Newbie Samurai Questions. Help Please.

[Pαιɳɯҽαʋҽɾ]

Hi, new to the game here. Just started a Samurai and read that Dex is the way to go. So I am aiming for 50 Vigor and 75 Dex stats first. Currently level 49, just dropped Godrick and activated his rune. Would like to ask some of the Veteran players for advice.

1. Should I start pumping into other stats or wait till I hit my target first? To lower my weight or increase my FP?

2. Does Light Load dodging have a better advantage over Medium Load dodging? Meaning, does it make a difference whatsoever? Like maybe a slightly longer window of invulnerability while dodging or something?

3. I am using dual Uchigatana +4. This really helped with the dmg output on Godrick. Dropped him before Nel died. But a lot of online guides say Dex is best for 2H katana (stance breaking). I don't have Seppuku and not sure if I should go for a Bleed build. Is it any good? Or just stick with pumping Dex and just dual wield all the way?

4. Unsheathed. Most guides say to use this over anything else. Isn't this the DEFAULT one we start with as Samurai? Do I need to go Agheel and get the Unsheathed Ash? Whats the difference?

5. I found a new Minor Erdtree near the sleeping 80,000 rune dragon. But didnt get anything for my physicks flask. Did I read it wrong? I thought we can get new stuff near/under the tree or something along those lines?

I actually have a ton of other questions but I think these bug me the most for now.

Love the game.

And thanks in advance for any advice you vets could give me!

[Hittogami]

:

[~♪]

I'm hardly a veteran, but I enjoyed dex builds in soulsbournes a lot.

1: You could go for 25 END low softcap for optimal stamina, but damage and hp is a priority if you don't struggle with FP and other stuff.
2: Medium roll is most of time perfectly fine on its own, but with light load you run slightly faster and roll further, but sometimes light load makes rolling awkward in tiny; narrow areas with cliffs.
I think both versions have same iframes.
3: I would wait with making it full bleed build without proper ashes and EQ, but you can always experiment a bit if you have proper whetstone and see how it goes, especially for bosses.
I think in early game bleed works better with claws if you don't mind bad range, but it's just my experience.
If you ever struggle with defense from dual wielding; I'd say 1h uchigatana guard counters are actually pretty poise (stance break) damaging to mobs if you apply 2-3 of them quickly.
4: Unsheathe is default skill for uchigatana, If you find ash you can apply it to other katanas that doesn't have it.
5: Did you kill putrid avatar near tree? I think that's the answer.

[Tisiphone Edge]

1. Don't beeline for that much dex and put some points into Mind (depending on how often you use weapon skills) or Endurance. You might also want faith for buffing before boss fights, since their requirements are low, and Rivers of Blood (and anything that uses arcane scaling) uses arcane for blood loss scaling.

2. The differences between light and medium rolling are negligible. I think the former uses less stamina and goes slightly farther.

3. Two-handing increases your strength by 50% for damage calculation, which you don't care about. It also keeps your weapon from bouncing on walls and changes your moveset, which you might care about. Dual-wielding should increase status buildup, which is probably what you want for a bleed build. You don't need to choose between the two, however, since you can switch between two-handing and dual wielding by just pressing two buttons. Don't worry too much about not having Seppuku and don't get ahead of yourself. You'll do enough blood loss without it.

4. Ashes of War let you put skills onto weapons that don't come with them, as long as they use normal smithing stones.

5. Which tree are you talking about? I'm too far into NG+ to know this off the top of my head.

[Pαιɳɯҽαʋҽɾ]

Originally posted by ~♪:

I'm hardly a veteran, but I enjoyed dex builds in soulsbournes a lot.

5: Did you kill putrid avatar near tree? I think that's the answer.

Hmm...must have missed it. Nothing aggro'ed me when I went near the tree. I'll check again. Was looking for a chest actually. Didnt know it was a mini boss drop.

Originally posted by Tisiphone Edge:

1. Don't beeline for that much dex and put some points into Mind (depending on how often you use weapon skills) or Endurance. You might also want faith for buffing before boss fights, since their requirements are low, and Rivers of Blood (and anything that uses arcane scaling) uses arcane for blood loss scaling.

5. Which tree are you talking about? I'm too far into NG+ to know this off the top of my head.

I am currently using 7-1 ratio for health and FP flask. Usually thats enough FP for me. I dont use Unsheathed a lot in boss fights. Too focused on staying alive and dodging. I normally use it if I get attacked by 2 or more mobs and need to drop one real quick. The only thing that I would say that bugs me is the Lone Wolves. Takes almost 75% of my FP. Maybe a little into Mind and Endurance then.

Its the one near the sleeping dragon. Closer to south Caelid. I need to open the map to see the exact location. xD




I'm trying to grind to level 60 before I continue to Raya. I was thinking of Cold Uchigatana. Does enchanting Cold onto Uchi remove or reduce the current bleed effect? I read somewhere that cold uchigatana is quite strong.

[LuckyCheshire]

Above all, have fun with the game. Don't feel like you have to follow a guide every step of the way, you can make a perfectly effective build just by trying different things out and reading the item descriptions and tutorials. But I'll answer your questions:

1. It doesn't matter that much, since above all you can respec your stats very soon. I would recommend putting a few points into the 'support' stats though, just for comfort. If you're playing as a pretty straight samurai and not even using WAs much you don't really need extra Mind though.

2. Light load is better than medium load, but the difference is much less compared to medium load to heavy load. It's mostly about extra mobility, not actual longer invulnerability. For a first playthough, my advice would be to stick with a medium load using armor as close to the line to heavy load as possible.

3. Bleed builds are extremely powerful, but they work best with a bit of setup using later-game items and work best on late game bosses, since the whole reason they're so powerful is percentage-based damage. So Bleed is generally more effective the tankier the enemy is.

4. The difference is that when you have the ash you can apply different infusions to the weapon, which you can't if you don't have one. Don't worry too much about it though, just try out some different things.

5. There should be a miniboss by almost every Minor Erdtree. Those are generally what drop the Physic Tears. I believe that there should be a Putrid Avatar at that particular one. After you beat it, try exploring along the edge of the cliff nearby. There's a very well hidden path downward. The reward at the end is underwhelming, but I thought I may as well mention it because it's one of the hardest places to find in the game.

[Pαιɳɯҽαʋҽɾ]

Originally posted by LuckyCheshire:

Above all, have fun with the game. Don't feel like you have to follow a guide every step of the way, you can make a perfectly effective build just by trying different things out and reading the item descriptions and tutorials. But I'll answer your questions:

1. It doesn't matter that much, since above all you can respec your stats very soon. I would recommend putting a few points into the 'support' stats though, just for comfort. If you're playing as a pretty straight samurai and not even using WAs much you don't really need extra Mind though.

2. Light load is better than medium load, but the difference is much less compared to medium load to heavy load. It's mostly about extra mobility, not actual longer invulnerability. For a first playthough, my advice would be to stick with a medium load using armor as close to the line to heavy load as possible.

3. Bleed builds are extremely powerful, but they work best with a bit of setup using later-game items and work best on late game bosses, since the whole reason they're so powerful is percentage-based damage. So Bleed is generally more effective the tankier the enemy is.


5. There should be a miniboss by almost every Minor Erdtree. Those are generally what drop the Physic Tears. I believe that there should be a Putrid Avatar at that particular one. After you beat it, try exploring along the edge of the cliff nearby. There's a very well hidden path downward. The reward at the end is underwhelming, but I thought I may as well mention it because it's one of the hardest places to find in the game.

Definitely having fun with the game. I find it a lot more 'playable' than Sekiro. At least I can grind my level to beat a boss.

Sorry, what are WAs? Im not familiar with the terms for Elden Ring yet.

I thought bleed was a set damage that stacks up. No wonder that 80k Rune dragon died so fast. Lol. I thought I triggered a bug or something.

Thanks, will check out that hidden pathway!

[Pαιɳɯҽαʋҽɾ]

Another question. I learned Heal but I dont know how to cast it. Guides online say I need to use a staff? So equip one to cast then switch back out to Katana?

[ManBearPig[BE]]

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

Another question. I learned Heal but I dont know how to cast it. Guides online say I need to use a staff? So equip one to cast then switch back out to Katana?

heal is an incantation, you need a sacred seal and the amount (hp) scales with faith. yes equip the seal ccast and switch back.

[ZTL-Altima]

30 vigor before anything else. 40 vigor, 40 dex mid build. 60 vigor, 60 dex endgame.

[Knavenformed]

55 Dex is the softcap, no reason to go even near the 70s

Light-roll goes further and has more i-frames, it's definitely better than medium but medium is enough if you want to invest in armor/defenses with a stricter dodge window

Dex is better for dual wielding since 2 handing a weapon gains a +50% STR bonus (Meaning 66 STR is the equivalent to 99 STR when two-handing)

Unseathe is a top tier ash of war, especially with the Keen Dex scaling getting high damage and stagger
But just use what you find cool, Unseathe is very vanilla for a first run when there are so many other cool options

[LuckyCheshire]

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

Sorry, what are WAs? Im not familiar with the terms for Elden Ring yet.

WAs are Weapon Arts. Those are the special moves that weapons can use, with the L2 button on a controller. Basically Ashes of War, but they can also be a special move that comes attached to the weapon already. The term was... honestly used more in some previous Dark Souls titles, and some people just call everything an AoW. But there's a distinction, even if it doesn't matter much.

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

I thought bleed was a set damage that stacks up. No wonder that 80k Rune dragon died so fast. Lol. I thought I triggered a bug or something.

Bleed also has a base damage component, but the percentage-based damage is typically going to be far and away higher when you're fighting bosses. I don't remember the exact formula off the top of my head, but you can look it up if you're curious about how exactly it works.

[Silyon]

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

Hi, new to the game here. Just started a Samurai and read that Dex is the way to go. So I am aiming for 50 Vigor and 75 Dex stats first. Currently level 49, just dropped Godrick and activated his rune. Would like to ask some of the Veteran players for advice.

1. Should I start pumping into other stats or wait till I hit my target first? To lower my weight or increase my FP?

Pure Samurai doesn't need much FP, but if you want to use heavier armor later on a bit of extra Endurance isn't a horrible idea. No more than 20 points should be needed unless you're using a shield. Regardless of anything else, you want to end up between 50 and 60 Vigor, depending on how confident you are in your dodging, and 60 or higher on whatever stat your weapon uses for it's damage scaling. For most Katana, that's strictly Dex. There are a few that use a bit of Int though, such as Moonveil.

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

2. Does Light Load dodging have a better advantage over Medium Load dodging? Meaning, does it make a difference whatsoever? Like maybe a slightly longer window of invulnerability while dodging or something?

Light load gives your rolls more I-frames to work with and lets you roll further, yes. It also implicitly enables the Blue Dancer Charm for a free attack boost, if you have it. You do end up being kind of a glass cannon though, the lack of armor means most things will one-shot or nearly one-shot unless you're massively overleveled.

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

3. I am using dual Uchigatana +4. This really helped with the dmg output on Godrick. Dropped him before Nel died. But a lot of online guides say Dex is best for 2H katana (stance breaking). I don't have Seppuku and not sure if I should go for a Bleed build. Is it any good? Or just stick with pumping Dex and just dual wield all the way?

There's only one Katana that doesn't have native bleed buildup, and that one has poison buildup instead. They are kind of the go-to weapons for bleed builds, but even if you don't lean into the status (which would ask for some amount of Arcane, which increases the rate of status build-up), they are still fast-attacking Dex-based weapons. As I said before, a few ask for an Int investment, but even those ones still scale their damage mostly off of Dex. So if you intend to stick with Katana, you want high Dex.

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

4. Unsheathed. Most guides say to use this over anything else. Isn't this the DEFAULT one we start with as Samurai? Do I need to go Agheel and get the Unsheathed Ash? Whats the difference?

The Uchigatana has Unsheathe as it's default ash, but other Katana you might find (like the Nagikiba) don't have it by default. By collecting the Ash from the scarab on the south-tip of the lake, you can apply Unsheathe to any Katana that doesn't have it. It also lets you customize the damage scaling of your Uchigatana, so if you want to focus it to scale exclusively off of Dex or flip it to use Str instead. Later on you'll be able to apply elemental damage as well, such as fire or lightning. You can technically do this without the Unsheathe Ash, but if you want to keep the same ability you'll need to collect it.

Originally posted by P@inW3av3r:

5. I found a new Minor Erdtree near the sleeping 80,000 rune dragon. But didnt get anything for my physicks flask. Did I read it wrong? I thought we can get new stuff near/under the tree or something along those lines?

Most of the Minor Erdtrees require you beat a boss to collect the tears for your Physick. Few of them are just sitting out in the open waiting to be taken, generally you'll have to kill an avatar to claim them.

[Pαιɳɯҽαʋҽɾ]

So I managed to painfully get to Palace Ledge Road. I'm now with 41 Vigor, 27 End, 55 Dex...

I think I messed up on Endurance. I was trying to push for Light Load (currently 40.7) then I found a post online with a calculator that says I need 98 Endurance for Light Load rolling. SMH.

Side question, I think I just suck real bad cause it seems harder and harder to play dual Uchi.
Am I doing something wrong? Cause I take a hit and sometimes I get combo'ed all the way back to 1967 all because I dodged to early (almost always its too early)

Dual Wield doesnt have stagger like 2H. How exactly should I be playing Dual Uchi?

This is what happened with Invader Festering Finger @ Church of Inhibition and similarly at the Gold Scarab Rot Knights...

Dodge 1st hit > Dodge 2nd hit > Attack > Dodge out > Boss charge attack > Early dodge > HP drops

or

Dodge 1st hit > Dodge 2nd hit > Attack > Boss turns around and b***h slaps me before I 'recover' from my swing.

Thing is with 2H, when I drop my attack, I usually manage to land a stagger. Which gives me time to roll out. Could recovery animation of dual wielding be the issue?

Right Uchi > Left Uchi = 2 swings > slow animation recovery + no stagger. B***h slap incoming.

I feel the dmg output is fast and strong but I cant seem to avoid getting struck by the faster monsters or those with stronger defenses.

On the way to Church Of Inhibition I got pwned by that lightning Knight on the road and found another 'holy' looking knight with a winged helm guarding some door at a deadend round.

I had no problems fighting Magma Wrym with dual Uchi cause it was slower than me and I had plenty of time to recover but against those knights, I just had to wash my bottom and bend over.