StiffNipples wrote:Have you considered swapping the Mace for the Pickaxe?
Similar AR (10 points less) but you get dem thrust weapon counters.
Oh it is 1 more weight unit though.
I thought of it, but I just like the mace
. I'd probably go for reinforced club for infinite stunlock if I didn't want to use the mace, though leo pickaxe was tempting.
One thing I'm struggling with is the spacing for force. It feels like I get BS'd if I wait too long, but if I go even 1/2 second earlier it doesn't even affect them. Because of this, I'm struggling vs some gankers (though not all, slapping on hornet + backstabbing hurts, but often I can just catch them a little apart and beat on a guy, cause the poise break stun, and BS for a ton of damage). On the other hand, because people like to get a ton of space sometimes, I can sneak a great heal excerpt surprisingly often even against people chugging blessings (killed a few of those, I save my "well, what is it" for those types...I don't mind healing (even flasks) but cmon man, don't abuse the 3rd party engines).
I picked up 20 invasion wins (quite a few more kills) in about an hour and change...so pretty comparable to my zwei and pyro builds lately. I won all but 2 1v1 battles but lost a good amount to gankers...probably finished significantly positive overall anyway which was a pleasant surprise.
I really thought I could tickstab gankers with force but it isn't reliable (do get them sometimes and it's a GREAT changeup vs fishing). I'm thinking of going to SL 120 and upgrading my faith, with sunlight blade, 2x WoG, and great heal (I bought all this stuff in NG and can get extras in + without much trouble). At that point I can trade out hornet for sun's firstborn or lingering ring (though I don't have the int...hmm probably firstborn then) and put some teeth/scattering fear in the gankers, giving me some openings ffs. SLB mace stunlock (often can hit 4x if 2nd hit stunlocks) is a near-death experience or a kill outright I bet so it would be fun to have that available. I'd have 2 points left over with 4 attunement slots and 30 faith...hmm...maybe I'd push my 8 dex to 10 dex then or get the int for lingering on the buff.
I ate a few parries, but not that many (maybe 2-3 across the entire period). Mace is commonly thought of as easily parried, but that's only if you allow setup parries with r1 spam. Most people think twice about it if you pivot bs or kick them instead. While it doesn't infinite stunlock, 2 follow-up hits is very common (or 1 follow up + BS attempt). Some thoughts on mace combat in general:
- The build screams for high poise which I have. IMO a lot of fighting is understanding the weapon matchups. When a good opponent sees "full giants + mace", they know they can take maybe 1 and almost never 2 hits.
The key here is that almost nothing can effectively trade with a 2h mace in a poise race, and that makes how the opponent fights more predictable.- Most players who know what they're doing will look to poke, but they have to get the spacing JUST right, and I screw with it by fighting unlocked, sometimes running, and often punishing a poke + back roll with a running r1 (extremely dangerous if it can poise break them). If havel's buff is active the poke recoil often turns it into a favorable trade for me haha.
- As a result, the mace puts pressure on people to parry and BS fish, but it's actually pretty hard to BS fish and parry at the same time, and the mace isn't THAT slow, so unlocked beating on a strafe isn't too challenging...if they still try the BS they instead just hit me, effectively starting a trade they can't win because I'm hitting them too. This often results in my 3
-4 hits to their 1...pretty terrible for them.
- If I can avoid being too predictable, I can make parries dicey too. If someone blocks 1st hit or can poise tank it I usually vary my timing just slightly unless they're obviously BS fising, the screw with parry window. The r2 is slow but it's similarly dangerous as it can wind up but then change aim direction unlocked.
- Beating a SL 300+ guy in full havel's and a lightning resin katana with a SL 95 (missing 5 points in Vit as I finish leveling through invasions) is really satisfying
. He had enough poise to parry fish and got a partial on me, but that really cost him to not get that parry!
O&S with just Solaire was a bit of a pain, not because it was hard but because after killing O my power within wore off and I was stuck smacking super S for ~450 or so, and he has a lot of HP. I wonder if I can kill 4kings with just mace +15 and PW? Probably if I don't get grabbed too much or have AoE spammed on me. It was a joke in NG. Nito and seath are too slow and BoC is the same on every NG, so I can grab more easy souls if I want them.
Side question: Are there any pure STR scaling weapons with a good sweeping attack off of r1 or r2? I know the large club has one off the roll that can DA, but that's a smidge predictable and easy to dodge vs midroll.