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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   3529 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 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.

I found the Golden Vow ash of war. Considering putting it on my sword or my flail.

It changes the str and dex scaling from d to e and introduces faith scaling: d. My Vagabond has 9 faith. And it reduces regular damage but introduces holy damage...? And has a hefty FP cost for its skill (40). Hmm. If I use that skill I wouldn't have FP left over for powerful spirits. Not sure what to make of this.

You can find the Sacred Blade ash of war in Limgrave. It’ll give you faith scaling and a medium range slash/wave attack for 19fp.

All riiiight! :)

That sounds like what I want. Thanks!

Should I put it on my Lordsworn's sword? I've already smithed it to +2, but I don't know whether I'll find a better sword soon and should thus save the ash of war for the next one...?

You can apply/remove/shift the ashes of war whenever you want to, but you can only have the ash applied to one weapon at a time. Ashes of war can be duplicated if you find the right item though.

What did you mean by medium range slash/wave attack?

I've put it on my longsword and it seems to just get activated by a L2 slow-ass slash? Seems like it can only be used for opening combat, would be too slow to enable in mid combat. I don't see a wave?

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Aha! Didn't imagine they could be swapped in and out.

Ah yes forgot about that! That's a great skill as well. It also gives a lingering buff which can be quite substantial. Best on weapons with fast attack speed, since the buff is a static 90 holy dmg.

Golden Vow is great! Early on 40 FP might be a lot so spirits are a better use if you don't have enough, but later it's not much and it will stay strong since it's a % dmg/def buff.

The scaling changes are also what you want if you play an hybrid build anyway.

Later on... You mean if I put around 10 points into Mind to increase FP?

I still don't know in what direction to take this character. He's now level 25 or so, and I've been putting all the points into Vigor for a while, because I was advised to prioritize that stat until it's at 40. Str is at 15, Dex 18. Still lacking a ranged damage alternative except some darts I throw on occasion.

Prioritizing vigor is a good idea for a beginner, but that doesn't mean you need to put everything into it. With 18 dex, I don't see why you can't use a bow? Otherwise crossbows are a good beginner ranged choice. The early game is always the most limited phase, and even full mages can't really cast all that much then.

Btw, don't put too much points into mind until your flask is substantially upgraded. You usually want just enough FP to take full advantage of the flask regen, not more.

Unless I'm forgetting something, I haven't found a single bow as loot or for sale. I've found three merchants.

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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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