The enemies in Elden Ring can use various means to inflict damage on your HP. Sometimes, these attacks may be physical, which you can dodge or counter in many ways. Other times, the attacks can damage you mentally, like the Scarlet Rot, sleep, and Madness, and there is no escape from them. However, the extent of freedom offered by FromSoftware.inc in the game has also opened new areas of exploration for the players. For example, the Madness debuff was originally intended to make things difficult for players.
Still, some Tarnished used it in PvP mode on other players. After Patch 1.03, people started to think that the days of Madness were long gone. This article explains everything about the Madness build in Elden Ring and how you can benefit from it in 2022.
Table of Contents
What is Madness in Elden Ring?
Madness is a psychological debuff in Elden Ring. It is based on the same principle as other debuffs, i.e., it damages your HP and FP as the meter fills up. Once the Madness meter is completely filled, a large chunk of your HP is drained. Another result of Madness is that it triggers a special animation in which the affected player is unable to cast spells and attack you. The stunning animation lasts for a few seconds in which the attacker can strike quickly to down the Tarnished.
Unfortunately, there are only a few armaments and spells that can cast Madness on others. The good news is that you can use these items on other players in Elden Ring Online Multiplayer mode. Initially, the Madness meter will drain their HP and FP, but they will become stunned when the meter is filled. Moreover, you can use special seals and incantations to quickly fill up the meter to get the upper hand on all your foes.
The Best Madness Build
The Madness build in Elden Ring is usually not as effective against in-game enemies as it is against other players in PvP situations. Moreover, the Madness meter takes a while to fill up. Fortunately, players have found a combination of skills and items to quickly fill the Madness meter to the brim. You can choose the perfect items from this list that match up with your playing style and character class:
Stats
There are two types of Madness builds that you can achieve in Elden Ring. Firstly, the Frenzy Spam build focuses on Faith, Vigor, Mind, and Endurance. You must focus on Faith and Vigor and upgrade them to the soft cap that suits you. These attributes ensure that you have high HP and FP in your reserve. This step is crucial as you must cast multiple spells and survive the opponent’s attacks until the Madness meter fills up.
Similarly, you must distribute the other character Rune points in Mind and Endurance. The Mind stat will increase the lasting time of all spells and save you from Madness and Sleep if the opponent wishes to counter your strategy. Similarly, the Endurance trait enhances your armor, protects you from critical strikes, and provides more stamina to launch heavy attacks. The heavy attacks will come in handy to finish after the opponent is stunned.
The second is the Tank Madness build in Elden Ring that molds you into a fighting machine. This build is purely brute force in nature. So, the character level stats are based on Endurance, Vigor, Dexterity, and Strength. Firstly, you must fully focus on upgrading the Endurance and Vigor stats. These stats ensure that you have enough resistance against all your opponent’s attacks.
Once these stats hit the soft caps, you can then divert your focus to the finishing moves. For this purpose, you must invest enough Rune points in Strength to wield powerful weapons and armaments. Similarly, the Dexterity stats will allow you to wear heavy armor, use powerful spells, and improve your attacks.
Gear
In terms of weapon choice, you don’t have many options. In other words, only limited armaments cause the Madness buildup in the enemies. So, you should acquire all of them to complete the build and succeed in your strategy.
Vyke’s War Spear
Vyke’s War Spear is the only Great Spear in Elden Ring that causes Madness buildup. So, it is the first item on every build list, as it will be your only weapon in the battle. This spear was wielded by Vyke, Knight of the Roundtable Hold that deals devastating physical damage. This weapon generally scales with Faith, Dexterity, and Strength. So, you are in luck if you choose the Frenzy Spam to build. You can acquire this weapon from Festering Fingerprint Vyke.
Fingerprint Stone Shield
The Fingerprint Stone Shield is yet another item that you must acquire for the best results. It is a Great Shield that solely scales with Strength. It is made from magical stone and covers your full body against all physical attacks. The good news is that it casts Madness on your enemy every time you block an attack.
Combine it with Vyke’s War Spear, and you inflict Madness while attacking and defending. So, it will be a win-win situation once you have enough points in Strength. You can acquire the Fingerprint Stone Shield from the Cathedral of the Forsaken after defeating Morgott, the Omen King.
Frenzied Flame Seal
The Frenzied Flame Seal doesn’t deal passive Madness damage to your enemies. However, it scales up the extent of all Frenzied Flame Incantations. These incantations are the only spells that cause Madness buildup in your enemies. So, all your Frenzy attacks will improve after you get this seal. Generally, the seal grants a +20% boost to all Frenzy Flame Incantations in Elden Ring. You can acquire the Frenzied Flame Seal by completing Hyetta’s questline.
Spells
The best way to inflict Madness on anyone is to use the power of magic. In this regard, all incantations from the Frenzy family are the VVIP guests of the show. For instance, The Flame of Frenzy summons multiple flames that fly toward your enemies, dealing physical damage and building up their Madness. Other notable incantations are the Frenzied Burst, Frenzyflame Thrust, Unendurable Frenzy, and the Inescapable Frenzy.
However, most lists often ignore an important member of the cast, i.e., Howl of Shabriri. It isn’t a powerful incantation in terms of physical damage. Even the basic Flame of Frenzy does more physical damage than this one. However, its real importance is in the Madness meter. When you cast the Howl of Shabriri, a magical circle forms around you. All enemies within the radius of the circle get some physical damage, and their Madness meter fills up very quickly. You can acquire the Howl of Shabriri from a chest on the second floor of the Frenzy-Flaming Tower.
How to survive Madness in Elden Ring?
The Madness spam build is more common than you may think. Almost 70% of the players are familiar with its wonders. So, it’s no surprise that a large percentage of Elden Ring Online players use it in PvP combats. In other words, there is a great chance that someone will use this strategy against you. Frankly speaking, there is no way to completely prevent the Madness buildup, especially in your first play-through.
The good news is that you can still survive the strategy by preparing for it from the start. Firstly, you must invest enough points in the Mind stat to build up the resistance. The Mind attribute grants you resistance against Sleep and Madness buildup.
It would be best to know that no armor grants protection against Madness. So, you can only rely on your natural resistance, dodging, and timely use of consumable items to survive a Madness attack. Firstly, you can use the Lucidity spell to mitigate the Madness buildup meter.
This spell doesn’t fully cure you, so you must use it a few times during the battle. Secondly, the Clarifying Boluses are the only consumables that mitigate the effects of Madness. In short, as soon as the Madness meter starts to grow, you must find some cover and use the mitigating items. Repeat this process till you finally defeat your opponent.
FAQs
What is the Madness buildup in Elden Ring?
Madness is a psychological debuff in Elden Ring. When you get buffed with Madness, you lose a portion of your HP and FP. The extent of losses continues to multiply as the Madness meter fills up. Once the meter is fully filled, a large chunk of your HP is drained, and you will become stunned for a few seconds. During this period, you can neither use spells nor attack your opponent.
Does the Madness spam build still exist?
There is a rumor that the Madness spam is nerfed in the recent Elden Ring patch. However, most of these rumors are fake, and you can still create a Madness spam build by collecting the right ingredients. The only problem is that numerous players know about this strategy. So, there is a great chance that you are the victim rather than the mastermind behind the Madness build in Elden Ring in PvP combat.
Does Madness affect other enemies?
Unfortunately, the Madness buildup strategy isn’t as fruitful in PvE battles as it is in PvP battles. Still, you can tag your enemies with Madness to drain their HP. However, you can still enjoy stunning them from time to time if you use the right gear.
Conclusion
Elden Ring is a massive open-world game that offers infinite opportunities to the players. Some of these opportunities you can discovered with the players rather than prescribed by the developers. The Madness build in Elden Ring is one such loophole that shook the PvP battle system.
The Madness is a psychological buff that drains the HP and FP of the victim till the meter fills up. Once the meter is completely filled, a lengthy stunning animation is triggered. The opponent is prone to all types of attacks without the ability to defend or retaliate. This article covers all the available information about the Madness build in Elden Ring.
