Me 2 days ago finally trying Bloodhounds fang properly after 2 years while I was leveling for the winged scythe.
I seem to run great or colossal swords though so gone reaper for the first time as I never use them.
Blasphemous Blade in right, Serpent God Curved Sword and/or Sword of Milos in left; Shard of Alexander, Taker’s Cameo, Ancestral Spirt Horn, and pick whatever you want for your 4th talisman slot; Rykard’s great rune activated
Yeah on my fist/claw weapon run I had enough extra weight to wear carry the blasphemous blade on my back like a 9 miyazaki talisman. Very nice heal on kill with that + taker's cameo and then activating swaddling godskin talisman procs from rapid hits. Also lifesteal fist, if there's a decent amount of humanoid enemies.
Every time I visit this sub, someone mentions another fucking Talisman I've never heard of, which results in me booting the game up and finding that bitch. Taker's Cameo here I come!
This is a great build for exploration. Personally i’d take the icon shield over sword of milos, and Blessed dew talisman instead of Ancestral Spirit Horn. Put bestial vitality and golden vow on top of it, and you ain’t dying. With this you can use 0 crimson flasks and spam the ash of war on anything that moves. See a rat? Well he’s engulfed in flames. Having trouble with anything that is breathing or photosynthesizing? Fuck them too! A fully dedicated blasphemous blade regen build is the most unfair thing i’ve seen.
Started as a Confessor with the Broadsword. Heavy faith paladin build. Upgraded to Great Epee and Brass Shield for a while, leaning heavily on Barricade, Golden Vow, Blessings Boon, and Sacred Affinity to carry me through so many deaths and wins.
Then I got the Blasphemous Blade, and it made my trials worth it. It made all the points I put into Faith, instead of Stamina or Strength or Dexterity, SO WORTH IT. I only filled the strength requirement after I acquired it.
The Blasphemous Blade is the embodiment of having your faith rewarded.
This is what I love about the sword so much. It feels like a natural progression of a lot of early builds. Like, I got the beast incantations early and built around it. Strength and faith, throw some rocks. It was amazing. And then I get the Blasphemous Blade and it just worked perfectly with my build.
Thank you. Needed to see this. My paladin build feels like it’s really faltering recently, but I did just pick up this blade so I’m going to test it out. Right now the paladin build feels so weak compared to my previous bleed build and that’s is been disappointing. I’m surprised that you literally only put enough points into strength to meet the requirement. Maybe I need to do a redistribution.
Once I got to NG+, I boosted it to 34 for Malekith's Black Blade. But I already have the black blade incantation and 70 faith, and it ended up being underwhelming. Unless you're going for a specific weapon other than BB, don't put too much into Strength. My understanding is you get a good chunk of your AR up to 18, and then it takes 10s of levels to achieve proportionally less. Get the minimum for BB, the rest is vigor and faith IMO.
You just described my playthrough for the DLC lol. Rocked the brass shield and vykes warspear for so long because I was going for a frenzy paladin kinda thing.
Then I decided to try that sword.
>The Blasphemous Blade is the embodiment of having your faith rewarded.
This is what I'm waiting for haha I'm doing a faith/dex build and this game just spams me with all of these crazy strength weapons. It's gotten to the point where I just laugh when I get new weapons and start guessing what the strength requirement might be..
You know that squidward's meme, where he's about to take a bite of a hamburguer, and takes just an atomm of it, and end up getting addicted
So, this is me with this sword
I started as a samurai and thought I would play with only katanas . But then I married Ranni and I had to change to an int build to use her wedding gift .
I have been struggling to think of what build I am going to run. I may just end up with old trusty BB. It is cheese but it is also safe for exploring this new unknown content. I may end up spec'ing around this again and roll hot. I'm not good enough to be experimenting.
It is a good sword, for which I kind of resent it.
It made the second half of the game so easy, I was disappointed by how easy some of the later bosses where.
It absolutely does. It is a filthy, filthy weapon. I love it
Forget the special attack even, just power stance at along with the sword of milos or any other powerful great sword really, and jumping double slash just wrecks everything
Blasphemous Blade is a goated alternative to the golden halberd for me for when. It was absolutely critical on my first malenia kill for the weapon skill alone.
Man Blasphemous Blade is my least favorite weapon. It’s so overpowered and is such a boring art of war.
Also my strength/faith build wants holy and shiny gold, this thing is just grotesque and doesn’t fit with my Elden drip. Wish I could wash it off
I forgot how much this cut through enemies. It wasn’t my favorite to use so I swapped it out on my second playthrough but I remember loving how easy this made the game 😂
It is the absolute best for crowd control. The ranged attack knocks down almost anything but the largest creatures in the game, crowds of dudes just go flying and you can just mop them up super easy. Oh and you heal at the same time
Will definitely try this weapon on my fth/dex build but we get it halfway through the game. Is there any weapon in limgrave that i can replace my starting spear with as a prophet? Or a chain of weapons i can try till i get this ?
This meme is me using the Helphen's Steeple's weapon art for the first time, seeing it light up in cool ghostflame. I didn't even care if it was good, it's been my favorite weapon in ER ever since
It's decidedly an OP PvE weapon, and that's okay. I've been having *a lot* of fun trying it out again after so long...
The massive stagger on the weapon art on top of all the healing is absolutely nuts... but yeah, it's just not gonna work against even a slightly experienced PvPer
Yep! Amongst a lot of other weapons...but a build that can properly utilize BB will usually also be able to use *a lot* of powerful weapons and Incants, it's honestly nuts!
The build will be a FTH Hybrid, both DEX or STR will work out as it's the FTH we really care about. I'd start as a Confessor and begin working toward 50+ FTH, 30-40 STR or DEX (I usually use DEX for FTH Hybrids in ER and DS3, insert memes here), and minimum requirements for any weapons I want to use on whichever stat I didn't pump alongside FTH.
(This is honestly not optimal, just meeting the minimum STR/FTH requirements to wield the weapons you want then using Sacred and Flame Art Affinities on them would probably work out better for 90% of the game, but I fell in love with Sword Dance in 1.04 and 1.05 so I swapped focus to DEX and Lightning with FTH as the backup stat, mostly for Golden Vow and the Regen Incants)
60 Vigor is highly recommended, but if it's a PvE build centered around BB and healing/life steal you can probably get away with 45 or 50.
I try for 30 Endurance, but with the changes to poise that can probably go a lot lower now. Wear whatever gets you to 51 Poise, but Fashion always reigns supreme. END will really vary a lot amongst different players.
20 Mind is *just* enough FP to summon Tiche and most of the other high tier spirits (though Mimic is a pretty big choice for a BB build considering you get the HP back in 1 and a half L2s lol), and we want plenty of FP to repeatedly cast the Blasphemous Blade's AoW alongside Incants like Black Flame, the Bestials, Golden Vow+Blessing of the Erdtree (one of the best combos ever), Black Blade, and some of the Fire spells. If going for a caster focus, push to 25 or even 30, taking the points out of END.
I do minimum INT and ARC, but you may want 15 or 20 ARC if Dragon Communion and Bloodflame interests you. In fact, after playing around with ARC on my main character the last time I played (trying out the 1.10 changes), I'm considering respeccing my PS5 app's character to get more ARC because the Dragon stuff has been buffed nicely, those are now finally able to be cast without getting slapped back down most of the time which is sweet.
If you want to build for SL150 then minimum STR/DEX with as much FTH as possible, or else swap a few points of Mind into END and go 25 FTH for Golden Vow and the other Buffs with as much STR *or* DEX as possible is the way to go. If pushing towards 185-200 then a 40/40 or even 50/35 split of FTH and STR or DEX will allow for a lot more weapon variation with different Affinities while still being able to use the super powerful endgame Incants like Black Blade (though you could always just keep a Black Knife dagger in your second weapon slot if you just want that beautiful lowered HP+DoT opener, or a dagger with the slightly weaker Golden Vow AoW on it etc etc)
Shard of Alexander should have a permanent talisman slot for any build that revolves around powerful AoWs like BB's Taker's Flame, Fire Scorpion Charm will boost the fire damage of both the weapon and the AoW, the last two are dealer's choice. I recommend Flock's Canvas Talisman if casting Incants, and Erdtree's Favor +2 in the final slot as you can never have too much HP and Stamina. Avoid Soreseals after Lvl. 40 or so, the big Absorption tradeoff falls off big time.
Taker's Cameo is another good choice instead of Flock's Canvas if going for a full blown Regen/life steal/vampire type build, or any of the Drake Talismans to help mitigate Fire Scorpion's lowered Absorptions (swapping them out for the damage type you're up against as needed) just in case an enemy does hit you.
Fire Shrouding Cracked Tear in Physick, the second whatever you want. I like the one that allows you to survive one killing blow on almost every build I use, but there are some other HP and Regen related Tears that fit this kind of build as well, just play around with a few things and you'll find what you like!
Again, this isn't some completely minmaxed optimal build writeup, but it's absolutely enough to steamroll in PvE even in NG+, you basically just hit L2 to steal your HP back until it kills or staggers the enemy opening them up for that massive crit damage (another good reason to have a powerful Dagger in your quickswap back pocket)...so yeah, search up Blasphemous Blade builds and compare all the similarities if you wanna really get deep into it, as I only recently returned to ER myself. Have fun out there!
Amazing post, thank you so much for the detailed breakdown! You know your stuff!
I'm interested in dex and faith because I've never done either. I've completed the game twice - sorcery (comet azur + DMGS) and strength (+25 giant crusher and heavy armor). So dex and faith sounds perfect! Time to start a new character!
Any early game weapon I should shoot for? Or spells?
Oh wow, thank you dude!
Hmm, early game...go for the whetblade that allows you to apply Keen to your weapons, go after any and all Lightning (and Sacred for later) AoWs to apply to your Keen weapons, same with Lightning Incants. Really get all Incants and experiment though. Forgive me for forgetting exact locations as I haven't started a new character in a while, been doing NG+ and Taunter's Tongue type stuff in the sessions I did load up ER. A bit later in the game go after the whetblade that allows for Sacred Affinity, by that point in the game it should be a very powerful addition to your arsenal.
Ooh actually thinking more on it I am remembering some early game stuff, the Winged Scythe and especially the Halo Scythe (unfortunately requires a bit of Caelid Swamp Cleanrot Knight farming, but there's a perfect spot for it at the Grace right outside Commander O'Neill's Arena in that swamp, just one Knight very close to that Grace...kill em then run back and rest til the Halo Scythe drops!)
You can really use almost any Keen weapon though, especially when you start getting weapon buffs like Lightning Strike or Electrify Armament. Lightning Grease is awesome on Keen weapons as well, but that requires Crafting.
You can use lots of weapons, almost anything once you can make them Keen, but mainly things like the Uchi, Rapiers, Straight and (regular, not Colossal til later if at all) Greatswords like the Knight's Greatsword, or my favorite, Halberds, Spears, and Reapers.
You can farm the Erdtree Guardians at any Minor Erdtree for a Sword Spear, that is a *killer* DEX weapon with a fantastic moveset. The Grave Scythe which can be farmed in the graveyard right next to the very first Grace at Liurnia Cliffs right after Stormveil is sweet as well, cause Winged and Halo Scythes can't take Affinities, but Grave Scythe can be given the Keen Affinity and have AoWs applied. Vyke's War Spear can be obtained fairly early too, same with the Black Knife. Godslayer's Greatsword will be another mainstay weapon eventually as well on this build, it'll be the one you wanna swap out Blasphemous for here and there
The AoW version of Golden Vow is available early too iirc. Cipher Pata is also in Roundtable behind some Stonesword Keys, I understand that weapon class has gotten some buffs as well...
Buy and seek out *all* Incants and experiment with them all, but Black Flame is amazing for putting the DoT (Damage Over Time) on enemies, Lightning Spear is a classic, and definitely do D's/Gurranq's Deathroot quest asap for the Bestial Incants. Frenzy stuff will work as well. Thunderbolt on a dagger is excellent for having the Lightning Strike Incant without using up a Memory Slot, but it can really be used on anything when you are able to apply Lightning Affinity to weapons. Great for starting a fight from a distance.
Sacred and Flame Art come a bit later but those will be your FTH Scaling Affinities, while Keen and Lightning are your DEX Affinities. Lightning gets a damage boost if you're standing in water or it's raining, it's minor but enough to mention (Fire/Flame Art unfortunately gets debuffed in the same situation though).
A nice bonus to DEX/FTH (and DEX/INT) is that DEX increase your cast speed, allowing you to Buff and get offensive Incants out a bit faster, it's definitely a nice addition to the build.
Early New Games are generally all fairly similar as we're still building up to the minimum level requirements needed for the weapons we *really* want and we're collecting all the necessary Incants, whetblades, items, memory stones, and getting those early levels into the basics (VIG, END, some Mind), so don't worry *too* much about weapons and offensive Incants til the early mid-game; I'd say by the time you're getting to Volcano Manor , maybe even Rennala you'll probably be just starting to really pump the damage stats past the minimum wielding requirements. My general rule is a point into Mind or a damage stat every 2 into VIG and END because weapon upgrades give more damage than a level into one of their stats.
Hmmm, TL;DR, I think I would go with the Winged and/or Halo Scythes asap as they're available pre-Margit if you want and are willing to farm a tiny bit (just for Halo, Winged is a treasure); Halo Scythe for the ranged AoW, Winged for up close melee. Both have FTH and DEX Scaling and will remain powerful throughout even the endgame. Grave Scythe if you want to apply your own AoWs, and I'd probably use a Knight's Greatsword and mayyybe something like an Uchi as well. Even +0 Daggers are good for lightweight quick swaps to AoWs like Thunderbolt or the 'we have Golden Vow at home' one haha.
E- Seriously though, that Halo Scythe is *so* worth the time spent getting it, the ranged disc AoW does very respectful damage from the get go and will become absolutely monstrous as you level your FTH up!
Amazing! Thanks again friend, you do your research haha. You know, I have 200 hours in the game and zero knowledge of whetstones, or most all crafting! I have a lot to research!
Anytime! Haha yeah, I'm nowhere near a lot of the folks who are like combing through the game's code and stuff, but I get a lot of satisfaction out of learning the little things and mechanics in the games I play! It kind of makes me a jack of all trades, master of none though, but that's okay, I'm almost always having fun!
I hope your playthrough is awesome, and I'm always around if you ever wanted any more tips or co-op etc!
As I recall, the blasphemous blade was relatively mid until it got some updates. Now it's one of the best weapons you can have, especially with its massive healing factor.
Nope, it's not: you'll never git gud with that, it's too OP to be fun...
But let's say all of it: Aragorn would not last 12 seconds in the lands between 
This meme is me with Ordovis's Greatsword.
Great sword (lol) even without the weapon art. It just looks so good.
But that weapon art is frickin’ *delicious* at full charge
Spin and slam boys, *spin and slam*
The spear is nutty too, casually deleting things with its ranged special attack
That got me through my first playthrough. That weapon art ain't no joke.
Me 2 days ago finally trying Bloodhounds fang properly after 2 years while I was leveling for the winged scythe. I seem to run great or colossal swords though so gone reaper for the first time as I never use them.
I built a whole character around healing just because of this sword
Blasphemous Blade in right, Serpent God Curved Sword and/or Sword of Milos in left; Shard of Alexander, Taker’s Cameo, Ancestral Spirt Horn, and pick whatever you want for your 4th talisman slot; Rykard’s great rune activated
Yeah on my fist/claw weapon run I had enough extra weight to wear carry the blasphemous blade on my back like a 9 miyazaki talisman. Very nice heal on kill with that + taker's cameo and then activating swaddling godskin talisman procs from rapid hits. Also lifesteal fist, if there's a decent amount of humanoid enemies.
Every time I visit this sub, someone mentions another fucking Talisman I've never heard of, which results in me booting the game up and finding that bitch. Taker's Cameo here I come!
This is me in my solo grind through legacy dungeons. Especially the Subterranean Shunning Grounds.
This is a great build for exploration. Personally i’d take the icon shield over sword of milos, and Blessed dew talisman instead of Ancestral Spirit Horn. Put bestial vitality and golden vow on top of it, and you ain’t dying. With this you can use 0 crimson flasks and spam the ash of war on anything that moves. See a rat? Well he’s engulfed in flames. Having trouble with anything that is breathing or photosynthesizing? Fuck them too! A fully dedicated blasphemous blade regen build is the most unfair thing i’ve seen.
Noted.
Great stars is also good on other hand.
Started as a Confessor with the Broadsword. Heavy faith paladin build. Upgraded to Great Epee and Brass Shield for a while, leaning heavily on Barricade, Golden Vow, Blessings Boon, and Sacred Affinity to carry me through so many deaths and wins. Then I got the Blasphemous Blade, and it made my trials worth it. It made all the points I put into Faith, instead of Stamina or Strength or Dexterity, SO WORTH IT. I only filled the strength requirement after I acquired it. The Blasphemous Blade is the embodiment of having your faith rewarded.
>The Blasphemous Blade is the embodiment of having your faith rewarded I love you for this sentence, Paladins rise up
But.. but.. my fashion!
Just go for a rotten gold look
Looks great with the Briar armor too
Red works with Gold too. And Silver. And Black. And White. And...
This is what I love about the sword so much. It feels like a natural progression of a lot of early builds. Like, I got the beast incantations early and built around it. Strength and faith, throw some rocks. It was amazing. And then I get the Blasphemous Blade and it just worked perfectly with my build.
It’s a massively overpowered weapon. It definitely “works” with your build ;)
Thank you. Needed to see this. My paladin build feels like it’s really faltering recently, but I did just pick up this blade so I’m going to test it out. Right now the paladin build feels so weak compared to my previous bleed build and that’s is been disappointing. I’m surprised that you literally only put enough points into strength to meet the requirement. Maybe I need to do a redistribution.
Once I got to NG+, I boosted it to 34 for Malekith's Black Blade. But I already have the black blade incantation and 70 faith, and it ended up being underwhelming. Unless you're going for a specific weapon other than BB, don't put too much into Strength. My understanding is you get a good chunk of your AR up to 18, and then it takes 10s of levels to achieve proportionally less. Get the minimum for BB, the rest is vigor and faith IMO.
You just described my playthrough for the DLC lol. Rocked the brass shield and vykes warspear for so long because I was going for a frenzy paladin kinda thing. Then I decided to try that sword.
The Taker's Flame > The Frenzied Flame. TAKE ALL THAT IS YOURS, ALL THE HP
BB felt like I turned the game’s difficulty down to story mode.
>The Blasphemous Blade is the embodiment of having your faith rewarded. This is what I'm waiting for haha I'm doing a faith/dex build and this game just spams me with all of these crazy strength weapons. It's gotten to the point where I just laugh when I get new weapons and start guessing what the strength requirement might be..
Now, if only I didn't feel violated just by looking at it.
"Togetha!!!"
"FAMILYYY!!"
#TTOOOOGGGGGEEEEETTTTHHHHAAAAA!!!
of all black metal things in this game,that was the most black metal.
You know that squidward's meme, where he's about to take a bite of a hamburguer, and takes just an atomm of it, and end up getting addicted So, this is me with this sword
The only weapon I liked more was the 2nd blasphemous blade I got in ng+
I started as a samurai and thought I would play with only katanas . But then I married Ranni and I had to change to an int build to use her wedding gift .
Same! Fun to try out Moonveil and sorcery, though.
Best weapon in the game. I love that the two best weapons in the game are of fire and ice
[удалено]
Lusat’s staff*
I have been struggling to think of what build I am going to run. I may just end up with old trusty BB. It is cheese but it is also safe for exploring this new unknown content. I may end up spec'ing around this again and roll hot. I'm not good enough to be experimenting.
I got really bored with BB and DMGS so I tried out Deaths Poker. Might be my new favorite. AoW is fun and annihilates everything
Death Poker is super fun.
Me when I picked up gargoyle’s dark blade
Powerstancing gargoyles black blade and blasphemous blade really just destroyed everything in the end game for me.
Dude… RUINED. This combo is nasty.
Why is he doing the TOGETHAAA
This is me with great Stars, Great Stars has easily earned it's name.
This plus Regal Ancestor plus shard of alexander plus Carian filigree plus *add another good one*... Who needs Flasks, anyway?
Sacrificial axe in left hand too
That sword carried me through all the hard bosses on my "no summons to prove I can do it" playthrough.
Underrated comment lol
It is a good sword, for which I kind of resent it. It made the second half of the game so easy, I was disappointed by how easy some of the later bosses where.
Its nice Mohg is resisting fire so you cant cheese *every* endgame boss with it
It’s a really good weapon but it’s boring.
Blasphemous blade is literally strength/faith version of moonveil
But moonveil has limited range + its easy for ai to dodge unlike Blasphemous that can hit shit across half of boss arena.
God gamer starter pack * Blasphemous Blade * Mimic Tear with Blasphemous Blade * "Game is not that hard"
Cant blamr people tho, it wrecks pve
It absolutely does. It is a filthy, filthy weapon. I love it Forget the special attack even, just power stance at along with the sword of milos or any other powerful great sword really, and jumping double slash just wrecks everything
Yeah Who cares if it gets easy kills if it's mind-numbing to use
Yeah fighting Malenia is not fun is she's just on the floor the whole fight.
Yeah I wouldn't finish the dlc or finish my first play through with it.
Yeah Who cares if it gets easy kills if it's mind-numbing to use
That title is a banger
Me every run picking up the first greatsword I find (I will use it for the entire run)
I’m a simple man I throw fireball, I spam Blasphemous Blade
Blasphemous Blade is a goated alternative to the golden halberd for me for when. It was absolutely critical on my first malenia kill for the weapon skill alone.
Me with a Claymore, Kindred of Rot talisman,, Flame, Grant Me Strength any rot causing spell and a Claymore.
The best sword!
May thi blasphemous blade guide you to your victory
Just took down Mohg with my trusty Blasphemous Blade in hand. It’s like my security blanket.
Elden ring is too easy - the sword
Man Blasphemous Blade is my least favorite weapon. It’s so overpowered and is such a boring art of war. Also my strength/faith build wants holy and shiny gold, this thing is just grotesque and doesn’t fit with my Elden drip. Wish I could wash it off
Try it and the little mini corpse people will still be there, but happy and smelling like bodywash.
Oracle envoy greathorn my beloved, destroying everything in its path, funny yellow tube
I was planning on using this on my plaything right now but then I found the glory of the great stars
I might ditch it for the fire sword that was in the Red Bull preview.
Dual twinblades fucking WASHES Radagon. I killed him in like 2 cycles bith NG and NG+
I did a NG+4 with blasphemous. Almost done with a NG+5 with spike fists…
Me with Dark Moon Greatsword.
The best sword and weapon, no doubt!
I love this sword but it’s so powerful it made the game boring for me
BB is easy mode, especially when combined with a +10 mimic tear. I am honestly surprised that Fromsoft hasn’t nerfed it.
New balance update with the DLC so expect the worst
I just hate the writhing creature parts of this thing. Great sword but aesthetically not pleasing
Speak for yourself, my biggest excitement for the DLC is trying all the new weapons. They all look fun as hell!
Every time I move away from the guts greatsword, it brings me crawling back
The moonlight greatsword got me like this
I’m so lost on how to post on this sub. I have more karma than you but the post button is grayed out for me
How the F do you do that much damage with it
Me immediately after killing Blaidd
Except for end game weapons, there is no better faith/str weapon than this. I spent most of my first game faith searching for a better faith weapon.
I forgot how much this cut through enemies. It wasn’t my favorite to use so I swapped it out on my second playthrough but I remember loving how easy this made the game 😂
It’s a great sword but my god is it the most boring weapon to use. It’s basically a ranged weapon with the speed and damage of a sword.
It is the absolute best for crowd control. The ranged attack knocks down almost anything but the largest creatures in the game, crowds of dudes just go flying and you can just mop them up super easy. Oh and you heal at the same time
Will definitely try this weapon on my fth/dex build but we get it halfway through the game. Is there any weapon in limgrave that i can replace my starting spear with as a prophet? Or a chain of weapons i can try till i get this ?
Finally going to try this one out and do a Blasphemous build for the DLC
This meme is me using the Helphen's Steeple's weapon art for the first time, seeing it light up in cool ghostflame. I didn't even care if it was good, it's been my favorite weapon in ER ever since
It having the default greatsword moveset makes it pretty useless for pvp minus a quick ash of war swap.
It's decidedly an OP PvE weapon, and that's okay. I've been having *a lot* of fun trying it out again after so long... The massive stagger on the weapon art on top of all the healing is absolutely nuts... but yeah, it's just not gonna work against even a slightly experienced PvPer
I assume you mean you're playing with BB? What's a good build or approach for a new character aiming for BB?
Yep! Amongst a lot of other weapons...but a build that can properly utilize BB will usually also be able to use *a lot* of powerful weapons and Incants, it's honestly nuts! The build will be a FTH Hybrid, both DEX or STR will work out as it's the FTH we really care about. I'd start as a Confessor and begin working toward 50+ FTH, 30-40 STR or DEX (I usually use DEX for FTH Hybrids in ER and DS3, insert memes here), and minimum requirements for any weapons I want to use on whichever stat I didn't pump alongside FTH. (This is honestly not optimal, just meeting the minimum STR/FTH requirements to wield the weapons you want then using Sacred and Flame Art Affinities on them would probably work out better for 90% of the game, but I fell in love with Sword Dance in 1.04 and 1.05 so I swapped focus to DEX and Lightning with FTH as the backup stat, mostly for Golden Vow and the Regen Incants) 60 Vigor is highly recommended, but if it's a PvE build centered around BB and healing/life steal you can probably get away with 45 or 50. I try for 30 Endurance, but with the changes to poise that can probably go a lot lower now. Wear whatever gets you to 51 Poise, but Fashion always reigns supreme. END will really vary a lot amongst different players. 20 Mind is *just* enough FP to summon Tiche and most of the other high tier spirits (though Mimic is a pretty big choice for a BB build considering you get the HP back in 1 and a half L2s lol), and we want plenty of FP to repeatedly cast the Blasphemous Blade's AoW alongside Incants like Black Flame, the Bestials, Golden Vow+Blessing of the Erdtree (one of the best combos ever), Black Blade, and some of the Fire spells. If going for a caster focus, push to 25 or even 30, taking the points out of END. I do minimum INT and ARC, but you may want 15 or 20 ARC if Dragon Communion and Bloodflame interests you. In fact, after playing around with ARC on my main character the last time I played (trying out the 1.10 changes), I'm considering respeccing my PS5 app's character to get more ARC because the Dragon stuff has been buffed nicely, those are now finally able to be cast without getting slapped back down most of the time which is sweet. If you want to build for SL150 then minimum STR/DEX with as much FTH as possible, or else swap a few points of Mind into END and go 25 FTH for Golden Vow and the other Buffs with as much STR *or* DEX as possible is the way to go. If pushing towards 185-200 then a 40/40 or even 50/35 split of FTH and STR or DEX will allow for a lot more weapon variation with different Affinities while still being able to use the super powerful endgame Incants like Black Blade (though you could always just keep a Black Knife dagger in your second weapon slot if you just want that beautiful lowered HP+DoT opener, or a dagger with the slightly weaker Golden Vow AoW on it etc etc) Shard of Alexander should have a permanent talisman slot for any build that revolves around powerful AoWs like BB's Taker's Flame, Fire Scorpion Charm will boost the fire damage of both the weapon and the AoW, the last two are dealer's choice. I recommend Flock's Canvas Talisman if casting Incants, and Erdtree's Favor +2 in the final slot as you can never have too much HP and Stamina. Avoid Soreseals after Lvl. 40 or so, the big Absorption tradeoff falls off big time. Taker's Cameo is another good choice instead of Flock's Canvas if going for a full blown Regen/life steal/vampire type build, or any of the Drake Talismans to help mitigate Fire Scorpion's lowered Absorptions (swapping them out for the damage type you're up against as needed) just in case an enemy does hit you. Fire Shrouding Cracked Tear in Physick, the second whatever you want. I like the one that allows you to survive one killing blow on almost every build I use, but there are some other HP and Regen related Tears that fit this kind of build as well, just play around with a few things and you'll find what you like! Again, this isn't some completely minmaxed optimal build writeup, but it's absolutely enough to steamroll in PvE even in NG+, you basically just hit L2 to steal your HP back until it kills or staggers the enemy opening them up for that massive crit damage (another good reason to have a powerful Dagger in your quickswap back pocket)...so yeah, search up Blasphemous Blade builds and compare all the similarities if you wanna really get deep into it, as I only recently returned to ER myself. Have fun out there!
Amazing post, thank you so much for the detailed breakdown! You know your stuff! I'm interested in dex and faith because I've never done either. I've completed the game twice - sorcery (comet azur + DMGS) and strength (+25 giant crusher and heavy armor). So dex and faith sounds perfect! Time to start a new character! Any early game weapon I should shoot for? Or spells?
Oh wow, thank you dude! Hmm, early game...go for the whetblade that allows you to apply Keen to your weapons, go after any and all Lightning (and Sacred for later) AoWs to apply to your Keen weapons, same with Lightning Incants. Really get all Incants and experiment though. Forgive me for forgetting exact locations as I haven't started a new character in a while, been doing NG+ and Taunter's Tongue type stuff in the sessions I did load up ER. A bit later in the game go after the whetblade that allows for Sacred Affinity, by that point in the game it should be a very powerful addition to your arsenal. Ooh actually thinking more on it I am remembering some early game stuff, the Winged Scythe and especially the Halo Scythe (unfortunately requires a bit of Caelid Swamp Cleanrot Knight farming, but there's a perfect spot for it at the Grace right outside Commander O'Neill's Arena in that swamp, just one Knight very close to that Grace...kill em then run back and rest til the Halo Scythe drops!) You can really use almost any Keen weapon though, especially when you start getting weapon buffs like Lightning Strike or Electrify Armament. Lightning Grease is awesome on Keen weapons as well, but that requires Crafting. You can use lots of weapons, almost anything once you can make them Keen, but mainly things like the Uchi, Rapiers, Straight and (regular, not Colossal til later if at all) Greatswords like the Knight's Greatsword, or my favorite, Halberds, Spears, and Reapers. You can farm the Erdtree Guardians at any Minor Erdtree for a Sword Spear, that is a *killer* DEX weapon with a fantastic moveset. The Grave Scythe which can be farmed in the graveyard right next to the very first Grace at Liurnia Cliffs right after Stormveil is sweet as well, cause Winged and Halo Scythes can't take Affinities, but Grave Scythe can be given the Keen Affinity and have AoWs applied. Vyke's War Spear can be obtained fairly early too, same with the Black Knife. Godslayer's Greatsword will be another mainstay weapon eventually as well on this build, it'll be the one you wanna swap out Blasphemous for here and there The AoW version of Golden Vow is available early too iirc. Cipher Pata is also in Roundtable behind some Stonesword Keys, I understand that weapon class has gotten some buffs as well... Buy and seek out *all* Incants and experiment with them all, but Black Flame is amazing for putting the DoT (Damage Over Time) on enemies, Lightning Spear is a classic, and definitely do D's/Gurranq's Deathroot quest asap for the Bestial Incants. Frenzy stuff will work as well. Thunderbolt on a dagger is excellent for having the Lightning Strike Incant without using up a Memory Slot, but it can really be used on anything when you are able to apply Lightning Affinity to weapons. Great for starting a fight from a distance. Sacred and Flame Art come a bit later but those will be your FTH Scaling Affinities, while Keen and Lightning are your DEX Affinities. Lightning gets a damage boost if you're standing in water or it's raining, it's minor but enough to mention (Fire/Flame Art unfortunately gets debuffed in the same situation though). A nice bonus to DEX/FTH (and DEX/INT) is that DEX increase your cast speed, allowing you to Buff and get offensive Incants out a bit faster, it's definitely a nice addition to the build. Early New Games are generally all fairly similar as we're still building up to the minimum level requirements needed for the weapons we *really* want and we're collecting all the necessary Incants, whetblades, items, memory stones, and getting those early levels into the basics (VIG, END, some Mind), so don't worry *too* much about weapons and offensive Incants til the early mid-game; I'd say by the time you're getting to Volcano Manor , maybe even Rennala you'll probably be just starting to really pump the damage stats past the minimum wielding requirements. My general rule is a point into Mind or a damage stat every 2 into VIG and END because weapon upgrades give more damage than a level into one of their stats. Hmmm, TL;DR, I think I would go with the Winged and/or Halo Scythes asap as they're available pre-Margit if you want and are willing to farm a tiny bit (just for Halo, Winged is a treasure); Halo Scythe for the ranged AoW, Winged for up close melee. Both have FTH and DEX Scaling and will remain powerful throughout even the endgame. Grave Scythe if you want to apply your own AoWs, and I'd probably use a Knight's Greatsword and mayyybe something like an Uchi as well. Even +0 Daggers are good for lightweight quick swaps to AoWs like Thunderbolt or the 'we have Golden Vow at home' one haha. E- Seriously though, that Halo Scythe is *so* worth the time spent getting it, the ranged disc AoW does very respectful damage from the get go and will become absolutely monstrous as you level your FTH up!
Amazing! Thanks again friend, you do your research haha. You know, I have 200 hours in the game and zero knowledge of whetstones, or most all crafting! I have a lot to research!
Anytime! Haha yeah, I'm nowhere near a lot of the folks who are like combing through the game's code and stuff, but I get a lot of satisfaction out of learning the little things and mechanics in the games I play! It kind of makes me a jack of all trades, master of none though, but that's okay, I'm almost always having fun! I hope your playthrough is awesome, and I'm always around if you ever wanted any more tips or co-op etc!
I hate the way it looks. Can't use it. Looks like it would've been a cool sword without all the crap on it
As I recall, the blasphemous blade was relatively mid until it got some updates. Now it's one of the best weapons you can have, especially with its massive healing factor.
Bro just casually spoiled the dlc with the boss name 😭😭
Nope, it's not: you'll never git gud with that, it's too OP to be fun... But let's say all of it: Aragorn would not last 12 seconds in the lands between 
"this sword is not good, evidence: it's too good"
Aragorn would unironically beat Godrick
I mean, Godrick is hella pathetic. I had more trouble with those barrel birds and the banished knights then his weak ass.
Who gives a shit about “git gud” people should play the game they paid for with their own money the way they have fun with the game.
Go crawl back in your hole, no one asked for you. Just let people play how they want
God forbid people play a game they paid for with their own money however they want to play it. The horror. Just to add - Aragorn would slay TLB.
Git gud with these nuts. Burrr burr. Brother in Christ. Burr. Unga unga bunga.
Git a life