Is it viable to use intelligence melee on first walkthrough?

[swordfish]

Or am I going to be spread thin?

[nfinite.recursion]

Hybrid builds are a bad idea unless you are RL200+. Most folks finish the game at around RL120.

[purpl3 h4z3]

Just focus on INT.

[swordfish]

Originally posted by nfinite.recursion:

Hybrid builds are a bad idea unless you are RL200+. Most folks finish the game at around RL120.

Guess you are right baddie
Thank you

[LuckyCheshire]

I would not start with that build. Later on you can respec your build, you can try the build out then once you have access to some better equipment. I can't remember any melee weapons that actually scale with Int in the first area, and the item that will let you change weapon scaling to Int will be a while as well. It's not out of the question in the late-game, but don't start the game with that as your goal.

[impuretrash2878]

It absolutely is viable. Early to mid game, your weapon gains a lot more damage from upgrading rather than your stats. So instead of wasting points on str or dex you can just level vigor and int or faith. In fact, I think its a good idea even with pure melee builds to neglect investing much into dex/str until you have a fully upgraded weapon.

[Grottowalker]

Originally posted by impuretrash2878:

It absolutely is viable. Early to mid game, your weapon gains a lot more damage from upgrading rather than your stats. So instead of wasting points on str or dex you can just level vigor and int or faith. In fact, I think its a good idea even with pure melee builds to neglect investing much into dex/str until you have a fully upgraded weapon.

even more then that there are a good handfull of weapons that scale more in one stat then another, so there are some melee weapons that scale well with mostly int so you can get by with the min str or dex requirements.

[Rena Ichigawa]

Frost infused great stars make the game a complete cake walk. Is a insanely strong strength/int build because you have two ststus effects that simply chunk away health bars, while still hitting like a dump truck even if the enemy is immune.

[Senki]

There are int scaling melee weapons and int infusions for melee weapons so it's perfectly viable

[impuretrash2878]

Originally posted by Senki:

There are int scaling melee weapons and int infusions for melee weapons so it's perfectly viable

you need not limit yourself to only int scaling weapons. Just use whatever weapon you like and it will work just fine.

[Demented_shade]

If you do int melee from the beginning you'll have a rough start, and this is just because there's no int scaling weapons in the starter area and the thing u need to make things scale int is also not in the starter zone. Then when u do get a weapon you might need to get some levels bcuz of attribute requirements. If u knew where to go, you could skip to a weapon or the necessary item immediately but a player going in blind will have trouble finding a int scaling melee early on.

I would say just pick strength or dex and level only one of those to around 20-30, then start scaling int later when u have access to int scaling weapons. Other than the lack of options at the start (unless u know where to skip ahead) its perfectly fine build.

[Zogtar]

You'll be hard pressed to ruin the early game with how easy it is to access upgrade materials. Respeccing is available and it's fine to make mistakes or just play around with weapons while you figure out what you like.

Feel free to do a strength low int build or vice versa. It don't matter.

[Artek [General]]

Well i'm not sure what you mean by INT melee. Melee with INT infusion? You are just a generic melee guy who deals magic damage instead of physical, its all the same really.

[ebolaisamongus]

Its completely viable as that's what I did in my first playthrough. I was around level 180 with 60/60 in Dex and Int and the rest in vigor, stamina, and mind. I further optimized that to level 150 where the power isn't as high but you still pack a punch and have a arsenal of tools for any situation.

The great thing about Elden Ring is there are a lot of options for Int Melee like Bastard's Star (has one of the coolest Ash of War), Helden's Sword, Dark Moon Sword, Clayman's Harpoon, Moonveil Katana. Plus you can further infuse normal weapons with ashes of war that scale with Int.

As someone whose first experience with the game was with a build like this, feel free to ask more details.

[Gamerzilla]

With a bit of luck, you can run to the siofra elevator once you get your mount, and in 10 minutes you can have a claymans harpoon, which is a decent int scaling weapon. Slap on a low str shield and you have a starter kit for getting Moonveil and Meteoric ore Blade. int Ushigatana takes longer as you need to go clear Academy.

[Ashenran]

Originally posted by swordfish:

Or am I going to be spread thin?

Carian sword hit like a truck and faster than any ultra.