Magic Dexterity

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Build summary	126 PVP - Unorthadox use of Dexterity and Magic
Recommended starting class(es)	Knight
Recommended Soul Level
	Recommended stats (Leave at default (**) if not raised)
Vitality	36
Will/Intelligence	24
Endurance	40
Strength	18
Dexterity	40
Magic	30
Faith	**
Luck	**
Recommended equipment	RIGHT HAND EQUIPMENT R1 - Sharp Secret Dagger +5 R2 - Baby's Nails +5 LEFT HAND EQUIPMENT L1 - Insanity Catalyst L2 - Sharp Spiked Shield +5 / Knight's Shield +10 / Steel Shield +10 / Dark Silver Shield +5 OTHER EQUIPMENT OPTIONS Any Sharp equipment you are comfortable with. For example - Sharp Uchigatana +5 - Sharp Kilij +5 - Sharp War Scythe +5 - Sharp Estoc +5 - Sharp Winged Spear +5 - Also the Hitless +5 Fatal Estoc+5 can be used for backstabs if you switch at the right time. ARMOR Use something light, YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO ROLL. RINGS Body Form - Eternal Warriors Ring / Dull Rat's Ring Soul Form - Cling Ring / Friend and Foe's Ring Other Rings to Note - Ring of Devout Prayer (second chance becomes possible)
Recommended spells/miracles	SPELLS Light Weapon Warding Poison Cloud Death Cloud Acid Cloud Fire Spray Soul Ray Ignite MIRACLES Second Change***
Gameplay tips and progression	As we all know the metagame of Demon's Souls has changed recently stun-lock is getting harder and harder to achieve; laggy connections can make or break a battle and spam rolling has become one of the safest ways to escape almost anything. But no matter how bad the lag (within reason) and how much the opponent tries to roll there is one weapon that can still combo effectively, the Dagger. This Build is about using a dagger for the most possible damage and stun-locking the opponent until they die. PRO / CON OF DAGGERS Pro - Quick Attacks - Combo ability - Different Attack Options - Amazing Back Stab Damage - Very low stamina drain Con - Low Damage - Small Weapon (without a lot of regular range or phantom range) - Forces a close-up battle with opponent *I will talk about stat placement after I explain why we are using the dagger and Light Weapon.* Most people argue the fact that the Dagger Weapons do not provide enough damage to be used effectively in pvp and that is true. Un-enchanted the dagger will only be hitting for about 120 to 150 damage against a black phantom and when compared to something like the Meat Cleaver or the Uchigatana which can do upwards of 500 damage it looks like the dagger is useless. To remedy this we enchant the weapon. Most of you may be asking "why go through all the specific stat placement and stat sacrifice when you can use cursed weapon with a broken talisman of beasts?". Well the answer is simple Cursed Weapon is not as effective on a small damage weapon like the dagger. I am going to assume that most people know the difference between Light Weapon and Cursed Weapon if not I am going to refer you EWGF's guide on Gamefaqs.com. Basically all you have to do is think about it, 50% of 120 damage is only 60 extra damage for a total of 180 that is not enough damage for pvp. Light Weapon on the other hand will double the damage the dagger does bringing the total to about 240 or even 300. To make the most out of Light Weapon we need two things, the iCat (Insanity Catalyst) and a magic stat of 30 (this can be lower but I will explain that later). Together they will give your Dagger the maximum amount of possible damage from Light Weapon at soul level 126. Alright now that I have justified the Light Weapon and dagger, we can actually move on to stat placement, there is a lot of flexibility with this build so I am going over the stats I use then I will tell you what variations are possible. Also you start as the knight because they are one of 3 classes to have the lowest luck (7) and since we aren't using faith the knight has the lowest starting faith stat with 7 luck. VITALITY - I have always felt like Vitality wasn't that important, it was the last stat I upgraded and I even went Mid Level PVP with only 8 Vitality, 36 is because that is the extra stats we have after getting the other stats to where they should be. INTELLIGENCE - You need at least 2 spell slots for Light Weapon so 14 is your first mark, but since this build isn't using faith then you need a defensive spell. Say hello to warding, another two spell slots, and 24 points for intelligence. ENDURANCE - This is a stat that used to be always 40, never lower and never higher but with the change in stun-lock people are starting to put less points into endurance in favor of more diverse stats. I use 40 endurance because this is important for a long combo and maximum damage from a dagger. STRENGTH - 18 is for the steel shield and for the Katana's. DEXTERITY - The reason this stat is at 40 and not 50 is because there is no real reason anyone should put a stat to 50 unless they have no where else to put the souls, what with diminishing returns and all. The trade off of damage from the Pure Dexterity Builds is not much and won't be missed. MAGIC - This is the main difference in stats from a Dexterity Build, 30 is a high number for a supportive stat but useful for Light Weapon which we already went over. FAITH - No we aren't using second chance, and that will be covered in the Equipment section because that is the reason we aren't using second chance. LUCK - Are you using the blueblood sword? No. Okay then keep this at 7. EQUIPMENT Weapons The sharp secret dagger +5 should be obvious but to make things clear we want to use the dagger because it is fast and has good combos we don't dump all of our stats into magic and simply use moon or crescent weapons because we want to enchant with Light Weapon for more damage. Baby's Nails+5 is always fun to whip out when Light Weapon wears off, as the opponent heals the plague you can recast on your Secret Dagger. iCat is again obvious as it makes Light Weapon powerful where as any other catalyst just makes it strong. If you feel more comfortable with another sharp weapon, then keep that in your off hand for when things get sticky instead of the Baby's Nails. Shields Pick your favorite, do you want lots of hit res? Steel Shield +10. Do you want lots of hit res but still have the option of parrying? Knight's shield +10? What if your worried about magic? Dark Silver Shield +5. Or maybe you just want to attack more, sharp spiked shield +5. I prefer to use a shield with my dagger because of the closed quarters, it might just save you when your backed up into a corner with no where to roll. You could keep the Morion blade for the added damage instead of a shield, but without second chance you could die very easily from a random hit while in Hyper Mode. Spells Light weapon is a must and warding is your only option for extra defense but can be dropped for something like death cloud or a combination of other spells. I prefer the defense. VARIATION This build can be crazy flexible with its stats, the only ones that need to stay where they are are Dexterity, Magic and Intelligence. I am going to list off the options for different stats and a brief explanation. 1. One of the main choices you have is the use of second chance over warding. Vitality drops to 31 and those five stat points go into faith, this lets you have second chance but lower health which is actually okay considering you are, in theory getting an extra half of your health. But the important thing about his variation and why I don't use it is because you now have to carry a Talisman of God to cast second chance. iCat is necessary for damage and must stay equipped so you sacrifice a shield or another weapon for the talisman of god which isn't worth it for me. This build is possible if you sacrifice a ring slot and use the ring of devout prayer, then you don't have sacrifice those 6 points in health. 2. The third version is a higher vitality. Drop magic to 25, and endurance to 35 and you now have 46 health, a very respectable number. But the trade off is a lot less power and less stamina for combos. Your decision. 3. Intelligence to 30 or vitality to 36, you cannot have both on this build while maintaining a strong attack. 30 Intelligence grants you another spell slot for more magic like soul ray or fire spray, and coming from 30 magic those spells will put a dent in anyone except faith builds. You could drop warding and equip ignite and a cloud but those 6 points in vitality make a difference of 200 hit points so you have to ask yourself, do you want versatility or health. PVP The moves you want to approach with are your running R1 attack and your rolling R1 attack. They both have surprising range and can really help you keep the heat on your opponent. In general the Dagger will be faster than any weapon aside from another dagger so the R1 attack combo can interrupt healing, attacks, and break shields with a full stamina bar. Don't forget backstabs, they are very powerful with a dagger and though not as strong as a fatal dagger they will still put your opponent in trouble. It's a good option to avoid your strong R2 attacks because they take to much time to execute. That's it, sorry for how long the gameplay tips was but I needed to justify such crazy stats and equipment. If you are looking for a guide to go through the game then check out all of the other builds which tell you the same places to go; 1-1 to 4-1, crescent falchion and all that. In general you will want to get your dex, magic, and intelligence up first. Hope you all understood and fun with this build. -MS

Comments

Hypernova94 29 Aug 2010 17:36

Changes:

SL 125, 40 Vit, 18 Int, 16 Fth

SC > Warding any day because lots of people utilize magic damage and makes Warding pretty useful. And you still have a slot for whatever, Cloak, Soul Ray, etc.

Other than that, I don't see anything wrong; just a standard LW Dex build. +1

Last edited on 29 Aug 2010 22:31 by Hypernova94 Show more

Astrichthyes 30 Aug 2010 05:10

This tops most mag-dex builds because it takes speed over pure power. Your little dagger will deal damage when you use it to push someone, keep a sharp katana or hiltless in the left for sick pushlock combos. Moon weapons work quite well too. Warding is not good enough though because it only works against physical opponents. Lower INT to 15 and raise FTH to 16 and VIT to 40 for SC and standard survivability :) 2h the le buffed meat cleaver for sweet magic damage too

Last edited on 30 Aug 2010 05:19 by Astrichthyes Show more

Hypernova94 02 Sep 2010 17:30

15 Int might be a more optimized option but having the ability to go stealthed and crit some people with a Fatal Estoc is a nice idea.

raytheboi 01 Nov 2010 08:58

I read the whole thing and just don't get it I'm building this in the hope that I get it then cause I'm like HUH? O_o I will rate thin when I'm done building it

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A lot of people say life has it's bumps in the road.
Well I have not had any. As long as I'm still breathing I call this ISHT smooth sailing.
Tears are for the strong. Alot of us weak men cant cry anymore.

Daggar's can do great damage

(account deleted) 17 Dec 2010 00:39

-Sharp daggers without buff can go up to the 225 area.
(45 dex)
Added damage when buffed using an insanity catalyst on top, and used properly, that small weapn can cause crushing power.
The flaw you mentioned, are true but also strenghts of this build. Drawing someone in who may feel it's an easy win against daggars, or using it in combo with a sticky bow/white arrows.
I like the way you put together the stats for this build. Another chose would be not to use uchi's, hence lowering strength,. and adding those extra slots into other stats, (dex, mag or vitality)