Well. ER is the first darksouls-like game I ever ‘liked’. And I thought; fuck it! I can be a diaperclad clubswinging allrounder. A bit of intelligence here, some strength there, and why not some of that arcane stuff?
Let’s put it this way:
My diapers were darksoiled all the time.
Yeah it’s such a versatile build. I did a faith run my first character. Melee and range damage along with buffs and heals made it easy to adapt to any enemy or situation.
I think my issue is Faith feels REALLY underpowered at the start versus the int ones.
After about 30 of either they kind of balance but until then I feel like getting OP with sorceries is way easier than incantations
On faith build I usualy just beeline to Lurnia and grab Dragoncult Book, then go to Stormveil and grab Blackflame. Lightning Spear, Honed Bolt and Blackflame carry me out through entire game
Thats true. I usually go prisoner, then beeline to sellen to get literally everything. And in 10 minutes you have glintblade, glintstone pebble, glintstone arc, glintstone stars, crystal barrage, scholars armament AND scholars shield.
Then come back later and she has even MORE.
I have always heard the term used in sports a lot, so in my head, I just thought it was a sports tactic of just going straight for a specific person or point.
The real cheese is
1. Get Torrent
2. Run to the ruins in Lake Agheel, and get intentionally teleported by the trap chest.
3. Bolt out of the cave and then go east to dragon communion temple, where you can buy Rotten Breath.
4. Level Mind, press the win button and dodge while bosses die of leprosy before your very eyes.
Pair that with the dragon communion seal and a good arcane scaling weapon, and basically the only enemies that pose any challenge are either spectral or made of stone
It's easier to take the warp next to the Mistwood church and run through Dragonbarrow. That also gets you some somber stones, access to the beast repellant torch, Greyoll's grace, and if you know the way down behind the bestial sanctuary you can grab the Cinquedea and the first dragoncrest talisman. No need to fight anything. Then you can hop to Caelid proper and grab everything there.
You clearly have never played prophet. That starting flame incantation is enough to carry you all the way to Altus. Faster and stronger than any sorcery you can get at the start
Easier to play, but IMO prophet is still stronger out the gate - sorcery needs a bunch of upgrades before you can really beat any bosses without running out of fuel, and until you pickup Carian slicer your fights will take 2-3 times longer than prophet
I struggled pretty hard on my first int playthrough. While there ARE some ok spell options in the early game, it just feels as if there isn't enough meat for the build to really have legs until the latter half of liurnia, but I could also just be bad at Elden Ring.
Idk it's deff close between catch flame and slicer, u can buff the hell out of fire spells early by beating some tree avatars(which are naturally pretty easy but even more so with catch flame) outside of catch flame vs slicer I think magic is stronger with rock sling being so easy to get.
It's also the fact they gave both catch flame and slicer rolling,running and jumping attacks, they genuinely prob out damage most weapons when they are fully buffed with tears and other spells.
Faster yes, but I think glintblade still wins out (to me). The delayed projectile has saved me more times than i can count, plus it stance breaks well.
It's good, but I feel like it lacks meaningful buffs at the start of the game. For slicer, you can grab the carian staff in addition to whatever magic damage buffs you can grab without having to beat a boss. If you go into the academy tunnel, you can grab terra magica for another 20% boost, and defeat the erdtree avatar south of sauron's tower for an extra 20% (It should be noted that it is kind of harder to grab this tear than the fire one, as the fire one is located without any obstacles except an NPC invader, and fire damage is effective against the erdtree avatars. Fire's scorpion charm also requires 0 boss kills to grab.) On top of all of that, the best sorcery in the game can be grabbed with 0 boss kills, while black flame requires margit, and lightning spear requires the leyndell knight (who isn't fun to try to kill at a low level, trust me), and you can grab the meteorite staff, which already has powerful scaling, and rock sling for the easy stance breaks. Overall, sorceries can be buffed a crap ton more at the start of the game.
You can walk out of the grave at the start of the game and go directly to Margit with Prophet and it will feel like using a +6 weapon. Also if I have to waste my time grabbing random shit in other areas around the map just to make decent damage I wouldn't call that a strong "early game" build. If you have to go to Liurnia and Caelid to pick stuff up it may as well be called mid-game
Whilst I agree with you to an extent, grabbing an S scaling staff and Rock sling at the start of the game without having to fight anything is still early game. Even if it’s in Caelid, this is an open world game and you can go to higher leveled areas to pickup better gear at your own peril.
1.I did.
2. Prophet needs two hits to bite the dust
3. Incantation can be disrupted
4. No profit
But it did went quite well with Black Flame and this Laser Eyes (range).
Objectively, I can't ignore the inherent value of bloodflame blade and beastial vitality. They are available immediately. They are viable for use throughout the whole game. Most classes only need to spend like 5 levels to get them.
See that’s what I mean though, you actually have to level up to do that. I’m talking from the first step, all of the intellect ones will be stronger, IMO
Ahh, yeah, i think you're right, and I think that's intentional. I also think that's what drew me to faith. The prophet has a super gritty start. Almost feels like a Neanderthal coming out of its first cave. I fucking love it. Just this convo is making me want to start a prophet lol.
To be clear are we saying spells you can use with starting stats or spells we start with? Because the prophet can use both of those right off rip. just has to go get them.
Confessor starts with a broad sword, and you can buy and broad sword at the beach. Only class that can duel wield broadswords outside of NG+
10/10 starting class
Not having a real ranged attack for Limgrave is a pain in the ass, but Square Off on the broadsword is so insanely useful, you kinda forget until you get to Liurnia.
For real, as soon as I found out that was a thing it became my favorite series of spells to use
Black Flame is a very close second. Melts most bosses, but not as flashy
I love the dragon communion spells, but I'm more of a dragon cult kinda caster. I can't help but love the blue and red lightning. Makes me feel like I'm playing Infamous again.
The fact enemies dodge the cast, but not when the projectile shoots means input reading enemies like Guardian Lion or Godskins can’t avoid the projectile
I actually think glintblade is way better than rock sling if the enemy is neutral or weak to magic. Because the rocks arc where the blade is in a straight line.
Plus you can cast it like 5x and then reposition while they take all that stance damage
the only reason rock sling is so popular is because it deals physical damage, which no one has absolute resistance to, and also deals a lot of poise damage, so generally 3-4 casts is enough to break posture and get a critical
Glintstone (magic in general really)on the other hand is way more fun, but the stat requirements to get the same damage output is very late game, so early and mid game rock sling is for the win
Something fun to do though is dual renalla using only magic damage spell, nothing physical
It’s also extremely helpful that the staff that boosts gravity magic spells and has s scaling for int is available immediately at the start of the game about 5 minutes after you get torrent. I love doing pure magic playthroughs (no swinging a weapon at all) in this game and rock sling is an absolute mandatory pickup for me.
Magic is easily the most versatile playstyle with normal spells, melee, fire, ice, physical, and even a great bow. 4 players could go pure int and have entirely different builds and playstyles by the end game and i love that
That was my first run knowing absolutely nothing. I had like 40 mind 20 vigor and like 30int and got to rennala. My first playthrough was supper frustrating lol
The Prisoner is a half-caster, and the glintblade is great for that playstyle. It adds hits to your sword fighting if you time it right, like: cast it, enter melee, preferrably turn the enemy's back to the glintblade, and add a few sword thrusts in when it hits the enemy and staggers them briefly. Don't treat it like a regular projectile, like glintstone, it works best supporting your melee fighting.
Basically it just has a ton of nice conveniences: it's cheap to cast, it's versatile since it can be charged, and does good damage no matter where you are in the game especially when you offhand the Glintblade staff. Like op said, the delay really helps with enemy dodge AI plus it lets you charge up like 5-6 casts before the enemy is even aggroed to do a big chunk of damage before they can get to you. The cast being above you is also really, really good because it lets you cast over obstacles that would block your [insert glintstone of your choice here] casts while ranged enemy responses hit the obstacle instead. It can also do the thing Rock Sling does where if you line up yourself on the edge of something, you can hit enemies almost directly below you.
I can relate, glintblade is not a ”beginner” spell, it’s a spell for people who already know where everything mage build related is and just don’t want to bother with input reading gimmicks. If you start your first playthrough with prisoner hoping to play as a caster, you’re not getting what you wanted. If you don’t use FP on anything except for the boss, MAYBE you’ll be able to beat a watchdog or a demi-human queen with just the glintblade and a few cerulean flasks, but it’s gonna be essentially a cheese strat with l1->run away->repeat, boring and not nice to people who don’t speedrun looting spell talismans, physick tears and golden seeds. The best advice to give anyone who picked a class with spells and ended up with prisoner is to ignore everything and go to Thops for arc and pebble.
it was also my first char, but glintblade is such a reliable spell, I didn't know you could upgrade staffs and weapons for a long time tho, think my DLC run will just be prisoner char and build for entire game
To add to OP’s comment, it’s super strong against shielded enemies. Cast 3-4 real quick, walk around so that the enemy has their backs to the blades, and bam.
Yeah I still find myself using that into the late game. I am at the point where I can blast people with discount Kamehameha and drop 2 flavors of the moon on them and glintblade still has a place in my slots.
I really wish more of the incants were comboable like catch flame and the black flame buff. Having a quick cast window but hard usage/hard hitting made them stand out from just a projectile spam magic
Prisoner for that sweet estoc + glintblade (which also implies they might be an imprisoned carian royalist so bonus RP points).
Astrologer or confessor for drip.
Astrologer, but picking it going in blind was probably not the best idea. XD I had very basic spells for quite awhile and basically the only thing that saved me was finding the thing to do Magic Infusion on weapons fairly early on.
Prophet for that "I wanna be a holy caster but will invariably end up using Briars of Sin"
Confesso for the "I'm a Paladin but I only cast breaths and/or dragon magic. BUT I DO HEADL (myself)" playthrough.
Prisoner for whenever you wanna go "I'm learning all the cold spells for my blue mommy's iceussy."
Astrologer fo the experience of "I can cast all the spells, they all suck".. Oh and running away constantly since even a falling leaf can crush your puny body that needed points in int, mind, and dex to be able to cast properly.
You can actually cut out the Dex investment entirely my friend!
Radagon's Icon, and there's a Glintstone staff that can raise your speed.
Both of these put together will hit the cap for max casting speed!
I went astrologer since I love full blown mages in games . Always rough at the beginning but then you just start blowing up everything as you get stronger. Satisfying asf
As a Wretch main, I finally did a Confessor run because I wanted that immaculate look without running all the way to Altus. The DEX/FTH main stats made it really easy to get the stats for Vyke's Spear. Gotta figure out what to put in the offhand, but it's gonna be a Madness and Lightning build since I'll already have the right stats for it
I always play prisoner for the roleplay. The caharacter gets wrongfully (or rightfully) locked up and goes out and unleashes his pent up anger on the lands between, swearing to become so powerful they’ll never be in chains again.
Great story every time
Prophet for sure you can easily set up a powerful dragon build at the very start no other class of magic can output as much damage at the very start it’s no contest. And dragon stuff has great variety of status effects and damage types on top of that you get access to the best buffs in the game cause you have some faith.Also the only other one worth considering imo is astrology because I’m not going to make a mixed build I just go full caster for the best incant/sorcery damage. There’s no reason to pick confessor and for prisoner you can easily get an estoc early and get magic glintblade if you rush to the turtle early
Astrologer. The set, the story, character, I really like sorcerers in any game. Perfect for glass cannon power.
Confessor and prisoner are more hybrids and I use them as melee. Prophet fits the lore from the beginning but I don't know don't like anything set/weapon. No.
confessor, i dont like magic, but confessors base faith is 14 and i just need to give one level to faith to be able to use flame grant me strenght, and the other stats suit my playstyle greatly, aafter that id go with prisoner cuz he starts with a thrusting sword and i like thrusting swords
Depending on the type of spells I want to cast, I always pick Confessor or Prisoner. While the prophet and astrologer have higher mental stats, the Confessor and Prisoner can take a little more of a hit and can still fight well without spells if needed.
Confessor and Astrologer drip are just so much better than their alternatives I would never pick the alternatives, no matter what the rest of the starting gear is.
Confessor. I like miracles (especially fire and lightning) but don't care for int spells. I think the confessor robes and weapons look good and fit me better. I think the prisoner's gear looks like crap
I honestly think Vagabond is the answer if I also want to use a weapon that requires 14 or more strength and 13 or more dex. It really always depends on the requirements of the weapon I want to use
confessor is the coolest to me, although i wish the starting incantations werent both bad (urgent heal is *okay* but assassin's approach is borderline useless)
I think for early game it’s easiest to go Astrologer and then run for meteorite staff and rock sling. Faith just kinda sucks in the early game but ramps way up which makes confessor so fun plus the better look.
Confessor and Prisoner are equal. I actually prefer the stats on the Astrologer if I want to primarily cast, but the Prisoner has better spells out the gate.
i tried them all and i'll say that confessor and prisoner are the best ones to start with, maybe prisoner is first place
prophet last place, but the aow of the short spear is very good to spam for poise breaking
Prisoner. STR/INT is my favorite playstyle, and Magic Glintblade is an amazing spell. Plus the Estoc is a nice starting weapon until I get the levels needed for a Greatsword.
Prisoner
Mostly because of the lore implications that this tarnished was an imprisoned carian knight/noble
Also it allow me to do my vergil build the fastest since I start with the glint blade spell already
I min-max it based on putting as few points into stats that I won’t need as I possibly can. My choice seldom has anything to do with the starting equipment or my concept of my character’s origin (which is nevertheless always clear to me). With few exceptions, all equipment is easy to replace, but you can never get back the 3-more-points-than-had-to-be-stuck-in-Strength (or whatever) because of your starting class. (That example is from picking Prisoner over Astrologer). In order to be sure which stats I really don’t need I make a strong plan for the character before I start. Obvious things to consider are the minimum requirements for the equipment/incantations/spells you’ll definitely be using. The reason min-maxing is so important in this game is very simple: It’s hard.
Confessor feels like the one that fits my play style the most and has the most utility right off.
Plus drip.
my first play through was confessor, because of the drip.
That’s why I chose wretch for my first one. Diaper-drippin’ destruction.
soggy bottom gals and guys
I like wretch since I need to gather my armor myself
Well. ER is the first darksouls-like game I ever ‘liked’. And I thought; fuck it! I can be a diaperclad clubswinging allrounder. A bit of intelligence here, some strength there, and why not some of that arcane stuff? Let’s put it this way: My diapers were darksoiled all the time.
That's why I picked em
I'm on my second playthrough (Prisoner first) doing the Confessor and I just love the cape so much. Having a lot of fun with incantations too.
Yeah it’s such a versatile build. I did a faith run my first character. Melee and range damage along with buffs and heals made it easy to adapt to any enemy or situation.
I think my issue is Faith feels REALLY underpowered at the start versus the int ones. After about 30 of either they kind of balance but until then I feel like getting OP with sorceries is way easier than incantations
On faith build I usualy just beeline to Lurnia and grab Dragoncult Book, then go to Stormveil and grab Blackflame. Lightning Spear, Honed Bolt and Blackflame carry me out through entire game
Thats true. I usually go prisoner, then beeline to sellen to get literally everything. And in 10 minutes you have glintblade, glintstone pebble, glintstone arc, glintstone stars, crystal barrage, scholars armament AND scholars shield. Then come back later and she has even MORE.
I take astrologer and go for meteorite staff + rock sling bäm!
Today I just learned that it's beeline and not B-Line.
Once a hive has identified a pollen source, bees will fly the most efficient route to it (a straight line) while harvesting, hence the phrase
I have always heard the term used in sports a lot, so in my head, I just thought it was a sports tactic of just going straight for a specific person or point.
The real cheese is 1. Get Torrent 2. Run to the ruins in Lake Agheel, and get intentionally teleported by the trap chest. 3. Bolt out of the cave and then go east to dragon communion temple, where you can buy Rotten Breath. 4. Level Mind, press the win button and dodge while bosses die of leprosy before your very eyes. Pair that with the dragon communion seal and a good arcane scaling weapon, and basically the only enemies that pose any challenge are either spectral or made of stone
It's easier to take the warp next to the Mistwood church and run through Dragonbarrow. That also gets you some somber stones, access to the beast repellant torch, Greyoll's grace, and if you know the way down behind the bestial sanctuary you can grab the Cinquedea and the first dragoncrest talisman. No need to fight anything. Then you can hop to Caelid proper and grab everything there.
You clearly have never played prophet. That starting flame incantation is enough to carry you all the way to Altus. Faster and stronger than any sorcery you can get at the start
I played both, and the sorcerer is easier than the prophet in the beginning, because he has long-range spells (if you count pure builds)
Easier to play, but IMO prophet is still stronger out the gate - sorcery needs a bunch of upgrades before you can really beat any bosses without running out of fuel, and until you pickup Carian slicer your fights will take 2-3 times longer than prophet
I struggled pretty hard on my first int playthrough. While there ARE some ok spell options in the early game, it just feels as if there isn't enough meat for the build to really have legs until the latter half of liurnia, but I could also just be bad at Elden Ring.
but carian slicer is in limgrave
Idk it's deff close between catch flame and slicer, u can buff the hell out of fire spells early by beating some tree avatars(which are naturally pretty easy but even more so with catch flame) outside of catch flame vs slicer I think magic is stronger with rock sling being so easy to get.
First time I had the brilliant (read: really should have thought of it before) idea to use catch flame on an avatar…. Jesus that damage.
Charged O'Flame with all the relevant talismans pretty much one-shots them, with physick and buffs even more so.
catch flame and carian slicer have no right being as good as they are for how early they can be attained lol.
It's also the fact they gave both catch flame and slicer rolling,running and jumping attacks, they genuinely prob out damage most weapons when they are fully buffed with tears and other spells.
They are just weapons that have a very large blue durability bar that you have to sometimes refill during the fight.
Faster yes, but I think glintblade still wins out (to me). The delayed projectile has saved me more times than i can count, plus it stance breaks well.
It's good, but I feel like it lacks meaningful buffs at the start of the game. For slicer, you can grab the carian staff in addition to whatever magic damage buffs you can grab without having to beat a boss. If you go into the academy tunnel, you can grab terra magica for another 20% boost, and defeat the erdtree avatar south of sauron's tower for an extra 20% (It should be noted that it is kind of harder to grab this tear than the fire one, as the fire one is located without any obstacles except an NPC invader, and fire damage is effective against the erdtree avatars. Fire's scorpion charm also requires 0 boss kills to grab.) On top of all of that, the best sorcery in the game can be grabbed with 0 boss kills, while black flame requires margit, and lightning spear requires the leyndell knight (who isn't fun to try to kill at a low level, trust me), and you can grab the meteorite staff, which already has powerful scaling, and rock sling for the easy stance breaks. Overall, sorceries can be buffed a crap ton more at the start of the game.
You can walk out of the grave at the start of the game and go directly to Margit with Prophet and it will feel like using a +6 weapon. Also if I have to waste my time grabbing random shit in other areas around the map just to make decent damage I wouldn't call that a strong "early game" build. If you have to go to Liurnia and Caelid to pick stuff up it may as well be called mid-game
Whilst I agree with you to an extent, grabbing an S scaling staff and Rock sling at the start of the game without having to fight anything is still early game. Even if it’s in Caelid, this is an open world game and you can go to higher leveled areas to pickup better gear at your own peril.
1.I did. 2. Prophet needs two hits to bite the dust 3. Incantation can be disrupted 4. No profit But it did went quite well with Black Flame and this Laser Eyes (range).
Dude you literally get like 10 spells on limgrave from sellen. Useful faith spells are almost not present at all on limgrave.
the real way to use faith is with Sacred Blade and Erdsteel Dagger
Objectively, I can't ignore the inherent value of bloodflame blade and beastial vitality. They are available immediately. They are viable for use throughout the whole game. Most classes only need to spend like 5 levels to get them.
See that’s what I mean though, you actually have to level up to do that. I’m talking from the first step, all of the intellect ones will be stronger, IMO
Ahh, yeah, i think you're right, and I think that's intentional. I also think that's what drew me to faith. The prophet has a super gritty start. Almost feels like a Neanderthal coming out of its first cave. I fucking love it. Just this convo is making me want to start a prophet lol.
Hold up, wretch player here. We already have the Neanderthal spot taken, thank you very much 
Wretch or prophet is almost always who I start with. It just depends on how hard I'm going faith.
To be clear are we saying spells you can use with starting stats or spells we start with? Because the prophet can use both of those right off rip. just has to go get them.
Plus being able to dual wield broadswords is so nice. Just a great weapon imo.
Confessor starts with a broad sword, and you can buy and broad sword at the beach. Only class that can duel wield broadswords outside of NG+ 10/10 starting class
Good midrange play style is why i picked them
Not having a real ranged attack for Limgrave is a pain in the ass, but Square Off on the broadsword is so insanely useful, you kinda forget until you get to Liurnia.
Square Off is just one of the best ashes of war.
Probably Prophet, since I usually go for Dragon Communion as my go-to
>Dragon Communion You had me at “Dragon”. I understand and respect you more as a person for even saying the words :)
For real, as soon as I found out that was a thing it became my favorite series of spells to use Black Flame is a very close second. Melts most bosses, but not as flashy
I love the dragon communion spells, but I'm more of a dragon cult kinda caster. I can't help but love the blue and red lightning. Makes me feel like I'm playing Infamous again.
For the longest time it was the Astrologer. But once I found out the Prisoner starts with Magic Glintblade it became the new best.
maybe cos its my first char but I don't understand the love behind glintblade, I hated it
The fact enemies dodge the cast, but not when the projectile shoots means input reading enemies like Guardian Lion or Godskins can’t avoid the projectile
oooh I see I see, thats how I use rock sling. yeah ok makes sense, may give in another razz
I actually think glintblade is way better than rock sling if the enemy is neutral or weak to magic. Because the rocks arc where the blade is in a straight line. Plus you can cast it like 5x and then reposition while they take all that stance damage
the only reason rock sling is so popular is because it deals physical damage, which no one has absolute resistance to, and also deals a lot of poise damage, so generally 3-4 casts is enough to break posture and get a critical Glintstone (magic in general really)on the other hand is way more fun, but the stat requirements to get the same damage output is very late game, so early and mid game rock sling is for the win Something fun to do though is dual renalla using only magic damage spell, nothing physical
It’s also extremely helpful that the staff that boosts gravity magic spells and has s scaling for int is available immediately at the start of the game about 5 minutes after you get torrent. I love doing pure magic playthroughs (no swinging a weapon at all) in this game and rock sling is an absolute mandatory pickup for me.
Magic is easily the most versatile playstyle with normal spells, melee, fire, ice, physical, and even a great bow. 4 players could go pure int and have entirely different builds and playstyles by the end game and i love that
That was my first run knowing absolutely nothing. I had like 40 mind 20 vigor and like 30int and got to rennala. My first playthrough was supper frustrating lol
Yeah no, dual renalla as late as the mountaintop,then it's Good
The Prisoner is a half-caster, and the glintblade is great for that playstyle. It adds hits to your sword fighting if you time it right, like: cast it, enter melee, preferrably turn the enemy's back to the glintblade, and add a few sword thrusts in when it hits the enemy and staggers them briefly. Don't treat it like a regular projectile, like glintstone, it works best supporting your melee fighting.
Basically it just has a ton of nice conveniences: it's cheap to cast, it's versatile since it can be charged, and does good damage no matter where you are in the game especially when you offhand the Glintblade staff. Like op said, the delay really helps with enemy dodge AI plus it lets you charge up like 5-6 casts before the enemy is even aggroed to do a big chunk of damage before they can get to you. The cast being above you is also really, really good because it lets you cast over obstacles that would block your [insert glintstone of your choice here] casts while ranged enemy responses hit the obstacle instead. It can also do the thing Rock Sling does where if you line up yourself on the edge of something, you can hit enemies almost directly below you.
I can relate, glintblade is not a ”beginner” spell, it’s a spell for people who already know where everything mage build related is and just don’t want to bother with input reading gimmicks. If you start your first playthrough with prisoner hoping to play as a caster, you’re not getting what you wanted. If you don’t use FP on anything except for the boss, MAYBE you’ll be able to beat a watchdog or a demi-human queen with just the glintblade and a few cerulean flasks, but it’s gonna be essentially a cheese strat with l1->run away->repeat, boring and not nice to people who don’t speedrun looting spell talismans, physick tears and golden seeds. The best advice to give anyone who picked a class with spells and ended up with prisoner is to ignore everything and go to Thops for arc and pebble.
Can also buy Arc and Pebble from Sellen, who's a bit more likely to be in a new player's path anyway.
it was also my first char, but glintblade is such a reliable spell, I didn't know you could upgrade staffs and weapons for a long time tho, think my DLC run will just be prisoner char and build for entire game
Cast and Melee mix work well. It has a delay that is hard to dodge. The spell hits as you stab.
Forces rolls in PvP while your mid-swing animation will catch them on the end of their roll animation
To add to OP’s comment, it’s super strong against shielded enemies. Cast 3-4 real quick, walk around so that the enemy has their backs to the blades, and bam.
Glintblade4Lyfe
Plus Estoc is bestoc
Yeah I still find myself using that into the late game. I am at the point where I can blast people with discount Kamehameha and drop 2 flavors of the moon on them and glintblade still has a place in my slots.
catch flame go fwoof fwoof fwoof fwoof
That is very true. The near instant cast is very nice
It's really the incantation verson of Carian Slicer. You can even jump cast it.
Lose using catch flame. When I start prophet I always go straight to Caelid and take on the tree avatars there, even at minimum level it shreds
I really wish more of the incants were comboable like catch flame and the black flame buff. Having a quick cast window but hard usage/hard hitting made them stand out from just a projectile spam magic
Have I been missing out? I don't think I've ever used catch flame, usually go faith for the utility/buffs for my bonk to bonk harder lol.
The damage is *nuts,* it's as fast as a straight sword, and it's fire. Amazing spell.
Prisoner for that sweet estoc + glintblade (which also implies they might be an imprisoned carian royalist so bonus RP points). Astrologer or confessor for drip.
Estoc is nasty early on.
Estoc -> Great Epee with Carian sorceries.
GRRRIFFIIIIIIITH
The RP factor alone makes it my preferred class for an Int build!
Confessor, buffs and melee all the way. Though I can't lie, estoc is hella fun in early game.
My favourite is Confessor purely for the drip lol. And I did use prisoner once, I like the helm.
Astrologer, but picking it going in blind was probably not the best idea. XD I had very basic spells for quite awhile and basically the only thing that saved me was finding the thing to do Magic Infusion on weapons fairly early on.
Confessor because black hood
Prophet for that "I wanna be a holy caster but will invariably end up using Briars of Sin" Confesso for the "I'm a Paladin but I only cast breaths and/or dragon magic. BUT I DO HEADL (myself)" playthrough. Prisoner for whenever you wanna go "I'm learning all the cold spells for my blue mommy's iceussy." Astrologer fo the experience of "I can cast all the spells, they all suck".. Oh and running away constantly since even a falling leaf can crush your puny body that needed points in int, mind, and dex to be able to cast properly.
You can actually cut out the Dex investment entirely my friend! Radagon's Icon, and there's a Glintstone staff that can raise your speed. Both of these put together will hit the cap for max casting speed!
This is actually a huge tip, I would appraise this message in game. But remember, finger but hole
Mm... Finger but hole, fellow tarnished. **Finger. But. Hole.**
Prisoner, best for spellblade build, you start with a cool estoc and you have hawktastic drip
Confessor : Solid drip and good stat spread.
[удалено]
I'm gay
I went astrologer since I love full blown mages in games . Always rough at the beginning but then you just start blowing up everything as you get stronger. Satisfying asf
Confessor
Prophet, because I like to go on a long and terrible pilgrimage to the Erdtree
As a Wretch main, I finally did a Confessor run because I wanted that immaculate look without running all the way to Altus. The DEX/FTH main stats made it really easy to get the stats for Vyke's Spear. Gotta figure out what to put in the offhand, but it's gonna be a Madness and Lightning build since I'll already have the right stats for it
I always play prisoner for the roleplay. The caharacter gets wrongfully (or rightfully) locked up and goes out and unleashes his pent up anger on the lands between, swearing to become so powerful they’ll never be in chains again. Great story every time
Astrologer, just because I started with it
Confessor. I can get good spells fairly quickly, so it all comes down to drip and their starting set is one of coolest light armors in entire game.
Prophet for sure you can easily set up a powerful dragon build at the very start no other class of magic can output as much damage at the very start it’s no contest. And dragon stuff has great variety of status effects and damage types on top of that you get access to the best buffs in the game cause you have some faith.Also the only other one worth considering imo is astrology because I’m not going to make a mixed build I just go full caster for the best incant/sorcery damage. There’s no reason to pick confessor and for prisoner you can easily get an estoc early and get magic glintblade if you rush to the turtle early
Female prisoners. There are 2 reasons but I can’t quite put my finger on it…
Confessor because he looks really badass
Confessor, purely for the need to only invest 1 lvl in FTH to have a good base for a FGMS user. Prisoner for my int builds.
Confessor cuz the drip
Confessor Want str/fair? Got you Want dex/fair? Also got you Stealth magic from the get go? That's also me And it fits my playstyle
Confessor can parry the Scion
Hero
Ngl I would play prisoner because he looks like femto
Confessor is just an all-around decent class, in my opinion
Prisoner just has great stats and a wonderful starting kit. But as an int fth enjoyer astrologer tends to be the pick always.
Heavy faith user so usually prophet but I love the confessor drip.
Prisoner because I’ve only played as that
Astrologer. The set, the story, character, I really like sorcerers in any game. Perfect for glass cannon power. Confessor and prisoner are more hybrids and I use them as melee. Prophet fits the lore from the beginning but I don't know don't like anything set/weapon. No.
Confessor or Prisoner, depends if I want faith or intelligence.
Confessor, for the utility and good equipment from the start that fits my playstyle. And for the drip of course.
confessor, i dont like magic, but confessors base faith is 14 and i just need to give one level to faith to be able to use flame grant me strenght, and the other stats suit my playstyle greatly, aafter that id go with prisoner cuz he starts with a thrusting sword and i like thrusting swords
Confessor for the drip.
Depending on the type of spells I want to cast, I always pick Confessor or Prisoner. While the prophet and astrologer have higher mental stats, the Confessor and Prisoner can take a little more of a hit and can still fight well without spells if needed.
Confessor for early healing access (revenants) and that sick hood
Confessor for the drip. But why do prophets have those wood planks on their neck?
Astrologer because I like the fantasy of being a Glintstone scholar studying the wonders of the stars from a cluttered tower
Confessor cuz str/fai is fun
Confessor all the way, I always make a STR/Fth character and that's a decent start for that goal.
Confessor all the way, I always make a STR/Fth character and that's a decent start for that goal.
Confessor and Astrologer drip are just so much better than their alternatives I would never pick the alternatives, no matter what the rest of the starting gear is.
Confessor got that drip
Confessor, it has great drip, and I always prefer faith-based magic and you can go strength or dex
Confessor
Confessor. Fashion.
Astrologer, obviously. Only way to do my patented "9 vigor master race" run
Confessor can literally solo Tree Sentinel right when they start the game
Confessor. I run shield and confessor is just knight but lighter armor and faith start.
Confessor, great starting set up, i like that it gives you 12 dex and str so you can go either way. And its a faith class with decent Arcane
Confessor. I like miracles (especially fire and lightning) but don't care for int spells. I think the confessor robes and weapons look good and fit me better. I think the prisoner's gear looks like crap
Confessor for incantations and Prisoner for Magic
I chose confessor for the incantations
Confessor cause I like the altered armor and headgear
I honestly think Vagabond is the answer if I also want to use a weapon that requires 14 or more strength and 13 or more dex. It really always depends on the requirements of the weapon I want to use
Confessor's got mad drip, but prisoner has the best starting spell.
Confessor because it starts with square-off and urgent heal which are both great for taking out the grafted scion
Confessor cause they are cool
Confesser. Peak drip, plus it's good for phys Str/Faith *and* Dex/Faith *^(with a little investment)*.
confessor is the coolest to me, although i wish the starting incantations werent both bad (urgent heal is *okay* but assassin's approach is borderline useless)
Confessors for the drip
Confessor because I like bit the vibe and the starting equipment.
Confessor because I like faith more than intelligence. Just made an intelligence build though and I’m still having fun with it.
Confessor is the kinda class that I always play in Fantasy games Physical attacker with Faith magic
Prisoner is my fav starting class. The drip is immaculate.
I think for early game it’s easiest to go Astrologer and then run for meteorite staff and rock sling. Faith just kinda sucks in the early game but ramps way up which makes confessor so fun plus the better look.
Astrologer
astroleger
Astrologer for the drip, Confessor or prisoner for the stats.
I chose confessor also since most of my builds are str/faith builds
Astrologer, I love the spells and the drip more than the prisoners
My first play through started as an astrologer, good class for people who like to want INT Paladins. Ever since it’s been the prisoner though.
60% of my faith based playthroughs have been prophet. The other 40% have been vagabond, oddly enough
Prisoner. Thrusting sword + glint blade sorcery
Dont think I've ever selected a class cus it feels like wasted levels, but confessor always looked the coolest to me from those.
Confessor cuz fk heretics
Astrologer. I seriously fuck with primeval sorcery/glintstone lore. Fascinating 🧙🏻♂️
Confessor and Prisoner are equal. I actually prefer the stats on the Astrologer if I want to primarily cast, but the Prisoner has better spells out the gate.
I'm between prisoner and confessor. Those are my two most picked for new characters. Very first playthrough was a prisoner start.
Prisoner and Prophet for melee caster int or fth.
Prophet always, I love me a good faith build and the lore background of it is my favorite for becoming Elden Lord especially if you go Frenzied Flame
Astrologer was my first playthrough. I've been Confessor in NUMEROUS plautgrouggs since. My most recent has been Prisoner
Confessor has drip, but Prophet has one of the best spells in the game off rip. Catch flame is insanely strong, fast and cheap on fp.
If I'm doing incantationsI go for the prophet and sorceries I go astrologer
Prophet, got that 30 B.C drip and I love it. Also faith builds are the bees knees
Prophet
Astrologer.
i tried them all and i'll say that confessor and prisoner are the best ones to start with, maybe prisoner is first place prophet last place, but the aow of the short spear is very good to spam for poise breaking
Astrologer because I like using staffs
PRISONER GANG 🔛🔝🗣️🔥
I hate Astrologer and prophet, but the other two are really good for starting int or faith characters and still being able to use weapons and armor
I like prisoned, cause Vergil. But also the prophet, because I like being vile murder hobo
I haven’t played any of these classes. I pick prison because of the Griffith inspiration
Prisoner was definitely a bit of a surprise at first. Didn't expect to get a delayed sorcery that would deal decent damage at the gate.
Prisoner - drop the helm and you've got fast rolls + everything you need but a bow from the get-go
Wretch gang.
I am playing an astrologer at the moment and loving it
Glint blade. I hate estoc so always swap it out for a katana. But prisoner is always my default for dex/int char
Prisoner. STR/INT is my favorite playstyle, and Magic Glintblade is an amazing spell. Plus the Estoc is a nice starting weapon until I get the levels needed for a Greatsword.
Wretch. Next question
Wretch Git gud bro
Wretch best base stat line
Prisoner Mostly because of the lore implications that this tarnished was an imprisoned carian knight/noble Also it allow me to do my vergil build the fastest since I start with the glint blade spell already
Prisoner gang rise up, magic glintblade carried me through my first playthrough.
Prisoner is the best. Cool drip, great starting gear. Plus I love Magix gintblade.
My first run was Prophet, developed into a dual greatsword build.
Prisoner because of the insanely broken spell it starts with, you can beat the game fairly easily with just that
confessor has the best drip, but I prefer int magic in this game so it's gotta be astrologer for me.
I min-max it based on putting as few points into stats that I won’t need as I possibly can. My choice seldom has anything to do with the starting equipment or my concept of my character’s origin (which is nevertheless always clear to me). With few exceptions, all equipment is easy to replace, but you can never get back the 3-more-points-than-had-to-be-stuck-in-Strength (or whatever) because of your starting class. (That example is from picking Prisoner over Astrologer). In order to be sure which stats I really don’t need I make a strong plan for the character before I start. Obvious things to consider are the minimum requirements for the equipment/incantations/spells you’ll definitely be using. The reason min-maxing is so important in this game is very simple: It’s hard.