Help straight up Dex build

Hey peeps, I felt like making a Dex build this go round and I had a few questions. Before that though, I want to say that Id prefer to keep it no higher than SL100 if at all possible, so Id appreciate it if you kept that in mind. First off, Great Bows vs Bows, would it be worth lacking points in another area to use the great bow or no? Seeing as how it will be my only means of ranged combat its kinda important me thinks. Second, Katanas (or kellogs furry sword?) vs Halberds vs spears, I see a lot of hate for spears and IME they are kinda easy to parry half the time so maybe that one is out from off the bat, but whatever. Im not using any magic this time so weapons like BSS etc are kinda out too, right? Lastly how are these stats? Fap ring at this point is pretty much obligitory so i added that and the wolf ring for the poise.

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?b=aHVudGVyLDQwLDksNDAsMTYsNDUsMTEsOSw5LDAsMCwwLDAsMCwzMSwyMiwwLDAsMCwwLG5vcm1hbCxub3JtYWwsbm9ybWFsLG5vcm1hbCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsd29vZGVuLHdvb2Rlbix3b29kZW4sd29vZGVuLDEsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMA==

I just threw somethin together. It's very similar to one of my favorite builds.

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=446888262371165184


You can also tweak it to use a bow if you want.

1.)  You'll want a bow for your long range game.  Greatbows cannot be used in 1v1 combat unless you plan on trading hits.  If you have enough time to use a greatbow, you have enough time for menu swapping it on and off.  For free-aiming, long range game the pharis bow is the strongest with 40-50 dex.  If you're close enough to lock on, the composite bow is the quickest.

2.)  Halberds and spears aren't dex weapons.  They're quality weapons.  For dex weapons you'll pretty much have to mainly stick with: katanas, rapiers, daggers, and curved swords.  

3.)  Why would balder side sword be out?  Since you're high dex, almost all of your weapons will be enchantable.  Balder side sword is actually one of the best dex weapons.

4.) The stats look decent.  I'd hold off on adding any points into strength until you know exactly what weapons and shields you're going to use and how much strength they require.  You don't want to waste any points you could've put into vit.

5.)  FaP ring is fine, keep the other ring slot open though.  Havels, cloranthy, and hornet ring can all be potentially useful to you

Alright i did a bit of lookin at equipment and stuff and this is what i came up with, thanks @TooLeet for the base, it helped me a bit. Also, thanks @LunarFog for clearing a few things up for me, and i took what you had said into consideration.

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?b=aHVudGVyLDQwLDksNDAsMTYsNDUsMTEsOSw5LDAsNiw1LDQsNCwzMSwwLDQsNDUsMTQ1LDEwNyxub3JtYWwsbm9ybWFsLG5vcm1hbCxub3JtYWwsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLHdvb2Rlbix3b29kZW4sd29vZGVuLHdvb2RlbiwxLDAsMCwwLDAsMCwwLDA=

With this one i can pretty much use any dex weapon under 5 weight. Look good?

I would suggest taking off the 45 dex in favor for 40 dex, as it is usually only advisable to go that high if you are a pyromancer. So could add some points into attunement for a back up plan to be pyromancy. I also question why both the dark hand and heater shield?

If you take away the 45 dex you could make your build more of an endurance dump so that you could have crazy amounts of poise, with a flexible ring slot.

Also, the 16 strength is odd if it is an only dex build. You could lower it two points and be fine with every dex weapon except the curved greatswords.

In fact, if you lower the dex to 40 and put it into strength until you reach lvl 99 or 100, it could become a very flexible quality build where you could one-hand every quality and dex weapon except the Greatsword and Muramako.

If you had a stockpile of weaponry, you could be fighting someone with this build and constantly menu-swapping every twenty or so seconds to another weapon, just to mess with their heads(it has happened to me and I nearly died when the guy I was fighting whipped out a Muramako out of no where).

16 strength will give you more options for weapons. You can easily turn a dex build with 16 strength into a LH Scythe build and 1 hand the chaos blade with 16 strength. And a lot more options. Just my personal preference. I do have a dex build with 14 strength though. Pyromancy goes great with dex builds. Black flame and great fireball are great spells to incorporate and makes the build more rounded. Instead of just an Iato/Uchi bow build you can have a Iato/Uchi/Chaos Blade/LHScythe/Bow/Pyro/Etc.. build. At the same token you can use the LH scythe 2 handed with 14 strength.

Wolf ring and Fap ring are fine. 56 poise and fast roll works great. If you want more poise havel's and fap will get you 76 poise with the right armor setup. Plus Fap gives more more stat bonuses than the wolf ring so it's worth it. The hornet ring is a waste of a slot unless you're really good at parrys or just bs fish. Havels and Fap once again = more options. Not counting on "i hope this parry lands" or "Need moar BS." 

It's all up to you though. And losing the medium shield will shave weight for more poise or different weapons set ups. I love parrying so every build i use has the target shield. Dark hand works too. Or dual wield katanas and parry for days.


Edit: The 2 points in strength from 14 to 16 won't make or break you. You'll just have a wider variety of weapons. You can get to 56 poise and 76 poise with 16 strength so extra points into end doesn't matter. And 2 extra points in vit won't make a big difference either because you can wear the MOFM.

I've heard that the great scythe is a awesome dex weapon, with it's huge hit arc and nice recovery. And you only need 14 strength to use it properly. (and a A scaling)

Even if your using it to bs people in pvp, it still do massive amount of damage without the need of a leo ring. Not only that, it's also fairly easy to pick up from the beggining of the game if you know how to get there and pick it up.

Edit: O and it bleeds

Surprised no one here mention it...

Let me share my build:
http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=163028685223780957

Remove 20 Vitality and you'll have a SL100 build. Having 16 strength gives me a lot of weapons to choose from, but I've been using the BSS mainly lately. You don't need to have magic buffs for it to be powerful, the strong attack is AMAZING on that weapon. And you can always use Rotten/Charcoal pine resin with it. Flamberge is also another one of my favorites. A dexterity greatsword, what else can you wish for?

Also, the dark hand, and the set I'm wearing is purely cosmetics. If you want to min/max, by all means do it.

drdrack wrote:I've heard that the great scythe is a awesome dex weapon, with it's huge hit arc and nice recovery. And you only need 14 strength to use it properly. (and a A scaling)

Even if your using it to bs people in pvp, it still do massive amount of damage without the need of a leo ring. Not only that, it's also fairly easy to pick up from the beggining of the game if you know how to get there and pick it up.

Edit: O and it bleeds

Surprised no one here mention it...

No one mentioned it because it's an obvious weapon choice in a dex build.

A pure dex build lends itself to the following styles:

-Pyro.  If you have 45 dex, use Black Flame (if you have the dlc) / Great Combustion / Chaos Fireball and/or Fire Surge ( depends on CoD and BDCR).

-Use Uchi / Balder Side Sword / Silver Knight Spear / Falchion / Gold Tracer / Composite or Short Bow / Rickert's Rapier / others?? they elude me.  Check the weapons page in the wiki.  Keepin mind the base damage when considering the scaling.

-Some of those weapons are screaming Leo's Ring.

-45 dexterity also maximizes casting time manipulation for some low stat investment sorceries.

-If not using ANY attunements, keep dex at 40.

-You can always use pine resins (lightning).

-Darkhand is EXCELLENT in pvp if you want to keep your strength stat low.  Heck, its still good even then.

-IMO, some poise breakpoints are unnecessary considering the reach of some dex weapons.  I roll 7 poise with my MLBH spear for instance.

-Daggers are also a good option, especially with pyro.

GOOD LUCK BUD!

TooLeet wrote:

drdrack wrote:I've heard that the great scythe is a awesome dex weapon, with it's huge hit arc and nice recovery. And you only need 14 strength to use it properly. (and a A scaling)

Even if your using it to bs people in pvp, it still do massive amount of damage without the need of a leo ring. Not only that, it's also fairly easy to pick up from the beggining of the game if you know how to get there and pick it up.

Edit: O and it bleeds

Surprised no one here mention it...

No one mentioned it because it's an obvious weapon choice in a dex build.

I'm new here (someone did say no halberd, probably misinterpret it)

Also painted guardian, that's going to be obvious weapon choice too i suppose...

Also Ricardo if you like buffs on your weapon, Get shotel for guardbreak

I playing alot of dex builds recently, so yea...

Only reason i ever use the PGS is in the left hand for parrying. I have a Dex/Faith build i dual wield PGS's and buff with DMB. It's obsolete but it can get the job done.

Dex builds don't require 40 End. I'd rather have:

-45-50 Vit
-45 Dex for GC combo
-10 Att
-30 End
-FAP 
-Always a bow