Demystifying Dexterity: An In-Depth Elden Ring Guide - 33rd Square (2024)

Hello fellow Tarnished! If you‘re looking to maximize your damage and wield the coolest weapons in Elden Ring, you need to understand exactly how the Dexterity attribute works. As a hardcore fan with hundreds of hours across multiple dexterity-focused builds, I‘m here to share everything I‘ve learned about making the most of this critical stat.

Let‘s dive in and master the art of dex!

What Does Dexterity Actually Do?

Simply put, Dexterity allows you to effectively wield dexterity-scaling weapons, like katanas, daggers, and spears. The higher your Dexterity, the more damage these weapons will do thanks to dexterity‘s scaling.

Dexterity also speeds up spell casting and recovery. This amplifies the power of magic builds.

Finally, Dexterity improves critical attacks, parrying, and your ability to avoid falling when navigating tricky platforms and terrain.

So in summary, Dexterity:

• Increases damage with dex scaling weapons
• Speeds up spell casting
• Boosts critical attack damage
• Improves parrying
• Enhances agility and balance

These bonuses make it an extremely valuable stat for certain builds.

Leveling Priorities and Soft Caps

As a general rule of thumb, you‘ll want to level Dexterity to at least 40 to see meaningful gains with dex-focused weapons. I‘d recommend taking it all the way to 50 or 60 eventually.

Here are the soft and hard caps to be aware of:

• Soft cap: 50
• First hard cap: 80
• Second hard cap: 99

Beyond 50 Dexterity, you start getting diminished returns on your investment. It‘s still worthwhile to go up to 60-70 Dexterity on pure dex builds in the late game. But I wouldn‘t recommend exceeding 80 Dexterity as the gains will be minimal at that point.

Dominating With Dexterity & Intelligence

One of my personal favorite builds is a Dexterity/Intelligence hybrid. This lets you dish out massive damage with dexterity weapons while also wielding powerful sorceries.

Some great options for this build include:

• Weapon: Moonveil, Darkmoon Greatsword
• Spells: Glintstone Pebble, Carian Slicer, Loretta‘s Greatbow
• Staff: Carian Regal Scepter

I like to rush 40 Dexterity while putting extra points in Mind and Intelligence. This gives me incredible damage potential in both melee and magic.

Dexterity vs. Strength – How to Choose?

New players often wonder whether to focus on Strength or Dexterity. Here‘s a quick comparison:

• Dexterity gives you faster, lighter weapons that rely on finesse. Great for quickly staggering enemies.
• Strength grants you slower, heavier weapons that pack a massive punch. Better for breaking enemy poise.

I‘d recommend Dexterity for new players, as the faster combat style is more forgiving. However, colossal weapons like giants hammers can be extremely fun!

Generally, focus on one or the other to maximize your damage potential. But quality builds with even Strength and Dexterity are also viable.

Katanas – The Pinnacle of Dexterity

For pure, unadulterated dexterity damage, you can‘t go wrong with katanas. These blademaster weapons offer a balanced mix of speed, power, and bleed buildup.

Some of my favorites include:

• Rivers of Blood – This curving katana unleashes the devastating Corpse Piler weapon art that annihilates groups. It applies a massive blood loss buildup with each swing.

• Hand of Malenia – Boasts a long reach and the deadly Waterfowl Dance ability that deals 5 quick slashes. Also has scarlet rot buildup.

• Moonveil – Gets a ranged wave of translucent light from its weapon art. This katana scales with both Dexterity and Intelligence.

• Uchigatana – A basic katana with excellent base dexterity scaling and a tasty bleeding effect. Available very early!

Critical Hits – Backstabs and Ripostes

Hunting for critical hits is a key tactic when rocking a high dexterity build. And dexterity boosts your critical damage, making backstabs and ripostes even more effective.

Let‘s break it down:

• Backstabs occur when you strike a humanoid enemy from behind, usually while they‘re idle.
• Ripostes happen after you successfully parry an enemy attack.

Both of these will trigger an ultra-damaging, cinematic critical hit. And with 50+ Dexterity, your critical hits will take off massive chunks of health.

Some weapons like daggers and thrusting swords have an inherent critical damage bonus as well. So dex builds really excel at landing killer critical blows.

Parry Like a Pro

Speaking of parries, Dexterity also improves your ability to successfully parry enemy attacks. In addition to reducing damage taken, parries open up enemies for devastating ripostes.

For parry focused builds, target 35+ Dexterity along with:

• Buckler – Excellent parry ability and low weight. Found in Limgrave.
• Carian Retaliation – Parry spell that sends projectiles back.
• Parrying Dagger – Dedicated parrying tool fittingly scales with Dexterity.

With practice, you can parry and riposte even massive enemies like Crucible Knights and Royal Revenants thanks to your enhanced dexterity.

Advanced Combat Tips

Now that you understand the basics, here are some pro-tips for dominating in combat with dexterity:

• Dual wield to dish out faster attacks and stack bleeding/frostbite.

• Use ranged options like bows and throwables to lure and chip down enemies.

• Keep equipment load medium for longer dodges and quicker stamina regen.

• Strike quickly after dodging to punish whiffed attacks.

• Save stamina for longer combos when the enemy is vulnerable.

• Mix charged and uncharged R2 attacks to throw off opponents.

Mastering these advanced combat tactics will help you excel with katanas, twinblades, and any dexterity-scaled weapon!

Closing Thoughts

Hopefully this guide has demystified what Dexterity does in Elden Ring and why it‘s such a valuable stat for lethal, quick-hitting weapons and spellcasting.

Here are some key takeaways:

• Level Dexterity to 40-60 for big weapon damage boosts

• Dexterity speeds up spell casting and recovery

• Katanas, daggers, and spears are ideal high dexterity weapons

• Backstabs, ripostes, and parries get a major power boost from dexterity

• Mix Dexterity with Intelligence or Faith for devastating battle mage builds

Let me know if you have any other questions! I wish you the best on your journey to become Elden Lord. May your blades strike true and your spells fly fast.

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