Rating builds from best to worst

[Alexandre]

Pure STR: Gigachad build, the absolute best, ER is meant to be played with a heavy Guts sword on both hands with heavy armor for poise and no helmet.

STR + FTH: Based & Redpilled. Grab a claymore and Order Blade and cleanse the lands between of the undead, witches/herbalists and other abominations.

Pure FTH: Based & Redpilled, but in a less physical way. More god and less steel to get rid of the reds, but still as good as the chad crusader.

FTH + INT: Golden Order build, you have some stinky INT but it's counterbalanced by FTH and you can cast some Based & Redpilled incantations.

FTH + DEX: Corrupted anti-hero build, you are infected by the most f*g stat (DEX) but you can still do some lord's work and kill a bunch of reds with swift holy slashes.

FTH + ARC: You can cast some Based & Redpilled spells, but also some gimmick pothead global south style spells, ARC is obviously a waste of points.

STR + INT: Mixed chad weapon handling with stinky INT spells, bellow average build.

STR + DEX: You are strong and weak at same time, can use both powerful high STR weapons but can also use the weakling high DEX weapons, not worth the investment.

STR + ARC: You still can beat the game with this, but only the STR part of your build will be useful, the ARC is only there for thematic purposes.

Pure ARC: Only if you want a challenge, like beating ER without using anything remotely useful.

Pure INT: Academicist pe*erast build, feel smart but it's actually dumb.

INT + ARC: For those who want to feel smart but are just some squishy fragile potheads that love the sound of their own voices on a woke debate parlor.

DEX + INT: Soyboy build, you are squishy and dumb but feel smart is in denial about women's obviously preference for gigachads.

DEX + ARC: You want to excel in being useless, the weak weapons + gimmick useless spells combo sure will make you a coop only type of guy.

Pure DEX: The original dex f*g build, it's a joke on DS community since DS1 because it's really a joke for how useless and woke it is. I don't believe someone would do this kind of build, unless it's some kind of youtube challenge (playing with the worst build ever).

[Sothis]

You are not even trying anymore.

[Humpenstilzchen]

Ooof what a wall of nonsense..

[Eastersimulator]

would be better game design if str and dex would improve cast speed so you are more motivated to play a str caster

[Nifty]

I'm just gonna re-write this:

Strength - has access to UGS which us one of the most competitive weapon categories due to hyper armor, but also has access to amazing scaling in medium sized weapon like black knight halberd and greatsword of solitude.

Dexterity - after the inclusion of throwing weapons and perfumes is arguable the most diverse scaling type in the game. Staples such as Washing Pole katana, and power stance curved swords will always be exceptionally strong.

Quality - quality is very interesting because you might classify it by great katanas, and great curved swords. But it's also just as competitive to shield crash with a finger print shield and deal 1000 dmg.

Intelligence - while not strictly speaking the best caster category it's really the combination of ranged pressure, counter spells, and some of the best weapons in the game that make intelligence builds scary.

Faith - the most diverse caster class in the game being equally viable as both pyromancy and holy dmg. The weapon follow a similar template, so there's something for everyone.

Scholar - the least weapon selection in the game being locked to two, but on the intelligence end you have the highest tracking potential in the game, and on the faith end you have zoning tools like tripple rings of light.

Arcane - the fact that you get access to dragon channel spells, and bleed makes arcane simple one of the highest dmg builds in the game. However that dmg is entirely based on "burst" and not "sustain"

For me personally I have raised strength, quality, and intelligence to max arena rank before I got bored and wondered off to do other things.

[lolschrauber]

As someone who played through the DLC with a pure arc build I can confirm that stapling your own balls to the ceiling sounds like more fun.

[Old Captain Yon]

STR + FTH: Best build because of versatility. Best stat softcaps that can be hit early. Best utiity from both worlds. Best pure % damage that scales well into NG cycles. Best big and small weapons selection. All op weapon classes from Whips up to Colossals have at least 1 Str/Fth weapon. 10/10

Pure ARC: Best status % damage, good weapon selection with Occult infusion. Best build for farming mobs and let's admit, for many it is the hardest thing in the game. Best damage options for PvP. Many weapons that claim to be scaling off Arc/Dex or Arc/Str actually scale best off pure Arcane. Mohgwyn Spear is still the best PvE explorer's weapon bar none. 10/10

Pure INT: Best ranged damage. Magic damage type is barely resisted by anything except one early-game dungeon so you are not obliged to google up enemy resistances. Best scaling and buff-stacking opportunities. Best stealth techniques both PvP and PvE, combined with ranged damage. Hard-counters half the PvP builds. Needs Mind less than pure FTH so less stat hungry. Easy to play. 10/10

Pure FTH: A bit less damage and combat power than pure INT, makes up for it with best flexibility bar none. Good melee, good range. % damage. Status. EVRYTHING. Can run blue flasks only. Cancer in duels. Best-looking weapons and spells. Everyone will love you in coop. 10/10

Pure STR: Tanky melee type build. Unga-bunga. Satisfying to play and has most easy playstyle of all. Best build for melee purists. 2-handing, dual wielding, greatshield pokes, you can do it all and you can do it well. Has some good ranged options but is overall close-combat. Braindead easy to play and makes PvE kinda boring so 9/10 from me.

Pure DEX: Has most op meta weapons for some reason. Lightning is best elemental dmg type and you have plenty of it. Your only real ranged option is better than 90% of game's ranged options. Cancer in PvP but it was probably your goal all along. Harder to hit softcaps and not AS good for PvE so slightly worse than pure STR. 8/10

STR/ARC: A solid choice that lacks strengths of Str/Fth but has many unique and cool weapons. Got SOOOOOOO much love and new stuff in the DLC. Is fun to play but can be challenging. Forgiving softcaps. 8/10

FTH/INT: All or nothing build. Has so many options now that the DLC is out, but is very unforgiving with stats and requires immense skill. The ultimate jack of all trades build. You won't get as much raw dmamge as higher-tier builds but it is the best one of meme builds. 7/10

STR/INT: INT for chads that don't level Mind. Basically STR/ARC with many cool flavourful weapons, good softcaps and unique themes, but with no acess to high status except frost and other benefits of Arc. Is fun, could be stronger. 6/10

DEX/FTH: Can be fun, but at the end of day STR/FTH does everything better. Like, e v e r y t h i n g. Softcaps are a pain too, you will have underwhelming damage. If you want that casting speed just off-hand Azur staff. 5/10

FTH/ARC: COMMUNION BROS UNITE!!! Best build bar none for low-level runs. But at real levels it is nothin very special. Especially considering how much FTH/ARC got cucked in the DLC. Has like 3 spells that are OP but the rest is meh. No variety. Also a spellcaster double stat build so all problems of INT/FTH apply here. At least INT/FTH has op weapons. Sad. 4/10

DEX/INT: Fun on paper but requires you to be really high level to start getting benefits. Especially considering there are not many real Dex/Int weapons because most of them are pure INT with Dex requirements. Yes, even Moonveil. 3/10

Quality (Str/Dex): May be good but you must be so overleveled to make it count it ain't even funny. Up to like lvl 150 is strictly inferior to any other build. 2/10

DEX/ARC: Ah yes the build with a whopping one (UNO) weapon, that has true Dex/Arc scaling. Yay. At least the weapon is very good. Unless you feel an overwhelming urge to cosplay as Morgott, you better do not do this one. 1/10

INT/ARC: Probably the most obscure and weird build in the game. Bubble sorceries and status spells. This can be strangely OP at times but it is usually just very suboptimal because bleed spells actually require FTH. And they nerfed Impenetrable Thorns. 0/10.

You also forgot one good build that is END. You just dump all your points into HP and END and use weapons that do not scale or scale poorly. It is actually a very solid build and at levels below 60 probably the strongest one overall. Crossbows and cannons are very versatile. 7/10

[Faust Wither]

Where you guys copy paste this? Reddit?

[Nifty]

Well personally I wrote mine with words based on pvp and pve experience. The rest looks like chat gpt.

[Old Captain Yon]

Originally posted by Nifty:

Well personally I wrote mine with words based on pvp and pve experience. The rest looks like chat gpt.

I will take this as a compliment

[mpcgannon]

Your best work yet.

[mpcgannon]

Originally posted by lolschrauber:

As someone who played through the DLC with a pure arc build I can confirm that stapling your own balls to the ceiling sounds like more fun.

I don't know what yous guys is taking about. I arcaned two great stars to gear affect. Jump 'n bop man! And every now and then it was a blood pinata