Dark Souls: Remastered Giant Dad Build Guide

Dark Souls Giant Dad might just be the most overpowered PvP meta build in the game. Its status as a true Legend is unchallenged, and anyone who faces down the barrel of the Brass Cannon will know true fear. Commanding high Stamina and Strength values, they’re a min-maxed tank that can devastate even the most seasoned players. But how do you craft this build, and why should you do it as quickly as possible? We’ll cover that and the scant few ways to counter Giant Dad in this guide.

How to Build Giant Dad in Dark Souls Remastered

The Dark Souls Giant Dad build comes down to these key points and prerequisites. We go over these points in more detail below, including why you want them and where to find them where applicable. finally, we go over the best Giant Dad strats and how to counter other players with the build.

• Be at Soul Level 99.
• Have Bandit as your starting class.
• Have the following gear/weapons:
  • Mask of the Father
  • Giant Armor Set (no helm)
  • Ring of Favor and Protection and Havel’s Ring
  • Grass Crest Shield
  • Chaos Zweihander
  • x2 Black Flame (Pyromancy)

Dark Souls Remastered Giant Dad Stat Line and Starting Class

Giant Dad requires Soul Level 99 — no higher or lower — and the Bandit starting class. Scrubs can go higher to take advantage of higher-level PvP locations and arenas, but you’re using the best build in the game. You don’t need to go higher. If you must stray from the path of Giant Dad, put stats into other categories than those shown below. If you don’t care about that, then you can obviously allocate more points as you see fit. 

Here’s your primary stat line allocation when you reach Soul Level 99: 

• 48 Vitality
• 66 Endurance
• 12 Attunement
• 16 F*** Strength
• 10 Dexterity (but don’t tell anyone you leveled it up)

Giant Dad Equipment and Gear Breakdown

• Mask of the Father: The best-looking mask in the game, it increases your equip load by+5%. Get it from the Pinwheel boss in the Catacombs, or buy it from Patches when he moves to Firelink Shrine. 

• Giant Armor Set (minus helm): Become unstoppable. You can buy this set from the Giant Blacksmith in Anor Londo. You’ll need to keep the Giant Armor (the cuirass), the Giant Gauntlets, and the Giant Leggings. You can ditch the helm. This set provides good elemental and physical defense while being one of the lighter heavy armor sets in the game. 

• Ring of Favor and Protection: The Ring of Favor gives a 20% buff to Stamina, Health, Endurance — everything you could ever want. You can find it after defeating Knight Lautrec of Carim as a drop by either kicking him off of the Firelink Shrine cliff or defeating him in combat. You can also visit Snuggly the Crow and drop the Xanthous Crown headpiece.

• Havel’s Ring: This ring increases your Equip Load by 50% and can be found after defeating Havel the Rock as a drop. 

• The Grass Crest Shield: Want more Stamina regen, 95% damage mitigation, and a banging look on your back when swinging your big sword around? Look no further than the Grass Crest Shield.

• Chaos Zweihander: The Chaos Two-Hander might be one of the most efficient two-handed weapons in Dark Souls: Remastered. You only need 16 STR to wield it, easing both equip load and stat allocation. The Chaos upgrade path is important here because it scales the Zweihander’s damage with Humanity. 

• Lastly, you need two instances of the Pyromancy Black Flame. That means completing New Game+ and reaching the Chasm of the Abyss area of the DLC. Find it by dropping down to a narrow ledge surrounded by Humanity ghosts, on a corpse in a corner next to a wall.

After you fill both of your spell slots will Black Flame, you’ll find it’s particularly powerful at close range. The hitbox is quite a bit bigger than the flame itself. Any enemy that has the gall to block it will find the spell mauls Stamina, easily breaking their guard in one or two casts and leaving them wide open to the Bass Cannon. 

Best Giant Dad Offensive Strategies

If you’re using this the Dark Souls Remastered Giant Dad build, there are a few key things to keep in mind as you wreck everything in your path. 

• The key is using stunlock. A Chaos Zweihander can stagger almost any enemy in a single hit, and the stagger last long enough that unless they know how to toggle escape, they’ll be vulnerable to an easy follow-up.

• Although the Giant Dad’s attacks have long(er) animations, with your high Endurance, Havel’s Ring, and the Ring of Favor and Protection, you have the freedom to light roll around your opponent.
  • Be aware that veteran opponents will be looking for predictable rolls to catch in a backstab, but anyone who doesn’t know how to abuse those mechanics can easily be caught in one themselves.

• Try mixing Black Flame between Zweihander attacks to catch enemies off guard. You’ll either force them into a disadvantaged roll, deal huge damage, or deplete most of their Stamina should they try to block it.
  • Because a Chaos Zweihander will two-shot most meta-level opponents, if you do manage to break their guard or catch them at a disadvantage, expect lots of wins against lesser enemies. 

How to Counter Giant Dad in Dark Souls Remastered

If you’re facing off against a Giant Dad, I suggest you run and accept Well, What Is It? into your life. If you want to fight him, though, you’ll want to employ these strategies if you want to survive. 

• The three main goals when fighting Giant Dad are parrying, rolling, and backstabbing. As powerful as a Zweihander is, its slower attacks leave it wide open to a reaction parry, even two-handed. Don’t worry if you get parried, though. You’ll get back up and pwn them, right?

• As with parrying, the Giant Dad is vulnerable to well-timed rolls and backstab punishes, so you’ll want to play a bit cautious and wait for him to swing, roll into him, then immediately turn around and backstab. You can also rotate with your shield up, provided Giant Dad isn’t readying a Black Flame. A fully-upgraded shield can tank a couple of hits from the Zweihander, giving you just enough time to move in for the backstab.

• If you want to be super cheesy, you can use the Tranquil Walk of Peace Miracle, which is basically a full counter against Giant Dad. They’ll be unable to roll and be constrained to a heavy walk. You’ll need to be quick, though, as if you don’t catch Giant Dad off guard they can easily roll or run away from the AoE.

• Alternatively, Sorceries like Crystal Soul Spear or Great Heavy Soul Arrow can be effective, but you’ll need to be smart in their use, as Giant Dad’s mobility lets them easily roll the spell if they see it coming.

Keep in mind that it’s not cool to be a griefer if playing a Giant Dad build. Use Well, What Is It? when you win, because everyone needs to know their place, but don’t harrass anyone. Giant Dad might not have any honor, but he has standards. Be one of the good guys and bring Giant Dad back to prominence. Make sure to check out our other Dark Souls: Remastered guides while you’re here.