Elden Ring: 17 Craftable Items That Replace Magic for Melee Builds
In Elden Ring, melee builds don’t always have to rely on sorceries or incantations to gain an edge. FromSoftware’s deep crafting system provides plenty of alternatives that let you enjoy the power and utility of magic—without ever needing to touch Intelligence or Faith. Whether you're a pure Strength bruiser or a Dexterity-based assassin, these craftable items offer everything from ranged attacks to buffs and debuffs, making them perfect tools for players who want utility without casting spells.
Here are 17 craftable items that serve as excellent replacements for magic in melee-centric builds.
1. Freezing Grease
Frostbite is a strong status effect that not only slows stamina recovery but also deals a burst of damage when it triggers. Freezing Grease adds this to your weapon without needing any cold sorcery. Great for large health pool bosses.
2. Blood Grease
Apply instant Bleed potential to weapons that don’t natively build up Hemorrhage. With how powerful Bleed is, especially in PvP, this is a solid addition for melee users looking to avoid Arcane investment.
3. Drawstring Fire Grease
For fast weapons like daggers or katanas, the drawstring version of Fire Grease adds temporary flame damage with no spell requirement. It’s excellent for burst windows during boss fights.
4. Sleepbone Arrows
Sleep is an underrated status effect, but it works surprisingly well on humanoid enemies. These arrows are a fantastic alternative to sleep incantations, giving you a stealthy way to disable foes before a melee finisher.
5. Rotbone Darts
Scarlet Rot can melt through tanky enemies, and these darts let you apply it from a distance. Perfect for enemies that are too dangerous to approach until they’re weakened.
6. Holy Water Pot
Undead enemies are often resistant to physical damage but weak to holy. This throwable pot gives melee builds a tool to clear skeletons without needing holy sorceries or weapons.
7. Roped Fetid Pot
If you like to play aggressively, this item inflicts Poison on everything nearby—including yourself. Pair it with high immunity gear to turn poison into an AoE debuff tool during tight battles.
8. Cursed-Blood Pot
Explodes with blood and applies Hemorrhage in a wide radius. It’s a fantastic opener for Bleed builds or for disrupting enemy groups in both PvE and PvP.
9. Soft Cotton
Reduces fall damage and noise, which is useful for melee-focused invaders or dungeon explorers. It lets you approach silently, mimicking stealth spells like Unseen Form.
10. Beastlure Pot
Distracts beasts, pulling aggro away from you. While not direct damage, it replaces enemy-manipulation spells and makes clearing out mobs much safer for melee players.
11. Neutralizing Boluses
These cure Poison and save you from spending points in Faith to cast Cure Poison. A must-have for navigating Caelid or any poison-infested areas.
12. Preserving Boluses
Scarlet Rot is devastating, but these boluses cleanse it instantly. Instead of using rot-resistant incantations, just craft these and stay mobile.
13. Thawfrost Boluses
Freezes and Frostbite can be deadly. This item keeps you in the fight by quickly removing frost status, an excellent alternative to magic cures.
14. Uplifting Aromatic
Boosts damage absorption before battle. Think of it as a temporary defensive spell—except it requires no stats, just crafting materials. Use before boss fights for added survivability.
15. Ironjar Aromatic
Turns your body into steel, dramatically boosting poise and defense. It mimics Flame, Grant Me Strength and Barrier of Gold in function without needing any Faith investment.
16. Academy Magic Pot
Deals magic damage in a wide area, useful against enemies weak to Intelligence-based attacks. If you're a melee character struggling in magic-resistant areas, this gives you some of that elemental reach without respec’ing.
17. Giantsflame Fire Pot
A large fire explosion that scales with your strength and not your stats. Use this to break poise or stagger enemies from a distance. Great for dealing with clustered mobs or initiating from a safe range.
Crafting in Elden Ring is often underutilized by players who assume it’s limited to niche items, but these tools can change how a melee build approaches nearly every fight. From status application and healing to ranged damage and stealth, there’s a crafted item for nearly every situation.
If you're looking to experiment with more tools quickly or want to gear up efficiently, many players opt to buy Elden Ring Runes or look for cheap Elden Ring Items to reduce early-game grind. Still, with some exploration and resource gathering, these craftables are fully accessible in a standard playthrough.