Weaponmajor

Prince of Death's Staff

Prince of Death's Staff is an Intelligence/Faith catalyst found in Deeproot Depths. It boosts death sorceries and can achieve exceptional scaling at very high investment in both casting attributes.

Importance

major

Elden Ring · weapon

Key Takeaways

Prince of Death's Staff is a specialized Elden Ring catalyst for Intelligence/Faith characters who rely on Death sorceries rather than a general-purpose staff.

Death-sorcery specialization

Its defining effect is a 10% boost to Death sorceries. That bonus applies to the relevant spell family, so the staff’s value depends on how often the build casts those spells rather than on catalyst scaling alone.

Intelligence and Faith requirement

The staff requires both Intelligence and Faith, making it a poor fit for a pure-Intelligence or pure-Faith setup unless the character is willing to meet both requirements.

Deeproot Depths acquisition

It is found in Deeproot Depths, in a tower reached through the area’s root-covered upper terrain. It is an exploration pickup rather than a standard shop purchase.

Best use case

The staff is most attractive for builds centered on Death sorceries such as Ancient Death Rancor or Explosive Ghostflame, where its school-specific bonus can matter throughout spell selection and combat planning.

A specialized trade-off

Its narrow bonus limits its appeal when a loadout mainly uses other sorcery families. A more general staff may be the better comparison for mixed spellbooks, even when this catalyst is stronger for Death sorceries.

Somber reinforcement

Prince of Death's Staff follows the unique Somber reinforcement path and can be upgraded to +10 with Somber Smithing Stones. Its upgrade state should be kept separate from the base catalyst’s requirements and Death-sorcery bonus.

Overview

Prince of Death's Staff is a unique Glintstone Staff in Elden Ring, designed for characters who cast Death sorceries while investing in both Intelligence and Faith. Its defining feature is a built-in bonus to that sorcery family, giving it a specialized role that general-purpose staffs do not share. It is a base-game weapon found in Deeproot Depths and uses the Somber Smithing Stone upgrade path.

Unlike a conventional staff chosen mainly for its overall sorcery scaling, Prince of Death's Staff is built around Death sorceries. Its specialization matters most when a spellcaster regularly uses spells such as Ancient Death Rancor, Explosive Ghostflame, or other spells in that family; the staff's value comes from improving that focused toolkit rather than from being a universal answer for every sorcery.

The staff is particularly relevant to Intelligence/Faith characters. That attribute combination supports its scaling profile and also aligns with the broader identity of Death sorceries, which are not the same progression path as a pure-Intelligence Glintstone staff. A character committed only to Intelligence may find a general-purpose alternative more appropriate, while a hybrid caster can use Prince of Death's Staff to make its chosen spell family the center of the build.

Prince of Death's Staff occupies a specialized mid-to-late progression role because it is located in Deeproot Depths, an area reached after substantial exploration or progression through Elden Ring's underground and optional content. Its location gives it a different practical profile from readily available early staffs, and its Somber upgrade path makes it a distinct unique weapon rather than an interchangeable catalyst that can be freely reshaped through standard affinity choices.

The weapon is part of the base game and is not a Shadow of the Erdtree variant. It should be compared with staffs according to the spells and attribute spread being used, not by treating its physical attack as its primary purpose. In practice, Prince of Death's Staff is most meaningful for a Death-sorcery specialist or hybrid caster who accepts narrower general coverage in exchange for a catalyst tailored to that school; it is less compelling as a default staff for an unfocused sorcery loadout.

Statistics

Elden Ring publishes no 0–100 stat bars, so this page lists the verified requirements, scaling and handling figures instead. Taken from the project's verified weapons database, not from generated text.

Category
Glintstone Staves
Primary Scaling
Int C / Arc D
Weight
3.5
Skill
No Skill
Str Req
8
Int Req
22
Arc Req
15
How to Obtain
Loot, Consecrated Snowfield

Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.

Compared to similar glintstone staves

Weapon	Str Req	Dex Req	Weight	Primary Scaling
Prince of Death's Staff	8	—	3.5	Int C / Arc D
Meteorite Staff	9	—	3.5	Int C
Albinauric Staff	8	—	3.5	Int C
Staff of the Guilty	8	—	3.5	Int C
Watchdog's Staff	8	11	3.5	Int C

Requirements, scaling grades and weight are the game’s own published figures. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.

How to Obtain

Before you start

Access to Deeproot Depths; the standard route requires defeating Valiant Gargoyles and using the coffin in the Siofra Aqueduct.
The pickup is available in the base game and does not require a vendor purchase, currency, a quest reward, or a DLC area.

01Reach Deeproot Depths, either by using the coffin after defeating Valiant Gargoyles in the Siofra Aqueduct or through another route that grants access to the area. The staff is not sold by a vendor and is not obtained from an enemy or boss drop.
02From The Nameless Eternal City Site of Grace in Deeproot Depths, travel toward the elevated ruins in the northeastern part of the area. Use the large roots and nearby rooftops to cross the gap and reach the isolated stone tower; the route requires careful jumps rather than a quest interaction.
03Search the corpse inside the tower for Prince of Death's Staff. The corpse pickup is guaranteed, and the staff is obtained as a single world pickup rather than through a random drop. It is not tied to an NPC quest, is not missable once Deeproot Depths is accessible, and has no separate Shadow of the Erdtree, DLC, or NG+ requirement.

Availability

Elden Ring base game — standard PvE playthroughAvailable as a fixed world pickup; not DLC-gated or sold by a vendor

Requires Access to Deeproot Depths to reach the pickup location; 18 Intelligence and 18 Faith are required to wield the staff

No purchase price. Availability does not depend on difficulty, vendor rotation, or an NG+ requirement.

Mechanics and Handling

Prince of Death's Staff is a casting catalyst rather than a weapon whose ordinary attacks define its use. Its handling is governed by the sorcery selected: the staff supplies the casting medium, while the spell determines projectile pattern, area coverage, travel behaviour, and FP cost. Switching to it does not create a separate ammunition, magazine, or reload cycle, and the staff itself does not consume FP merely for being equipped.

Its defining mechanical feature is a passive bonus to Death sorceries. The effect is active when the staff is equipped, so the staff is most valuable when the spell selection is built around that family rather than around general-purpose sorceries. The bonus is a catalyst effect, not a temporary weapon buff; it does not alter the basic behaviour of unrelated spells and does not turn the staff's physical attack into a meaningful alternative damage source.

Death sorcery specialization

The staff is suited to spells such as Ancient Death Rancor, Explosive Ghostflame, Fia's Mist, Rancorcall, and Tibia's Summons. Its specialization matters most when these spells occupy a substantial part of the casting loadout. A build that only uses one Death sorcery may prefer a catalyst with stronger general sorcery scaling or a different school bonus, depending on its attributes and upgrade state.

The passive does not replace the normal requirements of the spells. Intelligence and Faith remain relevant to the Death sorcery setup, and the staff's effectiveness depends on the character's attributes, reinforcement level, and the individual spell being cast. Those variables should be evaluated separately from the staff's school-specific effect; the passive alone is not a universal increase to every sorcery.

Casting behaviour and resource use

Prince of Death's Staff has no distinctive weapon skill that needs to be activated in combat. It uses the ordinary staff casting pattern, so there is no weapon-specific projectile, alternate firing mode, charge mechanic, recoil pattern, or special attack to learn. Cast timing, recovery, tracking, and area coverage come from the selected sorcery and from the normal casting system rather than from a separate moveset belonging to the catalyst.

FP expenditure is attached to the spell, not to the staff's passive. Changing to this catalyst therefore does not create a second resource loop, but choosing expensive Death sorceries still requires the usual FP management. The staff's role is to improve the relevant spell family while equipped, not to refund FP, increase spell capacity, or provide a free cast.

Off-hand use and catalyst pairing

The passive makes off-hand use an important consideration. A character can cast with another staff while keeping Prince of Death's Staff equipped to retain its school-related effect, provided the relevant game mechanics and loadout leave both catalysts equipped. In that arrangement, the casting staff determines the spell-scaling result used for the cast, while Prince of Death's Staff serves its passive role. This can be useful when a general-purpose or differently specialized catalyst has better scaling for the same character.

That pairing should not be treated as an automatic upgrade. It occupies another equipment slot and may require a different attribute spread, while the benefit is concentrated in Death sorceries. For a loadout built around unrelated schools, the extra staff may provide little practical value compared with a catalyst chosen for the spells actually being cast.

Physical handling and defensive use

The staff can perform the ordinary close-range actions available to a catalyst, but those attacks are not the reason to equip it. It is not a substitute for a dedicated melee weapon, shield, or parry tool. When enemies close the distance, its practical handling is to create space, change to a suitable spell, or rely on a separate weapon rather than commit to repeated staff strikes.

Prince of Death's Staff also has no firearm-style reload, no ammunition management, and no weapon-specific status buildup that must be maintained through repeated hits. Its meaningful conditional effect is the Death-sorcery bonus; all other combat conditions come from the chosen spell, the character's build, and the current reinforcement state.

Upgrades and Variants

Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses

Strengths

Its passive increases the damage of Death sorceries, giving it a direct advantage when the spell loadout is built around that school rather than general-purpose sorceries.
It scales with both Intelligence and Faith, so it can support a dedicated Prince of Death's Staff caster whose attributes already serve Death sorceries and related hybrid requirements.
The passive remains useful when the staff is carried in the off hand, allowing a different catalyst to handle general casting while this staff supplies its Death-sorcery bonus.
It is a Somber-upgrade catalyst, so its progression is separate from standard Smithing Stone staff upgrades and can be developed alongside another staff using the regular upgrade path.

Weaknesses

The Intelligence-and-Faith requirement creates a split-stat investment. A character focused mainly on Intelligence may obtain better general sorcery performance from a more conventional staff for much of progression.
Its specialization has limited value when the build rarely casts Death sorceries; the passive does not improve unrelated sorcery families.
Death sorceries are not a complete answer to every encounter. A Death-sorcery-focused loadout can need other spells or a second catalyst when an enemy resists its damage profile or when a different spell role is required.
Because it is specialized rather than universally optimal, comparing it only by its late-build scaling can mislead characters that have not yet invested substantially in both Intelligence and Faith.

Best uses

Use it as the primary catalyst for an Intelligence/Faith build whose regular rotation includes Death sorceries and whose attributes are already aligned with that school.
Carry it in the off hand when another staff is preferred for general sorceries but the build still wants the Death-sorcery bonus.
Choose it for a themed death-magic setup, especially when the opportunity cost of split-stat investment is acceptable and the character is prepared to switch spells or catalysts for resistant targets.

Compared With Similar Weapons

Compared With Similar Weapons
	Catalyst	Best fit	Specialization or distinction	When it is preferable
Prince of Death's Staff	Intelligence/Faith build using Death sorceries	Specialized catalyst that improves Death sorceries and benefits from both Intelligence and Faith investment	Choose it when Death sorceries are a central part of the build and the character can support its dual-stat requirements	—
Gelmir Glintstone Staff	Intelligence/Faith build using magma sorceries	Specialized catalyst associated with magma sorceries rather than Death sorceries	Prefer it for a magma-sorcery setup; it is the closer thematic alternative for a dual-stat hybrid using a different spell family	—
Carian Regal Scepter	High-Intelligence general sorcery build	General-purpose staff with strong sorcery scaling and a full-moon-sorcery association, without the Prince of Death's Staff's Death-sorcery focus	Prefer it when broad sorcery performance or full-moon sorceries matters more than a dual-stat Death-sorcery specialization	—
Staff of Loss	Intelligence build centered on Night sorceries	Specialized Night-sorcery catalyst with a different spell-family bonus and a more Intelligence-focused role	Prefer it for Night sorceries; it is not a substitute for the Prince of Death's Staff's Faith-supported Death-sorcery specialization	—

Lore and Design

The Prince of Death’s Staff is framed as a remnant of the Prince of Death’s corrupted tree rather than as an ordinary academy-made instrument. Its item text describes the catalyst as a branch sustained by absorbing deathroot, tying its material origin directly to the spread of deathroot and the unnatural condition of those who live in death. The description also presents the Prince of Death as a legendary figure associated with the roots of the Greattree.

Within Elden Ring’s wider story, the title Prince of Death refers to Godwyn the Golden after his transformation into the source of Those Who Live in Death. That relationship gives the staff a direct connection to Godwyn’s death and to the deathroot found across the Lands Between, rather than making its association with death sorceries merely thematic. The staff’s wording is concise, but it places the weapon within the same chain of events involving Godwyn, deathroot, and the Prince of Death’s spreading influence.

The staff’s visual form—a dark, gnarled branch—supports the item text’s description of a corrupted tree growth, but that visual correspondence should not be treated as evidence of a documented real-world model or developer inspiration. No official design commentary is established here beyond the in-game description, so claims about cultural sources, intended symbolism, or development history remain unsupported.

Trivia

The title “Prince of Death” refers to Godwyn after his death and transformation into the source of Deathroot. The staff’s name therefore identifies it with Godwyn’s posthumous state rather than with a separate historical sorcerer.
Its item description presents the catalyst as being fashioned from a bough of the Prince of Death. That imagery links the staff’s material origin directly to the spreading Deathroot and to the visual language used for Godwyn’s remains.