New to dark souls, dex /int build viable ?

[xeian]

Hell-o all, I'm new to the escapist and dark souls. Been playing for a week or so and been reading faqs and all.

I've got a lvl 35 pyromancer going on and I've been thinking of going fifty-fifty dex / int. (something like furysowrd with a lot of sorcery, or a int weapon). Is this kind of build possible or I am gimping me in the long run ?

Currently :
attunement 14
str : 18
vitality 15
endurance 22
dexterity 16
intelligence 14
faith 12

I want to lvl endurance to maybe 30, then dex/ int to 30-40 in the ling run.

 

[hazabaza1]

Depends on whether you're going PvE or PvP.

Either way, this [https://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/] wonderful little tool lets you plan out a character and get a look at all the important stuff (Damage output, poise, spells etc) before you actually get around to doing it in person. Just make sure you choose a weapon with a moveset you enjoy.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

If you're a pyromancer you don't need to level intelligence since pyromancy doesn't scale with any stats, so the only reason to use intelligence is to cast other types of spells. You can definitely make a viable pyromancy/sorcery build and use both pyromancy and sorceries but keep in mind that pyromancy has to be leveled up individually from intelligence and goes up to +15 (which takes 149,500 souls) and can further be ascended to +5 (which takes a total of 340500 souls). So it's usually better to primary either one or the other, since both take a pretty big commitment.

As far as leveling dexterity goes I only level it as far as I need to be able to use the weapons I want to use. There's scaling on most weapons, but depending on the scaling rank it might not be worth investing further into dexterity because your damage output won't increase significantly enough and it'll be more useful to put the extra souls into vitality, endurance, or intelligence and pyromancy.

For a level 35 character I would say that your skill points are a little too spread out, but then again I don't know what equipment you're using/want to use. If you're going with a dexterity build you really don't need the 18 points in strength, not unless you're looking to use one of the black knight weapons or something.

Also remember if you're interested in PvP, invaders can only invade up if you're using cracked red eye orbs. So basically, the lower your level the more invasion opportunities you have, so if you want to do a lot of PvP you want to have an effective build at a relatively low level in order to maximize invasion potential.

 

[Echo136]

In Dark Souls 1 a high level of dex increases your casting time, so making a high dex/int build can work. But the casting difference is only noticeable at upper levels of dex around 40 I think. I cant remember

 

[xeian]

I'm definitely not going for PvP. I may go full dex in first playthrough, then pump my pyromancy at second. I'm a bit spread out I know, that's beginners for ya

Thanks for the tips

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Very viable. The basic premise is that when you have buffs like Sunlight Blade or Crystal Magic Weapon, dex weapons are going to give you better DPS than strength weapons. Choose a fast-swinging weapon like the Balder Side Sword or Falchion to deliver your buff damage. I remember people going for 45 dex for some kind of casting time reduction, but in my opinion it isn't worth going over 40, and in the case of dex/int, I'd be stacking int first. Don't underestimate Magic Shield for the early game if you don't mind fighting with mainly spells.

EDIT: Although I don't know what you're doing with 18 strength, unless you've found a weapon you like that requires it.

EDIT: Pyromancy doesn't need its own playthrough. If you have attunement, you have everything you need for pyromancy. It doesn't scale with anything, making it a favoured weapon of SL1 characters.

 

[Tellis Argonis]

Well crap. I forgot that I had posted here before I actually meant to and now I got a warning for low content. I was gonna put a bunch of stuff saying what I went with was enough dexterity to be able to use the black night sword because I had gotten it when I first killed that guy in burgahtown. From there it was just smackin hos around with my giant dark metal thing that dealt immense damage. Also went with a load of strength because strength equals MOAR DAKKAPOINTS and such. I went with Pyromancer as well. Mainly because the other guys couldn't throw flaming baseballs at people off the bat.

 

[Vrach]

Hell-o all, I'm new to the escapist and dark souls. Been playing for a week or so and been reading faqs and all.

I've got a lvl 35 pyromancer going on and I've been thinking of going fifty-fifty dex / int. (something like furysowrd with a lot of sorcery, or a int weapon). Is this kind of build possible or I am gimping me in the long run ?

PvE or PvP? For PvE, it's irrelevant, you can get by with most things really, whatever you find works, just stick with it.

I've written a long post, but I'll try to sum it up a lot shorter. I'd recommend going either full Dexterity or a Dex/Faith build. The latter can use Darkmoon/Sunlight Blade and is incredibly overpowered, so... you know, up to you (I liked using it to cut down campers). You can also throw in Wrath of the Gods for full ownage.

Dex/Int can get you some decent buffs too like the Crystal Blade, but it's weaker than the above. Plus, Faith gives you a nice bonus of being able to heal in PvE, which saves you a lot of Humanity on not kindling bonfires. Only reason I'd ever take Int in Dark Souls outside building a spell build is the Cast Light spell. It makes Tomb of the Giants a lot easier.

Anyway, my recommendation is something like this:
- 40 Vit/Dex/End (min PvP health, max stamina from Endurance is a must [caps out at 40 End] and Dex doesn't scale too well after 40)
- Strength to support whatever weapon you're using - I'd recommend katanas in which case it's 14 for Uchigatana if you want to buff your weapon, 16 for Chaos Blade if you don't want to use weapon buffs and 20 for Washing Pole if you wanna go around poking people (you can also use Scythes but they are utterly ridiculous as they're near impossible to block, seeing as they hit from the side).
- Then, if you want the Faith build, 30 Faith. Throw some points into Endurance if you need heavier gear, throw whatever's left into Vitality for more health.

Pure Dex build can be made completely at around level 100, while the Faith one took me till 126. Both get a really good PvP rate, so it's just a matter of how you want to play.

All of this is obviously for PvP, but the same build will cut through PvE like butter as well. I was literally sitting there, waiting for the 4 kings to spawn with the DMB build, wondering where the fuck they were. As far as PvE builds are concerned though, pretty much anything you make using any kind of sense will work. Fact is, most of PvE comes down to survival, so as long as you can roll, I'd suggest light gear (fast roll, under 25% equip weight) and whatever the hell else you want

 

[grey_space]

Totally viable. I went Dex first (up to 50 till I copped on that it wasn't really giving my stats any benefit) and then Int.

I feel that it's a build that gives you loads of options before having to return to the bonfire. You can cast spells at range, up close, melee if you want, and use all the bows effectively.

I personally really like the moveset of the falchion, and tend to dual wield two for extra cool points.

Though do remember to up your adaptability and vitality every now and again. Adaptability will speed up your rolls and your Estus intake and Vitality effect your equipment load.

 

[xeian]

I've always had a cautious playstyle, so dex/ int seemed more my thing. Didn't think about build or so at first so that's why the 18 ik strengh. I like the katanas motions a lot too (but still 18 is too high yeah). I might restart fresh and lvl smarter.

 

[The Wykydtron]

It looks pretty good, though i'm hardly an authority on the subject, I had to restart at least 5 games because my builds were total dead ends. My new successful build is a Strength/Vitality/Endurance thing with a fully upgraded Black Knight Sword, it instakills almost every standard enemy if you twohand it in PvE, though its slow ass swings is a bit of a killer flaw vs some bosses. Especially the DLC bosses, lololol Artorias fast rolling while onehanding a greatsword yeah ok balanced. I thought I would be alright vs Manus though because he's like a big fat guy that moves pretty slow and...Oh fuck off, why not call this DLC Lighting Bruisers: The Game.

When in doubt alternate points between Vit and End, trust me i'm a professional.

I still fucked it up a bit but putting 6 levels into Int on a whim because I found Velka's Rapier and that shit is fucking COOL. Drop everything and convert into an Int build. Wait it does no damage nevermind >.<

 

[Quazimofo]

Well crap. I forgot that I had posted here before I actually meant to and now I got a warning for low content. I was gonna put a bunch of stuff saying what I went with was enough dexterity to be able to use the black night sword because I had gotten it when I first killed that guy in burgahtown. From there it was just smackin hos around with my giant dark metal thing that dealt immense damage. Also went with a load of strength because strength equals MOAR DAKKAPOINTS and such. I went with Pyromancer as well. Mainly because the other guys couldn't throw flaming baseballs at people off the bat.

Yeah, the black knight straight sword is the shit. I did just the same in my most recent run. I was planning on just using the straight sword until I could get the zweihander up to +15, but since I couldn't get enough chunks until the Kiln of the First Flame, I wound up just upgrading the Straight Sword to +5 and smacking the shit outta erethang!

Dex is fun though. As mentioned before it speeds casting time (if only just a bit) and some of those dex weapons have fun move sets which are also really friggin' useful when you are going against a boss that you cant block. Having a high-damage bow is also great, and the Black Bow of Pharis has like +4 attack rating per point of dexterity (really freaking good) baseline. If you can find Ricard's Rapier (shouldn't be too hard, it drops off the eponymous Ricard in sen's fortress), apparently some use that one for its 2-handed heavy attack, which does 4 hits in rapid succession. The high dex scaling and the ability to put resin on it makes it very good against a lot of bosses in PVE.

If you are going hybrid dex/int you might want to look into getting a dex weapon and upgrading it to be a "magic" or "enchanted" weapon, or get artorias's greatsword because it has decent scaling off of int and meh but not bad dex scaling.

Don't bother restarting. You are only level 35. If you are concerned about endurance, havel's ring will cover that (though functionally you can't take it off without changing your gear loadout, so you may want to avoid it and have 2 ring slots for whatever else). I don't know about upgrading endurance past 30 because then upgrading the rest of the stats is going to be very expensive. I'd say stop at 25, find an armor set/shield/weapon light enough for you to keep below 50% weight (or 25 if you want to stay particularly quick), and then upgrade the balls out of them. Go to the great hallow if you need some twinkling titanite (the crab clams also drop it) and the giant blacksmith sells large shards, so you can farm and buy from him.
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Keep in mind I'm something of a newbie, as I've only successfully beaten the game once (the 4 kings got me and I didn't know you needed to summon beatrice at the moonlight butterfly to have her help with the kings. Got them on my first try after learning that bit), but I spent a good bit of time experimenting with a bunch of stuff (because I'm indecisive) in fairly successful builds which never exceeded lv 75 (again: every single non-dlc boss but the 4 kings).
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Sorry for the long post. TLDR: Dex weapon with magic upgrades (if you go more int than dex), artorias's greatsword (just a thought to play with), get light armor and upgrade it out the wazoo, especially the shield (or slightly less light armor if you are okay with the <50% encumbrance roll), and you aren't really far enough along to warrant a restart, so just keep going. You'll be fine. Also: Black Bow of Pharis and buy 999 arrows of your choice. It's ALWAYS useful to have a bow, especially when it actually hurts.

 

[DementedSheep]

Yes it is, dex increases cast speed, fast weapons synergies well with CMW and imo dex is more fun and has greater variety than str. Sorcery gets overpowered vs bosses in PVE though and it can get boring if that is what you use primarily. I wiped the floor with the final boss with just two casts of pursuers and a few swings of a weapon. The game is more built around melee fighting I think.
If you don't want split your stats too much at the start or invest in end/vit (I didn't so I was very squishy) you could neglect dex and use magic weapons (look up the smith for them if you haven't already found him), moonlight butterfly spear, moonlight great-sword (cut off seaths tail, you can miss this one and it's the best int wep in the game) and Velka's Rapier if you want to go sorcery heavy. I don't think you can buff these weapons though so eventually dex weapons will be better if you invest in it. You can concentrate on dex if you just want sorceries for utility at the start. Hidden body + Hush or Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring is great and worth the small investment just for that. Arual decoy is useful to set up backstabs and giving you a breather (a bit awkward to use though). Fall control and Cast Light are situationally useful. I think magic shield is good if you cant get enough stability from your gear but I didn't use it much. Chameleon and Hidden Weapon are both pvp spells. As far as I know they have no PVE use. Although I think investing in int makes a bigger difference to the game than dex.

 

[Bob Thenecromancer]

Dex/Int builds are arguably the best builds in the game. The Ricard's Rapier combined with Crystal magic weapon with fucking rip the final boss a new ass hole.

 

[The Random Critic]

Pyromancy does scale, with both int and faith

It just that flame swathe is simply flame swathe

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Pyromancy does scale, with both int and faith

It just that flame swathe is simply flame swathe

Pyromancies do not scale with intelligence or faith. The damage dealt when punching with the pyromancy flame scales with intelligence, but since that isn't a viable weapon the scaling doesn't matter. The damage of the actual pyromancies doesn't scale with any stat.

 

[DementedSheep]

Pyromancy does scale, with both int and faith

It just that flame swathe is simply flame swathe

You thinking of DS1 or 2? because it doesn't in 1 but I think they changed in it in 2. Only stat you need for it is attunment.

 

[barbzilla]

I ran a dex/int build in DS1 all the way up to NG+4. I focused primarily on using my Washing Pole for 1v1 combat in PvE, and if I was getting mobbed, I'd utilize either Fire Tempest, or Poison/Toxic clouds and then focus on evading. On bosses, I'd stick to my washing pole, but I'd enchant it with Crystal Weapon. This got absolutely stupid at times (especially in PvP, if they just stand there and block, they are going to get bled to death, and you can usually stay just outside of their swing range while attacking them).

 

[The Random Critic]

To the two post that quoted me, my fault...

A crystal enchanted great scythe +15 along with Dark bead in DS1 can wipe the floor with most non dlc bosses before NG++ in under one minute. (assuming the bead is hit directly close up)

IF your gonna pvp though, you should put some point in vit. Though your soul level might get too high for regular pvp

 

[xeian]

Well, just to give some news. Finally restarted, For now finish undead burg, just got drake sword, so got my str to use it and I dnon't think I'll be getting it higher. Founded that scimitar is just to cool to play with, so I'll be lvling it to +10 to transform it later to the furysword. Will surely get a balder's side sword to +15 later. I think I'll stick to pure dex for now, with leveling pyromancies I the first playthrough. For now I'll get my end to 20, get havel's ring and forget it till alter, then pump into dex and some vit in case I mess up.

My mind is setted to get to this kind of final build at lvl 120 more or less :

Vit 25
End 30
Attunement 18
Str 16
Dex 40-45
Int : 40
Faith 12-14

Light gear, going enchanted scimitar /balder's +5.