Making an Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Impenetrable Thorns build turns one of the DLC’s best new sorceries into a nearly unstoppable force. The spell’s base damage is nothing to write home about, but it’s one of the best and easiest ways to inflict bleed quickly. Most enemies in Shadow of the Erdtree, including bosses, are weak to bleed, so this is one build you’ll get plenty of use from in the Land of Shadow.
Our Elden Ring Impenetrable Thorns build breaks down what you need to make this sorcery-centric build work and why it’s worthwhile.
If you’re after more Elden Ring help, head over to our Shadow of the Erdtree guides hub, where you’ll find tips for completing Ansbach’s quest and explainers for how to duplicate Remembrances and deal with Furnace Golems
The first thing you need is the Impenetrable Thorns sorcery itself, so if you haven’t found it yet, make our Impenetrable Thorns location guide your next stop. The spell’s actual damage is less important than the blood loss effect it causes, so you’ll want to focus on accessories tied to bleed effects. Damage output might not be the most important part of this build, but there is one staff that helps bump your numbers up separately from bleed damage.
You have two choices for a good Impenetrable Thorns build. For pure damage, the Staff of the Guilty is your best option. It scales with Faith and eventually has S-tier Faith scaling, and it increases the power of all Thorn sorceries, though there’s not much reason to bring Briars of Punishment and Briars of Sin along. You might get this staff from Thorn Sorcerers in Fort Laiedd and Guardians’ Garrison, and it requires 8 Strength and 12 Faith to work.
The second choice is the Albinauric Staff. This one is in an upper room of Volcano Manor, guarded by an Omenkiller. It increases how quickly an enemy’s bloodloss meter fills, which means you cause the hemorrhage effect more frequently, though it won’t do much for the actual spell’s damage. Still, if you want to invest in a stat that isn’t Arcane, it’s a useful way to avoid losing out on that stat’s effect on bleed. The Albinauric Staff requires 6 Strength, 10 Intelligence, and 12 Arcane to use, and it eventually reaches S-tier Arcane scaling.
Good secondary weapon options include Faith-scaling weapons, such as the Blasphemous Sword or Devonia’s Hammer, if you have strength to spare, along with the Lightning Perfume Bottle – also a pick for our Elden Ring Lightning build. Arcane builds could use Romina’s polearm and Eleanora’s Poleblade as well.
Finally, you may want to include a Seal and some Incantations to make the most of your Faith stat.
Faith and Arcane are this build’s most important stats, the former for plain damage and the latter for how quickly bloodloss builds. Our stat recommendations focus on those two, but if you’re aiming for a more flexible build with weapons or spells aside from Impenetrable Thorns, feel free to adjust as you see fit.
High Vigor is important to survive Shadow of the Erdtree’s tough bosses and to offset your own HP loss from using Impenetrable Thorns.
The downside about running this build is that you’re giving up most Sorceries in favor of this one, unless you invest more points in Intelligence. Given how frequently Impenetrable Thorns triggers blood loss and how much damage the effect deals, that’s not a huge problem. However, bringing along spells such as Glintstone Icecrag helps you take advantage of additional weaknesses.
Other useful Incantations include Frozen Lightning Spear, Rings of Light, and Sira, though Frozen Lightning aside, you probably won’t get as much damage from them as you will from Impenetrable Thorns.
A few Talismans make this build much more potent, especially if you’re using melee weapons alongside Impenetrable Thorns.
You can run any armor set with this build, and medium or heavy armor might be a good idea if you find your defense isn’t cutting it. However, to make the most of your bleed effects, only one set will do: the War Surgeon Set. Well, one part of it anyway, the White Mask. It increases attack by 10 percent for 20 seconds when bleed happens nearby.
Elden Ring’s War Surgeon armor, including the mask, comes from the Nameless White Mask enemies in Mohgwyn Palace. These stop spawning after you defeat Mohg, though, so if you’ve already taken him down, you won’t be able to obtain it.
Having good magic is all fine and well, but don't forget to level up you and your summons by tracking down Revered Spirit Ash locations and Scadutree Fragment locations, too.
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The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired one of baseball's premier relievers to bolster their bullpen. In a trade with the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto is adding Seranthony Dominguez to its pitching staff, according to MLB.com's Keegan Matheson. While the move solidifies the Blue Jays' status as buyers, it's the timing of the transaction that stands out. The Orioles finished a 16-4 walloping of the Blue Jays just hours before the deal went down, and while it's not unheard of to see a player traded to a franchise his former team is visiting, the fact that the two teams will face off again Tuesday night at 6:35 PM EST makes this a truly unique swap. Dominguez may not suit up in his first official contest as a Blue Jay, but he will be switching clubhouses before the second half of the team's doubleheader. It won't take long for the veteran reliever to make an impact, either, as bullpen production has stood out for a Toronto team that has been dominating in most aspects of the game. In 43 appearances with the Orioles this season, Dominguez has posted a respectable 3.24 ERA over 41.2 innings. He hasn't quite returned to the impressive form he was in with the Phillies from 2018 to 2022, but the value is obvious for a team hoping to capture its third World Series in franchise history. The rebuilding Orioles acquired right-handed pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown, who was ranked as Toronto's 10th-best prospect in the latest MLB Pipeline team Top 30 Prospects list. The 23-year-old has gone 2-5 over 19 starts across High-A and Double-A this year, posting a combined 3.54 ERA while striking out 115 over 89 innings. As two teams heading in vastly different directions this season, it's a sensible move for both sides. Dominguez is an unrestricted free agent after this season, making him a rental for Toronto down the stretch. If Watts-Brown continues to show promise, though, the trade could ultimately be deemed a win for Baltimore.
There have been a couple of different theories floated about why the Las Vegas Raiders made the shocking decision to cut star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, but head coach Pete Carroll has no interest in sharing the real motive. The Raiders released Wilkins on Thursday, which was barely a year after they signed him to a four-year, $110M contract in free agency. Initial reports suggested Wilkins and the team were at odds over how the 29-year-old's foot injury was being handled, but the story has since taken a bizarre turn. ESPN's Adam Schefter said on Monday that there was an incident between Wilkins and a teammate in the locker room that Wilkins viewed as playful, but his teammate did not take it that way. Tashan Reed of The Athletic reported that the incident took place in a meeting room at the Raiders' facility last week and was investigated by the team's human resources department. On Tuesday, a reporter asked Carroll about the alleged incident. The 73-year-old coach refused to get into it. "I have no comment to make,” Carroll said, via The Athletic. “We made a decision on what we’re doing, and we’re moving with it. We’ll see how that all unveils itself in time.” The last part of Carroll's comment is interesting. Carroll may have been saying time will tell how the decision to cut Wilkins will turn out for the Raiders, or he may have been insinuating that more information will come out at some point. Raiders defensive tackle Adam Nelson was also asked about Wilkins on Tuesday. Nelson responded by encouraging people to seek therapy if they are struggling with something in their life. Wilkins had 17 total tackles and a pair of sacks in five games with the Raiders before he suffered his season-ending foot injury.
With a new NFL season comes another contract dispute between Jerry Jones and one of the Dallas Cowboys' star players. In 2019, it was running back Ezekiel Elliott. Then there was quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in 2024, and now it's defensive end Micah Parsons in 2025. Those first three all got their wish and received massive paydays without missing any game action, which has many believing that the same movie will play out with Parsons. However, in the moment, Parsons and the Cowboys don't seem to be aligned in their thinking, and that has only been magnified by ESPN insider Adam Schefter's latest update on the situation. "I would say right now we're nowhere on that deal. I would say right now we are further away from a deal in late July/early August than we were in late March/early April. The two sides have gone backwards, not forwards. I don't think they're speaking very much these days, if at all," Schefter said. "This sounds different to me. This sounds a little bit more personal from both sides. It sounds like Dallas is upset with the fact that it felt like it was getting closer to a deal, and then that deal went sideways. And I think Micah Parsons feels like this deal should've been done. I don't think Micah is real happy with them; I don't think they're real happy with him. I don't think anybody is real happy with anybody. And I don't think there's a deal that's being discussed right now, not to mention being close," Schefter added. Certainly not the update Cowboys fans were hoping to hear on Tuesday afternoon. As we know, Parsons is entering the final season of his rookie contract on a fifth-year player option, which Dallas exercised in April of 2024. The superstar pass rusher is set to earn just over $24 million in 2025-26. The 26-year-old has been participating in Cowboys training camp, though he has voiced his displeasure with the current state of contract negotiations both in interviews and on social media. Parsons is one of, if not the best, pass rushers in football, having racked up 12-plus sacks in all four seasons to begin his NFL career. His combination of strength, speed and pure athleticism is a nightmare for opposing offenses, and you can understand why he wants to be paid for it. There's no doubt that the recent deals signed by defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and outside linebacker T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers added fuel to the fire for Parsons. Garrett and Watt will both make over $40 million per season moving forward while already being 30 and 31 years old, respectively. Expectations should remain that Jerry Jones will eventually pony up and pay his franchise player, but reports like these definitely don't help anyone in this situation.
The New York Mets are setting their sights on adding an impact outfielder at the trade deadline. The club has been linked to several veterans to fill the need, including Minnesota's Harrison Bader, Chicago's Luis Robert Jr., and Baltimore's Cedric Mullins. According to Jon Heyman of the NY Post, the Mets are also interested in another Orioles outfielder: Ramón Laureano. Laureano is having a tremendous season at the plate, batting .285 with a career-best .874 OPS and 15 home runs. The righty slugger has been heating up lately, boasting a .661 slugging percentage with 14 RBIs in his last 15 games. On top of this, the 31-year-old is a plus defender who can play all over the outfield. While he splits time at left and right field for the O's, Laureano has logged over 300 games in center field in his seven-year professional career, making him a great fit for a New York team that needs an impact bat in center. Much like the Mets' other outfield targets, Laureano is on a one-year deal and figures to be a rental option. However, he is under club control for 2026 with a $6.5 million club option, which could make the price for the surging veteran higher than a player like Mullins, who will be a free agent at the end of the season. If the Orioles are looking to contend next season, it would make sense to hold onto Laureano for another campaign. Reports indicate that David Stearns is not interested in moving a young contributor like Mark Vientos for a rental player, so a deal like this would likely require some combination of the Mets' top prospects. Since New York is said to be protective of their top three pitching prospects, Jonah Tong, Nolan McLean, and Brandon Sproat, players like Ryan Clifford and Drew Gilbert could be on the block for a short-term difference-maker like Laureano.