Build summary | A Light Weapon melee build with some magic ability. (PvP) |
Recommended starting class(es) | Knight |
Recommended Soul Level | |
Recommended stats (Leave at default (**) if not raised) |
|
Vitality | 40 |
Will/Intelligence | 24 |
Endurance | 33 |
Strength | 34 |
Dexterity | 10 |
Magic | 40 |
Faith | 18 |
Luck | ** |
Recommended equipment |
RH1: Dragon Bone Smasher +5/Crushing Guillotine Axe/Knight Sword/Claymore Armor
Weapons
Rings
Misc.
Talisman of Beasts will yield poorer Light Weapon damage than the Insanity Catalyst but will free up a slot for an extra weapon. If you go this route you need to subtract 2 points from another area and add to Faith (or increase soul level) to use the ToB for spells. Picking the Insanity Catalyst will require switching to the Talisman of God (or Beasts) for Second Chance Weapon choice is greatly up to personal preference, just make sure the Crushing and Moon weapons complement each other well. Ring choice is also up to preference but Eternal Warrior's is always a good bet and the Ring of Magical Nature can be used if you need another slot. |
Recommended spells/miracles |
Spells
Miracles
Soul Ray is a good over all choice since you want a decent damaging projectile spell to prevent healing while doing good damage off of your relatively high magic stat as well. However, any spell with no more than 2 slot requirements can be used if preferred. |
Gameplay tips and progression |
This build has some qualities of the Spellsword build but is played far differently. Instead off constantly switching between magic and melee, the focus should be more on melee using a high powered Crushing weapon supplemented by Light Weapon and a good magic stat to reinforce its power. However, while other pure melee builds have trouble dealing with changing distance, the Battlemage thrives on it, punishing opponents that get to close with the Crushing Weapon (buffed) or the Moon Weapon (no time to buff) and those that stay away with decently powered Soul Rays. This makes the opponent have trouble healing/buffing and can quickly give you the upper hand if you get good at firing Soul Rays along with your melee. Also, shifting between the moon and crushing weapons can give you the edge if you think someone is reading you too well. This build also allows for more Endurance and Strength than the Spellsword so it suits more of a melee player with some magic thrown in to shake up the enemy's tactics. There is some trouble against faith builds because of the high magic resistance and Anti-Magic Field but with Black Turpentine on the Crushing Weapon the damage will still be quite considerable. Otherwise, this build can deal with most any opponent but the important thing is to make sure that it doesn't become an inferior Strength or Magic build; it benefits from both. Edit: I switched some points around for even better magic/light weapon damage, if you don't want to sacrifice some of the stamina bar for extra power you can take strength to 40. Let me know what you think, I don't mind criticism! :) |
Battlemage (sl 126)
This is a cool idea, and you're right, it's much different from my build. Mine is closer to Pure Mage, while yours is closer to Luck in that it only has Magic for Light Weapon. The problem I see is…if you really want any hope of decent offensive Magic at high PvP levels, you'll need Monk's Head Wrappings, Kris Blade and Foe's Ring/ Ring of Magical Sharpness. Without all of those, your Magic won't do enough damage to kill or seriously wound. On top of that, the fact that you will need Kris Blade means you can't have both Insanity Catalyst and TOB equipped. You might want to experiment and see if Light Weapon's damage is reall effected much by using TOB.
Other than that, no real problems that I can see ^_^ Nice build.
PSN: Nick1Nintendo
Ask my anything. About Magic, that is.
I see your point, magic boosting items definitely should be used to increase the ability to take chunks out of the enemies health. The Insanity Catalyst is an option really just to power up Light Weapon (I believe it adds more damage than the ToB with these stats but I'll check this for certain) but ToB is recommended anyway despite the lower power and frees up a weapon slot while not decreasing total magic.
Heres a possibility for maximizing spell damage:
Equip: Monks Head Collar
Rings: Magical Sharpness + Cling, or Magical Sharpness + Eternal Warrior's (Body Form), Foe's/Friend's work good too
RH1: Crushing Guillotine Axe +5
RH2: Kris Blade +5
LH1: Talisman of Beasts
Lh2: Moon Uchigatana (requires 13 DEX)
This is a good set to have though it requires switching around weapons a lot. Spell power is increased when switching to Kris and the Guillotine Axe swings fast one handed (good for light weapon) while the Moon Uchi compliments both right hand weapons well. Magic power will always be inferior against a pure mage but the boosts are still useful—Hypermode (Morion Blade+Clever Rat's Ring) is not a general aim of this build anyway (but of course it can be used if so desired).
Another cool thing is the Monks Collar makes people think you're a primary spellcaster and you can use that knowledge to catch them off guard.
Thanks for the comment, and for the record I think your build is pretty cool too ^_^
Couldn't find a bunny with toast, ah well.
PSN: toasT_Bacon, toasTBacon
I increased the Soul Level by five points to allow use of the Talisman of Beasts and an Uchigatana, if you don't plan on using these you can keep Dex at base and leave Faith at 16. Sorry for the weird numbers (121 then 126) but I wanted to keep the build close to the optimum PvP range of sl 120.
However, if you want to level up to the borders of the sl 120 standard, or take it even farther (like 200+) than I recommend increasing Magic first (usually not higher than 50) and then Strength. This build increases with power to a certain extent above sl 120 unlike other builds and its up to personal desire if you want to keep it at the sl 120 level frame or just level past it.
Couldn't find a bunny with toast, ah well.
PSN: toasT_Bacon, toasTBacon
sounds like a good build, but switching weapons constantly doesnt seem very practical… Moon guillotine does inferior damage to the moon uchi, but works very well against BP's who like to hide behind small shields like the DSS. for larger shields, perhaps a blunt weapon? the monks head wrap is a great distraction as well, i have used it in such a way and always give a nice surprise smack to the face with my guillotine axe. i would take a few points from vitality and put them into magic though, but maybe that is just me
Thanks for your input. The Guillotine Axe is Crushing, not Moon by the way, and is buffed with light weapon. The moon uchi is meant to be used offhand or as a secondary. However, the Guillotine/Uchi combination may feel a little strange compared to straight dual katana but it works fine for me.
Vitality is at 40 mainly because as a melee build i like to have a higher health bar but depending on preference you can switch around the points for extra damage.
Edit: In fact I may change it around anyway, thanks!
Couldn't find a bunny with toast, ah well.
PSN: toasT_Bacon, toasTBacon
This hurts, seriously. If you can handle the weapon then you can limit a katana for backup and make use of the high base damage plus stat scaling from magic and strength. Try it out! I'll try and post the numbers for it later.
Couldn't find a bunny with toast, ah well.
PSN: toasT_Bacon, toasTBacon
Maybe it's just me but isn't your vitality just a little too low?
It is for sure. I created this build a long time ago, I may sacrifice some endurance since after using the DBS and magic for so long I find that you should have plenty if your careful.
I used to use 30 vitality spellswords, so this was almost a tank compared to them. However, 30 vitality simply cannot work anymore. I'll update some things for today's metagame, I would have done it sooner but I didn't think people still used this build anymore lol!
Edit: This is the MOST thin spread build at the 120 level, period. I would advise using either a Crescent Estoc, Moon kilij, or dual moon uchis for your second slot. Be VERY cautious with that DBS, do not attack recklessly or you'll be out of stamina in no time. DSS for shields, if you really like using the DBS than you can swap out you're moon weapon for a Kris blade for extra power on spells. If you take it to 130 for hosting and red eye duels, then put points into endurance until you have 35.
Couldn't find a bunny with toast, ah well.
PSN: toasT_Bacon, toasTBacon
I just noticed this build on the pages and decided to add a bit of criticism; I didn't realize it was an older build, lol.
Definitely a plus from me, looks good!
BTW, the Pushed ToB Spellsword is the most thinly spread 120-ish range; nothing to spare at 126 and still has room for improvement but no SLs to spend on it, lol