Need a little info for Dex build

I'm doing a dex build, and I've been thinking about getting a buff to upgrade the damage of my weapon but through everything I've seen (so far) it's rather costly not just in SL with getting Int for GMW, or the later version CMW, but not being able to join a covenant to get the high damage augmentation buff like the Sunlight Blade miracle, and the Faith it requires. I'm on my first play through and I want to get my character right. (Already had to restart the story once because I messed up:crying: ) So if anyone can help me out on Int or Faith or if I should even do it, I would be so thankful.
I'm a Warrior
I currently have a +10 Great Scythe
No real set of armor to speak of (Any assistance there would also be very much appreciated.)
Ring of Favor and Protection
(Either Rusted Iron Ring for movement in Blighttown or) Wolf Ring
My current SL is 48
Vit: 20
Att: 8
End: 20
Str: 16
Dex: 37
Res: 11
Int: 9
Fai: 9

Sunlight Blade doesn't take a covenant. 
If you really want just want a buff, and the damage doesn't matter all too much, just use a resin. If you want a really good buff, while then you have to sacrifice some points in order to do it, there's just nothing else.
At this point, you can finish up putting points into dex, and then start putting them into either faith or int. Int takes less point investment, just get 15 int and use the oolacile catalyst, but faith will normally cause more damage if you actually put the stat investment into it. But it takes at least 30 faith to use one of their buffs.

What's the best stopping point for stats? Is it 40 on my 3 main stats?

Soft level cap for scaling on stats is 50 IIRC, so I'd suggest leveling DEX to 50 and leaving it there. This will also help if you choose to use pyromancy aswell, as ~45 DEX speeds up casting time on pyro spells. Pyromancy also has a couple of buffs of sorts in Power Within (raises attack while draining health) and Iron Flesh (raises poise/defense while increasing equipload) which you might want to look into.
As far as buffs go, like Stray said if you just want a buff, and are determined to stay at a low SL then resins are a good option. You can buy fire and poison-type resins from the merchant in the Undead Burg sewer. Gold resins are sold by Domnhall and a few others (although in limited supply) and dropped by the mushrooms dads in the forest.

If you REALLY do want a spell, then I would suggest you take Sunlight Blade over CMW or Darkmoon. The reasons being that IMO unless you plan to PVP as a Spirit of Vengance, being married to a covenant is a pretty steep price. In addition its possible to get more than one copy of SLB with multiple playthroughs, while you will only ever be able to get 1 copy of DMB. The reason for choosing FTH over INT, or SLB over CMW is that at FTH 30 (the requirement for SLB) you now have access to Wrath of the Gods, which is a very usefull spell in PVP, and healing through miracle, again useful when invading (as you have no estus). If you go with CMW then you either have to raise your INT by another 10 points to cast Soul Spear or settle for less damaging spells.

EDIT: Also welcome to the forums bro.

Hart wrote:Soft level cap for scaling on stats is 50 IIRC, so I'd suggest leveling DEX to 50 and leaving it there. This will also help if you choose to use pyromancy aswell, as ~45 DEX speeds up casting time on pyro spells. Pyromancy also has a couple of buffs of sorts in Power Within (raises attack while draining health) and Iron Flesh (raises poise/defense while increasing equipload) which you might want to look into.
As far as buffs go, like Stray said if you just want a buff, and are determined to stay at a low SL then resins are a good option. You can buy fire and poison-type resins from the merchant in the Undead Burg sewer. Gold resins are sold by Domnhall and a few others (although in limited supply) and dropped by the mushrooms dads in the forest.

If you REALLY do want a spell, then I would suggest you take Sunlight Blade over CMW or Darkmoon. The reasons being that IMO unless you plan to PVP as a Spirit of Vengance, being married to a covenant is a pretty steep price. In addition its possible to get more than one copy of SLB with multiple playthroughs, while you will only ever be able to get 1 copy of DMB. The reason for choosing FTH over INT, or SLB over CMW is that at FTH 30 (the requirement for SLB) you now have access to Wrath of the Gods, which is a very usefull spell in PVP, and healing through miracle, again useful when invading (as you have no estus). If you go with CMW then you either have to raise your INT by another 10 points to cast Soul Spear or settle for less damaging spells.

EDIT: Also welcome to the forums bro.

Thank you very much for all of your information and for welcoming me to the forums. Do you have any suggestions on armor or rings I might come across in the game?

Lingering Dragoncrest Ring
This is a good ring to use if you find yourself casting buffs in most fights; it increases the duration of sorceries and pyromancies by ~50% but NOT miracles, so if you go with my advice from my last post and use SLB then it might not be of much use.

Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring
Another spellcasting ring, this one is better suited to a playstyle that focuses on attacking with magic. It boosts damage dealt by pyro/sorcery spells by ~20-25% depending on the spell. Again it doesn't have an effect on miracles, however...

Ring of the Suns Firstborn
has the exact same effect on miracles, increasing their damage by around 20%

White/Darkmoon Seance Rings
Both of these rings confer an extra attunement slot, allowing you to equip one extra spell without needing to spend any more stat points. I would recommend taking attunement to 16 (4 slots) or 19 (5 slots) before you consider using this, as the cost in points below 20 is IMO cheaper than filling one of you're ring slots.

The above rings are all suited to a magic playstyle, so maybe choose which one fits the way you use magic in a fight and only use one. Then you have a free slot for something to increase either your physical attack rating like Leo/Hornet ring or improves your longevity in a brawl Wolf Ring/Favor and Protection.

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As for armor, I don't have the best of knowledge about building sets for functionality as I mostly dress for aesthetics. But two helms, The Crown of Dusk and The Crown of the Dark Sun both boost magic. Dusk by ~20%, but with a 30% weakness to magic. And Dark Sun by 10% without any drawbacks.

Soft cap for scaling on dex is actually 40.
Unless you plan on using pyromancy, I would highly advise not going past 40 in dex.
Vitality/magic stats will however scale to 50, although you probably won't get any of them up to that point.
If you'd like some general idea of what a completed buffing build looks like
http://mmdks.com/3rr1
120 faith buffing build. Extremely powerful, with decent defences and good health.
http://mmdks.com/3rr3
120 Intelligence buffing build. Potentially more potent than the faith build, with a bit more emphasis on land your attacks. The health is lower, but still quite high.

Here's a more drastic setup.
http://mmdks.com/3rra
120 faith buffing build. Much lower HP though. The damage from that buff will put your weapon on par with an ultra greatsword, except with the ability to poke from behind a shield. Your WoGs will do a terrifying amount of damage too.

With my Dex build so far. I've cleared the Catacombs and defeated Smough/Ornstein with Solaire's help in simply distracting Smough so I could kill him AND I took down the powered up Ornstein by myself after Solaire died without even touching him. Lol.

some lvl100 dex hybrids that are capable of buffing that might or might not help you since you already started your build:
http://mmdks.com/3ru5 dex/fth
http://mmdks.com/3ru4 dex/int
theese are as tryhard as it gets though, don't be surprised to get bs fished and insulted^^

since you already started and put points i'd recommend this: http://mmdks.com/3ru6 very well rounded dex char with no real weakness and 200magical are a good enough buff on a fast swinging weapon. dark bead as utility, it won't be the 1hko shotgun with this though.

As far as Dex builds go if you're looking to duel I'd recommend you go the Dex/Pyro route.

SL120 Dex/Pyro
http://mmdks.com/3t59

This build is just about as generic as it gets, but it's generic for a good reason. It's incredibly effective. The Chaos Blade and Silver Knight Spear should be the main weapons for this build, and the Estoc, Gold Tracer, Furysword, Demon's Spear, Uchigatana/Iaito, Falchion, Balder Side Sword, and Rapier are good backup weapons (these should be kept near the Chaos Blade in your menu). As far as backup rings go you may want to swap out the Dark Wood Grain Ring for Wolf or Hornet in some situations (or Red Tear if you're that kind of person). It'd also be a good idea to swap out the Mask of the Mother for the Mask of the Child (increased stamina regen) or the Crown of Dusk (increased pyromancy damage) after taking some damage. One thing that makes this build very powerful is the utility having an offhand pyro glove along with a mainhand kat gives you. 45 dex black flame deals good damage, breaks guards with ease, and does high poise damage. This high poise damage is very helpful since black flame can combo into a katana swing. Also, having an offhand pyro glove is very useful for the wakeup game. You can use the pyro glove to scare your opponent into rolling on wakeup, leaving themselves wide open for a chain backstab.

SL125 Dex/Faith
http://mmdks.com/3t5c

This build uses a buffed washing pole, which is one of the most fearsome buffed weapons in the game due to its long reach, bleed (which generally isn't used to actually bleed people but to force them to do something other than block, giving you an opening to capitalize on) and just being a katana (an excellent class of weapons). Wrath of the Gods is a decent spell, though careless use of it will leave you wide open for a roll backstab. If you land it with 50 faith though (especially while an opponent is rolling) you will deal massive damage, and put your opponent in a stunned state which gives you the opportunity to land a blow with your weapon or go for a backstab. The most challenging things about using this build are the low stamina, and the fact it's a bit on the fragile side (though that doesn't matter very much considering the fact it does tons of damage).



Also, I'll be talking about some of the general guidelines for a dex build here. First of all, 40 dex is as high as you want to go unless you want increased casting speed on pyro (which is very useful) or sorcery (not quite as useful as with pyro). In this case you'll want to raise your dex to 45. For vitality it's generally a good idea to get at least 45 (though I usually give my builds at least 50). Endurance should usually be raised above 30, and you should generally want to get close to 40, though going past 40 isn't the best idea unless you have a good reason since your stamina stops increasing past that point completely. For dex scaling weapons you'll generally want to get just enough strength to meet the base requirement for your main weapon, though some weapons like the Washing Pole have decent strength scaling as well, so in this case it could be a good idea to go with a "quality" stat setup (27/28 or 40 str with 40/45 dex) to get the most damage you can out of it. 16 str is usually the most you'll need since it gives you access to some of the best weapons in the game (Chaos Blade, Silver Knight Spear) and the Black Knight Shield, which works extremely well with the Estoc.