Build Suggestion for the Hardest Boss (And the Rest of the Game)

[F1rstinFlight]

Spoiler

 

This is an arcane bleed build which relies on an aggressive playstyle and a combination of buffs to eviscerate everything. This is not only the strongest melee build in the game, it's probably the strongest build in the game overall. The details of the build are outlined below with all stats, equipment, and buffs used. There's also a video which includes a new game plus boss kill montage as a demonstration. Malenia is the first kill in the video for those only interested in that.

 

Powerstanced curved swords seem to have the highest damage per second you can get out of a bleed build. And the Scavenger's Curved Sword seems to be king if you use the Occult affinity. The reason to use the Occult affinity rather than the Blood affinity is because the Scavenger's Curved Sword already has a natural bleed effect, and it's the only curved sword which has this. Using the Occult affinity allows you to prioritize physical damage rather than solely relying on bleed procs for high damage. Having a lot of arcane will also increase this natural bleed effect. And this is helpful because there are some enemies and bosses which are immune to bleed. They're not common but they do exist and this build eviscerates them too.

 

The stats here are not even completely optimized. Some points can be taken out of dexterity and strength and potentially even endurance to be put into arcane. The highest softcap for damage scaling in arcane is 80 so getting closer to that would increase the damage even more. This build can also easily be built around a lower level. And keep in mind the stacking between various parts of the build is multiplicative rather than additive.

 

Weapons:

Scavenger's Occult Curved Sword +25 (Seppuku ash of war) X2

Dragon Communion Seal +10

 

Talismans:

Lord of Blood's Exultation (Millicent's Prosthesis for enemies that don't bleed)

Rotten Winged Sword Insignia

Claw Talisman

Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman (Haligdrake Talisman +2 for Radagon/Elden Beast)

 

Armor:

White Mask

Raptor's Black Feathers

Bull-Goat Gauntlets

Bull-Goat Grieves

 

Buffs:

Flask of Wondrous Physick with Thorny Cracked Tear and Opaline Hardtear

Golden Vow (Incantation)

Bloodboil Aromatic

Boiled Crab

Pickled Turtle Neck

 

Stats:

Level 165

Vigor - 60

Mind - 16

Endurance - 30

Strength - 18

Dexterity - 22

Intelligence - 10

Faith - 25

Arcane - 63

 

The White Mask and Lord of Blood's Exultation stack together to increase damage when in the vicinity of bleed. Using Seppuku to buff your swords procs this damage increase. The Rotten Winged Sword Insignia and Thorny Cracked Tear stack together to increase damage when attacking consecutively. This works well with the jumping attack of the powerstanced curved swords which can hit four times in one attack. This is also great at procing bleed damage, especially with Seppuku on both swords. The Raptor's Black Feathers and Claw Talisman stack together to increase the damage of jumping attacks and apply to all four hits.

 

Golden Vow stacks with the Bloodboil Aromatic to increase attack power. The Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman stacks with the Opaline Hardtear, Golden Vow, and Boiled Crab to increase defense. This along with the Bull-Goat Gauntlets and Grieves allow for the aggressive playstyle and the ability to tank hits when needed. They also work to counteract the increase in damage taken caused by the Bloodboil Aromatic.

 

For bosses and enemies that don't bleed, this build can be modified slightly. The Lord of Blood's Exultation can can be swapped out for Millicent's Prosthesis. This will stack with both the Rotten Winged Sword Insignia and Thorny Cracked Tear to increase damage when attacking consecutively. It also helps to swap out the Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman for the Haligdrake Talisman +2 for the final boss since most of the damage is holy rather than physical.

 

 

 

 

 

This post includes the names of late game bosses and a video of them being killed so please be warned.

Edited May 16, 2022 by F1rstinFlight

[Optinooby]

These builds are great for experienced players looking to further optimise.

 

For the sake of just getting the job done from a beginner perspective, I prefer to just go in with Fingerprint Stone Shield affinitied to the bosses damage type along with Blasphemous Blade. And Mimic Tear with Shabriri's Woe.

 

I know it isn't flashy, but it's very beginner friendly as you just have to hold a button down, kinda spammable, and then manage your stamina only instead of learning how to telegraph all the moves perfectly and what not.

 

I know it won't get points for style and may seem boring, but simplest least skill required way to get it done.

 

I've not decided yet if I'm going to actually learn the bosses moves to use builds like this. I know though that once I do learn the bosses moves, then any build could become OP damage-wise I guess.

[F1rstinFlight]

On 5/16/2022 at 4:58 AM, Optinooby said:

These builds are great for experienced players looking to further optimise.

 

For the sake of just getting the job done from a beginner perspective, I prefer to just go in with Fingerprint Stone Shield affinitied to the bosses damage type along with Blasphemous Blade. And Mimic Tear with Shabriri's Woe.

 

I know it isn't flashy, but it's very beginner friendly as you just have to hold a button down, kinda spammable, and then manage your stamina only instead of learning how to telegraph all the moves perfectly and what not.

 

I know it won't get points for style and may seem boring, but simplest least skill required way to get it done.

 

I've not decided yet if I'm going to actually learn the bosses moves to use builds like this. I know though that once I do learn the bosses moves, then any build could become OP damage-wise I guess.

Yeah I don’t think this build is entirely beginner friendly, but I’d argue it doesn’t take too much skill. Malenia didn’t even have a chance to get off a Waterfowl Dance attack because of the stagger caused by the bleed procs so I didn’t have to deal with her hardest move. This build would be even crazier if I used a Mimic Tear +10. Obviously using a Fingerprint Shield to tank everything and then spamming Taker’s Flames is going to be easier. I just found this game to be so well-designed that I really enjoyed taking the time to learn the fights and the intricacies of the mechanics. This build is what I used to do a speedrun of all the trophies in the PS4 version.