Pemulis
Not Woke
- 3,264
- 9,053
Elden Ring - From Software + George RR Martin
- Thread starter jooka
- Start date
OU Ariakas
Diet Dr. Pepper Enjoyer
- 6,975
- 19,184
Ok all, I am at a crossroads. I am replaying the game after beating every boss with colossal swords. My current character has 20 str/20 dex so I can still go down a dex build path but none of them seem to do great DPS. I tried bleed for a little bit but the bleed explosions don't seem to do a ton of damage.
Fogel
Mr. Poopybutthole
- 12,154
- 45,178
Dual-weld twinblades, bleed afinity, jump attack does 4 hits. Bleed explosions for days. Word of warning, Radagon/Elden beast are immune to bleed
- 2
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
- 14,107
- 30,197
What point in the game are you at? Dex is up there with STR for damage, but it requires other things to get the most out of it. Depending on what your other stats are, you might want to consider doing a Sword of Night and Flame setup. And there are some early weapons that work great off of dex that continue to be solid for the whole game, like Guardians Swordspear and the Pestilent Halberd the bug guys drop, both of which can be farmed before Atlus is even reached. Dex soft caps are at weird intervals so you will see return on investing in the stat fairly early on. But at the 20/20 point, you are basically in a position where you can fool around with a lot of different weapons to see what you are enjoying. Ultimately I found Daggers and Whips to be fun (Reduvia is amazing) for someone wanting to affix different status to rapid weapons. But really for raw damage, Greatspears and Halberds are where it is at, and there is a steady variety of those as you progress the game. Early on with modest stats, Halberds are a solid choice with dependable damage and moves. In fact, you can get a +8 one from the invader phantom at the Revenger's Shack in Western Luneria relatively early.
The biggest thing to think about is what you plan on the companion stat being. Arcane seems like an obvious choice because of how much the game leans into bleed (and Reduvia power stanced with Miscorde will proc bleed relentlessly), but it has a very limited benefit as the game goes on. Faith is the obvious best choice, due to Lightning working off of Dex and it giving you a number of ranged/buff options. Plus two of the strongest Dex weapons (The Gransax Spear and Siluria Tree Spear I have been jerking myself off to) tie into faith and dex with their very strong weapon arts. But its worth noting that a combined STR/DEX setup using the later Halberds can do a lot of raw damage. There are also some good arguments for going with INT/DEX and running as a wizard with some supplemental melee (certain mid game daggers and all whips work wonderfully here), but its not going to eclipse what a lightning DEX or MLGS centric build will do.
If you have not done a play using it, though, I suggest going down the Moonveil path and eventually graduating into MLGS. Its fun, powerful, and gets steadily better as the game goes on. Plus a close range weapon art MLGS hit with the right talismans is the single hardest hitting attack in the game in PVE, even to stuff that is resistant to it. And if you end up in a Fuck You Melee boss fight you can always fall back on Sorcery.
- 1
Grizzlebeard
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
- 2,177
- 2,311
Ordovis Greatsword is also a lot of fun. Needs a small amount in Faith but then you can cast Flame Grant Me Strength.
Fogel
Mr. Poopybutthole
- 12,154
- 45,178
Pair the MLGS special with the phalanx spells and you become a stance break machine. Most bosses will break from one phalanx and two hits of MLGS special.
OU Ariakas
Diet Dr. Pepper Enjoyer
- 6,975
- 19,184
I am just getting into Liurnia; halberds/spears seem like a fun route and I've already got the one from the Horse Knight at the very beginning of the game. I have never fucked around with status in any Souls game, choosing instead to just go straight raw damage w/ 2 handers. Faith may be a fun thing to try.
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
- 14,107
- 30,197
Bleed and Poison are very strong, especially early on. Later, you might enjoy messing around with Rot weapons when they show up late game. But Bleed on a fast weapon (or power stanced fast weapon ideally) will wreck anything not specifically immune to it. This does unfortunately include the end boss, but by then you should have other options to fall back on. Bleed in particular is good because it does percentage based damage. The weapon arts on Reduvia and Malekith's sword are stellar for the same reason (Max HP Debuff and a percentage scaled DOT which both stack) and Reduvia paired with any sort of bleed dagger can just rack up procs like crazy. There is a reason that Rivers of Blood is the second most nerfed weapon in the history of the game and its not the base damage. Naginata with a blood enhancement is just plain crazy buildup and the jump attacks with it are devastating.
Bleed is probably the strongest melee strategy but it requires good execution. You cant just dump into STR, slap on a pair of colossal weapons and mash Jump+Strong Attack (unless you are a double Naginata Ganker). You need to get in get your combo off and then get out before you get punished. You have to get used to the idea that the procs and not base damage are what are doing the work. And you need to keep a backup weapon for the handful of fights where Bleed is not going to work (Twin Gargs is the notable early one).
Faith is a lot of fun, I will say. Sorcery in terms of raw damage is strictly superior (plus with MLGS you kind of get to have your wizard cake and eat it too), but Faith has so much more utility. And the lightning spells with the proper DEX and talisman are at DS2 levels of strong, especially against anything thats a Dragon.
Bleed is probably the strongest melee strategy but it requires good execution. You cant just dump into STR, slap on a pair of colossal weapons and mash Jump+Strong Attack (unless you are a double Naginata Ganker). You need to get in get your combo off and then get out before you get punished. You have to get used to the idea that the procs and not base damage are what are doing the work. And you need to keep a backup weapon for the handful of fights where Bleed is not going to work (Twin Gargs is the notable early one).
Faith is a lot of fun, I will say. Sorcery in terms of raw damage is strictly superior (plus with MLGS you kind of get to have your wizard cake and eat it too), but Faith has so much more utility. And the lightning spells with the proper DEX and talisman are at DS2 levels of strong, especially against anything thats a Dragon.
- 1
OU Ariakas
Diet Dr. Pepper Enjoyer
- 6,975
- 19,184
Sir, please stop watching every Souls game I've ever played over my shoulder.
- 2
Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
- 18,684
- 34,799
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
- 24,598
- 31,903
I missed this game first go around. I mostly play RPGs like BG3 now and various arpgs. I know it is about to have an expansion but does the base game hold up well? $59 if I remember right. I got more time than anything to play shit now. Not sure why it never really noticed it much before. I watched a couple of reviews, some fairly new and some from back a while and they mostly mention games that it's like or not like that I never played either.
DickTrickle
Definitely NOT Furor Planedefiler
- 12,922
- 14,824
Yes, the base game holds up well... It's not that old and this is the first and likely only expansion.
It'll be harder than the other games you played, most likely.
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
- 14,107
- 30,197
Just wrapped up my recent play. God damn I forgot how much I hated that Elden Beast fight, but I had so much lightning damage stacked that I was able to just Gransax him into submission, swapping to Vikes when in close. Pretty much everything else late game I was able to one shot with Poop man tanking for me. If I had to pick one thing I like the most about this game it is probably the number of viable setups and playstyles you can indulge in. So many options in how you want to roll in combat.
So I was killing time waiting for Unicorn Overlord to unlock, putting myself in the summon pool and just helping other players. Pretty much got invaded in every team up I got summoned to. I had my phantom blade Guardian Spear ready to swap in, though. Man I don't know what the deal is on that, but its like people are just not expecting it at all. I would close, they come in for the jump attack and I start the weapon art making them think I was attacking too early. Maybe I trade a hit, but four smacks in a row would just instagib anyone (or at least stance break them). Full setup includes the Jar Shard and Rotting Sword Pendant. Its so - so in PvE (great against trash, not so much against bosses) but holy hell do people get fooled by it and wrecked in PvE. Exactly one guy managed to survive the initial combo without dying or being broken (dude must have had 50 Vital and wore heavy armor), but he immediately tries to flask and I spam the art again and drop him before he can heal. It must not be part of the meta or something. Was fun helping people with bosses, though. I hope Seemless Coop somehow finds its way to console at some point.
So I was killing time waiting for Unicorn Overlord to unlock, putting myself in the summon pool and just helping other players. Pretty much got invaded in every team up I got summoned to. I had my phantom blade Guardian Spear ready to swap in, though. Man I don't know what the deal is on that, but its like people are just not expecting it at all. I would close, they come in for the jump attack and I start the weapon art making them think I was attacking too early. Maybe I trade a hit, but four smacks in a row would just instagib anyone (or at least stance break them). Full setup includes the Jar Shard and Rotting Sword Pendant. Its so - so in PvE (great against trash, not so much against bosses) but holy hell do people get fooled by it and wrecked in PvE. Exactly one guy managed to survive the initial combo without dying or being broken (dude must have had 50 Vital and wore heavy armor), but he immediately tries to flask and I spam the art again and drop him before he can heal. It must not be part of the meta or something. Was fun helping people with bosses, though. I hope Seemless Coop somehow finds its way to console at some point.
- 2
Phazael
Confirmed Beta Shitlord, Fat Bastard
- 14,107
- 30,197
Biggest thing I can say is to think of it as an action RPG, but its much more methodical and structured. Different weapons and spells behave in different ways. And a big part of the game is understanding those traits and reading what the enemy monsters are doing to respond correctly. And its sandbox nature means you can make the game as hard or easy as you want to fit your enjoyment. Early game can be a bit rough for newer players, but before you know it the game clicks and you are able to overcome things without a ton of trial and error. It really is (along with BG3 and GoW Ragnarok) one of the best games to come out in a decade.
Tuco
I got Tuco'd!
- 45,417
- 73,486
It holds up well and is one of the best games of all time.
- 4
- 3
- 2
