Build Ideas

[Karsk]

Never finished the game during my initial playthrough right after release and I want to go back into the lands between, however I have no idea about a build. All I know is I don't want to do unga-bunga sword. I remember in my first run I tried bleed but it wasn't all that exciting for me as well. I know this is kinda vague but I can't remember much of the game although I am familiar with the stats and building characters for these kinds of games. Any suggestions appreciated!

[Steed]

I know you said no unga-bunga, but I've just finished my first play through running strength and it was a lot of fun so must make the recommendation.

Main weapon was the Great Epee with frost for poking, and early game secondary was Bloody Stars (I think it's called) for bleed with Wild Strikes ash of war. I moved on to the giant club made of erdtree wood and it was most excellent. Epee and Club were my main for most of the game.

Later I tried some daggers with bleed, very satisfying attacking so quickly and proccing bleed instantly, and at the very end I tried Giant Crusher for a bit.

I never really deviated from strength (high Vig/Str/End, heavy armour, great shield), but was able to effectively try a few different weapons.

If no unga, my friend is playing Dex running dual katanas. Very fast and deadly, would recommend if you are good at and enjoy dodging.

[Karsk]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Not really, they are both excellent although in my opinion at least sorcery is slightly easier to get started with in early game.

I did end up using some dragon incantations in my first run back around launch. I'm more interested in what's fun and thematic than necessarily minmaxing the absolute ♥♥♥♥ out of everything. That's fun for some people and it's fantastic that the game allows for such different ways to find enjoyment and satisfaction. Me, I'm more into rule of cool.

I always gravitate towards lightning bc electricity and lightning powers are the coolest imo (can't wait to see Kashimo fight Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen). So I'll probably focus on that and try out the different faith weapons along the way.

[Karsk]

Now I think what I will probably struggle with is figuring out Stat distribution (roughly speaking not exact planning) while leveling.

[Superboniato]

Originally posted by Karsk:

Now I think what I will probably struggle with is figuring out Stat distribution (roughly speaking not exact planning) while leveling.

For that i suggest:
Search in google about level caps.

Easy guide for build noobs:
1º Level up str and dex and your offensive stat JUST enough to be able to use the weapon you want
2º Level up vigor 1000 hp
3º Level up endurance (enough to wear the fashion you like) and your offensive stats to the first cap level
4º level up vig to 40
5º level up your offensive stat to cap level / vig to 60

[Nevict]

Originally posted by Superboniato:

Originally posted by Karsk:

Now I think what I will probably struggle with is figuring out Stat distribution (roughly speaking not exact planning) while leveling.

For that i suggest:
Search in google about level caps.

Easy guide for build noobs:
1º Level up str and dex and your offensive stat JUST enough to be able to use the weapon you want
2º Level up vigor 1000 hp
3º Level up endurance (enough to wear the fashion you like) and your offensive stats to the first cap level
4º level up vig to 40
5º level up your offensive stat to cap level / vig to 60

If only re-allocating the stat points had no cost... T_T

[fauxpas]

Originally posted by Nevict:

Originally posted by Superboniato:

For that i suggest:
Search in google about level caps.

Easy guide for build noobs:
1º Level up str and dex and your offensive stat JUST enough to be able to use the weapon you want
2º Level up vigor 1000 hp
3º Level up endurance (enough to wear the fashion you like) and your offensive stats to the first cap level
4º level up vig to 40
5º level up your offensive stat to cap level / vig to 60

If only re-allocating the stat points had no cost... T_T

Unless you are constantly respecing the cost is meaningless, and if you have to respec more than once or twice than you've done something wrong.

[Scheneighnay]

I recently started a new character that mixes curved swords and sorcery, primarily gravity magic.

Just in the infancy of the build, a falchion with gravitas is powerful for cutting down whole crowds of weak enemies at once, while I've been able to use gravitas to yank a boss off of my cooperator to break the boss's combo.

So along those same lines I would say pick a gimmick spell type you want to build around.

[s0d0]

Take the first weapon you really like and scale into that, if it is a somber weapon i wouldn't even mind scaling into it too much at first, maybe just get the min requirements and then go for vigor and endurance, you will get most of the damage from the upgrades.
And if you come across some weapon that interests you even more, check if you can upgrade it to about the same level and respec for it, you will surely have some larval tears in your inventory by that point.
Use any armor to your liking and pick the talismans and tears that seem most logic to you.

[Yal]

Originally posted by Karsk:

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Not really, they are both excellent although in my opinion at least sorcery is slightly easier to get started with in early game.

I did end up using some dragon incantations in my first run back around launch. I'm more interested in what's fun and thematic than necessarily minmaxing the absolute ♥♥♥♥ out of everything. That's fun for some people and it's fantastic that the game allows for such different ways to find enjoyment and satisfaction. Me, I'm more into rule of cool.

I always gravitate towards lightning bc electricity and lightning powers are the coolest imo (can't wait to see Kashimo fight Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen). So I'll probably focus on that and try out the different faith weapons along the way.

I have an idea for you: Bolt of Gransax (found in the capital, on top of the giant golden spear thing - you'll know it when you see it). Its weapon art is doing a Zeus-style lightning throw that has one of the longest attack ranges in the game. It looks cool, it's very effective, I'm sure you'll have a blast!

It needs 40 dexterity to equip, which is actually not bad because lightning damage scales from faith and dexterity so there's some synergy there. What's slightly worse is that you gotta beat two demigods to access the capital so you're gonna need something else in the meantime. I suggest taking the secret route around Stormveil castle and going to eastern Liurnia at the start of the game, near the Divine Tower there's a a wandering knight that drops a spell tome with some lightning spells; eastern Liurnia also has the Church of Wovs where one of the spell tutors resides (on the highest mountaintop) so get there and hand the prayerbook over to get your first few spells.

(There's some ruins with a military camp near the start of Liurnia which has a hidden basement room with a +5 faith talisman which you might want to get to be able to use the spells a bit sooner)

Not sure what regular weapon I'd recommend, but if you can get your hands on the Lightning Slash ash-of-war it'll cover the lightning bit. It's found in the Altus Plateau, the military camp with all the artillery units... so either you need to get the two medallions for the lift, or get through the Ruin-Strewn Precipice dungeon. Kinda difficult stuff on a blind playthrough so I guess it's best to save it for later...?

Katanas and curved swords are the most dexterity-focused weapons but you could also get the Nightrider Flail (a three-headed flail) from the Night's Cavalry near the merchant on the approach to Castle Morne - it's very impractical but looks really cool, and also needs a lot of dexterity (24 to be exact) so it'll synergize with your build.

[DragonSoundxSG]

ER prob has the strongest build variety of any From game imho. It's hard to summarize in one post or thread. Hopefully you've played RPGs before and can think about what type of archetype you like (Tank, DPS, Caster, etc) and then start to build a character like that.

But really you should start as a Vagabond and just enjoy the game and build whatever you want around the weapons and spells you find. You can respect a bunch in a playthrough so don't worry about messing up.

P.S. Mage is not recommended for a first-timer. A Knight with Incantations as support is a fun, beginner-friendly char.

[Scheneighnay]

Originally posted by DragonSoundxSG:

ER prob has the strongest build variety of any From game imho. It's hard to summarize in one post or thread. Hopefully you've played RPGs before and can think about what type of archetype you like (Tank, DPS, Caster, etc) and then start to build a character like that.

But really you should start as a Vagabond and just enjoy the game and build whatever you want around the weapons and spells you find. You can respect a bunch in a playthrough so don't worry about messing up.

P.S. Mage is not recommended for a first-timer. A Knight with Incantations as support is a fun, beginner-friendly char.

The wretch is the only legitimate starting class.

[Karsk]

Originally posted by Yal:

Originally posted by Karsk:

I did end up using some dragon incantations in my first run back around launch. I'm more interested in what's fun and thematic than necessarily minmaxing the absolute ♥♥♥♥ out of everything. That's fun for some people and it's fantastic that the game allows for such different ways to find enjoyment and satisfaction. Me, I'm more into rule of cool.

I always gravitate towards lightning bc electricity and lightning powers are the coolest imo (can't wait to see Kashimo fight Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen). So I'll probably focus on that and try out the different faith weapons along the way.

I have an idea for you: Bolt of Gransax (found in the capital, on top of the giant golden spear thing - you'll know it when you see it). Its weapon art is doing a Zeus-style lightning throw that has one of the longest attack ranges in the game. It looks cool, it's very effective, I'm sure you'll have a blast!

It needs 40 dexterity to equip, which is actually not bad because lightning damage scales from faith and dexterity so there's some synergy there. What's slightly worse is that you gotta beat two demigods to access the capital so you're gonna need something else in the meantime. I suggest taking the secret route around Stormveil castle and going to eastern Liurnia at the start of the game, near the Divine Tower there's a a wandering knight that drops a spell tome with some lightning spells; eastern Liurnia also has the Church of Wovs where one of the spell tutors resides (on the highest mountaintop) so get there and hand the prayerbook over to get your first few spells.

(There's some ruins with a military camp near the start of Liurnia which has a hidden basement room with a +5 faith talisman which you might want to get to be able to use the spells a bit sooner)

Not sure what regular weapon I'd recommend, but if you can get your hands on the Lightning Slash ash-of-war it'll cover the lightning bit. It's found in the Altus Plateau, the military camp with all the artillery units... so either you need to get the two medallions for the lift, or get through the Ruin-Strewn Precipice dungeon. Kinda difficult stuff on a blind playthrough so I guess it's best to save it for later...?

Katanas and curved swords are the most dexterity-focused weapons but you could also get the Nightrider Flail (a three-headed flail) from the Night's Cavalry near the merchant on the approach to Castle Morne - it's very impractical but looks really cool, and also needs a lot of dexterity (24 to be exact) so it'll synergize with your build.

Awesome idea, I did end up starting as a prophet and I am definitely thinking that I will maybe try faith/dex. Though I do want to have the ability to try the faith weapons so I can see which movesets I like so I do estimate respeccing at least once. I think I'd prefer the more standard route versus sneaking into liurnia. Which means I am looking to any weapons, ashes, ashes of war, and incantations you can get in limgrave.

[Rej72380]

The way i plan my build is if there is a weapon I managed to get from a tough boss fight, I'd pump enough points into strength and whatever other stat requirements there are to properly wield it. Having 20 strength/20 dexterity might hinder you as it may effectively limit what weapons you can use.

The soft caps and builds are not dogma but more of a guide of what works for you.

[fmalfeas]

Should very much note that you get WAY more out of upgrading the weapons/seals/staves than out of the stat itself. So it's 100% viable to bring your stats to just enough to use the stuff you're gonna be using for a while, and dump the rest into Vigor and Endurance and Mind to give you the sustain and durability to handle things. Then when higher level, with weapons that are already buffed up, you can work the stats for scaling to get that incremental remaining damage.

Smithing Stones, somber or not, are your bestest friends.

[Nevict]

Originally posted by fauxpas:

Originally posted by Nevict:

If only re-allocating the stat points had no cost... T_T

Unless you are constantly respecing the cost is meaningless, and if you have to respec more than once or twice than you've done something wrong.

But the resource used for resetting is limited and it makes no sense for it to be so.