How to Be Good at Dark Souls

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: January 7, 2022

Dark Souls is very vague about its mechanics and lacks much in the way of a tutorial, which makes getting started particularly difficult for new players. Luckily, there are a few basic concepts that can help you overcome the initially high barrier of entry, such as getting to know the stats, equipment, and adjusting to the differences in combat. With knowledge on your side, you will just need practice and some quick reflexes. There are no respawn limits in Dark Souls, so if at first you don’t succeed: die, die again.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Learning the Basics

1
Understand the importance of stats. Hand to hand combat is inevitable in Dark souls. That’s why Vitality (health) and Endurance (stamina) are the two most important stats for any player. Stamina is used for all actions by your character including striking, dodging, and blocking, as well as managing equipment load. Points into these stats early is always a safe bet.
- Endurance has a hard cap at 40 for stamina, meaning you won’t receive any more stamina bonuses after that point. However you can continue to increase it for greater equipment load.
- You can increase your damage by increasing the stat with which your weapon scales, but the benefits early on will be minimal. This is best saved for later in the game.
2
Understand the “hidden stats” like stability and poise. Stability is a rating for shields that determines how much punishment your shield can take before your guard is broken. Poise is a rating for how much you are staggered when you get hit. A higher number for these stats is always better.
- Having your guard broken leaves you very vulnerable to counterattack. Avoid it at all costs.
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3
Use a shield. Although optional, proper use of a shield can be an invaluable defensive option for beginners. A shield is much easier to time than dodging and some enemies may even stagger themselves when striking against it.
- Your stamina will regenerate faster if you do not have your shield up. This means it is best practice to raise your shield before you are hit, then lower it before the next strike, if you have time.
- For beginners, find a shield that has a 100% physical defense rating. Otherwise you will still take some damage, even when blocking attacks.
4
Upgrade your weapon. Reinforcing a weapon at the blacksmith will give you the most immediate increase in damage, especially compared to stat increases. Neglecting to upgrade your weapons will make the game significantly more difficult.
- If you don’t plan to use a weapon much, it may be best to save the materials for something you will use more frequently.
- Almost all weapons in Dark Souls are viable. If you keep your starting weapon upgraded, it can carry you through the entire game.
5
Assess the effectiveness of armor. Enemies inflict a lot of damage with each hit in Dark Souls and the amount negated by armor is finite. It is important to strike a good balance between equipment load and poise.
- Lighter armor will give less poise but a faster roll via lower equipment load.
6
Understand equipment load. All armor and weapons weigh a certain amount. Your equipment load is the percentage of the combined weight of your equipment compared to your burden stat, which is determined by Endurance.
- It is important to keep your equipment burden below 100% or you will be unable to run or dodge roll. ^{[1]
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- Lower equipment load (50% or below) will increase the length of your roll invincibility.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Familiarizing With Dark Souls Combat

1
Time your attacks. Attacks in Dark Souls are deliberate, slow, and usually cannot be canceled. This is true for both you and your opponent. The best time to strike is following a heavy attack that leaves your opponent open. Your attacks are also slow, so be conservative with your attacks, lest you leave yourself with an opening as well.
- It may be advantageous to try and keep your distance for a bit and observe an enemy’s attack patterns to determine when there are openings.
- Always keep an eye on your stamina when attacking.
2
Learn when to block, dodge, or parry. Some attacks from particularly large enemies may break your guard. In these scenarios dodging is a superior option. Parries can be used once you have gained a sense for the timing of your opponent’s attacks for a critical strike.
- Not all attacks (especially by bosses) can be parried.
- A missed parry will leave you open to attack. The risk is great, but so is the reward.
- Blocking is easier for beginners, but a well-timed dodge is a better way to get into a good striking position.
3
Learn when to use the target lock. Lock-on is a tool, not a requirement. Sometimes it can be advantageous, especially against larger enemies, to forego the target lock for better maneuverability and camera control.
- You can toggle target lock on and off as many times as necessary in the middle of a fight, but remember that target lock does have a range limit. Stray too far and you won’t be able to relock until you move in close again.
4
Exploit elemental weaknesses. Many of the enemies in Dark Souls will take extra damage from Fire or Lightning attacks. Often you will need to experiment to discover which enemies are weak to what if you don’t want to look them up.
- Using firebombs is a cheap and safe way to check for fire weakness.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using an Advanced PVP Strategy

1
Know when to run and when to fight. If you are invaded while fighting an enemy you have a little time to defeat it before your opponent can to you, depending on where they are spawned. Don’t get outnumbered or let someone catch you in a bad position.
- If you are near a boss door, you can pass through it to end an invasion, then teleport home with a homeward bone.
- If you want to avoid PVP completely, you can play offline or play through the game hollowed. However you will also lose the opportunity to co-op with other players.
Attack with a full combo, but leave yourself stamina to roll. You might be able to trick your opponent into thinking there’s an opening where there isn’t. This can be especially effective with a heavy weapon and light armor.
If you can ever get behind an opponent, take the opportunity for a critical strike. It only takes a light attack and does not leave you vulnerable like a parry.
4
Use the environment to your advantage. Fighting near trees can give you cover from spells. Fighting near cliffs may cause an opponent to inadvertently fall while rolling. Lava is dangerous to everyone - but exciting.
- Spear users should find narrow spaces to fight. Enemy swords will bounce off walls.
Being human is a double-edged sword, allowing for invasions and co-op. Take advantage and bring help to fend off invading players.
In Dark Souls there are no rules. All strategies are fair game, especially when you are the invader. This can mean attacking your opponent while they fight someone else or running away to heal if you’re given an opening.

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What should I do with extra weapons?

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You may keep them to make bigger weapons in the future or sell them.

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Do I put extra weapons in storage if I already have main and secondary?

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Weapons you pick up are automatically put into your inventory. From there, you may place them into the Bottomless Box.

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How do I improve my Dark Souls skills?

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Accept dying. You can relearn and reclaim souls. Just practice and gain experience.

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Tips

Pyromancy is useful tool for any class. The spells have no stat requirement and scale only with the pyromancy flame item, meaning you do not need to be spellcaster to take advantage of it. Additionally, many enemies throughout the game are weak to fire.

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If you need extra help try using one of the various dark souls wiki sites for more information and guidance.

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Many of the mechanical basics of the game can be applied to PVP combat as well, but remember a human opponent won’t fall for the same tricks as an AI opponent.

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Warnings

When people say “get good”, what they really mean is “practice”.

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How to Be Good at Dark Souls

Steps

Learning the Basics

Familiarizing With Dark Souls Combat

Using an Advanced PVP Strategy

Community Q&A

Video

Tips

Warnings

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