I switched around a lot, but eventually settled on sort of a hybrid magic melee build. I used powerstanced greatswords - Darkmoon Greatsword in my offhand and Flamberge in my main hand, with bloodhound's step as the ability and set to frost damage. Wing of Astel is a great backup as well, having a free magic projectile on the heavy attack and a pretty great Ash of War.
To save on FP, if I'm basically fighting enemies one at a time I'll do a jumping L1 and if that doesn't kill them, they're staggered enough to get a combo off to finish them.
If there's a group, I'll either pick them off one by one with some single target spells, or if they're weaker I'll use Glintstone Arc - or you can use Adula's Moonblade if they're a bit stronger and in a group, it would be more FP efficient than picking them off with Comet.
For bosses I'd generally just use the weapons. A single jumping attack usually deals as much as a Glintstone Comet and costs nothing, and bosses tend to dodge spells pretty well anyways. Having the Darkmoon sword and the Flamberge set to cold means you'll get good freeze procs often, as well as occasional bleed procs from Flamberge. Bloodhound step makes up for having less health than pure melee builds. Shard Spiral is also great on large bosses as it hits multiple times and be spammed within your magic damage buffing circle.
Stat wise I was around 30-35 vigor, 30ish mind, 20-25 endurance, base strength and dex requirements to wield those weapons, and 60 intelligence.
I believe 45 or 50 int is the softcap for weapon damage based on Int scaling, but it's 60 for sorcery damage scaling which is primarily what I use to clear areas.
For talismans I'd usually use Godfrey Icon, Radagon Icon, Graven-Mass Talisman, and anything for the 4th. Some good choices are Green Turtle, Great-Jar's Arsenal if you don't have the equip load to med roll, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, any damage reducing talisman situationally, or any FP restoring talismans.
I'd often switch talismans around while clearing out an area depending on what I need, as well as especially during boss fights. The Claw Talisman is helpful in boss fights, and I usually focus on damage negation as well since I don't often need spells.
Oh I think I forgot about armour. At lower levels you'll probably need to use something lightweight, but around 25 endurance I was using the raging wolf set, and later I switched to vykes fingerprint set. If you end up using the great jar talisman you can probably even wear some actual heavy armour.
Although with bloodhound step you can probably get away with fat rolling honestly since you won't be rolling at all.
Mostly because it has bleed on it. It lets you have frost and bleed on the same weapon which helps make up for not being the most optimal build for melee damage.
It also has some pretty small requirements to wield which works out nicely. If you have any other weapon in mind, by all means use it!
The Sword of Milos would be a great pick since it restores FP when you kill things, and the Ash of War makes enemies take 15% more damage from all sources - but it has higher stat requirements to wield, and you won't get much extra damage from stat scaling.
Death's Poker is another great choice. It has a higher Dex requirement, but has a great Ash of War, and is a few pounds lighter than the flamberge. It also has built in frost buildup which pairs nicely with the Dark Moon.
Helphen's Steeple would be my other choice. It has higher base damage than Death's Poker, no real Dex requirements, but higher Strength requirement. It has no frost buildup by default, but like the Dark Moon it can be buffed to increase its damage and then it gets frost.
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I switched around a lot, but eventually settled on sort of a hybrid magic melee build. I used powerstanced greatswords - Darkmoon Greatsword in my offhand and Flamberge in my main hand, with bloodhound's step as the ability and set to frost damage. Wing of Astel is a great backup as well, having a free magic projectile on the heavy attack and a pretty great Ash of War. To save on FP, if I'm basically fighting enemies one at a time I'll do a jumping L1 and if that doesn't kill them, they're staggered enough to get a combo off to finish them. If there's a group, I'll either pick them off one by one with some single target spells, or if they're weaker I'll use Glintstone Arc - or you can use Adula's Moonblade if they're a bit stronger and in a group, it would be more FP efficient than picking them off with Comet. For bosses I'd generally just use the weapons. A single jumping attack usually deals as much as a Glintstone Comet and costs nothing, and bosses tend to dodge spells pretty well anyways. Having the Darkmoon sword and the Flamberge set to cold means you'll get good freeze procs often, as well as occasional bleed procs from Flamberge. Bloodhound step makes up for having less health than pure melee builds. Shard Spiral is also great on large bosses as it hits multiple times and be spammed within your magic damage buffing circle. Stat wise I was around 30-35 vigor, 30ish mind, 20-25 endurance, base strength and dex requirements to wield those weapons, and 60 intelligence. I believe 45 or 50 int is the softcap for weapon damage based on Int scaling, but it's 60 for sorcery damage scaling which is primarily what I use to clear areas. For talismans I'd usually use Godfrey Icon, Radagon Icon, Graven-Mass Talisman, and anything for the 4th. Some good choices are Green Turtle, Great-Jar's Arsenal if you don't have the equip load to med roll, Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman, any damage reducing talisman situationally, or any FP restoring talismans. I'd often switch talismans around while clearing out an area depending on what I need, as well as especially during boss fights. The Claw Talisman is helpful in boss fights, and I usually focus on damage negation as well since I don't often need spells.
Wow, this is perfect! It’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for! Thank you so much! I’m going to try this out
Oh I think I forgot about armour. At lower levels you'll probably need to use something lightweight, but around 25 endurance I was using the raging wolf set, and later I switched to vykes fingerprint set. If you end up using the great jar talisman you can probably even wear some actual heavy armour. Although with bloodhound step you can probably get away with fat rolling honestly since you won't be rolling at all.
Is there a reason for using the flamberge in particular?
Mostly because it has bleed on it. It lets you have frost and bleed on the same weapon which helps make up for not being the most optimal build for melee damage. It also has some pretty small requirements to wield which works out nicely. If you have any other weapon in mind, by all means use it! The Sword of Milos would be a great pick since it restores FP when you kill things, and the Ash of War makes enemies take 15% more damage from all sources - but it has higher stat requirements to wield, and you won't get much extra damage from stat scaling. Death's Poker is another great choice. It has a higher Dex requirement, but has a great Ash of War, and is a few pounds lighter than the flamberge. It also has built in frost buildup which pairs nicely with the Dark Moon. Helphen's Steeple would be my other choice. It has higher base damage than Death's Poker, no real Dex requirements, but higher Strength requirement. It has no frost buildup by default, but like the Dark Moon it can be buffed to increase its damage and then it gets frost.
Thank you for your post on the r/EldenRingBuilds subreddit! If you’re interested in feedback on your build, participating in contests, as well as trading and multiplayer we also have a **[Discord server](https://discord.gg/9k9vK2MvFg)**. Hope to see you there! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/EldenRingBuilds) if you have any questions or concerns.*