Elden Ring guide: Best Swarm of Flies build and how to get the Incantation

Elden Ring is full of powerful weapons and spells, and some of them might be not what you expect. For instance, who would have guessed that a group of bloodthirsty flies would be one of the most powerful things in the game? But as it turns out, after Elden Ring’s first big patch, Swarm of Flies is an amazing Incantation that will help you tear through the game’s hardest bosses.

If you’d like to center your next magical Bleed build around the Swarm of Flies spell, here’s how to get it, what weapons to pair it with, and what stats you need to become the deadliest insect master in the Lands Between.

Where to find Swarm of Flies

Image: FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via Polygon

The Incantation is located in the Mohgwyn Palace region on a corpse. The corpse is on the eastern wall of the Palace’s blood marsh area, just north of the Palace Approach Ledge-Road site of grace.

Best Seal for a Swarm of Flies build

Swarm of Flies is technically a Blood Incantation, and no Seals currently in Elden Ring boost the damage of this particular school of magic. Because of this, your best bet is to get the Dragon Communion Seal, which you can find by progressing through the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave near the Stranded Graveyard site of grace at the beginning of the game. From the grace, you’ll need to use two Stonesword keys, and then navigate the bladed chariots. When you get to the top of the area, you’ll find an enemy who you can kill to get this Seal.

Best weapons to use with Swarm of Flies

Swarm of Flies is extremely effective at building up Blood Loss, so you want weapons that are good at that as well. You’ll also want a weapon that scales well off of either Arcane or Faith since those are the stats that Swarm of Flies scales best with. But because Bleed weapons are often Arcane based, that’s what we’re going to focus on.

The Rivers of Blood Katana is the best companion weapon, but you’ll have to get pretty far into Elden Ring before you can get it. Rivers of Blood comes from defeating Bloody Finger Okina, who will attack you at the Church of Repose in the Mountaintops of the Giants. Another option is Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear, which you can ear by trading in the Remembrance of the Blood Lord to Enia at the Roundtable Hold, but you’ll have to kill Mohg, Lord of Blood to get that, so it’s fairly late in the game as well.

The best Talismans for Swarm of Flies build

The only Talisman that’s directly related to this build is Lord of Blood’s Exultation, which increases your attack power when blood loss occurs nearby. This Talisman is a reward for killing Esgar, Priest of Blood inside the Leyndell Catacombs.

Stats for a Swarm of Flies build

This build will focus on Arcane, but you need a fair bit of other stats as well to make things work. For one thing, you’ll need extra Strength or Dexterity, depending on which weapon you’re using, but you’ll also need the stats to be able to wield the weapons to begin with. After you’ve met those requirements, your main focus should be on Arcane — at least as far as damage is concerned.

Here are the stats you’ll need to use each of this build’s weapons, Seals, and Incantations:

• Swarm of Flies — 11 Faith, 16 Arcane
• Dragon Communion Seal — 10 Faith, 10 Arcane
• Rivers of Blood — 12 Strength, 18 Dexterity, 20 Arcane
• Mohgwyn’s Sacred Spear — 24 Strength, 14 Dexterity, 27 Arcane