Impenetrable Thorns Build Guide

This is a build guide centered around the Impenetrable Thorns Spell in the Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree. Read on for a guide to the Impenetrable Thorns build, including info on the build's stat distribution and recommended equipment.

Impenetrable Thorns Nerfed in Patch 1.13

Only Effective Against Enemies Weak to Bleed

While still powerful, most of the damage from Impenetrable Thorns after Patch 1.13 will come from the Bleed procs rather than the a mix of both Bleed and Thorns damage. This makes it comparable to a regular ARC build without the flexibility of weapons at your disposal.

With the nerf to its attack power and poise damage, the Impenetrable Thorns build is no longer effective against enemies and bosses that cannot Bleed (e.g., Radagon and the Elden Beast). Smaller enemies (e.g., Nameless Mausoleum bosses) will also no longer be stunlocked by the stagger, allowing them to actually punish your casts.

Update 1.13 Patch Notes

More Casts are Required to Proc Bleed

On top of Bleed being your only source of big chunking damage when using Impenetrable Thorns, its Blood Loss buildup was also reduced. Now, it takes more casts before you can proc Bleed, signifcantly nerfing the previous "turret-like" playstyle of the build.

Impenetrable Thorns Build Guide

Maximize Impenetrable Thorn's Damage and Bleed Buildup

Spell Details
Impenetrable Thorns Type: Sorcery
Stat Requirements
Int: 0	Faith: 24	Arcane: 0

For this build, the Impenetrable Thorns will be the main star of the show, acquired from The Shadow Keep Specimen Storehouse on the Seventh Floor. It scales primarily with Arcane, making this spell quite deadly when combined with a max-level Staff.

Dual-Wield Maternal Staff and Staff of the Guilty For Maximum Effects

Weapons	Stat Requirements	Stat Scaling
Maternal Staff	STR: 7 INT: 21 ARC: 21	STR: E INT: D ARC: C
Staff of the Guilty	STR: 8 Faith: 12	STR: D Faith: C

The main weapons of choice for this build will be the Maternal Staff and the Staff of the Guilty, as these can both buff the Arcane Power and Blood Thorn Sorcery of Impenetrable Thorns. You will use both staves together and dual-wield it and use Maternal Staff for casting. Having Staff of the Guilty in our Off hand allows us to use its passive effect that boosts Thorns Sorcery damage.

Applies Bleed Instantly With One Hit

Impenetable Thorns' main gimmick is its ability to fire off three thorns in a cone with high bleed scaling. While using this weapon, you become immobile while casting the spell, and release a line of thorns afterwards that each have their own hitboxes.

These hitboxes mean that the strength of this Spell lies in its multi-bleed proc capabilities, allowing it to decimate enemies that are unfortunate enough to be caught by all 3 thorns.

Cast in Melee Range for Multiple Hit Procs

Due to the thorns having their own hitboxes, players should try to cast Impenetrable Thorns within melee distance of an enemy.

Although being a high-risk maneuver due to how open you expose yourself, you can quickly gain the upperhand if the attacks connect, chunking your enemy for a large portion of their health.

Utilizes Maternal Staff or Albinauric Staff

This build utilizes the raw Arcane scaling the Maternal Staff, combined with the Blood Thorn buffs provided by Staff of the Guilty. These two Staves will most often be powerstanced, with a Seal and a Melee Weapon sitting in their pocket.

Albinauric Staff remains a solid choice though, as it has a lower stat requirement and can be picked up at an earlier time vs the Maternal Staff.

Maternal Staff Location, Stats, and Scaling

Keep a Reserve Melee Weapon

For the rare occasions that you run out of mana and the enemy is still standing, we recommend investing some points into STR and DEX stats so you can bring a melee weapon that also preferably scales off of Arcane.

With these requirements, running something like the Rivers of Blood should be perfect as its bleed buildup scales well along with its main damage scaling off Arcane.

Rivers of Blood Location, Stats, and Scaling

Impenetrable Thorns Build Stat Distribution

Recommended Stats

Recommended Level
150
Stat	Points	Explanation
VGR	50	・50 Vigor is enough for the DLC provided you're upgrading your Scadutree Blessing before each major boss. This can be raised to 60 if you feel too squishy.
MND	25	・You will be spamming Impenetrable Thorns a lot with this build, so make sure to pack enough Mind to be able to comfortably one-shot enemies before needing to use a flask.
END	15	・You will not be moving around as much using this build, since the whole point is to delete opponents before they can make their move, but having some investment into Endurance can help for dodging.
STR	12	・Enough STR to wield Rivers of Blood.
DEX	18	・Enough DEX to wield Rivers of Blood.
INT	23	・Enough INT to have access to Sorcery options as well as alternative INT weapons.
FAI	25	・Enough Faith to use buffing incantations such as Golden Vow.
ARC	60	・ARC is the main point of the build as it directly improves Impenetrable Thorns' damage. Get as much of this as you can to further improve your damage.

Recommended Starting Class: Prophet

VGR	MND	END	STR	DEX	INT	FAI	ARC
10	14	8	11	10	7	16	10

For this Impenetrable Thorns build, we recommend to start with the Prophet class as that offers the highest starting Faith and Arcane, both of which are extremely helpful for this build.

Starting classes have a fixed stat distribution set. While useful for deciding on making a build early, they will have little influence later on when maximizing builds to their soft and hard caps in the late game and New Game Plus.

Prophet Class Guide

Respec Stats at Rennala in Raya Lucaria

Your character's accumulated stat points can be reset by offering a Larval Tear to Rennala for rebirth at the Academy of Raya Lucaria in Liurnia of the Lakes.

Offering Larval Tears are non-refundable. Once your character stats have been reset to your class's base stats, you will have to reassign your attribute points.

How to Respec Stats

Impenetrable Thorns Build Equipment

Weapons

Weapon	Explanation
Maternal Staff	Best Staff ・DLC Staff that scales with Intelligence and Arcane extremely well into late game, improving your Hemmorhage damage significantly.
Albinauric Staff	Best Alternative ・Arcane-scaling Staff that is easier to acquire than Maternal Staff. ・Is your go-to until you acquire the Best-in-Slot weapon
Staff of the Guilty	Best Offhand ・Arcane-scaling Staff that is easier to acquire than Maternal Staff. ・Is your go-to until you acquire the Best-in-Slot weapon
Rivers of Blood	Best Melee Weapon ・Provides you with a reliable melee option that can deal with fodder without using mana ・Has good bleed procs that can close out a boss fight if you run out of mana
Dragon Communion Seal	・Scales with Faith and Arcane, which are our main stats for this build
Golden Order Seal	・Has excellent incantation scaling and is one of the best seals for Faith-Int builds

Best Weapon Tier List

Spells

Spells	Explanation
Impenetrable Thorns	・The main damaging spell of this build. Becomes more potent the more Arcane you have and the higher level your Staff is.
Golden Vow	・Used to buff yourself with increased attack and defenses.

List of All Magic Spells

Armor

Armor of Choice
White Mask	Alberich's Robe
Alberich's Bracers	Alberich's Trousers

With Impenetrable Thorns, it is advised to run Alberich's Armor Set along with the White Mask as these two will buff Thorn Sorceries, and Bleed Damage respectively.

Do note that Alberich's Trousers is not mandatory to the build as it does not provide any bonuses to Thorns sorcery and can be replaced with a different leg piece.

Best Armor and All Armor Sets

Talismans

Best Talismans

Talisman	Effect
Lord of Blood's Exultation	・ Blood loss in vicinity increases attack power. Explanation: Must-have in any bleed build, with the attack power buff easily triggered.
Beloved Stardust	・ Shortens casting speed for sorcery and incantations by the utmost, but increases damage taken. Explanation: Boost and strengthens one-shot capabilities, making its downside negligible.
Cerulean Amber Medallion +3	・ Boosts maximum FP by the utmost. Explanation: Allows the user to spam Impenetrable Thorns more, and in some cases lets them invest less into Mind and more into Arcane.
Cerulean Seed Talisman	・ Boosts FP restoration from Flask of Cerulean Tears. Explanation: Allows for more Spell Casts.

Best Talismans

Optional Talismans

Talisman	Effect
Blessed Blue Dew Talisman	・ Slowly restores FP Explanation: Quality-of-Life option ensuring that players do not have to keep replenishing their mana manually.
Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman	・ Enormously boosts physical damage negation. Explanation: Defensive option against hard-hitting bosses that cannot be one-shot by Impenetrable Thorns.
Crimson Amber Medallion +3	・ Boosts maximum HP by the utmost. Explanation: Another defense option that lets players take more hits of any kind, allowing for more risky attacks.
Graven-Mass Talisman	・ Raises potency of sorceries Explanation: Slight but welcome damage increase to Impenetrable Thorns' raw damage.

List of All Talismans

Elden Ring Related Guides

Elden Ring Best Builds (2024)

List of All Builds

Build Guides
Best DLC Builds	Build Guide for Beginners
Rellana's Twin Blades Build	Rolling Sparks Lightning Perfume Bottle Build
Best Strength Build Guide	Strength Faith Build
Impenetrable Thorns Build	Bloodfiend's Arm Build
Fire Knight's Greatsword Build	Wing Stance Milady Build
Backhand Blade Build	Black Steel Greathammer Build
Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword Build	Obsidian Lamina Build
Greatsword of Radahn Build	-