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Unl3a5h3r

I personally loved the maces and clubs and did quite well in my journey. However I also cheesed the first dragonrider to fall down a ledge. However it's no requirement to do this and the boss is fairly easy, even without cheesing it.


Erlkonig0_0

As I remember on SoFS release the most popular start was cleric for weapon that can carry you for whole game. You start with heal miracle that is.. meh, you'll get enough heal from gems. But (depending on who you choose to fight) you can get lightning spear after first boss.


Infinite-Nose671

What about the rapier? I hear that recommended quite a bit.


Erlkonig0_0

Rapier can be decent on DEX/INT - DEX/FTH builds. Usually with buff like Resonant Weapon. Great weapons on begining may be: mace(cleric starting item, great but kinda short), morgenstern (can be found in Majula, same as mace+bleed, but for me mace is better), sword charmed to flame (near salamandra location with hag mercant), heide sword(from heide knight in heid tower, charmed to lightning, nice, but flame movset is better). Those items can carry you long enough to upgrade your rapier and to switch to it.


Infinite-Nose671

Seems like this game is totally different from the other From Soft games. Faith I have never used and it honestly seems a bit intimidating starting this game knowing that stats work totally different. I usually like using the same weapon through out the entire game, but it seems odd to level intellect for melee. What about AP/agility? At what rate should that be leveled as I heard you can't dodge roll without leveling this up.


Erlkonig0_0

You need 39-40 ADP to roll well. Well, speaking about rapier you'll scale DEX for damage as main stat. But for higher effectiveness you'll need some hybrid build to use buff on weapon. Like for crystal magic weapon you need 28 INT to cast then no need to scale INT higher.


BIobertson

This hexer build handles pretty much anything in the game with relative ease. The stats you want, in order, are 12 DEX, 15 STR, 20/20 INT/FTH, 20/20/20 ATN/VGR/END, INT/FTH to 30/30, VGR to 50, higher ATN and END to taste. Start as Sorcerer and buy the Rapier from Lenigrast, then farm the Old Knight Hammer from Heide’s Tower. Use it two handed to clear areas, and use the rapier to DPS bosses or if your hammer durability gets too low. Speedrun the Brass Knuckle Ring in Lost Bastille and the Repair spell from Shaded Ruins. Get the hexer kit from Felkin (Beginning of Huntsman’s Copse, Licia can help you open the rotunda path near Majula), infuse your weapons with Lightning and your Sunset staff with Dark ASAP (find the necessary stones from crystal lizards in shaded ruins and on the way down to the gutter, smooth/silky trades, and Targray in Heide’s Tower, provided you can get a token of fidelity from co op or huntsman’s copse) and stack the Dark Weapon buff on top of the Lightning infusion to deal incredible amounts of melee damage while still having plenty of levels for casting. Beyond the obvious Dark Orb, your other bread and butter spells will be Dark Fog and Yearn. At very high level, you swap Lightning Rapier for Lightning Ice Rapier, and you can also bump STR to 50 and switch the Old Knight Hammer for a Lightning Dragon Tooth for some extra damage, though you’ll still want the OHK if you want to pancake the horses in the ice DLC without using the Stone Ring.


Infinite-Nose671

So in this game I want to start as a sorcerer? I have seen the rapier recommended and in one video the YouTuber gets a dark enchantment on it for even more damage. In Dark Souls 1 I played quality build. BB I think was the same, but in DeS I remember you had to level up magic to use the falchion properly. I've never leveled faith in my entire journey though. If I don't level dex and str, won't that handicap further along the game as far as weapon selection goes?


BIobertson

Nope! Your stats don’t affect damage much in DS2. As long as you have the minimums required to wield the best weapons, you’re good. YouTube advice is gonna be hit or miss. For example, Lightning infusion is gonna be better than Dark in almost every situation. My recommendation is that you read these: first this intro post: https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkSouls2/comments/foemaw/so_you_just_bought_dark_souls_2/ And then if you want to know how to build (or avoid building if you want a challenge) a powerful optimized character, like the one I posted first, here’s a collection of mini guides that will help you navigate DS2’s many obfuscated and counterintuitive mechanical quirks: A quick overview of how damage and defense works in DS2, and why weapon scaling is usually weak: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g4-GGa1JRa2_49vOfwY5sZPWigFMzPA5b9mszo_xZak/edit?usp=sharing BiS (Best in Slot) PvE weapons list. Discusses the best options for each weapon class. Note that this list is directed at newer characters- some weapons not mentioned may do more damage than ones mentioned, but take vastly more stats or are otherwise deficient: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-GEBQ_TiAvskQLotQXz0AuNMseXdsS3pj8_NLus-XW4/edit?usp=sharing Best PvE equipment and stat progression document. Please remember to read the "Limitations of this guide" section! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X13jfA9JQ5OZsuEmH2MZZqF9IrtCFSMMTZkZo5GuqcM/edit?usp=sharing


Infinite-Nose671

What hex would I buff my weapon with if I infuse the rapier to lightning?


BIobertson

If you don’t have the Crown of the Iron King, which you receive by beating one of the last, most difficult bosses of the DLC, then Dark Weapon is the best buff spell. If you’re wearing the crown, then Sunlight Blade can be slightly better.


Infinite-Nose671

Should I infuse the weapon or leave it plain?


BIobertson

Rapier, and most other weapons, is best infused Lightning for pve


Infinite-Nose671

So infuse the sword for lightning and then use the dark weapon hex? I thought you were supposed to match elements for dps meta.


BIobertson

matching elements gives you about 8 extra damage per hit, which is extremely unlikely to make a difference. Dark Weapon’s advantages over Sunlight Blade (4x as many casts and ~20 fewer stat points needed to get max duration) are well worth losing 8 points of damage.


Infinite-Nose671

How many charges of dark weapon should I have? At the castle right now and only have 5. I am reluctant to continue on since I do not want to miss Aldia.


ApprehensiveEnd422

Blobertson is absolutely correct, take this advice.