Elden Ring: The Best Talismans And Where To Get Them (2024)

Elden Ring is FromSoftware's open-world take on the Dark Souls formula that has been hand-crafted over the last decade. The level design and combat systems have influenced a good portion of the gaming industry and Elden Ring is no different.

The game has dozens of interesting locations, hundreds of enemies, and even more items that you can equip and upgrade to truly customize your experience. Talismans can truly change the outcomes of fights, so it's important to know which are the best, but more importantly how and where you can acquire them.

Updated July 3, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: Elden Ring's best Talismans received a huge shakeup with the arrival of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Once you access the DLC, you'll enter a world where the best Talismans Elden Ring has to offer are right at your fingertips.

14 Great-Jar's Arsenal

If you played the original Dark Souls, you will be familiar with Havel's Ring, an accessory that dramatically increased your equipment load — letting you hold more and heavier equipment while keeping you nimble. The Great-Jar's Arsenal talisman functions identically, increasing your load by around 19 percent.

The journey to get it, however, is one of the hardest in Elden Ring. By the great coliseum in the Dragonbarrow of Caelid stands the Great-Jar, with three summoned adversaries. All three must be defeated without dying to pass the test, but it's all worth it for the talisman.

13 Radagon's Icon

Inside the Raya Lucaria Academy, you can get your hands on the Radagon Icon. This talisman shortens the casting time of spells and incantations, further strengthening the effectiveness of magic in the world of Elden Ring.

If you come across the Debate Parlor Site of Grace in the Academy, all you must do from there is climb up the nearby ladder, traverse through a broken window, and Radagon's Icon will be resting inside of a chest. Raya Lucaria Academy is full of optional bosses, so just be careful if you decide to explore this area in hopes of finding this item for your magic-wielding build.

12 Rotten Winged Sword Insignia

Returning from Dark Souls 2 in Elden Ring is powerstancing, the ability to wield two similar weapon types to activate a unique dual moveset. It's a powerful method that's incredibly effective on status weapons, but always pairs incredibly well with talismans like the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia.

The talisman, found at the very end of Millicent's questline as a reward for assisting her, is an improved form of the Winged Sword insignia, increasing your attack power with successive attacks in tiers, from 6 percent to 8 percent, up to 13 percent. It's a massive damage boost just from attacking fast enough, and is essential for any rapid, powerstance builds.

11 Cerulean Amber Medallion

All versions of the Cerulean Amber Medallion do the same thing, but to greater effect depending on which version you have, and that thing is raising your maximum FP.

Not everyone uses their FP bar fully or casts magic at all, but if this fits your playstyle it's a must-have. Pairing the Cerulean Amber Medallion with the Cerulean Seed Talisman that boosts FP recovery is a combo magic users are drooling over as one of their best talismans in Elden Ring.

10 Gold Scarab

Are you having a hard time obtaining runes from fallen enemies? Runes are a key part of the Elden Ring experience as they help you buy items, level up, and upgrade your armaments. That is why an item like the Golden Scarab is invaluable as it increases the number of runes dropped by defeated enemies by 20 percent.

Inside the Abandoned Cave in Caelid you'll face a pair of bosses, two Cleanrot Knights, who will drop the Golden Scarab upon defeat. Just be careful as the fight can become rather tricky considering one of the knights wields a sickle and the other a spear.

9 Crimson Amber Medallion

The Crimson Amber Medallion functions as the Cerulean Amber Medallion mentioned earlier in that it can be found in three locations, each being more powerful than the last.

All of them do an astounding job of increasing the size of your health bar, which could make all the difference in boss fights or enemy encounters.

8 Green Turtle Talisman

Stamina has always been an important aspect in Souls games, though Elden Ring tones down its reliance on it. Though still used on your dodges and blocking, it's a stat that has minimal use for the greatly expanded magic builds.

The talisman itself increases stamina recovery speed by about 18 percent, a massive amount for heavier builds that can prove game-changing — though it's not as useful for faster builds. If you don't have the DLC, this will be one of Elden Ring's best talismans to keep in your inventory.

7 Erdtree's Favor Talisman

Veterans of other Soulsborne titles from FromSoftware are familiar with how powerful of an item the Ring of Favor was, and the Erdtree's Favor Talisman serves the same purpose in the world of Elden Ring. This Talisman has three versions, capping out at Erdtee's Favor +2.

Erdtree's Favor increases your health, stamina, and equipment load all at once. The path to obtaining it is a bit tricky, but the reward at the end of the venture is worth the heartbreak and frustration.

6 Blade Of Mercy

The Blade of Mercy is one of Elden Ring's best Talismans for dealing damage, as you'll be aiming for critical hits to trigger this Talisman's effect. After a critical hit, your attack power will increase by 20 percent, enabling you to finish off your foes quickly after a riposte.

This effect is superb for builds that rely heavily on parrying or breaking your opponent's posture – the two methods for inflicting a critical hit. However, the bonus damage means nothing if you don't activate it, so your build will heavily influence how good this Talisman feels.

5 Lord Of Blood's Exultation

The Lord of Blood is mentioned plenty throughout Elden Ring. He seems to have blessed the game itself, because it is packed with blood-loss builds. The status effect is a powerhouse in itself, compared to previous Souls games. The Lord of Blood's Exultation only takes these builds to higher levels.

Acquired after defeating Esgar, Priest of Blood in the Leyndell Catacombs, the talisman increases your attack power by 20 percent whenever blood-loss occurs around you. This even stacks with similar effects from the White Mask helmet. So, if the blood-loss doesn't finish them off, the extra damage will.

4 Blessed Dew Talisman

The Blessed Dew Talisman is the perfect example of an overlooked and underrated item that can be quite powerful. When equipped it will restore your health by two points every second. That may not sound like a lot, but in a fight where you can effectively dodge a boss and buy time, it can come in clutch and prevent you from using your health flasks, saving them for more crucial moments in the fight.

By either hoofing it to Leyndell yourself or teleporting to its location via a chest in the Tower of Return, by exploring through the giant stone archway you'll come across a chest at the end of it, and inside you'll find the Blessed Dew Talisman.

3 Beloved Stardust

Beloved Stardust, like many of Elden Ring's best Talismans, comes with a tradeoff to compensate for its excellent effect. Beloved Stardust functions similarly to Radagon's Icon, as this Talisman shortens the casting speed for spells and incantations by the maximum amount possible.

However, in exchange, you will take more damage while the Talisman is equipped. Taking more damage is the primary way some of Elden Ring's best Talismans are balanced, so despite this downside, it's a common effect that keeps certain combinations from being too strong.

2 Two-Headed Turtle Talisman

The Two-Headed Turtle Talisman is a massive improvement over the Green Turtle Talisman, as this version greatly raises your stamina recovery speed. However, it requires the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC to get this Talisman, so the Green Turtle is still a viable choice for base game-only runs.

If you love to spam dodges or use heavy weapons, your stamina will constantly be depleted, so a Talisman that increases the recovery speed is incredibly valuable. Whether you need to escape a tight situation or finish an intense fight, this is one of Elden Ring's best Talismans for general use.

1 Radagon's Soreseal

You may be wondering why two items owned by Radagon happen to be some of Elden Ring's best talismans, but that isn't by accident. The legendary figure's existence permeates throughout the world you're exploring. Radagon's Soreseal is so useful that despite it being a bit difficult to obtain, it's still worth the risk.

This Talisman increases your vigor, endurance, strength, and dexterity all by five points each at the cost of reduced damage negation. Radagon's Soreseal is located in Fort Faroth, a place found in Caelid which sits along the most southern part of Dragonbarrow's path.