Elden Ring- Godwyn's Faithful | Death Knight's Longhaft Axe Build

[@ironstark917]

For this Build: This Elden Ring build is a Strength/Faith hybrid build centered around the Death Knight's Longhaft Axe and Dragon Cult Incantations, particularly one of its newest additions, Knight's Lightning Spear. To start with my weapon of choice, the Death Knight's Longhaft Axe shares the same light attack chain as most Greataxes in the game, but its heavy attack is a wide sweeping attack unique to this weapon, the Axe of Godrick and the Crescent Moon Axe. The Unique Skill on this weapon, Blinkbolt: Long-haft Axe is particularly interesting: it's a great gap closer, has i-frames when you turn into Lightning (think of it like a delayed medium roll) and has a follow-up attack that deals good stance damage and has hyperarmor when you're in the air. Due to its more lengthy animation, I mainly use it situationally. Lastly, about the Death's Knight's Longhaft Axe, it has a B scaling (scaling value: 99) in Strength and a D scaling (scaling value: 54) in Faith, hence why my stats are evenly split in both Strength and Faith. Dragon Cult incantations act as this build's ranged attacks with Knight's Lightning Spear as my main cast as it deals formidable Lightning damage, great stance damage and is buffed by the pieces of the Death Knight set I'm wearing as well as the Gravel Stone Seal, Lightning Scorpion, Flock's Canvas and Lightning Shrouding Cracked Tear. Lightning Spear and Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike act as additional offensive options when it comes to spells. This build doesn't have a specific strategy when it comes to battle as it is suitable in both melee and ranged attacks; the main thing is being adaptable. Need to fight up close? Blinkbolt: Long-haft Axe can close the distance and the natural moveset of the DKLA can hold up well. Want to focus on stance breaks? Use heavy attacks and Blinkbolt upclose and Knight's Lightning Spear at range. Want to deal high Lightning damage? Use Knight's Lightning Spear and Ancient Dragons' Lightning Strike. The beauty of this build is how much it can do. Death Knight's Longhaft Axe Attack Rating (AR) when two-handing and using Lightning Scorpion: 809 (1659 when at Scadutree Blessing Level 20) Death Knight's Longhaft Axe AR when two-handing and buffed by Golden Vow, Howl of Shabriri, Lightning Shrouding Cracked Tear and Lightning Scorpion: 1243 (2549 when at Scadutree Blessing Level 20) Relevant Stats: Vigor: 60 Mind: 20 Endurance: 30 Strength: 56 Dexterity: 10 Faith: 55 Talismans: 1. Two-Handed Sword: Increases the power of light and heavy attacks by 15% when two-handed a single weapon 2. Lightning Scorpion Charm: Increases Lightning Damage by 12% but decreases physical damage negation by 10% 3. Flock's Canvas: Increases the power of incantations by 8% Flex 1. Shard of Alexander: Increases the power of weaopn skills by 15% Flex 2. Axe: Increases the power of charged heavy attacks by 10% Flex 3. Claw: Increases the power of jump attacks by 15% Flex 4. Dragoncrest Greatshield: Increases physical damage negations by 20% (Only used in SotE) Physick: 1. Lightning Shrouding Cracked Tear: Increases Lightning Damage by 20% for 3 Minutes Flex 1. Stonebarb Cracked Tear: Increases Stance Damage by 30% for 30 seconds Flex 2. Spiked Cracked Tear: Increases the power of charged heavy attacks by 15% Flex 3. Opaline Hardtear: Increases all damage negation by 10% for 3 minutes Drip: Death's Knight's Helm, Armor, Gauntlets and Malformed Dragon Greaves Min-Maxxed RL150 version of this build (Suitable for PvE or PvP) Starting Class: Prophet Vigor: 60 Mind: 16 Endurance: 30 Strength: 55 Dexterity: 10 Intelligence: Base Faith: 41 Arcane: Base AR for Death Knight's Longhaft Axe when two-handing (Before buffs and talismans): 763 Best Seal for this version: Gravel Stone Seal if only using Dragon Cult Incantations, Dryleaf Seal for any other incantations

[@archie_dr]

Awesome showcase! Dragon Cult has been my favourite school of incantations since the base game, and I'm go glad it got some good stuff in the DLC, including FINALLY a weapon that scales Lightning with Faith natively without buffs. Cheers!

[@ironstark917]

Thank you! I'll admit, Dragon Cult incantations have been a bit underutilized by me since you've probably noticed I really like fighting upclose and personal but Knight's Lightning Spear is just SO GOOD. And yeah, when I learned of the Death Knight weapons being Lightning Faith weapons (even if it is a D scaling), I was like, "I MUST USE THIS!"

[@suchar7175]

Base game is such a walk in the park now, especially with some great DLC weapons lol. Although Malenia still feels the most difficult, at least the hardest to trivialize. GG Stark, awesome build!👏

[@ironstark917]

@@suchar7175 Agreed! At the very least, Malenia feels the most difficult in a genuine way. P.C.R is... Something else. His 1st phase isn't that bad at all. Good enough moveset, they just need to correct the hitboxes on his Swords and make that 3 hit combo more manageable but good boss design goes out the window with his 2nd phase.

[@lordfarquad5537]

The Malenia fight was beautiful to watch

[@ironstark917]

@@lordfarquad5537 Thank you! I was particularly proud of that fight. Honestly, I've grown really fond of Malenia since the DLC. She's a good warm-up for the complexity the DLC offers. :)

[@Archduketank7878]

Thank you for laying this out. Been trying to set up this build and now i can. I really appreciate the details

[@ironstark917]

@@Archduketank7878 Glad to be of help! And an additional note, if you lean more towards melee, you could go higher in Strength and less into Faith or if you cast more, go less Strength and more Faith.

[@alfie2295]

all your builds are cool ash bro, you should do a hybrid samurai build (cross naginata, wakizashi, and uchi) u could maybe even try add a bow into it since they arent used much

[@ironstark917]

@@alfie2295 Might do something like that when I get some time after I get more DLC weapons under my belt. Might throw in a Great Katana in as well and name that build "The Way of Ashina".

[@swiftstroke1554]

Great video! I’ve been running backhand blades on my other account. With cold infusion it gets a bit in dex and b in int. Really fun build. Have you tried them yet?

[@ironstark917]

@@swiftstroke1554 Nice! And they are on my list of things to try. Funny enough, I actually haven't tried any of the new classes in earnest yet haha (like I have tried just swinging around the Great Katana and Light Greatsword, but I haven't done full runs yet).

[@swiftstroke1554]

@@ironstark917 I tried tit he gray katana because everyone seems to love it. It’s just too slow for my liking. The milady and the backhand blades have been my favorite so far! Looking forward to more videos of you trying them when the time comes.

[@amcname8789]

Neato. I never tested it, so I thought Knight's lightning spear was an aoe spell or something at first lol. I really like the axe's skill, but heavy attack aside, I'm just not the biggest fan of it's basic moveset :/.

[@ironstark917]

@@amcname8789 Nah, it's literally just Lightning Spear but make it better. It's easily my favorite Dragon Cult Incantation, and favorite incantation added in the DLC so far. And that's fair. I'm particular to the Heavy attack because I really like the Crescent Moon Axe and I also really enjoy Blindbolt. I think I like the light attack chain just because it has very good stagger potential on most enemies. It's really good at bullying Banished Knights.

[@amcname8789]

@@ironstark917 Understandable. Also, it's crazy to me that Malenia is fought less than halfway through the showcase!

[@ironstark917]

@@amcname8789 Haha it's something, isn't it? But I do like the layout. She can be fought pretty early in the late game if someone beelines straight for her and the scaling of the DLC is higher than everything in the base game.

[@amcname8789]

@@ironstark917 Oh I agree, I went out of my way to reach her before I fought the Fire Giant or Messmer to try out deflecting with Milady.

[@ironstark917]

@@amcname8789 Ah, the Milady. I can't wait for that weapon. I'm actually putting out a full list of the weapons I plan to make videos on soon.

[@bloodfartmoon2765]

I love the dragoncult incantations but wouldnt the clawmark seal be better for this build? Because of the high strength?

[@ironstark917]

@@bloodfartmoon2765 To be honest, yes. I checked using my build calculator when you asked that. With the stats I have here, Gravel Stone Seal has an Incant Scaling of 266, granted it still adds 15% more damage to Dragon Cult Incantations. Clawmark would have 293 Incant Scaling but would lack the buff to Dragon Cult Incantations. It would probably take off handing a second Gravel Stone Seal to be able to outdamage the Clawmark. I mostly used it for thematic purposes and because I knew I wasn't going to use any other Incantations. Plus, with my pieces of the Death Knight set combined with the Gravel Stone, I was probably getting damage comparable to the Clawmark Seal.

[@burnbibles3813]

I'd suggest radagon icon seal if your gonna cast at all with this build if on new game plus dual wield gravel stone seals so you can switch quickly and they do stack so knights lightning spear will clear out most enemies in one hit 😂 Radagon Godfrey shard of Alexander and two handed are my go to talismans I'll swap two handed for flocks if it's a cast heavy encounter

[@ironstark917]

@@burnbibles3813 Very solid advice! Ironically enough, I DID pick up a second Gravel Stone with that specific purpose. I just completely blanked on equipping it. And yeah, for basic mobs, Knight's Lightning Spear just clears. Haha

[@eliaselias4647]

Amazing build. Same stats for using the death knights twin axes right?

[@ironstark917]

@@eliaselias4647 Thank you and yes, the same stats would work for the DKTA. If anything, the Twin Axes have slightly weaker scaling in Strength (C scaling, scaling value of 75) and slightly better scaling in Faith (C scaling, scaling value of 63).

[@eliaselias4647]

​@@ironstark917thank you that build is wonderful and cool as fuck

[@casualviewer1006]

Valkyrie build mayhaps?

[@ironstark917]

Could be fun to do. Swift Spear with a Buckler would probably be my go-to. I'll add it to the very long list of DLC weapon builds haha.

[@casualviewer1006]

@@ironstark917 a long list is a good situation to have lol. For build load out, how about Messmer soldier great spear and the Golden Greatshield as the primary set up? Could throw in some lightning incantations and a smithscript weapon to spice it up 🤔

[@blackhaze_gaming]

gg, but why no consort? is this build just not good vs him?

[@ironstark917]

@@blackhaze_gaming Mostly just cbf with him. Plus, he gets on my damn nerves. If I were to take him this build, I probably would have resorted to the Deflection Hardtear. So long as his hitboxes are bigger than his Swords, that seems to be the safer way to deal with him.

[@Fayalite67]

​@@ironstark917Yea fuck that guy

[@blackhaze_gaming]

@@ironstark917 true, consort is pretty bugged rn, i expect some patches later down the line. gg either way doing this on PC already takes a long time, i cant imagine doing this on console.

[@vesselnation7521]

What NG cycle is this? Im running pretty much the same build but am on ng+11 i believe. Build was doing very well up until midra fight. I was so frustrated cause the window for hesvy huts was so small. Had to get midra with the bloodfiends arm after like 3 days of just dying lol. All i have left is radahn now. Curious ti see how this build is gonna do against him lol

[@ironstark917]

This was in NG+2. Hmmm, yeah, I think if I were in NG+7 with this build, I would have consumed the Stonebarb Cracked Tear right before the 2nd phase started for Midra that way you basically guarantee a stance break. Bruh, I can't even imagine with P.C.R. Dude gives so little openings for heavy weapons if not using a Parry-based strategy.

[@vesselnation7521]

@ironstark917 this is so good to know for P.C.R and good point for midras second phase. Think I'll try that next time

[@redoctober2k593]

Is there any good early strength weapon that goes well will lightning for this build?

[@ironstark917]

@@redoctober2k593 Hmmm, natively you've very few options because not many weapons have native Lightning damage like this one does. I suppose the Stormhawk Axe is a choice but you'd have to end Nepheli early and that weapon is more of a Quality (Strength and Dexterity) weapon though it leans towards Strength. You could go with any Strength weapon and buff it with Electrify Armament. That's an idea.

[@Augmenti8323]

This DLC kind of broke Elden ring for me. Now, every playthrough of the base game feels so dull compared to the DLC.Also,20th time mentioning the erdtree greatshield!

[@ironstark917]

I think I have a new appreciation of the base game since the DLC. It's like a nostalgic walk in the park now.

[@welldelara]

​@@ironstark917 encountering tree sentinel in the DLC was super nostalgic《friend ahead》

[@ironstark917]

@@welldelara Agreed. Normally, I don't bother with the basic Tree Sentinels in the base game, but when I saw them in the DLC, I just couldn't pass up on fighting them again.

[@ToM_TouchOfMadness]

​@@ironstark917 yeah, it really is.

[@Avienity]

It’s because the DLC was way harder than the base game and when you do NG+ runs everything in the base game is like incredibly easy. It’s actually good pacing if you think about it. Do NG+ First few base bosses are EZ Altus Plateau gets significantly harder Fight optional bosses like Malenia Get to the DLC and it gets even more difficult You get a sort of breathing room when you NG+ to test out builds before you head out to the DLC again. It made the game 10x better IMO.

[@paulohenriquerocha7800]

putrid cleaver build please

[@ironstark917]

@@paulohenriquerocha7800 I'll add it to my list. Did a community post yesterday of all the weapons I plan to make videos on. :)

[@ironstark917]

@@paulohenriquerocha7800 Hey, so I don't know when I'm going to put out that video but I played with some numbers and if I'm correct, this is going to be huge when it comes to how to build it. It looks like the Arcane scaling on this weapon increases the physical AND magic damage of the Putrescence Cleaver, similar to how Arcane increase physical and fire damage on Eleonora's Poleblade. So even though the scaling of Strength is higher, you would want to prioritize Arcane over Strength by a bit. Specifically, aim for 60 Arcane/51 Strength. It will have an AR of 920 when two-handing.

[@cj8219]

so im not sure how your defense are so high when you fully buff. howl of shabriri knocks me defenses down so much.

[@ironstark917]

So, which fully buffed section were you referring to? In the base game or in the DLC? If it's in the DLC, it's definitely from the Scadutree Blessing carrying. I also might have had Opaline Hardtear in my Physick. Try adding that and see what the numbers look like.

[@n8g496]

Haha so cool

[@wingswingswings]

im too bad at the game to be able to use the scorpion charm :/

[@ironstark917]

@@wingswingswings in that case, could use a defensive talisman and use Lightning Shrouding Cracked Tear. This is still mostly a physical damage weapon