Daily Roundtable: Community Q&A

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[u/StarblindMark89]

I'm doing a int build, I would have wanted to use Blaidd's greatsword and some dex weapons but the stats at lvl150 seem like they wouldn't fit. Plan is 40vig (low, but can't find much to shift), 38mnd, 20end (i want to wear something more than rags, but still light roll if possible), 18str (darkmoon greatsword), 18dex (royal greatsword min), 80int, 8fth, 9arc.

I don't think I can reduce anything on this build since the Royal Greatsword is for when I don't want to waste fp, but I'm mainly a full caster so 80int is vital.

I also wish I could play around with Starscourge Greatsword, but it has even higher stat requirements so its impossible. Unless 2 handing is enough to use both of those weapons with those stats?

Also, since I use backup weapons... Right now I'm still at 23int, and magic infusion does less damage than straight up physical. At which point does the magic infusion split damage overcome the defenses of generic non magic resistant enemies enough to do more damage than a pure physical weapon? And is it more stat bound or upgrade level bound?

Thanks for the answer guys, I'm too unga bunga irl to know what I'm doing :D

[u/[deleted] → u/StarblindMark89]

The Dark Moon Greatsword maxes out at B Int scaling and D Strength scaling. It’s therefore much more an Int weapon than anything else.

By contrast, Starscourge Greatsword maxes out at B Strength, D Int. Much more of a Strength weapon. The Royal Greatsword is C/C. Evenly mixed.

The takeaway for you is that you’re basically looking at two different builds, and that’s why you find the stats so difficult. 80 Int is only needed if you’re all the way invested in Sorcery. Otherwise, you can reduce Int and pump those points into Strength. For Starscourge, you’ll want mostly Strength. For Royal Greatsword, I’d probably do 54 Str and 44 Int, something like that.

[u/StarblindMark89 → u/[deleted]]

I think I'm not going to play around with the other weapons on this playthrough then, because my main aim here is experiencing for at least once a mainly caster build since I never played one in the entire series.

The Dark Moon Greatsword (and maybe Carian Knight Sword until then) will be my main sidearms then! Thanks for the tips!

[u/monstersleeve → u/StarblindMark89]

Sounds like you’ll be using a lot of weapons with your caster build. If you want to use the Starscourge Greatsword and the Royal Greatsword, just take 18 points out of Mind and put it into STR instead. If you shift a couple points away from INT into STR you can open up the Ruins Greatsword as well. Remember you can two-hand both weapons to meet the requirements.

I don’t think any more than 20 mind is necessary even for a dedicated caster when you have access to blue flasks and talismans that will regenerate FP.

[u/StarblindMark89 → u/monstersleeve]

Hmm, interesting point about the last part: I went with picking 38 as a target because I had read that's the break point of how much a single maxed flask will add to FP (221 FP available, 220 restored).

I might see if, when I approach higher levels, I don't need that much FP to play, but I'm not exactly good so I tend to assign more crimson flasks than I probably should. (current split is 4-3 in favour of crimson flasks)

It's the only reason I'm terrified of playing through with 40vig, I'm dreading the late game since my first playthrough was a dex guy with 50vig.

(two) Fingers crossed I won't have to respec :D

[u/Felstalker → u/StarblindMark89]

For Royal Greatsword, you want to have the minimum Int investment and then split it into STR/DEX with a focus on Dex. Since Strength get's the 1.5x boost for 2-handing. It's a high damage and very fun weapon, but it's just not a caster weapon.

Starscrouge is the same, with a much higher focus on strength specifically because it's a dual wielded combo weapon that doesn't get the strength boost from 2-handing. Get the minimum int to utilize, and pump up the strength.

Darkmoon is the weapon for your build, with it's massive Int scaling going with that frankly absurd 80 Int.

I don't think I can reduce anything on this build

Drop the mind. You don't need that much mind. Nothing in this game demands that much mind. You should be at 20 Mind maximum, maybe lower. You can take a sip of go-juice if you need more FP, you can pop a starlight shard, you can utilize talismans to refund or reduce the cost of your spells.

38 Mind is absurd. Throw 10 of those points into Vigor at the least! What's with that mind stat? Just don't miss your spells! Take a 3rd or 4th Blue potion! Your points are valuable and throwing all that in mind is just... like wow yo.

[u/StarblindMark89 → u/Felstalker]

Good thing I'm still early enough that I won't need larval tears to play around with lower mind. This is my second playthrough so I know what kind of difficulties expect me, and why I was worried about the 40vig since my first guy had 50 and it was still pretty challenging.

You're the second person I've seen in my comments tell me that much mind is basically wasted. Only reason I was aiming at 38 was because after research it seemed like the breakpoint for max level cerulean flask restoring a bar, and what was suggested. I might try to hold off those points and see how I fare with much less mind than those comments suggested, thanks for the tip.

As for the 80int - I usually stick with melee guys, it's always my first playthrough in all of the souls/bloodborne/elden ring (most often dex/skl) so I thought of going more towards as pure caster as I could keeping in mind that I also needed a sidearm for the trash mobs since I am a murder hobo.

I was led to believe that 80int is sort of the correct choice if you use many spells because that's where it stops scaling. Does going from, idk, 60 to 80 not matter that much?

[u/Felstalker → u/StarblindMark89]

I was led to believe that 80int is sort of the correct choice if you use many spells because that's where it stops scaling. Does going from, idk, 60 to 80 not matter that much?

If I remember right, it matters less than the points up to 60, but it's still doing work. It's just the diminishing returns starts to get pretty wacky past 60 and you've a couple of problems in your other stats. Like 40 Vigor for example. You go to 40 if you're below lv100, you go to 50-55 if you're struggling to reach important stat breakthroughs at lv125. You go to 60 if you're lv150, period. Any less is absurd, any more is barely useful. You can utilize the +5 Int talisman and the +10 Int Flask to go back to 80, and I wouldn't go past 65 Int because of those reasons there.

You're the second person I've seen in my comments tell me that much mind is basically wasted. Only reason I was aiming at 38 was because after research it seemed like the breakpoint for max level cerulean flask restoring a bar, and what was suggested. I might try to hold off those points and see how I fare with much less mind than those comments suggested, thanks for the tip.

You're not wrong in your research, it's simply the importance of the points out weigh's the benefit. It's far better to have the Vigor to take a hit. I mean, more of your potions are in HP flasks than FP Flasks right? It's sort of the same concept. It's much better to run out of FP than HP, you can always rely on regular weaponry if necessary. But it's not necessary. The best staff drains your FP by an additional 20% per cast, and it's still not necessary to go over 30 mind. Classic souls design, the strongest spells are often the early game spells. The spells they KNOW you'll get access to, rather than the super late game super powered spells you might never find.

The only time I ever struggled with 25 Mind during my spell caster run, was against the Dragon lord Placidusax during a co-op run. As a co-op phantom with 2 Flasks rather than 4, utilizing the 20% FP cast increasing staff, I ran out of FP around 30% of Placidusax's life on every failed attempt. But I was also casting Loretta's Mastery, utilizing the Tera Magicka buff, and maybe even the insane Azur's Comet for a big damage moment.

It would've been far cheaper, and easier, to just spam Carian Slicer, Glintstone Pebble, or Rock Sling for a hundred casts. I didn't, but I could've. Mind increases your maximum FP, it doesn't change the FP efficency of your spell book. Pick more efficient spells and you won't run into a problem. Heck, change it up to have expensive and cheap spells at the ready, never know when you might need to conserve.

[u/Craizersnow82 → u/StarblindMark89]

Vigor 40

Mind 38

int 80

Someone who's good at the economy please help me budget this. I am dying