Dark Souls & Other Souls-Likes

is it even worth it to make a pure str build melee char for ds pvp wise?

main focus would be obv str, but also end and vit.


comments? pros / cons?

my first char i made a thunder weapon but dumped alot into faith for some pld type char. so most of my stats arent going over 40.

If you're into buffing weapons with like, DMB/SLB/CMW (have to put points into INT/FTH) or resins (very underrated) yeah.

Or using a unique weapon with decent scaling in that stat along with high base damage. Black Knight Greataxe (extremely popular) and Greatsword are pretty good in that regard. Black Knight Greatsword falls behind elemental Ultra Greatswords (Zweihander/Demon Great Machete) though. Both in damage and viable move sets.

High VIT is always nice if you're not very confident in your ability to roll away. END is easily the single most important stat in the game. I get it to 40 on every non SLv restricted character I make, regardless of equipment I'll be using.

im about done with my first char and started a second wanted to be more geared for solid pvp, started as pyromancer.


so basically the best thing to do is only get as much str as you need for a weapon, and then make it thunder or fire?

since these will shine above practically all str build weapons?

also, what stat levels for str int faith would be needed for this gs to really shine?

If you're not buffing weapons with magic or resins, Elemental are the way to go, yeah.

What greatsword do you want to use? Can't really give any input unless I know.

well greatswords that come to mind are zweihander, bkgs, demon machete, serpent gs, and artorias.

I currently use zwei with thunder +4. the dmg output is nice, but 3 hits and stamina is wiped.

i like artorias but with my current char i cant use effectively due to stats.

what magic would i have to level to have an effective mele build tho and use buffing magic? + what level?


edit i like one handed words too but havent found any great ones lol

Artorias' Greatsword (uncursed version) is technically the most powerful weapon in the game. Unfortunately, to make it so, you have to invest an obscene amount of stat points into it so that it's mostly non-viable in the most common dueling SLv ranges (60, 80 and 120).

For Darkmoon Blade and Sunlight Blade, to get the absolute most out of them, you'll want 50 Faith and to have a Darkmoon Talisman. If you want the best damage with the least investment, you'll want to use Thorolund Talisman with 30 Faith.

For Crystal Magic Weapon the best would be using Tin Crystallization Catalyst with 50 Intelligence. Bare minimum would be 25 Intelligence with an Oolacile Ivory Catalyst.

40 Points of Strength will be about as much as you can put in before the benefits from more strength drastically drop.

Zweihander, Black Knight Greatsword and Demon Great Machete are very slow weapons, but they stun enemies extremely well. Man-Serpent Greatsword is just about the same speed as a Claymore, but with better strength scaling. Weaker than the previous three mentioned though.

so basically a pure str build whether using clubs, gswords, axes or hammers can be beat by other builds?

For damage per hit? Yeah. Unless you use Gold or Charcoal Pine Resins which require no stat investment. And they're relatively cheap. Gold Pine can also be farmed off the mushrooms at the bottom of The Great Hollow or near Sif's door in Darkroot.

But dueling is mostly determined by how often you can avoid being hit.

Or how many back stabs you can take and give in some cases.

the main concern i had behind pure str build vs magic / elemental weapons was the question that once you upgrade these weapons, their damage is set, yet with str mod weapons they scale with str ( plus the 40+ str req weapons look awesome.

but its sad to learn that they cant beat thunder augments lol.


edit: you said i need 50 faith to get the most out of the sunlight thunder sword faith ability, is that because thats the faith requirement for the darkmoon talisman? bc it says on wiki it doesnt scale with faith, but the magic adjustment on the catalyst / tali

Magic Adjustment for most talismans/catalysts scales off of your characters FTH/INT.

Oolacile Ivory Catalyst and Thorolund Talisman are the exceptions. They have a set amount.

so what about the moonlight greatsword? is is a good choice if i decide to make a end vit int build char?

and would an end vit int build char focusing on moderaltey heavy armor, gs, and magic be a good pvp char?

basically im looking fro a great melee build, which is why i was look at raw str build.

just a little lost on what i should do lol

Moonlight Greatsword is the fastest greatsword in the game. Has a ranged attack built in. Same R1 moveset as the Claymore.

Very popular and viable weapon in PvP. Does great chip damage too. Pairs up very well with a Moonlight Butterfly Horn too if you want a poking weapon to go along with it.

You'll want INT up to 50.

If you really want to go with a STR build, Black Knight Greataxe is a great weapon to use. B scaling and high base damage. VERY popular weapon.

I went on an upgrade spree. Ive been wearing that crimson set mixed with some knight armor of some sort...changed to that gold armor that king Jeremiah drops in Ariamis. Kinda sad :( I miss that red armor.

Also got the queelag furysword which is all kinds of fun but still had to use my lightning halberd on alot of enemies >.> because I wasn't so used to standing up close to some monsters.

oh, Priscilla kinda kicked my @rse. I know she doesnt have alot of hp but I was trying really hard to get her dagger and she killed me a good 7 times >.> I ended up accidentally killing her with my halberd while she was invisible (I was using my drake sword to try and knock off her tail while visible and my halberd to knock her out of invisibility)...oh well I guess.

Then I went back to sens fortress and dropped down in that pit and got a scyth but was disappointed it didn't look all scyth-y..am going to upgrade it but ran out of materials. Then I ran around the corner and found more demons who promptly pwned me to death.

last question i have for you, i promise lol.


what is a great one handed sword to fall back on in pvp situations? whatever build i choose, i want it to be great sword /axe + 1h sword weapon wise for utility?

I am thinking of rapier with an augment for turtles but not sure which one would be the best

Rapier is definitely a good choice. Estoc is good too. A spear serves the same function as well.

@Daus: Those Titanite Demons suck sooo bad. Fighting them on that terrain was an *** move by From Soft. :<

My bro started up a game. Helped him to the bonfire near that first blacksmith at the cathedral. He's playing it online though and ohmygawd....I died enough as it was, I cringed everytime somebody invaded the world and killed him. Why? why would you let high powered characters invade the world of a noob?

Quelaags Furysword is a great weapon. DMG scales with your humanity, a tad bit better for PvE than PvP. I have a magic longsword +10 that surprisingly helps me out considerably when I PvP.

Quelaags furysword+ that shield of Sif that reminds me of Ochain because it's a beast -- ftw

Equip Thief's Ring from 1-1 and then do hit&run attacks. Fight around a corner so you can "LOS" their attacks.

omfg 5 days till pc release im so excitedddd !!!!
!!!!

They're more than likely not high level characters, although it is entirely possible. For example, my level 135 Darkmoon Blade could invade someone doing a level 1 play through if there's no one close to my level when I'm invading. I only invade for mutual dueling (or getting gang banged by douchenozzles) though.

Likely, they're just griefing twinks. SOME of them got that gear legitly. You can do a LARGE portion of the game before you fight the Gargoyles if you so wished. But like, 80%+ just used the bottomless box glitch to give themselves a Chaos +5 weapon to one shot lower level players.

Wonder if my laptop can handle dark souls ~.~ probably not

Kinda wish I could avoid spoilers, but there's no way I'll manage it. Specially when ENB, Vageta311 and (maybe) Egoxeno are all planning on doing blind playthroughs. ENB has been testing Youtube Streaming too, so he might be streaming it.

wait... ENB is doing a blind playthrough? :o Must watch!

More like 99%.

Then they dupe divine blessings and humanity, so they have unlimited healing and 99 humanity.

If it was just people who actually worked for that gear at a low level, I wouldn't care. But it's so easy that every turd is griefing just because they can.

I'm pretty sure that's what he said he was doing on his review of the newest trailer.

Confirmed as Lord's Blade Ciaran, one of Gwyn's Elite Knights and original owner of the Hornet Ring.

TOMB OF THE GIANTS WTH IS THIS F$#$ERY!?

Tomb of the Giants is err... fun...

I'd do Lost Izalith before Tomb of the Giants for the Sunlight Maggot personally, if you haven't already. Much better than giving up an offhand slot for Skull Lantern (or even worse, running blindly through the dark).

Yea...there really is no rushing through that place unless you know where the platforms are.