Finally Trying Out a Sorcerer Build in Dark Souls III

 Partially inspired by the footage of Elden Ring, I decided to take a look at an aspect of the Dark Souls games I've never really tried: spellcasting.

I've done builds for all four of the Bloodborne throughput stats (and was shocked at how powerful Bloodtinge builds can be, though Arcane remains my favorite,) but my Dark Souls experience has tended to always favor slapping foes around with a big honking weapon and using a sturdy shield to block.

Now, I'm also years out of practice with this game. Vordt, who usually goes down first try, took me three attempts. I think the reason I was always resistant to using a magic build was the finite nature of resources in Dark Souls - while you can always recharge at a bonfire, that resets everything, so when you're out of mana (FP), you're out.

Well, of course, you can also allot some of the Estus charges to work for your Ashen Estus Flask, but that takes away from a very precious resource. So far I've tried to keep the regular Estus ahead, but I am going with 3/2 after getting the first shard, as those spells do hit pretty hard.

As a sorcerer build, you start off with Soul Arrow and Heavy Soul Arrow. The latter does about twice as much damage but also takes longer to cast and consumes more FP. You also start off with a Mail Breaker, which hits quickly and can stun lock some foes, which is very handy. I also took the Fire Gem as my burial gift, which I then infused into the Mail Breaker (I ain't going to be buffing Strength or Dexterity, so no need for great scaling.)

Luckily, the regular Soul Arrow doesn't consume an enormous amount of FP, so I've been able to be somewhat liberal with it. It hits decently hard, and really just having a ranged option is pretty great, as someone who has played exclusively melee in this game. Still, foes will close distance with you pretty easily, so you still need to be able to dodge.

I am, of course, only scratching the surface here. And while some claim that this sort of build makes the game easier, it is by no means easy (though I was able to kite and kill the blue knight in the courtyard between Vordt and the Dancer, so maybe as I get used to it this will be quite powerful.

Naturally, I'll eventually want to get a weapon with Intelligence scaling, though I would like to, if possible, really focus on spellcasting as a primary combat style. I wonder how viable that is, or if I'll just need to save my FP for boss fights.

Anyway, should be interesting to get farther into the game. My alts in DSIII tend to peter off around when I get to the Undead Settlement (so, pretty early, of course). And given that I never beat the Nameless King, Gael, or the dragon boss in the Ringed City (and of course not the Soul of Cinder) there's a part of me that thinks I should try to get those down first, but... eh.