Madness is one of the many status effects that will afflict you in Elden Ring. If you’ve made your way to northeastern Liurnia of the Lakes and the Frenzied Village there, you’re already familiar with the potentially deadly ailment. But how do you cure Madness?
Technically speaking, you cure Madness buildup more than you cleanse the status effect after it has taken hold. That’s because once your status bar fills with Madness, you’re hit with a paralyzing blast and the bar depletes immediately. It is not like Scarlet Rot or Poison, where your status bar fills, then slowly depletes causing damage over time.
Depending on what’s inflicting Madness upon you, your status bar can begin to fill again — and quickly — after a damaging burst. For example, this happens in the influence of the orb that appears and disappears above the Frenzied Village. Other sources of Madness, such as attacks from frenzied foes, infused weapons, or spells and incantations, often fill your status bar in portions like other ailments.
As Madness builds up, it also causes DPS health damage for each tick forward along the status bar if the source is continuous (prolonged attack) or chunks if the source is abrupt (quick hits). When Madness finally takes hold, the ensuing paralyzation and blast remove a large portion of both your HP and FP.
This quick Elden Ring guide will tell you how to cure Madness, as well as where to find the Lucidity spell and the cookbook for Clarifying Boluses.
How to Cure Madness in Elden Ring
Focus governs your general susceptibility to Madness buildup. Focus can be increased by adding more skill points to the Mind attribute, but if you’re not using Magic or summoning high-FP Spirit Summons regularly, it’s difficult to justify spending points in that category.
Items such as the Shield of the Guilty and Clarifying Horn Charm boost Focus by +40 and +90 respectively, and they are worth wearing where Madness is prevalent. Otherwise, you’ll want Clarifying Boluses or the Lucidity Spell.
Craft & Use Clarifying Boluses to Cure Madness
You’ll likely be able to craft Clarifying Boluses to cure Madness before you find the Lucidity spell, so we’ll cover those first. Clarifying Boluses can be found in the Lands Between, but they are exceedingly rare. Over many hours of exploration, we’ve found none in the wild, though we know they exist in some mid- to late-game areas.
Instead, you’re better off crafting them to cure Madness; the required materials are much easier to find than the consumable itself. But to do so, you’ll need to find the Frenzied’s Cookbook [1].
Where to Find the Frenzied’s Cookbook [1] Location
The Frenzied’s Cookbook [1] can be found at the Frenzied Village in Liurnia of the Lakes. It’s on a corpse in a house near the front of the village.
The house itself is directly in front of you once you enter the village from the broken wall section (eastern side). It’s just before the building with the soldiers sitting in front of it. Just like for any other Cookbook in Elden Ring, look for the purple shiny.
Clarifying Boluses Crafting Recipe
Once you have Frenzied’s Cookbook, you’ll need the following to craft Clarifying Boluses to mitigate Madness buildup:
- x2 Dewkissed Herba
- x1 Crystal Cave Moss
- x1 Eye of Yelough
Where to Find the Lucidity Spell Location
You probably won’t be able to get the Lucidity Spell until well in Ranni’s questline. It’s well-worth using to cure Madness, but it’s dropped by Preceptor Miriam in the Carian Study Hall in eastern Liurnia of the Lakes. You visit the location during the witch’s quest after visiting Nokron, Eternal City.
It’s possible to face Preceptor Miriam beforehand — prior to inverting the tower with the Carian Inverted Statue — but it’s likely you’ll need to increase your character level or upgrade your weapons before being able to take them down. Their spells hit incredibly hard, and they’re defended by more than a few irritating mobs.
Lucidity “alleviates buildup of Sleep and Madness” and requires a staff to cast. It instantly removes any Madness buildup, no matter how small or large, for 14 FP. The cast is relatively short, but don’t let your status meter rise too high too quickly just to be safe. If you’re not sure how to use Magic in Elden Ring, check out our primer for that right here.
And that’s how you cure Madness in Elden Ring. You won’t come up against the status effect as much as you will some others, but it’s one of the deadliest outside of Scarlet Rot. Our guides hub has much more to help you through the Lands Between, such as how to complete Fia’s questline or tips for getting through Black Knife Catacombs, with more inbound.
