The Dragon Slayer: or How I learned to buff quality

I finally got around to making the DSS build I mentioned. While recovering all I could think about was how cool that weapon looks and I wanted to use it (Something I've never really done before)

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=269530511123979429

This was the result. Started working on it tonight.

I Sorta realized that this is actually a pretty good Quality build that can buff (Another thing I've never really done lol) So I feel like I'm killing two gankers with one build (killing two birds with one stone)

I think there is probably room for improvement, I'd like to get a fifth attune slot, and I could by dropping Dex down to 37 But I sorta want to keep the Physical AR on the DSS 300+ which means 39 dex minimum, and I'd have to drop to the perilously low 36 Vit, which even with MoM and FaP at 120 I feel the health pool is average at best, which means instead of Crown or Poise or real defense taking an armor slot I'm playing "Catchup" with my Vital parts for the sake of competitive damage.

Thoughts. Opinions, Fixes, and general tomfoolery welcome

damn, there it is. in case you wonder.... yes it's my dss build. that's how it's done, dss is best spear for a faith/dex build! did you make it public on mugenmonkey? i hope not!

you are right, very good quality build also! i would suggest trying to buff a washing pole with these stats ; ) regarding your thoughts about attunement slots: i only have three on mine. replenishment as self buff -> try to cut away 2100 hp from me!, wotg if someone thinks he needs to come close + one other offensive miracle, that can be replaced with a buff

personally i use crown, as i think with replenishment you don't need that much hp and i like the boost on miracle damage. i have to admit that i'm still wondering if replenishment is frowned upon when used in duels, cause technically speaking it's kind of healing, but i never heard of that and i never got any complaints about it. maybe ppl are just happy that i don't cast twop at the beginning of the duel.

personally i would sacrifice some AR for hp, but that's just me. i sometimes even play my build with less poise, only wolf ring. from my experience poise is not that important when using a spear and miracles as your offensive options. btw: i like that bow, never thought of that and may give it a try. 35 end is great - you'll be knocking away shields like Ornstein and stunlocking ppl a lot with that much stamina to play with. it also gives you some room to switch some parts of your equipment. but what am i saying and don't get it wrong: no criticism, only

I think the entire Premise of Faith as a stat in Dark Souls is situational but amazing effects.

Replenishment is almost never bad in a fight, but sometimes you just get CMW Uchi'd so fast it's like a 100 health heal.

GMB is great for setting the pace of a fight against Mages, but a total waste on a pure dex pyro (I'm actually thinking of maybe sometimes carrying flash sweat for those guys)

Vow of Silence can work on both WoG happy mans, Black Flame Dudes, and the TwoP Beaders(lol you got TwoP I got Vow, have fun with that TCC)

Even Karmic Justice can be a game changer against things like GT Tanks or Oroboros builds (trading a couple 2hr1s after getting chipped a few times and KJ can explode and End them if PW has been on too long.

Heck even Force is good for certain greatbow builds, that while not popular are very strong.

You just gotta pick the right tool out of the box

Not bad with the stats, but I didn't think you could buff the DSS or Bows in general.

For SL 55, this is my Buffing Quality Build:

http://mmdks.com/2gsx

I don't know much about buffs, but I know that that general set up of armor is very popular with people that use DMB buffs. Also, I didn't know that the Dragonslayer spear could be buffed. I'll test it out soon if it can. Also I suggest going with that extra attunement slot instead of health. Never good to have too much health, in my opinion, as it makes you careless. Plus you will be using a spear and a bow so you won't be tanking too many hits. Also, I love your use of defensive miracles. Hardly anyone realizes their greatness.

Do you think you need 53 poise?

You can't buff any bow. Or the Dragon Slayer Spear.

The buff is there just as a 'hey I use this sometimes' A 510 AR claymore with a 361 buff is no joke. I mean essentially what it came down to was that to make the most of the DSS I ended up with stats that lend themselves well to a pseudo quality build (24/40) and since if I'm going to get 28 faith to cast WoG I might as well get 2 more points and have access to the faith buffs right? I mean there's like a ton of weapons the build could use effectively (many dex weapons, quality weapons) and plenty of em are buffable.

About Poise. I actually want enough to tank a greatsword 2h running attack, but can't quite seem to stretch my weight values enough without giving up something Knowing I have 53 poise lets me make certain trades I wouldn't without it (36 poise generally being the next lowest value I make use of)

@ The build. I've mulled over allowing my Vit to drop as low as 35, as with each fight I will likely have some kind of defense tacked on thanks to miracles, eithe replenishment, GMB, or VoS. Which would allow me some wiggle room to get those few extra points of poise I'd like.

I've also considered possibly leaving Str/Dex at base for the DSS and getting something like 40 faith, another attunment slot and a bit more END/Health and just being a faith caster

I can see the reasoning behind the poise value now. I wasn't sure what you were buffing...I thought you were just gonna use the item switch glitch and buff the DSS.

I was just curious because I had a DS build with 7 poise that functioned fine, but I used the DWGR too.

I see where you're coming from now.

Yeah I can totally see rocking very little poise (I'd still aim to not get staggered by 1h spear r1s) If I was using the DWGR. Flipping spear pokes are generally safe.

I might try out swapping Wolf for DWGR against certain weapons, as I'd still have 13 poise and that can't get stunlocked by the whole universe.

And On consideration (Read after I invested in the Darkmoon talisman and upping my Fai to 40 instead of taking dex up) There's just no real reason to try to get maximum scaling out of a buff I only sometimes attune and WoG which I use almost every fight but more to keep people off my butt and at spear range rather than damage.

http://mmdks.com/2h03

This is actually one of the set ups I use when I want to make use of the buff. So far I haven't found anything that can even think about trading with DMB Leo Ring 2h Halberd pokes

I'm outta votes for the day...

..but you totally get an imaginary +1 for the hat and a high five!

Thanks for the sentiment Animal. I really like using Big hat on mid roll and some fast roll(if I'm END gauging) because it has fantastic magic defense, letting me focus on Physical/lightning on the other pieces (often times fire gets handled with not standing around in GC spam or a BK shield)

I guess besides a few people who think my build is solid as a rock (not Havel the rock) And a little discussion with you no one cares about the best looking weapon in the game anymore

Oh hell man, esthetics are the only thing that matters to me anymore lol. I do however, think its moot when giving someone advice, critiquing a build, etcetcetc.

For instance I would never say a build is butt ugly, unless someone was asking how their build "looked".

I think that would be poor critiquing. If someone wants to wear the HSWC, CoD, mismatched armor combos, etc...that's none of my business.

For instance with your build (not considering swapping out the Claymore), I would have worn the Giants chest, used Havel's Ring, and would have settled for the lower poise and better defenses. That would have avoided using the HSWC, and "looked better" (objectively of course), but it would have been a decision made out of play style, not looks.

I don't mean to go on and on, but I put how I "look" way ahead of viability. If I lose defense in exchange for looks...I'm okay with it. Of course I'm not going to wear armor that just flat out sucks, or achieve a pointless poise value based on looks. But its a little vain to expect people to have that same consideration. For instance saying, "You should use Big Logan's Hat because it would look cooler". That's just silly.

I made myself think that way. But this stems from when the Lightning Claymore-Giants-ninja flipping-MoM build was the obvious powerhouse. I'm glad they nerfed those things because it makes my "Losing with style" builds a little more viable lol.

Play what makes you feel good I say. Your build is really nice. Solid build for sure. To say anything else is kinda silly.

I do think its perfectly fine to say your "Big Hat-Thorn Armor"build you got going on looks %$#@ing spectacular!

And also, BOOM!!! There's your +1

Jansports wrote:I finally got around to making the DSS build I mentioned. While recovering all I could think about was how cool that weapon looks and I wanted to use it (Something I've never really done before)

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=269530511123979429

This was the result. Started working on it tonight.

I Sorta realized that this is actually a pretty good Quality build that can buff (Another thing I've never really done lol) So I feel like I'm killing two gankers with one build (killing two birds with one stone)

I think there is probably room for improvement, I'd like to get a fifth attune slot, and I could by dropping Dex down to 37 But I sorta want to keep the Physical AR on the DSS 300+ which means 39 dex minimum, and I'd have to drop to the perilously low 36 Vit, which even with MoM and FaP at 120 I feel the health pool is average at best, which means instead of Crown or Poise or real defense taking an armor slot I'm playing "Catchup" with my Vital parts for the sake of competitive damage.

Thoughts. Opinions, Fixes, and general tomfoolery welcome

That is very similar to my 1st pvp build, second build I made, in fact I still have it, now uses the server. The only difference I got 14 att 40 vit (and no mask). Nice build.