Elden Ring has no shortage of sorceries that can annihilate enemies with a flick of the wrist. However, equally important as offensive spells are defensive sorceries that help players stay alive when facing off against the game’s many twisted and unsettling monstrosities. One great example of such a sorcery is Thops’s Barrier.
Thops’s Barrier allows players to create forcefields capable of deflecting hostile spells. The sorcery looks and functions similarly to the Ashes of War skill bearing the same name. But since this is a spell, players can use it even without having a shield equipped, which isn’t the case with the skill.
Where To Find Thops’s Barrier
As you may have already guessed by its name, there’s a connection between Thops’s Barrier and Thops, the NPC found at the Church of Irith in Liurnia of the Lakes. Thops is a mage but not a particularly good one and wants to go to the Raya Lucaria Academy in order to hone his skills. Anyone who wants to enter the academy needs a Glintstone Key but, wouldn’t you know it, Thops doesn’t have one and needs the player’s help to gain entry.
There are two Glintstone Keys in Elden Ring, one of which can be found inside the academy itself. Meanwhile, the key needed to unlock Raya Lucaria Academy in the first place is located on a small island to the west of the academy and is guarded by Glintstone Dragon Smarag. It’s possible to sneak around the boss and loot the key before the dragon even knew what happened if you’re not in a fighting mood. Regardless of whether you want to fight Smarag or not, grab the key and make your way to the academy.
The second key can be found on a corpse hanging from the Ceiling in the Church of the Cuckoo. To get to it, you’ll need to start at the Debate Hall and make your way to the rooftops from there. Once you have the second Glintstone Key bring it to Thops and he will reward you with the Erudition gesture. The gesture is needed to solve the Coverted Fringe Tower puzzle, which unlocks access to the Cannon of Haima.
Thops will eventually make his way to the academy where he will end up dying. The NPC won’t start moving while you’re in the area so it’s best to fast-travel somewhere else or reload the game before returning to the academy. It’s unclear what happened to Thops at Raya Lucaria, but his corpse can be found in the southeastern corner of the Schoolhouse Classroom building. Loot the corpse to find Thops’s Barrier along with a couple of other items.
How To Use Thops’s Barrier
Thops’s Barrier requires 18 Intelligence to memorize and 11 FP to cast. This is a remarkably powerful sorcery in many situations as it can deflect most energy-based attacks. However, it only seems to work against projectile spells, so don’t expect Thops’s Barrier to protect you from every form of magic found in Elden Ring. Despite that, Thops’s Barrier is still one of the better defensive sorceries in the game.
Thops’s Barrier has a fairly slow initial cast time, but you can charge it to continuously recast the spell every second or so afterward. Ideally, you’ll want to start charging the forcefield from behind cover instead of waiting until you’re already being bombarded by spells. The sorcery can be cast while moving, thus allowing you to deflect projectiles while advancing toward enemies. However, it will significantly slow down your movement speed in the process.