I originally posted this build when the Bonfire existed and at the suggestion of Dragonborn am reposting it here. Enjoy... hopefully. One more thing, I posted this on reddit and /u/Gewath has given a few suggestions that I thought were quite good, and have included them under their respective sections.
Welcome to the first Dark Souls build (unless I've been ninja'd) on the site, and my first build anywhere! Now, some of you are probably aware of a technique called cursed hypermode, and using this is personally my favourite way to play. It's less glass cannon and more glass death star. If being able to kill and be killed in a single hit interests you, look no further than:
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As Lordran fell, a new power emerged...
There once was a man, a student of the Vinheim Dragon School. He showed great proficiency with sorcery, and soon became a very powerful sorcerer. He also became a valued Vinheim spook, with his willingness to take the sickening jobs, the ones other people's moral compasses couldn't handle. He negotiated a deal with the headmaster that in reward for his efforts he would be given access to powerful spells, spells that no other student were allowed to use. And so began a vicious cycle of lust for power. Every time he learned a new spell or used a new catalyst, it made him even more power-hungry. Eventually he took it too far and killed another student, simply because the poor student wouldn't tell him how a spell the scholar had created worked. He was banished from the school, and an angry friend of the dead scholar cast a curse on him as he left, making him physically weak for all eternity. So the sorcerer traveled around, searching for power, and after a while was killed due to his cursed state. But the Darksign afflicted him and returned him to life. He took the opportunity to travel to Lordran. Who would've thought that he would find a way to turn his curse into a blessing.
Cursed Hypermode
While some of you are probably familiar with this technique, I'm sure there's some asking, what the hell is cursed hypermode? It entails becoming cursed, wearing the Dusk Crown Ring and with a low enough Vitality (I.E 11), you should end up with a very low amount of health. This low health means that Power Within, once cast, will only take away a very small amount of health per second. In fact, it reduces so little, that when Sanctus is equipped, it's health regeneration effect entirely counters Power Within's health reduction. Do you see where I'm going? Once all this is in place, Power Within can be cast without losing health! It is this ability that The Cursed Sorcerer is based around.
Stats
Class: Sorcerer
SL: 125
Vitality: 11
Attunement: 50
Endurance: 14
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 45
Resistance (lol): 8
Intelligence: 58
Faith: 9
For a glass cannon relying entirely on spells, the sorcerer class is an obvious choice. There is really no reason to choose any other class. We've taken the optimum amount of Vitality, just low enough for the trick to work. We've got enough Endurance to fast roll in our gear, Attunement is capped so we can have a nice range of spells at any one time. And of course, we've taken Intelligence as high as we can for more Magic Adjustment. All other stats are left at their base level because we simply do not need them.
A higher Strength or Dexterity could be taken in combination with the Manus Catalyst to make dark magic stronger, and some points in intelligence can be taken out to aid in this without too large a consequence, but I personally opted out of this approach because it would mean halving spell usage, which is too detrimental an effect to justify the use, I think.
NEW CHANGES - 45 Dexterity actually increases casting speed slightly, and since our intelligence is a lot higher than it needs to be, I've taken some points out of it for Dexterity.
Equipment
As can be seen here, we wield both Logan's Catalyst and a Pyromancy Flame. I only ever used the Pyromancy Flame for Power Within and didn't upgrade it, but upgrading it and using it for other spells is certainly an option. Logan's Catalyst (and before that the Sorcerer's Catalyst) was the only damaging weapon I used on my playthrough, and apart from the Tin Crystallization Catalyst and the Manus Catalyst, which I decided against using because they halve casts, has the highest Magic Adjustment in the game.
Of course, Sanctus is on the left hand so that Cursed Hypermode can be used. I also took Dark Hand, as the Darkwraith covenant is in keeping with us being an evil sorcerer, lusty for power.
The armor is essentially for fashion souls and lore reasons, although I warn that the gold-hemmed black hood doesn't quite match the Sorcerer's Cloak's colour scheme. If you do not care for fashion souls, or are playing a girl, the dusk crown (helmet) is a fine choice.
Obviously we need the dusk crown ring for Cursed Hypermode, and since everything pretty much kills us in one hit anyway, I recommend taking the Red Tearstone Ring, keeping yourself at even lower health for even more damage.
NEW CHANGES - I didn't actually change anything here, but for those who are good at ring swapping, you can activate Power Within with a ring other than the Dusk Crown Ring, such as the Bellowing Dragoncrest, until you are about to die and only then swap out. I'm not great at navigating the menus in combat though, so I'll leave that to those a little more proficient than myself.
Gameplay
Logan only lives because The Cursed Sorcerer needs his power!
The number one thing to keep in mind here is that you CANNOT take a hit. You'll need to roll. A lot. You should never attempt a casting until you are sure you wont be hit during the cast. The way I handled this was rolling until the enemy was in a long whiff animation and then fire, usually for a one-hit kill. Most spells you use with cursed hypermode active will one-hit kill, and even when Power Within isn't active the Red Tearstone Ring means you'll be doing a lot of damage. The Cursed Sorcerer plays a lot like the sorcerer class in the early game except all the time. You do a lot of damage, but you can die very easily.
This build is ideally suited for fighting bosses. You do so much damage that their often high health doesn't really matter, and their attacks are often easier to dodge than normal enemies. I won't post a complete boss breakdown here, but if anyone has problems with a specific boss, post it in the comments and I'll help you out.
Fighting other players is a little tougher, as they tend to dodge your spells. This is where pyromancies can be useful if you decided to take them, because they have a large AOE. Spells like Pursuers and homing soulmasses can also be useful here. There's one specific spell I found quite useful in PvP and that's White Dragon Breath. It has the longest range of any spell in the game, and often surprises players who think they are out of range. If used correctly it can also be quite good for catching a player in the middle of a roll.
Roleplay
Roleplaying in Dark Souls is... interesting. There's a lot less dialogue choices and such than Skyrim, making it a little tougher to roleplay, but it can still be done, and is fun too. Here's some tips:
- Drain humanity; it's one of the most wanted items by undead in Dark Souls lore (even though it's REALLY plentiful in the game), and draining lots of humanity symbolises The Cursed Sorcerer's lust for power
- Invade; this is the ultimate sign that your character is power crazy and has little value for human lives
- Mindset; this is a general rule for roleplaying any game, but get in your character's mindset. Think through the eyes of your character, and let that influence everything you do. For example, when my character got the Dark Hand he returned to Firelink and, not happy with the humanity he could drain from Petrus, he killed him in cold blood.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed the read, and you enjoy the build more! If there's anything you want to know that I haven't covered here, feel free to ask! Thank you, Prisoner out.
I originally posted this build when the Bonfire existed and at the suggestion of Dragonborn am reposting it here. Enjoy... hopefully. One more thing, I posted this on reddit and /u/Gewath has given a few suggestions that I thought were quite good, and have included them under their respective sections.
Welcome to the first Dark Souls build (unless I've been ninja'd) on the site, and my first build anywhere! Now, some of you are probably aware of a technique called cursed hypermode, and using this is personally my favourite way to play. It's less glass cannon and more glass death star. If being able to kill and be killed in a single hit interests you, look no further than:
![]()
As Lordran fell, a new power emerged...
There once was a man, a student of the Vinheim Dragon School. He showed great proficiency with sorcery, and soon became a very powerful sorcerer. He also became a valued Vinheim spook, with his willingness to take the sickening jobs, the ones other people's moral compasses couldn't handle. He negotiated a deal with the headmaster that in reward for his efforts he would be given access to powerful spells, spells that no other student were allowed to use. And so began a vicious cycle of lust for power. Every time he learned a new spell or used a new catalyst, it made him even more power-hungry. Eventually he took it too far and killed another student, simply because the poor student wouldn't tell him how a spell the scholar had created worked. He was banished from the school, and an angry friend of the dead scholar cast a curse on him as he left, making him physically weak for all eternity. So the sorcerer traveled around, searching for power, and after a while was killed due to his cursed state. But the Darksign afflicted him and returned him to life. He took the opportunity to travel to Lordran. Who would've thought that he would find a way to turn his curse into a blessing.
Cursed Hypermode
While some of you are probably familiar with this technique, I'm sure there's some asking, what the hell is cursed hypermode? It entails becoming cursed, wearing the Dusk Crown Ring and with a low enough Vitality (I.E 11), you should end up with a very low amount of health. This low health means that Power Within, once cast, will only take away a very small amount of health per second. In fact, it reduces so little, that when Sanctus is equipped, it's health regeneration effect entirely counters Power Within's health reduction. Do you see where I'm going? Once all this is in place, Power Within can be cast without losing health! It is this ability that The Cursed Sorcerer is based around.
Stats
Class: Sorcerer
SL: 125
Vitality: 11
Attunement: 50
Endurance: 14
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 45
Resistance (lol): 8
Intelligence: 58
Faith: 9
For a glass cannon relying entirely on spells, the sorcerer class is an obvious choice. There is really no reason to choose any other class. We've taken the optimum amount of Vitality, just low enough for the trick to work. We've got enough Endurance to fast roll in our gear, Attunement is capped so we can have a nice range of spells at any one time. And of course, we've taken Intelligence as high as we can for more Magic Adjustment. All other stats are left at their base level because we simply do not need them.
A higher Strength or Dexterity could be taken in combination with the Manus Catalyst to make dark magic stronger, and some points in intelligence can be taken out to aid in this without too large a consequence, but I personally opted out of this approach because it would mean halving spell usage, which is too detrimental an effect to justify the use, I think.
NEW CHANGES - 45 Dexterity actually increases casting speed slightly, and since our intelligence is a lot higher than it needs to be, I've taken some points out of it for Dexterity.
Equipment
As can be seen here, we wield both Logan's Catalyst and a Pyromancy Flame. I only ever used the Pyromancy Flame for Power Within and didn't upgrade it, but upgrading it and using it for other spells is certainly an option. Logan's Catalyst (and before that the Sorcerer's Catalyst) was the only damaging weapon I used on my playthrough, and apart from the Tin Crystallization Catalyst and the Manus Catalyst, which I decided against using because they halve casts, has the highest Magic Adjustment in the game.
Of course, Sanctus is on the left hand so that Cursed Hypermode can be used. I also took Dark Hand, as the Darkwraith covenant is in keeping with us being an evil sorcerer, lusty for power.
The armor is essentially for fashion souls and lore reasons, although I warn that the gold-hemmed black hood doesn't quite match the Sorcerer's Cloak's colour scheme. If you do not care for fashion souls, or are playing a girl, the dusk crown (helmet) is a fine choice.
Obviously we need the dusk crown ring for Cursed Hypermode, and since everything pretty much kills us in one hit anyway, I recommend taking the Red Tearstone Ring, keeping yourself at even lower health for even more damage.
NEW CHANGES - I didn't actually change anything here, but for those who are good at ring swapping, you can activate Power Within with a ring other than the Dusk Crown Ring, such as the Bellowing Dragoncrest, until you are about to die and only then swap out. I'm not great at navigating the menus in combat though, so I'll leave that to those a little more proficient than myself.
Gameplay
Logan only lives because The Cursed Sorcerer needs his power!
The number one thing to keep in mind here is that you CANNOT take a hit. You'll need to roll. A lot. You should never attempt a casting until you are sure you wont be hit during the cast. The way I handled this was rolling until the enemy was in a long whiff animation and then fire, usually for a one-hit kill. Most spells you use with cursed hypermode active will one-hit kill, and even when Power Within isn't active the Red Tearstone Ring means you'll be doing a lot of damage. The Cursed Sorcerer plays a lot like the sorcerer class in the early game except all the time. You do a lot of damage, but you can die very easily.
This build is ideally suited for fighting bosses. You do so much damage that their often high health doesn't really matter, and their attacks are often easier to dodge than normal enemies. I won't post a complete boss breakdown here, but if anyone has problems with a specific boss, post it in the comments and I'll help you out.
Fighting other players is a little tougher, as they tend to dodge your spells. This is where pyromancies can be useful if you decided to take them, because they have a large AOE. Spells like Pursuers and homing soulmasses can also be useful here. There's one specific spell I found quite useful in PvP and that's White Dragon Breath. It has the longest range of any spell in the game, and often surprises players who think they are out of range. If used correctly it can also be quite good for catching a player in the middle of a roll.
Roleplay
Roleplaying in Dark Souls is... interesting. There's a lot less dialogue choices and such than Skyrim, making it a little tougher to roleplay, but it can still be done, and is fun too. Here's some tips:
- Drain humanity; it's one of the most wanted items by undead in Dark Souls lore (even though it's REALLY plentiful in the game), and draining lots of humanity symbolises The Cursed Sorcerer's lust for power
- Invade; this is the ultimate sign that your character is power crazy and has little value for human lives
- Mindset; this is a general rule for roleplaying any game, but get in your character's mindset. Think through the eyes of your character, and let that influence everything you do. For example, when my character got the Dark Hand he returned to Firelink and, not happy with the humanity he could drain from Petrus, he killed him in cold blood.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed the read, and you enjoy the build more! If there's anything you want to know that I haven't covered here, feel free to ask! Thank you, Prisoner out.
) but if I did this is the sort of thing I'd like to play. It really seems to embrace the most talked about part of Dark Souls (Dying a lot) and brings it to a level that just destroys.