How to make a character for a DOT (damage over time) build?

[FeuersternWaCa]

Hi there,
I have a question, are Damage over Time builds a thing in Elden Ring, if yes what is the best way to spec into them. I heard about something called "the scarlet rot" can that be utilised as a DOT build?
If yes how would one go about it, like starting class, weapon locations, which stats should I spec into...
I know this will probably "ruin" the flow of the game...but I don't really mind + having non story goals, often helps me in open world games

(I don't care about spoilers xD)

[LittleEtherKitty]

Scarlet rot and poison are both dots, and to increase damage, frost is good, too. Dragon bosses allow for some good spells for this, there's a late game area that can provide some scarlet rot weapons.

[brownie689]

DOT sounds cool but never works because bosses are far too aggressive in this game. You will never be able to avoid them for long enough to kill them with DOT damage.

[FeuersternWaCa]

Originally posted by LittleEtherKitty:

Scarlet rot and poison are both dots, and to increase damage, frost is good, too. Dragon bosses allow for some good spells for this, there's a late game area that can provide some scarlet rot weapons.

How should one start building for that? Like what starting class, what stats etc?

[echo_ML]

Theres about 2 status types that passively deal damage, which I think is what you're looking for. Poison and Scarlet Rot.

Poison has two forms, Regular Poison and Deadly Poison. Regular Poison lasts longer but has less DPS, but generally does more damage in total. Deadly Poison is shorter duration with higher DPS, so you can pick which one suits your needs. Different weapons/spells/skills apply different forms of poison, so you might have to check wikis to see what does what. The easiest place to find poison is a couple things in Caelid, like the Venomous Fang claws in the Abandoned Cave or the Poison Mist Ash of War that drops from a scarab in the Aeonia Swamp.

Scarlet Rot is basically the stronger form of poison. It's typically found in the later game, but you can acquire some forms of it early. The easiest is to kill a dragon (likely Agheel, since he's the weakest, or Greyoll since she can't fight back,) acquire a dragon heart, and head to one of the dragon communion churches to get the Rotten Breath incantation. Alternatively, you can head to the Shaded Castle in Altus Plateau and get the Antspur Rapier, a weapon that has built-in scarlet rot buildup. By combining this with the Poison Mist skill you can have both status going at once.

Additionally you can always use spirit summons to fight for you, which i'd consider DOT, and draw enemies' attention while you let the Rot and Poison do it's work. Hope this helps :)

[Mander]

Originally posted by brownie689:

DOT sounds cool but never works because bosses are far too aggressive in this game. You will never be able to avoid them for long enough to kill them with DOT damage.

Aahahahahhahahahahaha...
You serious?

[StarlightAsh♡]

Originally posted by Mander:

Originally posted by brownie689:

DOT sounds cool but never works because bosses are far too aggressive in this game. You will never be able to avoid them for long enough to kill them with DOT damage.

Aahahahahhahahahahaha...
You serious?

I honestly cannot tell if he is serious or trolling, it can be a pain to apply it to some bosses because of high resistances to some effects but definitely is not hard to dodge most bosses for a long time

[Mander]

Originally posted by FeuersternWaCa:

Hi there,
I have a question, are Damage over Time builds a thing in Elden Ring, if yes what is the best way to spec into them. I heard about something called "the scarlet rot" can that be utilised as a DOT build?
If yes how would one go about it, like starting class, weapon locations, which stats should I spec into...
I know this will probably "ruin" the flow of the game...but I don't really mind + having non story goals, often helps me in open world games

(I don't care about spoilers xD)

Poison + scarlet rot is a very nasty combos and you can achieve the core of the build pretty early game, if you don't mind roaming around a little.

- Godslayer's Seal: Stormveil Castle. Among the first seals you can find, and if your faith stay under 68, it's the best seal for your build.
- Poison Mist incantation: Weeping Peninsula
- Rotten Breath /Ekzykes Decay: Church of Dragon Communion in Caelid.

Derivative loadout and items, found later in the adventure:

- Rot Pot: to craft it, you'll need the Nomadic Warrior Cookbook, found in the Lake of Rot
- Mushroom Crown: Lake of Rot
- Antspur Rapier: dropped by Marais at the Shaded Castle
- Kindred of Rot's Exultation Talisman: Altus Plateau - Seethewater Cave

Now, if you really want to add even more nastiness to the above, sleep's pot can help you against some bosses, because the poison DoT doesn't interrupt the dreaming state. You can cycle sleep and breath poison to kill them without having to fight them.
Infuse the Rapier with bleed, to proc both bleed and rot and poison. OR, farm the Rotten Battle Hammer in the Consecrated Snowfield, infuse it with Bleed and use the Ash of War: Lion’s Claw for a very strong option for damage and status build up. Once you poise break them, breath poison in their face or riposte them with a misericorde with bleed.
What else? Pest Thread / Pest Spears to do ungodly amount of damage in general (not thematically poisonous, but they are still servant of rot incantations). The latter is found in the DLC.
Rotten Butterflies too, from the DLC.

STAT distribution depends on what weapon you want to use: I planned the above for a level 350 tarnished, with starting point vagabond class, just to steamroll everything. It is possible to achieve a much more efficient build, if you abandon arcane and dragon communion spells (and bleed infusion too at that point, or your damage will suffer). Still, a mushroom head with a rotting hammer is visually funny for me to imagine. The personification of the meme “Tell me the name of God, you fungal piece of ♥♥♥♥♥♥!”

[Mander]

Originally posted by StarlightAsh♡:

Originally posted by Mander:

Aahahahahhahahahahaha...
You serious?

I honestly cannot tell if he is serious or trolling, it can be a pain to apply it to some bosses because of high resistances to some effects but definitely is not hard to dodge most bosses for a long time

It's how I killed the finald boss of the DLC on NG+6: poison + Rot.
I really didn't have the will to fight him again legit after NG+5.

[opus132]

Originally posted by brownie689:

DOT sounds cool but never works because bosses are far too aggressive in this game. You will never be able to avoid them for long enough to kill them with DOT damage.

It can be useful on those bosses that have phases where you get little opportunity to deal damage, and there are quite a few in this game. Also enemies that just love to pack and leave in the middle of the fight (like dragons).

Personally, even if i made a build that focused on poison or rot i'd throw other status effects in there too.

[FeuersternWaCa]

Originally posted by Mander:

Originally posted by FeuersternWaCa:

Hi there,
I have a question, are Damage over Time builds a thing in Elden Ring, if yes what is the best way to spec into them. I heard about something called "the scarlet rot" can that be utilised as a DOT build?
If yes how would one go about it, like starting class, weapon locations, which stats should I spec into...
I know this will probably "ruin" the flow of the game...but I don't really mind + having non story goals, often helps me in open world games

(I don't care about spoilers xD)

Poison + scarlet rot is a very nasty combos and you can achieve the core of the build pretty early game, if you don't mind roaming around a little.

- Godslayer's Seal: Stormveil Castle. Among the first seals you can find, and if your faith stay under 68, it's the best seal for your build.
- Poison Mist incantation: Weeping Peninsula
- Rotten Breath /Ekzykes Decay: Church of Dragon Communion in Caelid.

Derivative loadout and items, found later in the adventure:

- Rot Pot: to craft it, you'll need the Nomadic Warrior Cookbook, found in the Lake of Rot
- Mushroom Crown: Lake of Rot
- Antspur Rapier: dropped by Marais at the Shaded Castle
- Kindred of Rot's Exultation Talisman: Altus Plateau - Seethewater Cave

Now, if you really want to add even more nastiness to the above, sleep's pot can help you against some bosses, because the poison DoT doesn't interrupt the dreaming state. You can cycle sleep and breath poison to kill them without having to fight them.
Infuse the Rapier with bleed, to proc both bleed and rot and poison. OR, farm the Rotten Battle Hammer in the Consecrated Snowfield, infuse it with Bleed and use the Ash of War: Lion’s Claw for a very strong option for damage and status build up. Once you poise break them, breath poison in their face or riposte them with a misericorde with bleed.
What else? Pest Thread / Pest Spears to do ungodly amount of damage in general (not thematically poisonous, but they are still servant of rot incantations). The latter is found in the DLC.
Rotten Butterflies too, from the DLC.

STAT distribution depends on what weapon you want to use: I planned the above for a level 350 tarnished, with starting point vagabond class, just to steamroll everything. It is possible to achieve a much more efficient build, if you abandon arcane and dragon communion spells (and bleed infusion too at that point, or your damage will suffer). Still, a mushroom head with a rotting hammer is visually funny for me to imagine. The personification of the meme “Tell me the name of God, you fungal piece of ♥♥♥♥♥♥!”

That is alot, but thanks. So what would be the best approche/"battle plan" to reach all this?

[Marmarmar34]

Scarlet rot, poison, and black flame is what you're looking for.

[Mander]

Originally posted by FeuersternWaCa:

That is alot, but thanks. So what would be the best approche/"battle plan" to reach all this?

Well, using a build planner, and keeping thing VERY comfy damage wise, I would say:

- Starting Class: Hero

Vigor: 40 (don't get vigor checked by bosses).
Mind: 41 (good compromise, the build is not heavy on spamming magic other than pest spear and threads)
Endurance: 31
Strength: 26 (absolute minimum for the rotten battle hammer, the more you invest here, the more your martial damage rise)
Dex: 45 (for casting spells faster. Moreover, with dex at 45 you can use the bolt of gransax, which is imo the best sniping option for a faith build)
Intelligence: 7
Faith: 40 (but raise it up if you want more mileage from pest thread)
Arcane: 18 (but I would raise it up just for discovery. Farming some armour is a pita otherwise).

Final Level: 169.
Because Antspur Rapier is a dex weapon, you can postpone raising strength for a while… or get addicted to the big bonk, and switch much earlier. As you prefer.
It depends on how much you want to hit enemies directly (I greatly endorse it AND you can find a decent battle hammer in Stormveil castle too, with the godslayer seal.). Alternatively, once you acquire both, put the bloodhound step ash of war on the antspur rapier and dodge everything while letting the poison and rot make short work of your enemies.
Vigor should be your main stat to raise until you’re comfortable about trading hits with the enemies, endurance, mind, dex immediately after.
Poison Mist should be among the top priority to acquire, just as following Ranni questline (for the mushroom crown and the lake of rot and the blood affinity). Quick dip through Liurnia and beeline for the talisman of rot exulthation/antspur rapier in the Altus Plateau.

[FeuersternWaCa]

so...I opened a chest near the start and ended up in a really...weird area...I think that might actually be the scarlet rot, because all I know about it, that it is "nothing like we see on earth"....and that region looked like that + the red sky