Fire Monks, Canon Law, and War Prelates: Fact-Checking the Lore Behind Elden Ring's Heaviest Charge
By Alexander Ross
Prelate's Charge can be applied to Large Axes, Greathammers, and Colossal Weapons. By default, it grants the Flame Art affinity, shifting your weapon's physical scaling to favor Faith while introducing split fire damage. Players running pure Strength builds can easily swap this to Heavy or Fire affinities using an Iron or Red-Hot Whetblade.
The skill operates in three distinct phases:
The initial slam costs 9 FP. Your character drives the weapon head directly into the ground, sparking an eruption of flames that damages anything in point-blank range.
Holding down the skill input transitions immediately into the continuous charge. This movement burns roughly 2 FP per tick (or 11 stamina per second), shoving the weapon forward along the dirt and leaving a scorching carpet of flame behind your footsteps. The weapon continuously hits any target caught in its path, repeatedly staggering light and medium enemies.
Releasing the button or running out of FP triggers an explosive sweeping uppercut costing 12 FP, launching lighter targets into the air.
The hyper armor on this skill is exceptional. Once the initial windup passes the midpoint, high poise damage resistance activates. Even colossal strikes from Crucible Knights struggle to interrupt the sprint, making it an extraordinary tool for trading blows against elite targets.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
