Zanfire on Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin! Warrior, Mage, Cleric and Archer build!

    So, it's been a while I'm playing Scholar of the First Sin.

    Just after platinating Bloodborne (great game, easy platinum), I decided to give a try to the other "big" FROM Software game available for PS4, which is Dark Souls 2 Scholar of the First Sin Edition.

     And a new love was born.

     The incredible amount of character development choices this game offers really enthralled me, forcing me to play it non-stop from when the disk entered my PS4.

    Sure the game is not easy, but it's neither all that hard for someone who, like me, have over 1000 hours of gameplay on Monster Hunter titles on PSP.

    After some time farming here and there (I already completed the first gamethrough), gathering all the armors, weapons, rings etc I can, just for sake of collectionism, if not true usefullness, I discovered how to farm Giant Lord boss to build up an INSANELY amount of souls (How to farm Giant Lord; there are minor differences in the SotFS edition, but it still works). Thanks to this, my Zanfire reached his fullness in a couple of days, allowing me to build him as a well-rounded character able to employ various kind of magic and kick ass hard in both melee and ranged fight. This is the kind of character I like most: the "jack-of-all-trades", and I'm quite happy Dark Souls 2 allows me to build one, as it is not an option often available in vRPGs (excluding Elder Scrolls serie, obviusly).

    Here is the "generic-purpose" build I'm using at the moment:

Covenant: No Covenant
Starting Class: Bandit (11)
Soul Level: 473

Vigor: 50
Endurance: 83
Vitality: 60
Attunement: 94
Strength: 50
Dexterity: 50
Adaptability: 40
Intelligence: 50
Faith: 50

Head: Hexer's Hood +5
Chest: Havel's Armor +5
Hands: Havel's Gauntlets +5
Legs: Havel's Leggings +5

Left #1: Claymore (dark) +10
Left #2: Hunter's Blackbow (lightning) +10
Right #1: Blossom Kite Shield +5 / King's Shield +5
Right #2: Black Witch's Staff (magic) +10

Ring 1: Chloranthy Ring +2
Ring 2: Third Dragon Ring
Ring 3: Royal Soldier's Ring +2
Ring 4: Open slot (usually Ring of Blades +2, Bracing Knuckle Ring +2, Stone Ring, Southern Ritual Band +2, Covetous Gold Serpent Ring +2 or Covetous Silver Serpent Ring +2)

Spell 1: Dark Weapon
Spell 2: Great Magic Barrier
Spell 3: Great Heal
Spell 4: Great Heal
Spell 5: Great Heavy Soul Arrow
Spell 6: Great Heavy Soul Arrow
Spell 7: Crystal Soul Spear
Spell 8: Crystal Soul Spear
Spell 9: Repair
Spell 10: Open slot




    This is surely not the best of builds, but I enjoy being prepared to most situations, especially thanks to the various spells I use (Black Witch's Staff allows you to use Sorceries, Hexes and Miracles; it is not the strongest focus for magic, but it's incredibly versatile).

    Even if invaded, the great array of spells and the protection I can count on give me an additional edge to vanquish my human opponent.

    My basic weapon is the Claymore, as it has a good damage/attack speed ratio and a great moveset (long lunge is buddah in this game); I own a +10 one for each infusion type! I love the Zweihander, too, even if it's damage output is surpassed by other weapons: it has a great moveset and it's quite light for the damage it offers: thanks to that I can stay under 50% load ("medium") even while wearing 3 pieces of the allmight Havel's Set, which offers an incredible protection. Where I need more poise damage to stagger enemies, Old Knight Greatsword do a great job while maintaining a good attack speed (50 poise damage at calibration 2.01). Backup weapons are mainly Heide Spear +10 (lightning) (amazing spear that helped me along most of the game, thanks to it's long trust attacks!) and +10 (magic) Mastodon Greatsword, a great substitute for the Claymore (more damage, different moveset and much more weight!). Yes, I definitively love Greatswords ^_^.

    Hexer's Hood satisfy my need to wear a hood (even if I prefer the Forlon's one, for cosmetic purposes) and enpower the spellcasting side a bit, thanks to the additional spell cast it offers.

    As always, good game to everyone.