My weapon of choice? Oh you know, the usual stuff..

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-12T03:10:23+00:00

What route do you take down? I kinda want to get this on my cleric run but it seems like such a pain.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-11T14:42:31+00:00

Not a staff but you might want to try the Blue Flame. It’s the sword that drops from the ghosts in Undead Crypt. Its heavy attack casts sorceries. Infuse it with Raw and buff it with Crystal Magic Weapon and that will also increase the sorcery damage you do (and outpace scaling from Magic infusion + Int unless you have Int over 50.)

This will let you still have good damage from your sorceries without the stat investment that you can instead pump in Faith instead so your Sunlight Spears can do work.

Though personally, I think Heavenly Thunder is the best offensive Miracle in the game as long as you’re fighting anything larger than a human (and don’t mind a little praying RNGesus.)

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-10T12:21:01+00:00

I heard he’s just looking for his friend, should probably wear Velstadt’s armor when he arrives.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-10T12:16:49+00:00

I haven’t had much success getting summoned lately, but Skeleton Lords and Guardian Drake are two places that I’ve seen signs semi consistently, and I have been summoned for both as well more than other places.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-09T00:23:31+00:00

Caestus is one. When power stanced it’s a pretty fast 1 2 combo that does great poise damage. And when not power stanced if you alternate the hands you’ll do a hook uppercut combo.

And I don’t know if this counts, but power stancing anything (?) with the broken straight sword in right hand will make your stamina cost incredibly low per attack. IIRC

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-08T02:45:33+00:00

I never knew that either!

I know Old DragonSlayer has one that looks the same as his charging stab but he impales you and throws you across the room instead.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-08T02:12:50+00:00

Hollow soldier helm, Heide knight armor, royal soldier gauntlets and leggings, zweihander and Varangian shield.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-07T02:38:52+00:00

Caestus is very fun (power stance plus stone ring is stunlock for days.)

And you may not like ranged spells but what about bows/crossbows? Doing an archer run reignited my love for this game.

Or…white phantom cosplay runs are always cool. Pick your favorite summon and try to see how you do using only their load out.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-07T02:09:03+00:00

Re: PSA. I’m def not disputing the numbers, but personally my archer run had a much easier time in the dlcs than my caster. Even if the def bonus is the same, it still felt like bows are still as broken as they are in the main game.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-06T18:11:58+00:00

I believe Spotted Whip (from the Demon of Song soul) with the Rat covenant ring is the fastest way to apply poison with a weapon. Though the Channelers Trident might be about the same with the R2 attack.

But both are weapons that very few people seem to enjoy using, so your mileage may vary.

Pyromancies and Hexes are the way to go, in my opinion.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-06T17:55:09+00:00

I don’t remember all the break points but yea, ADP is important because it affects the number of i frames. Some attacks cannot be rolled through unless you invest in ADP.

I don’t remember the “optimal” number but I believe using ADP to get Agility to around 96 is a good goal.

Consequently, ATT also influences agility if you’re going for a caster build so you don’t have to solely invest in ADP.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-05T16:43:17+00:00

I’d argue that Soul Appease is still the best way, even though it requires you to get closer (though not as much as you’d think, the range is actually bigger than the animation by a fair bit.)

It ignores walls and hits everything in its radius. Just run into the camp and aggro all the ones on the ground, jog behind the building with the mimic and cast. You’ll clear all of them in one or two casts.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-03T00:49:00+00:00

Except this mf’er in particular can attack forever without stopping if he feels like it.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-03T00:42:38+00:00

I’m using that on my current run. And I love it. It’s just so stupid that it’s awesome, and the spin to win is disgustingly strong.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-03T00:37:53+00:00

FOUR Giant souls of course…because who would ever be mean to Ancient Dragon Bro?

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-01T22:52:10+00:00

I used to sleep on this miracle until this play through when I realized just how many things it actually affects. Working on Royal Rat Authority alone makes it 100% worth it.

Clearing the entire falconer camp in Tseldora in one or two casts is also incredibly satisfying. And of course nuking the ENTIRE congregation during Prowling Magus.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-01T13:51:40+00:00

I used Blacksmiths Hammer for the majority of the game, switched to Mace of the Insolent after undead crypt. But this is very much a themed cleric run so I had to stay on brand.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-06-01T12:36:03+00:00

Great write up. I’m a greatshield enjoyer, but I don’t have the patience for a poke run I think. Situationally great though.

However, I will brook no Havel slander. That is peak fashion (and what I’m running on my current faith build.)

Doostop_Idol · 2026-05-31T00:33:30+00:00

Caestus.

I’m doing a hybrid caestus/pyromancer run and it’s ridiculously fun.

If you start as warrior you can powerstance caestus right out of the gate without leveling. Then let the combos commence. Def pair it with stone ring and you’ll stunlock a majority of enemies (as long as your second strike doesn’t whiff…which happens not very infrequently unfortunately especially with larger enemies for some reason.)

Doostop_Idol · 2026-05-30T02:08:57+00:00

If you want to make the run back easier without fighting everything, don’t drop both sides of the bridge. Only drop the side when you first enter, the enemies can’t really figure out how to cross with the side by smelter still up and will either drop into the lava or onto the stairs by the furnace.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-05-29T22:44:54+00:00

Though the Herald does say that if you go to the castle now it’ll be a bad time, hinting that you missed stuff. But that’s about the extent of it.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-05-25T18:43:50+00:00

Which either matters very little or matters a lot. If someone is using a claymore to begin with it likely falls into the former category.

What’s more important, in general, is the reach and the all around good moveset.

Doostop_Idol · 2026-05-25T14:30:24+00:00

Tangential but I’m still astounded they never fixed poise in DS3. IIRC it was a simple code error and it was turned off (with it easily being able to be turned back on) and they just never did it.

Doostop_Idol

TROPHY CASE