Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike

ancient dragons lightning strike incantation elden ring wiki guide 200px
Spell Type Dragon Cult Incantations
FP Cost 36 Slots Used 1
item effects icon elden ring wiki guide 55px 18pxEffect
Summons red lightning that spreads from impact

attributes required elden ring wiki guide 18Requires

Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike is an Incantation in Elden Ring. Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike spell deals red lightning dealing also area of
effect around impact.

 

A secret incantation of the capital's ancient dragon cult.
Summons a red bolt of lightning that scatters and spreads around
the surrounding area.

Charging enhances the range of the lightning bolt.

Spoken of in legend, red lightning is the weapon wielded by the
ancient dragons.

 

Where to find Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike

Where to find Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike:

 

Elden Ring Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike Guide

  • Stamina Cost: 31
  • One of the Dragon Cult Incantations and is boosted by the Gravel Stone Seal
  • Deals Lightning Damage
  • Charging increases the number of bolts, range and damage, meaning charging it is normally better.
    • Range is short (uncharged) and medium (charged)
    • Slow casting speed when charged and medium when uncharged. 
    • Damage boost seems to be random, therefore testing/data verification is required
    • Bolts with boosted damage are affected by Godfrey Icon
  • This incantation can deal extreme amounts of damage against large enemies (dragons, giants, etc.) as each bolt counts as a hit and deals its own damage.
    • Can be also useful against smaller targets or in PvP, but caution and precise position is required.
    • In PvP, with proper build even one bolt can hit for 700-800 damage, 2-3 bolts will most likely kill invader even with 1800+ HP
  • Has suprisingly long range vertically - if player stands on ledge, bolts will hit place under player.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
Elden Ring Incantations
Agheel's Flame  ♦  Ancient Dragons' Lightning Spear  ♦  Aspects of the Crucible: Breath  ♦  Aspects of the Crucible: Horns  ♦  Aspects of the Crucible: Tail  ♦  Barrier of Gold  ♦  Beast Claw  ♦  Bestial Constitution  ♦  Bestial Sling  ♦  Bestial Vitality  ♦  Black Blade  ♦  Black Flame  ♦  Black Flame's Protection  ♦  Black Flame Blade  ♦  Black Flame Ritual  ♦  Blessing's Boon  ♦  Blessing of the Erdtree  ♦  Bloodboon  ♦  Bloodflame Blade  ♦  Bloodflame Talons  ♦  Borealis's Mist  ♦  Burn O Flame!  ♦  Catch Flame  ♦  Cure Poison  ♦  Darkness  ♦  Death Lightning  ♦  Discus of Light  ♦  Divine Fortification  ♦  Dragonbolt Blessing  ♦  Dragonclaw  ♦  Dragonfire  ♦  Dragonice  ♦  Dragonmaw  ♦  Ekzykes's Decay  ♦  Elden Stars  ♦  Electrify Armament  ♦  Erdtree Heal  ♦  Fire's Deadly Sin  ♦  Flame Fall Upon Them  ♦  Flame Fortification  ♦  Flame of the Fell God  ♦  Flame Protect Me  ♦  Fortissax's Lightning Spear  ♦  Frenzied Burst  ♦  Frozen Lightning Spear  ♦  Giantsflame Take Thee  ♦  Glintstone Breath  ♦  Golden Lightning Fortification  ♦  Golden Vow (Spell)  ♦  Great Heal  ♦  Greyoll's Roar  ♦  Heal  ♦  Honed Bolt  ♦  Howl of Shabriri  ♦  Immutable Shield  ♦  Inescapable Frenzy  ♦  Lansseax's Glaive  ♦  Law of Causality  ♦  Law of Regression  ♦  Lightning Fortification  ♦  Lightning Spear  ♦  Lightning Strike  ♦  Litany of Proper Death  ♦  Lord's Aid  ♦  Lord's Divine Fortification  ♦  Lord's Heal  ♦  Magic Fortification  ♦  Magma Breath  ♦  Noble Presence  ♦  O Flame!  ♦  Order's Blade  ♦  Order Healing  ♦  Pest Threads  ♦  Placidusax's Ruin  ♦  Poison Armament  ♦  Poison Mist  ♦  Protection of the Erdtree  ♦  Radagon's Rings of Light  ♦  Rejection  ♦  Rotten Breath  ♦  Scarlet Aeonia  ♦  Scouring Black Flame  ♦  Shadow Bait  ♦  Smarag's Glintstone Breath  ♦  Stone of Gurranq  ♦  Surge O Flame!  ♦  Swarm of Flies  ♦  The Flame of Frenzy  ♦  Theodorix's Magma  ♦  Triple Rings of Light  ♦  Unendurable Frenzy  ♦  Urgent Heal  ♦  Vyke's Dragonbolt  ♦  Whirl O Flame!  ♦  Wrath of Gold



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    • Anonymous

      After the travesty that was the lightning miracles in ds3 i think this spell alone is enough to rectify the 480 damage with optimized stats, incredibly slow, poisecast requiring,fp destroying garbage that ds3 tried to pass off as lightning powers

      • Anonymous

        how are people making this one shot in pvp? one lightning bolt does my entire healthbar at 60 vigor. thats insane

        • Anonymous

          This incantation is a hard counter to bosses that are too big for the camera. Essentially, if you can't see sh*t, use this incantation.

          • Anonymous

            I would've liked a lightning spell similar to honed bolt where instead of an instant attack, it's a delayed red lightning strike that "conjures" on the ground with little red sparks and then explodes, identical to what placidusax uses against you. not the massive nuke, but the smaller, still large lightning strikes that do half your healthbar. it'd be telegraphed, easy to dodge, but it'd be ****ing awesome, and that's really what counts.

            • Anonymous

              With godfrey icon+lightning scorpion charm+flock´s canvas+gravel stone seal+lightning-shrouding cracked tear+erdtree sea+10 = god mode. This thing beautifully depletes hp bars, funny af in duels too, it´s highly risky but the reward is exquisite

              • Anonymous

                "As a result, this incantation is not boosted by the Godfrey Icon" that is wrong, i tested it in 1.10 and it sure does boost the damage!

                • Anonymous

                  The spell is broken (without any doubt in almost every boss fight) but in normal places its good only when you manage to pull it out with enemies that pressure you a lot. For example, it’s easier for you not being detected by the enemy than having to face it while it’s closing distance to you. In the second scenario at least you need a decent distance from their attacks so that you are not interrupted while casting, and besides you need to aim it properly, especially when it comes to knight-sized enemies (banished knights are better dealt with using lightning spear, honing bolt or fortissax spears when they finish their combos, though the same can be said about this spell). And there is also the fact that the aiming can get very inconsistent if you don’t get the proper spot and you’ll take a huge chunk of damage for nothing but with mobs of enemies this hardly matters. And yes I got bodied by a banished knight from castle sol, cross bow spammers and an eagle

                  • Anonymous

                    The uncharged version is like having a small electrical shock in your house while fixing the router cable

                    The charged version is like having Zeus personally spread his cheeks and rain down lighting from mount Olympus

                    • Anonymous

                      All the way in faram azula for a spell that requires 26 faith... By the time you get this the game is already almost over so lets just call it a NG+ spell

                      • Anonymous

                        Oh, a boss killed me more than twice? That's it, I'm whipping out the ancient dragon's thermonuclear bomb

                        • Managed to land this incantation, when I was in "Invasion repelling mode" will fellow player on 2 guys and they received ~3k damage total (forgot to look at guy charging a powerful spell nearby). Other time guy somehow managed to fail to backstab and was catched by 3 bolts of those, which is a death sentence, unless you have absurd Lightning Resistance (which happens VERY rarely). Hard to land, but when you land you can easily count to deal ~1k damage with ease.

                          Note on the side - if you stand on a cliff, spell will land on surface below (test in near Four Belfires, this range is suprisingly huge). Used this once on some Crucible Knight fan chasing a cooperator and poor fellow got 1,2k damage in the back. Guess how that ended. :P

                          On par with Lightning Spear my favourite Spell in any FS game. 10/10 would cannon poor guys in PvP again.

                          • Anonymous

                            For anyone that has trouble hitting/dodging this here's some advice: this spell is a mid range spell. What do I mean? If you're within breath smelling distance it'll miss because the first wave of lightning doesn't strike close enough. At far range the lightning strikes will be spread far enough to easily dodge by just moving out of the way. But right in the middle is the danger zone. Not only are the strikes close enough so that it creates a sort of wall but the next wave of strikes are close enough so that unless you roll forwards, you'll get hit by the next wave. That middle area is also where the most damage is done because if you get hit, the next strike is a guaranteed hit because you'll be stunned. Once you see it cast a few times you should be able to see the danger zone so try to avoid/aim for that is you're having trouble.

                            • Anonymous

                              Ive been a certified faith enjoyer since 2011 and I'm sorry lads but this **** needs a nerf lol. The second you find this in farum it's game over, oneshot the crucible knight, twoshot godskin duo and placidusax (killed him before he even took off). This is faith comet azure but costs 40 FP

                              • Anonymous

                                I once used it fully charged in a 3v3 colosseum match, and a random guy in Lionel's armor who had just revived after kill got his 2k health vanished instantly. It was 46 faith/60 arcane glass cannon build and I did use dragon communion seal without any lightning buffs or Godfrey icon. It's either the incantation itself that is busted af, or dude was just double soreseal user.

                                • Anonymous

                                  Use this to one shot gankers mid spawn immunity, or if you need to fire it point blank later, leaden hard tear and crimsonwhorl bubble tear will make you able to fully charge it in their arrogant faces. Enjoy!

                                  • Anonymous

                                    Hosts when being invaded be like “BLAST I MISSED! My next fully charged highly telegraphed lighting stifle will make the bad red man go away for SURE!”

                                    • Anonymous

                                      After doing some testing on the Albino bois at Mohg I can safely say this IS affected by the Godfrey icon.

                                      80 fth Erdtree seal 353 spell buff no icon

                                      1441 damage to the reds, 1730 damage to the greys

                                      Same as above but WITH icon

                                      1660 damage to the reds and 1997 to the greys

                                      This being said there is a caveat: NOT ALL THE INDIVIDUAL BOLTS GET THE DAMAGE INCREASE

                                      It seems 50/50 some do and some don’t, but without the icon all the bolts do the same exact damage.

                                      FIX YOUR GAME FROMSOFT

                                      Don’t believe me, then test it yourself

                                      • Anonymous

                                        Not sure if this is obvious, stated somewhere ingame or everyone just knows this, but it appears this spell deals more damage than Death Lightning, since for whatever reason this spell is more likely to hit the same enemy multiple times. That's what I got from testing anyways, so there is an element of randomness.

                                        • Second time trying to post this, but summary is that with 80 faith and 80 int, with a +10 golden order seal, the damage on this can, with a perfect, full charge cast that hits every bolt, reach 403,452 damage, my test subject was the frost trolls in mountaintop, a single non-head shot, non-counter attack bolt with both flock talismans, lightning scorpion, and lightning crystal tear, hit for 4803, there are 7 bolts that each strike 12 times(3 in front, 2 on back left, 2 on back right, I did multiple casts and recounts to make sure I was right) for reference, a perfect cast of 403,452, is enough to overkill NG+7 fire giant approximately 8 times over if it was condensed into a single bolt, and to top it off, you can increase it further, easiest way is to offhand a gravel stone seal and proc other effects like lord of blood's exultation

                                          • Anonymous

                                            So, I got bored before going to sleep, I did the math on the max damage this spell does excluding crit bonuses and counter attack bonuses, my test subject was the ice trolls in the mountaintop with 80int+80faith and the talisman that scales with both, one bolt with the lighting crystal tear+both flock talismans+lightning scorpion hit for 4038 damage when full charged, there are 7 bolts (3 in front, two on your back left, two on back right) each one is recast 12 times. So, if fighting a boss big enough to get hit by every single bolt(example, fire giant), then the grand total is 403,452 damage from one cast...as reference, a NG+7 fire giant has somewhere around 49k health....soooo....if it was all that damage compressed into a single bolt, that would overkill the NG+7 fire giant around 8 times over

                                            • Second time trying to post this, but summary is that with 80 faith and 80 int, with a +10 golden order seal, the damage on this can, with a perfect, full charge cast that hits every bolt, reach 403,452 damage, my test subject was the frost trolls in mountaintop, a single non-head shot, non-counter attack bolt with both flock talismans, lightning scorpion, and lightning crystal tear, hit for 4803, there are 7 bolts that each strike 12 times(3 in front, 2 on back left, 2 on back right, I did multiple casts and recounts to make sure I was right) for reference, a perfect cast of 403,452, is enough to overkill NG+7 fire giant approximately 8 times over if it was condensed into a single bolt, and to top it off, you can increase it further, easiest way is to offhand a gravel stone seal and proc other effects like lord of blood's exultation

                                              • Anonymous

                                                So, I got bored before going to sleep, I did the math on the max damage this spell does excluding crit bonuses and counter attack bonuses, my test subject was the ice trolls in the mountaintop with 80int+80faith and the talisman that scales with both, one bolt with the lighting crystal tear+both flock talismans+lightning scorpion hit for 4038 damage when full charged, there are 7 bolts (3 in front, two on your back left, two on back right) each one is recast 12 times. So, if fighting a boss big enough to get hit by every single bolt(example, fire giant), then the grand total is 403,452 damage from one cast...as reference, a NG+7 fire giant has somewhere around 49k health....soooo....if it was all that damage compressed into a single bolt, that would overkill the NG+7 fire giant around 8 times over

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  Anyone else getting almost oneshot from this? I had 1975 vigor, about 17 lightning resistance and i was on dry ground, almost oneshot me with one hit.

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    bro i used this mf and created a build i one shotted godfrey i used it and it made go to phase 2 and idk how the strike still continued and went and killed him like bro its my fav incantation

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      This spell has a sweet spot where the lightning strikes hit close enough to stun the enemy and hit them again. It's around the 2nd or 3rd wave of strikes.

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        Amazing pve spell, absolutely nukes bosses, especially the big ones. Easily does 3000-6000 damage depending on positioning. Wait for boss to get distracted by another player or your spirit summons, plant your face into their ass, and go to town. Worked for just about every boss in my first playthrough.

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          by far my absolute favourite spell in the game, I am in love. It just deals so much damage, even with only 50-60 faith. It can easily kill an entire 3 people party during invasions if everyone is close together. This never leaves my first memory slot.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            The ultimate roll of the dice. There’s a chance it won’t even hit the boss, but if it does, it absolutely mulches them.

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              Fyi- As of patch 1.07 this incantation is NOT boosted by Godfrey Icon. If you are looking for max lightning damage without jelly fish shield buff- use faithful & flock camvas, lightning scorpion charm, and lord bloods exultation (pair w/white mask for 30%bleed buff). Now proc seppuku. I use dragon communion seal and faith knot+lightning dmg tear as well. Cast with dragon seal while offhanding gravel seal for 15% more. Ive hit almost 4200 dmg off gatefront knights and over 1800 hp in 1 strike pvp at lv 105 with 41 arc 36 faith unbuffed. Enjoy - Ang3lR1pp3r

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                It took me a while to get the hang of this one after using LTN strike for a big chunk of the game. The comment by the explorer explains why. It isn't just dragons that can take direct hits from this without any damage. The cormorants for the pinion feather farming can as well, sometimes taking multiple casts in a row before it actually kills them.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  This incantation causes six bolts of roughly evenly-spaced lightning bolts to strike several times in all directions away from you. Despite what the bolts may suggest, they only harm targets that intersect with the bolts' points of impact on the ground.This quirk means that beasties with have narrow feet and huge bodies suspended above the ground can miraculously escape damage without making any apparent sense.
                                                                  Dragons and Ancient Dragons are especially notorious for escaping the wrath of this incantation, often completely unscathed.

                                                                  When using this, take time to memorize its exact pattern, and then position and angle yourself accordingly for maximum devastation.
                                                                  — Courh the Explorer

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    I don't mind that fith incants are slow compared to magic spells when things like this existm.. save a slot for endure caestus. All trades are yours.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      Use when you dont feel like dealing with the camera bs for colossal bosses like astel,dragons/dragonkins,fire giant, ect.

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        Another good incantation for farming the albanurics. With the right set up it will oneshot even the red ones.

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          this thing made Placidusax a joke, he died before i even realized it. the only attacks he could use were his phase transitions

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            People really underestimate the range on this. They'll tend to just stand around outside what the think is the effective range on this only to get hit for 1k. The bolt's hitbox is also bigger than you think it is. I've gotten hits on people who were next to where the lightning struck instead of right on top even outside water.

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              should have a WAAAAY higher faith requirement for the havoc this thing can cause, literally one-shot me at 41 vigor.

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                Surprisingly effective against abductor virgins. You can cast it on higher ground or from a safe spot, if you don't wanna engage directly, and they will take a few strikes.

                                                                                I melted one at volcano manor with minimal faith.

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  it's not that easy to land in PvP, but when it does it's gonna hurt a lot, possibly one-shotting people at 50+ Faith if they don't have enough Vigor or some Lighting protection.
                                                                                  the charged attack is pretty much a death sentence to anything that walks into it.

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    This thing is absolutely insane in PVP. I manage to oneshot people with 2500 hp with double gravel seal+25, flock canvas, godfrey icon, scorpion charm, 80 faith. I'm not even gonna mention people who don't level Vigor... It melts ganks, melts bosses, melts everyone. absolutely amazing spell!

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      I'll echo some of the comments on this page about the spell's viability in NG+(++). Absolutely shreds huge bosses, deals amazing damage to medium-sized ones. Almost leaves me wishing bosses below NG+7 had more HP!

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        I did not understand the power of this spell until I realized its two equally devastating uses: one, absolutely melting gigantic bosses like Fire Giant, Dragonlord Placidusax, Elden Beast, Magma Wyrms, etc. and two, as a powerful but risky attack after a boss performs a move with a large punish window, akin to a charged attack. This works best on medium-sized humanoid enemies like Godfrey and Radagon, where you're highly likely to land at least one and possibly two bolts.

                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                          don't sleep on this thing, it does a LOT of damage. literally melts bosses HP's, even more if they're big targets

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            I call this - "Elden Beast deleter". Absolutely nuts even when it's HP is inflated by 2 summons. Just have to pray a bit for RNGesus for good lightning pattern.

                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                              This one really tears big enemies into little pieces. It takes some time to charge, but deals a hell of damage. A little bit tricky to use and dont get hit, though. For incantation-users an absoulutley must-have.

                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                OK this annihilates end game bosses. With the mimic helping it nukes them. I was actually grossed out how easily it killed Malenia, Radagon and Elden Beast. Sure you have to run up and get close/under the bosses but if you are bold it will work.

                                                                                                • Absolutely bonkers against big bosses. Two casts can kill Astel in NG+ if it connects right. Even an individual Lightning Strike does decent damage, but it really shines against groups. Totally worth it, even if the casting time is kinda long.

                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                    This thing is literal gank killer in pvp can't tell you how many times I've annihilated an entire four man squad with just two shots of this at 80 faith it nukes everything lmao...

                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                      Good RNG spell, it either misses and does nothing, it hits and does solid damage, or it just nukes something.

                                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                                        Use mimic tear and unequip weapon and every spell except ancient dragon’s lightning strike. You’re welcome. :)

                                                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                                                          This incantion is straight-up busted vs large bosses after the 1.4 patch. It creates several pillars of lightning that strike outward in a spreading motion. Thankfully, fromsoft made each pillar its own instance of damage, so each pillar of every strike deals damage. This means that it'll hit for anywhere between a slightly stronger Lightning Spear at 1 hit, to actually taking out a third of the boss' HP with a good cast that hits 6-10 times. I managed to make it deal 16k damage to Greyoll by lining it up proper, But you can probably expect between 2-6k damage in an actual fight depending on how large the boss is and how min-maxed you are for lightning damage.

                                                                                                          You don't need to overcommit to lighting damage to destroy bosses with this - the Godfrey talisman that increases charged spells is excellent on this as well as numerous other spells and does not lower resistances. There is a bit of RNG involved but ultimately if you manage to get a charged cast off right next to anything that is bigger than a human, you'll likely hit unexpectedly hard. Send those Ulcerated Tree spirits to hell with this spell, but also bring a charged spell for single small targets like a Lightning Spear or one of the fireballs.

                                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                                            can someone explain how someone at level 100 made this do like 4000 damage against the godskin duo? my strongest incantations at this level do like 800 damage :(

                                                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                                                              Garbage incantation
                                                                                                              Takes WAY too long to charge, complete RNG if you even hit something and when you do it's bad
                                                                                                              Dont bother

                                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                                I'm using this against Fortissax for the lulz, and OH MY GWYN it melts him like this is Dark Souls. I hit him with a lot of pillars from a single cast and he lost like a quarter of his health.

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