Hollow infusion is strange

[CazadorDeLobo]

Noticed something about this infusion: It's the natural upgrade path beyond Dex/Str softcaps

It retains scaling and adds bonus damage while keeping weapons buffable. If you're at 26/40 and two-hand, or 40/40 and one-hand, Refined and Sharp infusions might seem like the most optimal options but if you're intent on over-leveling OR have stats to burn, kicking Luck up instead of Int/Fth seems to be very viable.

I never noticed this until last night doing testing. With just 26/40 and 30 Luck(boosted to 35 once wielding Hollow weapon with appropriate conditions for the boost), about 15% of all weapons in the game begin to overtake their Refined/Sharp counterparts. Some saw an immediate 20-30 AR boost over any other option.

tl;dr Hollow infusion is very good if you're not a spellcaster and I will later share a list of these weapons that are disproportionately better with the infusion over Refined/Sharp.

Heavy btw is a different beast. Great for low stat investment since two-handing is a 1.5x strength multiplier.

[CazadorDeLobo]

Quick rundown of weapons that benefit from own scaling + Hollow more than Sharp or Heavy, assuming 26/40 two-handing or 40/40 one-handing, and at least 30 base Luck(infusion adds 5)... is more a list of exceptions

Essentially every basic weapon that is not an axe, hammer, greataxe, great hammer, whip, or shield, and does not have split damage will benefit from pushing luck over more dex/str using hollow infusion.

Notably, Cathedral Knight GS is better with other infusions; Lothric Knight GS is better Sharp if wanting to still buff it; many of the strength-focused weapons actually do better with Sharp with this build than Hollow, Heavy, or Refined.

[GRIND-CORE]

I would love your advice on a DEX/INT magic ninja build

[CazadorDeLobo]

Originally posted by GRIND-CORE:

I would love your advice on a DEX/INT magic ninja build :story:

This is a build that takes most of the game to finish since the best spells and rings for it are found late-game, but if you're like me and want to get the damage stats up first, you could get Great Magic Weapon, Heretic's Catalyst, and Crow Talons or the Uchigatana incredibly early. These will carry you.

If there's a particular weapon class you want to focus on, an entry-level weapon of that class is probably in one of the first few areas. But for a ninja archetype, claws and bleed weapons are the way. Storyteller's Staff has the poison covered, just farm it for a little while or summon someone with one. Frozen Weapon weapon buff spell in Painted World is also a must-grab early.

As for armor and lightness, it is much more valuable to have damage absorption than a slightly superior roll. Melee range shouldn't be a disadvantage for this build, because so many things close distance to you before falling to ranged spells alone.

Look up the scroll locations, too. Get Orbeck to Firelink ASAP

Level up Attunement in chunks so that spell slots are gained each time you invest into that stat. Stop leveling Int around 21 or so for a while to focus on Dex. Every so often, dump a level or two into Endurance and Vigor. Only level Vitality if you have to.

Keep the Covetous SS Ring on at basically all times for passive soul gains and to help pay for everything this build needs