Elden Ring: What Does Intelligence Do?

Elden Ring players often wonder what the various stats do, and Intelligence is one of the stats that players sometimes have trouble understanding. Even if players are aware of what Intelligence does, it is crucial to know the strategy they should follow while leveling it up to ensure that they get the most benefit.

Elden Ring has a plethora of stats, so understanding them can be a tricky task. Thankfully, in most scenarios, players will need to stick to upgrading only a subset of these stats, so it will make their upgrade decision much easier every time they have enough runes to level up. Here is what players need to know about the Intelligence stat in Elden Ring.

What Does Intelligence Do In Elden Ring?

Intelligence is by far the most important stat players need to be focusing on if they want to run mage builds. That is, for players who are interested in doing the cool sorceries in Elden Ring, Intelligence is the attribute that determines how much damage they deal. All weapons have a base damage rating which can only be improved by upgrading the weapon with a Smithing or a Somber Smithing Stone. However, players can further boost these stats by upgrading their Intelligence stats.

Additionally, certain weapons have a minimum Intelligence requirement in order for players to wield them. Likewise, sorceries have specific Intelligence requirements too. For example, the infamously overpowered Comet Azur has a staggering 60 Intelligence requirement. While investing runes in the Intelligence stat, players should keep the soft caps in mind. The first breakpoint for sorcery scaling is 60, and the next one is 80. This means that players will get a specific amount of bonus damage until the stat reaches 60, and the increase will fall off a bit after that, until 80. After that, it drops off again. So if a player has a weapon that depends on multiple stats, it is probably a good idea to switch to leveling up the other dependent stat after hitting either of the two soft caps.

All S-Scaling Intelligence Weapons In Elden Ring

Most Staffs in the game are S-Scaling Intelligence weapons. This means that players will get the most benefit by upgrading their Intelligence stat while using these weapons. The weapon scaling attribute ranges from E to S, in the order of E, D, C, B, A, and S. Weapons that have an S attribute get the most damage from upgrading that particular stat.

It should be noted that the scaling level improves with upgrades. Some of the below-mentioned weapons might not have the S-tier Intelligence scaling when players acquire them, but eventually, they should be able to get to that after a few upgrades.

All Intelligence Boosting Items In Elden Ring

Players who are unable to meet the Intelligence requirements for any weapon or sorceries can rely on other ways to boost their intelligence instead. This includes using Talismans, as well as certain Helms. Here are all the items that boost intelligence in Elden Ring.