I quite like wiki diving and theorizing builds before i put them into practice.
I think that's something i learned to love after completing Elden Ring the first time, or perhaps when i went off to try and replay Dark Souls 3 on my own beforehand.
On these voyages into the interwebs, i noticed an interesting pattern:
Whenever a frostbite-inflicting weapon isn't magic themed, it scales with dexterity!
The Icerind Hatchet, Frozen Needle and Zamor Curved Sword all share this property, though the Cold infusion doesn't seem to continue the trend, though i think at one point i believed it did.
But, with that connection established in my mind, i think it might be fun to try a pure-dexterity frostbite build!
Having not started this yet, i'm not exactly sure where i would begin with it.
Perhaps i'd sneak around the side of Stormveil and head into Liurnia first thing?
The Royal Revenant boss that holds the Frozen Needle is fairly easy to cheese exploit the weakness to healing for massive damage, and the Icerind Hatchet is out in a chest for easy grabbing.
Both fairly light on stat requirements, as befits their early acquisition, though i wonder how they'd hold up against Cold infusion later down the line. Sure, there's the lack of intelligence scaling to contend with, but Cold infused weapons can achieve higher frostbite application as they are reinforced whereas the innate-cold weapons stay the same.
Honestly feels like a missed opportunity! But what can you do.
That said, i am also a big fan of the few cold-type ashes of war in the base game.
Chilling mist is great for application and as a temporary buff on a keen weapon for better dex scaling, Hoarfrost stomp is notably powerful, as many others have discovered, and honestly i think Ice Spear is just plain fun. Love a projectile.
As for which weapons i'd infuse? No clue! Another thrusting sword or axe or curved greatsword for powerstancing? A spear? Something new from the DLC, even?
The Zamor Curved Sword is also an interesting one, given how late into the game it is, though with the DLC just a couple of days away there will be much more opportunity to really get some good use out of lategame weapons and that's something i'm very much looking forward to.
But, of course, who's to say i absolutely need to restrict myself to pure dex-melee?
Certainly, if my last dex character is anything to go by, i'm liable to get bored and dip into casting later on anyway, so why not build it in?
Glintstone Icecrag only needs 15 intelligence to use, and if i hang onto a good low-int staff like the Demi-Human's or Meteorite staff, that should keep me going for quite some time. Going up to 32 for Adula's Moonblade (or even 36 for Zamor Ice Storm) certainly isn't out of the question, and i'm fairly sure spell scaling doesn't increase the frostbite buildup of any of these spells.
There is also the question of resetting frostbite, whether i want to take advantage of that or go purely for frost in itself. Aside from just taking a fire-infused weapon as a sidearm, i think the most reliable source of fire for a dex build in the base game is probably the Spark Aromatic, though i've found i tend to forget i have them a lot of the time, and even 20 at the end is a bit of an annoying limit when you have to farm and craft them.
DLC Spoiler talk: new weapons and one remembrance ash of war
There are, however, a couple of dlc items that would work PERFECTLY for this build! Whether or not i do decide to use fire to reset the frost proc, i'm thinking it would be great fun to take a perfume bottle as an offhand weapon. I don't know yet how scaling and such will work for those, but one tidbit i do know is that they *are* infusable and that different damage types will be their own individual weapons, not e.g. having a base perfume weapon that's infusable into pure damage of any kind. Could open up some interesting mix and match options!If this follows from the base game's perfumes, then the Fire perfume should be a great dex-based fire damage option, though i could also see them switching it over to strength scaling to match the existing pattern. Also very curious to see what (if any) unique ashes of war they get.
Speaking of unique ashes of war, the Lion Dancer boss apparently gives an upgraded version of Hoarfrost Stomp as one of its remembrance items!! Another great looking option for this build. I hope there will be some more interesting frost-based weapons, but then i hope a lot of things and surely they can't all come true. Only two days til i find out though!!!
Fashion:
Full Zamor armour set
Wielding the Zamor Curved Sword and Frozen Needle
Tentative lategame fashion, this shot was taken on an existing character so i'd have something to show for this build concept.