The "Dexless" Spellsword

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Build summary	A customized PvP spellsword built to use Straight Swords and the Great Axe at maximum efficiency
Recommended starting class(es)	Priest
Recommended Soul Level	125
	Recommended stats (Leave at default (**) if not raised)
Vitality	50 (47)
Will/Intelligence	18
Endurance	40 (37)
Strength	18 (26)
Dexterity	8
Magic	45 (43)
Faith	18
Luck	8
Recommended equipment	Recommended Armor: Monk's Head Wrappings Verneable Sage's Set or Ancient King's Set for Males Binded Set or Dull Gold Leggings/Rogue's Gloves/Rogue's Clothes for Females Recommended Moon+5 Weapons: Great Sword, Great Axe, Guillotine Axe, Claymore, Knight Sword. Recommended Set-ups: Option A (Original Set-up): LH1: Talisman of Beasts LH2: Insanity Catalyst or Dark Silver Shield+5 or Adjudicator's Shield+5 RH1: Moon Great Axe+5 RH2: Moon Knight Sword+5 Option B (Great Sword Set-up): LH1: Talisman of Beasts LH2: Insanity Catalyst or Dark Silver Shield+5 or Adjudicator's Shield+5 RH1: Moon Great Axe+5 RH2: Moon Great Sword+5 Note: Use Talisman of Beasts then switch to Insanity Catalyst when mana pool drops below 50% of max MP for more aggressive spellcasting Body Form Rings: Ring of Magical Sharpness/Clever Rat's or Eternal Warrior's or Fragrant Soul Form Rings: Cling/Friend's or Foe's
Recommended spells/miracles	Recommended Spellsets: 1. Fireball/Firespray 2. Fireball or Ignite/Soul Ray 3. Fireball or Ignite/Cloak (to deal with jumpers) Recommended Miracles: Second Chance
Gameplay tips and progression	This is a build that was meant to maximize the efficient use of Straight Swords and the Great Axe (Strength Based Weapons) with some spellcasting capability for support. It will play very similar to Ilkar's Faith Build but has a little extra "zip" in it. PLEASE DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU LIKE USING ANY KIND OF DEX BASED/REQUIRED WEAPONS OR THE "NOOBSTICK". The second build is made specifically for 1-Handed use of the Great Axe and Great Sword sacrificing as little of the other stats as possible. The numbers in parentheses can be modified to suit your needs, these are just recommendations. This is a well balanced melee and caster build enjoying the role of a true Battlemage with a full 50 VIT and 40 END. You get the full benefit delivering crushing blows with the Great Axe and can effectively use the ToB for spellcasting support. You also have a parrying set-up with the knight sword here that deals great riposte and backstab damage. You really do not need that Kris Blade with this build unless you want to take an additional full second or more switching between weapons for a more aggressive spellcast in PvP which is usually not worth it in most situations. Lemme explain the stats: 50 VIT: So you can effectively match up with other builds in terms of survivability 18 INT: You really do not need more than this. Plenty of Mana for spells mentioned above if you manage their use correctly. 40 END: This ensures you have your stamina pool maxed out for using the Great Axe 18 STR: This is required to 2H the Great Axe 8 DEX: This is default value for Priest. Leave at default. You do not need any DEX for this build. Again, if you like using polearms or DEX weapons, this is not the build for you. 45 MAG: Pretty self explanitory 18 FTH: So you can use the Talisman of Beasts. If you want a more aggressive magic melee character casting spells less frequently, you can drop this to 16 and use the Insanity Catalyst instead. If you choose to do this, at least benefit from it in other ways by raising STR to 20 to 1H a Claymore or Guillotine Axe or dropping END to 37 and gouging VIT. 8 LCK: This is default value for Priest. Gameplay: After completing 1-1 on your first playthrough and raising MAG to at least 10, Get Flame Toss and Soul Arrow, complete 1-2 and pick up Wooden Catalyst along the way so you have something to spellcast with. Then go to 5-1 to get the Blessed Mace+1 to have a better weapon get you by at the low SL's in the beginning. Then complete World 2 so you can pick up tons of basic ores, the Great Axe in 2-2, and the Dragon Longsword+1. Upgrade your Dragon Weapon to +5 and take that to World 3. Get PBWT in World 3 and farm for the Moonlightstone. If you execute the Crystal Lizard trick correctly, you can obtain as many as 20 Chunks and 8 Pure Moonlightstone in a single playthrough. More than enough to make the Moon Great Axe+5. You will need to find a duping partner if you want ALL your desired Moon+5 weapons without having to wait until NG. You should have access to Fireball and Soul Ray after completing 3-1. After completing all of World 3, you get either the Insanity Catalyst or Homing Soul Arrow, your choice. When farming is completed, you can kill BP Rydell for the Phosphorescent Pole is you want. Even if you do not meet the stat requirements, the Phosphorescent Pole is still a great item to consider having on your back while 2H the Great Axe for MP Regeneration and it stacks with Fragrant Ring. After this, complete 1-3, 4-1, and 4-2. Now you have all your NPC's in the Nexus to do the Mephistopheles Quest for obtaining the the Talisman of Beasts and the Foe's Ring. If you want your character at PWCT for Friend's Ring instead, then get the Talisman of Beasts by shifting World 2 to PBWT and killing BP Scirvir. Build Pro's: 1. High Vitality and Endurance to aid you in terms of survivability 2. A great mixed package of melee and magic that can make you unpredictable 3. Hyper Armor with Great Axe. Knock Down with decent damage with Great Sword. A Great Sword knockdown followed by a well timed Wake-up Fireball and Great Axe combo can almost guarantee a kill. 4. This build makes turtles and shielding useless. 5. This build does not rely on buffs, time is your friend. Build Cons: 1. You own the Natural Weakness to Magic Curse! BBS, Faith, and other Magic Builds are your worst enemies! No need to explain further. 2. Lack of versatility of certain weapons. You lose the polearms, Crescent Axe, Estoc, Kilij, or Dual Kats setups with this build. 3. Low Mana Pool and lack of versatility of spell selection. If you rely on purely magic with little or no melee tactics, do not use this build and make a pure mage instead. 4. Any build that uses buffs will outdamage you in melee combat. You cannot trade melee hits.

Comments

the noob likes it :D

TearsOfBlood198 15 Jan 2011 18:18

great job describing everything, however, i dont quite understand why the GS is unusable… as i re read it you said the GS is usuable 2h'd. ill try this after i finish your sr build

Re: the noob likes it :D

goebel073 18 Jan 2011 14:25

I edited the post creating a second build made specifically to maximize full 1H use of the Great Sword and Great Axe. If you feel sacrificing the other stats is not worth it, you can still effectively 2H it with the original build.

Phos pole!

BasedGodBapes 16 Apr 2011 16:22

you should put that LH2 is Phos Pole +5 not an extra Moon weapon