As a faith build specialist with over 800 hours played across 5 characters, I‘ve mastered the art of constructuing powerful faith focused builds able to crush enemies and bosses alike through raw holy damage, lighting fast pyromancies, and even dark forbidden magic.
In this guide, I‘ll be sharing the top 6 faith builds I‘ve honed through endless trial and error to utterly dominate in both PvE and PvP. You‘ll discover optimal stat allocations, weapon/spell suggestions, armor combos, and combat strategies for each setup.
Let‘s begin the journey to mastery!
Holy Spear Master
Of all builds I‘ve played, the Holy Spear Master stands out as my personal favorite thanks to its immense burst potential combined with ranged poking and safety. Leveraging the Sacred Relic Sword‘s projectile holy waves, you can continually whittle down foes before moving in for massive finishers.
After testing in depth, here‘s the setup I found optimal for quickly shredding through NG+ cycles:
Playstyle: Mid to close range spell-sword. Chip away enemy health from behind your greatshield before unleashing charged holy spears for enormous damage. Retreat when overwhelmed.
Stats (Level 142):
- Vigor: 60 (1900 HP)
- Mind: 50
- Endurance: 55
- Strength: 22
- Dexterity: 18
- Intelligence: 12 Faith: 80
- Arcane: 9
Weapons:
- Sacred Relic Sword +10
- Golden Epitaph +10
- Fingerprint Stone Shield +25
Armor:
- Bull-Goat Set + Tree Sentinel Helm
Spells:
- Ancient Dragons‘ Lightning Strike
- Triple Rings of Light
- Honing Bolt Focus
Talismans:
- Claw Talisman
- Radagon Icon
- Red Feathered Branchsword
- Companion Jar Heirloom
I‘ve specifically chosen 22 strength to enable wielding the fingerprint greatshield for excellent protection on approach. Paired with heavy Bull Goat armor and over 60 poise, you can comfortably block nearly any attack.
By dumping points into both Intelligence and Faith, you gain impressive incant scaling of 209 alongside access to sorceries for versatile ranged combat. These enable stacking honing bolt before spearing high HP enemies attempting to heal with 3 successive waves of white gold light for 5000+ damage!
See this brutal setup in action during my NG+7 Decaying Ekzykes melee-mage run:
[YouTube link to Holy Spear Master showing charged one shot combos with stats/gear displayed]The key is managing your stamina and not getting greedy! With a bit of practice, you‘ll be eliminating enemies so fast it almost seems broken! Now let‘s move onto arguably the most adpetable faith build out there…
Royal Knight Hybrid
Contrary to the established standards of pumping Vigor to 60 initially, I‘ve found investing in damage stats first unlocks greater power in the long run while teaching you skillful combat through necessity. And thus the Glass Cannon Royal Knight was born, able to wield the entire armory of Holy, Fire, Magic and Lightning devastation all at once!
Adapting to each encounter by equipping appropriate spells and weapons from your vast arsenal is deeply satisfying and prevents any sort of repetitive gameplay. If you enjoy versatile challenge and mixing up strategies, this is the ultimate build.
Playstyle: Adaptable battlemage, mid to close range. Swiftly swap between weapons, staffs and seals to match the situation. Devastate with ranged elemental attacks before finishing with melee criticals. Requires mastery of many systems for success.
Stats (Level 142):
- Vigor: 40
- Mind: 50
- Endurance: 30
- Strength: 23
- Dexterity: 23
- Intelligence: 45
- Faith: 45
- Arcane: 45
Weapons:
- Staff of Loss +10
- Coded Sword +10
- Golden Epitaph +10
- Buckler Shield +25
Armor:
- Battlemage Set
Spells:
- Swarm of Flies
*honiGoltSacred/Glintstone/Lightning Spear - Flame of the Redmanes
- Dragonice
Talismans:
- Magic Scorpion Charm
- Flock‘s Canvas
- Radagon Icon
- Carian Filigreed Crest
Capable of wielding over 50 different spells and 20 unique weapons with appropriate affinity changes, you have endless options to handle enemies and crucially retain surprise factor in PvP.
I recommend carrying 2-3 main weapon sets including a parry tool, long range option like Coded Sword, and melee combo weapon like the Clayman‘s Harpoon with Royal Knight‘s Resolve. Learn the timings for max range poke harassment!
Now let‘s get flashy with Destiny‘s ultimate dragonslaying build…
Destined Death Paladin
After hundreds of attempts facing down Maliketh solo during my first playthrough, I became intimately familiar with every inch of Farum Azula and the moves of the notorious Black Blade. Eventually triumphing filled me with a deep desire to embody his mystical powers and fighting style myself.
And thus was born the Death Paladin, capable of unleashing fearsome ancient red lightning techniques once used by Dragonlord Placidusax himself during the prehistoric age!
This build carries the highest skill cap of all I‘ve made so far but can potentially one shot players in PvP by stacking buffs then landing Placidusax‘s Ruin and Fortissax‘s Lightning Spear in succession.
Let me introduce you to true power…
Playstyle: Glass cannon spellblade. Stack damage buffs out of enemy range then attempt to one-shot with legendary Dragon Cult incantations from close distance. Requires great skill and timing.
Stats:
- Vigor: 45
- Mind: 50
- Endurance: 23
- Strength: 23
- Dexterity: 23
- Intelligence: 50
- Faith: 80
- Arcane: 50
Weapons:
- Maliketh‘s Black Blade +10
- Dragon Communion Seal +25
- Clawmark Seal +25
Armor:
- Maliketh‘s Armor + Hoslow Helm
Spells:
- Vyke‘s Dragonbolt
- Placidusax‘s Ruin
- Fortissax‘s Lightning Spear
Talismans:
- Magic Scorpion Charm
- Lightning Scorpion Charm
- Ritual Sword Talisman
- Dragoncrest Greatshield Talisman
The core premise revolves around stacking as many damage buffs as possible, then swapping to your Clawmark Seal for max incant scaling and landing Placidusax‘s Ruin into Fortissax‘s Lightning Spear from point blank range when the target attempts to heal.
With practice, you can consistently combo unaware hosts for 8000+ HP which is an absolute delight after so much struggle against Maliketh myself!
Now let‘s explore an intelligence and faith amalgamation that harnesses the incredible might of ancient glintstone sorceries. Welcome to the realm of…
Crucible Feather Scholar
Born from a desire to master mystical powers tied to the Erdtree‘s origins within the Crucible, this battlemage combines elegant Wings of Astel weaponry with devastating red glintstone sorceries and support incantations to control the battlefield completely.
I‘ve spent endless hours hunting down arcane tomes across the Lands Between to supplement this build beyond what most ever realize is possible. Now bear witness to forgotten magic:
Playstyle: Extreme range harassment mage. Maintain distance while bombarding groups using AoE gravity magic. Swap to melee when isolated targets approach. Prioritize large, slow moving enemies.
Stats:
- Vigor: 45
- Mind: 50
- Endurance: 27
- Strength: 16
- Dexterity: 16
- Intelligence: 45
- Faith: 45
- Arcane: 50
Weapons:
- Staff of Loss +10
- Wings of Astel +10
- Carian Regal Scepter +10
Armor:
- Snow Witch Set
- Raptor‘s Black Feathers
Spells:
- Collapsing Stars
- Crystal Barrage
- Triple Rings of Light
- Theodorix‘s Magma
- Bloodflame Blade
Talismans:
- Graven Mass
- Graven School
- Ritual Sword Talisman
- Cerulean Amber Medallion +2
Capable of chaining together the Galaxy sorcery into Collapsing Stars for area control and continual proc damage from the staff alongside bloodflame ticks really enables you to melt whole groups rapidly even in Mountaintops of the Giants and late game areas.
I love baiting overconfident phantoms into narrow dungeons only to remove 60% of their health instantly with a perfectly timed Eternal Darkness mass AoE gravity detonation.
Now for the big finale, a certain build that strikes utter despair into the hearts of both invaders and legendary foes alike. Can your resolve withstand…
Godskin Nightmare Caster
If you also struggled mightily to overcome the Godskin Noble duo within the Spiritcaller Cave or ever got caught lacking by a random black flame tick and wondered where it originated, this build is your answer.
By combining multiple extremely rare Godslayer black flame spells learned by chatting with isolated NPCs in remote regions even I took 100+ hours to uncover, the unholy Godskin Nightmare Caster will have hosts perplexed wondering why their health bar vanishes despite flawless dodging!
Playstyle: Deception mage utilizing ranged harassment and "ticks" to apply steady pressure. Bait overextensions before landing a lethal Black Flame combo. Thrives in confined environments against melee targets.
Stats:
- Vigor: 43
- Mind: 60
- Endurance: 25
- Strength: 17
- Dexterity: 22
- Intelligence: 8
- Faith: 80
- Arcane: 9
Weapons:
- Godslayer‘s Seal +25
- Gargoyle‘s Blackblade +25
- Parry Shield in offhand
Spells:
- Scouring Black Flame
- Godskin Swarm
- Noble Presence
- Black Flame Ritual
Talismans:
- Kindred of Rot +2
- Faithful‘s Canvas
- Holy Shrouding Cracked Tear
- Cerulean Hidden Tear
Armor:
- Black Knife Set
Despite seeming almost unassuming at first glance, the real terror emerges once Noble Presence and Jealously activate in close proximity, resulting in enemies steadily losing 3% HP per second while also building up blood loss through repeated ticks!
Bring your victim to the brink of madness and despair by chaining Scouring Black Flame into the deadly Black Flame Ritual for that final brutal explosion of damage. So satisfying after so much experimentation and discovery!
Let me show you but a glimpse of fighting the Fire Giant using this stratagem:
[YouTube Link to no hit Fire Giant using Godskin spells build]And with that we‘ve covered 6 of my all time favorite Faith focused builds viable in both PvE and high intensity PvP! I hope my deep passion project knowledge empowers your own journey towards greatness fellow Tarnished. Which build resonates most with your soul?
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