The Build Doctor

ok, i'm not so tired today, here we go^^
@khashir: 50int is too high, you only want that on an enchanted weapon build, dragon breath is not worth it, it even sucks @45dex. 44int is the highest one would normally go, if only for crystal spear and logans scaling. something for you to consider is 32int with 45dex, i'm a big fan of that:
http://mmdks.com/3vmt this concept lets you cram in all the mg dmg boost gear and ends up FAR more damaging than 50int with logans or crystallization alone..all while staying (albeit frail) a true melee char at the core. a more conservative (fair/duelist/roleplay) form: http://mmdks.com/3dgq and the "i'll make your life hell"-loadout: http://mmdks.com/3vmx (disclaimer: i only do lvl100, just add 20 levels of your liking on top and be good) the 45dex concept also lets you lol at the sight of GMB. to answer your remaining questions: black flame is frowned upon because it's really strong and dark orb is only usable @45dex imo but it becomes really strong (especially when mixed with other dark magic)
@culpahble: your ideas are a bit conflicting, velkas stat req. (16dex 40int) don't merit a strong buffable weapon. you could use a weak +15 rapier or claws or shotel as a buff vehicle and switch afterwards. if you want a strong buffed weapon, the weapon will still be strong after the buff runs out, no need for a backup then right?

Lot of solid builds here you posted xenon, and nice explanations, +1!

@xenon: your are right. Im not very good at making builds lol. I was thinking in something with min dex needed for the weapon and 44 int. Any suggestions for a battle mage with velka's, fast roll, and some backup sorceries (HCSoulmass, etc)? And about the buffed weapon, maybe it's better if I get a bleed weapon like the barbed sword to buff for shield turtles? Im just asking. Thanks for your reply!

Desired Soul Level: Three characters (maybe two only if I get too busy with my studies) : SL 30~40, SL 50~60, and SL 75~85 (all Darkwraiths)


Str or Dex: Quality (in some point of view lul)



Favor Dmg, Vit, or End: All three, or none (in some point of view lul)



How you will use the build: Wild Pvp, in unusual spots. Being sneaky. At a reasonable distance.



Other info you find useful: The purpose of those builds (links below, remove spaces) is to use The greatbow, bows, crossbows, etc. Havel's Ring dependance, the other slot can be DWGR, Wolf, Leo, Fog, etc. I think that I don't care for the Poise (except if I read some wise words from you Xenon on that point) :C



Faith/Int? Int, for gadget spells (except the SL 30~40 I guess)

The links :

http ://mmdks.com/3vp4  -  SL 75

http ://mmdks.com/3vp5 - SL 50

http ://mmdks.com/3vp6 - SL 37


So, to sum up things :
Three characters, to cover every area possible for my future victims (maybe the SL 30~40 is too much, idk)
There's no melee in this, that's a choice. In emergency cases, I can swith both rings and Right hand weapon to a dagger, a rapier, etc. Even a claymore, in fact.
Grass shield to keep a good endurance recovery while it's on my back.

I want a sharp criticism of those links. I love that. It's always useful. Thank you for reading !

culpahble: http://mmdks.com/3x63 this would be a pretty traditional casting focused and very strong variant. bellowing ring could be replaced with any other (good) ring, organize to be able to switch mid-match (wolf against ultra greatswords, ninjaflip against spear/bow/gank, red tear when low on hp and so forth).
2nd idea is this: http://mmdks.com/3x65 you lose crystal soul spear, but standart soiul spear is still pretty good. also the rings are pretty much fixed. the pro is of course that you can use the 4 int weapons to full effect, moonlight sword, moonlight spear, velkas rapier and channelers trident. also greater buff-vehicle variety.

crimeslunkscene: i wouldn't have the same concept on three seperate characters, i'd settle for the lvl50 one.

@xenon: thank you very much for your help! I will try the 2nd build you posted.

Any fatal flaws on this build?

http://mmdks.com/3yd5 bam! you just became viable! iaitos stat req. are too high for a low lvl elementary weapon. also consider this: http://mmdks.com/3yd7 you lose the bleed but gain (significant) dmg. as a rule of thumb don't look at the added up dmg number in the calculator but at the highest single value. 
f.e.: chaos uchi (217phys + 250fire) = 467 which is higher than queelags (126phys + 308fire) = 434, but 308 is much higher than the uchis 250. that logic also deems the elemental crossbow useless. this is highly noticeable in practice!

Hi xenon!
I feel like I'm coming up with the same bunch of builds over and over. I was hoping you could give me something unconventional or even bizarre. I have that gravelord event this coming Friday so I would like builds to cover all categories. Sorry for rambling, I'll get to the point....
Sl:50-100 maybe one of each if you have time? A sl50 and a sl100
Str or dex: either or neither or pure int,
doesn't matter
High damage output and mobility. I'll be in 3v1 situations. I'd like to inflict status ailments, bleed being my favorite. I'd prefer to not use RoFaP if its possible. I've been trying to not use it on every single one of my builds. I'd rather use tearstone rings.
Gravelord covenant
Hopefully gravelordish looking
I've never really used a shield so you need not include one.
I don't really care about poise either.

I've looked at a number of builds in this thread and I like your style, I know you'll make me something good:)

http://mmdks.com/3zt1 this is me being uncreative sorry -_- i'm too much of a realist to try something esoteric on lvl50. for me there is only one working lvl50 concept -> queelags.
lets hope i find something better for lvl100^^ something i personaly always wanted to do but never got to was a lvl3 gravelord for maximum gravelord dance dmg boost: http://mmdks.com/3zt7 i could see something like this work really well. ring of the suns firstborn not only boost the dmg but also the aoe range of emit force blast.
this also is an old gravelord concept i never got to build: http://mmdks.com/3ztf not enough poise and low vit...should be hard to win with, could be efficient anyhow.
and lastly my attempt @ fashion souls gravelord http://mmdks.com/3ztg remember to throw dungpies and get that toxin dmg in.
(something noteworthy for these is that rolling with thorn armor and a bow in hand doesn't work right...if you "hit" the enemy with the roll you'll get the same failure animation as if you rolled without the str req. to 1hand your melee weapon...replace the throns piece with dark or get rid of the bow if you mind)

Thank you very much. I successfully made the level 50. I like it so far. Did some random invasions with it and won most of them. I only made a couple minor changes to the armor and left the shield off. Its still handy in my inventory in case I want to put it on my back. I wish the dark set wasn't so heavy. Oh well.
I like all three of the sl100, I think I'm going for the faith build. That's exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you very much for your time.

Feel like replaying the PvE part of the game and I want to take a build I haven't done yet. I want to make a Dragoon RP-ish build. Main requirement = no shield (Dark Hand acceptable). Also, no fat roll. Thing is I suck at making "quality" builds and even more so when it comes to choosing the best Spear for the job. For a second I considered Ornstein build but I'm not so sure about that one. May want to take the build to some casual PvP later on.

LVL: 100-125
STR or DEX: Balance I guess?
DMG/VIT/END: Mix
FTH/INT: Don't care

haha, sorry if it seems like i have taken over this thread. to all the (other) PvP veterans: feel free to challenge my builds or provide alternatives!
ok eisen (deutschland? pm!) here is a concept i've been thinking about but never realised (just because it is plain mean/unfair): leo/wolf ring silverknight spear on a pure dex char: http://mmdks.com/41fy this would be the optimal loadout (stats are fixed). leo ring lets you score 600+ dmg on a counterhit and 62 poise lets you tank (almost) everything, helping to score those counterhits...and your spear outranges all the weapons that would break 62poise. not to mention the much faster swing speed of the spear. you even have a good answer to pure casters with the dark hand and the bow. RP wise there is room for improvement, here are some more RP oriented loadout suggestions (all inferior but well workable):
http://mmdks.com/41g2
http://mmdks.com/41g7

http://mmdks.com/42p5  the reinforced club+stunlock is one of the only times bleed is not just wrecked by bleed dodge, but it only does that in 2 hands and 27 str is best for under 120 quality builds as 2 handing buffs it to essentially 40 but saves 13 points. you have free weight to menu swap around or wear different armor.

the 125 is the same, but with more hp and random pyromancy.

Bleed really isn't viable though, in the vast majority of situations. Hence the reinfoced club to trap them and prevent a dodge. The only possible exception is greatshield turtles to dumb to dodge or who fat roll.

@bloodmoon: http://mmdks.com/42vo this seems fitting. didn't include the silver tracer, i'm too neurotic to break the "all bleed weapon" combo. you could try bandids knife in its stead. no need to go quality on a bleed/crit orineted char imo.

http://mmdks.com/45cd ninja flip is all you need to make room and keep enemys off you. grass crest also seems more valuable, helps with stamina management and a last resort blocking option should they ever catch up.

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=148928002622978155

Any big problems here? Wanted to get a few good opinions, just want a decent build I can play around with various weapons. I haven't used many spells past basic pyro stuff, and wanted GMW for a decent buff. Should be able to use most of the dex based weapons quite well, and retain mobility and range.

-20str or 24str are much better/more usefull than 22str.
-oolacile ivory cataclyst weights 1.5p less, the poison melee on the other one is useless.
-73poise is no good, get either 62 or 76 (hollow waist, giants gauntlet + any 8poise helm or chainmail torso does the trick)
-with 20str your best greatsword is great lord and your best katana the washing pole
-16int will give you access to dark bead and dark orb, both are good with oolacile cataclyst @ 45dex, throw some magic dmg boost gear on for good results
-more a personal point, i'd always try to not level further than lvl120, else you are no longer able to invade the lvl100 folk, cutting yourself off from roughly 50% of the PvP population.

Kind of wondering if this mess "build" can be salvaged/improved upon for NG+ ??

The current state of my NG toon, just before entering the fog in the Kiln: http://mmdks.com/49u8

This is my "experiment" character, and the only one I've taken to end game.  I'm doing a Daughter of Chaos -ish sort of roleplay, which is an explanation for my armor (mostly fashion/speed centric) - I'll slap on Havel's Ring for fast roll with Black Knight Leggings (for the cool factor), or Bellowing with Black Leather Boots for areas where I need higher damage output.  There's a lot of poor choices here, but I never felt truly gimped during NG.  I'm kind of eager to see what NG+ is like, so I'm hoping I can take this character for a spin instead of going back to the drawing board.

What I'm looking for:
- lvl 100-120?? Don't really know??
- mostly PvE, flexibility to deal with random invaders
- having more weapons options available
- fast-roll high-priority, favor mobility/poking things and rolling away
- I've come to prefer pyromancy, but I'm willing to experiment with offensive soul magic.  (Seeing as how my INT is so high hur dur)

My only plan thus far is to level up dex to allow me to use Velka's Rapier.  Haven't had a lot of opportunity to play with many weapons, so suggestions would be great!

EDIT: With the presumption that I will be switching spells, rings, and equipment to deal with various challenges, what do ya'll think about this? http://mmdks.com/49vu Correct general direction?  Broke FaP ring for versatility, gave DEX huge boost to aid cast times.  Hanging onto Claymore as safety blanket, wanting to try some straight swords and piercing swords for the fun of it.

here's my "fix" for your lvl120 version, http://mmdks.com/49y7 definitely go for 32int and close to 1500hp. 32int is for tin crystallisation cat and to have 5 orbs of the soulmass. spells and armor is my pvp recommendation the weapon a placeholder for any 16str dex weapon.

and here's a popular direction for a int focused lvl100 variant http://mmdks.com/49y6 could lower int to 40 (take the normal soul spear) and buff dex to 16 for velkas rapier and channelers trident.

cheers

Wow, thanks!  I like the fix!  I'll probably roll with that, as it suits my play style a bit more.  After flipping through the wiki, it looks like I'll have a lot of truly viable weapons to choose from, too.  So I can.... continue to experiment with my experimental character. X)

This is the build i am thinking of: http://mmdks.com/4act

Spells can be swapped with others if necessary.

Desired Soul Level: 120/125 (i prefer 120)
Str or Dex: STR
Favor Dmg, Vit, or End: Vit and End
How you will use the build: Mid roll tank with big weapons
Other info you find useful:
Faith/Int?: Faith for buffing and utility coming from WoTG.... But if you think INT is better i'm up for suggestions.

Desired Soul Level: 100
Str or Dex: STR
Favor Dmg, Vit, or End: Vit and End
How you will use the build: fast roll, big weapons (zwei, clubs)
Other info you find useful: Arena focused build, i wish something like a paladin, who can tank a little and heal
Faith/Int? Faith

Thanks!