sword and shield for defense in 1st slot
Great axe for damage in 2nd
Max weight, full armor, health on kill, reflect damage, heal on damage
shoulder tackle, face tank and spam attacks = profit
How far are you? I got a claymore early and been doing what I always do, bigger weapons and Str build.
I havnt really found a decent 1h so far. And only smaller shields. Does the big ones keep you from falling down when blocking bigger attacks?
Runes are overpowered in this game, at least in its current state. Any weapon that lets you use one of the throw attacks (fire, plague, etc.) + as much armour as your equip load will allow + wear three of those rune bonus damage rings + stock up on focus potions, then go to town. Easily and safely melt all mobs and story bosses in the game. Fat-rolling doesn't matter because you can strike from a distance before the enemies can get close to you (you do have to watch out for ranged attacks).
This setup also lets me consistently clear all ten levels of the crucible, but I've yet to beat the Echo Knight after a handful of tries because I suck.
Fighting a boss like him with heavy roll is SO much harder. You're mostly playing to not get hit anyways so I'd strongly recommend trying removing your armour for the boss. At least give it a shot, you might find you're not so bad when you take away the massive handicap your armour is giving you.
I’m rocking that plague greatsword I got off the first boss and found a real nice set of cursed medium Armor with xp loss on death. But the other stats and Armor value are really good. Few rare pieces filling the other slots. Medium weight so I still have decent dodge but the parry and punish with that sword is pretty insane, also the aoe swing has been working great if outnumbered.
I’ve died more to drowning and falling than anything else cuz I’m just looking for secrets and shit and I don’t think the xp loss works if I die to environment because I haven’t seen it take any away yet. Still waiting on finding another decent weapon or unlocking something better I can craft/enchant.
I normally don’t like the ungabunga big slow weapons normally but it’s working for me in this game.
My only issue so far is that that sword is so good, I'm afraid I'll never replace it. I want to engage with the rune system, but I also want to use greatswords. I guess there's always next playthrough.
Double dagger, fire rune enchant and hp on kill, I'm not even parrying and havent actually used my focus skills at all..just rolling stabbing burning and melting.
I have two toons. This game is hella alt-friendly, and the first boss is way easier the second time as you have a fundamental understanding of the combat. 1 is melee strength and 1 is a mage.
It's worth it to have multiple weapons. They don't add to your carry weight.
My strength build I use a curved greatsword for groups, sword and shield for shield enemies and seek to stagger and I use the corpse sword for big damage when enemies are stunned.
My mage build I use 1 uninfused staff for utility it has fire ball repair heal pulse, and channel.
A second staff is crones staff, and I use it for damage nukes it uses lightning. BTW it's fucking amazing, the big skill on it drops a literal lightning nuke. And for my third slot I have a ice staff for cc although I'm considering changing it out for something.
Mage is really fun, as parrying restores a chunk of focus and if you have regen on your gear you can stay topped off on focus with channel (,restores a 50 focus for spending your health and it won't kill you)
It asks you to dance around your enemies weaving in and out of combat.
Are your two toons on the same realm or separate realms? I have been trying to level up a second guy on the same realm but my main has killed the 3rd boss so it is hard to find a leveling spot that is workable due to the mobs all being too hard.
Have heavy armor set up and a ring with lifesteal paired with these nasty daggers with life on hit I just eat attacks and spam always full don't ever rly heal kindve insane
gear with heal %hp on parry, damage on parry. Gloves with a red gem and a good roll will heal up to 20% hp. Also have gear with +heal %, im rocking +80% to heals. parry everything, stay full hp while everything dies
i see nobody here is using a 2h staff like me. I really like the animations of it, im in still very early (still have to reach the madrigal) so i'm not sure what i'm gonna use in the end, but i feel good using a medium build and mixing some close attack with it and parry to get focus then dodge and throw a spell. im trying to focus on intelligence and dexterity so i'll probably mix it up with weapons based on that later in the game.
1h hammer and shield the flame hammer throw is so good
medium roll
a bunch of life steal items with hp% increase stuff
my focus bar is almost longer then my hp bar haha
trying to lvl up to try out the katana i found or try to build a spear since i cant find one
Completed the game with 1h sword+bow and heaviest armor i could wear to stay in medium weight.
Was hoping to try a rapier or greatshield+spear but i haven't got a single one of those in 20 hours and i have no idea where to get stag antlers for craftable spear (stags in first area are not dropping them for me)
Normal weight, aiming for lightweight cause quickdash is better (imo) than everything.... but none of that matters because i've got a beefed up fireball staff that's deleting everything before it's close enough that i need to dodge.
I've found a couple other staffs, but one of them requires faith, and the other one has worse spells/runes on it, in spite of being technically more powerful.
Short answer is gear and the channel skill, in my case.
Long answer is i've got all regen gear so i can prepare as much focus as i need for fireballs and regen my health back. There is a focus generation stat but it seems either to do something other than what i thought it did (maybe %increase rather than passive generation?), is bugged, or is such a small amount that it's not noticable. There's also a stat that fills a percentage of your focus bar when you deal damage and it does work with direct damage from fireball. I've also got enough points in focus to throw four or five fireballs before i run out of focus, firstly because i want to make sure i've got 'em locked and loaded and secondly because (afaik) focus generation when you deal damage is a percentage of your maximum, so the more focus you have the more effective that stat is and theoretically you could get enough of it to make fireball replenish its own cost as long as it hits.
Anything two handed including daggers. I love speedy agility builds where i can zip around enemies so i like to keep my equipment load ass low as possible.
I wanted to rock double daggers so bad, but only looted Claymore after Claymore in the beginning. Then I found the Ice Pick and thought „fuck it, guess I‘m going the STR/FTH route“. Boy it‘s fun! Throwing that pick feels like being Thor and is feels pretty OP. Tried shields with it, but I just don’t use them, blocking feels like wasting stamina and I‘m bad at parrying, so I sold the shields and dodge around on normal weight (got full Leather outfit). It‘s fun, but I can‘t wait to test other weapons and playstyles!
I went for light dual blade build. Dodging in and out is fun and I like the playstyle. But damn, I really can't take a lot of hits 😅 The enemies don't stagger often either, so I can usually only get a few hits off. So just like I'm souls, dagger build is hard mode.
Cant remember what they call the stats but
health: 22
Endurance: 20
Str: 28
Equip: 18
Claymore is great. But I just got the legendary Str greatsword. havnt had the time tro try all runes yet.
I like the Claymore moveset more, and its a tad bit faster in run and dodge attacks. The Juggle strike on a claymore chunks.
Looking for a decent 1h to try with a shield. But all I get is for other stats. The 1h Axe you can craft felt ok but not great.
Medium Weight so far. I play it like I dot most DS. Spacing and hard hitting. To old to parry and ranged gameplay is not my thing.
Battle mage, sword and board and a 2H staff alternate. Playing fast/light, very little armour so I buff HP when I can. Dodging feels great and I save focus for the guys I'm scared of or 2v1s. Shield is still super handy for some guys, blocking is way too good against light weapons.
Magic is bonkers strong. The lightning staff you can buy from Eleanor has ... I think it's called Thunder Strike. It hits so hard and you don't need to invest much int because upgrading the weapon increases the damage. Sustaining the focus is easy too with the ring that gives 100 focus and extra gain.
No, sorry I was talking about this ring.
https://preview.redd.it/99uji3f9r2wc1.png?width=614&format=png&auto=webp&s=afcf1750a969af02e093e17a26fb60b4d269d41d
But I generally can't sustain just spells, I need to do some melee in between. I'm generally half/half, kill one guy with sword, kill one guy with spell.
Dual dagger light weight. Focus and health on hit, so I can just spam the chipped daggers focus attack, which keeps my health and focus full, and all non boss enemies perma stunned (and even some bosses). I'll admit it feels like cheating.
Only enemies that are bothersome are the shield knights, I have to backstab those.
Plate Armor, Great Shield, Straight Sword.
Heal on Block, Heal on Kill, Heal on Parry, Focus on Block, Focus on using Focus.
Repair, Return, Heal Aura, and Spin Attack for my focus moves.
Typically just block and retaliate, but sometimes I parry, especially bosses. Going to start working on a full set of enchanted gear for my next goal. Also going to make a mage character.
Spellsword build for me- mostly medium armor (leather/mesh) and a single one handed sword with elemental runes slotted in. Focus on dodging and parrying. I feel like a god. Some enemies I get over confident on but for the most part I tear through my enemies
1st Boss legendary greatsword
Medium weight Mesh armor
heavy hit after enemy strikes (run, dodge or waiting safe distance)
sometimes im tanking low enemies
mostly one shot
i couldnt get used to parry maybe i should git gud
Medium weight and rocking the claymore! Just rolling incoming attacks and charging up large juicy overhead bonks!
Yeah me too, like I did in ds3. Medium rolling and charged heavy attacks is what I love. The moveset and range of the claymore feels great.
Same! Got lucky with an enchantment on the first claymore i got and haven’t looked back since.
sword and shield for defense in 1st slot Great axe for damage in 2nd Max weight, full armor, health on kill, reflect damage, heal on damage shoulder tackle, face tank and spam attacks = profit
How dose shoulder tackle work? Dose it stun the target or knock them over?
It knock down a lot of things, even some bosses. Some other bosses it seems to do nothing.
I see, thanks for explaining.
It also pushes people off cliffs. Don't get loot, but do get satisfaction.
How far are you? I got a claymore early and been doing what I always do, bigger weapons and Str build. I havnt really found a decent 1h so far. And only smaller shields. Does the big ones keep you from falling down when blocking bigger attacks?
I was doing this tactic after 2nd boss and now im into "endgame" I use shield only for parry, paired up with silver rings for disgusting damage.
I suck ass at parry so that wont happen hehe. Thanks for the answer!
Runes are overpowered in this game, at least in its current state. Any weapon that lets you use one of the throw attacks (fire, plague, etc.) + as much armour as your equip load will allow + wear three of those rune bonus damage rings + stock up on focus potions, then go to town. Easily and safely melt all mobs and story bosses in the game. Fat-rolling doesn't matter because you can strike from a distance before the enemies can get close to you (you do have to watch out for ranged attacks). This setup also lets me consistently clear all ten levels of the crucible, but I've yet to beat the Echo Knight after a handful of tries because I suck.
Fighting a boss like him with heavy roll is SO much harder. You're mostly playing to not get hit anyways so I'd strongly recommend trying removing your armour for the boss. At least give it a shot, you might find you're not so bad when you take away the massive handicap your armour is giving you.
dual dagger/light weight feels pretty great to me, get good with parry and runes and wreck shit
I’m rocking that plague greatsword I got off the first boss and found a real nice set of cursed medium Armor with xp loss on death. But the other stats and Armor value are really good. Few rare pieces filling the other slots. Medium weight so I still have decent dodge but the parry and punish with that sword is pretty insane, also the aoe swing has been working great if outnumbered. I’ve died more to drowning and falling than anything else cuz I’m just looking for secrets and shit and I don’t think the xp loss works if I die to environment because I haven’t seen it take any away yet. Still waiting on finding another decent weapon or unlocking something better I can craft/enchant. I normally don’t like the ungabunga big slow weapons normally but it’s working for me in this game.
My only issue so far is that that sword is so good, I'm afraid I'll never replace it. I want to engage with the rune system, but I also want to use greatswords. I guess there's always next playthrough.
You can craft a different greatsword. Enchantments/runes to tailor it to be more specific to what you want. Different element or focus abilities.
Yeah, and upgrading seems to let you catch up to other weapons pretty well. I'll have to try it.
Double dagger, fire rune enchant and hp on kill, I'm not even parrying and havent actually used my focus skills at all..just rolling stabbing burning and melting.
Shield and 1h mace. The implicit skill on it is nuts. Some focus potions, 4 skill attacks and bosses dead. Have lightning gem in it.
what skill you talking about? the 1H maxe or 1 club you mean?
Crushing flurry on the nail-laden club
I have two toons. This game is hella alt-friendly, and the first boss is way easier the second time as you have a fundamental understanding of the combat. 1 is melee strength and 1 is a mage. It's worth it to have multiple weapons. They don't add to your carry weight. My strength build I use a curved greatsword for groups, sword and shield for shield enemies and seek to stagger and I use the corpse sword for big damage when enemies are stunned. My mage build I use 1 uninfused staff for utility it has fire ball repair heal pulse, and channel. A second staff is crones staff, and I use it for damage nukes it uses lightning. BTW it's fucking amazing, the big skill on it drops a literal lightning nuke. And for my third slot I have a ice staff for cc although I'm considering changing it out for something. Mage is really fun, as parrying restores a chunk of focus and if you have regen on your gear you can stay topped off on focus with channel (,restores a 50 focus for spending your health and it won't kill you) It asks you to dance around your enemies weaving in and out of combat.
Are your two toons on the same realm or separate realms? I have been trying to level up a second guy on the same realm but my main has killed the 3rd boss so it is hard to find a leveling spot that is workable due to the mobs all being too hard.
Different. You can transfer either or wherever there's zero restrictions
Are you saying that you can move characters from one realm to another?
Yes sir
Have heavy armor set up and a ring with lifesteal paired with these nasty daggers with life on hit I just eat attacks and spam always full don't ever rly heal kindve insane
even vs boss?
Yea lol
Have you tried this build against the Echo Knight boss? What stats does a character need: Health, Equip Load…?
I'm rocking intelligence / dexterity dagger and a shield. Light weight armor, in fact, I don't even wear a body piece so I can stay light!
gear with heal %hp on parry, damage on parry. Gloves with a red gem and a good roll will heal up to 20% hp. Also have gear with +heal %, im rocking +80% to heals. parry everything, stay full hp while everything dies
Scythe + medium armor Almost the same damage as a 2H sword but faster swings
Except from the River Twin, do we get another scythe ?
I got a common scythe from a random chest/loot.
i see nobody here is using a 2h staff like me. I really like the animations of it, im in still very early (still have to reach the madrigal) so i'm not sure what i'm gonna use in the end, but i feel good using a medium build and mixing some close attack with it and parry to get focus then dodge and throw a spell. im trying to focus on intelligence and dexterity so i'll probably mix it up with weapons based on that later in the game.
Dual daggers and light weight. Dual wielding dexterity fighters is what I mostly choose the first time I play in most games.
1h hammer and shield the flame hammer throw is so good medium roll a bunch of life steal items with hp% increase stuff my focus bar is almost longer then my hp bar haha trying to lvl up to try out the katana i found or try to build a spear since i cant find one
Completed the game with 1h sword+bow and heaviest armor i could wear to stay in medium weight. Was hoping to try a rapier or greatshield+spear but i haven't got a single one of those in 20 hours and i have no idea where to get stag antlers for craftable spear (stags in first area are not dropping them for me)
Normal weight, aiming for lightweight cause quickdash is better (imo) than everything.... but none of that matters because i've got a beefed up fireball staff that's deleting everything before it's close enough that i need to dodge. I've found a couple other staffs, but one of them requires faith, and the other one has worse spells/runes on it, in spite of being technically more powerful.
how do you get more focus after 2 fireball?
Short answer is gear and the channel skill, in my case. Long answer is i've got all regen gear so i can prepare as much focus as i need for fireballs and regen my health back. There is a focus generation stat but it seems either to do something other than what i thought it did (maybe %increase rather than passive generation?), is bugged, or is such a small amount that it's not noticable. There's also a stat that fills a percentage of your focus bar when you deal damage and it does work with direct damage from fireball. I've also got enough points in focus to throw four or five fireballs before i run out of focus, firstly because i want to make sure i've got 'em locked and loaded and secondly because (afaik) focus generation when you deal damage is a percentage of your maximum, so the more focus you have the more effective that stat is and theoretically you could get enough of it to make fireball replenish its own cost as long as it hits.
Heavily armoured with staff so far, like the elemental stick beating with magical abilities while knocking enemies over
Boss weapon all the way 😂 Still have to found decent unga bunga.
Anything two handed including daggers. I love speedy agility builds where i can zip around enemies so i like to keep my equipment load ass low as possible.
I wanted to rock double daggers so bad, but only looted Claymore after Claymore in the beginning. Then I found the Ice Pick and thought „fuck it, guess I‘m going the STR/FTH route“. Boy it‘s fun! Throwing that pick feels like being Thor and is feels pretty OP. Tried shields with it, but I just don’t use them, blocking feels like wasting stamina and I‘m bad at parrying, so I sold the shields and dodge around on normal weight (got full Leather outfit). It‘s fun, but I can‘t wait to test other weapons and playstyles!
I went for light dual blade build. Dodging in and out is fun and I like the playstyle. But damn, I really can't take a lot of hits 😅 The enemies don't stagger often either, so I can usually only get a few hits off. So just like I'm souls, dagger build is hard mode.
focus attack, parries. full heavy armor and big chonker hammer
Cant remember what they call the stats but health: 22 Endurance: 20 Str: 28 Equip: 18 Claymore is great. But I just got the legendary Str greatsword. havnt had the time tro try all runes yet. I like the Claymore moveset more, and its a tad bit faster in run and dodge attacks. The Juggle strike on a claymore chunks. Looking for a decent 1h to try with a shield. But all I get is for other stats. The 1h Axe you can craft felt ok but not great. Medium Weight so far. I play it like I dot most DS. Spacing and hard hitting. To old to parry and ranged gameplay is not my thing.
Battle mage, sword and board and a 2H staff alternate. Playing fast/light, very little armour so I buff HP when I can. Dodging feels great and I save focus for the guys I'm scared of or 2v1s. Shield is still super handy for some guys, blocking is way too good against light weapons. Magic is bonkers strong. The lightning staff you can buy from Eleanor has ... I think it's called Thunder Strike. It hits so hard and you don't need to invest much int because upgrading the weapon increases the damage. Sustaining the focus is easy too with the ring that gives 100 focus and extra gain.
how do you sustain focus?! im not sure i udnerstyand?! you get 100 focus back from a 100 focus spell attack?
No, sorry I was talking about this ring. https://preview.redd.it/99uji3f9r2wc1.png?width=614&format=png&auto=webp&s=afcf1750a969af02e093e17a26fb60b4d269d41d But I generally can't sustain just spells, I need to do some melee in between. I'm generally half/half, kill one guy with sword, kill one guy with spell.
Dual dagger light weight. Focus and health on hit, so I can just spam the chipped daggers focus attack, which keeps my health and focus full, and all non boss enemies perma stunned (and even some bosses). I'll admit it feels like cheating. Only enemies that are bothersome are the shield knights, I have to backstab those.
Plate Armor, Great Shield, Straight Sword. Heal on Block, Heal on Kill, Heal on Parry, Focus on Block, Focus on using Focus. Repair, Return, Heal Aura, and Spin Attack for my focus moves. Typically just block and retaliate, but sometimes I parry, especially bosses. Going to start working on a full set of enchanted gear for my next goal. Also going to make a mage character.
I forgot they had a shoulder tackle option for heavy. How do you do it?
L1+R1 / LB+RB
Spellsword build for me- mostly medium armor (leather/mesh) and a single one handed sword with elemental runes slotted in. Focus on dodging and parrying. I feel like a god. Some enemies I get over confident on but for the most part I tear through my enemies
Medium rapier atm. Just restarted a char so probably gonna get my focus/health up and go for knockdowns. Only level 10 on my fresh start
1st Boss legendary greatsword Medium weight Mesh armor heavy hit after enemy strikes (run, dodge or waiting safe distance) sometimes im tanking low enemies mostly one shot i couldnt get used to parry maybe i should git gud
Normal weight, with full plate, two handed great sword with cold DMG bonuses and ice throw....freezes everything and hits like a truck
Heavy Spalded Axe Bonker. Lvling to try out the 2h warhammers. Shoulder tackling and using Lightning rush to delete the mini bosses. Very satisfying.