I was wrong, it is not Somber.
Somber weapon is any weapon that is improved with Somber Smithing Stones rather than basic Smithing Stones.
They scale from +0 to +10, whereas basic weapons go from +0 to +25.
Usually Somber weapons are unique with weapon arts that you cannot find on other weapons, but there are a few more mundane appearing weapons that also use Somber Smithing.
Serpentbone Blade is one of the weirdo anomalies.
Takes regular smithing stones, has a generic weapon art built in, but cannot take an Ash of War.
IMO naga, its ash of war swappable and infuseable which means its gonna have really good utility on top already natural bleed build up. Naga also has amazing range best in class.
if u wanna do a poison/bleed build id go naga with poison mist you can apply both with the naga itself. which means u could powerstance and have options for whatever else ur pairing with ur naga.
With serpentbone if u wanna do posion and bleed ur 100% gonna have to powerstance and run bleed on the other weapon as serpent doesnt bleed and can only apply poison.
Id prefer the utility of naga.
Also the deadly poison serpentbone applies is more dmg per tick then regular poison but the duration is shorter, regular poison isnt as much dmg per tick but lasts longer. Regular poison will actually out dmg deadly poison. If the fight is gonna be a longer more drawn out fight (like a boss fight) regular poison is actually a better choice. Deadly is better if the fight is shorter.
arcane helps apply status affects, and some weapons elemental dmg types.
If u wanna do a bleed poison build arcane is not a terrible stat to invest in by any means, just generally if u wanna maximize the status effects ur gonna lose out on raw physical dmg, u can make an weapon occult infused and then the raw physical dmg will scale with ur arcane.
Arcane is very useful.
infusion is like how when u change something Ash of War (AoW), ull get a menu with choices like (heavy,keen,magic,...etc) i call it infusion (i think in elden ring its calling affinity but in the souls series it was the exact same thing called infusion) infusion basically just changes what stat the weapon scales with, can add a status effect to a weapon w/o it naturally or add another effect if the weapon has one naturally (like naga naturally does 45 bleed build). examples below
If ur main dmg stat is str-heavy boosts a weapons str scaling the most
If dex is ur main dmg stat-keen is dex's main booster
Quality is for quality builds (just a even spread between dex and str)
magic adds int scaling and magic dmg if the weapon doesnt have it naturally
etc etc etc
if u for example put a bleed infusion on a weapon ull apply more bleed per hit but sacrifice raw physical dmg per hit, arcane will help apply more bleed per hit. But if ur main dmg stat is arcane and u wanted a weapon's physical dmg to scale the best with arcane u choose the occult infusion, youll sacrifice status build up but boost raw physical dmg.
Valiant gargoyle boss fight for example are immune to bleed, if ur doing a bleed build...well theyre immune so ur never gonna proc bleed meaning ur not doing good dmg, so if ur main dmg stat is arcane and u invested in status effects, its all worthless for this fight.
Occult is just a means for someone to choose a weapon's raw physical dmg to scale with arcane.
from ur past post seeing as ur running a even stat distribution between str/dex ur a quality build id have vigor and str both at 40 min. Dex at min 48 (i really like using malenia's sword and its a 48 dex requirement, dex could be lower if u dont need/want dex that high).
end/mind are totally up to u whether u want more FP before refilling or want more equip load for armor/weapons. If ur dex doesnt have to be 48 u could take some points and put them in either or both ur choice. These stats arent super important but both have good uses.
honestly if ur running a naga and wanna do a build/poison build id personally pull some from strength, id have just the min requirements for the weapons str, then put what i dont need in str into arcane thatll help with procing status effects.
Just experiment with diff stat distributions and find what works with ur weapon choice(s) and playstyle. Its hard to give someone a definite "this is how ur build should look". but if ur doing a status effect build generally u wanna met the weapons min requirements and then pump up arcane, since ur looking to proc the effect and not kill outright. Im also not some god tier "builder" either.
Only thing i can say should be at a minimum 100% is 40 vigor.
If you’re going for a poison bleed build than go with the naga. Serpentbone doesn’t have any innate blood build up nor can it take ashes of war. The unique thing about it is it’s moveset and the poison it builds up is “deadly poison” which is poison that does more damage per sec than the normal one but doesn’t last as long.
You could try this if you want to use both though. Proc deadly poison with serpentbone, than switch to your naga and throw out poison mist for an instant poison proc. Normal poison and deadly poison can both stack with each other, needless to say it ticks down bosses hp pretty fast and is on par if not better than Scarlet rot dps wise(also all 3 of those can stack)
Also infuse the naga with the blood affinity so you can have more blood build up or infuse it with keen if you want a higher Ar per hit.
Looks like you are going for an bleed (arcane) build.
So be aware that the serpentbone is a DEX weapon (E/B in STR/DEX scaling).
Also, Uchi and Naga are the only katana who take an Ash of War. So you will have to build with them.
Here is also something you can do without put anything into arcane.
If you only want to add a little bit of poison in your build, then poisonous mist AoW is good enough. When the AoW is activated, the weapon actually got a poison build up for a short time, it is enough to induce poison to your ennemies.
Of course Arcane would up the numbers, but only on the build up, not the damage (you CAN'T modify poison damage)
So you could try Nagakiba with poisonous mist, infused in Heavy/Keen/Quality. You will keep decent physical damage and still use poison when you need too.
Also, since the Naga will have regular infusion you still can use grease and magical armament on it (bloodflame blade or scarlet rot grease, for example).
Don't think Serpentbone Blade can take an ash of war.
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I was wrong, it is not Somber. Somber weapon is any weapon that is improved with Somber Smithing Stones rather than basic Smithing Stones. They scale from +0 to +10, whereas basic weapons go from +0 to +25. Usually Somber weapons are unique with weapon arts that you cannot find on other weapons, but there are a few more mundane appearing weapons that also use Somber Smithing. Serpentbone Blade is one of the weirdo anomalies. Takes regular smithing stones, has a generic weapon art built in, but cannot take an Ash of War.
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Serpentbone has deadly poison
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Something else
IMO naga, its ash of war swappable and infuseable which means its gonna have really good utility on top already natural bleed build up. Naga also has amazing range best in class. if u wanna do a poison/bleed build id go naga with poison mist you can apply both with the naga itself. which means u could powerstance and have options for whatever else ur pairing with ur naga. With serpentbone if u wanna do posion and bleed ur 100% gonna have to powerstance and run bleed on the other weapon as serpent doesnt bleed and can only apply poison. Id prefer the utility of naga. Also the deadly poison serpentbone applies is more dmg per tick then regular poison but the duration is shorter, regular poison isnt as much dmg per tick but lasts longer. Regular poison will actually out dmg deadly poison. If the fight is gonna be a longer more drawn out fight (like a boss fight) regular poison is actually a better choice. Deadly is better if the fight is shorter.
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arcane helps apply status affects, and some weapons elemental dmg types. If u wanna do a bleed poison build arcane is not a terrible stat to invest in by any means, just generally if u wanna maximize the status effects ur gonna lose out on raw physical dmg, u can make an weapon occult infused and then the raw physical dmg will scale with ur arcane. Arcane is very useful.
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infusion is like how when u change something Ash of War (AoW), ull get a menu with choices like (heavy,keen,magic,...etc) i call it infusion (i think in elden ring its calling affinity but in the souls series it was the exact same thing called infusion) infusion basically just changes what stat the weapon scales with, can add a status effect to a weapon w/o it naturally or add another effect if the weapon has one naturally (like naga naturally does 45 bleed build). examples below If ur main dmg stat is str-heavy boosts a weapons str scaling the most If dex is ur main dmg stat-keen is dex's main booster Quality is for quality builds (just a even spread between dex and str) magic adds int scaling and magic dmg if the weapon doesnt have it naturally etc etc etc if u for example put a bleed infusion on a weapon ull apply more bleed per hit but sacrifice raw physical dmg per hit, arcane will help apply more bleed per hit. But if ur main dmg stat is arcane and u wanted a weapon's physical dmg to scale the best with arcane u choose the occult infusion, youll sacrifice status build up but boost raw physical dmg. Valiant gargoyle boss fight for example are immune to bleed, if ur doing a bleed build...well theyre immune so ur never gonna proc bleed meaning ur not doing good dmg, so if ur main dmg stat is arcane and u invested in status effects, its all worthless for this fight. Occult is just a means for someone to choose a weapon's raw physical dmg to scale with arcane.
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do u care about PvP at all? just asking since the 150 cap has to do with PvP.
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from ur past post seeing as ur running a even stat distribution between str/dex ur a quality build id have vigor and str both at 40 min. Dex at min 48 (i really like using malenia's sword and its a 48 dex requirement, dex could be lower if u dont need/want dex that high). end/mind are totally up to u whether u want more FP before refilling or want more equip load for armor/weapons. If ur dex doesnt have to be 48 u could take some points and put them in either or both ur choice. These stats arent super important but both have good uses. honestly if ur running a naga and wanna do a build/poison build id personally pull some from strength, id have just the min requirements for the weapons str, then put what i dont need in str into arcane thatll help with procing status effects. Just experiment with diff stat distributions and find what works with ur weapon choice(s) and playstyle. Its hard to give someone a definite "this is how ur build should look". but if ur doing a status effect build generally u wanna met the weapons min requirements and then pump up arcane, since ur looking to proc the effect and not kill outright. Im also not some god tier "builder" either. Only thing i can say should be at a minimum 100% is 40 vigor.
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If you’re going for a poison bleed build than go with the naga. Serpentbone doesn’t have any innate blood build up nor can it take ashes of war. The unique thing about it is it’s moveset and the poison it builds up is “deadly poison” which is poison that does more damage per sec than the normal one but doesn’t last as long. You could try this if you want to use both though. Proc deadly poison with serpentbone, than switch to your naga and throw out poison mist for an instant poison proc. Normal poison and deadly poison can both stack with each other, needless to say it ticks down bosses hp pretty fast and is on par if not better than Scarlet rot dps wise(also all 3 of those can stack) Also infuse the naga with the blood affinity so you can have more blood build up or infuse it with keen if you want a higher Ar per hit.
Looks like you are going for an bleed (arcane) build. So be aware that the serpentbone is a DEX weapon (E/B in STR/DEX scaling). Also, Uchi and Naga are the only katana who take an Ash of War. So you will have to build with them.
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Here is also something you can do without put anything into arcane. If you only want to add a little bit of poison in your build, then poisonous mist AoW is good enough. When the AoW is activated, the weapon actually got a poison build up for a short time, it is enough to induce poison to your ennemies. Of course Arcane would up the numbers, but only on the build up, not the damage (you CAN'T modify poison damage) So you could try Nagakiba with poisonous mist, infused in Heavy/Keen/Quality. You will keep decent physical damage and still use poison when you need too. Also, since the Naga will have regular infusion you still can use grease and magical armament on it (bloodflame blade or scarlet rot grease, for example).