Intelligence Builds - Dark Souls Guide - IGN (2024)

Light Armor:

Magic is one of the strongest allies in the world of Dark Souls. A high intelligence can quickly take out tough demons in Dark Souls. If you are going to take this route then I suggest starting off with the Pyromancer at the beginning.

There are a few different routes you can take when focusing on magic. You can keep yourself light and nimble, sacrifice some mobility for armor, or trade all mobility for protection. I personally sacrifice a little mobility for the armor.

If you want to keep full mobility you will need to keep your equipment load under 25%. Ex: total amount equipped 25/100. You can check this by hitting start and scrolling to view status. Your final loadout for this path should include, enchanted falchion +5, sunlight shield +10, pyromancy flame +5, tincrystallizationcatalyst, gold-hemmed armor set, bellowingdragon crestring, and ring of favor and protection.

To ensure 100% mobility with this loadout you will need your endurance to be at least 25. Strength should only be increased to 16 in order to use the Drake Sword. Dexterity follows the same rule as strength. Only upgrade this high enough to use the Drake Sword, which requires a dexterity of 12.

To ensure you don't die in two hits from everything level up your vitality to around 20.

Make sure you level yourattunementto 19 so you can use five magic spells. Some of the spells you should be using in your first play through are, great soul arrow, homing soul mass, combustion, and fireball. (Note: Spells used will vary as you progress.) Resistance and faith should remain untouched throughout the game. Lastly, Magic needs to be nearly twice as high as anything else. By the end of the game your magic level should be around 34-40.

With this build you should be around level 70 when the game is complete. This build is geared towards taking down bosses quickly and easily.

Medium Armor:

If you are willing to sacrifice a little mobility for some extra protection I highly recommend using pieces of the black iron armor set. Keep everything from the previous loadout and substitute the Gold-Hemmed Armor forBlack Iron Armor and gauntlet pieces. Make sure you level these two pieces up to +5. By sacrificing your mobility you not only acquire more armor but poise as well. Poise determines whether or not your character will stagger when struck by an attack. The higher the poise the stronger the attack has to be to stagger your character. This in turn effects how you cast spells. If a ranged attack hits you while casting a spell you will no longer beinterruptedusing this armor. Of course ranged attacks are not the only attacks that your character will not stagger from.

Some spells you might want to carry around with you are: Homing Crystal Soul Mass, Combustion, Soul Spear, and Fire Orb. Once again these spells vary depending on your progress in the game.

This build also works great for PvP.

A few spells I would recommend for PvP are: Homing Crystal Soul Mass, Great Combustion, Poison mist, Fire Surge, Great Fireball, White Dragon Breath.

PvPStrategies

Homing Crystal Soul Mass is great when there is a small distance between you and your foe. Cast this and then quickly make an offensive move on your enemy. Try approaching quickly with fire surge after casting Soul Mass. Fire Surge is one of the few spells you can continually cast until it empties while walking, which makes it great for pvp. Moreover, Approaching with fire surge may make your opponent nervous and force him into a mistake like catching your opponent rolling. After your Soul Mass has attempted to strike the opposition back up and try again. This is probably your best and safest approach option.

If you can get your foe backed into a room or corner try casting poison mist. This is great if your opponent keeps blocking most of your magic attacks. Poison mist will slowly drain health, which can lead to an opening when he heals.

If you want to keep your distant and chip at your enemies health try using Great Fireball and White Dragon Breath. These spells are slow to cast so make sure you keep your distance.

GreatCombustionis great option for quick openings as well as your Enchanted Falchion. The falchion can be used for quick subsequent attacks as well.

Heavy Armor:

If you don't care about mobility and just want to stand there and take punishment then equip the full Black Iron Armor Set. Once again make sure you upgrade this armor as much as you possibly can.

In this build you might want to consider putting more points into strength to use the enchanted Murakumo +5. This weapon requires 28 strength but packs a serious punch. It has a slower attack than the falchion but the Murakumo is the strongest of all intelligence boosted weapons in the game. Of course If you want to use all of this armor you will have to sacrifice some of your intelligence for strength.