Wyrm's Guide to Str Builds (SL 120 and lower)

Str builds are difficult to make. The ridiculous weight, the slow attacks and their difficulty in skill mastery make these weapons rare in PvP. Of all of the Str weapons, we mostly see 2 of them: the BKGA and the Zweihander. Why? I would say it's youtube's fault. But they do have their pros: the BKGA is the fastest and maybe longest greataxe. Meanwhile the zweih is commonly used as "the most powerful weapon" when upgraded to elemental. Both are considered the noob weapons of DkS PvP, but their movesets are really nice, and in the hands of a very skillful player they can be formidable weapons.



Enough of the talk, let's get to the tips. When making Str builds you have two options: pure Str and Str hybrid.


Pure Str:

-Choose your Str weapon and decide if you want to 1 hand the weapon or 2 hand it only. Meet the minimum requirements for handing the weapon, remember that 2 hand it with 27 Str means you get the AR scaling bonus of 40 Str, which means that after 27 Str you don't get a significant AR scaling bonus. For pure Str I would recommend 1 handing the weapon to get most of its moveset, especially for the great hammers and greataxes.


-Meet the minimum poise for each type of weapon. In my opinion, I like to have 53 poise for the UGS and greataxes for their stunlocking power, and at least 21 poise for the great hammers for their roll attacks dependence.


-Consider using a crossbow in the off hand or as backup if you prefer a shield. It's really effective as an alternate version of a bow, you don't have to waste points on Dex and keeps your distance from roll backstabbers.


-Have an elemental Pike ready to menu swap. With only 10 Dex minimum requirement, it's the Str build's best friend for finishing off and when HP gets low. Also against those annoying spears it's pretty effective.


-The Hand Axe is the fastest Str weapon, consider as back up for finishing off. I like to use it crystal.


-Use Great Combustion. Even with very low Dex, the spell is amazing fast, and can help for finishing off.


-Always upgrade the weapon to normal or crystal if available, most of them require very high Str to 1 hand it, so no point in upgrading them as elemental!


-If your weapon is buffable, consider Great Magic Weapon!!! Only 15 Int and 200 AR. Also, Hidden Weapon is an amazing buff for hiding your big weapon!!!!


-1500 HP minimum for roll backstabs.


-Example build: http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=3102363618025891



Str Hybrids:

-Meet minimum requirement for 2 handing. You need the extra points for the buff (30 Faith or 32 Int minimum).


-Use spells that don't need Dex to be fast, such as WoG and CSS.


-Crossbow, I have tested that almost always, normal crossbow wins over lightning.


-Elemental Pike for Faith, Moonlight Horn for Int. Only use enchanted back up weapons (divine, magic, etc.) if you have 50 Faith or 45 Int.


-Always try to have 1500 HP minimum, you'll get backstabbed a lot.


-Example build: http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=2713934982175797



I think this is everything you should know when deciding to make a Str build. Remember they are powerful, but for PvP, very difficult to master in a world of roll backstabs and Dex weapons. I'm sure you guys might want to add more tips so feel free to post your suggestions!!! (looking at you Rant).


Str weapons I consider OP:

-Great Club: Highest AR of great hammers, second longest great hammer (longest is Dragon Tooth), 28 Str minimum to 1 hand and 12 weight.

-Zweihander: 500 AR with minimum requirements, only 10 weight, and longest UGS.

-BKGA: 600 AR, longest great axe, fastest moveset of all greataxes and 16 weight.

I would consider adding the Man Serpent Greatsword to the list of OP weapons. The AR of the Zweihander with the moveset of the Claymore. I really don't see why people don't use it more often.

Okay I like what you do wyrm but seriously.... STR weapons require the same amount of skill and any others

^Not true Viral, you just can't spam R1 with a Str weapon without getting roll backstabbed. It's very difficult to duel with them.

Added 2 example builds.

My build for the sentinel cov is the First time I havent used a strength weapon... first weapon I fell in love with before even attempting pvp was the zwie, so Im most effective with it and usually go two handed with no shield.... I found the crossbows an excellent help after alot of playtime, can def attest to that. Never tried the Pike.... always thought about it though, dont see it very often either... may have to incorporate it somehow. Anyway, good post Wyrm!

And as far as difficulty differences between str and dex weapons, idk. Str weapons leave less room for error and require patience, something most people dont have when excited and in a fight. However the reward for a hit is substantial. Just depends on playstyle, and just so happens dex weapons have the playstyle that most people are better at.

kazumoshi wrote:I would consider adding the Man Serpent Greatsword to the list of OP weapons. The AR of the Zweihander with the moveset of the Claymore. I really don't see why people don't use it more often.

I agree. One of the most underrated weapons currently.

WyrmHero wrote:Not true Viral, you just can't spam R1 with a Str weapon without getting roll backstabbed. It's very difficult to duel with them.

Unfortunately, this is true. That's why dex builds and dex hybrid builds are so popular. You're mistakes are not so easy to punish.

I made my first pure str build a while back when you made that thread about roll backstabs. I still don't think roll backstabs are that common as you say, but i agree that playing with slow str weapons takes more skill or at least more pvp experience than playing with faster weapons. But str weapons are so damn cool and fun to use!

Good post.

Rooster330 wrote:However the reward for a hit is substantial.

With buffs and toggle escape, the reward really isn't that great.

Yes I agree with you fin.

Rooster330 wrote:However the reward for a hit is substantial.

With buffs and toggle escape, the reward really isn't that great. [/quote]

I should have been more specific, not damage wise, I meant more about stunlocking. Thats the lone advantage of str weapons lol. I wouldnt win nearly as much without it

Damage wise a 40 Str DGM hits for about 500 damage. BSS does almost same damage with a countered strong attack. +600 with leo ring.

I've had Running/Jumping attacks do 600-700 damage (sometimes more) when using the DGA. switching between rolling backwards R1 and backstep R1 can get some good hits in.

kazumoshi wrote:I would consider adding the Man Serpent Greatsword to the list of OP weapons. The AR of the Zweihander with the moveset of the Claymore. I really don't see why people don't use it more often.

The MSGS is a bit short, don't think it has the same thrust attack as the Claymore either.

robsthedon wrote:

kazumoshi wrote:I would consider adding the Man Serpent Greatsword to the list of OP weapons. The AR of the Zweihander with the moveset of the Claymore. I really don't see why people don't use it more often.

The MSGS is a bit short, don't think it has the same thrust attack as the Claymore either.

Save for the thrust attack, but the damage makes up for the shortness imo.

The MSGS ends up weaker than most GS at 40/40 because it scales only with Str, the C/C beats B in the end. But it is very good for Str builds and requires less stat investment.

Ghadis_God wrote:The MSGS ends up weaker than most GS at 40/40 because it scales only with Str, the C/C beats B in the end. But it is very good for Str builds and requires less stat investment.

MSGS has an S scaling in strength last time I checked. S or A

It's A.

First of all, if I don't get ninja'd again I will definitely be pos/thanking this OP because it's been very informative. Secondly, I tried applying your advice where I could and came up with my new DM! What do you think Wyrm?

http://tinyurl.com/92lh49b

Thank you man, I'm glad it helps. You get the idea, I would recommend meeting minimum requirement for the greatsword, it's close to 27 Str so it's easy to get almost max AR when 2 handing it.

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=3939712478340781

By the way I chose crystal upgrade because you can buy greatswords from the Sen's Fortress merchant. I would buy 10 and farm a few chunks.

Lol! I forgot that I still had the 14 dex points in there. When I was tweaking it I tried to incorporate the Avelyn because you suggested a crossbow to switch things up. Those points would've been wasted if not for you!

Is crystal buffable?

Yes it is. Avelyn is an amazing weapon, but after testing it a bit more (in duels) I only got damage from only 1 bolt, while the others flew past the target, causing very little damage. A single bolt fired from a heavy or light crossbow proves more effective.

This thread was just added to my favourites!

Good post, you should out a list of "good" str weapons, not just "op". Like demon great machete, greataxe, demon greataxe, all the great hammers(specially the large one), manserpnt gs, bk weapons, dragon weapons, light/heavy xbow, meat cleaver, and zwei. Other useful weapons that a str build can use are the demon spear one pike since they only need 10 dex to use.

Okay, I also have an insightful bit of information - I rend to get 14 dex for the parrying dagger and I use it in my OH, it is great for cancelling the backstabs that people attempt to punish you with - and on a note it allows you to have all weapons except for black knight ones and uchi's as elemental so it can add some variation to your repetoire - I enjoy using the rapier or estoc as my secondary weapon. Although the mail breaker is not one to be ignored - for a tiny 0.5 weight you have a rapier that is a bit less powerful. I would only choose this though if you don't have the weight to wield it. If you are a wielder of the DWGR then I would suggest doing something such at this with your armor setup - Giants leggings and gauntlets paired with the Knights chest piece - this works especially well on buff hybrids. For example this is a great setup for a strength faith build - especially if you 2h. http://tinyurl.com/8uu8gyc You have 62 poise to resist two blows from most weapons except greatswords and you still have to dodge UGS GC and GAxes. the damage is expedentially good - generally this build is pretty successful however if you find the DWGR to be tasteless then you could try something similar to this http://tinyurl.com/9ntjc94 - It is minorly less efficient however it still works fantastic.

Thats all I can think of currently but there is a few extra tips in there that you may wish to include.

Yessss thanks for posting Rant!!!! Your ideas about the crossbows inspired me to use it as a off hand weapon, it's an amazing weapon man.

@Amos, I believe 14 Dex is a bit too much for Str builds because none of the main Str weapons require Dex. But I could agree with you an elemental rapier as back up could help definitely for dealing that final quick blow. It also allows you to use Avelyn, and even though light or heavy crossbow seems better for dueling, I'm fascinated by that weapon.

Edit: Exception being the BK weapons, I would definitely use Avelyn and any Dex weapon (elemental Washing Pole ) as back up.