Welcome, Tarnished. If you are preparing to step into a second journey across the Lands Between, you know the true challenge of New Game+ (NG+) is the radical spike in enemy health and damage resistance. Your standard early-game builds simply won’t cut it. To survive and thrive, you need a powerful, consistent, and versatile damage strategy that scales effectively into the highest difficulty.
We proudly present the Dragonlord Annihilator, a hybrid strategy specifically designed as the Highest Damage Faith/Arcane Build Level 150 NG+. This blueprint leverages the unique, powerful scaling of the Dragon Communion Seal with your Arcane stat to unleash utterly devastating Dragon Incantations. It then seamlessly transitions into a melee phase using Bleed and Rot to proc massive, percentage-based status damage.
This is the definitive blueprint for any player aiming for the Highest Damage Faith/Arcane Build Level 150 NG+, allowing you to conquer every challenging boss, from Margit to Malenia, with minimal friction and maximum efficiency.
I. Optimized Stat Allocation (Level 150 NG+)
In New Game Plus, achieving optimal stats for Level 150 Elden Ring means sacrificing minor utility for max damage output and vital survivability. Our focus is hitting key damage caps on Arcane while maintaining the necessary Faith for powerful buffs and maxing out Vigor to prevent one-shot deaths.
| Stat | Target Value (Lvl 150) | Justification: The Damage-Focused Split |
| Vigor | 60 | Non-Negotiable. The hard cap for Vigor. In NG+, this is the only way to comfortably tank high-level boss hits. |
| Mind | 25 – 30 | Dragon Breaths and powerful buffs are FP-hungry. 25 Mind allows for more complex buff stacks and multiple casts before needing a flask. |
| Endurance | 20 – 25 | Necessary to maintain a Medium Load while wearing the heaviest armor pieces and all Talismans. Stop at 25 if possible. |
| Strength | 12 | Minimum base requirement for a few key weapons (e.g., Bloodflame Blade) or utility items. |
| Dexterity | 14 | Minimum requirement for one of our secondary weapons (Rivers of Blood) and minor increases to casting speed. |
| Intelligence | 9 | Base value (dump stat). |
| Faith | 30 – 35 | Buff Requirement. We only need enough Faith to cast the most essential support Incantations, like Golden Vow (25 FAI) and Flame, Grant Me Strength (15 FAI). Arcane handles the damage scaling. |
| Arcane | 60 – 80 | Primary Damage Stat. This is where the magic happens. 45-60 ARC is the soft cap for status application, but pushing to 80 Arcane provides significantly higher Incantation Scaling on the Dragon Communion Seal and boosts Occult weapon damage. |
Starting Class Recommendation: Prophet or Confessor are excellent starting points due to their naturally higher Faith, giving you a head start on Incantation requirements.
II. The Core Equipment Blueprint
This section breaks down the two most important elements of the Dragonlord Annihilator build: the catalyst and the talismans, which collectively provide over 80% of your total damage output.
2.1. The Catalyst: Dragon Communion Seal
The Dragon Communion Seal is the engine of this entire build and the reason this is the highest damage Faith/Arcane build available.
- Scaling: At +10, this seal boasts superior scaling: a B in Faith but a powerhouse S-Scaling in Arcane. This is what allows us to pump Arcane to 80 for bleed damage and Incantation damage simultaneously.
- Passive Boost: It provides an unlisted 15% passive buff to all Dragon Communion Incantations (like Rotten Breath and Dragonmaw), multiplying your output further.
- Acquisition: Located in the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave.
2.2. Primary Melee Armaments: Dual Occult Scavenger’s Swords
For melee engagement, you cannot beat the bleed potential of Dual Curved Swords with an Occult infusion.
- Weapon: Scavenger’s Curved Sword (requires only 10 STR / 18 DEX). This weapon has innate bleed buildup, which is crucial.
- Affinity: Occult. Infusing an innate bleed weapon with Occult affinity maximizes the damage scaling from your 80 Arcane while only marginally sacrificing the bleed buildup compared to a pure Blood infusion. Critically, the raw AR is often higher.
- Ash of War: Seppuku. The ability to instantly apply the Bleed status effect to yourself (activating your Lord of Blood’s Exultation talisman) while simultaneously buffing the weapon’s attack rating makes this the single best tool for burst damage.
2.3. Talismans (The Quadruple Damage Stack)
To achieve maximum damage, you must stack four specific Talismans that synergize perfectly with your status effects and casting style.
| Talisman | Slot | Effect | Rationale for Damage Stacking |
| Lord of Blood’s Exultation | 1 | +20% Attack Power for 20 seconds when Blood Loss occurs nearby. | Activates instantly when you use Seppuku. This massive buff applies to all damage, including Incantations. |
| Kindred of Rot’s Exultation | 2 | +20% Attack Power for 20 seconds when Poison or Rot occurs nearby. | Activates when you cast Rotten Breath. This stacks multiplicatively with the Blood buff for up to +44% damage. |
| Flock’s Canvas Talisman | 3 | +8% Incantation Power. | An unconditional, direct buff to all your spells. Essential for maximizing the Dragon Communion Seal scaling. |
| Radagon Icon | 4 | Shortens Spell Casting Time (equivalent to 30 Dexterity). | Crucial for speeding up the notoriously slow wind-up of powerful Dragon Breaths and Dragonmaw. |
Optional Headpiece: Always wear the White Mask helm. This item grants an additional +10% damage when Blood Loss occurs, stacking on top of the Lord of Blood’s Exultation and ensuring you hit the highest possible AR.
III. The Incantation Arsenal: Dragon Communion Mastery
To get more traffic, focus on the unique Incantations that leverage the Dragon Communion Seal scaling and the status effects your build is designed around.
3.1. The Rot and Frost Opening (Status Stackers)
Your highest damage comes from debuffing the enemy before the main attack.
- Rotten Breath / Ekzykes’s Decay: The core status tool. Opens almost every boss fight by applying Scarlet Rot. This automatically activates the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation talisman, giving you a 20% damage buff before you even begin your main attack.
- Borealis’s Mist: An extremely underrated tool. While it deals Frost damage, its primary function is to apply Frostbite. When an enemy is Frostbitten, they take 20% increased damage from all sources for 30 seconds.
- The Triple Debuff Stack: This build can hit a boss with Rot (DoT), Frostbite (20% Damage Vulnerability), and then immediately activate both Blood Exultation and Rot Exultation buffs (44% damage increase) on yourself. This is the highest damage opener in the game.
3.2. The Burst Damage Nukes (Highest Scaling)
These are your primary spells once the enemy is debuffed.
- Dragonmaw / Dragonclaw: These are your go-to physical damage incantations. They deal high physical damage, benefit hugely from the Arcane scaling, and have hyper armor, allowing you to trade hits with bosses and often stagger them. Dragonmaw is the highest single-hit Dragon Communion incantation.
- Agheel’s Flame / Theodorix’s Magma: Excellent for variety. Use Agheel’s Flame when buffed by Flame, Grant Me Strength for a massive fire-damage cone, effective against most enemies in the mid-game and specific late-game bosses.
3.3. Essential Buffs (Maximizing Output)
- Golden Vow (25 FAI Requirement): +15% Attack Power and +10% Defense. This is the best overall long-duration buff.
- Flame, Grant Me Strength (15 FAI Requirement): +20% Physical and Fire damage. Essential to cast before using your Occult melee weapons (which do physical damage) or any fire-based Dragon Incantation.
IV. The New Game+ Strategy and Boss Rotation
The key to surviving NG+ is mastering the flow between buffing, casting, and melee.
4.1. The Dragonlord Annihilator Combat Flow
- Preparation (Pre-fight): Cast Golden Vow (or your preferred strong defensive Incantation).
- Damage Buff (Pre-fight): Cast Flame, Grant Me Strength.
- Phase 1: Debuff & Buff Activation: Enter the boss arena and immediately cast Rotten Breath once or twice to inflict Scarlet Rot. This triggers the Kindred of Rot’s Exultation (+20% damage).
- Phase 2: Transition to Melee: Quickly equip your Dual Occult Scavenger’s Swords. Use the Seppuku Ash of War on both hands. This triggers Lord of Blood’s Exultation (+20% damage) and White Mask (+10% damage).
- Phase 3: The Annihilation: You now have +59% damage (multiplicatively stacked) for 20 seconds. Use the dual-wield L1 attack to rapidly proc Bleed, which hits for absurd burst damage amplified by the buffs.
- Phase 4: Incantation Punishment: When the 20-second window is over or the enemy is staggered, switch back to the Dragon Communion Seal and cast a powerful, fully-buffed Dragonmaw or Agheel’s Flame to finish the job.
4.2. Wondrous Physick Setup (The Flask Advantage)
- Tear 1: Thorny Cracked Tear: Increases successive attack damage. Synergizes perfectly with the fast, multi-hit attacks of the Dual Curved Swords and the Dragon Communion spell casting sequence.
- Tear 2: Faith-Knot Crystal Tear: Temporarily raises Faith by 10. Use this if you want to keep your base Faith low (at 25) but occasionally need to cast a higher-requirement Incantation (or simply want a small boost to Incantation Scaling).
4.3. NG+ Enemy-Specific Tactics (Handling Resistance)
When facing bosses immune to Bleed or Rot (e.g., Elden Beast, Malenia, specific Ancient Dragons), the status stack is moot.
- The Swap: Substitute the Bleed/Rot Talismans with Ritual Sword Talisman (+10% damage at full HP) and the relevant Scorpion Charm (Fire, Magic, or Lightning) corresponding to the boss’s elemental weakness.
- The Focus: Rely on raw Incantation damage. Cast the appropriate Dragon Breath (e.g., Glintstone Breath on the Elden Beast) amplified by the Flock’s Canvas Talisman. Use the Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike incantation if the enemy is weak to Lightning—its wide area of effect is perfect for huge targets.
V. Advanced Optimization: The Dragon Communion Seal Scaling Sweet Spot
Understanding Dragon Communion Seal scaling is what separates a decent build from the Dragonlord Annihilator. While the seal scales with both Faith and Arcane, its scaling curve is front-loaded on Arcane.
- The 45/45 Myth: Many guides suggest stopping at 45 Arcane because it’s the first soft cap for status build-up. For a pure Incantation focus, you must push further.
- The 80 ARC Sweet Spot: The Incantation Scaling gains significant returns up to 60 Arcane and worthwhile returns continue all the way to 80 Arcane. By pushing Arcane to 80, you maximize the Incantation Scaling for your Seal and the damage on your Occult weapons simultaneously. The synergistic nature of this investment makes it the most effective use of points at Level 150 Elden Ring optimal stats. Every point after 60 has diminishing returns, but in NG+, that marginal damage is often the difference between a one-cycle boss kill and a frustrating second phase.
VI.Frequently Asked Question
Q: Is the Faith/Arcane build viable for PvP at Level 150?
A: Yes, this build is extremely viable in PvP. The synergy between Lord of Blood’s Exultation and your fast-proc Bleed weapons (like the Dual Scavenger’s Swords) is devastating. Furthermore, Incantations like Ekzykes’s Decay and Bloodflame Talon provide excellent area control and unparriable damage, making the Faith/Arcane build NG+ ready and PvP competitive.
Q: Which starting class is best for the Dragon Communion Seal build?
A: The Prophet is often the most optimal starting class. It begins with the lowest Intelligence/Dexterity, allowing you to maximize the critical stats (Vigor, Mind, Endurance, Faith, Arcane) to their respective soft and hard caps at Level 150 Elden Ring optimal stats without wasting points in a stat you won’t use.
Q: What is the minimum Faith needed to make this build effective?
A: You only need enough Faith to cast your essential buffs. The minimum effective threshold is 25 Faith to use the crucial Golden Vow Incantation. The actual damage scaling comes almost entirely from your high Arcane stat via the Dragon Communion Seal scaling. Anything beyond 35 Faith should only be invested if you specifically require a higher-level Incantation.
Q: Does the Bleed/Rot damage buff stack multiplicatively?
A: Yes. The Lord of Blood’s Exultation (+20%) and Kindred of Rot’s Exultation (+20%) buffs stack multiplicatively, resulting in a 44% total damage increase (1.20 * 1.20 = 1.44). When combined with the White Mask (+10%), the potential burst damage is unparalleled.
VII. Conclusion:
The Dragonlord Annihilator stands as the definitive highest damage Faith/Arcane build at Level 150 for NG+ because it solves the hybrid scaling problem. By concentrating your damage investment into Arcane, you efficiently amplify both your status application (Bleed/Rot) and your Incantation damage via the unique Dragon Communion Seal.
Mastering this build requires discipline—you must prioritize the buff and debuff stack before going in for the kill. But once you achieve the +59% damage boost and apply Scarlet Rot and Frostbite to your target, even the most formidable late-game bosses will kneel before your power.
Now, take this blueprint, venture into the Lands Between, and claim your destiny as the ultimate Dragonlord.
Continue Your Journey: Ready to power-stance a different style? Check out our guide on the 5 Best Occult Weapons in Elden Ring to see other ways to leverage your 80 Arcane stat!
