Wouldn't be Rakshasa Armor Set be good for overall +2% damage boost per piece and some funky resistancee modifiers that gives like 12% fire damage increase etc.? I mean... fire + holy in this build with that armor. :grin:
This video is so reassuring because I played with two scythes (winged scythe and miquella’s light scythe) for my entire play through, and last night decided to switch it up and go for almost this EXACT build on a whim. It hits so hard, i’m loving it. Great minds think alike
Crazy that I did the EXACT same thing, same scythes dex/faith, and when I got the hammer switched to str/faith all the way down to flame strike aow. Great minds indeed...
I had more trouble with the Black Gaol Knight than I did with the Dancing Lion, or Rellana. As it turned out, I just needed to use my claymore. Trusty claymore.
From what I’ve determined, if you were in offline mode (Console) on patch 1.12 you’ll get the Shield. If you were in Online mode under patch 1.12.1 you’ll get the Hammer. Yet to confirm but players are suggesting it can drop of the Black Knight in Castle Ensis. If not, you’re screwed unless FromSoft patches so the Black Knight at Church of Consolation can respawn.
tip to improve this build. Either go sacred infusion with sacred blade to take advantage of inherent holy damage to get past armor breakpoints or go Heavy infusion with 80 strength and 30ish faith for buffs. 13 int for orders blade which will add on top of inherent damage. Enemy defense has a % reduction and a flat subtraction so having a small amount of holy dmg will be wasted if not buffed. Splitting to physical/flame/holy will have 3 flat subtractions.
I use prayerful strike with a sacred infusion and 80 faith and 128 poise. So I power through the attack while charging the weapon art, trade with the enemy doing so, then prayerful strike heal me and any allies I have (including summons). It's a very Unga bunga build lol
@@danielade6279 Flame art is good but it's not using the inherent holy damage on this weapon. Heavy allow enchanting with orders blade stacking on top of holy and physical or sacred blade if you have more faith to stack holy on holy, buffed by holy cracked tear in flask. Flame art adds a small amount of fire and leaves the small amount of faith to both be subtracted out. For each element you add, you need to subtract 100-200 dmg depending on the enemy armor. So against a boss, the fire and holy will add no damage. But if you buff the holy it will be over and above what is subtracted out.
Another weapon that smacks with a build like this is the rot fiend arm I think it's called. Collosal weapon as well but you pump arcane and put it on occult and it procs bleed in 1 charged heavy attack. Also has crazy high damage and very good poise damage.
This Hammer is carrying me through the DLC with Savage Lion's Claw, also has excellent Arcane scaling! I use the Haligtree Greatshield for Guard Counters
@@glenmcl not really. Use any shield with high guard boost and then a spear with bleed. Block and poke. Kill them without barely taking any damage, a bit cheesy haha.
sorry if this is a dumb question but why do i not have the option for flame art affinity when applying flmaing strike? only have fire affinity edit: i figured it out if anyone else has this issue, you need the red hot whetstone in redmanes castle
Been saying it from day 1. Black steel great hammer made things a lot easier. I just happened to wander down there as soon as I entered the DLC and it was the first item I got.
The stonebarbed cracked tear effect only lasts for 30 seconds. I use it, but I typically save it for phase 2 of boss fights when I really need that stagger.
Amazing video mate, thanks! Just a quick tip for everyone, you don't have to block at the last second to activate the guard counter ability; just have your shield blocking all the way and then press R2 👍🏻
I fell bass ackwards into this build after failing and retrying the first hippo boss a bunch haha. So happy its getting air time - so effective, and makes the DLC actually manageble.
I love the black Knight chest armor. Before, Altered Ronin chest was my favorite looking one but the BK looks awesome and has better stats. Looks amazing with Malicat gauntlets and I'm wearing Moore legs because i like the look better that Lionel for heavier armor (but BK, Malicat or even Night Cavalry work as well) because I'm wearing either thief mask or headband on my female character because they look great but don't offer any defense. I wish i knew the shield was a guaranteed drop from a certain enemy (after a while i kinda figured it's like the hammer was) instead of spending 40 minutes farming one to never get it.
That hammer is so brutal. I'm using it on my lv 135 quality/faith build (without a shield though). It hits like a truck and the damage can be buffed to even more obscene levels, despite me having just 53 fth.
Still working on the DLC, I was away from home when it dropped so I’m getting in later than everyone else. Lvl 225 60 vigor 25 mind 45 endurance 75 str/dex (quality builds get to test more weapons after all) Fingerprint shield Buckler Bloodhound Fang Great Stars Knight Rider Glaive Scaled Armor Whatever consumables make sense in any given fight. My physical damage is pretty solid, so the consumables just give me an additional edge. Took out all field/gaol bosses in the first area, running the first legacy dungeon tonight.
FINALLY A STR/FAI build that actually bumps a respectable amount into Faith. I've been getting really tired of all these "STR/FAI" that basically just end up being a Strength build with a bit of Faith sprinkled in for buffs and stuff. Legit saw one build the other day actually have the audacity to call itself a STR/FAI build, and it only had *15 FAITH!!* What the heck, man?! I'm sorry, but you don't get to call yourself a Faith build just because you raised Faith over the minimum for your starting class XD Ranting aside, AWESOME build vid, dude! I've been running a STR/FAI build since the beginning, and found the Black Steel Greathammer pretty much immediately when I started the DLC. It instantly became one of my favorite weapons in the entire game!! I tend to swap a lot between playing with a shield, two-handing, and powerstancing, but as someone who's been playing as a tanky, heavily armored "paladin" style build, and loving the new Guard Counter mechanic, this weapon was MADE for me!!
For a real tank black hammer build slow and methodical and like the black knight, go for the new tear to boost the spontaneous guard, damage resist tear,or health regen, two headed turtle, talisman that gives defence when overweight, shield talisman, third can be guard counter one or the one that gives better defence when at full health and final slot can be exchanged for whatever defence talisman is needed for the situation makes the game easy mode, full fat gear go as heavy as you like put on multiple weapons multiple shields for every situation and have fun
Sacred Blade is a great AoW choice as well as it gives you some range AND there's an additional Holy Boost to the weapon that lingers for about 30 seconds. It's significant.
Where in the video does he talk about the affinity for the Messmer fight? He said he’d talk about it later at 1:56 but I can’t seem to find it. I’m about to fight Messmer with this build
Killed the knight that drops the hammer on an early DLC build when he still dropped the shield, now I am unable to get the hammer at all on a character that focused on Greatshields, Holy Damage and Counter Attacks. Thanks Fromsoft!
I theory crafted almost the same thing 2 nights ago, and was blown away when i shit on all 5 bosses i had found but couldnt beat woth my katana build. The old meta is back in a new way, praise the shield! 😂🎉
I've been running a block/counter build since day one. I use iron greatsword and sometimes blasphemous blade. Glad to know this hammer is that good, I'll definitely try it thx
Looks fun. I do have one critique. The Frenzy Seal works fine, but until you invest in all 4 offensive stats to 60, it's outperformed by the Erdtree, Godslayer, and Finger Seals, because it also allows the use of healing spell at full power and will have a higher Incantation scaling. Heals and weapon buffs only function with the faith portion of any seals' scaling.
@@emptysoul2757 spilt damage is unfortunately horrible in all souls games. Focus on 1 element best as possible. So for Black Steel Hammer go Holy or Phys only otherwise you got 3 damage checks that multiplicitively lessen.
If you want to utilize more of a guard counter build with this set up, you can easily do it with Braggart's Roar AoW- affixed to your choosing of affinity, the extra dmg, stamina recovery and dmg negation helps out a lot
Literally my first build in the DLC. As soon as I got that hammer, I went straight for a greatshield and started bonking. Only difference is I used sacred instead of flame art
Aside from that hideous Fingerprint shield, what is the next best shield in the game? I'm mainly referring to guard boost potential, but look-wise, too.
@@jayviktor6130 That really depends on how much Str/End you have. Also, looks are fairly subjective so that will depend entirely on you. The Verdigris shield actually has more stability but is both heavy as fuck and takes a metric ton of strength to use. I'm fond of the Eclipse Greatshield and the Distinguished Greatshield as both are on the lighter side for the category and I like how they look.
Neat build setup! I have the stats to try this out, I'll give it a spin once I actually have time to play and can farm the runes to upgrade a shield and hammer. One note: you mentioned that you wouldn't use this particular set up against Messer and that you'd mention it later in the video. Did I miss you mentioning it? Anyway, fun build video. I appreciate people making actually viable fun builds that don't just include adding every buff to "OP 1 shot boss". Looking forward to exploring more of the dlc with this load out.
Saw many comments about the weapon: Since I did NOT kill that knight yet and went on today (as of 26-Feb) and killed him for the first time. Weapon did drop. (V. 1.2.1 or 1.2.2) Hope it helps others wondering if they can / should play the build :)
Will watch most your vids eventually but basically doing the blind run still. This DLC is so big. Hardest boss so far is the verticality of the maps. I’m lost and constantly saying “how the f do I get to that place??” Took hrs but finally found my way to the Glaive wielding Rot boss. That area was such a maze for me and all I wanted was that map piece you don’t even acquire there, lol. Love this game.
Ok so I really like this weapon and I play mostly as a paladin so it was made for me!!! I was thinking of using prayerful strike though as the ash of war to get some healing back while I’m beating on people. Will that work fairly well?? I don’t totally understand all the ash of war and dmg types if I’m honest.
You need to do a series called, explain this to me as if I'm 5. I'm so stupid when it comes to following build guides. But thanks for these videos I'm been flowing for a number of years.
That hammer is the first thing that dropped for me on Friday. Already have a Faith build. No wonder my sacred relic sword is carrying me. Wave of gold’n motherfuckers everywhere
For those on console having trouble getting the hammer. My first play through of the dlc I was offline and got the shield. The next play through I was online and got the hammer to drop.
I seem to be getting much better damage with holy affinity prayerful strike instead of fire slash. Coupling the heals from prayerful strike with ritual shield taslasim is also nice 👍
The only thing I recommend to add to this build is Pest Threads against big bosses. This thing is Dragon Shredder. Really helped me to do 4k damage per cast unbuffed to Bayle
A good alternative for black knight greatshield could be the Erdtree greatshield dropped from the duo tree sentinels in altus plateau. It has 84 holy negation aswell.
This is an amazing build. I did a very similar build but included the Crucible Armor and some of the new Aspect spells. I have done some testing, and I am not convinced that Faith as the main stat is better than Str and heavy infusion with ~40 faith is not a better route. Using heavy and then Holy Tear + Holy weapon buff gets pretty good damage. But really depends on your spell vs melee usage.
I missed your videos! So happy that Elden Ring DLC finally dropped- looking forward to seeing and hearing your thoughts. Probably gonna take a few ideas from your build here. :) Thanks for bein' rad!
i feel like there are so many ways to break the game now that the new weapons/spells are so OP. Almost everybuild has been buffed you can even turtle behind a shield. the OP builds from the base game however is no longer viable. I was a bleed king with the dual occult scavanger curved blade and they suck so hard now.
Black knight builds are very strong STR or DEX they both hit hard and provide good defense with alot of variety. Also med. Shields below 100 have uses, alberichs set with staff and shield of the guilty, both are fall backs for when enemies get too close with respectable blood loss build up when paired with thorn sorcery,
@@glenmcl colossal/great/heavy weapons are fantastic against bosses just depends on the playstyle, they can do all their damage in a single jumping heavy, and black steel hammer can be buffed to hunt weaknesses and stagger large enemies
I've been rocking a very similar build ever since finding the hammer. I already liked using guard counters, so the hammer was a natural choice for me. Add in the physick tear, and i was a happy gamer. But I'm using Prayerful Strike for my AoW and sacred affinity. The holy damage on the hammer skyrockets with sacred affinity, and Prayerful Strike deals a good chunk of damage and heals. It's a great follow-up after getting a crit against most enemies
same here. i saw the hammer's holy afinity and saw it gets boosted when using holy with it, i was like, ok, this is it, also , since u are blocking all, use the Raksasa armor it makes u deal more dmg PER piece, and take more dmg per piece. , use the counterattack talisman, with holy scorpion talisman, and the talisman that increases skill dmg , and ur golden. (litteraly) , and as last talisman i took the better shielding talisman, ofc the fingerprint stone shield since its still the best
Quick question for ya homies. I saw the special guard counter but akso it says it does extra damage when infused with holy. Does this mean i need to change the infusion to holy? Or can i use like a incantation to buff my weapon with holy damage? Thsnks for the help in advance:)
@iianmitchelldub if you want the bonus damage, then yes, you'll have to use Sacred infusion. At +25, it increases the base Holy damage of the weapon from 102 with standard infusion to 330. That's more damage than a single incantation buff gives. If you don't want to use the Sacred infusion, you definitely can use other Holy buffs, but they will only give their normal amount of extra damage. It won't be amplified
I’m so happy to have seen this video because I’ve been wanting to find a way to make this hammer work. I had no clue about the guard counter mechanic for it. So I am going to try to incorporate this into my Pyromancer to make it a pyro battle mage
i prefer it with prayerful strike wa sacred infusion. it does less damage than flame infusions but you outtrade pretty much 90% of the time especially if you have 60 vigor. it also stance breaks most enemies with one wa and then one guard counter.
Love this build! But I did not respec to FAITH, so I am 80 STR + 37 FAI. I want to still be able to switch to the awesome Greatsword of Solitude and Heavy Star Fists on occasion. Therefore my Black Steel Greathammer is Heavy with Lion's Claw! The Counter mechanic on this weapon is bananas. Break their stance in one or two hits (except some bosses). I read people complain Messmer is hard, beat him second attempt. But then again, I have Scadutree level 13 + Opaline Hardtear + Boiled Crab => 80% Phys Dmg Negation and 64 poise. I could tank a few hits. Talismans: Two-headed Turtle, Curved Sword, Dragoncrest Greatshield, Great-Jar's Arsenal.
awesome build! This is actually the first weapons I got from the DLC, being a str/int build though it's just been gathering dust in my chest ^^; this one and the greathammer you get from that first forge got me sooo tempted to switch to str/faith lol PS the hardtear talisman works wonders on two hand weapons too! Giant crusher absorbs all damage if you hit the perfect block
Yes the black steel greathammer is so busted as sacred beat every boss except the last one, lol recommendation another early busted build is bloodfiend arm with blood infusion with a blood channeler summon can be put together right from the start it’s amazing
I would make a build like that, but at the moment. I'm making a thrusting shield build, a sword caster build with the new thrusting sword you can cast spells with and a miquella build with a new twinblades with a amazing ash of war only unique to that weapon.
Awesome vid, and cool build! Exactly what i needed going into the dlc! Looks like with the spells, there is enough options for mixups in pvp as well, as my brothers and i like to explore with taunters tongue on! Definitely a jack of all trades build!
Would suggest at least 16 Dex for those of us Black Key/Pulley Crossbow enjoyers and 18 and up for Greatbow enthusiasts (excepting Erdtree, which needs only 14). Also at 70 Faith you should be offhanding the Frenzy Seal with the Erdtree Seal in your main.
seems like almost every build should start with 60 vigor, 40 mind, and 50 endurance. you explain the 60 vigor. 40 mind is about a full flask replenish so you max you get the biggest bang for your buck there. and 50 endurance will give you the most equip load so you can carry more or try to get builds down to a light load. just my opinion.
Hey great build ! Just a quick question though, is it also useful to upgrade the shield to +10 or +25 or not really ? Also I think more Endurance would be required because after respec (I didn't check my bad...), my overall load is "Heavy Load" now :/ (PS : I followed exactly the recommendations from the video)
Yes upgrade the shield, it’s increases your guard boost every few levels, which decreases stamina used when blocking. And yea I had to use some extra endurance and use either erdtree favor +2 for equip load or jar arsenal, hope this helps
Dom really loves his giant hammers. Surprised he used a shield and not a second BK great hammer... 🤣 Also, technically, the Dragon Seal is the strongest, but it requires high Arcane in your build. Kinda like the one Dead Prince staff is technically the strongest staff, but it requires high faith+int.
The Black Steel Greathammer fits perfectly for my build. Too bad I killed the Black Knight before the current patch (the weapon didn't drop before), so I'm locked out of the weapon on my playthrough. It's really infuriating...
It's funny how the steam reviews are citing the DLC being too hard and they basically thrust this weapon into your hands in the first hour of the DLC unless you just started going off in a direction for hours. The tragedy of DS3 PvP was always just how late you would acquire the most interesting items and spells in the game and it almost feels like they made an effort to do the opposite. I think you'll be able to get this weapon by like level 60 off a new playthrough and still have 2/3 of the content to hit.
Thanks for this video, I was already using this weapon through the DLC, but your suggested build is way more powerful! A quick question though: I notice that throughout the video there is a small flame animation coming from the top of your greathammer, and for some reason I don't ever see this animation even though I am using the exact same weapon/art/affinity, so I am wondering what triggers this animation/effect? Thanks!
I just really really wish the Deflecting Hardtear was a talisman instead of a physick item. I want to be able to use it anytime not just when I use my physick.
All i know is lions claw with this weapon is s tier. I’m batting everything. I beat dancing lion with mimic on my second try and rellana first try. This is my main weapon with malady as my secondary. No shield either. The guard counter still slaps with just the hammer
Yeah the guard counter is great with just the hammer. Holy buffing it does stupid damage also savage lion's claw is great for most content bar from Messmer and the final boss.
I made that black knight hammer 10x better with the ash of war I put on it. I got the ash of war from the giant red rune bear. It inflicts rot and bleed at the same time, I think. It's like using rot breath but in an ash of war. I'm loving the hell out of the ash of war. I can't remember the name of it though. I got videos on my channel showing me getting it and using it in my playthrough.
I cannot find the AoW you mention, since both Great Rune Bears I know of drop either a helm or an Incantation. Maybe you can tell me the name of the Ash of War? :)
3k ATK rating?! Dang I can only manage about 2.5k with this set up. I was running the black steel greathammer with a sacred affinity paired with the prayerful strike ash of war, which did a lot of dmg but I could only manage about 1.5k ATK rating before switching to this.
![Top Things You Missed In Gravesite Plain - West [probably] - Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree Guide](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/f5ODuhSCNX8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Check out my latest build guide to help you get through the DLC: th-cam.com/video/TEQ1prGC8GY/w-d-xo.html 🤩
Wouldn't be Rakshasa Armor Set be good for overall +2% damage boost per piece and some funky resistancee modifiers that gives like 12% fire damage increase etc.? I mean... fire + holy in this build with that armor. :grin:
I love when someone says that they had no idea about something, and then actually shows us a cool hidden thing. Cheers!
This video is so reassuring because I played with two scythes (winged scythe and miquella’s light scythe) for my entire play through, and last night decided to switch it up and go for almost this EXACT build on a whim. It hits so hard, i’m loving it. Great minds think alike
Crazy that I did the EXACT same thing, same scythes dex/faith, and when I got the hammer switched to str/faith all the way down to flame strike aow. Great minds indeed...
This hammer has been my best friend since the moment it dropped for me an hour into the dlc.
Guard counter in general is great for the DLC, I've been playing that since the beginning, now I even upgraded to the new Verdigris Greatshield.
I had more trouble with the Black Gaol Knight than I did with the Dancing Lion, or Rellana. As it turned out, I just needed to use my claymore. Trusty claymore.
Some people aren't getting the greathammer from the black knight at the Church Of Consolation they're getting the black steel greatshield instead.
Yea I got a great shield and was pissed cuz I got one to drop off earlier
I got the Shield too.
From what I’ve determined, if you were in offline mode (Console) on patch 1.12 you’ll get the Shield. If you were in Online mode under patch 1.12.1 you’ll get the Hammer. Yet to confirm but players are suggesting it can drop of the Black Knight in Castle Ensis. If not, you’re screwed unless FromSoft patches so the Black Knight at Church of Consolation can respawn.
any black knight can drop the hammer or shield, after castle ensis there are plenty
@@joseluisrodriguezramirez9071 I hope you’re correct.
tip to improve this build. Either go sacred infusion with sacred blade to take advantage of inherent holy damage to get past armor breakpoints or go Heavy infusion with 80 strength and 30ish faith for buffs. 13 int for orders blade which will add on top of inherent damage. Enemy defense has a % reduction and a flat subtraction so having a small amount of holy dmg will be wasted if not buffed. Splitting to physical/flame/holy will have 3 flat subtractions.
I use prayerful strike with a sacred infusion and 80 faith and 128 poise. So I power through the attack while charging the weapon art, trade with the enemy doing so, then prayerful strike heal me and any allies I have (including summons). It's a very Unga bunga build lol
is heavy really better than flame art ? i am trying to get this build working rn so im trying to make it as strong as possible
@@danielade6279yes, like OP said splitting 3 damage types isn’t worth it
@@danielade6279 Flame art is good but it's not using the inherent holy damage on this weapon. Heavy allow enchanting with orders blade stacking on top of holy and physical or sacred blade if you have more faith to stack holy on holy, buffed by holy cracked tear in flask. Flame art adds a small amount of fire and leaves the small amount of faith to both be subtracted out. For each element you add, you need to subtract 100-200 dmg depending on the enemy armor. So against a boss, the fire and holy will add no damage. But if you buff the holy it will be over and above what is subtracted out.
Prayerful strike is also a good ash of war to throw on. Sacred or heavy both work great
Another weapon that smacks with a build like this is the rot fiend arm I think it's called. Collosal weapon as well but you pump arcane and put it on occult and it procs bleed in 1 charged heavy attack. Also has crazy high damage and very good poise damage.
Blood fiends are the worst lol
This Hammer is carrying me through the DLC with Savage Lion's Claw, also has excellent Arcane scaling! I use the Haligtree Greatshield for Guard Counters
RIP at 2 bosses I won't spoil for you. They start with M and R
@@glenmcl Those bosses are RIP with any type of build, quitting those cheese tactics
@@glenmcli will spoil it for ya M for maliketh R for Rennela
Reported @@muqsit.99
@@glenmcl not really. Use any shield with high guard boost and then a spear with bleed. Block and poke.
Kill them without barely taking any damage, a bit cheesy haha.
sorry if this is a dumb question but why do i not have the option for flame art affinity when applying flmaing strike? only have fire affinity
edit: i figured it out if anyone else has this issue, you need the red hot whetstone in redmanes castle
Thank you I was searching the comments for this problem!
Thanks
I‘ve got the same problem🤔
@@mr.t7236 you need the red hot whetstone in Redmanes castle
I got that knights weapon at the very beginning in that church and been rocking it all dlc
Been saying it from day 1. Black steel great hammer made things a lot easier. I just happened to wander down there as soon as I entered the DLC and it was the first item I got.
Same
The stonebarbed cracked tear effect only lasts for 30 seconds. I use it, but I typically save it for phase 2 of boss fights when I really need that stagger.
Amazing video mate, thanks!
Just a quick tip for everyone, you don't have to block at the last second to activate the guard counter ability; just have your shield blocking all the way and then press R2 👍🏻
I fell bass ackwards into this build after failing and retrying the first hippo boss a bunch haha. So happy its getting air time - so effective, and makes the DLC actually manageble.
I love the black Knight chest armor. Before, Altered Ronin chest was my favorite looking one but the BK looks awesome and has better stats. Looks amazing with Malicat gauntlets and I'm wearing Moore legs because i like the look better that Lionel for heavier armor (but BK, Malicat or even Night Cavalry work as well) because I'm wearing either thief mask or headband on my female character because they look great but don't offer any defense.
I wish i knew the shield was a guaranteed drop from a certain enemy (after a while i kinda figured it's like the hammer was) instead of spending 40 minutes farming one to never get it.
I’ve been rocking the night amour set that you get from the Bonny gaol. It’s a light set but looks badass
That hammer is so brutal. I'm using it on my lv 135 quality/faith build (without a shield though). It hits like a truck and the damage can be buffed to even more obscene levels, despite me having just 53 fth.
Still working on the DLC, I was away from home when it dropped so I’m getting in later than everyone else.
Lvl 225
60 vigor
25 mind
45 endurance
75 str/dex (quality builds get to test more weapons after all)
Fingerprint shield
Buckler
Bloodhound Fang
Great Stars
Knight Rider Glaive
Scaled Armor
Whatever consumables make sense in any given fight. My physical damage is pretty solid, so the consumables just give me an additional edge. Took out all field/gaol bosses in the first area, running the first legacy dungeon tonight.
FINALLY A STR/FAI build that actually bumps a respectable amount into Faith. I've been getting really tired of all these "STR/FAI" that basically just end up being a Strength build with a bit of Faith sprinkled in for buffs and stuff. Legit saw one build the other day actually have the audacity to call itself a STR/FAI build, and it only had *15 FAITH!!* What the heck, man?! I'm sorry, but you don't get to call yourself a Faith build just because you raised Faith over the minimum for your starting class XD
Ranting aside, AWESOME build vid, dude! I've been running a STR/FAI build since the beginning, and found the Black Steel Greathammer pretty much immediately when I started the DLC. It instantly became one of my favorite weapons in the entire game!! I tend to swap a lot between playing with a shield, two-handing, and powerstancing, but as someone who's been playing as a tanky, heavily armored "paladin" style build, and loving the new Guard Counter mechanic, this weapon was MADE for me!!
For a real tank black hammer build slow and methodical and like the black knight, go for the new tear to boost the spontaneous guard, damage resist tear,or health regen, two headed turtle, talisman that gives defence when overweight, shield talisman, third can be guard counter one or the one that gives better defence when at full health and final slot can be exchanged for whatever defence talisman is needed for the situation makes the game easy mode, full fat gear go as heavy as you like put on multiple weapons multiple shields for every situation and have fun
Didn't the shield talisman get nerfed the better the shield is?
Sacred Blade is a great AoW choice as well as it gives you some range AND there's an additional Holy Boost to the weapon that lingers for about 30 seconds. It's significant.
That hammer smacks. I been using that and the fingerprint shield from the beginning of the DLC.
Where in the video does he talk about the affinity for the Messmer fight? He said he’d talk about it later at 1:56 but I can’t seem to find it. I’m about to fight Messmer with this build
Killed the knight that drops the hammer on an early DLC build when he still dropped the shield, now I am unable to get the hammer at all on a character that focused on Greatshields, Holy Damage and Counter Attacks. Thanks Fromsoft!
You must have been playing offline with your game not updated. Not From's problem.
I’m using this exact build, but instead of flame art I’m using sacred and using Golden Land. The AoE is insane and the hurts bosses pretty bad too.
was looking for a guard counter builds, didnt knew this weapon had a special move ty!
Use Moore NPC shield 🛡️ with 90 guard boost called veridis shield
There's also the black mirror shield that has a special powerful counter attack
I theory crafted almost the same thing 2 nights ago, and was blown away when i shit on all 5 bosses i had found but couldnt beat woth my katana build. The old meta is back in a new way, praise the shield! 😂🎉
How did you upgrade the shield? What weapon art did you use for it?
I've been running a block/counter build since day one. I use iron greatsword and sometimes blasphemous blade. Glad to know this hammer is that good, I'll definitely try it thx
Looks fun. I do have one critique. The Frenzy Seal works fine, but until you invest in all 4 offensive stats to 60, it's outperformed by the Erdtree, Godslayer, and Finger Seals, because it also allows the use of healing spell at full power and will have a higher Incantation scaling. Heals and weapon buffs only function with the faith portion of any seals' scaling.
So, add Flaming Strike ash of war with Flame art affinity, and no skill on the shield ... Correct?
Wrong hammer for flame arts but thats the jist it seems. This is a bad video with bad ideas dont listen to this guy lmao
@@bronysaiyan5236why?
@@emptysoul2757 spilt damage is unfortunately horrible in all souls games. Focus on 1 element best as possible. So for Black Steel Hammer go Holy or Phys only otherwise you got 3 damage checks that multiplicitively lessen.
@@bronysaiyan5236 this build slaps bro, try it out. 1400 AP in one hand and I don't even have all the scad frags
If you want to utilize more of a guard counter build with this set up, you can easily do it with Braggart's Roar AoW- affixed to your choosing of affinity, the extra dmg, stamina recovery and dmg negation helps out a lot
Literally my first build in the DLC. As soon as I got that hammer, I went straight for a greatshield and started bonking. Only difference is I used sacred instead of flame art
Aside from that hideous Fingerprint shield, what is the next best shield in the game? I'm mainly referring to guard boost potential, but look-wise, too.
@@jayviktor6130 That really depends on how much Str/End you have. Also, looks are fairly subjective so that will depend entirely on you. The Verdigris shield actually has more stability but is both heavy as fuck and takes a metric ton of strength to use. I'm fond of the Eclipse Greatshield and the Distinguished Greatshield as both are on the lighter side for the category and I like how they look.
Neat build setup! I have the stats to try this out, I'll give it a spin once I actually have time to play and can farm the runes to upgrade a shield and hammer.
One note: you mentioned that you wouldn't use this particular set up against Messer and that you'd mention it later in the video. Did I miss you mentioning it?
Anyway, fun build video. I appreciate people making actually viable fun builds that don't just include adding every buff to "OP 1 shot boss". Looking forward to exploring more of the dlc with this load out.
Saw many comments about the weapon: Since I did NOT kill that knight yet and went on today (as of 26-Feb) and killed him for the first time. Weapon did drop. (V. 1.2.1 or 1.2.2) Hope it helps others wondering if they can / should play the build :)
I've been using this build and freaking love it!!! I'm so glad you're giving it a spotlight.
First of all i'm mimicking this even it's been 2 months
and I barely started the video.. thanks this is for my 2nd character
Will watch most your vids eventually but basically doing the blind run still.
This DLC is so big. Hardest boss so far is the verticality of the maps. I’m lost and constantly saying “how the f do I get to that place??” Took hrs but finally found my way to the Glaive wielding Rot boss. That area was such a maze for me and all I wanted was that map piece you don’t even acquire there, lol. Love this game.
Hype, been using it myself and stoked to see how you configured this build
Great video! I just wanted say that you’ll need at least 23 Mind to summon Black Knife Tiche
Thank you for the info! 😁
Ok so I really like this weapon and I play mostly as a paladin so it was made for me!!! I was thinking of using prayerful strike though as the ash of war to get some healing back while I’m beating on people. Will that work fairly well?? I don’t totally understand all the ash of war and dmg types if I’m honest.
Yeah man Prayerful strike is always good!
You need to do a series called, explain this to me as if I'm 5. I'm so stupid when it comes to following build guides. But thanks for these videos I'm been flowing for a number of years.
This just made the game fun for me again. Thank you for this
Hiding behind a Greatshield and swinging a heavy hammer is fun for you ?
That hammer is the first thing that dropped for me on Friday. Already have a Faith build. No wonder my sacred relic sword is carrying me. Wave of gold’n motherfuckers everywhere
For those on console having trouble getting the hammer. My first play through of the dlc I was offline and got the shield. The next play through I was online and got the hammer to drop.
I seem to be getting much better damage with holy affinity prayerful strike instead of fire slash. Coupling the heals from prayerful strike with ritual shield taslasim is also nice 👍
The only thing I recommend to add to this build is Pest Threads against big bosses. This thing is Dragon Shredder. Really helped me to do 4k damage per cast unbuffed to Bayle
Is the new pest thread spear incant any good?
@@jakeryan2805 From my testing its just a straight up upgrade. maybe even more cost efficient
Thanks will try it with Senessax, this fucker is kicking my ass so badly I kinda want to go back to my Arcane rot/bleed build and just nuke him :)
A good alternative for black knight greatshield could be the Erdtree greatshield dropped from the duo tree sentinels in altus plateau. It has 84 holy negation aswell.
swap shield to haligtree crest greatshield and chestpiece to ledas armor if you want to look like an absolute fashion chad
This is an amazing build. I did a very similar build but included the Crucible Armor and some of the new Aspect spells. I have done some testing, and I am not convinced that Faith as the main stat is better than Str and heavy infusion with ~40 faith is not a better route. Using heavy and then Holy Tear + Holy weapon buff gets pretty good damage. But really depends on your spell vs melee usage.
I missed your videos! So happy that Elden Ring DLC finally dropped- looking forward to seeing and hearing your thoughts. Probably gonna take a few ideas from your build here. :)
Thanks for bein' rad!
i feel like there are so many ways to break the game now that the new weapons/spells are so OP. Almost everybuild has been buffed you can even turtle behind a shield. the OP builds from the base game however is no longer viable. I was a bleed king with the dual occult scavanger curved blade and they suck so hard now.
Black knight builds are very strong STR or DEX they both hit hard and provide good defense with alot of variety.
Also med. Shields below 100 have uses, alberichs set with staff and shield of the guilty, both are fall backs for when enemies get too close with respectable blood loss build up when paired with thorn sorcery,
Until bosses. Slow weapons are bad on bosses
@@glenmcl colossal/great/heavy weapons are fantastic against bosses just depends on the playstyle, they can do all their damage in a single jumping heavy, and black steel hammer can be buffed to hunt weaknesses and stagger large enemies
I've been rocking a very similar build ever since finding the hammer. I already liked using guard counters, so the hammer was a natural choice for me. Add in the physick tear, and i was a happy gamer.
But I'm using Prayerful Strike for my AoW and sacred affinity. The holy damage on the hammer skyrockets with sacred affinity, and Prayerful Strike deals a good chunk of damage and heals. It's a great follow-up after getting a crit against most enemies
same here. i saw the hammer's holy afinity and saw it gets boosted when using holy with it, i was like, ok, this is it, also , since u are blocking all, use the Raksasa armor it makes u deal more dmg PER piece, and take more dmg per piece. , use the counterattack talisman, with holy scorpion talisman, and the talisman that increases skill dmg , and ur golden. (litteraly) , and as last talisman i took the better shielding talisman, ofc the fingerprint stone shield since its still the best
Quick question for ya homies. I saw the special guard counter but akso it says it does extra damage when infused with holy. Does this mean i need to change the infusion to holy? Or can i use like a incantation to buff my weapon with holy damage? Thsnks for the help in advance:)
@iianmitchelldub if you want the bonus damage, then yes, you'll have to use Sacred infusion. At +25, it increases the base Holy damage of the weapon from 102 with standard infusion to 330. That's more damage than a single incantation buff gives.
If you don't want to use the Sacred infusion, you definitely can use other Holy buffs, but they will only give their normal amount of extra damage. It won't be amplified
So Holy is the way to go or fire is stronger ?
You can also go heavy prayerful strike it has worked well for me.
I’m so happy to have seen this video because I’ve been wanting to find a way to make this hammer work. I had no clue about the guard counter mechanic for it. So I am going to try to incorporate this into my Pyromancer to make it a pyro battle mage
That weapon and shield are made to be used with maliketh armour set
They go amazing together
i prefer it with prayerful strike wa sacred infusion. it does less damage than flame infusions but you outtrade pretty much 90% of the time especially if you have 60 vigor. it also stance breaks most enemies with one wa and then one guard counter.
Love this build! But I did not respec to FAITH, so I am 80 STR + 37 FAI. I want to still be able to switch to the awesome Greatsword of Solitude and Heavy Star Fists on occasion. Therefore my Black Steel Greathammer is Heavy with Lion's Claw! The Counter mechanic on this weapon is bananas. Break their stance in one or two hits (except some bosses). I read people complain Messmer is hard, beat him second attempt. But then again, I have Scadutree level 13 + Opaline Hardtear + Boiled Crab => 80% Phys Dmg Negation and 64 poise. I could tank a few hits. Talismans: Two-headed Turtle, Curved Sword, Dragoncrest Greatshield, Great-Jar's Arsenal.
awesome build! This is actually the first weapons I got from the DLC, being a str/int build though it's just been gathering dust in my chest ^^; this one and the greathammer you get from that first forge got me sooo tempted to switch to str/faith lol
PS the hardtear talisman works wonders on two hand weapons too! Giant crusher absorbs all damage if you hit the perfect block
Just a slight correction, you need Mind 24 to use every spirit ash. Or 19 and godricks great rune ofc
Great video, but is anyone else a little disappointed we did not get the crucible aspect tongue as a spell?
Yes the black steel greathammer is so busted as sacred beat every boss except the last one, lol recommendation another early busted build is bloodfiend arm with blood infusion with a blood channeler summon can be put together right from the start it’s amazing
I would make a build like that, but at the moment. I'm making a thrusting shield build, a sword caster build with the new thrusting sword you can cast spells with and a miquella build with a new twinblades with a amazing ash of war only unique to that weapon.
This the first thing I picked up and I’m still in love
Awesome vid, and cool build! Exactly what i needed going into the dlc! Looks like with the spells, there is enough options for mixups in pvp as well, as my brothers and i like to explore with taunters tongue on! Definitely a jack of all trades build!
This man saw how effective this build was on Asmon's run and said "Let's make this better!"
Good vid! I can hit a bit harder now! 😁👌
I actually didn't see Asmon using it but good to know! 😁
@@DomsRoundtable Goes to show how well you can create your own builds! Either way, I'm stealing this build for awhile...
Thanks for the awesome build "
New to dlc..
And looking for a new build,
Really enjoying this build, thanks for the video Dom
Thanks for the guide man! I beat Renalla on the 3rd try with this.
This video was so helpful ive been wanting a blacksteel greathammer build since i got it
Would suggest at least 16 Dex for those of us Black Key/Pulley Crossbow enjoyers and 18 and up for Greatbow enthusiasts (excepting Erdtree, which needs only 14). Also at 70 Faith you should be offhanding the Frenzy Seal with the Erdtree Seal in your main.
seems like almost every build should start with 60 vigor, 40 mind, and 50 endurance. you explain the 60 vigor. 40 mind is about a full flask replenish so you max you get the biggest bang for your buck there. and 50 endurance will give you the most equip load so you can carry more or try to get builds down to a light load. just my opinion.
Blue dew talisman has changed life for me. Having just 20 mind I feel like I'm merlin out here lol
Sacred infusion would give this weapon better damage, unless a target is especially resistant to holy. Triple damage types isn't a positive.
Black knights are super weak to frost if you need to arm that weapon. A twin blade with frost stun locks them even past ng7 scaling.
My character is a confessor lvl 150 , im definitely will try this build to day
Hey great build ! Just a quick question though, is it also useful to upgrade the shield to +10 or +25 or not really ? Also I think more Endurance would be required because after respec (I didn't check my bad...), my overall load is "Heavy Load" now :/ (PS : I followed exactly the recommendations from the video)
Yes upgrade the shield, it’s increases your guard boost every few levels, which decreases stamina used when blocking. And yea I had to use some extra endurance and use either erdtree favor +2 for equip load or jar arsenal, hope this helps
Dom really loves his giant hammers. Surprised he used a shield and not a second BK great hammer... 🤣
Also, technically, the Dragon Seal is the strongest, but it requires high Arcane in your build. Kinda like the one Dead Prince staff is technically the strongest staff, but it requires high faith+int.
The gimmick of this hammer is guard counters, you cant guard with two weapons.
Dom, your videos are so good. Informative, fun to watch, and I love your voice. Great per usual.
Hi and sorry but you're wrong he avoids many details to allow himself to do more videos, to force the viewer to make other research.
Ayyyee I made it early. Beat the DLC yesterday and it is a damn masterpiece
Congratulations! 🤩
@DomsRoundtable Your videos are an amazing help for my item pickup run. Really well put together! Keep them coming! 😃
Incredibly detailed, concise and helpful video. Subbed for life.
Do you guys keep high armor and just fat roll or do you go for medium load?
Seems like a fun build. Might finally switch from my Dark Moon Greatsword one (which also makes the game very easy). It was getting a bit stale ;)
The Black Steel Greathammer fits perfectly for my build. Too bad I killed the Black Knight before the current patch (the weapon didn't drop before), so I'm locked out of the weapon on my playthrough. It's really infuriating...
How are you putting the fire onto the hammer itself
L2 then r1. It's a followup attack from the ash of war. Hope that helps.
It's L2 then R2.
My morning coffee hits so much harder with these everyday 😻
Thank you for this, can’t wait to respec and try. What do you think are the chances this will get nerfed soon though?
It's funny how the steam reviews are citing the DLC being too hard and they basically thrust this weapon into your hands in the first hour of the DLC unless you just started going off in a direction for hours. The tragedy of DS3 PvP was always just how late you would acquire the most interesting items and spells in the game and it almost feels like they made an effort to do the opposite. I think you'll be able to get this weapon by like level 60 off a new playthrough and still have 2/3 of the content to hit.
Amazing. Does Shard of Alexander buff this hammer’s guard counter? Thank you for the great build and explanation.
It does not
Build is great but isn't working against Mesmer. Any suggestion on changes to tackle him?
It won't work against a lot of bosses.
Great Video , Thanks Dom 😄 im loving this build
Im still destroying everything with the bloodhounds fang 😅
Thanks for this video, I was already using this weapon through the DLC, but your suggested build is way more powerful!
A quick question though: I notice that throughout the video there is a small flame animation coming from the top of your greathammer, and for some reason I don't ever see this animation even though I am using the exact same weapon/art/affinity, so I am wondering what triggers this animation/effect? Thanks!
I just really really wish the Deflecting Hardtear was a talisman instead of a physick item. I want to be able to use it anytime not just when I use my physick.
All i know is lions claw with this weapon is s tier. I’m batting everything. I beat dancing lion with mimic on my second try and rellana first try. This is my main weapon with malady as my secondary. No shield either. The guard counter still slaps with just the hammer
Yeah the guard counter is great with just the hammer. Holy buffing it does stupid damage also savage lion's claw is great for most content bar from Messmer and the final boss.
And ur focus stat is faith or strength?
Cuz from what ive seen, this hammer works better with full strength
@@Piiratilla I’m 80 strength and 55 faith
@@Bluegotti40 Nice, and ur affinity on the hammer??
@@Piiratilla sacred +24
I made that black knight hammer 10x better with the ash of war I put on it. I got the ash of war from the giant red rune bear. It inflicts rot and bleed at the same time, I think. It's like using rot breath but in an ash of war. I'm loving the hell out of the ash of war. I can't remember the name of it though. I got videos on my channel showing me getting it and using it in my playthrough.
I cannot find the AoW you mention, since both Great Rune Bears I know of drop either a helm or an Incantation. Maybe you can tell me the name of the Ash of War? :)
@Plerion the ash of war is called (The Poison Flower Blooms Twice)
legit does no damage with all buffs for me
Same for me he prob has 20 scadu blessing cuz i had every buff and did 1.4k per guardcounter
Finally a holly counter build with this hammer. Respeccing tonight😁
3k ATK rating?! Dang I can only manage about 2.5k with this set up.
I was running the black steel greathammer with a sacred affinity paired with the prayerful strike ash of war, which did a lot of dmg but I could only manage about 1.5k ATK rating before switching to this.
What would you recommend stat wise for a 150 build? I started with confessor and these stats would put me at 170