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PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   2644 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 25, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I'm playing Elden Ring for the first time. It's fun and gripping.

I picked the noob friendly Vagabond class. I've upgraded the hp flask quantity twice and got my steed and killed three dungeon bosses. I've put some points into dex, str, end.

Can I get some spoiler free advice? :)

Should you focus on only one type of combat, or can you create a mixed build with success? It would be nice to have a good ranged damage option but I also want to kick butts with badass melee weapons.

Love this game so much.

As others have said, mixing combat is fine. Great, even. It’s really nice to have a bow or spell on hand.

What you want to avoid is conflicting Scaling. If you’re investing in STR for a hammer and FTH for incantations, and you get a bow that really wants DEX, then you have to split your points even further. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a bow that mostly wanted STR, too?

The good news is that Elden Ring is probably the best souls game for mixing and matching. There’s gear which suits (or can be made to suit) any combination of stats. The trick is finding it.

I recommend checking out that castle. You don’t have to clear it, but there’s some really useful stuff around there!

Btw... did you ever check this mod out? First Person Elden Ring

Ha. No, but it’s amazing what people can do to this game.

I did play through Elden Ring Reforged using the Seamless Co-op mod. Changes the game entirely.

Cool. :)

I'm in Castle Morne now, down south, after killing a giant firing giant arrows. Not sure what I'm supposed to be doing here.

Just looked it up, my build in ER was a str/fth hybrid with golden halberd + clawmark seal as the main hand weapons. Buffing, manaless short range, mana-dependent long range all in one neat package that scales with both attributes. Thanks to str I can use large shields in the offhand. Especially on higher lvls you can also branch into other seals/incantations for other dmg types.

But it's just one example, there's plenty of viable mixed builds.

What did you do for the late game? I'm a bit stuck: winged spear + (erdtree seal + lightning spear). VIG: 22, Mind: 22, Stamina: 20. Str: 16. Dex: 16. Faith: 45.

It did pretty well as a high damage-output glass cannon in the early/mid game but just doesn't seem to have the stopping power it used to once I get to Morgott, Astel, etc.. I've been considering rebirthing to make an int-focused build instead since they seem to have much more variety and fun. Lightning spear is the only damage incantation I've found that has decent range and cast time, although I've started using Rotten Breath for bosses.

I wound up using the golden halberd for my entire playthrough because there simply wasn’t anything better along strength/faith lines, except possibly magma sword. To be honest, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, especially since I got the halberd immediately on starting the game. There was no real progression from then on, outside of some buffs. So I’m not sure I’d recommend it, even though it can certainly carry you through. Jumping heavy attacks are the key, fwiw. They knock the target down fast and give you free hits. I tried a couple of ranged options but never really liked them - the damage really wasn’t there compared to melee, especially considering that you have to drain your healing for the privilege.

If you’re really having trouble, use summons. I used them for the two bosses you mentioned, then tabooed them for myself because I got both of them on the first try and felt like I was missing out, then brought them back for a couple of the later bosses when I found I wasn’t particularly enjoying the game any longer and just wanted to hit the full clear.

  • Do you take advantage of buffing and utility spells? That's one of the major advantages of FTH vs INT. FTH direct dmg spells being a bit more clumsy is just evening the playing field. Imo it is FTH that has much more variety. Just golden vow + health regen spell before every boss as a default is great, and there is so much more
  • You use the wrong seal or have insufficient FTH, however you want to look at it. Godslayer has the best scaling at that lvl, or the gravel stone seal for lightning spells specifically
  • for bosses the black flame incants are great since they have a % based DoT that can burn through a boss quite fast. Otherwise you could go for high dmg variants of spells, but those generally need better timing
  • Do you mean the winged scythe? If yes, I also switched away from that for lack of dmg.
  • Spirit ashes? The right ones are quite useful for spellcasters to cast some of the more involved spells
  • talisman setup? Though generally better for def than offense

Edit: Also, be mindful of boss resists, -40% dmg matters! FTH has lots of possible dmg types, so take advantage of that. So, good that you are starting to use breath spells

Stats fall into two categories: generalist stats that can help most characters, and build-specific stats. Literally any build can benefit from more health and stamina, but faith is effectively a wasted point if you never use it.

This adds up because of how level rune requirements increase. You generally want to invest as little as possible in more offensively/build-oriented stats (strength, dex, int, faith, luck) that you are not using. The ones you do use are among the highest priorities. Each stat has their own benefits and shortcomings - probably pretty self-explanatory. The way I generally build my characters in these games is they pick one or two of these offensive stats to specialize in. You can go up to 3 comfortably in Elden Ring (eg a strength + dex + faith build). Some combinations (i.e. the worthwhile ones) have unique benefits (like int+faith spells), but spreading your offensive stats out is a choice between versatility and high performance. Simple answer: allocate levels based on whichever gives you the stat requirements you need to use a weapon you like, then level as needed to make that weapon's damage go up the most. If you get a very high offensive stat level, focus on the weapon's scaling damage over base damage if seeking new weapons.

My general suggestion is that vigor is your first priority, followed by your favored offensive stats. Add to the rest of the generalist stats as you need them, but try to only do so when you actually need to (eg "I think being able to attack more would help more than extra damage therefore more stamina") Note that most stats softcap around 40 or so (varies) which means diminishing returns, which makes other stats take priority.

Tips: Weapon upgrades are far more important than character level, though both are important. Be sure not to infuse your weapon with a modifier that reduces damage output.

Also, it you press start, you can choose items to quick select on the right side of the screen. Definitely put the horse on one of those slots.

Don't undervalue vigor. After meeting whatever attribute requirements for your preferred weapon you should level vigor to its soft cap of 40. Damage primarily scales through weapon upgrades before the late game so using your attribute upgrades for health is a good idea. It makes things far more forgiving and you won't be one-shotted, and you're not giving up much damage anyway.

Noted! And I'll try to get my hp flask's effectiveness upgraded too. It heals less than half my hp currently.

Dark Souls games (and ER is really just DS4) are generally designed so that they can be beaten with simple straight builds, broken weapons/skills and coop by even the filthiest casual, while a hardcore player can still challenge themselves with low LVL builds and meme weapons/skills. So absolutely everything is doable, it depends on how much work you want to put in. Mixed builds have a wide range from broken to meme depending on the details.

Generally, in DS games it's easiest to make builds by starting with a particular (upgraded) main weapon you like and maximizing its scaling + put as much as you need into survival. Then you can also use some supporting weapons, skills and spells that happen fit into that scaling, with maybe some accomodations for min reqs. There are also some melee weapons with ranged skills. Generally for lower lvls I like to put more into survival and use a high base dmg weapon with poor scaling so that I have more flexibility later on if I find a weapon I like. But if I remember correctly ER has some reskilling option so you should be able to switch entirely even if you chose poorly.

I can also give you some more concrete tips if you have something specific in mind. Later I might post my own mixed build for ER if I find the time.

I need to walk the line between clowning around aimlessly, and looking up too much info and taking the mystery and challenge out of the game. Giving myself some direction so that I might actually finish the game and not abandon it, without making it a paint by numbers affair.

Right now I don't know if I should head for that Castle that seems to be the main quest thing to do, or level up and get more equipment first. I've got some cool spirit summons but haven't applied any war ashes yet, don't think I have any worth using. I will not be using online mode btw.

I'm using the armors I started the game with, a sword that's a tiny tiny bit better than the default one, and I've got a flail (increased my dex to 18 to be able to wield it) for whatever situation might require blunt/strike damage.

I found Sellen(?) the Sorceress under the waypoint ruin in Limgrave (after beating the boss there), and bought a cheap spell that can send a glimstone projectile or something. I increased INT from 9 to 10 to be able to use it, and added the spell to a memorized slot, but it's still greyed out on the up-arrow and I don't seem to have a button for throwing magic...?

Stormveil Castle is a beef gate. The fact that you get pasted when you try and go through the lower gate is a sign that you need to do more exploring - there are at least two areas other than Limgrave to explore from your position, try playing around.

You need a catalyst to use spells. For sorceries that would be glintstone staffs or that one sword. But afaik sorceries always scale only with INT, so it's a difficult choice for mixed builds.

Oh. Balls. Guess I wasted those runes then.

So Faith is the way to go for combining physical with magic?

There's probably some way to play a high INT+secondary stat with an appropriate weapon that scales with both.

Edit: Just looked it up since I didn't quite remember it, there are INT+FTH and INT+ARC staffs, so these are technically hybrid, but not really relevant for you. No +STR or +DEX or others sadly.

Edit edit: The demihuman queens staff has high base scaling and low INT scaling, so that would be the correct staff for a hybrid physical build I think.

But generally FTH is easier for hybrid builds in two different ways: First, there are more explicit hybrid seals that make your incantations scale with another stat, and second there are much more utility incantations that have no or very little scaling. Golden Vow for example is a great generalist dmg/def % buff that has no scaling whatsoever, anyway.

There aren’t any catalysts which directly boost spells based on STR/DEX, but there are plenty of weapons with the relevant scaling. Moonveil and Dark Moon Greatsword come to mind. If those don’t do it for you, pop on an INT Ash of War. Or do weapon buff.

Yeah, that's what I meant with the first paragraph. But he indicated wanting to actually use sorceries, so I didn't expand further on that.

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