In thisDemon’s Souls Build GuideI’ll be showing you myHoming Soul Samurai Build, which is a variant of my Soul Samurai Build that usesMagicin addition to theUchigatana. If you’ve been looking for a good hybridBuildthat uses Magic, but also dishes out respectable damage with your weapon then you might want to check this Build out.
Demon’s Souls Builds: Homing Soul Samurai (PvP/PvE Battlemage)
The Homing Soul Samurai Build was inspired by my Soul Samurai Build. A lot of players were disappointed that the original Build was aDEXbased build and didn’t use Magic, and now I’ve rectified this by providing a magical-based alternative.
The way this Build works is that it uses buffs likeProtectionand the spellHoming Soul Arrowto enhance its combat capabilities, while dealing a solid amount of damage with theCrescent Uchigatana. The Crescent Uchigatana scales with the Magic Stat, and you’ll need a lot of Magic to make your Homing Soul Arrow and otherSpellshit as hard as they can, so this is a deadly combination.
This Build was designed specifically with PvP in mind, however, it can work effectively in PvE as well, since Homing Soul Arrow deals incredible damage, even if you are not setup as a “pure mage” Build. Simply use HSA when you need to kill a tough enemy, and take care of the easier ones with the Uchigatana or something likeSoul Ray.
Homing Soul Arrow is absolutely deadly in PvP combat because if you connect with all of the Arrows then it’s usually a one shot kill. Many players don’t know how to handle this spell, when it’s been used properly against them, and it works exceptionally well at dealing with players who are trying to ambush you hidden around a corner since the spell has better reaction time than you do.
Homing Soul Samurai Starting Class
The startingClassI’ve chosen for this Build isRoyaltybecause it comes with high Magic, decent Dexterity (which is needed for the Uchigatana), and some items that make casting easier early on in the game, likeFragrant Ring. However,Magicianis also a strong choice since it has moreIntelligenceand higher Magic. The choice is up to you here, but either of these will work fine.
Homing Soul Samurai Stats
The Stats you need for the Homing Soul Samurai Build are Magic, Intelligence and a good amount ofVitality. Magic is very important to this Build, not only because it increases the damage with your Spells and Crescent Uchigatana, but also because it increases the number of projectiles fired with Homing Soul Arrow. You’ll hit 5 total Arrows, which the maximum you can have, at 31 Magic. So you’ll be aiming to get there quickly in order to reach your full potential with this spell.
Intelligence is needed to have a larger Mana pool, and to also increase the number of Spells you can have equipped. This is very important because more powerful Spells like HSA take up more than one slot, and you’ll need a few different Spells for different situations.
Vitality is needed because you will be wearing mediumArmorat best, and you take a good amount of damage if struck. Higher Vitality helps to offset some of this, increasing your chances of survival. Additionally, invading as a Black Phantom will change yourCharacter Tendencyto Pure Black eventually, at which point you will have even less HP.
Your Stat spread should look something like this:
12Strengthis needed to two-hand the Uchigatana effectively, as is 13 Dexterity so make sure you have that by the time you acquire the Uchigatana. 30 Intelligence will give you 5 Spell slots, of which Homing Soul Arrow will take 2. 30 Vitality is the point you start seeing diminishing returns, so stopping there is good for your first game cycle.
Homing Soul Samurai Early Game Tips
One of the benefits of the Homing Soul Samurai Build is that it can use Magic or attack in melee. This gives it some advantages that melee Builds and mage Builds don’t really have. As longs as you have a decent selection of Spells to choose from, you should always have something for every situation. For instance you’re able to buff beforeFlamelurkerwithWater Veil, or useFlame TossonLeechmongerwho is very weak to Fire Damage. There are lots of options here so experiment with Spells and use them to your advantage when you need them, and melee the rest of the time.
Take some time to learn the moveset of the Uchigatana two-handed as you won’t be one-handing it unless you’re casting a spell. The running R1 attack is extremely good, and has very long reach, allowing you to hit enemies or players from a safe distance. The same is true of the step back R1, which dodges and then runs forward with a thrust. Also note that you will still deal exceptional Magic Damage when attacking one-handed, even without meeting the Strength requirements, so don’t be afraid to use this in a pinch.
A large part of this Build is Mana regeneration to be able to cast Spells when you need them. The Crescent Upgrade path provides better regeneration as you upgrade, so you’ll get more regeneration as you progress the game. Note that you’re able to equip 2 Crescent Weapons at once for even more Mana recovery, and you can use the Fragrant Ring as well. The idea here is not to hit as hard as possible with every spell you have, but instead make it possible to use a variety of Spells and cast them more frequently, relying on your melee to deal its share of the damage as well.
This Build performs much better in Body Form when PvEing compared with some builds, because there are manyRingsthat work well for this Build and being able to unequip the Cling Ring really helps. This doesn’t apply when Invading, however, as you cannot Invade in Body Form and you will need the extra HP from the Cling Ring or you will likely die.
Homing Soul Samurai Equipment
In this section we’ll take a look at what equipment you’ll need in order to play the Homing Soul Samurai Build effectively. Keep in mind that you will likely change this up some depending on what section of the game you are on, but this should serve to give you some idea of what setups you’re looking for. First let’s take a look at early game.
Early Game Equipment
At the beginning of the game you’ll want to pick up and equip theCling Ringas soon as you can to further increase your Health in Soul Form. You’ll likely be in Soul Form a good amount of the time, so this can really help keep you alive.
I like to use theOld Ragged Setwith this Build, but it requires being a female character to use. you may obtain it by cutting the chain in the Boletarian Palace, and then looting the corpse below.
Make sure to unlockBlacksmith EdinStonefang Tunnelby activating the lift there so that you can upgrade your Crescent Uchigatana. There are also a ton ofSharpstonein this area, and you will need to gather a bunch to upgrade the Uchigatana to +6 before it can become Crescent. I highly recommend killing all the bag Miners and looting all theCrystal Lizardsin this area to speed up your upgrading, or you can buy some Shards and Large Shards from theFilthy Merchantif you have the Souls.
The Shrine of Storms
A really good pick up early on is theCrescent Falchionin theShrine of Storms. It takes almost no time to acquire, and gives you a strong melee attack that deals Magic Damage and scales with your Magic Stat. You should look to get this as soon as you can, as it can really help out, and you’ll likely use it until you can convert your Uchigatana into a Crescent version.
Next you’ll want to loot the Uchigatana from behind theVanguard Demon. You won’t be able to upgrade it to Crescent until it’s +6, but you might as well pick it up while you’re here anyway.
If you don’t have the Fragrant Ring then you should trade theBrass TelescopetoSparkly, the Crowin order to gain it while you are here. You’ll replace it later, but it’s good to have early on the game. Additionally, there is a Crystal Lizard below Sparkly that dropsMoonshadestone Shards, which you will need.
Make sure to freeGraverobber Bligefrom his cell while you are here because he will sell you Moonshadestone Shards once you reach theRitual Path, making upgrading your Crescent Uchigatana a bit easier. You’ll need theCopper Keylocated in one of the towers in order to do this.
Once you’ve defeatedAdjudicatoryour main objective in this area is to keep progressing forward, farming the Crystal Lizards for Moonshadestone Shards,ChunksandPure Moonshadestone. This means defeating all 3Bosses, and then killing all the Lizards again each time a Boss dies. This is the easiest way to get this upgrade material. The Lizards drop better materials the further into The Shrine of Storms you go, so just keep going.
The Tower of Latria
Once you’ve gotten your Crescent Uchigatana to +5 it’s time to head to theTower of Latria. The first thing here you’ll pick up is theWooden Catalystif you don’t already have it, since it does more damage than theSilver Catalyst. This can be found in a cell very early in this level on a corpse.
Next you’ll want to pick up theRing of Magical Sharpnessto further increase your spell damage. It’s located in the room with 4 iron maidens so be sure to loot it and replace your Fragrant Ring with it. You’ll use this for a large portion of the game.
Be sure to defeat the Black Phantom just before theFool’s Idol Bossin order to gain theBlack Eye Stonewhich will allow you to invade other worlds. you’re able to get it from other Phantoms as well, but you might as well do it while you are here.
Make sure to freeFrekefrom his cell as well while you’re in thePrison of Hopeso that you’re able to get Homing Soul Arrow from him later, along with some other strong Spells, like Soul Ray. The key to his cell is located above the Fool’s Idol fog gate on the right-hand side. Once you’ve defeated Fool’s Idol you can talk to Freke in theNexusin order to acquire the Soul Ray spell, which will help youUpper Latria, so make sure to get it.
A really good item to get here is thePhosphorescent Pole, which increases your Mana regeneration while in your hands. It has the highest Mana regeneration in the game when fully upgraded at 1 Mana per second, which is outstanding. The downside is that it cannot Parry and that it needsColorless Demon’s Soulsin order to upgrade. Note that you must havePure Black World Tendencyin Latria in order to get this item.
Next you’ll need to make your way through Upper Latria until you’ve defeatedManeaterandOld Monk. This will allow you to obtain the Homing Soul Arrow spell from Freke in the Nexus, which essentially completes this Build. Make sure to invade in the Tower of Latria so that you can be summoned as the Old Monk a time or three and acquire theMonk’s Head Wrappingswhich will further boost your spell damage.
Final Tips
Homing Soul Arrow can absolutely destroy Bosses if you like to co op because it has insane burst damage if you can connect with all 5 projectiles. If you wish to co op, I highly suggest getting theKriss Bladeand upgrading it because it will further boost your spell damage when doing this.
The key to this Build is knowing when to use Homing Soul Arrow. The spell can be difficult to use when you’re first learning it, because your first instinct is to cast it way early, since it stays with you for 2 minutes. However, what you’ll find happens a lot of times when you do this is that the spell fires its projectiles prematurely, often missing the target because you are not close enough. You need to cast HSA when you are very close to your target, and this goes for PvP as well.
In PvP, you want to tempt your opponent into trying to interrupt you while you cast HSA, by being close enough to them. What they don’t realize is that if they don’t get to you fast enough, even if they hit you they will likely die unless they kill you in one swing, which is unlikely. Get your spacing down so that they think they can kill you, when in reality they fall into your perfectly executed trap.
Use Homing Soul Arrow when you need to go around corners and you suspect an ambush. There are many places in the game that allow hosts to wait for you and then Firestorm you to death, or what have you, and if you queue up HSA before rushing in, some times it will save your butt. Not always, but it gives you a fighting chance at least. Just remember that the projectiles will disappear if you bump them into walls and what not, so try not to do that.
Lastly, theFoe’s Ringis perfect for this Build since it boosts not only attack damage, but also spell damage while invading. It can be a pain in the butt to get, but if you plan to really min/max this Build then you will acquire it at some point and swap out the Ring of Magical Sharpness for this instead. This is of course if you plan to PvP.
Stay tuned for moreDemon’s Souls Build Guides, as we explore just what kind of Builds you can make. And be sure to check out theDemon’s Souls Wikiif you have specific questions about the game! As always, you can read ourDemon’s Souls ReviewandGetting Started Guideto get going with the game.
