PaTrick6160's Sora build | Dark Souls 2 Wiki

Author's Note: Sorry if this is really basic looking but its my first ever wiki post(I also apologize for spelling and grammar errors). anyways, the recent patches have made a keyblade build really viable for pvp it has more damage now AND you don't have to be in new game plus to play with people in new game plus anymore. it already had crazy counter damage before the patches anyway.

 

The Gear

The Weapons: The key to the embedded(duh) Pyro flame +10 (Donald's magic and sora could use magic anyway) watcher shield+5 (Optional but represents Goofy's shield, and the watchers face looks like mickey mouse ears, plus your gonna want this for parrying unless your good at great-sword parries. which I am not)

The Armor: gyrm warrior boots+10, manikin top+10, I use engraved gauntlets+5(optional) and thief mask+10(optional) as well because I feel the character still looks like Sora even with those items, and if you think about it whenever Sora went to a different world in kingdom hearts he wore clothes from that world so it just makes sense to me. also be sure to make your character is female so the thief mask doesn't have a hood, plus it's easier to make a girl character look like Sora anyway. I just gave my character big blue eyes and short brown hair but you can try to get the face even closer during beginning customization if you would like
(after note:if you can find armor that you think looks more like Sora's gear then feel free to change anything, id just suggest keeping the gauntlets for key-blade random critical hits though that's up to you some examples of other gear Ive seen are gyrm and gyrm warrior gloves and I think someone had the hard leather top, there are a few other chest pieces to choose from, the traveling merchant chest looks alright too.)

Rings: if your in the arena its third dragon, old Leo, ring of blades+2(bonfire ascetic the kings gate) and cloranthy ring +2(ascetic the executioner chariot. you can sub out one for stone ring(kill the FIRST cyclops in things betwixt) against big poise monsters but just make sure your cloranthy ring is always on, just trust me on this one. for pvp outside of the arena I sub out the third dragon ring for an agape ring (see tips for agape ring below) to keep my SM at 2.2 mil. this prevents you from having to fight Havel mages or crazy stuff like that but its up to you really I just wanted a character that I could try out the agape ring with.(also if you have the DLC I haven't tried the Flynn ring with this build but I feel like that could also be a really good choice as well) if you dont care about crit damage(you should with this build) you can put on the gyrm gloves and take off your head peice to keep your equip under 40 when wearing the agape ring for invasions, if that's your play style.

Pyromancy: I run fire orb, great combustion, and a third slot with warmth (for people who heal or fight clubs) you don't need warmth so if you can find something better to do with those three attunement levels or like a different pyromancy better be my guest and change it out.( I myself am a big fan of using flame swathes to block the enemies view of you casting a fireball that hits them right in the face)fire whip is also an optional replacement for great combustion(or warmth ,switching between fire whip and great combustion keeps people on their toes during battle)

 

The Build

Stats:

30 VGR: Just seemed like a good number to me not to much not to little. your not gonna wanna get hit very much with this class anyway but he can take a surprising amount of hits when your gear is fully upgraded.
18 VIT: is so equip load is just under 40
16 ATT: is not necessary you could lose one slot and put the points in whatever, I'd suggest adaptability or maybe endurance but running out of stamina hasn't really been a problem for me.
30 ADP: is for at least 105 AGL
you could probably play with the DEX and STR levels and get a little more damage out of the blade but it wont be much
additionally if you want a higher soul level you can boost the damage on this key-blade to over 400 if your STR and DEX are high enough
One thing I'd like to say is this class is alot more powerful if you don't go all the way to 150, especially if you like the brotherhood of blood arena where I'm pretty sure matchmaking is by soul level not soul memory, though you do find matches very fast at 150, and you'll have some good battles as alot of honorable players sit at 150. you can win it just gets more and more challenging the higher your level gets I'd suggest finding the level that's the best combination of fun and challenging for you personally. you shouldn't win every fight but you shouldn't lose every one either. the fact you can control your sm is not an excuse to be impossible to kill. of course if I'm wrong for some reason and the arena doesn't match make off of soul level just disregard this whole paragraph.additionally I could just be having a bad run of duels and this might not be the case for more skilled players then I, just something I'm noticing as I play.
see below image for stats.

optional SL 120 stats

VGR-30

END-20

VIT-18

ATN-16

STR-15

DEX-37

ADP-28

INT-3

FTH-6

*my pyro flame was only plus 6 at the time of this pic when fully upgraded its attack power will be 326, not 266*


Here's the link to the build calculator if you want to try some different combinations,
https://fextralife.com/calculator/dks2builds.html?NoZgNAjGweIAxgEyIgDkgNjAFkXsBQsTAXWgQE4tEkjEHzgAiCeAdmbGcwFYvmSSgJCZmTCNhxRM4dkiYg41IaVJAAA=

 

PvP Guide

Basic Strategies: your going to be backstabbing often with this class great combustion is good for wake-up damage right after you back-stab and if you keep the watchers shield out and only switch to your pyro flame to do that it will really surprise people. I also use fire orb for animation cancels(hit dodge right after you start casting) and random lucky shots. you can get some pretty sweet parries with the watchers shield, I'm not very good at parrying but its there for those of you who do use that mechanic. the engraved gauntlets don't always work but when they do you will scare the crap out of people, they just don't know what to do when you hit about 700 damage with and unbuffed R1 or R2( I promise this happened once, took down half a dudes health in literally 1 hit.) make sure you switch between one and two handing the key blade, the two handed rolling R1 is pretty fast, roll forward twice and then hit R1 and you'll catch them at the end of their panic roll. the one handed R2 is good for poking people as well as the rolling one handed R1 witch is seemingly the same attack as a one hand R2 but just faster and harder to read the two handed R2 is very good as well it sweeps the whole area in front of you and if it connects you can often land another two handed R2 right after it. the back-step R1 is also really good for an opening attack since it has a spin diversion. additionally your jumping attack(forward R2) has crazy range/tracking. vary up your move set , dodge everything you can, and you'll succeed I promise, I am a very average Dark Souls 2 player I don't claim to be very good at all but I have won ALOT with this build in both the duel arena for BoB and the iron keep bridge. since the key-blade is a little slow if you try just using the same attack pattern all the time. your probably gonna get parried avoid this by being unpredictable with your swings, roll forward wait one extra second for them to throw the parry then hit them, if you just spam a button or spam the rolling two handed R1 or spam anything listed below for that matter you will get parried rest assured. this is why it's very important to use every different type of attack the key blade has to keep your opponent on their toes.

Attack List

One handed move-set
R1- slow sweeping attack directly in front of character
R2-plunging attack
Back step R1- character advances spins and swings the blade pretty fast in a sweeping frontal motion
Rolling R1- looks about the same as a regular R2 just catches people by surprise because of the roll beforehand
Forward R2- heavy leaping vertical slash that covers a surprising distance and has outstanding tracking though i think this might be the case with all heavy jumping attacks so that's nothing new.
Watcher shield bash- two hand your shield for an R1 shield bash to take down that last sliver of health to avoid using throwing knives(good for agape ring users) technically this is a two handed move but the only time you'll have your watcher shield out is when you one-hand the key blade
Two handed move-set
R1- a sort of over the shoulder vertical slash
R2- a frontal sweep that leaves your character in a position so that the next R2 slash is just a bit faster Translation: if you hit someone with your first swing you'll probably land a second one and if you don't you have time to dodge out of the way. be careful though because this attack is really easy to parry.
Back step R1- similar to the one handed back step R1 with a little more power
rolling R1- a very fast overhead vertical slam, good for catching panic rolls.
Back step R2- not actually a combo but it works pretty good because of your swords range advantage.
Forward R2- similar to the one handed forward R2
L1 is guard and L2 gives you a great-sword parry but i just use the shield if i want parry.
the running attacks are pretty decent as well I'm pretty sure they are similar to the back step R1s
Combos ( I will add more as I discover them)
R2, Back step, R1(one handed)- you can hit back step right after you press R2 but wait to input the r1 followup for the back step animation to start
Roll,Roll, R1(Two-handed or One handed)- good for catching panic rolls
R2,R2(Two handed)- the first hit often staggers them enough to get the second hit in
R2,R2(One handed)- this is the combo other key blade users have beaten me with the second R2 is a nice fast swirly attack it has a slow recovery time but that doesn't really matter since your character was just 360 spinning his sword around like and old school Zelda game.
R1,R2(Two handed)- I'm pretty sure, (not tested) but it appears that the R2 attack comes out slightly faster after an R1
R2,R2, Back step R1(One handed): good three hitter
Rolling R1, R2,R2-(one Handed) another nice looking three hitter
R1,R1,R2(Two handed): the second swing of the R1 sets up the R2 making it fast and almost unreadable as they may just think your done swinging
Back step R1,R1,R1,R2(Two handed)- leaves enough stamina for a dodge roll after
R1,R1,R2,R2- flows together quite nicely probably the longest combo you may be able to pull off but I don't suggest it as it will probably use all your stamina in the process leaving you quite open for punishment.
Evasive combos(get that fancy footwork going)
Back step,Back step, roll, back step R1
ULTIMATE COMBOS! (ridiculousness) no strategy here just trying to look as cool as possible.
Back step R1, Rolling R1, R2(One handed)- just looks cool
Plunging attack, back step R1, R2(Two handed)- also just looks cool

Things and characters to watch out for: (list will get longer the more I play as this build but hopefully it will then shrink as I come up with strategies to counter them effectively)
Disregard this list if your good at parrying with small shields

1. People who can parry(admittedly a large portion of the community, but just vary your move set and back stab punish failed Parries)
2. Someone using a key-blade as well (leads me to believe there may be better key-blade strategies then mine.)
3. Spear users if your bad at dodging, though most spear users just mash R1 so if you just keep dodging you'll be okay punish with a back-stab if they charge you. don't feel bad if they get you though, spears are seemingly broken anyway
4. Getting back stabbed after a failed back stab attempt(mash dodge and if lag permits you'll be okay)
5. Dex builds unless you can parry
6. This might be included in number five but effing curved swords, mainly just because I personally find them hard to read and parry
7. chaos blade, I've never used it myself but it also has 150 counter damage so it could possibly be a thorn in your side as well.
8. Someone dual-wielding a spear and a katana, f#$k that guy, if you use that setup you can just go f$%k yourself. seriously

Builds you will do well against and other tips: (this list is also growing as more playtime is had with this build)

1. Spell-casters of any kind, rolling R1 1 or 2 handed generally does like half their health and they always think they'll get the cast off first if your a good dodger they should be no problem
2. people using big weapons, wait for swing, dodge, back stab, great combustion or fire whip, wash, rinse, repeat. if they have a big sword that matches your key blade speed like a claymore type blade then watch out because if they hit you once its hard to roll out of the next swing that they will inevitably throw(it might even be impossible)
3. anyone trying to invade you if you use the agape ring correctly
4. anyone you invade also requiring that you use the agape ring correctly
5. Havels wearers would be a problem but if you control your SM the right way anyone wearing Havels and wielding a weapon is a slow mofo at this stage unless its like a weird dagger build or something
6. axe, halberd, and katana wielders because your gonna match their damage if you trade and they wont know why. though some katanas are fast enough to stop your swing so still be cautious.
7. you will often have opponents with just one little sliver of health left after landing three or four hits with your key blade or pyro, two hand your watcher shield and give them a quick R1 shield bash that they wont see coming.

Videos:
Here's a link to the key-blade video that gave me the idea for this build it's by a very informative dark-souls player who goes by Praise The Sun you should check out his streams on twitch under praisethesunpvp and his weapon tutorials on YouTube. keep in mind this is an old video and was made before the damage patch but it still has viable strategies. if i ever get the chance I'll post some videos of me playing as this build here

 

 

Optional Build Variations

Optional agape ring tips:

1. run past as many enemies as you can until you can get the ring from Straid to really be in control of your SM,(you should only really have to fight the last giant the pursuer and ruin sentinels if you get the fragrant branch from the gutter, or you can go dragon slayer, then flexile sentry, then ruin sentinels, which is what I suggest since you need the pyro flame anyway additionally since your using agape ring its silly to waste soul memory on the consumables with Melentia)
2. while your getting to soul lvl 150 kill enemies that drop the upgrade materials you need and find the titatnite that is scattered about Drangleic to avoid high material cost(with the agape ring on and champions covenant active its probably possible to get all the stones you need without buying a single one. use ascetics to farm lizards if you really have to though I didn't
3. Here's a link to the soul memory tiers page of the wiki https://darksouls2.wiki.fextralife.com/Soul+Memory pick the one you want to sit at I'm at 2.2 SM but you could make that a much lower number by using the agape ring in the ways stated above and maybe not leveling all the way to 150
4. Not tested but I feel that you could also avoid buying Lenigrast's key and just wait till you blow into Mcduff's cell and have the ember for him to save yourself some more SM.
6. if you go for a more pure looking cos-play you can lose the helm and the gloves to save SM.
7. by doing all that is stated above you have a fully pvp ready character at lvl 150 only having to upgrade one shield and one pyro flame(I ran pyro flame at +6 for awhile and it did just fine) and two pieces of equipment. making for a pretty low soul memory although I don't have an exact number as I've only made this build once and I upgraded a sword and a mace a little to get through the pve segments until I got my key-blade
8. I believe you can get the watcher shield for free if it's the first thing you buy from the crow lady
9. Petrified something as starting gift might net you an early titanite slab

 

Optional Equipment variations and reasoning: (some of them are a stretch but it's just for fun anyway)

requirements:the equipment must be linkable to the Kingdom Hearts universe in some way
Poison blossom Kite shield: it looks like the flower from beauty and the beast
Moonlight Great sword: its a staple of from software and sora often uses the staple items of a world when he visits it
Channeler's Trident: could be Ursala's trident or Neptune's trident and actually isn't a bad idea for boosting key-blade damage.
Crypt black sword: or any great sword that resembles clouds sword
King's Mirror: Maleficent's mirror mirror on the wall
Magic: yup, all of it. try to stick with pyromancies, miracles and sorceries for a more sora-esk feel if you can think of a hex that looks like something from kingdom hearts then it's fair game too. (using an exalted ring to hide your casting devices nets you bonus points in the cool kid category)
*note that some of these items may require stat adjustments*

Optional Story!!:( pretty much just for you hardcore role players)

if your into the cos play aspect or role playing character stories I like to think that sora Donald and Goofy all crash landed on the Dark souls planet and Donald and Goofy have both been killed by the horrible monsters here, Sora, having become afflicted with the dark sign, is on a quest not only to beat dark souls and all the bosses but along the way he must retrieve his weapons and the weapons of his friends to help him beat Nashandra it starts with getting donalds magic from the Flexile sentry then he must get Goofy's shield from the throne watcher then he must defeat the demon of song to get his key-blade. after that its just farming for his outfit and then you can defeat Nash and avenge your fallen brothers! yay rpgs! expand upon that however you wish and have fun! don't forget to do mild mannered pate and Creighton the wanderers quest-line to get the engraved gauntlets, the mask can be bought from the ladder guy or you can choose not to wear those things and try to make a more sora looking co-splay with lower SM, additionally, if you want a pure sora character you could just lose the shield, sora could use magic and the pyro flame is strong without you having to take levels away from your key-blade damage
OPTIONAL CHALLENGE BATTLE COMBO (post video proof of this accomplishment and I will name and list you below as a Key blade MASTER!)
Back stab, fire whip off of a ledge and/or R2 them off a ledge,plunging attack from the ledge, and then if they aren't dead for some reason parry and riposte as the finisher- goodluck

Current Key blade Masters-0

Your name could go here along with a link to your video of awesomeness!

---

Thanks for checking out my build! I've seen sora builds before but no one uses the watcher shield or magic! which is just plain silly to me This is my first Build ever so I hope you guys like it! review the FAQ below for any questions you may have and happy keyblading!

 

 

FAQ

I'll try to think up a few of my own to get it started, and then as(and if) the community asks questions, I'll add them to the list.

---

Q: How do I play through the game until I get the key to the embedded?
A: This is largely up to you I did it with a partially upgrade longsword a +1 mace and poison arrows. you could use the Heide knight sword if you kill the Heide knight in the forest of fallen giants. Mainly just pick one weapon your pretty good with until you can get the key.although if you want a challenge try only using the gear listed to get through the game. bare handed until you get the pyro flame then you go to the shrine and get your key-blade with the pyro or try and kill the watcher and defender only pyro to get your shield and then go with your shield and pyro to get the key from the demon of song, i don't even know if this is possible it just seems like it could be challenging and fun.

---

Q: How do I kill the twin pursuers and executioners chariot to get the rings I need?
A: Obviously bonfire ascetic the respective fires to spawn the bosses in new game plus difficulty without actually starting a new game plus as you will lose your key-blade. as for the twin pursuers I summoned help to make it an easier battle, just make sure you don't die after one of the pursuers dies without picking up his loot as you will have to beat the area bosses and ascetic the fire again to get the ring if you miss the drop. I used poison arrows for the executioners chariot both times, clear out the first mage and skellys then range him from one of the wall alcoves, when hes at about thirty percent health the horse wont make the jump over the gap and you can take out the next set of mage and skeletons at your leisure then just go knock the horse into the hole and you've got your rings.

---

Q:If I new game plus will I lose my key-blade?
A: Yes, but since recent patches have made it possible for people in new game to play with new game plus people if the SM permits, you can just ascetic any bosses you want to fight again. as a new game plus is not required. if your using the agape ring you could try challenging yourself and see how many times you can beat each boss with this build before its impossible to beat.you can keep the boss souls to keep track of how many times you killed each boss since you wont be using them for much else once your stats are where you want.

---

This last question is a bit sarcastic
Q: your character doesn't look dead on 100% like sora and sora didn't use a shield wtf?
A- you can make your character look as close to or as far away from sora as you want the idea of this build is that the equipment is reminiscent to the KH universe mixed together with the dark souls 2 universe, not every co-splay has to be 100% visually accurate it's just important to capture the spirit of the character. so anyone commenting that I should mod the hair color and style to make it look more like Sora's, your just being picky, by all means do it to your character! that's totally awesome! but this build is more about the equipment, it's a fun KH meshed with DKS2 universe co-splay.

---

 

---

Accept Terms and Save Close Preview Close Editor