Black Flame Blade | Elden Ring Wiki

Maybe this should have been an ash of war with a similar dynamic as flaming strike. And by similar I mean the first flame should be kinda slower than the original aow, and with similar appearance to that attack of the blackflame monks catchflame.

This is crucial since making it slow to cast at first would balance the aow so that it’s not broken. That can also be achieved with a strong fp cost for the initial blast.

The follow up would grant you the black flame blade in your armament for a similar amount of time, if not the same as the incantation does.

As for the incantation it could either be deleted or buffed with its raw damage and duration so that it’s still useful.

But well we all know that won’t happen. It’s not bad to dream though

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Parry dagger and this

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Pairing this with a Rogier’s rapier and Redmane Greatshield can make for a very fashionable Godskin estoc turtle.

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Put it on an un-upgraded dagger and it can kill any boss in 50 hits no matter what NG+ cycle you are on even with minimum faith requirement of 17.

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I like to use this with wild strikes ash of war, it shreds high hp enemies and bosses

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Do not let the 7 seconds fool you. With a fast weapon that 2% stacks and does sizable damage. On my second real playthrough I used heavy armour with power stanced cleanrot rapiers and this incant and it melted through bosses. Blackflame blade with a fast weapon is the peak of "low damage but high DPS" because even if you can only get a couple hits then its 4% + whatever your damage was (so lets say 5% for some quick math). That means hitting them with something fast like a rapier or fist or dagger 20 times and the fight is over. If you can parry or have friends that stance break then you can easily do 20% of their health (because thats only 10 hits).

Anyone that doesn't think this is good doesn't understand the power of doing flat percentage damage.

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i will still use this even if it cost 25 fp, as long as they give it drawstring grease animation, and i wish this happend to frozen armament too

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seems like the best use case is a dex weapon with a very fast R1 that you can use reliably between dodges. I'd recommend the shamshir since you get really solid single hit damage on top of the blackflame DoT, and it's a belligerently fast curved sword with short attack animations.

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Using this incantation for cooperation purposes turns you automatically into the MVP, dealing (at the absolute minimum) equal or more damage as the other cooperators with an un-upgraded butter knife.

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Now that I think about it you can make a sister friede build cosplay with this thing and two reapers. One is cold infused with chilling mist or hoarfrost stomp and the other one can have black flame blade applied. Fia set makes up for a good friede mimic

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If you want to optimize this spell:

1- Make a Dex/Faith hybrid build for max cast speed (Radagon icon can help reach cap).
2- One-hand a weapon with fast attack speed and reach (spears and whips are excellent choices) and the best faith scaling seal you have (Godslayer's seal don't affect this spell, weapon spell buffs scale from faith exclusively).
3- Abuse the "cast without delay after performing another action", works for crouches, jumps and dodges too.

General tips: - With a Dex/Faith build you don't need to two-hand a weapon for more damage. - Focus your gameplay on finding time windows for rebuffing the weapon.
- A fast weapon will allow for more procs of HP% damage. - Old lord's talisman improves the buff significantly. - Multi-hit ashes of war are very good too.

Overall it's a very fun spell to use in PvE, can be very effective if you play around it's strengths, specially against bosses with a lot of HP.

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Love this. Use old lords talisman for 10 seconds. It’s a powerful weapon buff adding about 300 damage at 75 faith and an incantation scaling of 319. Plus the dot which hits higher vigor players or enemies a bit harder. If they increase the duration, it should be no more than a few seconds, 10-12 base before old lords. It’s too strong for something that stays active for 30 seconds or more. Also, while active it will act like the various statuses and the % dot will still hit through many dodges/bhs/quicksteps. Don’t dismiss this incantation. It’s fun to reapply mid dance and spinning weapon totally shreds with it.

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Wish this spell had the option to charge-cast it to increase its duration, wouldn't care if that meant it would only last 15 seconds instead of 7 it would still be a huge step up

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You get more damage out of just swinging once or twice, rather than spending any amount of time with this useless incant. It's got style but is tuned for maximum inefficiency, as far as all possible buff options go. Weirdly pre-nerfed before launch.

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great for later new game cycles and co-op due to the % based damage on those big hp bars.

my go to build for this is a keen antspur rapier with poison mist on it. start the fight with poison, then use black flame once poison is procced. 3 different types of health drain at once and very spammable :)

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Fp cost should have been 7 instead for 15 just like how long it lasts! 7 seconds!!!

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Best when coupled with skills like Quickstep or Bloodhound's Step to maximize pressure and stay within melee range, especially against highly mobile enemies or enemies with sudden AoE attacks and you need to get tf outta the way

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I wish this had a 0.8-0.85 scaling considering how little it lasts, the only thing this skill has going for it is the %HP drain, so you can just use any other blackflame spell since Lightning buff lasts longer and has more damage

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Pretty much a draw string spell. Cool, but there’s no other fire buff spells…

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Isn't it better to just cast "Black Flame" and attack without this buff after that?

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Expectation: all-powerful black flame weapon buff designed to smite the very gods themselves
Reality: sucks your FP through a silly straw while lasting about as long as a refried bean fart

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Should cost less or last longer tbh

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I tried this on fire giant and placidusax, it seems good, but theres a lot of better option.

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Just treat it like a finishing move in anime...You shout some friendship bullsh*t while buffing yourself, and then unleash your weapon art to the enemy.

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Babe 7 seconds is a long time I swear

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If you know how to play, this is pretty much superior to bloodflame blade.

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On roll/crouch or dash cast the application speed is drastically faster and having 70 casting dex allows you max cast speed while standing still making the buff substantial if not superior to the alt faith enchants if you’re going 1handed with your weapon to allow for frequent casts. With effective cast speed this is a very under used incant

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I do like this spell, my thing with it is that it can't be broght to ng+ bc of it's lack of scaling, I feel like it should at least upgrade the precentege damage with the godslayer seal, mabie from 2% to 3.5 or something like that, sorry for Bad english

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I like it. It's kind of a gimmick but I think it works. 7 seconds sounds ridiculous, but with the way the incantation is meant to be used, it does well enough. I often play a Faith build in these games, and I personally always felt like my weapon buff miracles were being wasted because you spend so much of the fight waiting for an opening that the seconds just tick down uselessly. This can be especially noticable in a game like Elden Ring where enemy combos can be pretty long and openings kinda short. If you think about it, how often do you REALLY have more than a seven second window to do your damage anyways? Besides which, the cast animation is suitably fast, the percentage-based damage of black flame ensures it remains useful in most instances, and last but not least, it looks cool. But hey, that's just my two runes.

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I’ve come to realize this spell failed not on its purpose but the way it was delivered during the average playthrough, and maybe it needed more damage to compensate for its duration, or more duration at the expense of something like higher fp cost but idk. What I do know is that this should’ve been easier to find, and then the player would instantly recognize at an early game stage how broken this thing can be against margit, godrick, rennala and even against radahn, which would encourage the player to stick to the opponent so that you obtain the best benefit out of it. I’m not saying that the place it had was bad and I agree that you had to waste a stonesword key and make a good exploration to get it, but stormveil castle is kinda big and most players are in a hurry to the boss fight. Also many might’ve overlooked blackflame blade since black flame had a similar faith requirement and just one more fp point cost, so it was outclassed too soon in most aspects. Of course you find better options afterwards but that’s how things are, and even then it doesn’t fall short against bosses that you can keep targeting with your weapon. In the end I believe this spell is a great early game option and shouldn’t be overlooked if you seek to melt things way too strong to handle normally

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This melts black blade kindred btw worth using

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I found this works pretty well with the Treespear as it's one of the few weapons that can scale with Faith while still being buffable (meaning you're not forced to use a non-infused weapon or non-element infused just to use the spell). The weapon's innate faith scaling alongside the spell's faith-scaling fire buff helps to maximize damage and the burning effect is a good plus. Not to mention this is a great spear so...yeah lol. Crouch pokes with an added burn effect.

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So, anyone know what aow still synergies with this incant? I think glintblade phalanx is no longer synergies with it.

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I remembered this used to be working with aow like glintblade phalanx and chilling mist, is it still though?

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Is it still work with sow, like glintblade phalanx or pebble? I remembered it used to work with chilling mist and ghost flame ignition.

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I really want to like this spell. But having to recast it every couple of attacks in a game where enemies don't give you even a second to breathe with 20 attack long combos - makes it a real pain to use

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Seven seconds. Seven seconds is all I can spare to play with you

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Love doing this with claws, do the sprinting cast toward the boss while staggered and switch to dual, I've melted margit all the way to second phase with this spell and the bleed on claws. Super OP

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Love doing this with claws, do the sprinting cast toward the boss while staggered and switch to dual, I've melted margit all the way to second phase with this spell and the bleed on claws. Super OP

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The Troll Hammer scales with strength and faith, has innate fire damage, and is buffable... just saying.

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It says the aow does the blackflame dot.. So this means this with the lightning ram could make it completely worth it, though the beeeh time of the ram make you loose nearly two seconds of it. But if you use fire deadly sin, black flame blade and then the lightning ram, i guess you could pretty much be like a rolling lawnmower for a few seconds

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Sister feet would be proud

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I'd love for this spell to last longer but I suppose I can understand the short duration considering the percentage-based DoT.

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Possibly one of the most worthless things I've ever seen in a game. Say you're equipping Claws, you end up having to un dual, cast Black flame, dual claws, attack (get one or two strikes in before it's gone), un dual, cast Black Flame, etc.

Dumbest thing ever.

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Flame flickerin once again

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Perhaps not the most chessey spell that you just braindead spam against bosses, but definitely a decent spell that also creates skill gap between good and bad players. You need to learn "some" of the movesets from the boss and rhythm of the fight. Not just spam spells like shard spiral or ancient lightning strike.

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I'm really surprised they didn't allow this spell to be utilized midway through attacking with smaller weapons like in previous games with quicker pine resins. Modest FP cost, but 7 seconds? Ew

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It's simple: the faster the attacking weapon, the more value you'll get out of this buff, it is no coincidence one of the Godskin weapons is a twinblade. Keep in mind though its viability falls off dramatically the slower the weapon, and can feel too expensive for those with low Mind and not strong enough to justify its cost for those with low Faith. A Twinblade w/ either Quickstep or Bloodhound's Step is a great setup to maximize pressure with this spell, and it can be applied very quickly the moment after you Step.

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Put this on a quick step clean rot sword and profit from phantom hits! Good for finished someone of in pvp .

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The fire fades...quickly

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When the ashes are two, a flame alighteth

Thou art ash, and fire befits thee, of course

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i'm gonna use this with my flail

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It really confuses me how some people object to this spell's FP cost, of all things. I get not liking the weird rhythms it forces you to use, but when used against bosses it is the single most FP efficient attack that costs FP at all. It could cost nothing and give you back 1 point of FP for every hit landed, and the people who have an objection would still object.

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Actually found this useful on my DEX/FTH backstab assassin. Break enemies stance with your favorite method, and cast while they are in their stance break animation. The buff damage gets multiplied by your crit (i.e. Misiericorde) and adds the %health burn as a nice little execute too

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7 seconds is just such an awkward number. Really should be 10. Not a huge difference but it would feel a bit more usable.

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The issue with this spell isn't just the duration. It's also the casting speed. A spell like this would work perfectly fine in a game like DS3 where the punishing windows are much longer. But in a game like Elden Ring where you are supposed to attack in-between combos, there isn't much value to this spell.

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For all the people complaining: the spell's theoretical efficiency in terms of how much percent damage it can do is 4.8 times better than any alternative except the godslayer's blade (which it only beats by a factor of 2 but can be used on weapons that don't suck), it allows you to get in weapon damage which can be much higher than the other spells' base damage, and a real-use efficiency of 3-4x better is entirely achievable if you know the rhythms. Having a skill floor is unusual for a spell but it's not the same thing as being poorly balanced.

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it should last longer so i can stare at my kickass +25 scythe burning with black flame for longer

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Duration should be doubled or fp cost reduced to 10, or at least made to where you can apply it seemlessly mid-combo like the bundles from DS. Damage and effect are great but when it’s very expensive to use per second and doesn’t even last as long a damn drawstring grease it’s no wonder you don’t see people slot this spell very often

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The only thing this spell needs is an fp cost reduction. It shouldn't cost more than 5 fp.

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Storm Stomp & Piercing Fang. Possibly, the only two Ash of War(s) that is feasible for applying Black Flame Blade on. If am wrong, what else can make use of it?

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Haters rioting for this buff to be just another 60 second buff with a different colour and damage type are so funny. "I don't WANT a unique buff that encourages careful timing and a hit-and-run playstyle! Make it exactly the same as all the other buffs!!!! >:("

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Would it work with a weapon with bloody slash

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People ignore it because of the duration, but remember that each hit the blackflame will deal 2% of the enemies hp over 2 seconds, not mentioning the weapons damage itself. Pairing this with a fast multi-attack weapon like the godskin peeler allows for bosses of any level to have their health bar melt away due to the % based damage.

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Does the effect stack with spinnjng weapon?

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This would be so much better as a standard weapon buff. It has decent Incant Scaling (0.65) and applies a surprisingly chunky damage over time effect, what kills it is that it only lasts a few seconds and needs to be constantly reapplied, and having a shorter casting time doesn't fix this. At 80 Faith with a +10 Erdtree Seal, Electrify Armament adds 264 Lightning damage to your weapon, whereas Blackflame Blade would add 229 Fire damage + 20 more Fire damage + 20 additional Fire damage per 1000 maximum health of the target, so against players that'd be ~40 extra damage at meta PvP levels assuming that have 60 Vigor and Crimson Amber Medallion +2, totaling 289 Fire damage per swing. Again, the only thing holding this buff back is the crappy duration and constant need to reapply it (which kind of makes it hard to two hand your weapon and have this buff applied simultaneously.)

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It also raise poise damage

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I just found a minor bug with the incantation. Apparently you can apply it to your weapon within the Roundtable Hold, and I have no idea why. Its icon isn’t darkened out like every other weapon, incantation or spell. Not game breaking, but unexpected to say the least

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I think the problem is it's honestly really well balanced, but everyone would prefer it last longer just since it's annoying to reapply anything so often

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Needs its FP cost reduced. Either that or increase its duration.

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Honestly, black flame blade is one of the best spells in pvp against players with high latency. Slap it in a weapon when someone is low and either try to roll catch them and proc the free 60-100 loss of hp per attack for each phantom hit or use a ranged ash of war since those phantom hits also proc the effect. Its pretty satisfying to watch someone die mid roll

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I think they could have made a charged version, where the animation is more alike to prison armament, it not longer. Then it could act more similar to an actual weapon buff

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Casts faster when used in mid air, running, or after a roll/backstep. I myself like to use a backstep to create space to simultaneously cast it faster.

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Lasts a whole 7 seconds. Why even put it in the ****ing game.

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i think they should bump it up to 10 sec so its on par with drawstring grease

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in other word... that’s just a very short and weak buff that look stylish as hell.... using any damaging greases outperform it... and they’re weak aswell

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I find it strange that this doesn’t have a higher damage buff considering the duration is so short. This feels like it’s supposed to be the drawstring grease equivalent of weapon buffs, but it has the same base damage as the other weapon buffs. The black flame damage over time provides some extra damage, but since it doesn’t stack and the buff is so short, it doesn’t really help that much

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With patch 1.09, seems to no longer apply to certain bullet-type ashes, e.g thunderbolt, ice spear.

Shame, I liked using it that way, but I understand the change.

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I found that the duration on this thing isnt that big of a problem, from using this on the guy in caelids basement I found you could easily cast this then use all 3 stages of stormcaller for some heavy blackflame damage.

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This is an excellent supplement to an arcane build that relies on bleed when you're up against a boss that doesn't bleed. Use it with old lord's Talisman on ripple axe or ripple crescent halberd and watch the hp drop.

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Does this work with AoW-Hits? Could it be paired with Black Flame Tornado? The last attack might be too late but the spinning slashes could nicely fit in. Also adding even more Sap-Dot.

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definitely worth the slot for old lords talisman, saves a lot of fp in the long run

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Cast it, get a hit or two in, enjoy the 2% maximum hp drain, fight until an opening, cast it again, rinse, repeat. It's a more powerful weapon buff if you're willing to deal with how tedious it is.

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This thing could really use a duration buff. I get why it doesn't last super long, but seven seconds is kind of madness. Even if it took more fp or something, I just want this to last even a tiny bit longer. Especially when you consider other weapon buffs last wayyy longer, like bloodflame blade for a great example.

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Inappropriate duration to its cast time

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You can cast this near instantly if you crouch and cast it before the crouch animation finishes.
No Radagon Icon necessary

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Incredibly underrated for PvP. not only does it add a significant chunk of fire damage, but the DoT finishes people off much more often than you would think, its like a free fan dagger after every single hit.

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Black Flame Grease when?

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So how does this work on a build? Do you stack Faith for higher dmg from the buff or keep a physical build and apply this similarly to golden vow but more frequently?

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Gives a nice health % dot, great against any boss. Step aside Black Flame Friede, I'll show you how the black flame really works

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i wish you could charge it for longer duration

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I wish the scaling of the back flame effect was a little better in PvP, at most you're going to be getting 20 or 30 more damage on another player.

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Why on earth does this last a fraction of the time bloodflame blade does?

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Ahem, this, and spells like catch flame, can be executed during jumps and also while running, its marginally useful.

in pvp its particularly useful when doing fake jump attacks where opponents spam their dodges when they retreat, and you can sneakily cast during a jump before chasing them down if they are being particularly squirrelly with their spams and you cant quite get them, the lingering frames might just get them, ive done it a few times where normal running attacks cant get them, but this does.

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So: Spinning Weapon, BFB, Millicent's Prosthesis, Rot/Regular Winged Insignia, Shard of Alexander/Warrior Jar

Could this see stupid high numbers in pve/pvp? I don't know how many smoothbrains will stand in the blender, but I know a few bosses will.

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its basically just fire drawstring grease with an added super good DoT effect

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Can you combine this with others encantatios like orden blade

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Really valuable in RL1 runs or if your build just sucks against certain bosses. For example you can put this on an unupgraded dagger and melt fire giant's 1st or more likely 2nd phase since he resists so much damage or plasidusax since you can get in lots of attack really easily. Basically if the boss is open to a long chain of attacks this incantation on fast attacking weapons is really good.

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It seems, that not every AoW can trigger the effect. With lightningbolt I was able to trigger the effect, with stormblade or vacuum slice this was not possible.

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what is the point of seals that scale with stats other than faith if every buff/heal incantation only scales off faith

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