As a professional gamer, I‘ve tested countless builds across The Lands Between. And in my experience, few match the raw versatility and hybrid damage potential of the Confessor. With the right setup, you can adapt to any situation in PvE or PvP with deadly faith-based spells and martial prowess.
In this extensive guide, I‘ll share the exact Confessor configuration I relied on to defeat even the toughest endgame bosses. You too can master this righteous battle mage!
Key Confessor Class Features
Let‘s quickly recap what makes the Confessor so unique right from the character select screen:
- Begins at level 10 with a balanced stat spread
- Highest starting Faith for powerful incantations
- High Mind to boost FP (mana) for more spell casts
- Granted Heater Shield offering 100% physical damage negation
- Finger Seal catalyst improves potency of dragon/beast seals
With innate magical aptitude and solid melee capabilities, the Confessor provides the perfect foundation…with some tweaks.
Distribution of Points
Your stat choices will dictate the ultimate capabilities of any build. Through extensive testing across hundreds of hours in game, here are the allocations I‘ve found optimal:
Vigor: Priority leveling until 40, then continue beyond 60 later on. This greatly expands health and survivability. Yes, you‘ll sacrafice some damage initially, but it prevents being one-shot by enemies.
Mind: Get to at least 20 early. Having enough mana for successive spell casts is crucial. I‘d ultimately aim for 30-35 Mind.
Endurance: Around 15-25 is plenty. Medium armor provides enough protection without overburdening equip load.
Strength/Dexterity: Level both to minimum weapon requirements, then push Dexterity to 60+ as primary damage stat. This improves spell speed too.
Intelligence: Ignore completely. We gain nothing from sorceries.
Faith: Extremely important offensive stat. Build this to 60-80 over time. Powers all incantations.
Arcane: Boost to 30-50 range. Specifically boosts dragon cult spells.
Here‘s a sample late-game build I‘ve used to great effect:
| Level | Vigor | Mind | Endurance | Strength | Dexterity | Intelligence | Faith | Arcane |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150 | 60 | 32 | 25 | 16 | 80 | 9 | 75 | 47 |
Adjust based on personal preference, but this distribution carried me through Journey 2 easily.
Next let‘s cover ideal armaments to complement our holy powers…
Best Confessor Weapons
I find using one primary dexterity-scaling melee weapon alongside a secondary set with sacred/flame/occult affinity maximizes damage.
Keen Nagakiba
My personal favorite is the Nagakiba katana with Keen affinity. At +25 upgrade, it has an awe-inspiring S scaling in Dexterity for immense attack potential.
Infusing with Keen removes all stat scaling except Dexterity. Combined with the Nagakiba‘s already great base damage and range, it simply shreds foes with fast flowing attacks.
To grab this lethal blade, explore Altus Plateau until reaching the Sainted Hero‘s Grave dungeon. Defeating the Cemetery Shade mini-boss earns you the katana.
Sacred Bandit Curved Swords
Wielding paired curved swords with sacred affinity allows devastating successive hits against most enemies. The innate holy damage supplements regular strikes.
I tested many options, but the Bandit Curved Sword‘s speed, damage and guard penetration stood out. At +25 sacred, they have B/B faith/dexterity scaling – not bad!
These quick fillers add nice burst potential between casting spells or launching charged Nagakiba techniques.senguard penetration stood out. At +25 sacred, they have B/B faith/dexterity scaling – not bad!
You can craft 2 Bandit Curved Swords with 8 bandit curved sword pieces bought from the Twin Maiden Husks. Upgrading requires somber smithing stones.
Best Confessor Incantations
Dragon Cult and Bestial incantations offer the most utility and damage potential. They intricately combine statuses, ranged attacks and even melee strikes.
Here were my most used dragon spells:
- Rotten Breath – Spews scarlet rot from afar. Persistent damage hampers bosses.
- Borealis Mist – Creates freezing fog that causes frostbite buildup.
- Agheel‘s Flame – Hurls giant fireballs. Great for pulling individuals from groups.
- Dragonclaw – Forward slashing greyoll claw attack. Hits tremendously hard at close range.
And bestial incants:
- Stone of Gurranq – Hurls stone shard barrage for high poise damage. Staggers enemies.
- Pest Threads – Shoots skull swarm that tracks targets. Eats bosses alive!
- Honor‘s Echo – Slams weapon to generate successive damage waves. Keeps pressure up.
Weave these with melee combat for complete domination! Now let‘s improve damage even further with equipment…
Optimizing With Talismans & Armor
Elden Ring offers certain talismans and armor sets that can take your build‘s prowess to the next level:
Best Confessor Talismans
- Radagon Icon – Reduces spell casting time. Must-have to speed up dragon/beast skills.
- Godfrey Icon – Boosts skill damage by 15%. Improves incant scaling substantially.
- Dragoncrest Greatshield – Provides 20% physical damage reduction. Helpful vs. bosses.
- Hosts Pilgrim – Gain 4% health restoration on enemy kills. Sustains longevity in packs.
Radagon and Godfrey icons directly enhance mystical arts, while the others bolster survival.
For armor, I chose the Tree Sentinel set for excellent holy negation alongside solid physical and immunity to rot effects. This set is dropped from the Draconic Tree Sentinel in Leyndell.
If possible, acquire the Erdtree‘s Favor +2 to expand total HP/stamina/equip load simultaneously. Activate the Great-Jar Arsenal talisman when needed too.
Fighting Strategies & Tactics
Here are some key combat sequences I lean on to quickly defeat enemies of all types:
- Initiate from range with Rotten Breath to apply scarlet rot then evade melee attacks while it festers damage
- Switch to dual curved swords and unleash jumping L1 attacks. These hit rapidly to stagger foes for a critical hit riposte with the Nagakiba
- Cast Pest Threads and lure enemies into the homing swarm for huge damage
- Face-tank smaller mobs with Hoarah Loux‘s Earthshaker weapon skill then heal with Bestial Vitality
- Pull magic-wielders towards you with the Storm Blade skill then blast them point-blank with Dragonclaw
- Freeze entire mobs in place with Borealis Mist then clean house with uninterruptible Dragon Maw to restore HP
Memorize these key ability combinations tailored specifically to crumpling foes both big and small. Soon you‘ll erase all standing in your path!
Final Words
And with that, you have all the knowledge necessary to craft a formidable Confessor build. Between sacred steel, punishing dragon sorceries and survivability talismans, few challengers in the Lands Between can stand toe-to-toe against this battle-hardened holy warrior.
I welcome any feedback, questions or suggestions in the comments from fellow Tarnished! May the light of grace guide your way to victory.
