New Build!

Finished my first playthrough earlier today and couldn't wait to start my next one (I'll do NG+ eventually)

Since my last build was mainly focused on strength and being a tank, this build is going to be all about speed and dexterity.

Started wanderer, already in the depths, currently SL 25 with all my points being poured into dexterity, vitality and endurance.

For equipment I'm currently using a Scimitar +5 as my main weapon with the grass crest shield. I've also picked up a longbow.

Armor, I'm just using the starting wanderer set, I'm thinking I might actually just upgrade this and stick with it through the game.

Any suggestions as to where I should take this build, any equipment suggestions?

On my wanderer I stuck with the original armor and just upgraded it all the way, its damn good upgraded one of the best light armors out there.

Upgrade your Longbow, with a Dex build you can get sick damage at range with it. I love playing with it. Usually I run around shooting the longbow then 2 Hand my Iato when they get close. It's lots of fun and poison arrows are super handy. Not to mention FROM really nailed the animations with the Longbow, it just looks so elegant and perfect.

As far as weapons the scimitar is good but you can also try rapiers and katanas as they both fit Dex builds. They're all good so its on you to pick what you want. If you really like the Scimitar I would suggest you get the Falchion, its a touch longer, does more damage and has the same move set.

You need to grab yourself Ricard's Rapier asap my man.

I suggest you take the Winged Spear and keep it as a secondary weapon until you get to Anor Londo and get the Silver Knight Spear, one of the longest spears. Spears are one of the best dex weapons in the game. If you are going to stick as a pure dex build then pyros are your best friends, and with high dex the casting speed is faster.

Hmmm, I was thinking about using a spear, I might pick the winged up, but to be honest, the bow and the scimitar are doing wonderful.

I don't think I'll use the Falchion because I hate how it looks, and besides, I already have the scimitar up to +5 so the bonus damage it does is negligable.

Richards Rapier I'll probably pick up, don't know if I'll use it too much unless I decide to make this build heavy on PVP.

Pyromancy is something I used a lot in my tank build so I think I'm going to give that a pass, if I ever really run into problems I'll just farm myself some souls and buy some fire arrows for my bow.

Speaking of which, what's the best bow? I would assume dragon slayer, but since this build probably won't get the required strength I assume the Black Bow is best, but I'm not sure?

Yeah the Pharis Bow has S scaling in dex and the longest range of all bows.

WyrmHero wrote:Yeah the Pharis Bow has S scaling in dex and the longest range of all bows.

Ah but you have to take into account the fact that its also slower than most other bows.

mugenis4real wrote:

WyrmHero wrote:Yeah the Pharis Bow has S scaling in dex and the longest range of all bows.

Ah but you have to take into account the fact that its also slower than most other bows.

How much slower, does a higher dexterity help at all in bow draw speed?

It's noticeably slower and in PvP speed really counts so most who use bows for serious PvP will use something that shoots quick and hits hard like the Composite Bow. Whether or not higher Dex makes you draw the arrow faster I really don't know.

Well for PvP the composite bow is a great choice. It shoots very fast, however its pretty much useless outside lock on range.

For PvE I really love my Longbow +14. It shoots moderately fast and is good at sniping. It's just a good all around bow.

The dragon bow sucks big hairy ones. It's incredibly slow shooting and only fires one kind of arrow. Just not a fan.

Edit. Also note a bows range affects more then just how far the arrow travels. Longer range bows have their damaged decreased less by the distanced traveled. My longbow always does more damage then my identically upgraded composite.

Huh, maybe I'll just stick to my long bow for this playthrough, it certainly hasn't let me down yet. lol

I might also pick up a composite bow for when I feel like PVP. It's located in the New Londo Ruins right?

Yes its in New Londo. The composite bow is useful for sure, it can fling arrows really fast.

Federally wrote:Yes its in New Londo. The composite bow is useful for sure, it can fling arrows really fast.

I'll pick that one up eventually, but for now I'll just upgrade my longbow, bought a ton of arrows, quickly proving to me my favored method for taking down tough foes.

not sure, as a dex build you might want to see if the shortbow would actually do more damage than the composite because of scaling, the shortbow getting i think an A rating when upgraded while composite is split between str/dex if i'm not mistaken.

After consulting the wiki, I think you're right, the composite bow's bonuses are split 50/50 between strength and dex, so the short bow would better, but I think the long bow is better than the short, so should I just stick to the longbow for both PvE and PVP? lol

The short bow and the composite bow have the same "casting" speed, I believe. The long bow is a little longer, the black bow of pharis takes even longer, and of course the dragon bow takes FOREVER. I personally like the Black Bow because it simply does so much damage, and I do my shots from super far away and as they run at me, then I take out my P.Dagger and bleed them to death. So, my play style is split 30/70 between bow and melee. If you're going for more bow, then I'd recommend simply having the Black Bow of Pharis for the incredibly long range. Getting it to +10 shouldn't be too difficult.
This character -------------------------->
Btw, is the one I'm talking about. My Black Bow is +15

I wouldn't say I'm maining bows, but it is an invaluable part of my arsenal. Probably my fighting style is split 40/60 between bows and curved swords, I'm also heavy on the parries and backstabs.

Noob-of-Artorias wrote:I wouldn't say I'm maining bows, but it is an invaluable part of my arsenal. Probably my fighting style is split 40/60 between bows and curved swords, I'm also heavy on the parries and backstabs.

Ahh. Ya, I did almost 0 parries and a few backstabs from time to time until I made my newest character, a no shield character haha! I also didn't dodge much. Just as necessary (First attack against Gwyn). I do bleed instead. Preeeetty freaking fun.
If you're doin more criticals, I'd recommend quickly grabbing the Hornet Ring. You can run around Artorias' grave and grab it w/o activating Sif. I wonder if the headshots from bows is affected by that... Anyway, the long bow is a good choice, even though I didn't use a bow at all until I got my Black Bow, so I wouldn't REALLY know hahah!

Noob-of-Artorias wrote:After consulting the wiki, I think you're right, the composite bow's bonuses are split 50/50 between strength and dex, so the short bow would better, but I think the long bow is better than the short, so should I just stick to the longbow for both PvE and PVP? lol

Longbow for whenever you need damage and range, shortbow when you need fast shots at short range. Don't ever dump the Longbow its a beast, just sometimes you need quick shots in lock on range so a short/composite bow will be handy.

do you have 20 dex yet? if so you can use the painting guardian sword, amazing dex scaling (a to s) and bleed! its only short coming is its range (pun intended) as for bows... short bows fire fast and are easily obtainable making them one of the few bows its okay to make crystal... however that would mean you'd save it for pvp bow use and keep a regular +15 whatever bow for pve.

Thanks guys, I now know what to do regarding bows.

This is gonna be a fun build, I can already tell.

whenever i start a wanderer dex build i go and get the balder side sword. you really cant go wrong if your focusing on vit,end,and dex. just dont go over 40 for any of them before you decide more how you want your build to turn out.

www.mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/?c=163885089 is the build im currently making.

and I rather like the Dark moon bow. Edit cause at that level the dark moon bow (magic dmg) is only like 20 points shy of composite bows phy dmg.

Pharis bow and Longbow have the same moveset. And is not so slooow. Just get used to it.

For weapons I suggest anything that when fully upgraded gets A scaling on dextery, e.g. Uchigatana, Iato, Balder side sword, Ricards rapier, Bandits Knife, Great scythe, Falchion

Don't worry about wasting some shards in your Scimitar+5, later in game, you will get so many souls and shards that you will probably forget your Scimitar+5 in the bottomless box. I recomend you to use the Falchion instead, even if you don't like how it looks, is has the same moveset but better damage.

Carphil wrote:Pharis bow and Longbow have the same moveset. And is not so slooow. Just get used to it.

For weapons I suggest anything that when fully upgraded gets A scaling on dextery, e.g. Uchigatana, Iato, Balder side sword, Ricards rapier, Bandits Knife, Great scythe, Falchion

Don't worry about wasting some shards in your Scimitar+5, later in game, you will get so many souls and shards that you will probably forget your Scimitar+5 in the bottomless box. I recomend you to use the Falchion instead, even if you don't like how it looks, is has the same moveset but better damage.

Once I get into Blighttown I'm probably gonna pick up the Iato, if not, eventually I'll get the Naginata.