Where can I get my first int weapon?

[Sore]

Trying to search for this and it's just a pita. I don't want the best nor do I want to run far away from Limgrave. I just want a single upgrade for my int caster. I've found tons of str stuff but not a single caster item.

[Dirak2012]

This game isn't really about straight upgrades, no matter your build. You should be upgrading your current equipment.
You will always end up with tons of weapons that are not compatible with your current build. This isn't a looter shooter...

[Moth]

Limgrave is fairly light on INT stuff, you might have more luck rushing Liurnia and getting into the academy.

[surreptitious]

Originally posted by Sore:

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I will try them.

Originally posted by Diarrhea Blaster:

You need stones to upgrade your current weapon. There is a better staff to get right away if you know where to find it. But at lot of the int staves aren't direct upgrades, it depends on your build and what spells you use.

I don't have a build. I just have staff + spell + int. I'm getting the feeling if I want to enjoy the loot I should probably just reroll to str? Upgrading my starter staff instead of using new loot sounds pretty boring. Not bad but perhaps not what I expected.

Maybe it's just the early game that's sparse?

Its not that type of game .
You are not going to get a pistol then a riffle then a bazooka then a
You are going to choose to play with a pistol , then arrange spells and talismans around that weapon choice .

Then upgrade that weapon as high as you can .
You can beat this game with the weapon you start with . upgraded being easier...
Your improvements are gotten by knowing the enemy and developing some muscle memory .

[SundownKid]

Besides Gravitas, you can also sneak past Stormveil Castle and simply go to Village of the Albinaurics to snag the Crystal Sword with minimal effort or fighting. It's an innate Int weapon that upgrades with Somber Stones. You can then return to Limgrave to explore at your leisure, though there is an easy Somber Stone 1 on the Eastern side of Agheel Lake and a Stone 2 near Castle Morne.

An added bonus of this is that you can devote all your normal stones to your staff, though I suggest grabbing Demi-Human Queen's Staff before starting to upgrade.

[Sham!]

as a pure caster it's incantations/spells that get you excited more than seals/staves
ofc there are better ones but functionally they are all the same

slightly different experience than finding a new beating stick as a str build, your casting stick can stay unchanged for the entire playthru without major drawbacks

[DELAMAIN]

Originally posted by Sham!:

as a pure caster it's incantations/spells that get you excited more than seals/staves
ofc there are better ones but functionally they are all the same

slightly different experience than finding a new beating stick as a str build, your casting stick can stay unchanged for the entire playthru without major drawbacks

lol what>? you definetely dont know thisngs about staffs and seals

[Sham!]

Originally posted by DELAMAIN:

Originally posted by Sham!:

as a pure caster it's incantations/spells that get you excited more than seals/staves
ofc there are better ones but functionally they are all the same

slightly different experience than finding a new beating stick as a str build, your casting stick can stay unchanged for the entire playthru without major drawbacks

lol what>? you definetely dont know thisngs about staffs and seals

as long as you can cast your bread and butter incant or sorceries and upgrade you are set

you hardly have to min max with a caster build to see the damage lol

[Voodoo]

Originally posted by Sore:

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I will try them.

Originally posted by Diarrhea Blaster:

You need stones to upgrade your current weapon. There is a better staff to get right away if you know where to find it. But at lot of the int staves aren't direct upgrades, it depends on your build and what spells you use.

I don't have a build. I just have staff + spell + int. I'm getting the feeling if I want to enjoy the loot I should probably just reroll to str? Upgrading my starter staff instead of using new loot sounds pretty boring. Not bad but perhaps not what I expected.

Maybe it's just the early game that's sparse?

Well the starting staff, and catalyst are pretty amazing at sub 60 int, i think demi human will be better at sub 40 and theres also meteoric stuff if you go off beaten path which cant be upgraded but is the best early on. at 60+ int you will use either rennala staff from midgame boss in liurnia or lusat which is even further on and comes with drawbacks.

As for int weapons, there are some unique pieces but the game relies heavily on ashes of war where you can turn mundane weapon into differencet affinities with different abilities.
In liurnia of the lakes, the 2nd big area you can defeat nights cavalry to get ash of war ice spear, combine that with some spear or twinblade from ruins in limgrave and it will carry you till endgame costing less fp and doing more damage than spells are at similiar lvl.
It will also make your weapon scale by default as cold, aka dex+int, but if you get whetblade from academy in liurnia you can turn it into magic scaling which will go off pure int(thats only weapon damage, ashes of war have their own scaling but scale most from upgrades to weapon with exception being unique weapons)

[John]

For backup weapons which scale with int, there are a few options in Caelid. Sword of St. Trina primarily scales with int, easy to obtain, have to dodge the crows a bit and you need 1 key. And the Death's Poker from the Death Rite Bird, which can easily be killed with a bunch of holy pots. The ash of war has a really high scaling with int, you do have to learn how to use it though. The ash has 3 different options to use, regular ash for an explosion, ash combo'd with a charge attack on it for a bigger explosion, and the ash combo'd with a regular attack for a stream of black fire.

[DELAMAIN]

Originally posted by Sham!:

Originally posted by DELAMAIN:

lol what>? you definetely dont know thisngs about staffs and seals

as long as you can cast your bread and butter incant or sorceries and upgrade you are set

you hardly have to min max with a caster build to see the damage lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KDq4b7eyIU&t=3s
you will be surprised
btw Meteorite staff obtainable on lvl 1 will be your staff half of game

[Jouni]

If you want a melee weapon that benefits of INT then there isn't any at the start of the game. Stat scaling in general is very weak for unupgraded weapons. Nothing to do with the INT stat really. For a spell caster I would recommend Sacrificial Axe since it gives you 4 FP for each enemy that dies in your world(no matter how they die). It is dropped by an enemy that appears in the area around the castle in Weeping Peninsula at night. It can be wielded with 11 STR if you use it with both hands. Otherwise you have to raise your strength to 16.

For a spell casting tool there is only one option worth mentioning. The Meteorite Staff. It's the best staff from early to mid game. It has large INT scaling but can't be upgraded. In the ruins at the dragon swamp there is a chest that transports you somewhere. After you are transported there run out and look for the staff in the AIDS swamp outside. After you have the staff you can fast travel back to Limgrave.

[Sham!]

Originally posted by DELAMAIN:

Originally posted by Sham!:

as long as you can cast your bread and butter incant or sorceries and upgrade you are set

you hardly have to min max with a caster build to see the damage lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KDq4b7eyIU&t=3s
you will be surprised
btw Meteorite staff obtainable on lvl 1 will be your staff half of game

i know, but you dont really need it anyway spellcasting melts hp bars
and if you grab it, it can last you the entire playthru without any major drawback even if it eventually loses to other staves

[Kalamir]

Originally posted by DELAMAIN:

btw Meteorite staff obtainable on lvl 1 will be your staff half of game

Lies!!!!

It's closer to 3/4 of the game, or 100% if your underleveled.

[DELAMAIN]

Originally posted by Kalamir:

Originally posted by DELAMAIN:

btw Meteorite staff obtainable on lvl 1 will be your staff half of game

Lies!!!!

It's closer to 3/4 of the game, or 100% if your underleveled.

just grab it on lvl 1

[Yal]

Yeah going to Sellia early and grabbing the Meteorite Staff is a great start for a sorcerer, it starts fully upgraded so you can save the stones for other things (+ the Rock Sling spell found nearby is amazing, its only issue is the high mana cost). But if you want the best spells, you'll need to sneak into Liurnia as early as you dare and head to the northwest corner, Caria Manor... clearing this dungeon gives you access to a spell tutor and you'll pick up a bunch of magic stuff along the way, like a frost rapier that has the only 0-cost projectile attack in the game, and TWO boss spells.
(This is kinda hard so maybe save it for later, but keep it in mind as a long-term goal)


For INT damage you'll probably want a weapon that you can put ashes-of-war on, they're basically spells that work as weapon accessories (changing their scaling and being tied to that weapon). There's a merchant at the beach left of the starting point that sells a Broadsword, that's the earliest straightsword you can obtain (and they've got access to a lot of ashes).

Alternatively, finding the elevator down to Siofra River and then killing the stone guys until one of them drops their spear (innate INT scaling + magic damage + can equip ashes). Would work really well with the Ice Spear ash someone already suggested. (Frost damage is generally better on weapons than magic damage IMO, since most of your spells deal magic damage and the frostbite effect is both very useful and affects essentially every enemy)

Some good ashes for a wizard in no particular order:
- Glintstone Pebble (sold by Rogier inside Stormveil Castle; unlike the spell it has a combo stab attack which is surprisingly strong)
- Hoarfrost Stomp (lake behind Caira Manor; hits a big area and is near-instant)
- Sacred Blade (behind the big church north of the Mistwoods; it's faith-based but the projectile is very strong regardless and is great against skeletons)
- Flaming Strike (graveyard behind Redmane Castle, very difficult to get early on; do the combo attack for a great crowd control option + long-lasting weapon buff)