Clamp581: I wonder if Fex is gonna play recluse for the recluse video

Dxwill10: get hoarfrost stomp and spam it on literally every enemy.

that's the video lol.

akitaanimeholic7713: Wow, i was finish watching the other characters build when i realize i need the Duchess build but there is none, but then the notification of this video comes in.. what a perfect timing

zambsDGOW: to elaborate on spell usage since it was loosely/poorly done in the beginning:

Duchess does well with two specific kinds of spells. Firstly would be dirt cheap, high efficiency spam spells like pebble or carian slicer which she can fit in more than any other class because of her passive. Duchess can be more agressive with these spells and find more openings. The other more important kind of spells duchess is good with are extremely high damaging burst damage spells like comet. These spells are expensive but when used on POI bosses it doesn't matter since you instantly restore FP on the grace after killing them. The only thing that matters is clear speed, which Duchess is unmatched in because of restage. A full charged comet (or any other strong, chargeable burst spell) restage will nuke a boss' hp bar. Incantations that fit either category are also fine on Duchess, since she has a B scaling in faith. Examples would be discus of light for spam or charged frenzied burst for burst damage.

I would NOT recommend sustained DPS spells besides pebble and carian slicer. Magma shot is already inconsistent but the damage it puts out isn't fast enough to work with restage nor is it cheap enough to justify on Duchess' smaller FP pool. Azur is just awful on her. Ancient death rancor is okay, but outclassed in damage efficiency by other spells and outclassed in stance break by burst damage skills which Duchess also shines with.

samyer5559: I hope we will get a duchess video soon, after this lovely hoarfrost stomp video

bekfistwolf8248: Imo duchess's biggest strengths are A:her one handed dagger moveset, it enables her to abuse on hit and multi hit effects, and enables her to dodge as last second as possible and get more damage in. And B:her ability to swap to spells the moment she loses agro(because she will lose agro and the boss will run across the map to your ironeye playing in a different area code). That's why I never touch dual wield, because that degrades her to just the restage button

vesuviusartorias7784: Unfortunately none of these builds works on Heolstor; he is unaffected by bleed, chill, and poison, and resistant to raw physical damage so these builds would all be very weak against him.

You need to make a holy build video for all players because even though duchess really shines with a chill/bleed build, it just doesn't work on Heolstor AT ALL.

The relic that reprises events is also really sub-par because if you've played duchess for any amount of time you know that landing a full combo against Heolstor doesn't really happen, you'd get smacked or have to dodge out of it before you finish the chain attack to trigger the relic effect.

The best build I've had against Heolstor was starting with a holy weapon relic with a sacred blade as well, and partial damage restoration upon post damage attacks.

As long as you fully upgrade the dagger you start with you will dominate heolstor with those effects. Now, if you get lucky enough to find the black knife use its special ability and then spam your holy dagger and that will be your best bet to bringing him to his knees. Dont dual wield attack with black knife though because the damage it does is so much less than just using your holy dagger for attack. Really sad to see these videos for duchess because it DOES NOT prepare you for heolstor.

I also see people recommending the fp restoration on successive attacks which is really awful. It gives pitiful amounts of fp to the point where if you did exhaust your fp against a boss you would have to attack SO MANY TIMES just to get ONE more use out of that fp consuming skill which is just not worth wasting a whole relic on when you can get stardust before you fight the final boss which should last you the whole fight if youre not casting spells, but rather weapon skills if you have them.

You should definitely not be trying to be a spellcaster as duchess since recluse just does it better since she can replenish fp naturally.

The only fp consuming skills you should really be using at all are the black knife ability if you have it, or weapon coating abilities that will increase your damage, like sacred blade, and only recoat your weapon not to use as an attack.

Also this is not an angry rant post, I love you guys' videos

CaptainAssholay: You've had a lot of really good guides but this is a bit weak due to it basically just being "hoarfrost stomp > repeat"

dgkingmusic: Joined the Fextra group last night and my runs have never been smoother. Thank you for this incredible community!

somebodyoutthere: Appreciate the guide, I might be trying this. But if you ever feel like revisiting Duchess, I wish you could do something that is even more like her. I mean Hoarfrost Stomp looks pretty dang effective, but it makes it look like you don't really play her as Duchess, not less than other characters.

I'm really interested in this character because I like doing melee attacks and I like being quick. But it does get hard sometimes since many bosses in Nightreign just like to fly or jump around endlessly. Still would love to see a guide for the melee advantage of Duchess.

Joker-pf7ih: The verbal walkthrough of an entire run is SO helpful, thanks as usual

Malkyr: So I feel like one of the best strengths of Duchess is how easy it is for her to switch between melee and ranged, so I aim to have good status applying weapons to dual wield and a variety of good staves (or even a seal). As such I prioritize Relics that regen FP on melee attacks or enemy death, or sometimes even one that starts the game with Starlight Shards if the other effects are good. I will often dart in to apply poison or whatever, get back to use some spells, and then dart back in regen mana if Im running low or see a chance to backstab. I find it a fun and rewarding way to play, but I have also done runs with her as 100% melee or 90% caster depending on what I find.

The other biggest strength of Duchess in my opinion is her amazing Dodge. She can basically skate around the field and not get hit by almost anything if you get used to using it.

My last tip for Duchess if you play her as a more magic heavy build is always buy Starlight Shards at the merchant, try to get to a Mage tower to pick more up if you can, and dont forget on Day 3 you can buy more from the final Merchant. Melees if you have spare runes you cant use at the end buy Starlight Shards and drop them on the ground for your Recluse, Duchess, or Revenant teammates to pick up!

tristanneal9552: I love playing her so much I now have a Pavlovian response to the sound of pocket watches

Wucc2caz: as a Recluse enjoyer, I am happy to see that infinite fp buff be useful to others. I had always considered that one of the weaker combos, not here.

Jagaaaaaaan: Ball Bearing Hunter seems to be way too overpowered, dude be steamrolling teams like it's nothing

ivanbermudez5414: Yes!! The One I´ve been waiting :)

bigshun4301: i think duchess magic usage is a bait, she has scaling in Intelligence and faith to boost her affinity damage and magic/holy weapon arts, i feel like she is designed for fast weapon with elemental affinity and abuse of weapons Arts with a little side of dipping in good buffs from faith and int spells

she can totally dip into seal and staff offensive magic but it makes no sense to look for damage there if you want to play spells you might aswell go recluse or revenant.

What makes me say that is that she starts without a staff and never get offered one in her loot pool

RodrigoBarbosa-vd4yf: One of the first, my dear friends!

MrTaikobo: Yes! Thank you Fextra! I've been looking forward to this because man, it's rough playing Duchess and trying not to die!

timothydorrough6975: Always love the amount of effort you put into these videos, they help a lot with new fromsoft launches

matscarlsson2522: I am playng solo, now I am getting invaded by fell omen now and then. I never hared a game design as much as this.

N13J: Ice Warlock Duchess is very fun. Relics Set

-Add freeze to starter

-Caligo boss relic > you turn invis when freeze proc

-Dagger chain proc respise

Go ham on an enemy, ice proc, respise proc, go invis, disengage and change to casting spells.

Roxxigaro: I have the wraith calling bell as a starter item and it works very well with duchess for Day1.

MaverickJay1977: Great video. Have been wanting to give Dutchess a try and this gives me some good advice on how to take her. Bet you are sick of saying “Hoarfrost Stomp” by now though!

Gumbii2: prob already mentioned but you can also just pickup blue smithing stones after you kill the troll in the mine - chests next to the boss

Marsdend1: Successive attack passives are so good, if you can get the regain health on attack plus the successive attack negation you become so hard to kill

tristanneal9552: I think my critique of the Dutchess gameplay would be that, especially on Day 2, her skill could've been used more synergistically. For example against the Crucible Knights, doing it to proc Frost works well, but Fex was putting out pretty crazy damage with Stars of Ruin by that point, so it might have been better to just hold off a second and double her damage output.

Jun 14 2025

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