Build advice?

So, this will eventually be my build.

www.tinyurl.com/6p9ubuf

Wanted to do a fast rolling strength build.plan to buff the MSGS with sunlight blade & have the lightning (or chaos, cant decide) BSS for backup. Can also switch the BSS for light crossbow & still fast roll.

As of right now I'm having a bit of trouble with MsGS in pvp, but I'm also only sl47 right now & rolling with 40 poise tops. Could this build possibly be any good if I stop sucking & actually fight worth a damn? Or should I change something? This is my first attempt at actually planning a build.

There you go - not the true fast roll more b***h flip however it gives you exactly what you wanted and you get 55 poise so you can tank a hit of a greatsword and you shouldn't really get hit by an UGS, and yes the build could be great - I dislike the amount of att slots you have, two SLB's is pointless unless you are an FH and run away to rebuff during invasions. I would say drop three att or perhaps 5 xD here is my take upon the build. You could also drop 13 str if you are only going to 2h as it gives the effect of 40 str and then put 10 extra in vit and then 7 more dex gives use of more weapons to you http://tinyurl.com/6wrs8ur

this is mine http://tinyurl.com/89g355g and its what i do sometimes, i go med roll and use other rings like rtsr, honet(for fishers) and cloranthy. its really good and one of my favourite builds.

I already have the 24 STR for the MSGS, but I may just do as you suggested and drop a spell slot.

EDIT: OK sorry, I didn't see your link at the bottom of your post.

Well, I wanted to keep as much of the starter bandit gear as possible, but ended up liking the look of the shadow garb with bandit trousers & headgear! I also specifically WANT the true fast roll. I realize it doesn't allow me as much armor but I just LOVE the fast roll!

I am looking at your original build, and it could use some improvements. First off, all this Faith casting is suboptimal with your Dexterity. Also worth noting is the versatility of the Greatsword and its ability to get Dead Angles with a bit a practice. Since you are aiming for strength anyway, I don't think the Balder Side Sword is worthwhile weapon. The Spider Shield might keep you safe from poison in PvE, but anything that wants to poison you in PvP will still be able to no matter your shield. I suggest this build, instead. However if don't want to use the DWGR for whatever reason, this build. It has a poise of 53, which allows you to be competitive. Both builds work on the same principles, the differences are minor between play-styles.

One of the problems with your original build is that it has below average HP, which can be a problem if you are swinging a larger weapon. To alleviate this, I freed up points from Strength. Remember that when you two-hand a weapon, you count as having 1.5x your normal strength for calculating AR and that diminishing returns becomes absurd for most stats after 40. This means that you'll have the practically best AR for minimum investment for the Manserpent Greatsword at 27 Strength when you two-hand it. Just to show how little the difference is for 13 points, with 40 Strength 2h MSGS gives you an AR of 536, while 27 Strength 2h MSGS gives an AR of 521. This means for 13 SL you get 15 AR, hardly worth it. However, this comes at the expense of one-handed AR, but the one-handed moveset of the MSGS isn't anything spectacular. All these points are placed into Vitality, such that when combined with RoFaP, you'll be sitting on a very cosy 1800 HP. I also took points from Attunement and Dexterity and placed into Faith so that your buff will be incredibly potent. You'll have an AR just shy of a 1000 (959 to be precise).

I gave you, in terms of miracles, Darkmoon Blade and WoG. While Darkmoon Blade requires you to be part of the Covenant to use, it is generally more powerful that its electric equivalent. I gave WoG not as a spamming tool, but as a punishing one. The people you'll have the most trouble fighting are flippers that'll be hopping all over the place. Any melee weapon will have trouble hitting them, but a WoG is capable of punishing a bad roll. When fighting a spear user, it'll be invaluable. However, limited casts means you'll need to be careful when deciding to use it. It might be worth learning how to pivot-cancel WoG to be able to intimidate more with it. If you have trouble killing you opponent in 30 seconds it might be worth switching WoG out for Sunlight Blade, so you a have a solid minute of deadly glowstick wielding.

Post Script:

Weapon Enchant Damage Chart:

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hey man. what's up.
try this maybe. http://tinyurl.com/6r5pyxu hey but maybe drop vit down one and put it in strength.
if you want to mix it up, take either your tali or flame off midfight and fist parry. you'll catch them completley off guard once they realize you don't have a free left hand or don't see a shield.

buff whatever weapon you feel will be good for starting the fight against your opponent. buff dex up to 45 if you don't care for the 120 sl limit.

Thanks for the input...you guys have given me much to think about, and think I have. I am stuck with the points in DEX, so I realize this build will not be QUITE as specialized as he could be...guess next time I will seek advice BEFORE starting to level up! But at least with 14 dex I can mix it up a little with the BSS or flamberge if I get bored during pve! I dropped my strength and attunement down as suggested, and will go with darknoon blade, as this covenant will give me more opportunities for pvp anyways. Before going into ng+ i will also pick up sunlight blade...i like the idea of having 2 different buffs to use if necessary.

Given my lack of skills, I've more or less resigned myself to putting on a bit more armor and using the flip ring. However one non-negotiable for me, based purely on personal preference, is NO masks!

So, now I'm thinking at sl120 I'll be looking more like this...

www.tinyurl.com/79t9ke6

Maybe I'll do another build to use the true fast roll, but more of a DEX/FAI mix so I can use faster weapons and cast faster as well.

Oh, and the spider shield was just for looks, I always have my inventory set up to switch between crest, dragon crest etc, depending on the situation. And I also never planned to use WOG for spam, but merely for punishment!

Anyways, thanks everyone for the advice.

idk why everyone hates masks.. if people used them then we'd have longer fights. do u consider crown of dusk or crown of the dark sun masks?

Not everyone min/maxes everything.

Also, those masks look hideous. The Dusk Crown looks alright, the Dark Sun Crown really doesn't, it looks like a golden spider on your head.

I personally don't like Masks but I wear them on some builds - I have specific armor sets that look good with the MoM and MoC

i like how the moms mask looks.. it's like a crazy grandma.

but back to the build.. that new one looks like it has a very easy counter..
wait out the buff.
roll the wotg.
parry/roll r1 your only weapon. that or bs your slow swings/pyro them
try to add some more tools imo.. at least another little weapon or spell.

btw can you still cancel the shot and parry with a shield immediately with a crossbow? i've never tried. i know you can with a bow.

Crazy grandmas aren't good-looking. Unique maybe?

However the uniqueness goes away rather quickly when everyone and their crazy grandma is wearing it.

Not telling not to use it, if you like it go ahead and wear it, it's not like my dislike for those masks is keeping 90% of the DkS population from wearing them.

Since you have points already in Dexterity, I made some small changes to create this build. Here, I improved your miracle selection to be fairly competitive while keeping your weapon selection. Since you want to have a unique set of armour, I gave you Chain-mail helm, and the rest Knight's set. That way you look like a genuine, medieval knight. Your original build, while competitive in a sense, could stand some improvements. This build I suggest isn't so much a better a build, but an alternate one.

In terms of miracles, I took some points out of Faith to not only give you Sunlight Blade to increase your time that you can do damage, but gave you an underrated utility Force. By lowering your Faith from 40 to 35 your Darkmoon Blade will have 21 less AR. However, this allowed you to gain 2 more attunement slots, which seems like a fair trade-off. Now you can use both major Faith buffs, which gives you a solid minute of dramatically enhanced damage. Generally speaking, you'll want to start off using Darkmoon Blade, but you might find foes in Lordran that will take more damage from Lightning rather than Magic. (Great Magic Barrier comes to mind.) I also gave you Force, which comes with an unrivalled, for a useful spell, 21 casts. Although another 3 casts of WoG might be useful, against people that'll react appropriately to 3 well thought-out blasts will most likely continue to react in such manner for 3 more smites. However, even the best of players might have trouble with 24 casts. Force, (un)fortunately, does not do damage. It does have a start-up similar to WoG, which lets you do some pretty powerful mind-games. When you notice your opponent does make a similar mistake a few times, that's when you switch to your lethal version and get the hit.

I also gave the Wolf Ring, even though you have a fair bit of poise already. What this lets you do, if your opponent is wielding a smaller weapon, is give the power to switch to Hornets, Cloranthy, or Red Tearstone. Just make sure you keep your ring inventory clear, spend few minutes to practice switching, and you'll have a whole new level of flexibility. If you keep only 4 rings with you, it becomes very easy to switch. You can apply this flexibility to your weapons too. If you carry only what you have on you along with 1 or 2 extra weapons, switching is incredibly simple. Take for example the fact you want to wield the Manserpent Greatsword, a Light Crossbow, and a Balder Side Sword. Since your offhand slots are full already, you decide that you'll carry only the bare minimum with you. This will let you switch away your crossbow to your +5 Lightning BSS with ease to challenge your opponent with various ranges and utilities your build has.

Can anyone suggest a good secondary weapon, one which weighs no more than the light crossbow? I had been thinking the BSS simply because the weight was right and it used those 14 dex points, but I know with such low dex I'd have to make it elemental.

maybe a falchion?