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It's not true that you can't cast while mounted with a staff in your left hand! All you have to do is use the two handed input for the left hand while mounted and that makes your primary weapon whatever is in your left hand!!! Thanks to VaatVidya for that golden nugget of wisdom! Makes my Spellblade feel SO much more versatile while mounted!!!
PRO TIP: Carion Slicer has no windup cast time "after performing an action" like dodge. But I have found that simply crouching counts as an action apparently and this gets the attack out faster than dodging first.
I found this out by accident I was running around on horse back and jumped off one time just hitting buttons and realized it is INSTANT like it drags you to the ground and BAM attack in seconds no need to let the horse fully vanish as you land
@@alexrojas2686 staff in offhand, used estoc until found twinblade, I switch between dual wielding staff with twinblade and twohand holding twinblade for block and more damage in close distance. But its all preference, you can make it work with anything really, as long as you dont spend attributes all over the place or try to upgrade several weapons at once. The game is more about timing and mechanics than particular build. Have fun.
Ive played 4 different classes wanting to do this kinda play style and i just happened across the prisoner last night and this is it for me! This is my character for a long while. This is the most fun ive had out of all the other melee spell wielding characters
If you farm the imps in the catacombs type dungeons in the early area, they rarely drop a helmet that has roughly comparable defensive stats, but also grants +5 intelligence. I got lucky and got it from the first few I killed. Edit: It seems that I was encountering a calibrations issue, meaning I was playing an older version of the game, which was preventing me from going online. The calibrations I needed to play online, which I now have, included a nerf to the Imp Head (Cat) reducing the int bonus to +2.
Again, dude.. These videos are gold for newbies like myself. The fact than you can just run past very important gameplay items, is very frustrating to me.. I could probably run light past the item that lets you use ashes of war abilities, and not even know it.. Anyways, these videos are fantastic! Thank you
You can easily switch weapons on horseback by holding the action button (Y or triangle) and hitting the left or right bumper. Y+R1 will equip your right hand weapon. Y+L1 will equip your left.
PC: Hold E and right click to switch on horse back, this will make it so you're two handing the staff when you get off Torrent. I also used a guide to get the Rock Sling Spell, and Meteorite Staff, easy with Torrent. With the Carrion Slicer Spell, you can take down the Giants at Warleaders Shack for easy farming up past 32, after that explore have fun! farms are boring.
Don’t forget the Meteor Staff, Rock Sling Sorcery and Travelers set in Streets of Sages Ruin. The Staff scales S with INT and buffs Rock Sling(and other purple sorceries)making it very powerful. Gravitas Ash of War(Changes weapon scaling to INT and has a pull in effect) is found West of Seaside Ruins, on a small beach by killing a tall dark caster orc looking guy under a covering, and also gets buffed from the staff and when put on Great Epee makes the perfect spell blade character.
Note: you can use spells on horseback while holding the staff in your left hand. If you press triangle+L1 / Y+LB you will equip your left hand weapon wich in this case is the staff. If you then press R1 / RB you will cast the spell selected.
I’m doing more of a mage heavy build, but wanted to try this style out, found the twin blade as an astrologer and immediatly pumped dex and took out the dragon in Limgrave first try, this is my first souls game and it’s so so awesome. Thanks for the tip on the scroll to gain access to buying more spells!
6:55 in case no one else has mentioned it already, if you put an ash of war on something but choose to keep the standard scaling, then it will still be buffable while letting you use the new skill.
When you put an Ash of War on something, a list comes up for you to pick the scaling you want. That being said, as long as your weapon only deals physical damage, it should be buffable regardless of infusion. So Heavy/Keen/Quality are also okay.
Great guide, just FYI you can still swap between your r-hand melee and l-hand staff at anytime to use spells or melee when you would like by holding triangle or Y and then tapping L1 or R1 to equip the staff or your melee while mounted.
Glinstone Arc is really good for crowd control early/mid game. You can line up a group of enemies and it’ll slice through all of them in a medium sized radius. It costs 10fp, so it’s not going to eat up all of your mana
Yes, I'm only a few hours into the game, but this is already my favorite spell. The one thing I always hate is small enemies crowding a boss fight. One or two arcs and they're gone!
Yeah I use the trumpet enemies to get as many enemies coming at me as possible and just line em up. Easiest way to clear most camps you encounter in the open world
@@willadams7302 Once you make it further into the game, you can obtain the Moonveil (katana) that produces a similar wave much faster and hits a lot harder. I highly recommend if you’re going for a Int/Dex build
@@fisharepeopletoo9653 Once you make it further into the game, you can obtain the Moonveil (katana) that produces a similar wave much faster and hits a lot harder. I highly recommend if you’re going for a Int/Dex build
@@googleuser9073 Weird question since you seem pretty knowledgeable, I'm running an int/sex prisoner and I'm at the point that I have 30 int and 20 dex. Should I keep this ratio going, improve my dex, or leave my dex about where it is and keep pumping int? I am currently running rogier's rapier as a keen weapon with scholars armament for most content, and a shield and staff with Carian Slicer for most bosses. Edit: obv supposed to be int/dex but I'm fine with int/sex and leaving it that way lol
5:32 There is actually another major difference between the estoc and the rapier. The estoc does a combination of thrust/slash attacks, with the light attacks being thrust damage and the heavy attacks being slash damage, while the rapier is exclusively a thrusting weapon. While the rapier does have some small statistical advantages as you mentioned, the estoc is more versatile, as there are plenty of enemies with high thrust resistance.
@@Fextralife If I'm going to the Magus build later on, which weapon would you think better? Estoc for longer range or rapier for statistical advantages?
First time From Software game player here (with Elden Ring). This guide pretty much sold the game for me. The Spellsword style of play is a fantasy I constantly go for in games. I look forward to your progression of this build. I'm in a bit over my head and this is all really handy. I'm having a blast with this build!
First timer here as well and I'm using the same playstyle. That staff he reccomended is a godsend, I got it last night and it's amazing! He doesn't mention it in his video, but make sure you're pumping up your Mind stat as well for more FP. Best of luck!!
Just a heads-up, the "spellsword" play style is NOT new player friendly. It requires experience and game knowledge to really flourish. You lack survivability, in that your stats are more greatly distributed across mind/int/arcane meaning you lack innate survivability as well as not being able to wear more protective armor/shields, and your damage dealing capabilities are limited by your FP (mana).
@@ismount Definitely. I'm still enjoying it, though. I'd rather struggle through a playstyle and a fantasy that I enjoy than get caught up in min/max optimizations for a style I can't get engaged with. I'm having a great time!
So is there any way we could possibly get an idea of how the stats look at a higher level say like 70 or 80 and also at some point do we upgrade from cairan slicer to great sword?
I prefer the long sword. Just the regular long sword. You can S scale it to intelligence. Edit: Just watched your enchanted knight build. You’re on top of it. Disregard this comment at your leisure.
Just what I was waiting for. Thank you so much! In an enchanted knight setup, how would you change your stat spread? Pump strength instead of dex? Do you think starting Vagabond is better for that build? Just curious!
Hopefully a pro/helpful tip- if you get to third church if Marika, drop down near that river. There's a special something that teleports you to caelid at farum great bridge. AVOID the giant bird, you will die if not prepared BUT avoiding him allows you a site of grace, and near that site of grace is a certain type of enemies, if you play stealthy and go for crit attacks then finish them off with 4-5 basic attacks. You get 1,000 runes per kill. There's roughly 30-40 enemies? Possibly more if you do the entire thing. This is an AMAZING way to farm runes fast early on with little trouble. Just do NOT let them hit you. They will most likely 1 shot you. The entire run takes a bit until you learn a pattern but you can easily get 50k runes in 20-30 mins. Edit: I've never played a dark soul game or the game bloodborne, so explaining this is a bit difficult for me. I do hope this tip helps though. Sorry if the explanation is terrible.. 🤦🏻♀️
@@bartman2395 I don't know the names of the creatures. But if you look at the bird from the site of grace you'll see the enemies. I'm sorry I can't provide the names, but they are insanely close.
Currently having fun with a mystic knight build. Shield and staff with carian slicer in heavy armor. It's tanky and i can still use barricade shield, since i dont have a weapon art on my weapon. Ofc its mana hungry, but it does so much damage, it feels like ive accessed easy mode.
Just putting this out there because I’m building a similar character a bit differently, the Carian Phalanx spell / ash of war on Rogier’s rapier doesn’t do a lot of damage but it seems to do a TON of stun, I can stun a lot of bigger enemies just with that attack
Thank you for this video. When I found your channel after getting Elden Ring, I was really hoping to get a prisoner build from you. Great Build!! Great Video!!
I'm finding the twinblade very effective in the early levels, and it looks amazing with scholar's armament, like you’re a jedi who can hold raw lightsaber in their hands, no hilt. I equip it with both hands after buffing it. Great for crowds of opponents, a good thing when you haven't picked up Carian Greatsword yet or don't want to spend the FP on it. Might want to switch to rapier for the extra crit if you move on to the Magus build, but you can put Glintblade Phalanx on the twinblade. I met the reqs for the twinblade early by making a suicide run for Radagon's Soreseal (yes, the soreseal, not the scarseal), which seems well worth using early on, as long as you get some good armor to take advantage of the extra endurance, making up for at least some of the soreseal’s downside. Keep in mind that you can curve mid-jump, which is helpful for getting the soreseal, because if you take the time to line up the camera before one of the jumps, you’re more likely to get hit by a rat. Also, try going someplace dark, buffing a flail with Scholar’s Armament, facing the camera, and doing Spinning Flail. Mesmerizing. It keeps going as long as you hold the button, even when you’re out of FP.
Hey quick question so if you look up a quick guide you can actually find a meteorite staff basically in the first hour of the game which has 18 int requirement with s tier scaling (you can't upgrade it so it gets out scaled late game)but in the early game it's a really strong staff heck barely even need to kill anything is that a good choice?
As someone who is going a pure mage route, I'd like to note that even though you shred a lot of things with Carian Slicer, you will be almost completely useless against enemies with high magic resistance. Technically you can chip them away but just a word of warning
hey fex quick question, is it better magic buff your weapon then two hand it or should i have keep the staff on one hand. Great guide btw, will be using it.
Most of the time the extra damage from buffing your weapon will be more than a standard 2 handed attack. But you can buff your weapon and then 2 hand, so win win
I've been using the "Carian Glintstone Staff" and the "Carian Knight's Sword" which has a unique skill that is amazing(Carian Greatsword ash of war with an additional charge level). For spells I am using magic glintblade instead of glintstone pebble, glintblade phalanx and carian slicer.
The Meteorite Staff is easier to get earlier and has better stats than the Demi-Human Queens Staff apparantly even after its upgraded to +4. but meteorite staff can't be upgraded and is a bit heavier. though it has S scaling with int, so there's that too.
I was really looking for a spellblade that enhanced the blade with elementals vise just magic. This is my build currently and it looks like faith might have been a better rout for what i wanted, unfortunately.
same sort of but u have fire,blood,magic,poison grease on it and use more magical elements with spells and still have a decent hitting melee weapon but i understand cus i expected that too but your right prophet or confessor may have been better for us
If Fromsoftware bring the Blue Flame Sword from Dark Souls 2 to Elden Ring, Spellblade build will be so much better Sorry for my english, a don't speak very well
Been waiting for this build. Can I use the Uchigatana on Astrologer for this build? Otherwise, what would be a good dex based weapon early game if I am using Astrologer?
Man these people are nuts, but never get these nutz, thats why they are mad AF :D. Anyway, the best character creation in souls borne genre was in "Nioh" 2 and for more anime like style "Code Vein". Change my mind
I've been doing a weird Spellblade build using Int, Faith, and Sword of Night and Flame, not really using a staff much. It has been amazing. For a long time mostly what I was doing was using the Ashes of War that summons the floating homing swords, so no need for a staff really. It's less of a Sorcerer with a sword and more of an actual Spellblade.
I know this was a yr ago, but thanks I love a mage swordsman type build and this got me to a great start. I just picked this game up after forgetting about it. I went and actually grabbed the Lazuli to start.
Been looking for a guide like this ever since I picked prisoner. Most of the time I find myself a mage when starting a dungeon, and switching over to melee once I get a hang of it (through dying multiple times)
Any way you can place links in the description for the progression of these builds? I know you have videos of updates for levels 50-150, but it would help to have links to those videos that pertain to each build included to make it easier to navigate.
One thing I noticed was missing from the build guide: armor. You referenced the weapons that were desired for the build, but what sort of armor would you suggest? Heavier armor or lighter? Heavy loads really badly affect your rolling ability to dodge, which this build seems like you'd want either Light or Medium loads at most to maintain a good dodging ability. What armor(s) would be best to wear?
always depending but 2 way would be knowing how much stat u need to be able to wear the set u like to be not fatrolling. that's always my advice like armor doesnt matter at all in any soul it's all about being a god of no hit run xd
You just did all the work for yourself in that post. You just said heavy loads you down and due to the fact souls games have penalties for too much weight you answered your own question. It is always more important in any game that penalizes weight to keep your mobility
I skipped Margit, ended up finding my way straight to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to be my first real boss, I had gotten Carian Slice, ended up stripping off all my armor and everything but the staff, managed to kill it. Same strategy worked for both Margit and Godric later on, armor is important, I usually keep a medium load, but honestly what matters even more than armor for most bosses is not getting hit. I didn't have the poise (ability to resist hits) or maximum weight to endure any real hits from them, so I just perfect rolled my way through. I went with a Mage first melee second focus though, if you go for Melee first then you should probably toss some points in an investment to be able to have some pretty heavy armor, good poise, and just use Arcane to support you. Carian scales with Intellect only as far as I've been able to tell (feel free to correct me), meaning that there's no value in getting Dex with it if you do the animation canceling for the first cast (or even really ignore it, first cast doesn't matter too much). I've been focusing on hitting WAY above my weight, so maxing intellect made more sense than branching out, as it scales very hard.
Nice video, thank you! This build is nearly about the same as my build aswell. Idea is that if you find the opportunity to get free hits, you use the slicer and chop them up, otherwise you manage and compliment it with your buffed up melee. For my build I use "blue dancer charm" (more attack for lower equipment load) and run light as possible. I haven't tried out all the weps in this game but so far I can't exactly settle on which wep to go for. Your original rapier (and similar) weps scale good, give you fast attacks for medium-short range and high critical damage. Not much point in holding it two-handed. Relies on thrust attacks of small attack angle (can miss on sidesteps, only single target). Has simple, predictable attack chain. An uchigatana (or similar) scales the same, has better base attack and does more damage, has slightly better reach, is slightly slower, does blood loss through bleed in every couple hits. Holding it two handed you can do devastating "unsteathe" attack (great for duels). Wide attack angle but not that big. It is versatile as it has nice attack chain, vertical cut, stab and charge in its attack set. A twinblade (or variation) is about as fast as rapier, has bigger reach but scales worse off your dex and end up doing less damage. The deal is it sweeps and spins to hits everything around. Holding it two handed it sweeps and spins around even more, you can entirely chop up groups. You can change it's ash to "determination" for even more buff. I keep switching between weps, havent manage to settle yet.
This is a fantastic guide! Thanks! I have always had a soft spot for Spellsword builds. Question though, would it be worth changing the Estoc's atts to INT via an Ash of War? I know you could not buff it then, but wonder if it would still be a strong build to do that and use Slicer too.
After coming back to elden ring from a long time away i finally finished my first play thru and wanted to start a class like this. I appreciate the info for starting out!
One thing that I would like to point is that Spellcaster Seller is found in a basin below a round mage enemy on the ruins near the Turtle Bell. She is trapped there and do not give much conversation options. DO NOT ATTACK HER as she will stop selling spells on the Dragon Ruins, I did that and now I'm unable to buy further spells...
I just wanna say thank you for making these videos! You truly make the experience of these games a lot less overwhelming with the knowledge and insight you provide! 🤙🏾🔥🔥
I used the Twinblades for my spellblade. It's so fun and is great both one on one and with groups of enemies. Also it looks epic when enchanted with scholars armaments
@@moretestmorebreast7654 It has a D scaling with Dex, so just one tier lower than the Estoc. It is effective one handed but if you REALLY want to melt enemies you'll want to 2h it after enchanting it
BIG PRO TIP Put Determination as your ashes of war on the weapon. It buffs damage 60% for 10s on all sources or until next attack, but only if it is from that weapon. Therefore, using your LH weapon does not remove the buff and you can pump 60% buffed magic damage. If you are casting from ranged on foot you cast determination and all your magic damage is buffed 60%, carian slicer hits like a truck for just 4 fp. If you want to use the RH weapon you can have a slot for magic buff which is better than determination if you are attacking RH melee. This way you get insane ranged magic damage + super buffed up carian slicer for melee. To do melee staggers and what not you still have your weapon when you need it for jump attacks and heavy.
This was originally what I planned to do. Usually my first play through in souls games is pure physical but I wanted to try out the improved magic as well. Kinda worried this set up would melt bosses a little too fast and make the game too easy though.
@@patoverton2199 It´s too easy to "come back later" to find one has become a bit too strong for the particular place. I´ts a common rpg thing. I tend to give quite a few tries before deciding im not fit for a certain boss/area yet. And the game seems to work around this by letting you respawn close to the bosses in most cases. The more rpg it gets the more these things will happen, comes with the genre since ultima and dragonquest
Would love to see a pure caster build guide for (int) & (Fai) like how the pyromancer in ds3 was your bread & butter for pure caster! If you don't do that do the prohpet plz!
I want a spellblade build but I started with the Confessor because of the drip and cuz I wanted some lightning and pyromancy too. Hopefully this game has dark spells. Thanks for pumping out these vids they really help out in planning a build.
This is what I went with (katana instead) and it’s been fun. Might have gone a little easier if I had seen this first. It did seem tougher in the beginning than my typical strength builds.
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It's not true that you can't cast while mounted with a staff in your left hand! All you have to do is use the two handed input for the left hand while mounted and that makes your primary weapon whatever is in your left hand!!! Thanks to VaatVidya for that golden nugget of wisdom! Makes my Spellblade feel SO much more versatile while mounted!!!
next up do an archer build, or blood mage build
thanks for all ur work, hopefully u make a really tanky Bloody wolf character guide , to bleed out enemies in exchange for ur hp.
pls share the save file for the build
I chose astrologer, so what sword do you recommend early game to use?
"Sorceress Sellen sells some spells" How many takes before you landed that one the first time? XD
A nice twister 😂
Say it 5 times fast 😂
@@DC-yx8qtit’s actually pretty easy without any “sh” words
Lol@@galahad-ei4ti
"Just go to waypoint ruins for some spells."
Me: walk through fog, "oh fuck a pumpkin head boss"
Same
Fucking same lol
An experience to say the least
hit him anywhere but his head
Literally had no idea yet with the mist I should expected something
PRO TIP: Carion Slicer has no windup cast time "after performing an action" like dodge. But I have found that simply crouching counts as an action apparently and this gets the attack out faster than dodging first.
Crouching specifically counts as a roll for follow up purposes. Which means weapons with really good roll attacks LOVE crouching.
Only if you're standing still though. I tried crouch walking, and it didn't work.
@@jbark678 To elaborate, activate crouch immediately before carain slicer to negate the first cast windup time.
I found this out by accident I was running around on horse back and jumped off one time just hitting buttons and realized it is INSTANT like it drags you to the ground and BAM attack in seconds no need to let the horse fully vanish as you land
Ah, a mechanics trick tip. Thanks, bro
You can actually use the staff on horseback by hitting interact plus L1 while mounted, if it’s in your offhand. Otherwise R1. Its just as you would 2H
Oh nice.
Never knew that. Good tip!
Thank you!!
Came here to say the same thing. I was kiting some enemies with the samurai using a bow on horseback.
This makes things significantly less annoying, thanks!
Yeeeees! Been wanting to do a spellblade class for so long. Feel like I can finally make one work in this game.
I go caster/twinblade atm and its great
@@Ziemniaklotor i just started what is good for the prisoner ? U run a 2h?
@@alexrojas2686 staff in offhand, used estoc until found twinblade, I switch between dual wielding staff with twinblade and twohand holding twinblade for block and more damage in close distance. But its all preference, you can make it work with anything really, as long as you dont spend attributes all over the place or try to upgrade several weapons at once. The game is more about timing and mechanics than particular build. Have fun.
@@Ziemniaklotor thank u 🙏
Wait, spellblades weren't the meta in DS1 2 and 3? Could have fooled me.
That's the guide i was looking for. So comprehensive and easy to follow
Yep love his guides
Ive played 4 different classes wanting to do this kinda play style and i just happened across the prisoner last night and this is it for me! This is my character for a long while. This is the most fun ive had out of all the other melee spell wielding characters
My first playthrough was astrologer, so I think this is the build for me, xd
Right now trying to prepare for the dlc and my main is stuck in NG+ heck
If you farm the imps in the catacombs type dungeons in the early area, they rarely drop a helmet that has roughly comparable defensive stats, but also grants +5 intelligence. I got lucky and got it from the first few I killed.
Edit: It seems that I was encountering a calibrations issue, meaning I was playing an older version of the game, which was preventing me from going online. The calibrations I needed to play online, which I now have, included a nerf to the Imp Head (Cat) reducing the int bonus to +2.
What catacombs? And what's the name of the helmet?
Can you tell me the Name of the helmet please?
I think he's referring to Stormfoot Catacombs. You'll know the imps when you see them.
Nice tip!
Imp head cat helmet
Again, dude.. These videos are gold for newbies like myself. The fact than you can just run past very important gameplay items, is very frustrating to me.. I could probably run light past the item that lets you use ashes of war abilities, and not even know it..
Anyways, these videos are fantastic! Thank you
eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Game+Progress+Route should help!
Gold? Everything he’s saying is going right over my head ):
You can easily switch weapons on horseback by holding the action button (Y or triangle) and hitting the left or right bumper. Y+R1 will equip your right hand weapon. Y+L1 will equip your left.
BLESS
Mind blown
PC: Hold E and right click to switch on horse back, this will make it so you're two handing the staff when you get off Torrent.
I also used a guide to get the Rock Sling Spell, and Meteorite Staff, easy with Torrent. With the Carrion Slicer Spell, you can take down the Giants at Warleaders Shack for easy farming up past 32, after that explore have fun! farms are boring.
Not all heros wear capes
@@jameseddleman6944
You play Elden Ring on mouse and keyboard?
Don’t forget the Meteor Staff, Rock Sling Sorcery and Travelers set in Streets of Sages Ruin. The Staff scales S with INT and buffs Rock Sling(and other purple sorceries)making it very powerful. Gravitas Ash of War(Changes weapon scaling to INT and has a pull in effect) is found West of Seaside Ruins, on a small beach by killing a tall dark caster orc looking guy under a covering, and also gets buffed from the staff and when put on Great Epee makes the perfect spell blade character.
What is great epee?
@@insertaghere heavy thrust/pierce sword found below where Academy Scroll is east of Agheel Lake South site of grace
Is it important to be upgrading MND?
I found rock sling last night and just using I beat the dragon in limgrave im like this spell is OP
@@xinfiniteshock5445 If you don't put some into MIND, you're gonna have a hard time.
You can also buy a memory slot at the table of the rounds, for about 3000 runes, when you go to the two blacksmith couple.
Yep took me forever to find it
Appreciate it!
Get one for free down in Weeping Peninsula.
@@justachad6494 thanks
Note: you can use spells on horseback while holding the staff in your left hand.
If you press triangle+L1 / Y+LB you will equip your left hand weapon wich in this case is the staff. If you then press R1 / RB you will cast the spell selected.
like 20 people have commented this
Jesus
I’m doing more of a mage heavy build, but wanted to try this style out, found the twin blade as an astrologer and immediatly pumped dex and took out the dragon in Limgrave first try, this is my first souls game and it’s so so awesome. Thanks for the tip on the scroll to gain access to buying more spells!
Started as astrologer as well, after seeing this video i might lean more into this playstyle. I love having a magic buffed sword and thrusting away!
@@Eric-rb6mo Same. I really like this playstyle.
6:55 in case no one else has mentioned it already, if you put an ash of war on something but choose to keep the standard scaling, then it will still be buffable while letting you use the new skill.
How do you add an ash of war but keep the original scaling?
yeash, how do you do this please? I've not added an ash of war yet. the estoc stabbing move is great.
When you put an Ash of War on something, a list comes up for you to pick the scaling you want. That being said, as long as your weapon only deals physical damage, it should be buffable regardless of infusion. So Heavy/Keen/Quality are also okay.
@@justinstacy7067 you need to get the iron whetstone. It's in a hidden underground area located within the gatefront ruins.
@@D00M3R-SK8 See my other comment
Great guide, just FYI you can still swap between your r-hand melee and l-hand staff at anytime to use spells or melee when you would like by holding triangle or Y and then tapping L1 or R1 to equip the staff or your melee while mounted.
Glinstone Arc is really good for crowd control early/mid game. You can line up a group of enemies and it’ll slice through all of them in a medium sized radius. It costs 10fp, so it’s not going to eat up all of your mana
Yes, I'm only a few hours into the game, but this is already my favorite spell. The one thing I always hate is small enemies crowding a boss fight. One or two arcs and they're gone!
Yeah I use the trumpet enemies to get as many enemies coming at me as possible and just line em up. Easiest way to clear most camps you encounter in the open world
@@willadams7302 Once you make it further into the game, you can obtain the Moonveil (katana) that produces a similar wave much faster and hits a lot harder. I highly recommend if you’re going for a Int/Dex build
@@fisharepeopletoo9653 Once you make it further into the game, you can obtain the Moonveil (katana) that produces a similar wave much faster and hits a lot harder. I highly recommend if you’re going for a Int/Dex build
@@googleuser9073 Weird question since you seem pretty knowledgeable, I'm running an int/sex prisoner and I'm at the point that I have 30 int and 20 dex. Should I keep this ratio going, improve my dex, or leave my dex about where it is and keep pumping int? I am currently running rogier's rapier as a keen weapon with scholars armament for most content, and a shield and staff with Carian Slicer for most bosses.
Edit: obv supposed to be int/dex but I'm fine with int/sex and leaving it that way lol
5:32 There is actually another major difference between the estoc and the rapier. The estoc does a combination of thrust/slash attacks, with the light attacks being thrust damage and the heavy attacks being slash damage, while the rapier is exclusively a thrusting weapon. While the rapier does have some small statistical advantages as you mentioned, the estoc is more versatile, as there are plenty of enemies with high thrust resistance.
Estoc also seems to be a fair bit longer...if size matters...
@@Fextralife My lady friends always told me girth was more important ;)
@@D00M3R-SK8 NO SHUTUO YOU DONT SAY TAG5
@@RitzyRain what? LoL.
@@Fextralife If I'm going to the Magus build later on, which weapon would you think better? Estoc for longer range or rapier for statistical advantages?
First time From Software game player here (with Elden Ring). This guide pretty much sold the game for me. The Spellsword style of play is a fantasy I constantly go for in games. I look forward to your progression of this build. I'm in a bit over my head and this is all really handy. I'm having a blast with this build!
First timer here as well and I'm using the same playstyle. That staff he reccomended is a godsend, I got it last night and it's amazing! He doesn't mention it in his video, but make sure you're pumping up your Mind stat as well for more FP. Best of luck!!
Just a heads-up, the "spellsword" play style is NOT new player friendly. It requires experience and game knowledge to really flourish. You lack survivability, in that your stats are more greatly distributed across mind/int/arcane meaning you lack innate survivability as well as not being able to wear more protective armor/shields, and your damage dealing capabilities are limited by your FP (mana).
@@willadams7302 where do I find it?
@@ismount Definitely. I'm still enjoying it, though. I'd rather struggle through a playstyle and a fantasy that I enjoy than get caught up in min/max optimizations for a style I can't get engaged with. I'm having a great time!
I preordered the game, but this build sold me on how to build my character.
So is there any way we could possibly get an idea of how the stats look at a higher level say like 70 or 80 and also at some point do we upgrade from cairan slicer to great sword?
Thats what im wondering what does this build look like at endgame around level 70 to 80
@@dadbro9256 carian slicer is still good at endgame. And there is a great sword but I’d say it’s more situational than ur main damage.
I prefer the long sword. Just the regular long sword. You can S scale it to intelligence.
Edit: Just watched your enchanted knight build. You’re on top of it. Disregard this comment at your leisure.
This started me out on my elden ring experience and I platinumed the game. Thank you so much
did u max int or dex?
Just what I was waiting for. Thank you so much! In an enchanted knight setup, how would you change your stat spread? Pump strength instead of dex? Do you think starting Vagabond is better for that build? Just curious!
1 Year late gang 🎉
2 year late gang 🎉
@@jayinvictus3945yessir
Liked and subbed cuz u blurred out the name. Ive already beaten the game but the fact that you blur the names is really cool man 👋🏻
Hopefully a pro/helpful tip- if you get to third church if Marika, drop down near that river. There's a special something that teleports you to caelid at farum great bridge. AVOID the giant bird, you will die if not prepared BUT avoiding him allows you a site of grace, and near that site of grace is a certain type of enemies, if you play stealthy and go for crit attacks then finish them off with 4-5 basic attacks. You get 1,000 runes per kill. There's roughly 30-40 enemies? Possibly more if you do the entire thing. This is an AMAZING way to farm runes fast early on with little trouble. Just do NOT let them hit you. They will most likely 1 shot you. The entire run takes a bit until you learn a pattern but you can easily get 50k runes in 20-30 mins.
Edit: I've never played a dark soul game or the game bloodborne, so explaining this is a bit difficult for me. I do hope this tip helps though. Sorry if the explanation is terrible.. 🤦🏻♀️
Thanks for the tip I almost got clapped by that bird trying to steal the chest lol I’ll go back and farm those runes though
What is that certain type of enemy? Those dudes in crystal cave?
@@bartman2395 I don't know the names of the creatures. But if you look at the bird from the site of grace you'll see the enemies. I'm sorry I can't provide the names, but they are insanely close.
@@Sirrako outside or inside the cave?;)
@@bartman2395 not near a cave 😅
I'm glad you blurred out the enemy boss name to protect his identity
Currently having fun with a mystic knight build. Shield and staff with carian slicer in heavy armor. It's tanky and i can still use barricade shield, since i dont have a weapon art on my weapon. Ofc its mana hungry, but it does so much damage, it feels like ive accessed easy mode.
Holy moly that actually sounds pretty good, especially for boss fights
What’re your stats at?
I challenge you to say:
“Sorcerer Sellen sells some spells”.
5x fast.
Great vid thanks!
Really hope we get a more spell heavy guide soon based on Faith.
We've had the Paladin but it's more about the melee than the magic.
There is a bunch of awesome dragon stuff for faith builds
Dragon Priest (Faith Build) is next.
@@Fextralife whats with vagabund? too basic?
@@GermanTricker Basic and boring
Agreed for my playthrough was really deciding between Prisoner SpellSword or Confessor Paladin. Could a Broadsword still be used with Prisoner?
Just putting this out there because I’m building a similar character a bit differently, the Carian Phalanx spell / ash of war on Rogier’s rapier doesn’t do a lot of damage but it seems to do a TON of stun, I can stun a lot of bigger enemies just with that attack
“Sorceress Selia sells some spells”, say that 5 times fast 😂😂 Great job on the videos!
When should we expect a new updated video?
Thank you for this video. When I found your channel after getting Elden Ring, I was really hoping to get a prisoner build from you. Great Build!! Great Video!!
They’re the best.
Where can I find armor for prisoner build
This build has some Jedi vibes to it! It was exactly what I was looking for, and its using the Estoc, brilliant!
Can this build work with longswords? I much prefer the slashy swords over the poky ones.
I'm finding the twinblade very effective in the early levels, and it looks amazing with scholar's armament, like you’re a jedi who can hold raw lightsaber in their hands, no hilt. I equip it with both hands after buffing it. Great for crowds of opponents, a good thing when you haven't picked up Carian Greatsword yet or don't want to spend the FP on it. Might want to switch to rapier for the extra crit if you move on to the Magus build, but you can put Glintblade Phalanx on the twinblade.
I met the reqs for the twinblade early by making a suicide run for Radagon's Soreseal (yes, the soreseal, not the scarseal), which seems well worth using early on, as long as you get some good armor to take advantage of the extra endurance, making up for at least some of the soreseal’s downside. Keep in mind that you can curve mid-jump, which is helpful for getting the soreseal, because if you take the time to line up the camera before one of the jumps, you’re more likely to get hit by a rat.
Also, try going someplace dark, buffing a flail with Scholar’s Armament, facing the camera, and doing Spinning Flail. Mesmerizing. It keeps going as long as you hold the button, even when you’re out of FP.
this was an awesome build, but the boss in front of the witch killed me and when i beat it i couldn't afford to buy the spells🥴🥴
Hey quick question so if you look up a quick guide you can actually find a meteorite staff basically in the first hour of the game which has 18 int requirement with s tier scaling (you can't upgrade it so it gets out scaled late game)but in the early game it's a really strong staff heck barely even need to kill anything is that a good choice?
If anyone reads this and is undecided if they should give it a try... this is the fucking build. Play this one.
As someone who is going a pure mage route, I'd like to note that even though you shred a lot of things with Carian Slicer, you will be almost completely useless against enemies with high magic resistance. Technically you can chip them away but just a word of warning
If you strike first with melee weapon then carian slicer, the casting is much faster
hey fex quick question, is it better magic buff your weapon then two hand it or should i have keep the staff on one hand. Great guide btw, will be using it.
if you keep your staff out then you can use Glintstone Pebble to range enemies or melee them depending on what they do. Totally up to you though.
Most of the time the extra damage from buffing your weapon will be more than a standard 2 handed attack.
But you can buff your weapon and then 2 hand, so win win
Hmm alright, thanks for the answers
What's the armor in use?
The spellblade build is the one for me. It's a shame I can't rely on shield much in certain situations but it's worth it
Idk why but the gear confuses me more than anything with this game.
Thanks for this. Created a prisoner to build a spell blade. Really enjoying it so far.
Level 50 guide?
If you want to use the moonlight great sword later in the game you need to have 16 strength which is a pain, especially if you chose astrologer.
Awesome video… there are so many builds to experiment on. By the way, what is that ending soundtrack? Love it!
I've been using the "Carian Glintstone Staff" and the "Carian Knight's Sword" which has a unique skill that is amazing(Carian Greatsword ash of war with an additional charge level). For spells I am using magic glintblade instead of glintstone pebble, glintblade phalanx and carian slicer.
get the meteorite staff its the best for first half of the game basically
@@JohnDoe-ip1dw I'm well past the point where that staff is useful. And my Carian staff is well upgraded on my enchanted knight.
The Meteorite Staff is easier to get earlier and has better stats than the Demi-Human Queens Staff apparantly even after its upgraded to +4. but meteorite staff can't be upgraded and is a bit heavier. though it has S scaling with int, so there's that too.
My meteorite staff is still outdamaging the demi-queen queen’s staff even at +8 :( don’t waste your smithing stones like I did.
I was really looking for a spellblade that enhanced the blade with elementals vise just magic. This is my build currently and it looks like faith might have been a better rout for what i wanted, unfortunately.
same sort of but u have fire,blood,magic,poison grease on it and use more magical elements with spells and still have a decent hitting melee weapon but i understand cus i expected that too but your right prophet or confessor may have been better for us
If Fromsoftware bring the Blue Flame Sword from Dark Souls 2 to Elden Ring, Spellblade build will be so much better
Sorry for my english, a don't speak very well
Been waiting for this build. Can I use the Uchigatana on Astrologer for this build? Otherwise, what would be a good dex based weapon early game if I am using Astrologer?
There is a magic katana that shoots energy waves
@@Laroac what is it and where do you find it?
Yes please what is it called
Literally took the same question right from my mouth 👏
@@Laroac please let us know where!
Man these people are nuts, but never get these nutz, thats why they are mad AF :D.
Anyway, the best character creation in souls borne genre was in "Nioh" 2 and for more anime like style "Code Vein". Change my mind
You can def cast spells on horseback with the staff in the left hand. You just do the input to two hand your weapon and it switches to your left hand
Should I put stats into str if I plan to use the moonlight greatsword? Instead of a light dex weapon
I've been doing a weird Spellblade build using Int, Faith, and Sword of Night and Flame, not really using a staff much. It has been amazing. For a long time mostly what I was doing was using the Ashes of War that summons the floating homing swords, so no need for a staff really. It's less of a Sorcerer with a sword and more of an actual Spellblade.
swordcerer
I know this was a yr ago, but thanks I love a mage swordsman type build and this got me to a great start. I just picked this game up after forgetting about it. I went and actually grabbed the Lazuli to start.
I always call it my Swordcerer builds
I love this
I like to use the great epee
Been looking for a guide like this ever since I picked prisoner. Most of the time I find myself a mage when starting a dungeon, and switching over to melee once I get a hang of it (through dying multiple times)
bro oh my god thank you so much, especially the way you blur out the bosses name
damn the magic effects on this build are so cool, they really nailed the wepons spells in this game!!
Any way you can place links in the description for the progression of these builds? I know you have videos of updates for levels 50-150, but it would help to have links to those videos that pertain to each build included to make it easier to navigate.
There’s a table with this on eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Builds
@@Fextralife Update it please, you have made plenty of builds after the Rime Ronin build.
Too many ads on wiki
One thing I noticed was missing from the build guide: armor. You referenced the weapons that were desired for the build, but what sort of armor would you suggest? Heavier armor or lighter? Heavy loads really badly affect your rolling ability to dodge, which this build seems like you'd want either Light or Medium loads at most to maintain a good dodging ability. What armor(s) would be best to wear?
always depending but 2 way would be knowing how much stat u need to be able to wear the set u like to be not fatrolling. that's always my advice like armor doesnt matter at all in any soul it's all about being a god of no hit run xd
You just did all the work for yourself in that post. You just said heavy loads you down and due to the fact souls games have penalties for too much weight you answered your own question. It is always more important in any game that penalizes weight to keep your mobility
I skipped Margit, ended up finding my way straight to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to be my first real boss, I had gotten Carian Slice, ended up stripping off all my armor and everything but the staff, managed to kill it.
Same strategy worked for both Margit and Godric later on, armor is important, I usually keep a medium load, but honestly what matters even more than armor for most bosses is not getting hit.
I didn't have the poise (ability to resist hits) or maximum weight to endure any real hits from them, so I just perfect rolled my way through.
I went with a Mage first melee second focus though, if you go for Melee first then you should probably toss some points in an investment to be able to have some pretty heavy armor, good poise, and just use Arcane to support you.
Carian scales with Intellect only as far as I've been able to tell (feel free to correct me), meaning that there's no value in getting Dex with it if you do the animation canceling for the first cast (or even really ignore it, first cast doesn't matter too much).
I've been focusing on hitting WAY above my weight, so maxing intellect made more sense than branching out, as it scales very hard.
great video bro!
Nice video, thank you!
This build is nearly about the same as my build aswell. Idea is that if you find the opportunity to get free hits, you use the slicer and chop them up, otherwise you manage and compliment it with your buffed up melee. For my build I use "blue dancer charm" (more attack for lower equipment load) and run light as possible.
I haven't tried out all the weps in this game but so far I can't exactly settle on which wep to go for.
Your original rapier (and similar) weps scale good, give you fast attacks for medium-short range and high critical damage. Not much point in holding it two-handed. Relies on thrust attacks of small attack angle (can miss on sidesteps, only single target). Has simple, predictable attack chain.
An uchigatana (or similar) scales the same, has better base attack and does more damage, has slightly better reach, is slightly slower, does blood loss through bleed in every couple hits. Holding it two handed you can do devastating "unsteathe" attack (great for duels). Wide attack angle but not that big. It is versatile as it has nice attack chain, vertical cut, stab and charge in its attack set.
A twinblade (or variation) is about as fast as rapier, has bigger reach but scales worse off your dex and end up doing less damage. The deal is it sweeps and spins to hits everything around. Holding it two handed it sweeps and spins around even more, you can entirely chop up groups. You can change it's ash to "determination" for even more buff.
I keep switching between weps, havent manage to settle yet.
@Fextralife please add level 50 upgrade video for Spellblade!!!!
This is a fantastic guide! Thanks! I have always had a soft spot for Spellsword builds. Question though, would it be worth changing the Estoc's atts to INT via an Ash of War? I know you could not buff it then, but wonder if it would still be a strong build to do that and use Slicer too.
Can I use scholars armament with the sacred blade ash of war or is that what the video was referring to as a magic based ash of war?
The build that I’ve been waiting for! Thank you 🙌
After coming back to elden ring from a long time away i finally finished my first play thru and wanted to start a class like this. I appreciate the info for starting out!
One thing that I would like to point is that Spellcaster Seller is found in a basin below a round mage enemy on the ruins near the Turtle Bell. She is trapped there and do not give much conversation options. DO NOT ATTACK HER as she will stop selling spells on the Dragon Ruins, I did that and now I'm unable to buy further spells...
Ditto.
Same… I actually restarted the game because if this!
There's a church with a giant turtle where you can pray to a statue and reset the npcs. So they'll be friendly again.
You can also give ALL of your magic an maybe incantation scrolls to Turtle Pope there an he'll sell you spells. I know he'll sell spells for sure.
@@ocean_punk1206 yeap. I did that and she is restored as a vendor
I'm doing something like this but also pumping into str so I can use the crystal sword and moonlight greatsword
I just wanna say thank you for making these videos! You truly make the experience of these games a lot less overwhelming with the knowledge and insight you provide! 🤙🏾🔥🔥
Is Medium Rolls a must with this build?
Your build guides are amazing! Gives me a good start to play a style of game I love. And spellsword is my favorite in every game I can make it in.
0:34 "sorcerer sellen sells some spells" try saying that five times fast
I used the Twinblades for my spellblade. It's so fun and is great both one on one and with groups of enemies. Also it looks epic when enchanted with scholars armaments
Do twinblades scale well with dex and are they effective 1h Or do you quick swap 2h and 1h with staff?
@@moretestmorebreast7654 It has a D scaling with Dex, so just one tier lower than the Estoc. It is effective one handed but if you REALLY want to melt enemies you'll want to 2h it after enchanting it
@@moretestmorebreast7654 scales with Dex. I swap between 1h and 2h based off what swing style I want. One hand seems more aoe
@@karasins cool thanks
love the ER content, could you please make s community post with the group password so that it’s more ‘visible’?!
Good idea! Will do in a few hours after stream
@@Fextralife Thanks!:)
BIG PRO TIP
Put Determination as your ashes of war on the weapon. It buffs damage 60% for 10s on all sources or until next attack, but only if it is from that weapon. Therefore, using your LH weapon does not remove the buff and you can pump 60% buffed magic damage.
If you are casting from ranged on foot you cast determination and all your magic damage is buffed 60%, carian slicer hits like a truck for just 4 fp. If you want to use the RH weapon you can have a slot for magic buff which is better than determination if you are attacking RH melee. This way you get insane ranged magic damage + super buffed up carian slicer for melee. To do melee staggers and what not you still have your weapon when you need it for jump attacks and heavy.
Determination on which weapon? Both?
This is huge! I'm gonna try it out. Thank you.
Prisoner is exactly my play style. Half physical, half magic. It keeps things fun.
8:52 While horseriding you can use left handed weapons by two handing.
Great info, thank you for this
First timer here, and i kid you not after i saw this guide and re started my 6h game doing this I’ve been dying way way less 😂 can’t thank you enough
This was originally what I planned to do. Usually my first play through in souls games is pure physical but I wanted to try out the improved magic as well. Kinda worried this set up would melt bosses a little too fast and make the game too easy though.
Melt bosses too easy... wishful thinking lol
@@subklueless Ive fought Margit and Godrick and thats been the case so far. Hoping they get harder later.
@@patoverton2199 It´s too easy to "come back later" to find one has become a bit too strong for the particular place. I´ts a common rpg thing. I tend to give quite a few tries before deciding im not fit for a certain boss/area yet. And the game seems to work around this by letting you respawn close to the bosses in most cases. The more rpg it gets the more these things will happen, comes with the genre since ultima and dragonquest
4:46 anybody where I can I find that knight amror???
Thank you for blurring the boss names. I’ve done my best to not see any spoilers for this game and that’s very much appreciated
Not to sound like a jerk, but I think spells are lazy. Exact same graphics as previous dark souls game
Find magic school lady. Get 3 spells.
Find better staff.
Start killing stuff.
Gotit
Would love to see a pure caster build guide for (int) & (Fai) like how the pyromancer in ds3 was your bread & butter for pure caster! If you don't do that do the prohpet plz!
Please do a strength build next
It’s on the list
I want a spellblade build but I started with the Confessor because of the drip and cuz I wanted some lightning and pyromancy too. Hopefully this game has dark spells. Thanks for pumping out these vids they really help out in planning a build.
Anyone know where to find a good armor set early for spellsword (prisoner)
PRO TIP! You can switch weapons on horseback! Use your two handed command to switch. RB + Y on Xbox controller.
I love magic because it's so cool but find just spamming flinstone pebble boring so this build was a big help for me, thanks.
This is what I went with (katana instead) and it’s been fun. Might have gone a little easier if I had seen this first. It did seem tougher in the beginning than my typical strength builds.
This is what I’m aiming for, i went wretch though.