Improving my Samurai in Shadow of Erdtree

[Dark Portal]

I am really having hard time in the expansion despite being around level 189 and all my main weapons fully upgraded, I feel like I am realing too much on my Tiche spirit Ash with bosess.

I am considering respec or trying to get proper gear or better bleed weapons.

I have all the majors Katanas from the base game, Moonveil, Melenia Hand and River of blood Uchigatana, Nagakiba , Dragon Scale and Meteoric Ore Blade, I am wearing Ronen Set but I feel like I need to get better Armor cuz I am EASY dying if I am not careful.


current Stats:
Vigor : 53
Mind :30
Endurance:33
Strength:23
Dexterity:52
Intelligence:50
Faith:8
Arcane:20

Talismans using : Crimson Amber Medallion+3,Crimson Seed Talisman, Rennala Cameo, Green Turtle Talisman.

Your suggestions?

[Zogtar]

Lotta good advice here already. Mnd down, vgr up, and a scadutree collectathon.

To further fit the samurai motif, check out the large katana in the DLC and see if you want to use one. They're prett-ee prett-ee good.

[Dark Portal]

Well I tried bleed, but I am not used to it, I think I resepc back to Intelligence but this time won't incerse Arcane that much, any suggestion to 193 level Intelligence/dex focued build?

[Fistraiser]

Originally posted by Dark Portal:

Well I tried bleed, but I am not used to it, I think I resepc back to Intelligence but this time won't incerse Arcane that much, any suggestion to 193 level Intelligence/dex focued build?

Are you still roleplaying as samurai or want to play mage?

[Dark Portal]

Samurai hybrid dex/int

[Fistraiser]

If your focus around int and dex then completly drop your arcane.you wont really get much out of it if you not going bleed build.The scaling is different with the weapons also so some is better to have more int and some others to have more dex.for example moonveil the ash of war damage scales off your int i think.
Also i would consider put frost infusion on one katana.it scaled well with high dex and high int and make you build up frost faster.this will reduce their defense increaseing your damage.
Also katanas i think in general all have bleed built in so you'll still bleed the enemy eventually .

[Alexion]

Pretty much what others have said. Limit your mind/endurance/strengh to the minimal requirement. Enough endurance for med weight, enough mind for the summon of your choice, str for the requirement of your weapon.

I'm assuming you will be using moonveil, having a stave to cast Terra Magica to increase in magic damage can be a thing.

Also wondering if you are doing powerstancing or 2 handing your weapon as it can change the talisman choices.

For talisman: Dragoncrest greatshield helps in tanking better.
Offense options can be: Magic scorpion charm if you want to max the magic damage part of your moonveil, do know it decreases your physical resistance.
Two-handed Sword Talisman if you 2 hand the katana, I do believe it only affects the physical damage and not the magic part.
Millicent's Prosthesis or Rotten Winged Sword Insignia if you powerstance for more damage.
These are general damage increase not tied to a single move, and also assuming you will be using talismans that add aow damage like alexander/warrior jar or rellana cameo.

Tears: Opaline Hardtear helps in tanking, Magic shrouding cracked tear ups your magic damage part.

Most of these are just adding more damage or better tanking to general builts.

[Yal]

IMO the seed and turtle talismans are basically placebos, I would use something with more immediate effects (for instance, Ritual Shield talisman almost halves damage if you're on full health which means one sip is very likely to bring you BACK to full health). The DLC also has a talisman that recovers your FP over time which is AMAZING for exploration as a mage.

To max out the benefit of all that intelligence make sure to bring something long-range for sniping (helps with those bird golems), Frost infusions (on Nagikiba / Uchigatana) also gets you intelligence scaling + damage that is percentage-based (which helps when you're short on Fragment levels). Both of Radahn's boss weapons might also be useful but they're more STR/INT than DEX/INT so I dunno if I'd RECOMMEND them per se.

If you don't wanna rely too much on Tiche, check out Greatshield Soldier Ashes (very tanky but bad against magic, INCREDIBLY good at locking down fast dodgy enemies like Black Knife Assassins and Deathknights) and Depraved Perfumer Carmaan (not very strong but has infinite heals, is excellent at staying alive and providing a distraction). Heck, the other perfumer is also awesome because she can cast the shield mist buff (-90% damage for one hit) which might help in the tougher boss fights.

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by Yal:

IMO the seed and turtle talismans are basically placebos

Stamina regeneration speed boosts are actually a lot more helpful than most people think. Even the basic Green Turtle was decent, but the new Two-Headed Turtle is fantastic. Stamina determines how often you can dodge, how often you can attack, how long you can block...

[[FAC]Gibbleguts]

Originally posted by Dark Portal:

Originally posted by LuckyCheshire:

I guess you kind of already did actually. Well, first of all there's an upgraded version of the Green Turtle Talisman in the DLC that you can get really early on. That would be a good one to look for. The Rellana Cameo is only really going to be a good option if you heavily use one of the AoWs that benefit from it, which for Katanas would be Unsheathe. Up to you if you want to keep it or not. The Crimson Amber and Crimson Seed certainly aren't bad choices, but if you want to get the most out of your build I would look at some more offensive options. If you want to lean on Bleed, the Lord of Blood's Exultation is an obvious choice. It's also hard to go wrong with Alexander's Shard.

As for armor, there are a ton of options. It's up to you if you want to stay thematic or not. Some of the best options stat-wise though are the Crucible Knight sets, Radahn's set, and the Cleanrot Knight set. All of those are available comparatively early in the base game.

Well I kinda locked my self from getting Alexander's Shard...(One of he biggest mistakes I did in early game) and no plan on starting NG+, I have the weaker version though.

my first play through was a learning curve, to skip ng+ is a shame, that play through becomes way more interesting and your builds start to feel way more potent. I recommend at least one new play through, try a different run, Mage maybe? work with total bleed build watch the bleeds pay off! Lightning is very fun. The best i have found with like 8 play through was is a strength faith build... but Faith almost anything is good! IMO

[Dark Portal]

My current Stats(now level 196)

Vigor 52(aiming for 60 in my next level ups)
Dex: 60
Int: 60
mind:30
Endrunce:35(aiming for 40 in my next level ups)
Faith:10
Arcane:10
Strangh:20

I switched to Black knife set with Crucible Knight Hammer hamlet
looking for recomnded staff to use for spells, I mainly using Mooveil and Uchigatana both fully upgraded and Uchigatana with Unsheathe ashes of war and bleed enchantment, I realdy feel a bit better now.

[Grimmz]

i don't get why the katana enjoyers don't build around arcane.. these weapons are made for bleed damage, so why not invest in bleed?

also talismans: Shard of Alexander, Carian Filigreed Crest, Rotten Winged Sword Insignia, Lord of Blood's Exultation.

i beat the dlc with rivers of blood pre-nerf. obviously the last boss took me longer than the rest of the dlc.

[Dark Portal]

@Grimmz I did the mistake of locking my self out of getting Shard of Alexander... I still have warrior jar though.

Sure in NG+ I can get it but I am planning on just finish the DLC and move on from the game.

[Alexion]

Lusat's Glintstone Staff for highest INT sorcery scaling, but it comes with a +50% fp cost for spells. Not a big problem with your 30 mind.

Otherwise if you don't want the added fp cost, Academy Glintstone Staff for int =/< 68, int above 68, Carian Regal Scepter.

These are if you are going for damage and pure INT sorcery scaling.

[mpcgannon]

I can't offer help but the level of detail you provided for your problem is impeccable!
I hope you get your build sorted out and have the time of your life!

[Yal]

Originally posted by Dark Portal:

Uchigatana with Unsheathe ashes of war and bleed enchantment

Try out the Double Slash ash too, it's actually a 6 hit combo (if you keep pressing the button multiple times for the followup attacks) and it's a really good compliment to the uchi's regular moveset because it starts with a fast horizontal attack. And if you also make it Frost it can benefit from your int as well (it gets both frostbite and bleeding + int scaling). Frost is like a weaker version of bleeding but also increases all damage the target takes so it helps a lot when fighting stuff you're underlevelled for.