u/Fragster2020

Lv 185 in base game and DLC. About to start NG+.

Too lazy for move sets so planning to abuse L2 ash of war.

Will dump 80 into ARC and the rest into other stats. I have both unlocked but haven't upgraded yet. Got dragon seal+10 and some dragon breaths as well to mix things up and for crowd control.

I know RoB got the massive nerf but people say, it's OP again with DLC. I do have Rakshasa set and dancer set but not sure if the dancer set works on EP?

TIA.

EDIT:

Just started NG1 and this is slapping hard with FAI 80, rakshaha set, holy scorpian, alexander shard, physic with bloodsucking plus holy damage. With high FAI, I distributed some points so I can still fall back to blaspemous blade for end bosses.

Crazy range on the holy ash of war and it actually staggers those pesky night calvary horseman. The caelid dragon fight only lasted about 20 seconds.

Fun build and just running around and spamming R2 Ash of war. Though it's stamina hungry so I had to switch to double headed turtle talisman.

But so far, weapon is pretty OP on early game bosses/dragons/.world exploring. And the ash of war appears to track enemies and catch them in mid air as well. Not sure if FromSoft buffed this with patches or not but it's a solid underrated weapon from my experience.

___________________________________________

Just farmed this ...took about 15 mins. I've already finished base game and DLC in 1st walkthru.

I'm planning to just spam the Ash of War which I believe scales of FAI. I'm Lv 180 right now and have gotten most talismans (holy, alexander, rotten wing and also have bloodsuckling tear).

Do I just put FAI to 80 and bare min to equip the Scythe with HP 50 and End 40 so I can roll medium ?? Already have rakshasa armor set.

I know late game bosses have holy resistance so I'm planning to use Pest Spears spell.

Or is this a shit weapon so barely talked about ..lol. Haven't seen any YT videos on this build either which kinda worries me as one of those weapons that's really mid tier and a total waste of a larvae tear.

TIA!

EDIT:

Just beat Radacon/Elden Beast...

I wasn't doing much bleed damage with the spinning thrust since I'm in NG2 and spinning thrust takes a while to execute.... I remembered I had started off this run with the Storm Blade build which I loved (with divine beast headgear and talisman which all buff the storm blade ash of war). Re-spec'ed to Dex build and changed affinity to Keen so the entire damage of Storm Blade AoW becomes physical and scales off Dex (80). I think pure physical damage is the BEST form of damage for ER (and DLC).

Took them out on my 2nd attempt since the storm blade AoW comes out lightning quick with R2 spam. Gonna take this to DLC now....cheers!

___________________________________

NG+2...having a blast with only the Spinning Thrust ash of war. Just completed mountain of the giants and only died to Fire Giant due to a stupid mistake. Breezed thru the entire game up till now in NG+2. That AoW is just ripping thru every boss and dragons and mobs.

I dumped all points into ARC since I'm only using the Ash of war which uses Arc (occult affinity).

I know late game bossses like Elden Beast etc all immune to bleed.....should I re-spec this build to DEX (change affinity on the Ash of war).....or is this still OP enough to still do tons of bleed damage even though late game are immune?

Fun built so far and trivializes early game but not sure if this ARC build will carry me to DLC later (kicker is Mogh fight only lasted 1st phase!).

TIA.

EDIT:

Experimented with fully upgraded Nagakiba and Great Katana from DLC and settled with the Great Katana due to higher damage (it's evident in the real world damage too while using the Storm Blade ash of war).

Great Katana Keen Storm Blade (dex 80) =>>329+399 ; critical 100

Nagakiba Keen Storm Blade (dex 80) ==> 242+364 ; Critical 100

Shredding early game NG+3 right now with storm blade AoW (and bloodflame).

Edit 3: Shredded Mogh in like 15 seconds and no second bleed phase!!. The storm blade ash of war is pretty damn OP with the dlc head armor+talisman off Divine Beast.

______________________________________________

Just finished NG+2 dlc and so far, beat the game with mage (lusat+comet azur/night comet) and then blas.blade (with secondary sacred relic blade for rune farms and areas with fire resistant enemies).

I'd like to do a 3rd run with a strict katana build ....something that hits like a freight train so bleed? I do have most talismans/white mask etc unlocked.

I know RoB got the nerf hammer but people say new dlc talismans make it more op now but not sure. Heard Moonveil also got nerfed with its OP ash of war.

Any recs for a lv 200 build and ash of war? I wouldn't mind spamming a OP ash of war either with these....this will primarily be a boss run all the way to dlc end..avoiding mobs,dragons, etc.

Current stats and already mid way in new game. No issues so far even with NPC's as it does tracking extremely well. Dragon fights have never been easier....stay at range and just launch the Barret 50 caliber bolt.

However, while it does good damage, maybe I was expecting 1-2 shot OP kills but it's not. I'm using blood talisman to proc bleed on myself to get extra damage. Using blood suckling and lightning tear in the flask. Buffs inc HoS, Golden Vow and Blessing of Boon to counter the HP drain.

Very powerful weapon (haven't died once so far and even night cavalry horseman take 3-4 shots). But maybe I was expecting a god tier weapon.

I just tested NG+ with Fire Knight sword with royal knight resolve and that was way OP ....early game bosses were one shot with basic buffs.

Is there anything else I can do this build to make it more OP or is this it?

Thinking to re-spec again to a Nagakiba or Rivers of Blood build as they look more OP than this . TIA!

NG+. Shredding everything ....Even without shackle, Mohg took 4 ash of war attacks and never reached Phase 2.

Dragons take only 3-4 slashes....ditched bloodboil aromatics for early game as that totally trivialises the game with only 1-2 slashes.

Only using the ash of war attack as it's all physical damage which no boss has resistant to.

Did some experimentation with White mask and seppuku and this weapon DEFITINITELY has some sort of bleed buildup. I open up all fights with Swarm of Flies to proc bleed and then the ash of war definitely hits like a freight train.

I got ER last year by which the weapon was massively nerfed (apparently, bleed buildup got reduced by over 40%!). So I never experienced its original glory. I have friends that used it exclusively prior to the patch and said the weapon, single-handedly. broke Elden Ring even without any buffs.

I just finished 1st walkthru at level 175 (full mage and comet azur'ed my way to Consort Radahn..lol). I unlocked this in late game and also blasphemous blade. The mage build was really easy even in DLC ...used night comet a lot and spiral shard pretty much shredded all dragons and Elden Beast.

Planning to re-spec to a sword build and then start NG1. I know BB build is still legit OP to this day so that's my 2nd choice.

Is RoB still relevant in 2026? I do have most talismans by now needed for either builds (BB or a bleed build).

Just wanted a different experience this time around instead of being a glass cannon mage who never sees the action but just fires spells from a safe range.

TIA
EDIT : Already in NG now with RoB and put 80 into ARC and just using the R2 Ash of War. Tried it on 2 bosses in Caelid which gave me issues even with mage build ...Night's Cavalry boss located in Caelid and the standing Gargoyle outside Bestial Santrum......didn't even die once....it wasn't really a walk in the park but had no issues disposing them as the bleed builds up after 3rd 4th slash. The early boss fight with Margit and Godrick lasted like 20 seconds....lol. Gonna roll it with this build to DLC this time around ...thanks again!

Just completed base game and DLC ....started off with a death poker hyrbid mage, then progressed till I got blasphemous blade, respeced to high Faith build and then pretty much breezed thru the game and DLC (also Consort Radahn). At FAI 80, I was pretty much one-two shotting most bosses (and buffs like golden vow, FGMS, Howl of Sharibi, seppuku with blood suckling cracked tear.

Level 175 right now. Planning to start NG but a pure mage build. Watched tons of YT videos on people one shotting DLC bosses with a Lv200 mage build with Thorns but then read it got major nerfed to where it's only outputting 50% of the raw damage prior to the patch and the bleed no longer builds up till the 3rd cast or so.

Is this build totally busted now in 2026? Other options I'm looking at is Mogh Spear (high Arc) OR night comet (since I already have Staff of Loss and I can get the 2nd one in NG).

Just looking for a OP build to do a boss run in New Game. Have already got tons of talismans/spells from my 1st firtplaythru and DLC since I was aiming for 80% completion.

I've owned both a regular and a King Turtle some years ago. I like the oversized case as it wears small. I sold most of my small collection to fund a Rolex which I own now.

But looking to add a turtle back in regular rotation (still feels weird to wear a $11k wrist watch out in public..lol).

I came across this and as a huge Jaws fan (own all the disk movies still in my HT mancave), this one is singing out to me...but I gasped when I saw the $800 retail price and looks like it's mostly sold out online and few sources left and sellers are charging msrp pricing.

Is this version worth $800? I checked Watchrecon and haven't seen this one pop up in the FS section for a long time so either people are not interested OR owners aren't flipping it.

Not sure if this a Japan made version either. Figure $500 would be my sweet spot but not $800...that's Hamilton/Tissot territory with better Swiss movements (and Hamilton now uses anti magnetic movements).