Elden Ring- John Dark Souls | Broadsword Build (NG+7)

Background: This build was requested by ‪@redbirb1571‬. The Broadsword. A tried and true classic weapon of the Souls series. In a game with Moonbeam-shooting swords and anime-looking moves, this build takes things to a simpler time. A man. His two hands. And his BROADSWORD.

For this build: This build is a high Strength build with some Faith investment centered around using the Broadsword and the weapon skill, Square Off to inflict high stance damage and break down enemy stance. This is a weapon skill that deals so much stance damage that it was able to stance break Fire Giant, Maliketh, Hoarah Loux and Radagon in their NG+7 forms when their stance is at their highest. Square Off has two variations: the stance to light attack is a quick sweep where the stance to heavy attack is a running thrust. Both feel equally useful and incorporate well into the Broadsword's base moveset. The Broadsword was chosen for this build for two reasons: 1. To honor the request and 2. with Heavy affinity, it has the highest base damage and scaling at an A for the Straight Sword class. While being simple, this build does offer all-around versatility. By being in the Heavy affinity, the player can still use buffs like Electrify Armament and Black Flame Blade to exploit enemy weaknesses or when that is not enough, a 2nd Broadsword can be used for very high DPS using the Straight Sword Powerstance. Also, by having 25 Faith, this build has access to Golden Vow and Flame, Grant me Strength to further amplify its damage and some successive hit buffs are used because Straight Swords swing fast in both their two-handed form and being dual wielded.

Relevant Stats:
Vigor- 50
Mind- 18
Endurance- 28
Strength- 80
Dexterity-10
Faith- (Optional: 25 for buffs)

Talismans:
1. Shard of Alexander- Increases all weapon skills by 15%
2. Green Turtle Talisman- Increases Stamina Regen
3. Rotten Winged Sword Insignia- Increases attack power greatly with successive hits
4. (Flex) Ritual Sword Talisman, Dragoncrest Greatshield, Millicent's Prosthesis

Physick:
Stonebarb Cracked Tear: Increases stance damage by 30% for 30 seconds
Thorny Cracked Tear: Increases attack power with successive hits

Drip: Knight's Set

How to improve this build: So, to begin, the most immediate way to improve this build is to fight with two Broadswords at all times. As you all would have noticed in these fights, the Straight Sword Powerstance is one of the best in the game in terms of DPS. The main reason I didn't is because two-handing does better stance damage and I also wanted to test my abilities with a single Straight Sword and only used my 2nd Broadsword when I actually felt I needed the damage. As for if you were to take the build beyond 150, there are a few ways you could increase the attack power of this build. If you stick with the Heavy affinity, going to 99 Strength is, surprisingly, slightly worth it. Normally, I'm against going past the last soft cap, but at 99 Strength, a Heavy Broadsword would have 645 AR when two-handing before buffs; this is a 4.5% increase in power.You could also go with the Quality affinity. At 80 Strength and 80 Dexterity, a Quality Broadsword would have 647 AR when two-handing before buffs (which goes to show how lousy Quality builds are. For 19 Strength levels more, you would only have 2 AR less than 70 Dexterity levels more.) You could also go with the Cold affinity. At 80 Strength and 60 Intelligence, you would have an AR of 645 (physical and magic damage split with the ability to Frostbite). Without increasing levels, you could make use the Fire affinity, which would give the Broadsword 647 AR (the damage would be physical and fire split, which could be useful on Radagon and Malenia).


Chapters:
0:00 Margit
0:43 Godrick (No Damage)
1:49 Radahn
4:24 Draconic Tree Sentinel
6:00 Morgott (The ending LOL)
7:55 Niall
9:53 Mohg
13:02 Loretta
14:53 Malenia (No Waterfowl? I'll take it.)
17:38 Fire Giant (No Damage)
19:55 Maliketh (No Damage)
22:52 Hoarah Loux (No Damage)
25:22 Radagon (No Damage)
27:13 Elden Beast