Honest Question... Faith vs Intelligence

[Rincevent 83]

Hello,
I have played a few From Software's souls game and, I haven't finished Elden Ring yet.

This is an honest question, I haven't checked -on purpose- internet opinion about that.

Am I the only one to think that in latest games (something like after Dark Souls 2) intel build are less interesting than faith builds ?

- I did'nt said less powerfull
- It just seems to me that a lot of intel spells in Elden R are about throwing various damage from caster to target. It can be called ice, magic, crystal, it can be a pebble, a comet or a what'it, but it all about throwing damage from caster to target
- On contrary, it seems to me that faith spells have healing, have buffs have damage with various shapes area of damages. It just seems more intersting. isn't it ?

[Norm Macdonald's Ghost]

Originally posted by Rincevent 83:

Am I the only one to think that in latest games (something like after Dark Souls 2) intel build are less interesting than faith builds ?

Yes.

[Alby]

faith goes pew pew pew, int goes psst psst psst. that's literally the only difference

[WagonWheelWatusi]

Definitely not untrue. INT is more about offense and lacks variety in anything other than doing the most damage in the least amount of time. FTH has a good mix of defensive/support and offensive magic and requires a bit more thought into how your'e going to approach a battle. In all honesty i like both play styles but definitely find FTH magic far more interesting to use.

[Angel]

nah in fact I think the opposite, ever since after dark souls 2 faith builds have become less and less interesting and especially in elden ring something feels quite off about it

[Fineous🔥]

Thanks for sharing your honest opinion, OP....but

Originally posted by Rincevent 83:

Hello,
I haven't finished Elden Ring yet.

Finish the game to learn new sorceries and see the bigger picture.

As long you are not facing something ultragrasive with insane speed like a Blacknife assasin fully buffed ancient death rancors (throwing angry big skulls!) will destroy and even break the posie of EVERYTHING except targets with huge magic resistance. Thats the beauty of INT+FAYYYFFFF , think about Dark Souls 2 hexes.

[>{°,.¿.,°}<]

Originally posted by 𝕱𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖔𝖚𝖘🔥:

Thanks for sharing your honest opinion, OP....but

Originally posted by Rincevent 83:

Hello,
I haven't finished Elden Ring yet.

think about Dark Souls 2 hexes.

I miss them :(
DS2 magic was so good ngl.

[Urist Microcline]

Yea INT is damage spell focused with some buffing and utility while Faith is utility and buff focused with some damage spells.

That's not to say that Faith can't DPS. The lightning spells absolutely slap every enemy and boss in the game. Plain old lightning spear can solo everybody.

[LuckyCheshire]

Yeah, I totally agree. There are some interesting incantations, but most of them are pretty late-game and most of the fun ones aren't even very good. Looking at you, Briars of Punishment. About 80% are just infinite variations on Magic Missile.

Sorceries have a lot more going on, and a lot more variation. They also have far, far more support/healing/buffing options, which are generally what I gravitate towards more anyway.

tl;dr: Int is good for straight mages, Fth is good for anything with a melee main weapon.

[Sabaithal]

I've done a bit of both, and I find FAI builds are just more interesting and fun to use. Most of the different schools feel quite distinct, and have different elemental effects. They're very versatile for mid-range and close range combat.

Whereas most sorceries are some variation of blue lights that do magic damage. Not that there is anything wrong with that, its just less interesting to me (also less close range options).

[Senki]

I agree, faith spells have way more variety and are more fun to play with

the only thing I hate is that the early game experience of pure faith casters is hell compared to sorcerers

[Clail]

Dark Souls 2 is the only prior game that made INT builds interesting, viable, and fun. While DS3 and DS1 had select stupidly OP spells that could be spammed, they were for the most part not fun to get to a halfway viable point, and had far less variety to their spells.

Elden Ring does magic well enough. I do agree that most sorceries are just a variation of magic missle/glintstone pebble, but overall variety improved from previous games.

Faith might seem to have more variety, but the vast majority of them are buffs or heals. Offensively lighting spear and thunder bolt are the only quick to cast options, all others have lengthy cast times that aren't practical in a lot of situations.

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by Clail:

Dark Souls 2 is the only prior game that made INT builds interesting, viable, and fun. While DS3 and DS1 had select stupidly OP spells that could be spammed, they were for the most part not fun to get to a halfway viable point, and had far less variety to their spells.

Elden Ring does magic well enough. I do agree that most sorceries are just a variation of magic missle/glintstone pebble, but overall variety improved from previous games.

Faith might seem to have more variety, but the vast majority of them are buffs or heals. Offensively lighting spear and thunder bolt are the only quick to cast options, all others have lengthy cast times that aren't practical in a lot of situations.

Pretty much all of the bestial incantations are pretty fast as well. Black Flame is moderately speedy if you don't charge it. Then there are some exclusively close-range options like Catch Flame. Even the crucible spells, though they suck, aren't too much slower. But yeah, no real 'heavy hitter' options like Cannon of Haima or smthn.

[Chad "The King" ThunderCuck]

you do know there is a 3rd option in this game, right? and its also the best option : arcane. there are tools for either spells or incantations to make them scale with arcane, and the ones that already do are widely varied and hit like trucks. likewise, pumping that 1 stat and just meeting the minimum fth/int for the spells you want to use, lets you use a wide range of either type, whos damage is uneffected by your low fth/int.

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by Chad "The King" ThunderCuck:

you do know there is a 3rd option in this game, right? and its also the best option : arcane. there are tools for either spells or incantations to make them scale with arcane, and the ones that already do are widely varied and hit like trucks. likewise, pumping that 1 stat and just meeting the minimum fth/int for the spells you want to use, lets you use a wide range of either type, whos damage is uneffected by your low fth/int.

Rather than the stats themselves, the discussion has been more about incantations vs. sorceries. So yes, Arcane exists and can be quite effective, but unless you're going to be switching back and forth between a staff and a seal constantly, you're probably still going to pick one or the other.

[𝑀𝓊𝑔𝑒𝓃]

Utility faith , mindless pew pew and moonveil spam int