Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree exceeded everyone’s expectations with its extensive array of weapons and spells. With over 100 new weapons, FromSoft has set a high standard for any future DLCs. As the base game already had a vast number of spells, the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC focused primarily on incantations, adding 28 incantations and 14 sorceries. Even with half the number of incantations, sorcerers seem to have come out as the winners, because of the Impenetrable Thorns spell.
In the base game, players only had access to two Thorns sorceries: 
Briars of Punishment and 
Briars of Sin. With the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, there are two more Thorns sorceries, 
Impenetrable Thorns and 
Mantle of Thorns. While Briars spells fall under the Aberrant sorceries used by exiled criminals, Impenetrable Thorns and Mantle of Thorns are derived from the Scadutree of the Shadow Realm.
The Mantle of Thorns is a gimmick continued from the Dark Souls series, but Impenetrable Thorns stands out as a strong and powerful variant of Briars of Punishment. Instead of summoning thorns made out of blood, this spell summons three trails of Scadutree thorns. Follow this guide to find the best build for Impenetrable Thorns in the Elden Ring DLC, including the best talismans and staff for the build.
How to Get Impenetrable Thorns Sorcery in Shadow of the Erdtree
The Impenetrable Thorns sorcery is one of the best in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Here's where players can find it.
Best Staff for an Impenetrable Thorns Build
Elden Ring features a variety of different staves for sorcerers with passive abilities to boost certain types of sorcery. The Staff of the Guilty grants extra damage boost to Impenetrable Thorns, but it’s a Faith scaling staff with low sorcery scaling. You can use this staff in your off-hand and use a better staff like Lusat’s Glintstone Staff or Maternal Staff for the best damage from Impenetrable Thorns.
Lusat's Glintstone Staff has one of the highest scalings, but it comes at double the FP cost. The Maternal Staff is a brand new glintstone staff for boosting Finger sorceries, and it also has a sorcery scaling slightly higher than Lusat’s Glintstone Staff. However, the Maternal Staff has split scaling in Arcane and Intelligence, meaning you will need to invest more in both of these stats. Due to the Arcane stat, you will also inflict more bleed buildup from Impenetrable Thorns.
The bottom line: the best staff combo for the Impenetrable Thorns build is the 
Staff of the Guilty in the off-hand, and Lusat’s Glintstone Staff or Maternal Staff in your main hand. The Staff of the Guilty provides a passive bonus to Impenetrable Thorns, while you use a staff with higher sorcery scaling to cast the spell.
Best Talismans for an Impenetrable Thorns Build
As a sorcery, there are many talismans in Elden Ring that can boost the power of Impenetrable Thorns. One common complaint about Impenetrable Thorns is its long casting animation with almost no hyper armor. To counter this, you can use either the 
Radagon Icon or 
Beloved Stardust for faster casting speed.
Graven-Mass Talisman is a must-have for any sorcery build in Elden Ring. It provides a simple 8% boost to all sorceries with no downsides. You can also use the Magic Scorpion Charm for a 12% bonus to Magic damage, though it also causes you to take increased damage. Since Impenetrable Thorns deals Magic type damage, you can use the Graven-Mass Talisman and Magic Scorpion Charm for increased Magic damage.
Lord of Blood’s Exultation can be another surprisingly good talisman for the Impenetrable Thorns build. Since this spell has a high tendency to cause blood loss, you can easily get a 20% attack bonus. However, Lord of Blood’s Exultation is useless against enemies immune to blood loss.
The fourth talisman can be a flex slot featuring any talisman of your choice. You can opt for Bull Goat’s Talisman for extra poise, or Erdtree’s Favor for some extra health, stamina, and equip load.
Best Armor for an Impenetrable Thorns Build
If you want to deal more damage with the Impenetrable Thorns sorcery, the Alberich’s Set stands out as the best armor set. Each piece of Alberich’s Armor set boosts all Thorns sorceries by 6%. With all four pieces equipped, you get a hefty 24% damage boost.
However, the Alberich’s Set offers minimal poise, which can cause you to be staggered out of the long casting animation. You can use the headgear and bracers from the Alberich’s Set and two other armor pieces from a heavy armor set like the 
Bull-Goat Set, 
Verdigris Set, or 
Solitude Set for more poise.
Other Tips for an Impenetrable Thorns Build
If you plan to use the Impenetrable Thorns sorcery, there are some buffs that can help you boost its power. As Impenetrable Thorns is a sorcery, you can use 
Terra Magica to enhance the damage of the thorns. The spell also benefits from the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear, which provides an additional 20% Magic damage bonus. Because you need 24 Faith for Impenetrable Thorns, you can invest just one more point into Faith to use the 
Golden Vow incantation for even more damage.
- Released
- June 21, 2024
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Base Game
- Elden Ring
- Developer(s)
- FromSoftware
- Publisher(s)
- Bandai Namco Entertainment, FromSoftware
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Proprietary
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
