Post your builds here, I'll link 'em up, and pretty soon we'll have a handy reference guide. Please include the stats in some kind of more-or-less "finished" state, the max level for the build if applicable, and any other information about gear/spells/strategies that you think is relevant.
Obsidian Greatsword Build - the finest min/maxing available anywhere. Stats and gear as of SL85. The build is centered around the Obsidian Greatsword, which is the tail drop from Kalameet. It's a fairly serious pain to get, but it's worth it; that is literally the only downside to playing this build. What you get in return is a weapon that, with very minimal stat investment, dishes out tons of physical-only damage, can be buffed, and has a sometimes very useful AOE. This is comparable in damage output to a high strength build, but it gives you the ability to push vitality and endurance very early as well. The 16 int gives a range of great utility spells along with Great Magic Weapon (adds ~200 damage in melee) and Dark Bead, which is a very strong ranged attack in a lot of situations. To level, start by making an elemental weapon (recommend fire) to carry you through to the DLC and raise endurance and vitality as much as you want as you go. Gargoyle's Halberd is a good choice because of its running overhead swing, which is helpful in getting Kalameet's tail. Get your stats the rest of the way in time to use the sword once you get it and have fun clobbering everything in the game after that.
Dedicated sorcery build. Nuke everything, get through the PvE game unbelievably easily, pretty much the only disadvantage of playing this kind of build is, as Lizard_King pointed out once, that you'll have less opportunity to enjoy Dark Souls's fantastic melee combat system. But in terms of raw PvE effectiveness, it's a winner. Description cross-posted from the original thread: I recommend first pushing your stats to the 16 strength needed for the Drake Sword (which is actually advisable for a sorcery build as it will last you a long time with zero effort), then raising vit, end, and int more or less equally until vit and end are both at 20, adding attunement slots and dex as you go. After that, raise nothing but int until it's at 36, then start raising int, vit, and end together again with some more attunement sprinkled in as needed. Your target maximum stats are: Str: 16 Dex: 16 Vit: 40 End: 40 Int: 50 You can of course level more aggressively in int if you want to max out your damage faster (the Charles approach), but for a less experienced player this leveling strategy should get you there while keeping you safe. Weapon-wise, you can literally use the Drake Sword with no problems until you find the Lightning Spear in Sen's Fortress, which segues very neatly into the Moonlight Butterfly Horn once you get to Anor Londo. You'll want to make that, get Velka's Rapier from the Painted World, and cut off Seath's tail for the Moonlight Greatsword; these are your three main weapon options, the fourth being of course whatever weapon you like upgraded to Enchanted +5. It's not a terrible idea to keep some fire/lightning/normal weapons around too but it's by no means required. Other gear you want to be wearing pretty much at all times: Crown of Dusk (only take this off for The Duke's Archives) and Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring. Use the Sorcerer's Catalyst until you're at 33 int (iirc) and then switch to Logan's. Make sure you buy or otherwise obtain every spell you can, but especially get all of Logan's stuff including the second copies of his original line that open up via Griggs, because those are going to be your main sources of damage.
This is a repost of my two Darkwraith invader builds. Obsidian Invader LV30 http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?b...wLDksd29vZGVuLHdvb2Rlbix3b29kZW4sd29vZGVuLDE= He spends most of his time in blight town. And my Moonlight Slayer LV38 http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?b...sOSx3b29kZW4sd29vZGVuLHdvb2Rlbix3b29kZW4sMQ== This is not exactly how i build it, but would with hindsight. The r2 of the mgs is incredible good at punishing estus drinkers.
Basic strength build. This is less broken than sorcery and not very min-maxed so it is probably a little more challenging for new players, but it is still very powerful. Crushing things in melee with pure physical damage unlocks a kind of hidden tier of effectiveness that you wouldn't necessarily have even known you were missing out on with elemental weapons, and it is also viscerally very satisfying. Stats as of level sixty-nine, dudes! Beyond that level you have a lot of choices for further development: - More vitality is never a bad idea. - More strength is available for some of the possibly less practical weapons with even higher strength requirements. - It's a good idea to bring some kind of magic into the mix. Any kind will do, although I wouldn't add a ton of nuclear capability because if you do that, what was the point of getting all that strength? Gear: Please do not use the Zweihander. This goes for a lot of weapons that people assume are good for a strength build because they're physically huge, but the Zweihander is the worst offender, and it's terrible for a strength build. The reason people use it is because it doesn't require very high strength; if you're trying to get the lowest-requirement huge weapon available the Zweiahander is your man, but if you're up in the thirties you can do a lot better. So what should you use? In general, weapons that are appropriate for a high strength build are those that have a high strength requirement or really good strength scaling, or both. The standouts are the Black Knight Halberd, the Black Knight Greataxe, and the Large Club, and some others to consider are the Great Club, Black Knight Greatsword, Man-Serpent Greatsword, and Butcher Knife. And really, tons of other stuff; one of the really fun things about playing a high strength build is being able to try out almost any weapon you want to. Shield-wise: are you a bad enough dude to use the Greatshield of Artorias? How to level: Go immediately to Darkroot Basin and kill the black knight there. If he doesn't drop the halberd, start a new character and try again. Nah, you don't have to do that, but if you do get lucky with an early BK weapon drop, I strongly urge you to get the stats needed to use it as soon as you reasonably can. Otherwise you're going to want to use an elemental weapon for a while--probably the Claymore or yes, the Zweihander--until your strength (and dex if you want to use the BK weapons) is up to snuff. Always raise your strength and dex to meet the requirements of weapons you want to use, and otherwise raise end and vit at about a 2:1 ratio. You can add some magic stats as you go if you want.
I was lucky to get the Black Knight sword from one in the asylum and the halberd from one in the basin on my STR build. I'm not at 32 STR yet (I did some questionable levels earlier), but will be soon (4 level, IIRC). When I'm at home I'll try to rustle up a build.
I mentioned this in another thread, but when I made my SL1 character the BKH dropped, and I did immediately quit out and make a new guy so I could save that one for the next time I wanted to do a strength build. The BKH is just too good to ignore.
Where do I go from here? Pyro is ~ SL 80, with something like: vit 20 end 40 Str 32 dex 18 Attune 23 (whatever the 6 slot level is) everything else default. Currently using BKH +5, which is an end-game weapon. May go to 36 strength so I can also try out the BK Greataxe, which I could always enchant to use as a nice secondary weapon. I need more vit, of course, and I eventually want at least 8 attunement slots. I think my real question is this: right now I can't hope to use a tower shield along with a BK weapon and stay at <25% (I'm using the pyro gear; I need to go get the crimson stuff). With Havel's I'm obviously at 120 encumbrance. I'm considering another 10 points in End to give me even more flexibility, because I thought it would be nice to have the ability to try out greatshields proper (especially Artorias. the only one I've ever used is the Eagle shield, and I did like it; that was before I started trying to learn parrying). Running around naked is too fuck-ugly. Crazy talk?
Well if you're using strength-based weapons there's no reason not to keep pumping Strength, at least until 40 when diminishing returns kick in.
Yeah, kinda. I wouldn't really add more endurance... at least not while you still have real stuff to spend your levels on. You could add the RoFaP and get a little more weight that way, but really I'd just look at lighter armor. If you leave your head and hands naked and wear the Black Sorcerer body and legs, you'll be under 25% with the BKH and the Tower Shield, although if you plan on using the BKGA and/or the Greatshield of Artorias there's just no getting around the need for a second weight booster. Edit: for reference, if you're wearing the full pyromancer set right now you're four pounds over, which means you'd need twelve more levels in endurance to wear that. To wear the full crimson set you'd need 19. That's the thing, you just get so little benefit from added endurance if you're trying to stay under 25% that it's just not feasible to do it that way.
Another where do I go from here question: https://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?...sMCwwLHdvb2Rlbix3b29kZW4sd29vZGVuLHdvb2Rlbiwx That's my pyro's current build, as much as I like the gold tracer as a fun weapon, its damage output isn't quite as awesome as I'd like now that I'm in NG+. The speed makes up for it somewhat, but it's hard to judge how much and I often feel that my Lightning Uchigatana is doing so much more. So I guess I could keep pumping vit through the roof, or jump to strength, but I do kind of wish I could stick with dex.
I am no expert for NG+ but have you considered a Uchi +15 or a Scythe+15(same move set as the Gargoyle halberd) or Great Scythe +15 ? The Scythes give you around 100dmg per hit upgrade over the tracer .
20 vitality, 40 endurance, 50 strength, nothing else of note. Not enough attunement for even a single spell slot. Any thoughts on where I should go from here? More vitality, I suppose. Keep bumping str for the trivial damage bonus? More dex to expand my weapon selection? Attunement and start upgrading the pyro glove?
This is excellent advice. The thing with the Tracers is that they really do work best if you use them together. My dex character uses Silver Tracer for enemies that are parryable/backstab vulnerable and Gold Tracer for enemies that can bleed or be stunlocked. The Great Scythe is absolutely amazing as a Big Damn Enemy weapon or when you need some range. That and the high damage output with bows makes my dex character probably the most lethal I've made; I actually put away the tracers in PvP because I think it's almost unsporting.
I probably have no business posting here but I'll just do it anyway. http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=359506098282988321 It's a Dex build where I wanted the Uchigatana and the Black Bow upgraded as quickly as possible. I also happened to get a BKH to drop and raised Str to 22 to be able to 2H it. Since I also wanted Washing Pole (Str 20) for Lightning damage this was only two "wasted" points. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times I've used Pyromancy - I'm exclusively using the bow and katanas to kill things. Well, apart from a brief fling with the BKH. High Dex, Black Bow and Hawk Ring are awesome solutions to many problems, especially coupled with either Feather Arrows (for max damage at super-extreme ranges) or Poison Arrows. Having enemies die before they can take a swing just as they reach you never gets old. Firing from behind the Firelink Shrine fire, this build does over 100 damage to the Hollow Warrior on top of the aqueduct using Standard Arrows. It takes down a Capra Demon in three swipes of the katana. So yes, you can easily shave off 8 levels or so from this build and be just as effective. Clothing/Armor is only aesthetic and you can wear pretty much whatever since it's a 25% build that isn't supposed to get hit at all. Grass Crest shield gives great utility for a katana user, at +9 it gets to 60 stability.
If you are sticking to <25, I've found very little reason to need a stamina boost with a katana. With end at 30, you can probably swing 6-7 times as an R1, which is more than enough in almost all situations. Even on a boss, you often can't swing more than that due to the boss recovering, so you have time to build your stamina back. My dude is extremely similar and I've never worried about stamina regen items. I stick with a high stability shield and just go with it.
You're probably right. Come to think of it I think I used it slung on my back during my BKH phase. It might be that I was lax in raising my End, I just remember getting good results with the Grass Crest early on and then I stuck with it. Also, haven't gotten Silver or Black Knight shield drops, might have switched to them if so.
My dex pyro who is on NG+ now and halfway through uses a balder shield +10 and it has always been fine. Enough so, anyway, that I keep forgetting to push it higher.
IMHO First drop the Short sword it has no redeeming quality's. Get a weapon you like and is better (hard to give advise without knowing how far you are). If you have souls left to spend and are afraid to loose them end&vit is a save upgrade.
Good thing you reminded me about the shield. I promptly went to Blighttown and murderated Shiva and his bodyguard. Shiva's Shield has to be the best looking piece of equipment in the game. Got it up to +8 for now.
Iron Round Shield. It's neat because it deflects attacks like a greatshield while still being able to parry, but otherwise it's not so great.
Apart from the above special effect it's about the same as a Silver Knight shield and is upgraded by normal titanite and is lighter than the Eagle Shield. If that's not pretty great I don't know what is? Plus, it's crazy good-looking.
It is not about the same as the SKS; it has substantially worse magic and lightning defense and eight less stability, which is huge. And the normal upgrade path is a sizable disadvantage. The deflection is literally the only reason to use it, and you pay for it in weight and stability. Not that it's a bad deal necessarily (it's up to you to decide if that's worth it to you), but that's the deal you're getting. It does look cool though, I'll give you that.
I've only been to Undead Berg, I can usually handle everything but bosses, so I can grind for souls for the merchant. I've got a spear, a halberd, a mace, and a uchigatana too. The halberd is fun, but bad consequences for missing my timing. I think I need more Str for the uchigatana.
The Uchi is a good weapon, and once elemental can carry you through most of the game. It's also a very forgiving weapon since it has high damage but reasonably quick hits. In that area, you are likely to get a longsword if you roll with a few humanity, so that might be a good stopgap.
I think the halberd is a pretty good weapon as it has high base damage(assuming you like its moveset.) I am not the greatest friend of the uchi mainly because of the mediocre base damage. It gets good with high dex. Ultimately there is a choice in DS do you go with elemental weapons or str,dex. High Base Damage weapons like the Halberd make good elementals, high scaling weapons like the uchi need a high stat to perform. If you upgrade the Halberd you can delay that choice and increase vit+end as you like.
The Halberd owns, all katanas stink (imo :-P). Also available around there and awesome: Claymore, Gargoyle's Halberd, Longsword, Balder Side Sword, and Reinforced Club. Just try 'em all and use the one that clicks.
If you are interested in a dexterity-based character, katanas pretty much rule the early-to-mid game imo. Whatever you do, don't turn it elemental in that case. It also has the coolest-looking animations around.
I took advice above and built a Scythe +15 and it has been owning shit up. And in theory you could have it before you even fight the law firm! All my katanas have gone elemental.
I didn't know until this thread that the Scythe had good dex scaling. That's good to know for all us halberd fanboys.
YES! It's a gargoyle halberd for dex builds. Oh and when it's on your back, it sticks up like twice your character height, which I find awesome.
Quality build with Dark Bead. Quality means strength and dex both, and it's honestly a little subpar but a lot of fun. Stats as of SL119. The main upside here is the sheer variety of gear you have access to. In addition to the sensible "quality" weapons that make use of both stats (Claymore, Murakumo, Great Lord Greatsword, etc), you can also just use any good dex weapon you like and many good strength ones, and if you want access to a few more strength-based weapons you can easily shift some levels from dex into strength. 16 int is for Dark Bead of course. You could funnel this into faith instead if you want or neither and just use pyromancy.
Here is my NG+ guy as he is now. Wasted some points in faith to use astora's straight sword and threw one in resistance because I was vaguely following some build off of a wiki. Mainly rely on BSS, scythe, and pyromancy. Probably going to get him to 40 end/vit and eventually bump his str to 40 just to finish off the last bit of damage I can wring out of the scythe.
Just in case, be sure and look at Force and Magic Barrier on the off chance they are useful to you. I think you'll get a lot out of the 40 end/vit, but I'm not convinced that both str/dex is a good path. Nevertheless, you have the option to use crazy shit like Gough's Greatbow, so that's always fun.
