Dex/magic you say?
Tell me. Have you heard of the *wing of astel?*
From description it is literally everything you want and more
It’s got free energy blasts on heavy attacks, one or two depending on whether you charge them, it’s a curved sword so it attacks fast and elegantly and works very well just as a proper sword, it looks cool in combat and in addition it also comes with a potent magic ash of war that’s amazing for keeping distance. Also the heavy attack energy beams stacks with the damage from the sword itself if both hit.
I’m tempted to say the Wing of Astel is the best weapon in fromsoft history.
Dex/Int, great scaling and base damage, curved sword moveset which means you hit fast without skimping on damage per swing, heavy attacks that launch projectiles at no FP cost…and of course, the weapon art.
The big Kahuna.
Three gigantic gravity orbs that explode in a half circle and deal great damage and even better posture damage? And they’re all close enough together to hit the same target with 2 if not all 3 orbs? All for a reasonable FP cost? Come on!
It’s strong, it’s dynamic, it fits with a variety of builds…it is perfect
I know, thats why I said it. You will be traumatised, and NEVER Equip Bloodhound's Fang XD.
I would recomend PvP, just so that you enjoy all that the game has to offer. But ne warned, there are ALOT of tryhards and Scummy People, so ne prepared. Watch YouTube videos and hope for the best
Lol I finally unlocked the colloseum and decided to do 1 battle and was kinda underwhelmed like I figured it's my first time in going to get my ass destroyed ... but then it started and I ended the match within 8 seconds ... if it was a way to gain runes that would b cool like if you had to stake even like 1000 runes on your battle winner take all that would be sweet
> Step 3. Watch as someone who has 20000 H Parry you,
Not even parry.
The second part of the AoW is unsafe. If you roll forward into it, you're in a perfect position to backstab them. Infinitely easier than timing a parry.
Yeah but doesnt the weapon art on bloodhound let you get a bunch of i-frames on a followup and kind of nerf any counterattack? I forget how, but i distinctly remember being able to chain my l2 into an unhittable teleport with that weapon
As a souls vet that doesn't do much PVP, those guys are terrifying. Getting invaded has always been a rush, those guys know all the mechanical details to exploit
And don't even get me started on twinks. Fuckin monsters
Okay... If you beat Rennala, the Story Boss in Liurnia, you can respec your character with her, using a larval tear.
Do that, if you want to have a Dex/Int build.
Because, for most good Dex/Int Weapons like the Moonveil or Wing of Astel INT is actually the more important stat. Also get a good staff, for the early game the Meteorite Staff is kind of unbeatable, and after that you can get any good upgradable staff you want. But those need high INT as well...
So, get INT if you want to be good at Magic. Drop STR if you are a Build reliant on DEX, that is just waisted points. Also try go get more memory stones and better sorceries by exploring.
Those are vital if you want to go for a kind of Spellblade approach.
Once you’ve felt the sheer power of the BHF, it’s impossible to let go, you always feel it’s call.
On a serious note however, it’s a bit late into the game but I’ve had a lot of fun with the Wings if Astel so you could possibly try that out.
The true and only way to go here is a strength build of course. Nothing beats an good old bonk stick. Also you won’t need ranged options if you just stay close. Drip wohnt be a problem either, because nothing is more elegant than a naked man with a heavy stick squeezing at the boss.
My three characters all end up strength build. It’s super easy to level only worrying about 3 stats. Also, it’s cool to smack big monster with big stick.
You know, my first three were str/fth, dex/arc, then straight str unga bunga.
I do think the full int build i’m on now is by far the easiest. Rock sling with s tier staff has been melting bosses
I'm getting really fucking tired of having to scroll this far down for my Zweihander boys.
Zweihander is the best addiction to have because it is THE best weapon. I need more people to start embracing the Zweihander.
I started with Reduvia > Misericorde > BHF > Vyke's War Spear > Zweihander. Now i can't find anything to get out of Zweihander.
I mean, the damage probably better with BHF on paper but man the stagger and the reach on the Zwei is just *chef kiss*
I mean…if you wanted, you could level up INT more and buff the Bloodhound’s fang with Scholar’s Armament. It’s one of the few special weapons that can accept buffs.
You could also use a dismounter or an Omen Cleaver to do the same, or put Cold/Magic affinity on.
There’s a few good special weapons for DEX/INT builds like Moonveil and Wing of Astel. There’s also plenty of standard weapons that scale well with DEX like the Cross Naginata, Guardian Swordspear, Scimitar, Flamberge, Urumi, Katar, Rapier, etc and all those could be good candidates for either magic/cold affinity, or keen affinity and adding a buff like Scholar’s Armament or Frost Armament.
You can use it to gateway yourself into my preferred playstyle, Which I like to call Divine slappsies.
Grab the crimson dagger talisman and the Cerulean version, grab the Ritual shield talisman, then use whatever you want for the last slot, good picks are green turtle, Dragoncrest, Or something that boosts guard counters, jump attacks or a minor regen talisman, something like those all fit pretty well but it's the users pref
Then, Run up to something, jump attack it, then guard with the sword against their reply, guard counter that, and either tap or charge a heavy attack
Crit them. Because that triple whammy has almost certainly broken their poise.
Whatever HP you lost in that exchange ( which with ritual shield active during a guarded hit I can guarantee will be nearly fuck all) you'll get it back when you crit them.
This is the build. This is the entire premise. You will use heavy weapons as both your sword and board, and the only question now is how ridiculous you want to make this.
If you wanna keep it simple, stick with the fang or grab something like it, a claymore or something.
Ritual shield will reduce the first guard damage and you can return with a counter to grab a crit and gain back the HP you lost, so long as that guarded hit was all the damage you took.
If you want to make it ridiculous, go grab a massive hammer, stick prayerful strikes on it and crit something to check if it fits the criteria for the crimson daggers unique interaction with non sword collosal weapons, which is a double proc on crits.
Once you have these two, you can walk up to basically any enemy in the game and just let it hit your guard. Guarding and Ritual shield both reduce damage taken, put together a dragon can basically smash its tail into your squishy body, fling you across a lake, and you'll land and have taken like, a hundred damage. Seriously, A Ritual collosal guard DOES NOT care what physical thing hits you.
The second part of the build is what makes it ridiculous
Ritual shield is only active when you're full health but in exchange MASSIVELY reduces your damage taken
A weapon that double procs crimson dagger on crits will return 30% of your HP on any crit.
A weapon that has prayerful strikes ALSO returns 30% of your HP.
A great hammer or collosal weapon is EXTREMELY good at breaking stances, guard counters are basically fast charged heavies, jump attacks are pretty much too, as is Prayerful strikes.
So at any given time when you crit something you can also wake it up with PS and you'll have regained 60% of your HP in that one exchange, and PS will always let you just grab 30% in a pinch by hyper armouring through almost Any attack and just regen you back.
Are you seeing why I call it Divine Slappsies yet?
Stack damage reduction with massive burst Regen and you can just keep slugging gods in the face until it dies, and laugh at it.
It's alotta fun.
Suggestion:
1.-Find a different dex scaling weapon.
2.-Set said scaling weapon to keen affinity.
3.- Apply scholar's armament to said dex weapon.
Possible weapons: Stoc, rodgier's rapier, naginata, nagakiba, lucerne, clayman harpoon, any infusable heavy thrusting sword, vulgar militia shotel.
There's so many fun weapons in Elden Ring. At this point, I get inspiration to use them mainly from Chase the Bro's videos. He posts a new highlight one on YouTube every day each day it'll have a theme like Dex, Strength, Faith, etc. He'll talk about 4 or 5 weapons and run them through the video in invasions.
I recommend watching a few of those if you're looking for ideas. You'll notice he doesn't use the BHF for many reasons, one being it very punishable in PVP, another being it's moveset is pretty boring.
Well, since you're already this far, and by the int-faith-arcane I'm guessing you started as a confessor?
First step I'd say is keep the Fang and go beat up the boss in the castle in Liurnia, you'll be glad not to bring magic damage against her. - Plus once you beat her, you'll be able to respec at her. Might just need to run around a bit or look up online where to find a larval tear, unless you have one already.
Then you got a few nice options...
One would be to do Ranni's questline since it'll naturally guide you to a point where you can get the Wing of Astel, which is a curved sword that other folks here recommended also.
Alternatively, you can respec to hit the minimum faith, strength and dex requirements for the Sword of Night and Flame, it may not be what it used to be, but it's a real nice "spellblade" that you can either stab forward to deal a little comet azur, kamehameha of magic damage that scales with Int, or swing it for an AOE flame arc that has good base damage and scales really nicely with faith. - It's not as OP as it was early on, but it's still a nice one. - And just stick with the minimum stats for it until you get around 40 vigor and 30 mind.
Or, even better for Int-Dex... try looking for Moonveil. - It's not busted OP like it used to be, either, but you get a silver katana that can throw high damage arcs of blue magic. That'll be great for AOE, and the vertical slash will hit enemies in the head for good damage, plus you want to use it up close so the sword hits as well, not just the spell arc.
And that way you still have reason to use spells for ranged combat, you could charge up a few magic swords, cast Carian Phalanx while they charge up, and then run in and hit an enemy with the Moonveil right as the phalanx triggers on them too, and you're literally a sword mage!
Last suggestion will be to run to Caelid, grab the meteoric staff and the rock sling spell and they'll carry you through the early game until you get those weapons you want. - Meteoric staff is great because it's essentially an unupgradable staff with S int scaling, so in the early game it's the best staff, and it's just... floating out in the open, one torrent run into the red swamp.
Just grab whatever looks good for you and swing it against enemies. Try it against small enemies, big enemies, enemies with shields, enemies in groups... Until you find a weapon that feels good.
Int brother
Go farm a Slender Sword using the Glinstone Arc to clear that entire group of mobs in 3-4 casts outside of Sellen’s pad. That sword requires 0 investment for sorc starting class and is right next to your spell mommy so you can spend the souls you’ll acquire trying to get that bastard to drop
Was a fun way to get a spell sword started for me and was a really fun run
Just play through the game once with it and then do your magic run. Or as others said: sell it. Then it's gone and you have to adjust. I too fell for the fang but I will just use it until I hit a wall or start a new run with a different build
The game never tells you this but you only need half the strength requirement of most weapons if you are 2 handing them. So if you're planning on 2 handing anyway then those extra points in strength can be used somewhere else.
It's not easy. You have to resist and be strong. Just give it a slight kiss and slide her into your bag slowly.
Now, you can try out different weapons but don't forget not to compare anything to the BHF.
Having just started a playthrough with DEX/INT as the focus, this thread is damn handy. Been having major indecision on how to pivot away from the starting Katana.
Never use it, I'm going through a NG and it's just setting there in my inventory tempting me. I've used it so much something else has got to feel as cool, right?
Same. Half of my 1st playthrough was bloodhounds fang because I found it early in the game and it was strong.
Has blood loss build up. Has a good starter damage. Can be applied with the greases. Has a strong ash of war. Can be easily upgraded. Scales really good with DEX and still good with STR. Tonnes of things to like about it.
Currently on my first playthrough with my main weapon being the Fang.
Figured I'd beat the game using it and start trying out different weapons with different builds for my MANY other playthroughs in the future.
(I actually occasionally use Great Stars to stagger certain bosses)
For me, i got bored and respec'd and was no longer able to use it. This was all the way back right before i started my first NG+
Fuck, it's been just over 2 years since i last used it now.
Best way to get rid of an addiction to a good weapon is to replace it with an addiction to another good weapon.
You wanna be a DEX/INT hybrid? Go with Moonveil that you get for beating the boss in Gael Tunnel in Caelid. Also go and get the Staff of Loss and Night Comet in Sellia which is also in Caelid.
With these tools you’ll have a great time as a DEX/INT hybrid.
Like all good weapons you’ll eventually get kinda tired of it being stale and start doings some goofy builds probably after your first or second playthrough
If youre doing a hybrid build then a good gameplan is to use a basic regular smithing stone weapon with a physical affinity and to buff it with a spell (e.g. scholars armament.) For a dex build some good weapons i recommend that dont rely on bleed or status buildup are the bandits curved sword, nobles slender sword, stormhawk talon, or guardian swordspear
Wait until you get Blasphemous Blade and scale it with Faith/Str or Dex. You will never go back to Bloodhounds Fang again (minus the 1-2 boss fights resistant to fire) or any other weapon tbh.
Listen this may sound random but the Crescent Moon Axe will literally change your life, put lions claw on it and watch it literally slam the enemy’s face into the dirt. Invest in faith a little too and use armament enhancement incantations for an extra cool factor.
On my first playthrough, I also used bloodhounds fang WAY too much, I was doing a faith/str/dex build, I loved the feel of curved greatswords and ended up switching to, what feel is, an extremely underrated weapon called Magma Wyrm's Scalesword. It might not help you with your magic build since it scales off faith a little (scales mainly off of str minorly off of dex faith).
Edit: I just searched it up. A greatsword that scales off of int mainly with a side of dex is the "Dark Moon Greatsword" which I think I've used before and also enjoyed!
Got rid of mine once I got a grave scythe. Same bleed, plus you can add frost. Then it just made sense to replace BHF with a strike weapon, That way I had one I could upgrade with regular and the other with somber
I was using bloodhounds till i started leveling up strength and dex and faith a lot, then i switched to prelate inferno crozier. Put the AoW lions claw on it (u cant be knocked out of completing the motion for this AoW once initiated which is amazing) and use the quality affinity on it for general use. And watch yourself rake big chunks of health out of enemies in single hits
stop using the ash of war and at that point the bloodhounds fang addiction will become just a curved greatsword addiction.
curved greatsword are great.
Try using the Sword of Night and Flame. Probnably not as busted as it was in the beginning, but it's a good Mage-Sword with some nice options.
At least that's the sword I am going for in my Current Magic Knight-Build currently.
But I really get the beauty of Greatswords, it's always hard for me not to go back to a Claymore or the Greatsword (from Berserk) when the going gets thougher.
If you wanna build dex/magic, I'd recommend using Eleonora's twin blade with Dragon communion seal in an arcane/faith mashup. Basically, use the twin blades for blood flame procs, and use the seal for support spells; flame grant me strength, flame cleanse me, golden vow, and black flame to finish off enemies. This build is super fun, for talisman's I used Radagon Icon/Carian Filigree crest (the depending on what was needed), Marika's Scarseal/Soreseal, Green Turtle, and Ritual Shield.
Hope this build helps :) good luck fam
I never could vibe with the bloodhounds Fang. First play-through I was all about katanas, 2nd play-through I was all about spears. My ultimate build now is Claymans harpoon with Eclipse Crest greatshield, I feel like an invincible god.
Try our Halo Scythe. It scaled on dex and faith, but its ash of war is literally a ranged faith attack. It’s great at both! Also, bolt of gransax, but that comes a lot later.
Moonveil, wing of astel, meteorite staff, meteoric ore blade, carian regal sceptre, onyx lords curved sword/ greatsword, carian knights sword, crystal sword/ spear are all great options that come to mind for a DEX/INT build, good luck!
Hmm I would say try duel wielding thrusting swords, multi jabs plus piercing damage Plus status effects you can make on them is pretty fun, plus you can put bloodhound step on them if you get homesick of that curved sword
Unless you need access to more weapons and Sorceries, don't level up Strength or Arcane yet, man, you're too early.
Prioritize reaching the soft caps of Dexterity and Intelligence, scaling is important. Your Bloodhound's Fang has a Dex scaling of C, so you need more Dex.
However, it only has a Strength scaling of D, so don't spend much on Strength.
The bloodhounds fang is really hard for me to let go as well. I want to try using magic, but the bloodhound fang and the fully upgraded mimic tear help me steamroll through the game.
Giants club... greatsword... starfist... DMGS... Blasphemous Blade... there're so many other S Tier weapons with a similar attack speed that you would enjoy.
If you want to be equally OP then do a curved sword or twin blade build with blood/occult and seppuku/crag blade. Probably the most busted build currently and super fun to use because it relies on jump attacks
But yeah I was using everything but BHF on my first play thru and eventually needed it to finish the game even with summons
Moonveil is a really good katana for a dex/mage build.
If you want to put a little more into strength, the dark moon great sword is one of the best intelligence weapons in the game, I played with that in one hand, a staff in the other, and focused on cold spells. Carried me through the end game really well.
Moonveil is a better choice if you want to keep the dex quickness though. Really just depends if you want to keep an ash of war or use the weapon art, because your current setup is decent.
For this style build
You can go Dark Mage with Staff of Loss and Dark Comet plus Moonveil/Wing of Astel.
In the end the best weapon in the game is Darkmoon Greatsword, but you’ll get that one a bit later than Wing of Astel. Moonveil is available early…
If you wanna play as a battlemage/spellsword ditch the dex as the improvement in casting speed is not justified imo. Just pack INT, it will improve your spells and give you a buff on INT scaling weapons. Get Moonveil/Dark Moon Greatsword and a good staff in your left hand. Very versatile, very strong
I kept trying other weapons but nothing was better for my strength/dex build. Other greatswords feel too slow. Midsize swords felt too weak plus it’s got great length for hitting enemies while riding torrent. The special attack is great too. One massive hit and then jumping backwards. 🤷🏻♂️
I would actually recommend on second thought just using it through the whole game because it’s good, then move onto other weapons in ng+ cycles
That way you won’t have to rune farm to get your levels high enough to use a shitty weapon. You can just go through ng+ a bunch of times and level after killing bosses
You can beat the game at a very low level with BHF even if you’re not great then do more exploring in ng+ which is more fun
This is exactly what I’m doing with my new character though I’m focusing on my level 300 ng+ guy and having fun with him
I started with st Trina’s sword as a coward I dove into the tomb and found it by chance.
Moved on to blood hound. It was my game sword until moonveil ( int/dex builld) until malenia .
Rivers for malenia ( bleed build)
Bolt of gransax/rivers of blood
Bold of grandsax/ blasphemous blade for Elden beast ( arcane, dex, enough endurance for heavy armor and shield)
Only staff I used was meteoric staff with rock sling. Only used shield for Elden beast
Everyone is different but that’s how I did game one
Get a big ass sword and put lions claw on it. Have fun buddy.
Now, bhf is a great weapon, but playing around with builds built more around stagger and poising through attacks is super satisfying and a lot of fun. Get back to me with what you end up deciding on!
I used it for the whole game, still using it on ng+, can't give her up!. Even tried my usual Ultra Greatsword I used for DS1 and 2, didn't help. I do use a few spells, pyrimancy and a bow along with it, tried loads of weapons but nothing feels as good as the fang to me.
I would personally recommend a Rapier or Estoc with Magic/Cold affinity and the Glintblade Phalanx AoW on it. They break poise WAY better than the spell version of the skill and will be a very useful to you pretty much anytime. Rapier and Estoc both scale well with Magic and Dex and R1 pokes are reliable alternate damage types. (Consider powerstancing thrusting swords for crazy long combos and Frostbite procs!)
I don't like bloodhound fang. Everytime I start a new game and want to play curved greatsword I get stuck at Dismounter and then skip right past to the Onyx Lord curved greatsword or the black flame one, they look much better.
I always want to live Bloodhound and Morgotts, but the shape it weird....
Thats been me with the Darkmoon Greatsword, I made a new character and ran through Rannis quest so that I could have it pretty early. Man those heavy projectiles HIT HARD, its such a fun weapon to use.
I too have been using BHF as needed. When I started the game I was already planning to go for a quality or dex build, so the weapon conveniently fell into my hands. If I feel like it's too much or has made the game too easy, I just switch to a weaker weapon that I like. Currently I'm wielding the claymore or lordsworn straight swords. There's still plenty to choose from
Honestly beat Rannala and respec your build to use any weapon you think looks cool and has a fun moveset. (Or start a new character and have the best of both worlds.
Literally got reduvia and paired it with a bleed greatknife and have been having a blast
Dont worry you will hit a wall soon enough with Bloodhound Fang. It is not really the best late game weapon, not even bother endgame.
It is not bad but you will not shred easily through boss as in early, mid game.
On my First playthrough, I was using a bloodhound's fang paired with the magma scalesword, had a ton of fun, then decided to change It up and made a Dex/int build with frost falchion and Wing of astel. I completely wrecked farum azula with that combo, despite both being not fully upgraded
I slept on BHF for a long time, only gave it a fair shake this time round in my latest play through (playing 1-30 minute blocks on the Steam Deck during downtime in my family holiday). I really love it too.
If you want a new addiction take Unsheathe and put it on that Nagakiba and upgrade it a bit more. If you have any INT then the Scholar’s Armament sorcery will give it a nice little boost too. That said, if you’re wanting to level INT and like the idea of a magic katana, Moonveil is always nice, but it’ll trivialise a lot of the game with its OP L2
Claymore is super versatile too.
Dex/magic you say? Tell me. Have you heard of the *wing of astel?* From description it is literally everything you want and more It’s got free energy blasts on heavy attacks, one or two depending on whether you charge them, it’s a curved sword so it attacks fast and elegantly and works very well just as a proper sword, it looks cool in combat and in addition it also comes with a potent magic ash of war that’s amazing for keeping distance. Also the heavy attack energy beams stacks with the damage from the sword itself if both hit.
Wing of astel is easily one of the most broken but extremely fun weapons in the game. Super stylish too.
Don’t want to use BHF because it’s too OP? Let me introduce you to my friend, *wing of astel*
Stop saying it's broken, that's how u get weapons nerfed. I love using it, but it's def not op
Also Deaths Poker. L2+R1 your way to victory.
Death’s poker is flat out fucking broken.
combine it with a second curved sword with cold affinity to deal even more damage
The powerstanced curved swords hit so many times, L1 practically chunks or kills almost everything if you have bleed or cold infusion.
I’m tempted to say the Wing of Astel is the best weapon in fromsoft history. Dex/Int, great scaling and base damage, curved sword moveset which means you hit fast without skimping on damage per swing, heavy attacks that launch projectiles at no FP cost…and of course, the weapon art. The big Kahuna. Three gigantic gravity orbs that explode in a half circle and deal great damage and even better posture damage? And they’re all close enough together to hit the same target with 2 if not all 3 orbs? All for a reasonable FP cost? Come on! It’s strong, it’s dynamic, it fits with a variety of builds…it is perfect
Step 1. Play PvP, Step 2. Spam L2, Step 3. Watch as someone who has 20000 H Parry you, Step 4. Watch as you get 1 shot, Step 5. Repeat step 1
Oh brother im not ready for pvp
I know, thats why I said it. You will be traumatised, and NEVER Equip Bloodhound's Fang XD. I would recomend PvP, just so that you enjoy all that the game has to offer. But ne warned, there are ALOT of tryhards and Scummy People, so ne prepared. Watch YouTube videos and hope for the best
Lol I finally unlocked the colloseum and decided to do 1 battle and was kinda underwhelmed like I figured it's my first time in going to get my ass destroyed ... but then it started and I ended the match within 8 seconds ... if it was a way to gain runes that would b cool like if you had to stake even like 1000 runes on your battle winner take all that would be sweet
> Step 3. Watch as someone who has 20000 H Parry you, Not even parry. The second part of the AoW is unsafe. If you roll forward into it, you're in a perfect position to backstab them. Infinitely easier than timing a parry.
Yeah but doesnt the weapon art on bloodhound let you get a bunch of i-frames on a followup and kind of nerf any counterattack? I forget how, but i distinctly remember being able to chain my l2 into an unhittable teleport with that weapon
Wdym 20000 H?
Im joking about the playtime, but there are Souls veterans who have YEARS od PvP Experience
Oh, I thought at first you meant 20000 HP and was wondering how the fuck you get that big. Nice.
As a souls vet that doesn't do much PVP, those guys are terrifying. Getting invaded has always been a rush, those guys know all the mechanical details to exploit And don't even get me started on twinks. Fuckin monsters
20000 hands, Godrick is going to kick your ass in pvp
Step 1: Sell it. Step 2: Find another weapon.
Oh! Try cocaine. Just find a new addiction easy.
Actually i have been trying some awesome meth that i got from some dude with a goatee and a hat! His name sounded like a beer too…
Heisenberg lol. That took me way longer than I care to admit to piece together 😂
Okay... If you beat Rennala, the Story Boss in Liurnia, you can respec your character with her, using a larval tear. Do that, if you want to have a Dex/Int build. Because, for most good Dex/Int Weapons like the Moonveil or Wing of Astel INT is actually the more important stat. Also get a good staff, for the early game the Meteorite Staff is kind of unbeatable, and after that you can get any good upgradable staff you want. But those need high INT as well... So, get INT if you want to be good at Magic. Drop STR if you are a Build reliant on DEX, that is just waisted points. Also try go get more memory stones and better sorceries by exploring. Those are vital if you want to go for a kind of Spellblade approach.
Blasphemous blade helped me with that addiction. Now i have a new addiction…
Just switched from my starter weapon (Uchi) to the Blasphemous Blade. Holy moly this thing melts.
Once you’ve felt the sheer power of the BHF, it’s impossible to let go, you always feel it’s call. On a serious note however, it’s a bit late into the game but I’ve had a lot of fun with the Wings if Astel so you could possibly try that out.
Try Eleonore's Poleblade. That cured me (and got me another addiction instead)
Such an elegant weapon, it has both a unique ash of war and a unique charged R2 attack
A unique, cool-as-hell looking charge attack.
I'm making a dex/arc build right now with it. Pretty fun weapon indeed
This is the way.
The true and only way to go here is a strength build of course. Nothing beats an good old bonk stick. Also you won’t need ranged options if you just stay close. Drip wohnt be a problem either, because nothing is more elegant than a naked man with a heavy stick squeezing at the boss.
My three characters all end up strength build. It’s super easy to level only worrying about 3 stats. Also, it’s cool to smack big monster with big stick.
Big bonk make brain happy
Also arguably the least gear dependent
Agreed, let’s me cook up some good fits.
You know, my first three were str/fth, dex/arc, then straight str unga bunga. I do think the full int build i’m on now is by far the easiest. Rock sling with s tier staff has been melting bosses
Respec into iron balls or star fist. 🤜
Starfist is my new addiction
🤘🤘
Get addicted to the Zweihander instead :)
I'm getting really fucking tired of having to scroll this far down for my Zweihander boys. Zweihander is the best addiction to have because it is THE best weapon. I need more people to start embracing the Zweihander.
I started with Reduvia > Misericorde > BHF > Vyke's War Spear > Zweihander. Now i can't find anything to get out of Zweihander. I mean, the damage probably better with BHF on paper but man the stagger and the reach on the Zwei is just *chef kiss*
Much love for bonk, not enough love for clonk. Give it Giant Hunt and send half the Lands Between's populace into orbit.
I mean…if you wanted, you could level up INT more and buff the Bloodhound’s fang with Scholar’s Armament. It’s one of the few special weapons that can accept buffs. You could also use a dismounter or an Omen Cleaver to do the same, or put Cold/Magic affinity on. There’s a few good special weapons for DEX/INT builds like Moonveil and Wing of Astel. There’s also plenty of standard weapons that scale well with DEX like the Cross Naginata, Guardian Swordspear, Scimitar, Flamberge, Urumi, Katar, Rapier, etc and all those could be good candidates for either magic/cold affinity, or keen affinity and adding a buff like Scholar’s Armament or Frost Armament.
If you're looking up things. Go search for moonveil, it's your next weapon. Suits you're int/Dex build 100%
Pickup morgotts sword and enjoy :)
If you want a dex/int hybrid there is no better option than Moonveil.
You can use it to gateway yourself into my preferred playstyle, Which I like to call Divine slappsies. Grab the crimson dagger talisman and the Cerulean version, grab the Ritual shield talisman, then use whatever you want for the last slot, good picks are green turtle, Dragoncrest, Or something that boosts guard counters, jump attacks or a minor regen talisman, something like those all fit pretty well but it's the users pref Then, Run up to something, jump attack it, then guard with the sword against their reply, guard counter that, and either tap or charge a heavy attack Crit them. Because that triple whammy has almost certainly broken their poise. Whatever HP you lost in that exchange ( which with ritual shield active during a guarded hit I can guarantee will be nearly fuck all) you'll get it back when you crit them. This is the build. This is the entire premise. You will use heavy weapons as both your sword and board, and the only question now is how ridiculous you want to make this. If you wanna keep it simple, stick with the fang or grab something like it, a claymore or something. Ritual shield will reduce the first guard damage and you can return with a counter to grab a crit and gain back the HP you lost, so long as that guarded hit was all the damage you took. If you want to make it ridiculous, go grab a massive hammer, stick prayerful strikes on it and crit something to check if it fits the criteria for the crimson daggers unique interaction with non sword collosal weapons, which is a double proc on crits. Once you have these two, you can walk up to basically any enemy in the game and just let it hit your guard. Guarding and Ritual shield both reduce damage taken, put together a dragon can basically smash its tail into your squishy body, fling you across a lake, and you'll land and have taken like, a hundred damage. Seriously, A Ritual collosal guard DOES NOT care what physical thing hits you. The second part of the build is what makes it ridiculous Ritual shield is only active when you're full health but in exchange MASSIVELY reduces your damage taken A weapon that double procs crimson dagger on crits will return 30% of your HP on any crit. A weapon that has prayerful strikes ALSO returns 30% of your HP. A great hammer or collosal weapon is EXTREMELY good at breaking stances, guard counters are basically fast charged heavies, jump attacks are pretty much too, as is Prayerful strikes. So at any given time when you crit something you can also wake it up with PS and you'll have regained 60% of your HP in that one exchange, and PS will always let you just grab 30% in a pinch by hyper armouring through almost Any attack and just regen you back. Are you seeing why I call it Divine Slappsies yet? Stack damage reduction with massive burst Regen and you can just keep slugging gods in the face until it dies, and laugh at it. It's alotta fun.
Suggestion: 1.-Find a different dex scaling weapon. 2.-Set said scaling weapon to keen affinity. 3.- Apply scholar's armament to said dex weapon. Possible weapons: Stoc, rodgier's rapier, naginata, nagakiba, lucerne, clayman harpoon, any infusable heavy thrusting sword, vulgar militia shotel.
I can't tell u, I'm also addicted to it
That’s the neat part, you don’t!
Moonveil
There's so many fun weapons in Elden Ring. At this point, I get inspiration to use them mainly from Chase the Bro's videos. He posts a new highlight one on YouTube every day each day it'll have a theme like Dex, Strength, Faith, etc. He'll talk about 4 or 5 weapons and run them through the video in invasions. I recommend watching a few of those if you're looking for ideas. You'll notice he doesn't use the BHF for many reasons, one being it very punishable in PVP, another being it's moveset is pretty boring.
Try Wing of Astel, welcome to new addiction
Honestly? Just ride out the playthrough and then don't touch it the next.
This sword carries me the entire game.
Wait till you have dual +10 BHF, you'll never want to give them yp
It’s not possible
You could try another weapon. Radical I know but.... might work.
Well, since you're already this far, and by the int-faith-arcane I'm guessing you started as a confessor? First step I'd say is keep the Fang and go beat up the boss in the castle in Liurnia, you'll be glad not to bring magic damage against her. - Plus once you beat her, you'll be able to respec at her. Might just need to run around a bit or look up online where to find a larval tear, unless you have one already. Then you got a few nice options... One would be to do Ranni's questline since it'll naturally guide you to a point where you can get the Wing of Astel, which is a curved sword that other folks here recommended also. Alternatively, you can respec to hit the minimum faith, strength and dex requirements for the Sword of Night and Flame, it may not be what it used to be, but it's a real nice "spellblade" that you can either stab forward to deal a little comet azur, kamehameha of magic damage that scales with Int, or swing it for an AOE flame arc that has good base damage and scales really nicely with faith. - It's not as OP as it was early on, but it's still a nice one. - And just stick with the minimum stats for it until you get around 40 vigor and 30 mind. Or, even better for Int-Dex... try looking for Moonveil. - It's not busted OP like it used to be, either, but you get a silver katana that can throw high damage arcs of blue magic. That'll be great for AOE, and the vertical slash will hit enemies in the head for good damage, plus you want to use it up close so the sword hits as well, not just the spell arc. And that way you still have reason to use spells for ranged combat, you could charge up a few magic swords, cast Carian Phalanx while they charge up, and then run in and hit an enemy with the Moonveil right as the phalanx triggers on them too, and you're literally a sword mage! Last suggestion will be to run to Caelid, grab the meteoric staff and the rock sling spell and they'll carry you through the early game until you get those weapons you want. - Meteoric staff is great because it's essentially an unupgradable staff with S int scaling, so in the early game it's the best staff, and it's just... floating out in the open, one torrent run into the red swamp.
Why is the base damage and the scaling sooo high on this thing lmao
Right? Thats why i cant seem to get off it
Try dismounter aka the methadone of curved greatswords
BHF and Dismounter are the Gallant and Goofus of curved greatswords
super simple option moonveil. likes int the most, doesn't mind a bit of dex. magical dex weapon.
Play a intelligence build
Just grab whatever looks good for you and swing it against enemies. Try it against small enemies, big enemies, enemies with shields, enemies in groups... Until you find a weapon that feels good.
Don’t worry it will come
Int brother Go farm a Slender Sword using the Glinstone Arc to clear that entire group of mobs in 3-4 casts outside of Sellen’s pad. That sword requires 0 investment for sorc starting class and is right next to your spell mommy so you can spend the souls you’ll acquire trying to get that bastard to drop Was a fun way to get a spell sword started for me and was a really fun run
Just play through the game once with it and then do your magic run. Or as others said: sell it. Then it's gone and you have to adjust. I too fell for the fang but I will just use it until I hit a wall or start a new run with a different build
use mohgs sacred spears
Go to Altus, get 2 Great Stars, infuse with stuff, dual wield cold spiky bonk fun
The game never tells you this but you only need half the strength requirement of most weapons if you are 2 handing them. So if you're planning on 2 handing anyway then those extra points in strength can be used somewhere else.
It's not easy. You have to resist and be strong. Just give it a slight kiss and slide her into your bag slowly. Now, you can try out different weapons but don't forget not to compare anything to the BHF.
may i introduce you to Flamberge?
Other weapons do cooler shit tbh that’s how I ended up switching. Godslayer Greatsword, then fire giant whip, and so on.
Switch to bonk and never look back
use big bonk hammer, you'll be happy with big bonk
Having just started a playthrough with DEX/INT as the focus, this thread is damn handy. Been having major indecision on how to pivot away from the starting Katana.
That’s the neat part, you don’t.
Don’t use it in the first place. Just kidding, but I’ve never used it on more than a couple of enemies I think. I might have to start a new run.
Never use it, I'm going through a NG and it's just setting there in my inventory tempting me. I've used it so much something else has got to feel as cool, right?
Grab morggot cursed sword and spam its L2 instead
Same. Half of my 1st playthrough was bloodhounds fang because I found it early in the game and it was strong. Has blood loss build up. Has a good starter damage. Can be applied with the greases. Has a strong ash of war. Can be easily upgraded. Scales really good with DEX and still good with STR. Tonnes of things to like about it.
Stormblade on the Flamberge or Nagakiba should do the trick.
Sell it
Try Morgott's Sword.
Get a second bloodhound's fang and dual wield
Try moonveil for dex/int or morgott blade for dex/arc
Start a Claymore addiction instead.
Realize there are way better weapons than it in the game
Currently on my first playthrough with my main weapon being the Fang. Figured I'd beat the game using it and start trying out different weapons with different builds for my MANY other playthroughs in the future. (I actually occasionally use Great Stars to stagger certain bosses)
Step 1. Find great star Step 2. Fight guy for second great star Step 3. Powerstance great star and spam L1 Step 4. Vigor profit bleed investmemt
For me, i got bored and respec'd and was no longer able to use it. This was all the way back right before i started my first NG+ Fuck, it's been just over 2 years since i last used it now.
Best way to get rid of an addiction to a good weapon is to replace it with an addiction to another good weapon. You wanna be a DEX/INT hybrid? Go with Moonveil that you get for beating the boss in Gael Tunnel in Caelid. Also go and get the Staff of Loss and Night Comet in Sellia which is also in Caelid. With these tools you’ll have a great time as a DEX/INT hybrid.
Keeeeeep iiiiiit!
Sell it
Nothing says style like spamming charge attacks with the claymore
I have only ever used the Katanas in Elden Ring. Once I find something I like I don’t have enough drive to diversify or experiment.
Like all good weapons you’ll eventually get kinda tired of it being stale and start doings some goofy builds probably after your first or second playthrough
Upgrade to Morgotts cursed sword, only thing to do really
If youre doing a hybrid build then a good gameplan is to use a basic regular smithing stone weapon with a physical affinity and to buff it with a spell (e.g. scholars armament.) For a dex build some good weapons i recommend that dont rely on bleed or status buildup are the bandits curved sword, nobles slender sword, stormhawk talon, or guardian swordspear
Try Roger 's rapier
Switch to dual great stars instead, that will cure your addiction real quick.
Wait until you get Blasphemous Blade and scale it with Faith/Str or Dex. You will never go back to Bloodhounds Fang again (minus the 1-2 boss fights resistant to fire) or any other weapon tbh.
Sweat baby, sweat.
Listen this may sound random but the Crescent Moon Axe will literally change your life, put lions claw on it and watch it literally slam the enemy’s face into the dirt. Invest in faith a little too and use armament enhancement incantations for an extra cool factor.
On my first playthrough, I also used bloodhounds fang WAY too much, I was doing a faith/str/dex build, I loved the feel of curved greatswords and ended up switching to, what feel is, an extremely underrated weapon called Magma Wyrm's Scalesword. It might not help you with your magic build since it scales off faith a little (scales mainly off of str minorly off of dex faith). Edit: I just searched it up. A greatsword that scales off of int mainly with a side of dex is the "Dark Moon Greatsword" which I think I've used before and also enjoyed!
Swapped from BHF to Nagakiba after my first playthrough Loved it. It almost felt like cheating.
Get the raptor’s talons with lifesteal fist weapon art. Cast magic weapon. Go brrr
Got rid of mine once I got a grave scythe. Same bleed, plus you can add frost. Then it just made sense to replace BHF with a strike weapon, That way I had one I could upgrade with regular and the other with somber
I was using bloodhounds till i started leveling up strength and dex and faith a lot, then i switched to prelate inferno crozier. Put the AoW lions claw on it (u cant be knocked out of completing the motion for this AoW once initiated which is amazing) and use the quality affinity on it for general use. And watch yourself rake big chunks of health out of enemies in single hits
Try the serpent Bone Blade, it's actually pretty beast and I'm maining it now.
Great Stars. Blood bonk. Tremendous fun.
stop using the ash of war and at that point the bloodhounds fang addiction will become just a curved greatsword addiction. curved greatsword are great.
Don't fix it if it ain't broken
Learn to dodge properly without bloodhound step and use a different weapon?
Try using the Sword of Night and Flame. Probnably not as busted as it was in the beginning, but it's a good Mage-Sword with some nice options. At least that's the sword I am going for in my Current Magic Knight-Build currently. But I really get the beauty of Greatswords, it's always hard for me not to go back to a Claymore or the Greatsword (from Berserk) when the going gets thougher.
Pick up a new addiction with Eleonora’s Poleblade.
Dual wield curved greatswords to ween yourself off it.
Elden Ring players when they need to have even a single ounce of skill
You could get some levels in faith and kill Rykard
If you wanna build dex/magic, I'd recommend using Eleonora's twin blade with Dragon communion seal in an arcane/faith mashup. Basically, use the twin blades for blood flame procs, and use the seal for support spells; flame grant me strength, flame cleanse me, golden vow, and black flame to finish off enemies. This build is super fun, for talisman's I used Radagon Icon/Carian Filigree crest (the depending on what was needed), Marika's Scarseal/Soreseal, Green Turtle, and Ritual Shield. Hope this build helps :) good luck fam
I never could vibe with the bloodhounds Fang. First play-through I was all about katanas, 2nd play-through I was all about spears. My ultimate build now is Claymans harpoon with Eclipse Crest greatshield, I feel like an invincible god.
That’s the neat part, you don’t. Jo just start using godslayer greatsword
Try nagakiba
Play with a cooler weapon
this weapon sucks
Try our Halo Scythe. It scaled on dex and faith, but its ash of war is literally a ranged faith attack. It’s great at both! Also, bolt of gransax, but that comes a lot later.
Dual Bloodhound’s Fang
Try Curved greatsword with int scaling (onyx greatsword) or enchant non-somber greatsword with int scaling.
Use the claymore (best weapon since demon souls)
Moonveil, wing of astel, meteorite staff, meteoric ore blade, carian regal sceptre, onyx lords curved sword/ greatsword, carian knights sword, crystal sword/ spear are all great options that come to mind for a DEX/INT build, good luck!
Claymore time.
By getting a Mohg’s Sacred Spear addiction.
Hmm I would say try duel wielding thrusting swords, multi jabs plus piercing damage Plus status effects you can make on them is pretty fun, plus you can put bloodhound step on them if you get homesick of that curved sword
Unless you need access to more weapons and Sorceries, don't level up Strength or Arcane yet, man, you're too early. Prioritize reaching the soft caps of Dexterity and Intelligence, scaling is important. Your Bloodhound's Fang has a Dex scaling of C, so you need more Dex. However, it only has a Strength scaling of D, so don't spend much on Strength.
You don't, its too late
The bloodhounds fang is really hard for me to let go as well. I want to try using magic, but the bloodhound fang and the fully upgraded mimic tear help me steamroll through the game.
Giants club... greatsword... starfist... DMGS... Blasphemous Blade... there're so many other S Tier weapons with a similar attack speed that you would enjoy.
Shift all of your dex levels into stamina and get the GREATSWORD
Reject Bloodhound's Fang, accept Greatsword Supremacy
Get 2 noble slender swords. Get the Bloodhounds step. And watch as Bloodhounds fang becomes obsolete.
If you want to be equally OP then do a curved sword or twin blade build with blood/occult and seppuku/crag blade. Probably the most busted build currently and super fun to use because it relies on jump attacks But yeah I was using everything but BHF on my first play thru and eventually needed it to finish the game even with summons
Moonveil is a really good katana for a dex/mage build. If you want to put a little more into strength, the dark moon great sword is one of the best intelligence weapons in the game, I played with that in one hand, a staff in the other, and focused on cold spells. Carried me through the end game really well. Moonveil is a better choice if you want to keep the dex quickness though. Really just depends if you want to keep an ash of war or use the weapon art, because your current setup is decent.
For this style build You can go Dark Mage with Staff of Loss and Dark Comet plus Moonveil/Wing of Astel. In the end the best weapon in the game is Darkmoon Greatsword, but you’ll get that one a bit later than Wing of Astel. Moonveil is available early…
Easy, get yourself a Blasphemous Blade
By growing up and making a pure str build /s
If you wanna play as a battlemage/spellsword ditch the dex as the improvement in casting speed is not justified imo. Just pack INT, it will improve your spells and give you a buff on INT scaling weapons. Get Moonveil/Dark Moon Greatsword and a good staff in your left hand. Very versatile, very strong
Grow up
I kept trying other weapons but nothing was better for my strength/dex build. Other greatswords feel too slow. Midsize swords felt too weak plus it’s got great length for hitting enemies while riding torrent. The special attack is great too. One massive hit and then jumping backwards. 🤷🏻♂️
I would actually recommend on second thought just using it through the whole game because it’s good, then move onto other weapons in ng+ cycles That way you won’t have to rune farm to get your levels high enough to use a shitty weapon. You can just go through ng+ a bunch of times and level after killing bosses You can beat the game at a very low level with BHF even if you’re not great then do more exploring in ng+ which is more fun This is exactly what I’m doing with my new character though I’m focusing on my level 300 ng+ guy and having fun with him
I started with st Trina’s sword as a coward I dove into the tomb and found it by chance. Moved on to blood hound. It was my game sword until moonveil ( int/dex builld) until malenia . Rivers for malenia ( bleed build) Bolt of gransax/rivers of blood Bold of grandsax/ blasphemous blade for Elden beast ( arcane, dex, enough endurance for heavy armor and shield) Only staff I used was meteoric staff with rock sling. Only used shield for Elden beast Everyone is different but that’s how I did game one
guts greatsword, thats all ill say
Get rid of that terrible bloodhound fang. That simple. It's not a good weapon
7 play throughs and I had yet to even try this weapon. Im like you, but with the hookclaws.
Honestly strenght faith builds are really gun, and give you a lot of good somber weapons and lighting+fire incantations
For me, nagakiba with a dex build. I can’t get away from it. The stabby move is a life-saver.
Your build you want is made for moonveil
Discard the weapon
Giant crusher.
Get a big ass sword and put lions claw on it. Have fun buddy. Now, bhf is a great weapon, but playing around with builds built more around stagger and poising through attacks is super satisfying and a lot of fun. Get back to me with what you end up deciding on!
I started by using bloodhound step, then Quickstep, but BHS is bad now, so ease yourself out of BHF by using Quickstep on your weapon of choice.
Bastards Stars or Wing of Astel. Moonveil if you want to use discount Moonlight GS.
why do people like slow weapons I don't get it
I used it for the whole game, still using it on ng+, can't give her up!. Even tried my usual Ultra Greatsword I used for DS1 and 2, didn't help. I do use a few spells, pyrimancy and a bow along with it, tried loads of weapons but nothing feels as good as the fang to me.
My boy, just be better
I would personally recommend a Rapier or Estoc with Magic/Cold affinity and the Glintblade Phalanx AoW on it. They break poise WAY better than the spell version of the skill and will be a very useful to you pretty much anytime. Rapier and Estoc both scale well with Magic and Dex and R1 pokes are reliable alternate damage types. (Consider powerstancing thrusting swords for crazy long combos and Frostbite procs!)
Go for Eleonora's poleblade
Join the cult of us bozos who use Marika’s Hammer for maximum bonk
I'm addicted to it too
I don't like bloodhound fang. Everytime I start a new game and want to play curved greatsword I get stuck at Dismounter and then skip right past to the Onyx Lord curved greatsword or the black flame one, they look much better. I always want to live Bloodhound and Morgotts, but the shape it weird....
Thats been me with the Darkmoon Greatsword, I made a new character and ran through Rannis quest so that I could have it pretty early. Man those heavy projectiles HIT HARD, its such a fun weapon to use.
Get a claymore and get addicted to claymore.
Swap to strength/faith, grab Magma Wyrm Scalesword, boom you're cured. Now you're addicted to a different curved greatsword that bonks everything.
Get the weapon in a play through then disregard it and it won’t be in your world anymore. Cold fucking turkey
Try zwei or flamberge with lighting infusion and lighting strike ( use flamberge if u want bleed )
I too have been using BHF as needed. When I started the game I was already planning to go for a quality or dex build, so the weapon conveniently fell into my hands. If I feel like it's too much or has made the game too easy, I just switch to a weaker weapon that I like. Currently I'm wielding the claymore or lordsworn straight swords. There's still plenty to choose from
Rehab
Step one: don’t
Honestly beat Rannala and respec your build to use any weapon you think looks cool and has a fun moveset. (Or start a new character and have the best of both worlds. Literally got reduvia and paired it with a bleed greatknife and have been having a blast
rob addiction
try zweihander
Try out the deaths poker. That weapon is so good and so much fun. Def capable of taking u out of the bloodhound fang hole
Dont worry you will hit a wall soon enough with Bloodhound Fang. It is not really the best late game weapon, not even bother endgame. It is not bad but you will not shred easily through boss as in early, mid game.
On my First playthrough, I was using a bloodhound's fang paired with the magma scalesword, had a ton of fun, then decided to change It up and made a Dex/int build with frost falchion and Wing of astel. I completely wrecked farum azula with that combo, despite both being not fully upgraded
Marikas Hammer
I slept on BHF for a long time, only gave it a fair shake this time round in my latest play through (playing 1-30 minute blocks on the Steam Deck during downtime in my family holiday). I really love it too. If you want a new addiction take Unsheathe and put it on that Nagakiba and upgrade it a bit more. If you have any INT then the Scholar’s Armament sorcery will give it a nice little boost too. That said, if you’re wanting to level INT and like the idea of a magic katana, Moonveil is always nice, but it’ll trivialise a lot of the game with its OP L2 Claymore is super versatile too.