In thisDemon’s Souls Remake Build Guide, I’m going to be covering myGloom Knight Build, which uses a Shield and Spear to pick off enemies. This Build is particularly good for beginners or newDemon’s Soulsplayers, as it allows them to kill targets safely while holding Block.
Demon’s Souls Builds: Gloom Knight (PvE)
The Gloom Knight uses a combination ofSpearandShieldto attack enemies while they maintain their Block. Spears are some of the onlyWeaponsinDemon’s Soulsthat can Block while attacking, making them extremely new player friendly. This allows them to deal damage with much less risk than the average melee character, while dealingPierce Damagewhich is one of the better damage types in Demon’s Souls.
Additionally, the Gloom Knight uses heavy armor with good resistances so that it can take a beating and keep on swinging should the enemy somehow get through its Block. Good Shields are important for this Build to prevent that from happening, but we’ll discuss that more in the following sections.
Gloom Knight Starting Class
For theGloom Knight Buildyou’ll want to select the either theKnight ClassorTemple Knight Class. The Knight gives you a slightly better Shield and an easierWeaponto use in theLong Sword, while the Temple Knight has better Stat distribution. If you want an easier start then select Knight. If you want to min/max then choose Temple Knight.
Gloom Knight Early Game Tips
The first thing you need to learn when playing this Build is thatShieldsare not all created equal, and selecting a good Shield can make all the difference between success and failure.
Shields & How They Work
For starters, you may see the resistance that a Shield has by going to it in your inventory, pressing the “Square” button, and looking on the right-hand side. Here you’ll see the Physical Resistance, Magic Resistance, and Fire Resistance of each Shield, as well as it’s Guard Break. You absolutely must use a Shield that has 100 Physical Resistance or you will take chip damage when you Block most regular attacks.
Secondly, Guard Break is a very importantStaton Shields as it determines how much Stamina is drained from your bar when you Block an attack. Not all attacks are the same, and some will drain more than others, but the higher this number the less Stamina will be consumed when you Block. This is important, because you don’t want to be Guard Broken, and you also need to preserve Stamina to attack as well. Note that as you upgrade your Shield Guard Break will improve, allowing for better Blocking with it.
And last, all Shields have an L2 function. Smaller and medium sized Shields use L2 for Parrying, while larger Shields use L2 for a shield slam attack that deals damage. You shouldn’t need to Parry or shield slam with this Build so it’s not particularly important, but it is worth noting because if you like Parrying sometimes, then you will need a Shield that can.
Stamina Management
Stamina Management is a huge part of how this Build works, and is a major part of just about every Demon’s Souls Build. However, it is especially true here because you are going to be Blocking and Attacking at the same time. This drains Stamina quickly, so you must pay attention or you will be Guard Broken and take damage.
One of the major ways this Build deals with this issue is by taking theEndurancestat all the way to 40 very quickly, which gives you the maximum Stamina you can have. Other ways include lowering your guard when you’ve created spacing so that your Stamina replenishes more quickly, or by upgrading your Shield so that you drain less Stamina when you Block.
Gloom Knight Stats
Gloom Knights really only need 3 Stats:Endurance,StrengthandVitality. Endurance is needed to increase your Stamina so that you can Block and Attack more, and it also increases your maximum Equip Weight so that you can wear heavier Armor and still roll effectively.
Strength is needed in order to carry a Shield that has high Guard Break, but you don’t need that much to use a good one. Still you will need to invest a few points here early in order to make things easier on you. Additionally, it will boost your damage by a small amount.
Vitality is needed to increase your HP so that you can take hits and not die, but you won’t need a whole bunch of it because you shouldn’t be getting hit that often, and you will have good resistances from your Armor.
You’re aiming for aStatspread that looks something like this eventually:
You are not going to be a DPS powerhouse with this setup, but you can still deal respectable damage, and you’ll be extremely hard to kill. Past this point you’ll likely be headed into NG+, where you’ll likely increase Strength, Dexterity or both to further boost damage.
Gloom Knight Equipment
In this section we’ll take a look at what equipment you’ll need in order to play theGloom Knight Buildeffectively. 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 Gloom Knight Equipment
At the beginning of the game you’ll want to pick up and equip theCling Ringas soon as you may 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.
Be sure to pick up theRing of Great Strengthbeneath theBlue Dragonin theBoletarian Palaceso that you can use heavier Armor more easily. Equip it immediately after getting it and adjust your Armor and equipment around so that you are under 50%. From this point onward try not to go over 50%.
Take off yourHelmetif you need to, as it has the lowestArmor, and shift your Armor around again when you pick up some lighter pieces so that you have something equipped in each slot. It’s better to have 2 pieces of light Armor than 1 piece of heavy.
The next thing you’ll be on the look out for is theWinged Spear, which can be found on the bridge where the dragon bombs just after thePhalanx Bossfight. You’re going to be using this Weapon the entire game, so ensure to grab it and upgrade it ASAP.
Stonefang Tunnel
You can purchaseSharpstoneandHardstone Shardsfrom theFilthy Manright next to theStonefang Tunnel Archstonefor 500 Souls each. If you need Souls, farm the Skeletons in Shrine of Storms for 10 minutes and you should have enough.
You will want to be on the look out for theSteel ShieldinStonefang Tunneland swap to it when you get it. It has better Guard Break than the Heater or Kite Shield, and helps with Stamina management. It does weigh more though, so you may want to stay with your first Shield until you’re able to get enough points into Endurance to be able to use it and still stay under 50% Equip Burden.
After you defeat theArmor Spider, you may also purchase Large Sharpstone and Hardstone Shards from him as well, for 1500 each if you locate him near Patches after theArmor Spider Archstone. This means you’ll want to defeat this boss as quickly as you can, and upgrade your Winged Spear and Steel Shield to +6 by farming Souls.
The miners past the Armor Spider can also drop these items, as well as chunks, and there are many Crystal Lizards in the area that can as well. Spend some time farming here to get an early start on your equipment. If you’re lucky you can get up to +8 fairly quickly, which will really help your damage and Blocking.
Mid to Late Game
While in theShrine of Stormsor Swamp of Sorrow you can pick up theRegenerator’s Ring, though you likely won’t have high enough Equip Burden to use it when you first acquire it. Once you have enough Endurance that you can equip 3 heavy armor pieces, and 1 light armor piece without using the Ring of Giant Strength then swap them out. This will heal you over time, saving you healing items and just generally making your life easier.
The next thing you’ll need is theGloom Armor Set, which can be obtained in the second part of the Tower of Latria by freeing Yurt the Silent Chief from his cage and then defeating him. You should be able to wear the helm, chest and legs with a pair of light gloves (I like to use Black Gloves since they look similar), and still stay under 50% Equip Burden. This Set has amazing resistances, especially against status ailments.
The last thing you will need for this Build is theDark Silver Shieldwhich can be obtained from defeatingGarl Vinland. It has much less Guard Break than the Steel Shield, but it has 100% Physical Resistance, 100% Magic Resistance, and 70% Fire Resistance making it one of the best if not the best all around Shield in the game. you’re able to also Parry with it, and it is a bit lighter than the Steel Shield (and looks cooler!).
Final Tips
If you managed to get the Digital Deluxe version of the game then you can swap out the Steel Shield for theHoplite Shieldas it has all around better stats for only one more Strength requirement. It’s a bit heavier at 8.0, and cannot be upgraded, but has 90% Fire Resistance which can help with Stonefang Tunnel and beyond.
Another good item that you could use for this Build instead ofRegenerator’s Ring, or alongside it if you are in Body Form, is theEternal Warrior’s Ring. ThisRingincreases your Stamina recovery by 8 per second, and reduces the time it takes to completely recharge the stamina bar by 1 second irrespective of armor/equipment. This can help a tremendous amount with your Stamina management, but you will have to killOld King Doranto get it, and you may not want to.
One of the reasons that I chose the Sharp upgrade path for the Winged Spear was because it frees you up to spend points on Durability and Vitality and still deal decent damage. But that is not the only reason. This upgrade path also allows you to coat your Spear withPine Resin,Black Pine ResinorSticky White Slime, further boosting your damage. Some Bosses are particularly weak toFire Damagefor example, so buffing with Pine Resin or Black Pine Resin before the fight and during makes your life a lot easier.
Although this Build focuses a ton on Blocking and Attacking, also learn when to Dodge. It’s not always wise to Block every attack just because you can, and sometimes rolling or sidestepping attacks can put you in better position to deal damage. Learn when to Dodge and when to Block.
Lastly, you can turn this into a PvP Build by upgrading theWinged Spearto theScraping Spearat +7. ThisSpearreduces theDurabilityof equipment of those you strike with it, which can be extremely deadly to other players. The downside is that it will deal less damage unless you invest heavily intoDexterity, which may take awhile since you will need to go all out onEnduranceearly on.
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!
