The Astrologer is an Elden Ring class whose stats are best suited for players interested in using magic as their primary form of combat. While the starting equipment will include some gear for close combat, the Glintstone Pebble and Glintstone Arc spells allow you to play a magic-based character from the start. It also helps that those two spells are useful throughout the game.
The Astrologer comes in with the following starting stats:
- Rune Level: 6
- Vigor: 9
- Mind: 15
- Endurance: 9
- Strength: 8
- Dexterity: 12
- Intelligence: 16
- Faith: 7
- Arcane: 9
While there are certainly melee magic builds, the Astrologer has good starting stats to help a player specialize in ranged magic and allow them to keep that specialization even in the late game.
What build works best for the Astrologer?
The Astrologer’s best builds are always going to include magic. Whether you want to take the Astrologer into a melee magic build (sometimes referred to as a spellblade build) or keep them focusing only on magic. If you are starting out, here’s a build to get you on the right track.
Starting Astrologer Magician Build
The Astrologer starts out with the Astrologer’s Staff, which is perfect for casting Glintstone Pebble and Glintstone Arc right away. Your starting shield should also be good enough, but you do want to aim for better equipment later on, such as a Meteorite Staff.
Your spells are the most important at this stage. The Great Glintstone Shard is a costly but powerful improvement over the Glintstone Pebble, that only requires an Intelligence of 16 to equip. Carian Slicer provides a powerful magical melee attack for any enemies that come close and only needs Intelligence to be 14 to equip.
You can purchase the Carian Slicer spell from Sorceress Sellen at Waypoint Ruins in the western part of Limgrave. You can also obtain the Great Glintstone Shard from her, but you need to give her the Academy Scroll before she will sell you that spell.
You eventually want to work your way up to spells such as Loretta’s Longbow and Carian Piercer to deal more damage to enemies. In the case of Loretta’s Longbow, you can shoot targets from a great distance, giving you a powerful attack that enemies struggle to deal with (especially when charged).
Loretta’s Longbow can be found after defeating Royal Knight Loretta at Carla Manor and needs Intelligence to be at least 26 before it can be used. Carian Piercer can be found in the east area behind the gardens at Carla Manor and needs Intelligence to be at least 27 before it can be used.
While you do want to get the best equipment while still being able to roll around effectively (a medium roll), all you really need to do is keep 1-2 Flasks for HP while putting the rest towards FP restoration to get started.
- Primary stats to invest in: Intelligence and Mind
- Secondary stats that can help: Vigor and Endurance
Eventually, you want to start moving on to more powerful equipment such as a Meteorite Staff while getting other utility spells such as Rock Sling for enemies that are resistant to magic damage.
You can then go in one of two directions: you can stay a spellcaster or start diving into the melee magic/spellblade builds. Here is an example of a melee magic build.
Melee Magician Build
You will still use spells such as Loretta’s Greatbow, Glintstone Pebble, Great Glintstone Shard, and Carian Slicer as before. You do want to consider going with spells such as Carian Greatsword in case you need to hit more than one target that gets close, but you won’t need too much deviation from what you already have before.
The Astrologer can also consider getting a better shield. There are medium-sized shields such as the Round Shield that can be equipped with the Astrologer’s default Strength stat of 8 that provide somewhat decent protection over the smaller shields. You can also invest a small amount of Strength and Dexterity to get the Jellyfish Shield, which can increase your spell power if you use Contagious Fury.
Getting the Carian Glintstone Staff will help increase the damage of the Carian sorceries that you have been using, though you can hold on to the Meteorite Staff if you haven’t been able to obtain it yet.
You can also use the Ashes of War: Royal Knight’s Resolve with any Dagger weapon and use that to power up the Carian spells (ie. Carian Slicer) if needed.
- Primary stats to invest in: Intelligence
- Secondary stats that can help: Mind, Vigor, as well as Strength and Dexterity if you want the Jellyfish Shield
Or perhaps you aren’t interested in swinging around a magical energy sword but want to cast a different variety of spells.
Crystal Magician Build
While keeping the Glintstone Pebble and Great Glintstone Shard for regular enemies, this build starts looking at spells such as Crystal Torrent and Shattering Crystal to take down larger enemies/hit a large area.
The Jellyfish Shield’s Contagious Fury will be useful for boosting damage and it is worth slightly diving into Strength and Dexterity to equip the shield. The Crystal Staff is a good weapon for boosting the power of Crystal sorceries. You can later upgrade this to Lusat’s Glintstone Staff or the Carian Regal Scepter when you are more powerful.
Getting a Magical Scorpion Charm and a Godfrey Icon to increase your damage will power up this build. You can also supplement this with a Ritual Sword Talisman, but this will require some way to heal. You can opt for a Blessed Dew Talisman that gradually recovers HP, or you can go for the Bestial Vitality Incanation that heals over time.
If you are going for Bestial Vitality, getting either the Finger Seal or the Clawmark Seal will be necessary if you don’t want to make the Faith investment.
- Primary stats to invest in: Intelligence
- Secondary stats that can help: Mind, Vigor
The Astrologer has many magic spells available to them and can choose their own playstyle, casting spells from a distance or getting up close and personal with Carian spells. While everyone will have a magic spell that they prefer, with these builds you will be in a better position to play an Astrologer successfully.
