Adaptability. Should I?

[Pixxel Wizzard]

I've been putting all of my points into STR, DEX, END, & VIG, which are all above 15 now. Adaptability is only at 2. Am I making a mistake by not leveling it up? What would you recommend?

[MobiusPizza]

It depends on your playstyle. If you roll too much you should lvl it up when you have enough STR and DEX to use the weapon you want and make good dmg

[DonVISIONe]

u should get atleast 90/95 agility. it will make the game alot easier

[Gorre]

100+ Agility is a must.

[Zann]

Depends on playstyle.

If you rely more on blocking and spacing than rolling, and if you're not interested in pvp, then you don't even need to touch adaptability. I did my first two or three playthroughs that way, and I was fine.

If you roll a lot, on the other hand, then yes you should invest on it.

Note that the most important thing of adaptability is that it boosts your agility stat, which in turn increases the iframes of your rolls and backsteps. But attunement also boosts agility, though to a much lesser extent. If your build already has attunement then you can do with less adaptability either way.

[Pixxel Wizzard]

Originally posted by zannesu:

If you rely more on blocking and spacing than rolling, and if you're not interested in pvp, then you don't even need to touch adaptability.

Well, I'm split there. I do a lot of rolling (mainly because I use hit and fade tactics against slower enemies) but I despise PvP and avoid it all costs. Where does that leave me?

Originally posted by zannesu:

Note that the most important thing of adaptability is that it boosts your agility stat, which in turn increases the iframes of your rolls and backsteps.

i-frames? I'm usually rolling to avoid an attack, not to try to make one pass through me.

[DonVISIONe]

during ur rolls ur invincible, more i-frames means the time ur invcinible during the rolls will be longer

[Zann]

Originally posted by Pixxel Wizzard:

Well, I'm split there. I do a lot of rolling (mainly because I use hit and fade tactics against slower enemies) but I despise PvP and avoid it all costs. Where does that leave me?

If you're only using rolls against slower enemies, you can probably do without adaptability, or if you'd rather go the "just in case" way, you can level it until your agility hits 88 or 92 so that you get a decent roll.

Originally posted by Pixxel Wizzard:

i-frames? I'm usually rolling to avoid an attack, not to try to make one pass through me.

Ah yes, many new players do this.

The thing is, as Balin said, your roll makes you untouchable during a very brief window of time. If you time it properly, you can use the roll to go through an enemy's swing. New players don't usually know this because obviously it doesn't make any sense, but that's how it works in the game and that's in fact the main use of rolling.

Adaptability (by boosting agility) increases the window of time during which you're untouchable.

[Pirate]

Also, enemy attacks actually (often) hit an area larger than their weapon actually is. A swing could look like it completely missed you, but you'll still get hit by it. I-frames during a roll to dodge is how the developers mitigate this flaw, but they also tied it to your Agility stat, which is tied to your Adaptability stat.

As you progress - if you do not raise adaptability - you will soon start finding situations where you were SURE that your timing of your roll was perfect, and you didn't see any connection between enemy and your character, yet you still get hit. That is because of insufficient i-frames on your roll.

[Monster Meatball]

Dark Souls 2 with its questionable hitboxes makes agility a must if you want to evade bosses' attacks.

[TrueArchery]

92 Agility, then you're good to go for PvE.

[Pixxel Wizzard]

Thanks all!