Patience Assassin (SL 60)

---

Build summary	Patience, Stealth and Kill
Recommended starting class(es)	Temple Knight
Recommended Soul Level
	Recommended stats (Leave at default (**) if not raised)
Vitality	20
Will/Intelligence	**
Endurance	20
Strength	18
Dexterity	42
Magic	**
Faith	**
Luck	**
Recommended equipment	Right Hand Fatal Secret Dagger +5/ Fatal Estoc +5 Blind +5/ Any weapon you prefer that stacks with dexterity Left Hand (Whatever fits your play-style) Morion Blade Parrying Dagger Armor Shaman's Rogue's Naked (Anything or nothing really, just make sure you can roll in it) Rings Soul Form - Cling Ring, Thief's Ring Body Form - Clever Rats Ring, Thief's Ring/ Grave-Robber's Ring
Recommended spells/miracles	N/A
Gameplay tips and progression	(I apologize beforehand, my thoughts are rather scattered and there is no particular order in my tips) Random Notes: Firstly, and most importantly, this is meant to be a fun PvP build more than anything. This build only shows my build up to level 60. It has yet to have been played at any level past that. At level 60 the vast majority of my backstabs/ripostes result in immediate kills or leave them with slivers of health left giving you the immediate advantage. Even with your low vitality you can more than likely follow them and kill them with your second right hand weapon. At level 60, many people can't one hit you and will leave you with less than 30% health. That is when morion blade/clever rats can come into play. Although I usually wouldn't suggest engaging prolonged fights with this build, sometimes this route can be more fun. The change in tactcs will definitely surprise them. Avoid regenerative effects and anything that prevents you from being completely invisible when you are tracking them. How I tend play this build: As the name suggests, you must be patient. Do not go blindly rushing into rooms without first taking necessary precautions. Track your target(s) by taking a vantage point and then wait for them to run past you and when they least expect it backstab them. If they live, they probably wont have much health left. Run after them and get in the final attack. If there is more than one to kill, pick on the straggler or the one in cloth armor. Then run away and repeat. If it is 1v1 and you feel confident, go for the parry and riposte. Pros: One-hit Kills Elusive Quick attacks Stealth Hyper mode If it fits your play-style it is a lot of fun Cons Low Health One hit deaths in hyper mode A lot of waiting for the opportune moment Second Chance/Warding/LAG will thwart you every time. Other people using complete stealth makes your job a lot harder Viability at lvl 120 is questionable CONSTRUCTIVE Criticism is welcome.

Comments

Almost works...

coinop25 12 Jun 2010 16:19

Thanks for putting this together. I have been enjoying Demon's Souls a lot, but got kind of tired of builds that just involve hacking away at someone with a superpowered sword or one-hit magic kills. I had NEVER successfully parried in PVP before trying out this build, and it certainly made encounters more exciting and varied.

This worked great for me until about level 70 or so. It's relatively easy to get a Parrying Dagger (upgraded to +8 or so, or to Sharp or Mercury), Fatal Secret Dagger, and Baby's Nail early on. I also opted for a Talisman of Beasts as my alt weapon in left hand, as I avoided items that give you away when stealthy, and you can still use ToB just fine to cast things that don't scale with Magic or Faith, like Poison Cloud, Cloak, and Hidden Soul. I found I was able to catch most enemies in a flurry of hits that leaves them with a plague/poison and invites close-range melee that you can parry/riposte out of to kill them. The stealth helped me get quite a few backstabs while enemies were using recovery items to get over the combined plague/poison damage.

Unfortunately, the build falls apart at higher level PVP. The dagger flurry technique is simply not viable against 2-3 opponents at once, as you can't lock a single competitor down when you have another one slashing at you. Plus, I don't know about you, but I tend to screw up the first couple tries at a Parry, which is not really an option when you've got low health, no Warding or Second Chance (to maintain stealth), and are taking hits from a glowing Blueblood Sword. I've managed to have more luck by toting around Blind+5, which cuts through shields so competitors will put them away long enough for me to swipe at them with Baby's Nail+5, but I'm finding I should probably put a few more points into Intelligence so I can try Warding, and/or keep putting points into Vitality so I can take more hits before the parry finally works.

In general, PVE is fine with this build as long as you're willing to be patient (as the title of the build suggests), but I sometimes get bored and mow my way through levels slightly more quickly with Blind+5 or a Dragon Longsword+3.

Here is my setup in case anyone is interested.

Starting Class: Soldier
Current Soul Level: 80

Vitality: 28
Intelligence: 10
Endurance:40
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 40
Magic: 10
Faith: 10
Luck: 10

Right Hand 1: Baby's Nail +5 (or Fatal Secret Dagger +4 on PVE)
RIght Hand 2: Blind +5
Left Hand 1: Mercury Parrying Dagger +4 (or Parrying Dagger +9 on PVE)
Left Hand 2: Talisman of Beasts (or Dark Heater Shield +4 on some PVE)
Armor: Black Leather
Ring 1: Thief's Ring
Ring 2: Ring of Magical Nature (to fit Poison Cloud & Cloak) or Cling Ring

Spells: Poison Cloud, Cloak
Miracles: Hidden Soul

Problems with CRR/Morion

EddieG 17 Feb 2011 01:39

I like this build! I'm a huge fan of stealth, surprise and subterfuge myself. I can also attest to what you say about backstabs dealing one-hit kills. Blue phantom, especially don't stand a chance. Here are some suggestions I would like to offer:

1.) Do away with CRR and Morion's blade. They may grant you immense damage when your health falls below 30%, but when that happens an aura will glow and give away your position. Given your low vit, and experienced player will start chasing you down, knowing that the next hit will be your last. In my opinion, this is the time when you need your stealth more than ever to duck and cover, and stay low profile to grass up.

2.) I suggest replacing the off-hand CRR with a cracked ToB. Transfer 2 points from Dex into Int to give you one spell slot. And then get your magic to 10 in order to learn cloak, and then delevel it back to 6 (you can still remember spells from Yuria). This spell will be your best friend, making you even harder to detect. For miracles, learn Cure. In the event that your opponent inflicts a negative status on you, your dropping health bar will give away your position. Cure provides with an inexpensive one-size-fits-all remedy to these ailments.

3.) Instead of the parrying dagger, I would recommend an off-hand katana. This ensures that if forced into close combat, you can still take the upper hand by push-locking your opponent. Admittedly the low endurance featured in your build means that you won't be able to string too long a combo, but the push can also serve as a chance to escape back into to the shadows while your opponent is still reeling.

4.) If you want the thrill of parrying your foes, use a DSS +5 instead of a parrying dagger. Lag from PvP makes it virtually impossible (not entirely of course, but almost) to blind parry your opponent (i.e. parry your opponent right on the first go). Instead, many PvPers use what is known as the set-up parry. They block the first attack and then immediately parry right after that. If your opponent has a tendency to mash his R1 attack button, the set-up parry will work like a charm. DSS +5 is also far superior to a parrying dagger due to the protection it offers.

5.) LIke the Morion blade, the Clever Rat's Ring also gives off an aura if triggered. My suggestion would be to wear a ring of great strength, and then put on armour that is slightly stronger (but yet does not encumber you). My personal favourites are the Gloom set, the Ancient King's Set and the Binded Set. Do take note though that in Body Form, heavier armour can clank and give your position away.

To summarize, this is what I would like to suggest: (incidentally, your build is only SL54, not 60. You may wish to allocate the remaining 6 points, but this is not entirely necessar)

Vit - 20
Int - 10
End - 20
Str - 18
Dex - 40
Mag - 10 (then delevel to 6 after attaining cloak)
Faith - 13
Luck - 7

SL - 54

RH1: Hiltless +5
RH2: Fatal Estoc +5 (for turtling if needed)
LH1: Talisman of Beasts
LH2: DSS +5

Spell: Cloak
Miracle: Cure

Items:

Full Moon Grass
Fresh Spice
Secret Throwing Dagger
Kunai