did i screw up my mage/sorcerer by over leveling in intelligence

[Inflated_chair]

i was planning on leveling faith to use incantations but my vigor and stamina are low which should i focus on??
22 vigor
30 mind
20 endurance
8 strength
13 dexterity
52 intelligence
10 faith
9 arcane

[Sephylon]

Vig. Unless you're rushing to use a specific spell or wep you don't need that high of int. Arc, rock sling and slicer can carry you through most of the game. Worst case you give moon mommy a larval tear to respec. Also your level is still on the low end to worry about it too much; fai int is better in the 180s and above imo.

[Sonnenbank]

nah getting to 70 int fast is one of the main goals of sorcerer

sorcerer fights from distance so you only need enough vigor to survive 1 hit

[Lynfinity]

You better do something about your Vigor, young man. And soon. Like, holy tits of Marika, all these points spent on INT are worthless when you die from so much as a spit in your general direction.

[Inflated_chair]

Originally posted by Sephylon:

Vig. Unless you're rushing to use a specific spell or wep you don't need that high of int. Arc, rock sling and slicer can carry you through most of the game. Worst case you give moon mommy a larval tear to respec. Also your level is still on the low end to worry about it too much; fai int is better in the 180s and above imo.

i lvled int to use the comet spell

[Inflated_chair]

Originally posted by Sonnenbank:

nah getting to 70 int fast is one of the main goals of sorcerer

sorcerer fights from distance so you only need enough vigor to survive 1 hit

is 70 the soft cap?

[Sonnenbank]

Originally posted by Inflated_chair:

Originally posted by Sonnenbank:

nah getting to 70 int fast is one of the main goals of sorcerer

sorcerer fights from distance so you only need enough vigor to survive 1 hit

is 70 the soft cap?

No 60 is the soft cap for int but there are spells that require 68int to be used and they are very good: RANNI'S DARK MOON for example

so theoretically you should aim for 68 not for 70 ;)

And int still scales pretty good after 60.
Its just that from 60-80 it scales less good than from 20-60.
Thats why it is called softcap
but its a very soft cap
so getting past 60 is very noticable in damage

Most important with a sorcerer is to take your time and explore the world with
caution and stepp by stepp

edit: renallas full moon which is available early and also very good requires 70
so thats why i rememberd 70 >-<

[Clail]

You can always respec. Unless you've used every larval tear until ng+

[Sephylon]

Originally posted by Inflated_chair:

Originally posted by Sephylon:

Vig. Unless you're rushing to use a specific spell or wep you don't need that high of int. Arc, rock sling and slicer can carry you through most of the game. Worst case you give moon mommy a larval tear to respec. Also your level is still on the low end to worry about it too much; fai int is better in the 180s and above imo.

i lvled int to use the comet spell

comet azur? I mean go for it if you want, but its a rather gimmicky spell compared to night comet, shard spiral, or stars of ruin.

Originally posted by Inflated_chair:

Originally posted by Sonnenbank:

nah getting to 70 int fast is one of the main goals of sorcerer

sorcerer fights from distance so you only need enough vigor to survive 1 hit

is 70 the soft cap?

basically, tho its not recommend have any stat go past 80. Also remember that cast time has a cap of 70 dex.

[The Icecream Snowman]

I found 60 Int was probably the optimum: Ranni's Dark Moon is good, but it's not really worth 8 levels and two slots.

I found Night Comet to be by far the most versatile spell: enemies don't dodge it and it gets a 30% buff from the Staff of Loss, which has only slightly lower casting power than the Academy staff.

The downside is the heavy stamina and focus requirement, but those 8 levels taken out of Int and put into End will leave you with a better build.

Spiral shard was my other go to spell for anything big. It chews through tree spirits, easily dealing 5 - 6 k damage per stamina bar.

Comet Azure is really not useful except when using the spell buff and no focus use Physik, and nailing a boss with it. It will stun lock Crucible Knights as they try to block it. Hilarious but situational.

[Greywander]

A general rule for any build is to get enough stats to meet any minimum requirements then level Vigor to 60. If you max out a damage stat then you might approximately double your damage output, but you can double, triple, and even quadruple your HP for a much smaller investment into Vigor, and staying alive for twice as long could be considered comparable to doubling your damage.

IIRC, softcaps for INT and FTH are 50 and 80. I wouldn't bother with FTH, as there is very little that supports an INT/FTH hybrid build. The Sword of Night and Flame is fun, and there are a few sorceries that require FTH and incantations that require INT, but there's just not enough to justify such a build unless you're aiming for that specifically. Maybe if you're just aiming to meet the minimum requirements for a few buff incants that don't care about incant scaling.

Rather than FTH, you'd be better off putting points into DEX for faster casting. IIRC, casting speed caps out at 70 DEX, and Radagon's Icon gives +30 virtual DEX for casting speed, so you only need 40 DEX with the icon.

Consider pushing END to 30. END is less important for ranged characters, so your primary concern is equip load. Stamina helps, of course, but is not quite as critical as it is for something like a colossal sword build.

Since your INT is already above the first softcap, I'd say focus on other stats first, then come back to INT later and push it to 80.

Is this your first time playing? First Souls game? I've heard mage builds are a bit on the boring side, so definitely consider doing another playthrough with something else afterwards. I've always been drawn to colossal swords in any Souls game I play. It will feel like a totally new experience. There's a huge variety of different builds to try, each one quite different.

[Inflated_chair]

Originally posted by Sephylon:

Originally posted by Inflated_chair:

i lvled int to use the comet spell

comet azur? I mean go for it if you want, but its a rather gimmicky spell compared to night comet, shard spiral, or stars of ruin.

Originally posted by Inflated_chair:

is 70 the soft cap?

basically, tho its not recommend have any stat go past 80. Also remember that cast time has a cap of 70 dex.

not comet azur just comet

[Inflated_chair]

Originally posted by Greywander:

A general rule for any build is to get enough stats to meet any minimum requirements then level Vigor to 60. If you max out a damage stat then you might approximately double your damage output, but you can double, triple, and even quadruple your HP for a much smaller investment into Vigor, and staying alive for twice as long could be considered comparable to doubling your damage.

IIRC, softcaps for INT and FTH are 50 and 80. I wouldn't bother with FTH, as there is very little that supports an INT/FTH hybrid build. The Sword of Night and Flame is fun, and there are a few sorceries that require FTH and incantations that require INT, but there's just not enough to justify such a build unless you're aiming for that specifically. Maybe if you're just aiming to meet the minimum requirements for a few buff incants that don't care about incant scaling.

Rather than FTH, you'd be better off putting points into DEX for faster casting. IIRC, casting speed caps out at 70 DEX, and Radagon's Icon gives +30 virtual DEX for casting speed, so you only need 40 DEX with the icon.

Consider pushing END to 30. END is less important for ranged characters, so your primary concern is equip load. Stamina helps, of course, but is not quite as critical as it is for something like a colossal sword build.

Since your INT is already above the first softcap, I'd say focus on other stats first, then come back to INT later and push it to 80.

Is this your first time playing? First Souls game? I've heard mage builds are a bit on the boring side, so definitely consider doing another playthrough with something else afterwards. I've always been drawn to colossal swords in any Souls game I play. It will feel like a totally new experience. There's a huge variety of different builds to try, each one quite different.

i didnt know dex made you cast spells faster ill have to lvl that next

[Inflated_chair]

Originally posted by Greywander:

A general rule for any build is to get enough stats to meet any minimum requirements then level Vigor to 60. If you max out a damage stat then you might approximately double your damage output, but you can double, triple, and even quadruple your HP for a much smaller investment into Vigor, and staying alive for twice as long could be considered comparable to doubling your damage.

IIRC, softcaps for INT and FTH are 50 and 80. I wouldn't bother with FTH, as there is very little that supports an INT/FTH hybrid build. The Sword of Night and Flame is fun, and there are a few sorceries that require FTH and incantations that require INT, but there's just not enough to justify such a build unless you're aiming for that specifically. Maybe if you're just aiming to meet the minimum requirements for a few buff incants that don't care about incant scaling.

Rather than FTH, you'd be better off putting points into DEX for faster casting. IIRC, casting speed caps out at 70 DEX, and Radagon's Icon gives +30 virtual DEX for casting speed, so you only need 40 DEX with the icon.

Consider pushing END to 30. END is less important for ranged characters, so your primary concern is equip load. Stamina helps, of course, but is not quite as critical as it is for something like a colossal sword build.

Since your INT is already above the first softcap, I'd say focus on other stats first, then come back to INT later and push it to 80.

Is this your first time playing? First Souls game? I've heard mage builds are a bit on the boring side, so definitely consider doing another playthrough with something else afterwards. I've always been drawn to colossal swords in any Souls game I play. It will feel like a totally new experience. There's a huge variety of different builds to try, each one quite different.

first playthrough and first souls game

[Autumn]

More Vigor would probably be a smart choice, and it's practically required if you're planning to do PVP. Glass cannon mage builds are frustrating enough that people build around them, so you'll need the health to fall back on.

[Sephylon]

Originally posted by Inflated_chair:

i didnt know dex made you cast spells faster ill have to lvl that next

there are ways of capping dex for cast time w/o levling it; radagon icon and azur staff gives you 70 virtual dex when used together as grey mentioned. Question now is can you afford the talisman slot and the increased fp cost of using azur. Also not you can off hand a weapon to benefit from its passives.