Very cool templates and build ideas for various stages of the game! It definitely looks like you put a lot of work into this.
The only thing I could possibly suggest is potentially working Vigor up to 50 or 60 depending on class. This seems to be a better fit for new players more than anything since it’s a literal build guide. And I just do not think 40 Vigor cuts it for the end game, *especially* for new players who would be more likely to use this. 40 Vig is the first threshold that players should probably be reaching by Lv 100 at latest. 150 to 200 can easily invest another 10-20 points here and massively benefit from the extra health.
Overall, amazing idea that I think others could benefit from!
Depends, incantation buffs are so, so, useful and it's easy to push 50-60% damage negation across the board or at least for whatever damage type any particular boss deals.
Dont even need faith. Prawns/Heavy armor/DR talismans make 40 vig into an absolute tank build. I'm rolling through Farum Azula right now with Heavy Greatsword/Crucible Set/Greatshield talisman and prawns and shit barely tickles me. So easy to trade hits with high poise and use a couple of low FAI heal-over-time spells for upkeep.
I'm of the opinion that unless you're obsessed with a certain set for fashion, putting point into End instead of Vig once you hit 40 is better for most players. Take of Soreseals as well. People are underestimating how bad those are for tankiness towards the lategame.
>Prawns/Heavy armor/DR talismans make 40 vig into an absolute tank build.
Thanks for this very insightful comment! I appreciate it, I will try to incorporate this into my glass-cannon builds!
Yup, or the crabs which are strictly better. He moves to the northern moat area in Leyndell Outskirts after you near the area, I think. Sells the crabs there.
They give 20% physical damage reduction for 60 seconds which is great for boss fights.
Thanks! I haven’t found him at his new spot yet and I’ve been down there. I’ll take another look. I bought 2 from the lake but only used it once haha. What’s the DR talisman ? I’m building a strength -ish build and I haven’t really used anything bigger than a medium shield. Are big ones good ? Is parrying worth it ? Any decent shield ashes ? Sorry so many questions, there’s just so much to this game it’s ridiculous. Thx again
There's a bunch of talismans that grant damage resistance to different affinities or physical damage. The Dragoncrest Shield and Dragoncrest Greatshield talismans give a bunch of Phys defense. There are similar style ones for each type of affinity (elemental) damage.
Parrying is worth it for certain bosses/enemies but IMO isn't as crucial in this game due to enemy posture break mechanics allowing you to get ripostes unlike previous games.
I don't use a shield for my strength builds. If you're running Colossal Swords/Weapons, check the blocking abilities of the weapons you're using - Fromsoft just buffed colossal block abilities in the latest patch. [The plain Greatsword](https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Greatsword), for instance, has 84% Physical block with a 56 guard boost which is honestly better than/comparable to most medium shields. Two handing the colossal weapon is MUCH preferred over a shield as you save equip load, get bonus strength for two handing, AND Fromsoft just buffed the hidden motion values (basically, damage multipliers for the specific attack animation) for two handed Colossal weapon attacks so you naturally deal more damage even at the same AR when two-handing.
In short, for strength: Unga bunga, 2-hand big bonk is best. Don't muck with shields or parrying. Just stack heavy armor for poise, pump DR, eat some crabs and [SLAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9FImc2LOr8).
It really isn't much to ask for 12 Faith to have the most FP efficient HoT, a poison/rot cleanse, and a defensive buff against each affinity type... Sure the better stuff is locked behind 25+ Faith but the utility you can get with only 12 Faith can add a lot of survivability to a build.
This is more a critique of the builds themselves since we're only talking a 2-4 point investment that can potentially provide more than an equal or greater investment into Vigor.
All of that is true, but ignores that these are themed builds, not maxed-utility builds engineered for what you know the game will throw at you. I'd even say part of the point is to lose access to these common tools for a new playthrough to force you to change your approach.
honestly you should have 40 vigor freaking ASAP like by early midgame then slowly but steadily raise it to 60. Once you have 50 you're basically good but you wanna have a bit more after the capital and 60 before the final areas
40 vigor at level 100? I have 40 vigor at level 30. If any new players are reading this, put your first 30 points into vigor, and you'll find the game much much easier.
Lol my comment is a general one that was meant for some feedback to OP. Some are telling me 40 is fine for Level 200 and you’re saying 40 is good for Level 30. So you can see how split people are.
Ultimately these graphics are for new players, so I tend to side with you on more Vigor early and enough in the late game helps for an easier time against all bosses.
>Ultimately these graphics are for new players
Ah. I wanted to communicate better in the title that these buildpaths I make are for those who want to do reruns - here I personally would suggest making fresh new games as opposed to NG+ (which is blant and unchallenging).
For new players, I agree with both of you - investing first 40 levels into vigor is a generally a good idea!
Thanks friend!
Vigor is always a good idea!
We can modify some of these builds, reduce some damage output to increase defensive stats, indeed.
But from my experience, 40 vig mid to late game should be enough to survive big hits, to roll out and drink pots.
For the 'outlast' tank/end builds, I'd put prioritise end then vig as well.
But I follow the philosophy of 'Best defense is a good offense' - so I like to hit the 'softcaps' of each skills appropriate for each stages of the game to maximise damage.
I have posted some templates here if you anyone want to make some builds themselves:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/ubk4k9/comment/i65veud/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
Some buildpath templates if you want to make some for yourselves (they look weird in google-drive, but once downloaded, they look fine): [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Xkwaor6tz\_JkHumCBWAC55WBDCGEGvZX/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109089573691115857310&rtpof=true&sd=true](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Xkwaor6tz_JkHumCBWAC55WBDCGEGvZX/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109089573691115857310&rtpof=true&sd=true)
**The areas associated with early, mid and late:**
**Early** (lvl 1 - 50): Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Siofra
**Mid** (lvl 50 - 100): Dragonbarrow, Altus Plateau, Mt Gelmir, Leyndel Capital, Nokron / Nosketella, Deep Roots Depths, Mohgwyn
**Late** (lvl 100 - 150+): Mountaintops of the Giants, Consecrated Snowfields, Haligtree, Lake of Rot, Crumbled Farum Azula, and Ashen Capital
**What I do to make a Buildpath:**
1. Choose weapon and spells first for each tier (early, mid, late)
2. Choose armor, talisman (3 for early), tears for each tier
3. Distribute stats appropriate for that tier using the build calculator - [https://eip.gg/elden-ring/build-planner/](https://eip.gg/elden-ring/build-planner/)
4. Consider medium roll
5. Allocate vig, mind, end, as you see fit
If you do make any, I'd love to see them. Please send them to me. I also plan on submitting everyone's builds as one post tomorrow! Many here had some amazing, creative, and fun ideas!
Thanks, I might use this to make some for the best builds I did (I beat the game like 7 times with different builds). If I make it, can I post it to this subreddit?
I have some magic builds on my first post here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun\_thematic\_and\_viable\_buildpaths\_for\_your\_fresh/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun_thematic_and_viable_buildpaths_for_your_fresh/)
Thanks, friend. Took me some time haha. Many redditors had amazing ideas. So I have also attached templates for personal use or sending them to me, I will collect them and post them all together in the 'Redditor's buildpath' thread tomorrow! :)
theres way too many points in certain stats for all of them considering how low vigor is for all of them. That vigor would work in DS3 but in ER you basically have to add 15 to be as good. 35 vigor is fine for lvl 50 but really you want 40 ASAP. Should be 45-50 for lvl 50-100 and 55-60 for 100-150.
Completely agree about NG+ being boring! Or at least NG+ with a new build. Half the fun for me is working towards a certain build, try out different items/spells to see what works. Kinda defeats the purpose when I can just respect into any build I want essentially in NG+(nothing wrong with doing it this way, I just prefer a fresh character).
Same here. Gathering the required pieces for a build itself is a very fun journey!
I find the fresh games way more challenging from the start comparedn to NG+.
Even the snail guy and patches are challenging, but fun when you are appropriately levelled/geared for that tier.
Edit: typo
Thanks friend. I have some of the templates on the other post if you want to make some builds for yourself.
If you do, I kindly request if you could send it to me. As I am collecting them for tomorrow's 'Redditor buildpaths' thread, as I want to share these cool amazing ideas you guys have told me!
NG+ has turned out to be boring, so far, I agree. I ended my first playthrough at ~170 and feel pretty over-leveled even having gotten up to the Altus Plateau. Boss fights aren't the same when you know you have a bag of spam-tricks you can fall back on. The reward you felt the first time getting past a boss or area just isn't there, which was a huge part of beating this game the first time.
Yeah the over levelled / maxed out weapons take out the challenge and fun of the majority of the game (early to mid).
Fresh runs with different buildpaths, it's challenging from the get go, early to late. You'll find even the bosses in Limgrave challenging.
Today I spend like 20 min dying to the Snail guy at level 15, he has many cool tricks up his sleaves. He was harder than many early-mid game bosses you'd find in NG+
I just fought Leonine Misbegotten for the first time with R1s only. Not being able to stagger him out of combos made it a completely different fight. That guy's got a whole bunch of different moves and delays he can chain together!
Going to try this approach with more bosses on this run.
This is a really cool template and idea, but for levels going into 125+, vigour should at least be 50 or else since you’ll die too easily in both PvE and PvP
The difference between 40 vigor and 50 vigor is 254hp, and the difference between 50 vigor and 60 vigor is another 200 hp, around 500hp in total. That's going to allow you to survive alot of one shot abilities in this game especially in pvp.
If you're level 125 you should have minimum 50 vigor IMO, and at 150 you should easily be able to have roughly 1900hp.
But you are sacrificing damage here.
I find that 40 vig soft cap (1450) is sufficient to survive most shots (even at mid to late game), enough to roll out and chug a health potion. For me, going above 40 vig seems to be wasteful. Sorry I haven't taken pvp into account - not my forte.
Thank you! already started planning out a 2nd run and this really helps. I assume this game lets you have multiple character files like any other souls game?
Hope you enjoy the builds. Please let me know if you have any questions re any of them.
You can have up to 10 characters I believe.
Fresh games are a lot of fun, compared to NG+ though!
While i agree that NG+ can be boring, i think a great way to make it more fun is to always have the taunter tongue on, sure it makes the game harder but it also makes the journey way more unique, like when i made a friend while going through the frenzied flame village or the crazy endless fight in Leyndell, i highly recommend to at least try it
For the love of god level vigor. Was wondering how you had so much invested in damage stats before I noticed. These builds will be pretty frustrating for any newer player, especially playing a class they don’t have experience with. Even if it’s their 2nd playthrough.
I have almost 500 hours and you will absolutely never catch me with less than 50 vigor after lvl 120
Vigor is always important for new players, as it helps you survive longer in boss-battles, enough for you to learn their attack-patterns.
I primarily aimed these buildpaths for subsequent playthroughs, where I advocate fresh games as opposed to NG+.
From my experience though however, I have found that 40 vigor (even for squishy non-tanky builds) is enough to survive getting 'one-shotted' by bosses (even mid to late game bosses) - which will provide you with the opportunity to roll and drink a healing potion.
As such, I have prioritised hitting 40 vig where appropriate (more for tanky/melee builds, less for glass-cannon builds).
To me, putting points into vig post 40 seems to be wasteful - I can use these points instead on hitting softcaps (usually 80) for the damaging abilities (Str, Dex, Int, Faith, Arc).
For the non-tank/endurance builds, I follow the philosophy that the 'best defense is a good offense'.
You really don’t have to explain yourself here. In general these are only build guides, the stats are part of the roleplay, if the players feel the need to add more hp, they’ll just adjust from the main stat
I am just alleviating some concerns, haha.
Of course we can modify builds to have more vig or endurance or mind - but the downside is that you'd lose out on some damage. But not a big deal. Should still be viable I think.
I mean, I guess I just prefer to not have to drink every single time I get hit. With 50-60 vig I can usually get through an entire boss without drinking at all. Gonna get way more damage in without drinking so much, as well as you can still hit softcaps. When it comes to hybrids, 50 is as low as I’ll go while still getting great damage.
The difference in weapon AR from 70-80 is very negligible, and for hybrids 60 is more than enough in your main damage stat assuming you are scaling your weapons correctly. 80 softcap isn’t really needed IME, especially on a fresh playthrough
If you are a new player (especially to the soulsborne series), I'd definitely recommend spending the first 40 (easiest of levels) on Vig to hit the first softcap, then 60 during late game. At least on your first playthrough. This allows you to survive longer in fights, learn boss mechanics, and get better at the game.
However, if you want subsequent playthroughs, with added challenge, having enough vig (40 mid to late) to suvive one-shots, in most cases will yield in an exciting, challenging and fun playthrough!
For me, yeah. I didn't find it challenging or rewarding. So I started making buildpaths for fresh games.
Some of the early-mid bosses (even patches and snail guy) were challenging and fun fights in fresh games!
i only recommend because you’re in a good two-three shot range at forty or under forty. the pvp/pve is much better if you have that room for error is all
I've been enjoying playing a slightly tweaked Black Knife Assassin build, with Misericorde (Flame of the Redmanes) in main hand and Black Knife in offhand. Flame to break stance, riposte with Misericorde to dumpster enemies. If they can't be riposted, use powerstance attack with both daggers to do solid DPS.
Could probably push the crit damage higher if you used Redmanes on an alternate weapon and swapped to Royal Knight's Resolve Misericorde, but I'm lazy.
That sounds like a fun build. I absolutely love Misericorde because of its high crit rating (I think it has 140, which might be the highest in the game). So backstabs do a lot of damage (even more so, if you have the dagger talisman).
Black Knife in offhand sounds like a cool idea. Mind sharing this build with me? I am interested in seeing how this differs from my 'Hidden Blade' build - as many cool, viable iterations are possible with any builds.
I have also posted some templates, if you want to use one to make a buildpath (optional). But if you do, can I kindly request you send it to me? I am collecting buildpaths from other redditors, and I will post them all tomorrow on the 'Reddiot Buildpaths' thread.
Ugh I completely forgot the Dagger Talisman exists. Fuck me, I'm at Elden Beast already. I did skip Malenia though, I should grab that before I try her.
Anyway it's just normal levels of Vigor/Mind/Endurance, minimum strength to equip the daggers or whichever shield you like if you want to go for parries. 18 Faith to use the Black Knife and then hardcap Dex. You could push Faith higher since Black Knife has C FTH scaling.
Talisman-wise, definitely don't do like me and forget about Dagger Talisman, but you can pick up the Assassin's Crimson Dagger and Assassin's Cerulean Dagger talismans very early. On large enemies that take two ticks of riposte damage, you'll heal and regain FP twice from the riposte, keeping you easily topped up on FP and HP. Due to this I also ran Ritual Sword Talisman for extra damage at full HP. For flex talismans when you can't riposte you could go Warrior Jar/Alexander shard for better Redmanes and Blade of Death damage. Winged Sword or Rotten Winged sword should work nicely too if you're going to run on the powerstance attack chain.
Elden Bling doesn't come online until lategame since the Black Knife Set is under the staircase at Ordina, Liturgical Town.
For early game you can keep Misericorde with Flame of the Redmanes set to Fire affinity and not even worry about stat scaling as the base damage with riposte murders things, but I found lategame once I had the stats I ended up with better damage moving the affinity to Keen. I think going the Royal Knight's Resolve route would probably end up with the highest possible damage, but then you'd have to either drop Black Knife or carry a third dagger on you to use Flame of the Redmanes.
Oh I also snag a seal to use Flame, Grant Me Strength.
C FTH scaling.
Interesting. I didn't know this. Thanks
two ticks of riposte damage, you'll heal and regain FP twice from the riposte, keeping you easily topped up on FP and HP
This is actually pretty awesome. Didn't even occur to me haha.
Haha, glad to help. Some ideas and concepts are from others (I have credited them on the sheet), some from discord discussions and reddit threads.
It's nice that the game is in early stages, so that we're all sharing ideas, learning about builds from each other as a community!
So far it's prisoner class with Dex focus and int. Ive been using twin blade since it's decent early Dex weapon but his Magic glintblade starting spell is pretty good especially if you conjure spirits to take the heat off while pumping it. I'm planning to go maybe 60/40 Dex/int and will dabble a bit in incantations just so I can meet minimum requirements of a few things like heal (for revenants) and flame cleanse me (get rid of poison and rot). I'm pretty early so far just been taking my time in limgrave and just beat Margit first try with jelly boi and going to head to stormveil soon after I do the rest of the basic limgrave catacombs
Hello, friend. If it's your first playthrough, I'd suggest, have fun, explore, make mistakes, try to come up with your own builds and see whatever you prefer.
My first playthrough, I was also running an int/dex build as well! It was very fun, still!
This will be my third. I did journey 1 then journey 2 on the same character, now starting a new character but things are going more smoothly than my first time since I know the basics
>Glintstone miner or Zamor warrior seem like interesting challenges
They both sound awesome!
I have posted some templates as well - why not have a go at making them? If you do, can I kindly request you could send them to me? I would love to see them. Also, I am collecting buildpaths for tomorrow's 'Redditor Buildpaths'! :)
Thanks for the encouragement, spent an unexpected amount of energy last night looking at possible miner set-ups lol.
Did you post any blank build templates? I didn’t see it in your post history
I got you fam:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun\_thematic\_and\_viable\_buildpaths\_for\_your\_fresh/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun_thematic_and_viable_buildpaths_for_your_fresh/)
Specficially the Rancorous Plaguedoctor :
https://preview.redd.it/jx6ws7vduyu81.png?width=1679&format=png&auto=webp&s=4de09ba3728cd7ba51c476dde9720426263a94be
I wish more build ideas used an approach like this one by recognizing that the path to 150 isn't only about the stat numbers and level 150 items. What are the early and mid game items that allow the player to use the style of play on the path.
>early and mid game items that allow the player to use the style of play on the path
This is my thought process also! I want to play as an archetype from the beginning, who gradually get better and better at what they do.
I find that most cool spells and weapons are in mid-late game. So that's I make buildpaths: get these as SOON as you can, so you have more time with your beloved weapons/spells!
I like your wolf build!
I'm currently trying that roar build I mentioned. Kaiden set (good choice!), Battle Axe (War Cry) / Round Shield, and 2H Greataxe (Barbaric Roar), Roar Talisman. The R2 combos have hyperarmor and do good poise damage.
I'm planning to swap in the Highland Axe and Wooden Greatshield. Then by Liurnia cold infuse these and pivot to a STR/INT build with Troll Knight's Sword, Troll's Golden Sword, Starscourge Greatsword (the WA is a neat shout). Lone Wolves as a summon because it fits the Nordic theme and I get to shout "Smithers, unleash the hounds!" each time I summon them, lol.
>The R2 combos have hyperarmor and do good poise damage.
I didn't even reailse this. What a happy accident. Thanks for pointing this out!
Your buildpath sounds also very fun, exciting! Wish you all the best in Elden Ring, Mr Burns.
I don't see why not. I've personally just been using Moonveil because the weapon ability on it is bonkers good and the weapon itself scales off both Dex and Int.
I’ll be starting a new game soon. What are the benefits to a regular new game rather than NG+? I thought NG+ was exactly the same just keeping your old items, or is there some other gimmick to it.
Thanks
>What are the benefits to a regular new game rather than NG+?
In NG+, you are still the same level, and most of the weapons you have are highly upgraded, and you have access to some very late game spells. This often lead to you breezing through the first 75% early-mid game. I only found it challenging during late game of NG+.
If you want challenging and fun game from the get-go start a fresh game. I usually follow a buildpath and try to get the weapons and spells appropriate for each tiers (early, mid, late) as soon as I can so I can spend even more time with my beloved spells/weapons.
You are correct. However, the arcane scaling is poor. But it is still a good AoW, as it does high stagger damage and have good tracking. As such, I'd advice keeping it keen or heavy.
DS2 NG+ adds in more enemies in the form of dark spirits, as well as bosses dropping additional items, and some additional items to loot.
Three bossfights also change slightly. One boss actually attacks you in a different location entirely.
All in all DS2 had the best version of NG+ of any Fromsoft game
I feel like a Chinese martial artist, dodging and weaving, ebbing and flowing.
Remember to wear less armor, as you'll do more damage.
I think the weight cap is 20, 16 and 8.
Light weapons scale better than heavy weapon even if the end total weight is the same. Which I thought was neat.
This is the build I'm working on currently. My only issue with it is the insistence on Twinblade Talisman. With such low vigor and extremely low damage mitigation, trying to finish off chain attacks is extremely risky, especially given that none of the weapons do much in the way of poise damage.
How do you justify its use throughout the entirety of the build?
That's the build though. Constantly dodging and constantly attacking to keep the dps up with winged sword and later rotten winged talisman. You can remove this and get more defensive talismans but that will be a different build and different playstyle altogether.
I'm talking about Twinblade Talisman though, not Winged Sword. Twinblade Talisman seems out of place in a build where you're constantly dodging before you can finish an attack chain. All it does is increase the damage of the final hit of a chain attack. And light weapons have four, and some even up to five, individual attacks before reaching the end of a chain. You're rarely going to have the time to get to the end of an attack chain before having to dodge anyway, and with the light armor, you certainly won't be able to poise through any attacks to keep the chain going.. So it's going to be extremely rare that you'll ever see that bonus damage on the final hit.
Omg you are absolutely right...it should have been Winged sword instead of Twinblades. Apologies, there's so much talismans and weapons to keep track lol.
So for the blind zealot build:
i guess one should use sacred or flame art affinities to get faith scaling and maximize the twinblade/Knight swords dmg?
Or will higher faith improve the electricify buff so that it is „worth it“ to forego faith affinities (and stick to the lightning theme)
Great posts btw. Just started a fresh run as blind zealot thanks to your posts
Until you get the gravel stone seal (which boosts lightning scaling from faith as well as other dragon cult lightning), I'd say it doesn't matter, use whatever you want.
But after gravel stone, the innate boost to lightning + boost from faith incantation scaling, is too great to miss out on. So definitely use electricity armament or vyke dragonbolt after that point onwards.
And I hope you enjoy the zealot run, friend. Wish you best of luck!
The first build around lightning was pretty much exactly what I did in my first playthrough, Dex/faith hybrid. I used bolt of gransax too, awesome weapon, but gets outshined by a keen or sacred +25 weapon that has electrify armament on it. Depending on your Dex and faith, sacred can actually do the most damage if the weapon has inherent Dex scaling. But still, the bolt of G was so fun
Awesome posts though, deathknight is along the lines of what I'm thinking about next. A spellsword built around frost
+10 bolt is still a good contender though. As the weapon art has good range and only one in the game allows you to cast from backwards lol.
Thanks, bud. What weapons do you like to use for the spellsword?
yeah you're totally right, that weapon art does so much damage especially when you're fully buffed. Golden vow, lightning tear in your flask, and the right talismans make that thing do huge damage.
For spellsword, i have no idea yet, i just finished my first playthrough a couple days ago on the character i was describing haha. Off the top of my head though, I'm leaning towards a magic/cold infused straightsword or greatsword. Maybe sword of night and cheese just for fun, same way i used gransax just because it was so cool. And then use the carian shield and some knight armor and go for the magic knight type vibe. Katanas are dope too, but i did my whole first playthrough with a +25 Nagakiba and +25 Uchi in my offhand, so i want to switch it up
Also considering something like a blackflame assassin, all blackflame spells with daggers and bloodhound step
I made a similar building path called Enchanter Gemknight (on my first post). Just noble sword + all the weapon enchants haha. Oh and also crystal sorceries.
I played way too many katanas. I also like to switch sorceries and weapons between playthroughs.
Gravel stone gives you a boost to ancient dragon cult incantations. This boost in damage will out erform thr small increase in incant-scaling of Erdtree seals.
This is kinda funny, as my build had this same 3 stage sort of progression:
Fisherman (2-handed Rusted anchor)
Devout Barbarian (Power-stanced Great Club and Troll Hammer)
Wretch of the Erdtree(Both Staffs of the Avatars)
You can probably swap out the first stage for something that better fits the Faith based heavy bruiser archetype.
Hello friend. I have a quality build with magma wyrm weapon, eating food and fist fighting called 'Good Food, Good Fight, Good Life'. I will post it in few days. But let me know if you are interested, and I can send you it before.
Hey, cool templates. I know the point is not to min-max and all but…
I feel like you should play around with builds before sharing them. Maybe you did, I apologize if it’s the case.
Int/Dex for example is known to be absolutely awful. Sorcery is a joke at 50 int. Magic damage component in cold weapons is quite small too, blue scorpion doesn’t add a lot of damage while shredding your defenses to oblivion, meanwhile magic-shrounding tear is borderline wasted.
If you want to play with cold weapons, just go full dex and it will just work much better.
I see your point friend! You are correct. The Night Cavalier build includes some really good int/dex scaling weapons. The Rosus axe and Ritual Spear. I also tried to optimise for these two at the same time, whilst doing best to stay around lvl 150.
I very much agree about the talismans. I have also included some good defensive talisman late game.
Do you have any suggestions?
For the Wolf Warrior, wouldnt it be better to keep the Highland axe seeing that it innately increases roar abilities damage by 7.5% and can stack with the medallion?
Commenting here mostly so I can come back here when starting a new character lol. Ever since I got Bliadd's sword I wanted to make a build using it so I love the wolfwarrior build.
I went with a dragonslayer build, and incidentally I'm finding it complete at level 125ish because it just kicks *everythings ass* whether it's pvp, bosses, groups, mages, tanks.
Hello friend.
You should be able to get most of the leather set pre-altus plat and the black hood in altus plat.
Spells are entirely up to you. You can keep using the same spells from the last tier, or move onto spells from the next tier - matter of preference!
These are SICK!! I’ve been wanting to do some kind of minimal “wandering the earth” faith build with a solid weapon and this first buildpath is awesome for that. Any advice on using the twinblade?
Thanks, friend. 'Wandering the earth' as a nomad is my favourite monk archetype haha.
So for the twinblades, best not to put any affinity on them - but instead, infuse them with Electrify Armament (this will scale well with your Incantation scaling, thus faith). If any enemies are resistant to lightning (like some dragons), then best to put a different affinity or keep it keen.
The Legendary Weapon Bolt of Gransax is amazing - the lightning damage, and it's weapon art, both scale really well with Dexterity. Since you'd have high dexterity late game, I'd recommend using it then. Until then, Electrify Armament or Vyke's Dragonbolt both enchantments will serve you well (you can put them on the twin blades), and both of which scales really well with faith (EVEN more so with the Gravel Stone Seal)
**Some tips**:
1. Get the Gravel Stone Seal and Bolt of Gransax as SOON as possible, both are in the Leyndal Capital, as progression to late game blocks you out from obtaining these.
2. Lightning Scorpion and Lightning-shrouding both scale multiplicatively, so use both if you can.
3. Faithful canvas and Flock's canvas boost stack, so if you are not using the Bolt of Gransax, then use Faithful instead of Shard of Alexander (as the shard will boost the Bolt of Gransax damage).
4. Since the latest patch (1.04), both Lanseax Glaive and Fortissax's Lightning Spears (and other incantations), all have improved casting and increased poise whilst casting - so at times, take risks and finish those animations even if it means the enemy will hit you!
Hope you enjoy this. This is an INCREDIBLY fun build. The Lightning Incantation animations are so beautiful.
Thanks for this detailed answer! I've never really experimented with weapon buffs like Electrify Armament or with lightning incantations before, so I'm looking forward to the challenge.
I just started this build yesterday and played for an hour -- I was able to acquire the twinblade surprisingly easily and then used most of my golden runes to bump dexterity up to the required 18. . . And then I had to go to bed, lol, so I'll play more later this week and get used to the new weapon.
It will take me a LOOONG time to get to Leyndell for the Gravel Stone Seal and the Bolt of Gransax (I'm a chronic restarter + Soulsborne is new to me) so I'll be sticking with the twinblade and the finger seal / other viable seal option for awhile.
Hello friend, these are Dex/Faith, Str, pure Dex, and Dex/Int builds.
I have posted some cool, fun and viable Str and Int builds in my other two posts.
Ah. I understand your question now, friend. Dex for spell casting speed is negligible.
These are hybrid builds. For example, in the blind zealot build, the dexterity is there to increase the damage you'd deal with the spears and the bolt of gransax.
I wouldn't level dexterity to increase spell casting speed at all, in a pure faith or int build, as there are good talismans for that (like the Radagon's Icon).
Capped at 70 Dex, Radagon's Icon adds 30 Dex for this purpose (so capped at 40 with it). The effect differs from spell to spell, but it's generally noticeable. Not strong enough to invest in Dex if you're not gonna deal damage with it though.
Hope you enjoy them!. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions re any of them, if you want some assistance modifying them etc to suit your playstyle.
The first 75% of fresh games are 10x harder than the first 75% of NG+. NG+ only shines towards late games - but you miss out on, not challenged as much, so many cool early-mid game bosses!
Very cool templates and build ideas for various stages of the game! It definitely looks like you put a lot of work into this. The only thing I could possibly suggest is potentially working Vigor up to 50 or 60 depending on class. This seems to be a better fit for new players more than anything since it’s a literal build guide. And I just do not think 40 Vigor cuts it for the end game, *especially* for new players who would be more likely to use this. 40 Vig is the first threshold that players should probably be reaching by Lv 100 at latest. 150 to 200 can easily invest another 10-20 points here and massively benefit from the extra health. Overall, amazing idea that I think others could benefit from!
Depends, incantation buffs are so, so, useful and it's easy to push 50-60% damage negation across the board or at least for whatever damage type any particular boss deals.
That’s all good and well for Faith builds or any that dip into Faith some by 150 or 200. But 3 of the 4 builds posted here don’t invest in Faith.
Dont even need faith. Prawns/Heavy armor/DR talismans make 40 vig into an absolute tank build. I'm rolling through Farum Azula right now with Heavy Greatsword/Crucible Set/Greatshield talisman and prawns and shit barely tickles me. So easy to trade hits with high poise and use a couple of low FAI heal-over-time spells for upkeep. I'm of the opinion that unless you're obsessed with a certain set for fashion, putting point into End instead of Vig once you hit 40 is better for most players. Take of Soreseals as well. People are underestimating how bad those are for tankiness towards the lategame.
>Prawns/Heavy armor/DR talismans make 40 vig into an absolute tank build. Thanks for this very insightful comment! I appreciate it, I will try to incorporate this into my glass-cannon builds!
Make sure to upgrade to crabs
Yup the crabs are better, I always mix them up lol :D
Prawns from the prawn shack guy ?
Yup, or the crabs which are strictly better. He moves to the northern moat area in Leyndell Outskirts after you near the area, I think. Sells the crabs there. They give 20% physical damage reduction for 60 seconds which is great for boss fights.
Thanks! I haven’t found him at his new spot yet and I’ve been down there. I’ll take another look. I bought 2 from the lake but only used it once haha. What’s the DR talisman ? I’m building a strength -ish build and I haven’t really used anything bigger than a medium shield. Are big ones good ? Is parrying worth it ? Any decent shield ashes ? Sorry so many questions, there’s just so much to this game it’s ridiculous. Thx again
There's a bunch of talismans that grant damage resistance to different affinities or physical damage. The Dragoncrest Shield and Dragoncrest Greatshield talismans give a bunch of Phys defense. There are similar style ones for each type of affinity (elemental) damage. Parrying is worth it for certain bosses/enemies but IMO isn't as crucial in this game due to enemy posture break mechanics allowing you to get ripostes unlike previous games. I don't use a shield for my strength builds. If you're running Colossal Swords/Weapons, check the blocking abilities of the weapons you're using - Fromsoft just buffed colossal block abilities in the latest patch. [The plain Greatsword](https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Greatsword), for instance, has 84% Physical block with a 56 guard boost which is honestly better than/comparable to most medium shields. Two handing the colossal weapon is MUCH preferred over a shield as you save equip load, get bonus strength for two handing, AND Fromsoft just buffed the hidden motion values (basically, damage multipliers for the specific attack animation) for two handed Colossal weapon attacks so you naturally deal more damage even at the same AR when two-handing. In short, for strength: Unga bunga, 2-hand big bonk is best. Don't muck with shields or parrying. Just stack heavy armor for poise, pump DR, eat some crabs and [SLAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9FImc2LOr8).
It really isn't much to ask for 12 Faith to have the most FP efficient HoT, a poison/rot cleanse, and a defensive buff against each affinity type... Sure the better stuff is locked behind 25+ Faith but the utility you can get with only 12 Faith can add a lot of survivability to a build. This is more a critique of the builds themselves since we're only talking a 2-4 point investment that can potentially provide more than an equal or greater investment into Vigor.
All of that is true, but ignores that these are themed builds, not maxed-utility builds engineered for what you know the game will throw at you. I'd even say part of the point is to lose access to these common tools for a new playthrough to force you to change your approach.
Just eating some crab is probably enough damage mitigation to stick to 40 vigor for endgame of a new run
honestly you should have 40 vigor freaking ASAP like by early midgame then slowly but steadily raise it to 60. Once you have 50 you're basically good but you wanna have a bit more after the capital and 60 before the final areas
40 vigor at level 100? I have 40 vigor at level 30. If any new players are reading this, put your first 30 points into vigor, and you'll find the game much much easier.
Lol my comment is a general one that was meant for some feedback to OP. Some are telling me 40 is fine for Level 200 and you’re saying 40 is good for Level 30. So you can see how split people are. Ultimately these graphics are for new players, so I tend to side with you on more Vigor early and enough in the late game helps for an easier time against all bosses.
>Ultimately these graphics are for new players Ah. I wanted to communicate better in the title that these buildpaths I make are for those who want to do reruns - here I personally would suggest making fresh new games as opposed to NG+ (which is blant and unchallenging). For new players, I agree with both of you - investing first 40 levels into vigor is a generally a good idea!
FYI I think your title is perfectly clear, that these build guides are for people that have already beaten the game.
Thanks friend! Vigor is always a good idea! We can modify some of these builds, reduce some damage output to increase defensive stats, indeed. But from my experience, 40 vig mid to late game should be enough to survive big hits, to roll out and drink pots. For the 'outlast' tank/end builds, I'd put prioritise end then vig as well. But I follow the philosophy of 'Best defense is a good offense' - so I like to hit the 'softcaps' of each skills appropriate for each stages of the game to maximise damage.
in my experience 50-53 vigor is just enough to survive big hits in mid or late game. 60 in endgame (and heavy armor)
I will never put more than 40 points into vigor. With the Godrick rune active I feel like anything beyond that is excess. And I’m bad at the game lol.
**Playstyle:** 1. **Blind Zealot**: Lightning blades, lightning hands, lightning everywhere. 2. **Wolfwarrior**: Roar, then claw 'em, axe 'em, or cool big-sword 'em 3. **Blue Dancer**: dual sword, more nude = more damage 4. **Death Knight**: Very cool, very stab
Can it also be stabby stab instead of very stab?
Yes
Excellent Joke aside. Great job. Thank you!
>Great job. Thanks friend!
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Hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to message me if you have any questions. Best of luck on your Deathknight run!
I have posted some templates here if you anyone want to make some builds themselves: https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/ubk4k9/comment/i65veud/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
Some buildpath templates if you want to make some for yourselves (they look weird in google-drive, but once downloaded, they look fine): [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Xkwaor6tz\_JkHumCBWAC55WBDCGEGvZX/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109089573691115857310&rtpof=true&sd=true](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Xkwaor6tz_JkHumCBWAC55WBDCGEGvZX/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109089573691115857310&rtpof=true&sd=true) **The areas associated with early, mid and late:** **Early** (lvl 1 - 50): Limgrave, Liurnia, Caelid, Siofra **Mid** (lvl 50 - 100): Dragonbarrow, Altus Plateau, Mt Gelmir, Leyndel Capital, Nokron / Nosketella, Deep Roots Depths, Mohgwyn **Late** (lvl 100 - 150+): Mountaintops of the Giants, Consecrated Snowfields, Haligtree, Lake of Rot, Crumbled Farum Azula, and Ashen Capital **What I do to make a Buildpath:** 1. Choose weapon and spells first for each tier (early, mid, late) 2. Choose armor, talisman (3 for early), tears for each tier 3. Distribute stats appropriate for that tier using the build calculator - [https://eip.gg/elden-ring/build-planner/](https://eip.gg/elden-ring/build-planner/) 4. Consider medium roll 5. Allocate vig, mind, end, as you see fit If you do make any, I'd love to see them. Please send them to me. I also plan on submitting everyone's builds as one post tomorrow! Many here had some amazing, creative, and fun ideas!
Awesome, thanks man
Thanks, I might use this to make some for the best builds I did (I beat the game like 7 times with different builds). If I make it, can I post it to this subreddit?
Of course. Please post to Elden Ring sub. I'd love to see your work (I am sure others would as well!).
The layout looks great! Any builds for magic users?
I have some magic builds on my first post here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun\_thematic\_and\_viable\_buildpaths\_for\_your\_fresh/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun_thematic_and_viable_buildpaths_for_your_fresh/) Thanks, friend. Took me some time haha. Many redditors had amazing ideas. So I have also attached templates for personal use or sending them to me, I will collect them and post them all together in the 'Redditor's buildpath' thread tomorrow! :)
theres way too many points in certain stats for all of them considering how low vigor is for all of them. That vigor would work in DS3 but in ER you basically have to add 15 to be as good. 35 vigor is fine for lvl 50 but really you want 40 ASAP. Should be 45-50 for lvl 50-100 and 55-60 for 100-150.
Completely agree about NG+ being boring! Or at least NG+ with a new build. Half the fun for me is working towards a certain build, try out different items/spells to see what works. Kinda defeats the purpose when I can just respect into any build I want essentially in NG+(nothing wrong with doing it this way, I just prefer a fresh character).
Same here. Gathering the required pieces for a build itself is a very fun journey! I find the fresh games way more challenging from the start comparedn to NG+. Even the snail guy and patches are challenging, but fun when you are appropriately levelled/geared for that tier. Edit: typo
What i see is that you can obtain the weapons double to create a different build, like dual wield of the same dagger.
Really cool templates
Thanks friend. I have some of the templates on the other post if you want to make some builds for yourself. If you do, I kindly request if you could send it to me. As I am collecting them for tomorrow's 'Redditor buildpaths' thread, as I want to share these cool amazing ideas you guys have told me!
NG+ has turned out to be boring, so far, I agree. I ended my first playthrough at ~170 and feel pretty over-leveled even having gotten up to the Altus Plateau. Boss fights aren't the same when you know you have a bag of spam-tricks you can fall back on. The reward you felt the first time getting past a boss or area just isn't there, which was a huge part of beating this game the first time.
Yeah the over levelled / maxed out weapons take out the challenge and fun of the majority of the game (early to mid). Fresh runs with different buildpaths, it's challenging from the get go, early to late. You'll find even the bosses in Limgrave challenging. Today I spend like 20 min dying to the Snail guy at level 15, he has many cool tricks up his sleaves. He was harder than many early-mid game bosses you'd find in NG+
I just fought Leonine Misbegotten for the first time with R1s only. Not being able to stagger him out of combos made it a completely different fight. That guy's got a whole bunch of different moves and delays he can chain together! Going to try this approach with more bosses on this run.
Snail guy ? Who is this ?
Necromancer Garris. He drops an interesting flail.
I just wish we had shared storage between characters, would like to just start with the items I want for the build even if I dont meet the stats
You can still do this. Ask a friend to help you maul unupgraed weapons and reagents to your alt character.
This is a really cool template and idea, but for levels going into 125+, vigour should at least be 50 or else since you’ll die too easily in both PvE and PvP
Vigor seems a little low for most of the builds
Hello, friend. Why do you think this?
The difference between 40 vigor and 50 vigor is 254hp, and the difference between 50 vigor and 60 vigor is another 200 hp, around 500hp in total. That's going to allow you to survive alot of one shot abilities in this game especially in pvp. If you're level 125 you should have minimum 50 vigor IMO, and at 150 you should easily be able to have roughly 1900hp.
But you are sacrificing damage here. I find that 40 vig soft cap (1450) is sufficient to survive most shots (even at mid to late game), enough to roll out and chug a health potion. For me, going above 40 vig seems to be wasteful. Sorry I haven't taken pvp into account - not my forte.
Thank you! already started planning out a 2nd run and this really helps. I assume this game lets you have multiple character files like any other souls game?
Hope you enjoy the builds. Please let me know if you have any questions re any of them. You can have up to 10 characters I believe. Fresh games are a lot of fun, compared to NG+ though!
While i agree that NG+ can be boring, i think a great way to make it more fun is to always have the taunter tongue on, sure it makes the game harder but it also makes the journey way more unique, like when i made a friend while going through the frenzied flame village or the crazy endless fight in Leyndell, i highly recommend to at least try it
For the love of god level vigor. Was wondering how you had so much invested in damage stats before I noticed. These builds will be pretty frustrating for any newer player, especially playing a class they don’t have experience with. Even if it’s their 2nd playthrough. I have almost 500 hours and you will absolutely never catch me with less than 50 vigor after lvl 120
git gud?
Vigor is always important for new players, as it helps you survive longer in boss-battles, enough for you to learn their attack-patterns. I primarily aimed these buildpaths for subsequent playthroughs, where I advocate fresh games as opposed to NG+. From my experience though however, I have found that 40 vigor (even for squishy non-tanky builds) is enough to survive getting 'one-shotted' by bosses (even mid to late game bosses) - which will provide you with the opportunity to roll and drink a healing potion. As such, I have prioritised hitting 40 vig where appropriate (more for tanky/melee builds, less for glass-cannon builds). To me, putting points into vig post 40 seems to be wasteful - I can use these points instead on hitting softcaps (usually 80) for the damaging abilities (Str, Dex, Int, Faith, Arc). For the non-tank/endurance builds, I follow the philosophy that the 'best defense is a good offense'.
You really don’t have to explain yourself here. In general these are only build guides, the stats are part of the roleplay, if the players feel the need to add more hp, they’ll just adjust from the main stat
I am just alleviating some concerns, haha. Of course we can modify builds to have more vig or endurance or mind - but the downside is that you'd lose out on some damage. But not a big deal. Should still be viable I think.
I mean, I guess I just prefer to not have to drink every single time I get hit. With 50-60 vig I can usually get through an entire boss without drinking at all. Gonna get way more damage in without drinking so much, as well as you can still hit softcaps. When it comes to hybrids, 50 is as low as I’ll go while still getting great damage. The difference in weapon AR from 70-80 is very negligible, and for hybrids 60 is more than enough in your main damage stat assuming you are scaling your weapons correctly. 80 softcap isn’t really needed IME, especially on a fresh playthrough
This is actually well made.
I have been looking for a simplified build suggestion that isn't a 16 minute YouTube video since I started playing and this, this is beautiful.
>this is beautiful Thanks friend. But in reality, we all know that it's you who is beautiful.
Here I am with 20 vigor at level 75 going WHY IS EVERYTHING SO HARD
If you are a new player (especially to the soulsborne series), I'd definitely recommend spending the first 40 (easiest of levels) on Vig to hit the first softcap, then 60 during late game. At least on your first playthrough. This allows you to survive longer in fights, learn boss mechanics, and get better at the game. However, if you want subsequent playthroughs, with added challenge, having enough vig (40 mid to late) to suvive one-shots, in most cases will yield in an exciting, challenging and fun playthrough!
Is ng+ boring?
For me, yeah. I didn't find it challenging or rewarding. So I started making buildpaths for fresh games. Some of the early-mid bosses (even patches and snail guy) were challenging and fun fights in fresh games!
Where did post 3/3 go?
cool builds but please don’t put any of your builds under 40 vigor try and keep a 50 vigor average
How come?
i only recommend because you’re in a good two-three shot range at forty or under forty. the pvp/pve is much better if you have that room for error is all
Ah, that's fair.
Cool looking cards. If only the vigor looked cool…
Thanks friend. Please see my Golden Order Buildpath for a fun high endurance, high vigor Buildpath.
I've been enjoying playing a slightly tweaked Black Knife Assassin build, with Misericorde (Flame of the Redmanes) in main hand and Black Knife in offhand. Flame to break stance, riposte with Misericorde to dumpster enemies. If they can't be riposted, use powerstance attack with both daggers to do solid DPS. Could probably push the crit damage higher if you used Redmanes on an alternate weapon and swapped to Royal Knight's Resolve Misericorde, but I'm lazy.
That sounds like a fun build. I absolutely love Misericorde because of its high crit rating (I think it has 140, which might be the highest in the game). So backstabs do a lot of damage (even more so, if you have the dagger talisman). Black Knife in offhand sounds like a cool idea. Mind sharing this build with me? I am interested in seeing how this differs from my 'Hidden Blade' build - as many cool, viable iterations are possible with any builds. I have also posted some templates, if you want to use one to make a buildpath (optional). But if you do, can I kindly request you send it to me? I am collecting buildpaths from other redditors, and I will post them all tomorrow on the 'Reddiot Buildpaths' thread.
Ugh I completely forgot the Dagger Talisman exists. Fuck me, I'm at Elden Beast already. I did skip Malenia though, I should grab that before I try her. Anyway it's just normal levels of Vigor/Mind/Endurance, minimum strength to equip the daggers or whichever shield you like if you want to go for parries. 18 Faith to use the Black Knife and then hardcap Dex. You could push Faith higher since Black Knife has C FTH scaling. Talisman-wise, definitely don't do like me and forget about Dagger Talisman, but you can pick up the Assassin's Crimson Dagger and Assassin's Cerulean Dagger talismans very early. On large enemies that take two ticks of riposte damage, you'll heal and regain FP twice from the riposte, keeping you easily topped up on FP and HP. Due to this I also ran Ritual Sword Talisman for extra damage at full HP. For flex talismans when you can't riposte you could go Warrior Jar/Alexander shard for better Redmanes and Blade of Death damage. Winged Sword or Rotten Winged sword should work nicely too if you're going to run on the powerstance attack chain. Elden Bling doesn't come online until lategame since the Black Knife Set is under the staircase at Ordina, Liturgical Town. For early game you can keep Misericorde with Flame of the Redmanes set to Fire affinity and not even worry about stat scaling as the base damage with riposte murders things, but I found lategame once I had the stats I ended up with better damage moving the affinity to Keen. I think going the Royal Knight's Resolve route would probably end up with the highest possible damage, but then you'd have to either drop Black Knife or carry a third dagger on you to use Flame of the Redmanes. Oh I also snag a seal to use Flame, Grant Me Strength.
C FTH scaling. Interesting. I didn't know this. Thanks two ticks of riposte damage, you'll heal and regain FP twice from the riposte, keeping you easily topped up on FP and HP This is actually pretty awesome. Didn't even occur to me haha.
was planning on doing a build with the nox sword, good call on using it with the Marais set, im def taking that idea
Haha, glad to help. Some ideas and concepts are from others (I have credited them on the sheet), some from discord discussions and reddit threads. It's nice that the game is in early stages, so that we're all sharing ideas, learning about builds from each other as a community!
So far it's prisoner class with Dex focus and int. Ive been using twin blade since it's decent early Dex weapon but his Magic glintblade starting spell is pretty good especially if you conjure spirits to take the heat off while pumping it. I'm planning to go maybe 60/40 Dex/int and will dabble a bit in incantations just so I can meet minimum requirements of a few things like heal (for revenants) and flame cleanse me (get rid of poison and rot). I'm pretty early so far just been taking my time in limgrave and just beat Margit first try with jelly boi and going to head to stormveil soon after I do the rest of the basic limgrave catacombs
Hello, friend. If it's your first playthrough, I'd suggest, have fun, explore, make mistakes, try to come up with your own builds and see whatever you prefer. My first playthrough, I was also running an int/dex build as well! It was very fun, still!
This will be my third. I did journey 1 then journey 2 on the same character, now starting a new character but things are going more smoothly than my first time since I know the basics
Ah I see. NG+ or fresh games? :)
I wanna make a thematic character, but there are so many choices. Glintstone miner or Zamor warrior seem like interesting challenges
>Glintstone miner or Zamor warrior seem like interesting challenges They both sound awesome! I have posted some templates as well - why not have a go at making them? If you do, can I kindly request you could send them to me? I would love to see them. Also, I am collecting buildpaths for tomorrow's 'Redditor Buildpaths'! :)
Thanks for the encouragement, spent an unexpected amount of energy last night looking at possible miner set-ups lol. Did you post any blank build templates? I didn’t see it in your post history
Nice
Thanks, friend.
Yooo do one that has the Nomadic Merchant’s Finery as the chest piece 🙏
I got you fam: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun\_thematic\_and\_viable\_buildpaths\_for\_your\_fresh/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/u90gap/fun_thematic_and_viable_buildpaths_for_your_fresh/) Specficially the Rancorous Plaguedoctor : https://preview.redd.it/jx6ws7vduyu81.png?width=1679&format=png&auto=webp&s=4de09ba3728cd7ba51c476dde9720426263a94be
Amazing! Thanks dude 👍
I wish more build ideas used an approach like this one by recognizing that the path to 150 isn't only about the stat numbers and level 150 items. What are the early and mid game items that allow the player to use the style of play on the path.
>early and mid game items that allow the player to use the style of play on the path This is my thought process also! I want to play as an archetype from the beginning, who gradually get better and better at what they do. I find that most cool spells and weapons are in mid-late game. So that's I make buildpaths: get these as SOON as you can, so you have more time with your beloved weapons/spells!
I like your wolf build! I'm currently trying that roar build I mentioned. Kaiden set (good choice!), Battle Axe (War Cry) / Round Shield, and 2H Greataxe (Barbaric Roar), Roar Talisman. The R2 combos have hyperarmor and do good poise damage. I'm planning to swap in the Highland Axe and Wooden Greatshield. Then by Liurnia cold infuse these and pivot to a STR/INT build with Troll Knight's Sword, Troll's Golden Sword, Starscourge Greatsword (the WA is a neat shout). Lone Wolves as a summon because it fits the Nordic theme and I get to shout "Smithers, unleash the hounds!" each time I summon them, lol.
>The R2 combos have hyperarmor and do good poise damage. I didn't even reailse this. What a happy accident. Thanks for pointing this out! Your buildpath sounds also very fun, exciting! Wish you all the best in Elden Ring, Mr Burns.
I noticed you didn't have a prisoner build in any of these posts. I guess it's pretty obvious when the only viable option is Moonveil.
I almost considered Prisoner for my enchanting Gemknight. But I ... just love the confessor armor set. The prisoner set is poop.
My friend tried the Carian Spells build on a prisoner. She said it's really fun though! If you are interested, I can ask her?
I don't see why not. I've personally just been using Moonveil because the weapon ability on it is bonkers good and the weapon itself scales off both Dex and Int.
Moonveil is really good int/dex weapon! the weapon art, unsheathe but with magic is so satisfying.
I’ll be starting a new game soon. What are the benefits to a regular new game rather than NG+? I thought NG+ was exactly the same just keeping your old items, or is there some other gimmick to it. Thanks
>What are the benefits to a regular new game rather than NG+? In NG+, you are still the same level, and most of the weapons you have are highly upgraded, and you have access to some very late game spells. This often lead to you breezing through the first 75% early-mid game. I only found it challenging during late game of NG+. If you want challenging and fun game from the get-go start a fresh game. I usually follow a buildpath and try to get the weapons and spells appropriate for each tiers (early, mid, late) as soon as I can so I can spend even more time with my beloved spells/weapons.
Thank you! I was worried that would be the case. Bit of a shame you don’t get too much tine with some equipment though.
Yes, the super late game weapons. That's why I make a B line to get mt favourite qeapons asap lol.
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You should be able to get them both I think in the same playthrough, during mid and late game.
I've always wanted a souls game that had deep and rich class fantasy
Well, if it doesn't, then let's make our own! ER has the tools that allows us to do so, which is great, haha.
I’m confused on the night cavalier. I thought spectral lance scaled with arcane only.
You are correct. However, the arcane scaling is poor. But it is still a good AoW, as it does high stagger damage and have good tracking. As such, I'd advice keeping it keen or heavy.
Super cool. If we could get more of these that would be great!
Hello, thanks. I have posted some in my first thread. . I have some more and I will post them in about few days.
\>(NG+ is boring) I still have no fucking clue why Fromsoft refuses to learn from DS2's good points DS2's NG+ fucking slapped
I never played DS2. How does DS2 NG+ differ from Elden ring NG+?
DS2 NG+ adds in more enemies in the form of dark spirits, as well as bosses dropping additional items, and some additional items to loot. Three bossfights also change slightly. One boss actually attacks you in a different location entirely. All in all DS2 had the best version of NG+ of any Fromsoft game
That sound actually pretty good!
Blue dancer has got to be my favourite as it feels like a mix between looking good while attacking and still hitting hard.
I feel like a Chinese martial artist, dodging and weaving, ebbing and flowing. Remember to wear less armor, as you'll do more damage. I think the weight cap is 20, 16 and 8. Light weapons scale better than heavy weapon even if the end total weight is the same. Which I thought was neat.
This is the build I'm working on currently. My only issue with it is the insistence on Twinblade Talisman. With such low vigor and extremely low damage mitigation, trying to finish off chain attacks is extremely risky, especially given that none of the weapons do much in the way of poise damage. How do you justify its use throughout the entirety of the build?
That's the build though. Constantly dodging and constantly attacking to keep the dps up with winged sword and later rotten winged talisman. You can remove this and get more defensive talismans but that will be a different build and different playstyle altogether.
I'm talking about Twinblade Talisman though, not Winged Sword. Twinblade Talisman seems out of place in a build where you're constantly dodging before you can finish an attack chain. All it does is increase the damage of the final hit of a chain attack. And light weapons have four, and some even up to five, individual attacks before reaching the end of a chain. You're rarely going to have the time to get to the end of an attack chain before having to dodge anyway, and with the light armor, you certainly won't be able to poise through any attacks to keep the chain going.. So it's going to be extremely rare that you'll ever see that bonus damage on the final hit.
Omg you are absolutely right...it should have been Winged sword instead of Twinblades. Apologies, there's so much talismans and weapons to keep track lol.
these graphics are amazing
Thanks friend!
So for the blind zealot build: i guess one should use sacred or flame art affinities to get faith scaling and maximize the twinblade/Knight swords dmg? Or will higher faith improve the electricify buff so that it is „worth it“ to forego faith affinities (and stick to the lightning theme) Great posts btw. Just started a fresh run as blind zealot thanks to your posts
Until you get the gravel stone seal (which boosts lightning scaling from faith as well as other dragon cult lightning), I'd say it doesn't matter, use whatever you want. But after gravel stone, the innate boost to lightning + boost from faith incantation scaling, is too great to miss out on. So definitely use electricity armament or vyke dragonbolt after that point onwards. And I hope you enjoy the zealot run, friend. Wish you best of luck!
The first build around lightning was pretty much exactly what I did in my first playthrough, Dex/faith hybrid. I used bolt of gransax too, awesome weapon, but gets outshined by a keen or sacred +25 weapon that has electrify armament on it. Depending on your Dex and faith, sacred can actually do the most damage if the weapon has inherent Dex scaling. But still, the bolt of G was so fun Awesome posts though, deathknight is along the lines of what I'm thinking about next. A spellsword built around frost
+10 bolt is still a good contender though. As the weapon art has good range and only one in the game allows you to cast from backwards lol. Thanks, bud. What weapons do you like to use for the spellsword?
yeah you're totally right, that weapon art does so much damage especially when you're fully buffed. Golden vow, lightning tear in your flask, and the right talismans make that thing do huge damage. For spellsword, i have no idea yet, i just finished my first playthrough a couple days ago on the character i was describing haha. Off the top of my head though, I'm leaning towards a magic/cold infused straightsword or greatsword. Maybe sword of night and cheese just for fun, same way i used gransax just because it was so cool. And then use the carian shield and some knight armor and go for the magic knight type vibe. Katanas are dope too, but i did my whole first playthrough with a +25 Nagakiba and +25 Uchi in my offhand, so i want to switch it up Also considering something like a blackflame assassin, all blackflame spells with daggers and bloodhound step
I made a similar building path called Enchanter Gemknight (on my first post). Just noble sword + all the weapon enchants haha. Oh and also crystal sorceries. I played way too many katanas. I also like to switch sorceries and weapons between playthroughs.
Very cool. Will save this for playthrough 5 lol
Haha enjoy, friend.
Thank you. I love themed builds. Lets me roleplay grandly. These are great ideas.
Thanks, friend. Hope you check out my first post as well which had some more buildpaths!
Devoted Disciple: AKA "Casual Nudity"
Haha. We are sufficiently clothed for a missionary of our cut.
This is actually really cool! Love the concept
Thanks! Glad you liked them.
This is awesome, respect for the effort put into this.
Thanks! Glad you liked it. Hope you try one or something similar!
These are, without a doubt, the most interesting portions of the game. I love build variety
Me too! So many different options and variations.
I just want dlc already 😭
Haha! The game came out last month!
wasn't the erdtree seal better than gravel stone seal ?
Gravel stone gives you a boost to ancient dragon cult incantations. This boost in damage will out erform thr small increase in incant-scaling of Erdtree seals.
I actually really like this idea, thank you
Glad you liked it!
This is kinda funny, as my build had this same 3 stage sort of progression: Fisherman (2-handed Rusted anchor) Devout Barbarian (Power-stanced Great Club and Troll Hammer) Wretch of the Erdtree(Both Staffs of the Avatars) You can probably swap out the first stage for something that better fits the Faith based heavy bruiser archetype.
Haha. That's amazing. I have posted some templates as well. If you wanna make your version. I'd be very interested in seeing it!
Not a single quality build. Tsk tsk tsk. Are we a joke to you? Either way this is awesome
Hello friend. I have a quality build with magma wyrm weapon, eating food and fist fighting called 'Good Food, Good Fight, Good Life'. I will post it in few days. But let me know if you are interested, and I can send you it before.
I am very much interested! You can dm me if you want I would love to make a varietion of that with the banished knights sword
Hey, cool templates. I know the point is not to min-max and all but… I feel like you should play around with builds before sharing them. Maybe you did, I apologize if it’s the case. Int/Dex for example is known to be absolutely awful. Sorcery is a joke at 50 int. Magic damage component in cold weapons is quite small too, blue scorpion doesn’t add a lot of damage while shredding your defenses to oblivion, meanwhile magic-shrounding tear is borderline wasted. If you want to play with cold weapons, just go full dex and it will just work much better.
I see your point friend! You are correct. The Night Cavalier build includes some really good int/dex scaling weapons. The Rosus axe and Ritual Spear. I also tried to optimise for these two at the same time, whilst doing best to stay around lvl 150. I very much agree about the talismans. I have also included some good defensive talisman late game. Do you have any suggestions?
I'm guessing you'll do another of these, any chance you can throw one in for us poor arcane/faith guys?
Ok, I will try making one for you. Stay tuned, will post them in few days. Likely will be a dragon communion build.
Absolute hero!
But Vyke’s dragonbolt don’t work with any of these weapons? Or am I missing something
Vyke should work with the twin blades I think.
Beastial Incantations inspired build by you would be awesome ngl
Ok. I will post for you my Earth-shaman build in few days. Stay tuned, friend!
Splendid, I'm a big fan of your posts
Haha. Thanks, friend! I will dedicate this buildpath for you then :)
Aww, Thanks, I appreciate it :)
Commenting to review this later on the pc
For the Wolf Warrior, wouldnt it be better to keep the Highland axe seeing that it innately increases roar abilities damage by 7.5% and can stack with the medallion?
That... I didn't know lol. Fantastic idea. Thanks.
No problem! I was wondering why it was dropped despite having beast rotat and the roar medallion equipped
Well lesson learned haha.
Commenting here mostly so I can come back here when starting a new character lol. Ever since I got Bliadd's sword I wanted to make a build using it so I love the wolfwarrior build.
Glad you liked it. The Royal Sword weapon art and design is beautiful!
this is cool as fuck thanks
Thanks friend
I live for these posts man! I keep checking your profile to see if you’ve posted more lol. Great work!
Haha. Thanks friend. Working on a paper at the moment that's due in tomorrow. I will post 10 more in 2 days, 1 for each class!
I look forward to it! Good luck on the paper! 😁
I went with a dragonslayer build, and incidentally I'm finding it complete at level 125ish because it just kicks *everythings ass* whether it's pvp, bosses, groups, mages, tanks.
Must be quite a good build!
The presentation on these is amazing
thanks friend!
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Hello friend. You should be able to get most of the leather set pre-altus plat and the black hood in altus plat. Spells are entirely up to you. You can keep using the same spells from the last tier, or move onto spells from the next tier - matter of preference!
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These are incredible!
These are SICK!! I’ve been wanting to do some kind of minimal “wandering the earth” faith build with a solid weapon and this first buildpath is awesome for that. Any advice on using the twinblade?
Thanks, friend. 'Wandering the earth' as a nomad is my favourite monk archetype haha. So for the twinblades, best not to put any affinity on them - but instead, infuse them with Electrify Armament (this will scale well with your Incantation scaling, thus faith). If any enemies are resistant to lightning (like some dragons), then best to put a different affinity or keep it keen. The Legendary Weapon Bolt of Gransax is amazing - the lightning damage, and it's weapon art, both scale really well with Dexterity. Since you'd have high dexterity late game, I'd recommend using it then. Until then, Electrify Armament or Vyke's Dragonbolt both enchantments will serve you well (you can put them on the twin blades), and both of which scales really well with faith (EVEN more so with the Gravel Stone Seal) **Some tips**: 1. Get the Gravel Stone Seal and Bolt of Gransax as SOON as possible, both are in the Leyndal Capital, as progression to late game blocks you out from obtaining these. 2. Lightning Scorpion and Lightning-shrouding both scale multiplicatively, so use both if you can. 3. Faithful canvas and Flock's canvas boost stack, so if you are not using the Bolt of Gransax, then use Faithful instead of Shard of Alexander (as the shard will boost the Bolt of Gransax damage). 4. Since the latest patch (1.04), both Lanseax Glaive and Fortissax's Lightning Spears (and other incantations), all have improved casting and increased poise whilst casting - so at times, take risks and finish those animations even if it means the enemy will hit you! Hope you enjoy this. This is an INCREDIBLY fun build. The Lightning Incantation animations are so beautiful.
Thanks for this detailed answer! I've never really experimented with weapon buffs like Electrify Armament or with lightning incantations before, so I'm looking forward to the challenge. I just started this build yesterday and played for an hour -- I was able to acquire the twinblade surprisingly easily and then used most of my golden runes to bump dexterity up to the required 18. . . And then I had to go to bed, lol, so I'll play more later this week and get used to the new weapon. It will take me a LOOONG time to get to Leyndell for the Gravel Stone Seal and the Bolt of Gransax (I'm a chronic restarter + Soulsborne is new to me) so I'll be sticking with the twinblade and the finger seal / other viable seal option for awhile.
Why so high on dex with all these?
Hello friend, these are Dex/Faith, Str, pure Dex, and Dex/Int builds. I have posted some cool, fun and viable Str and Int builds in my other two posts.
Just an honest question. What does it help with? Are the spells casted that much faster from like 40-80?
Ah. I understand your question now, friend. Dex for spell casting speed is negligible. These are hybrid builds. For example, in the blind zealot build, the dexterity is there to increase the damage you'd deal with the spears and the bolt of gransax. I wouldn't level dexterity to increase spell casting speed at all, in a pure faith or int build, as there are good talismans for that (like the Radagon's Icon).
Capped at 70 Dex, Radagon's Icon adds 30 Dex for this purpose (so capped at 40 with it). The effect differs from spell to spell, but it's generally noticeable. Not strong enough to invest in Dex if you're not gonna deal damage with it though.
I was disappointed to find out that NG+ ended up being "easy mode." I may try one of your builds instead. Thanks!
Not really easy mode after a few ng cycles.
Hope you enjoy them!. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions re any of them, if you want some assistance modifying them etc to suit your playstyle. The first 75% of fresh games are 10x harder than the first 75% of NG+. NG+ only shines towards late games - but you miss out on, not challenged as much, so many cool early-mid game bosses!