Azur’s Glintstone Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 159
- Intelligence Scaling: B
- Required Intelligence: 52
- Found by traversing secret paths in Raya Lucaria Academy (see video guide)
Digger’s Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 157
- Intelligence Scaling: D
- Required Intelligence: 12
- Found by defeating Miners in Sellia Crystal Tunnel (see video guide)
Meteorite Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 143
- Intelligence Scaling: S
- Required Intelligence: 18
- Found in the Street of Sages Ruins, Aeonia Swamp (see video guide)
Demi-Human Queen’s Staff
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 128
- Intelligence Scaling: C
- Required Intelligence: 10
- Found by defeating the Demi-Human Queen in Weeping Peninsula (see video guide)
The Staff of the Guilty
- Sorcery Scaling attack power: 127
- Faith Scaling: C
- Required Faith: 12
- Found by defeating guards at Mount Glemir, Fort Laiedd (see video guide)
Where to learn magic attacks in Elden Ring
Now that you’ve got a staff, where do you pick up the magic attacks that go with it? If you picked a magic-based class like the Astrologer at the start of the game, you should’ve received some magical attacks as standard. But players in other classes won’t be so well-equipped.
There are incantations and sorceries littered around the world of Elden Ring – sorceries are the ones that go with staffs and scale based on your Intelligence. Incantations are used with seals instead of staffs, and those will scale with your Faith stat. (The main exception to that rule is the Staff of the Guilty, the only staff in the game that is known to scale on Faith instead of Intelligence.)
Anyway, you’ve got a staff, so where do you get the sorceries to use with it? You can buy your first magical attacks in the game from Waypoint Ruins in Limgrave, where an NPC named Sorceress Sellen will sell you a selection of sorceries – including the very versatile Glintstone Pebble – for reasonable-ish prices.
The video guide above will show you where to find Sellen, allowing you to buy some spells to use with your nice new staff. As long as you can beat the mini-boss guarding her shop, that is! Nothing ever comes easy in this game, does it? Not even magic.
Read more on Elden Ring:
- Elden Ring review – our final verdict
- Elden Ring multiplayer – how does it work?
- Elden Ring PC requirements – minimum & recommended specs
- Elden Ring classes – what’s the best starter?
- Elden Ring demo – network test recap
- Elden Ring bosses – top tips on facing them
- Elden Ring difficulty – how hard is it?
- Elden Ring length – how many hours do you need?
- Elden Ring trophies & achievements – the full list to unlock
- Elden Ring weapons – best early weapons
- Elden Ring keepsake – which starter gift to pick
- Elden Ring server status – error message explained
- Elden Ring map – everything you need to know
- Elden Ring runes – how to get rich quick
- Elden Ring smithing stones – where to find them
Follow Radio Times Gaming on Twitter for all the latest insights. Or if you’re looking for something to watch, see our TV Guide.
Visit our video game release schedule for all upcoming games on consoles. Swing by our hubs for more Gaming and Technology news.
The latest issue of Radio Times is on sale now – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.