Are you drawn to theThree Fingers' maddening flames? Do you long to be clasped in their burning grip? If so,Elden Ring’s Frenzied Flame Incantations are perfect for you. These spells cause Madness buildup in both your opponents and yourself.
That makes them great in PvP but less effective in PvE, where most enemies are immune to the status effect. Fortunately, these Incantations also dealFire damage, one of the most buffable damage types in the game. Let’s look at each of them and decide when you should embrace the Madness and when you should stick to saner paths.
The damage of these Incantations (not including Inescapable Frenzy and Howl of Shabriri) is increased by having theFrenzied Flame Sealequipped.
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Effect
Grab an enemy, causing Fire damage and Madness
Since they cause Madness buildup, most of the Frenzied Flame Incantations are better against other players, but can still hurt non-player enemies with Fire. Inescapable Frenzy is an exception to this rule. Its grab only works on Tarnished characters, limiting its usefulness significantly.
And even when the Incantation is actually usable, the grab is really difficult to land. Even if you start the animation while standing right up next to someone, there’s a good chance they will have time to dodge away. Still, you will probably one-shot anyone you do manage to catch, so it might be worth picking up for that reason alone. It’s in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, partway down the rage-inducing platforming puzzle leading to the Three Fingers.
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Scream, causing multiple effects to afflict both you and nearby enemies
Howl of Shabriri, like the character for whom it is named, is pretty unusual, possessing multiple different effects. It causes high Madness buildup to both you and your enemies, deals a small amount of damage to everything around you, and also makes it so enemies are more likely to target you.
The Howl’s most important feature, though, is that it gives you a 25 percent increase to your damage at the cost of taking 30 percent more damage. It sees use in unique places, like no-hit runs and one-shot builds, where taking damage isn’t something you’re worried about. You can find it in a chest halfway up the Frenzy-Flaming Tower, the Sauron reference that inflicts you with Madness in Liurnia.
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Emit rays of Madness-causing fire from the eyes, more when charged
Each of The Flame of Frenzy’s beams can hit the same target individually, making it exceptional against big enemies. It’s slow and causes high Madness buildup in yourself, but it will hit like an absolute truck. There are quite a few other spells that are similarly effective in the same scenarios, like Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike or Pest Threads, but The Flame of Frenzy has a few advantages (other than causing Madness, which usually doesn’t matter for bosses).
First, it deals an extremely high amount of stance damage if you hit with all of the rays, more than any other spell. As a result, not only will whatever you hit take a massive amount of damage, but there’s a good chance you’ll stance-break them as well. Additionally, unlike many of the alternatives, you can get this Incantation right at the start of the game. It’s in Callu Baptismal Church, on the Weeping Peninsula. And if you start as the Prophet class, you’ll have enough Faith to cast it without even leveling up.
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Emit a laser blast of Madness-causing flame from the eyes
Frenzied Burst is the Lands Between’s version of a sniper rifle. It deals high damage, especially when charged, and has so much range it sometimes feels like you could hit Malenia while standing in Limgrave.
That makes it great for picking off enemies before they can react to your presence, and while it’s relatively easy to dodge in PvP, anyone who does get caught by it will definitely feel the burn. You can get your hands (or eyes, I guess) on this exceptional Incantation by killing a Teardrop Scarab south of the Church of Inhibition, near where you get invaded by Vyke.
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22 (6 while channeled)
Emit rays of Madness-causing fire from the eyes, can be channeled for additional rays
Undendurable Frenzy is similar to its little brother in that both cause you to shoot fire out of your eyes, but it’s different in a few key ways. It doesn’t have the same stance-breaking potential, but you’re able to channel it so long as you have the FP (and don’t succumb to the Madness it inflicts on you).
In PvE, that can turn it into the Incantation version of Comet Azur, melting bosses in a constant stream of damage. And against enemies vulnerable to Madness, you may stun them and obliterate their health bars at the same time. Unfortunately, if you want to engage in those sorts of fun shenanigans, you will need to progress pretty far into the game, all the way to the Mountaintops of the Giants; Unendurable Frenzy is in a chest under the Yelough Anix Ruins.
