Unleashing Moonveil’s True Potential: A Comprehensive Damage Guide
The Moonveil katana in Elden Ring is a fan-favorite for good reason. Its elegant design, powerful unique skill (Transient Moonlight), and ability to deal both physical and magical damage make it a formidable weapon. But mastering the Moonveil isn’t just about wielding it; it’s about understanding how to maximize its damage output. So, how do you increase Moonveil damage? The answer lies in a combination of stat investment, talisman selection, and understanding the weapon’s inherent mechanics.
The most direct way to boost Moonveil’s damage is by investing heavily in Intelligence. Moonveil scales primarily with Intelligence, and secondarily with Dexterity. Therefore, making sure that these two stats are at their highest is key. Following this you want to equip the appropriate talismans which will further enhance the Moonveil’s capabilities and deal even more damage.
Optimizing Your Stats for Moonveil
Intelligence and Dexterity: The Core Stats
Moonveil’s damage primarily scales with Intelligence (INT). This means that each point you invest into Intelligence will directly increase the weapon’s magic damage, which is a significant portion of its overall output. As you are leveling, focus on pushing your Intelligence to 60, followed by 50 in dexterity.
Dexterity (DEX) is Moonveil’s secondary scaling stat, it is still important to level up. It is not as important as Intelligence but it still boosts the weapon’s damage. As a general rule, get your Vigor to 40 before pushing the other stats beyond recommended levels, to maintain some survivability. Once you reach 40 Vigor, start leveling up your Dexterity. Aim to hit 50 Dexterity after you hit the desired Intelligence value.
The Role of Arcane
While it might seem tempting to invest in Arcane, its impact on Moonveil’s damage is less direct. Arcane primarily affects status buildup, such as bleed. Although Moonveil has an innate bleed buildup of 50 per hit, Arcane won’t significantly increase its overall damage output. Investing in Arcane can, however, increase the frequency with which the bleed effect triggers on your enemies. So if this is an important part of your gameplay, then a small sprinkle of arcane is useful.
Strength
Moonveil also has some scaling with strength, however it is minimal, so it is best to not focus on it for damage output.
Talismans: Amplifying Moonveil’s Power
Talismans are crucial for fine-tuning your build and maximizing Moonveil’s potential. The right selection of talismans can add significant damage boosts and improve survivability. Here are the talismans that will work the best with the Moonveil:
- Winged Sword Insignia: This talisman increases attack power with successive attacks. Since Moonveil’s Transient Moonlight skill allows for rapid attacks, this talisman works perfectly to add consistent damage output. This will boost both standard and special attacks and is a great all-rounder talisman.
- Warrior Shard: Another great all-rounder, This talisman simply increases the damage output of skills and it works well with the Moonveil’s main source of damage.
- Carian Filigree Crest: The Moonveil’s Transient Moonlight skill costs FP. This talisman reduces the FP consumption of skills, allowing you to use it more often and for longer.
- Lord of Blood’s Exultation: This talisman increases attack power when blood loss is inflicted nearby. Since Moonveil deals bleed damage, this talisman can be a great addition to boost damage.
- Magic Scorpion Charm: While it comes with the downside of increased damage taken, the magic damage increase makes it very useful for pushing the Moonveil’s damage.
Understanding Moonveil’s Damage Mechanics
Moonveil’s damage is an even split between physical and magic damage. This unique split means that you can benefit from buffs that increase either damage type. However, due to the nature of resistances and defense, you may find some enemies are more resistant to the type of damage they defend more against.
Transient Moonlight
The main strength of Moonveil comes from its unique skill Transient Moonlight. When you use the skill, the blade is sheathed and ready to attack. You can follow up with a standard light attack or a heavy attack. The light attack variant will do an extra 15 poise damage, for a total of 27.5 poise damage, and the heavy attack variant will do an extra 17.5 poise damage, for a total of 30 poise damage. This is important for dealing extra damage and staggering opponents. Both attacks fire a wave of light that deal damage, and it’s important to use this to keep at an optimal range from the target.
Poise Damage
Moonveil’s unique skill does more than just deal damage; it also deals poise damage. The light attack version of the skill deals a total of 27.5 poise damage, while the heavy attack deals 30 poise damage. This is useful to break the stance of enemies, and opening them up for critical hits. This is a useful mechanic to keep in mind while fighting enemies.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Does Intelligence increase Moonveil damage?
Yes, Intelligence is the primary stat that boosts Moonveil’s damage. The higher your Intelligence, the more damage your Moonveil will inflict with its magic damage.
2. Does Dexterity increase Moonveil damage?
Yes, Dexterity is the secondary scaling stat for Moonveil, providing a supplementary damage boost, although less significant than Intelligence.
3. Does Arcane increase Moonveil damage?
Arcane primarily boosts status buildup, like bleed. While Moonveil has innate bleed buildup, Arcane doesn’t directly increase its overall damage output significantly. However, it will lead to more frequent bleed triggers on enemies.
4. Is Moonveil better than Rivers of Blood?
This is debatable and depends on your playstyle. Rivers of Blood excels at pure bleed damage, while Moonveil offers a more unique combination of magic and physical damage, with a unique weapon skill that makes it good for ranged and melee combat. Both are great weapons and you should choose the one that fits your playstyle the most.
5. Can you dual-wield Moonveil with Rivers of Blood?
Yes, dual-wielding Moonveil and Rivers of Blood is a viable and strong build because they complement each other well, combining bleed and elemental magic damage, and they are both very powerful weapons.
6. Is Moonveil good for PvE?
Moonveil is excellent for PvE due to its strong damage output and ranged capabilities with Transient Moonlight making it a very useful and adaptable weapon.
7. Is Moonveil good for PvP?
Moonveil is not as effective in PvP as it is in PvE, often being outpaced by more specialized builds. However, it still holds its own if you are good at the game.
8. Can you add Ashes of War to Moonveil?
No, unique weapons like Moonveil cannot be altered with Ashes of War.
9. What is the best katana for bleed in Elden Ring?
The Rivers of Blood katana is widely considered the best katana for bleed due to its high bleed buildup and powerful skill.
10. Does Scholar’s Armament work with Moonveil?
No, Scholar’s Armament does not work on weapons that already scale with Intelligence, like Moonveil. It is instead better to use a different weapon with scholar’s armament, or equip a different buff to the Moonveil.
11. Does Moonveil do more damage than Uchigatana?
Moonveil typically does more magic damage than the Uchigatana, whereas the Uchigatana has an even spread between physical and magical. Therefore Moonveil will hit some enemies harder than the uchigatana. The Uchigatana does benefit from an ash of war, which allows it to be optimized for particular builds.
12. What does it take to upgrade Moonveil?
Moonveil requires Somber Smithing Stones for upgrades, as it is a unique weapon.
13. What are the best talismans for Moonveil?
The best talismans for Moonveil are the Winged Sword Insignia, Warrior Shard, Carian Filigree Crest, Lord of Blood’s Exultation, and the Magic Scorpion Charm.
14. What is the highest physical damage weapon in Elden Ring?
The Giant-Crusher has the highest potential physical damage output, although it’s a much slower and less versatile weapon than the Moonveil.
15. Is Moonveil worth it?
Absolutely! Moonveil is a versatile and powerful weapon that is worth using, It combines great damage with a unique skill. It is considered one of the best intelligence and dexterity weapons in Elden Ring.
By understanding the optimal stat allocation, the best talismans to use, and the mechanics behind its damage, you can maximize Moonveil’s power and dominate in Elden Ring. The Moonveil is not just a weapon; it’s a tool for mastery, and by learning all its intricacies you will fully unleash its potential.