Attunement is a stat in Dark Souls 3 that determines the number of attunement slots or amount of spells you can carry at the same time, and also raises Focus Points. It is an important attribute to level up for Sorcerers, Clerics and Pyromancers. ' Attribute governing FP. Also determines number of attunement slots. Dark Souls 3 - How to Use Spells - How to Cast Miracles, Sorceries & Pyromancies in Dark Souls 3 - Duration: 3:29. How To Hero 279,948 views.
A breakdown of the different classes in Dark Souls 3, their starting stats and equipment, and what their basic play styles are.
Dark Souls doesn't have classes in the most usual sense (i.e. one that locks you to a certain skill trees like in, for example, Dragon Age), but the character type you pick when you begin the game will weight your starting stats in a certain direction, and give you equipment that sets you up a little better for different styles of play. As you progress through the game you can develop your character in different directions, and, with different equipment, can create a unique, fine tuned character.
All classes have access to Battle Arts, unique skills which differ depending on the weapon you're using - it could be a devastating attack, or a damage buff. Battle Arts draw from your focus (your magic), rather than stamina, even if your character isn't a spellcaster.
Character Attributes and Stats in Dark Souls 3
The stats for Dark Souls 3 are similar to Dark Souls 2, although there's no Adaptability, and we have, instead, Luck. The levelling and character menus will look familiar if you've played any souls games before, but if you haven't they can seem complicated at first glance. They're not really that bad.
Vigor - mostly governs your hit points, but also raises your frost resistance, for some reason (which is actually more important than you'd think given that a lot of the bosses have a frosty element to them).
Attunement - governs your focus points (which is functionally the same as your mana) and you attunement slots, which are what limit the number of spells you can carry. You can think of them as spell slots, if you're more familiar with western RPGs.
Endurance - endurance governs stamina, which restricts how far you can sprint and how many swings you can take with your weapon before you get knackered out. Endurance also increases your resistance to lightning and bleeding damage.
Vitality - increases your max equipment load, resistance to physical damage, and resistance to poison.
Strength - allows you to wield heavy weapons and armour, as well as increasing the damage you do with strength based weapons (like greatswords) and your resistance to fire damage.
Dexterity - dexterity is required to wield advanced weapons. It also reduces your spellcasting time, and the damage you receive from falling.
Intelligence - this increases your magic defence, but you also need it for casting sorcery and pyromancy based spells.
Faith - Faith is required for casting miracles and pyromancies (you'll note that pyromancy needs both Faith and Intelligence). Also increases your dark defence.
Luck - Luck increases your bleeding and poison capabilities, and your resistance to curses. It also makes it likely for your enemies to drop more items on death, which can be very useful given how much equipment can increase your capabilities in the game.
Burial Gifts in Dark Souls 3
At the start of Dark Souls 3, and with a cheeriness inherent to Souls games, your character leaves their grave, and can take a Burial Gift with them, functioning the same as the starting gifts from Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. You can also choose to start with no gift, presumably because nobody cared enough to bury you with one. These item descriptions are taken directly from the game.
None - No sign of a burial gift or otherwise.
Life Ring - Ring set with a small red jewel. Raises maximum HP.
Divine Blessing - Warm, blessed holy water. Fully restores HP and cures ailments.
Hidden Blessing - Pure, blessed holy water. Fully restores FP.
Black Firebomb - Firebomb charged with a special black powder. An uncouth gift for the departed.
Fire Gem - Material used to upgrade to fire weapons. More appropriate for a warrior than pretty trinkets.
Sovereignless Soul - The sovereignless soul of one who slept beside you. Use to acquire many souls.
Rusted Gold Coin - Burial item for good fortune after death. Greatly increases item discovery for a short while.
Cracked Red Eye Orb - Online play item. Once use only. Become a dark spirit and invade another world.
Young White Branch - Branch of a young white birch, perhaps an offering of peace. Can be used to blend into environment, but only once.
Starting Classes in Dark Souls 3
The Knight in Dark Souls 3
'An obscure knight of poor renown who collapsed roaming the land. Sturdy, owing to high vitality and stout armor.' The Knight is chosen by a lot of people for their first run through of the game, because this class balances being able to take a hit and deal a hit pretty well.
The Knight Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 9
Vigor - 12
Attunement - 10
Endurance - 11
Vitality - 15
Strength - 13
Dexterity - 12
Intelligence - 9
Faith - 9
Luck - 7
The Knight Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Longsword; guardian shield; full suit of knight armour.
The Mercenary in Dark Souls 3
'A mercenary and veteran of the battlefield. High dexterity allows masterful wielding of dual scimitars.' The merc is much faster than the knight, but the trade off is in the strength and vitality, so you'd better use that speed to keep moving.
The Mercenary Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 8
Vigor - 11
Attunement - 12
Endurance - 11
Vitality - 10
Strength - 10
Dexterity - 16
Intelligence - 10
Faith - 8
Luck - 9
The Mercenary starting equipment in Dark Souls 3
Legion scimitars; wooden shield; full suit of sellsword armour
The Warrior in Dark Souls 3
'Decendant of northern warriors famed for their brawn. Utilizes high strength to wield a heavy battleaxe.' Warriors are incredibly strong, but have comparatively low dexterity and vitality. The idea is to hit something hard enough that it can't get up to hit you back. Warriors are also, not to put too fine a point on it, quite stupid, so there's no point trying to teach them any spells.
The Warrior Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 7
Vigor - 14
Attunement - 6
Endurance - 12
Vitality - 11
Strength - 16
Dexterity - 9
Intelligence - 8
Faith - 9
Luck - 11
The Warrior Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Battle axe; round shield; full suit of northern armour.
The Herald in Dark Souls 3
'A former herald who journeyed to finish a quest undertaken. Wields a sturdy spear and employs a gentle restorative miracle.' As you can see from the stats, heralds are a very even class, so you can choose to focus on almost any combat path from starting as one. Heralds use magic from the school of miracles, which is more focused on passive magic like healing than it is on damage.
The Herald Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 9
Vigor - 12
Attunement - 10
Endurance - 9
Vitality - 12
Strength - 12
Dexterity - 11
Intelligence - 8
Faith - 13
Luck - 11
The Herald Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Spear; kite shield; full suit of herald armour; talisman (spellcasting weapon). The herald also starts with the miracle spell Heal.
The Thief in Dark souls 3
'A common thief and pitiful deserter. Wields a dagger intended for backstabs alongside a military-issue bow.' As the description suggests, thieves rely mostly on their wits in battle - which in this case means your wits. Daggers have high critical hit damage, which is why they're so good for backstabs, but that depends on you getting behind the enemy in the first place. The high luck that thieves have does mean that they'll get better equipment earlier on in the game, however.
The Thief Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 5
Vigor - 10
Attunement - 11
Endurance - 10
Vitality - 9
Strength - 9
Dexterity - 13
Intelligence - 10
Faith - 8
Luck - 14
The Thief Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Bandit's knife; round shield; short bow; thief mask; deserter armour and trousers.
The Assassin in Dark Souls 3
'An assassin who stalks their prey from the shadows. Favors sorceries in addition to thrusting swords.' The assassin doesn't have great vitality or strength, but combines high dexterity with high attunement and a good starting intelligence, meaning you can eventually build a good roster of spells alongside fast combat. The assassin uses sorcery, which is a varied type of magic, and the starting spell masks your noise so you can sneak past enemies if you can't be arsed.
The Assassin Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level -10
Vigor - 10
Attunement - 14
Endurance - 11
Vitality - 10
Strength - 10
Dexterity - 14
Intelligence - 11
Faith - 9
Luck - 10
The Assassin Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Estoc; target shield; full suit of assassin armour; sorcerer's staff (spellcasting weapon). The assassin also starts with the sorcery spell Spook.
The Sorcerer in Dark Souls 3
'A loner who left formal academia to pursue further research. Commands soul sorceries using high intelligence.' The sorcerer is your classic squishy spellcaster type. High intelligence and lots of spell slots, but will go down in a couple of hits, so be careful.
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The Sorcerer Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 6
Vigor - 9
Attunement - 16
Endurance - 9
Vitality - 7
Strength - 7
Dexterity - 12
Intelligence - 16
Faith - 7
Luck - 12
The Sorcerer Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Mail breaker; leather shield; full sorcerer's robes set; sorcerer's staff (spellcasting weapon); Young Dragon Ring (boosts power of sorceries). The sorcerer also starts with the spells Soul Arrow and Heavy Soul Arrow.
The Pyromancer in Dark Souls 3
'A pyromancer from a remote region who manipulates flame. Also an adept close combat warrior who wields a hand axe.' The pyromancer is a damage spellcaster type, so combines a damage dealing school of magic with higher strength and vigor than other spellcaster types, meaning you can wallop enemies a good'un if you want.
The Pyromancer Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 8
Vigor - 11
Attunement - 12
Endurance - 10
Vitality - 8
Strength - 12
Dexterity - 9
Intelligence - 14
Faith - 14
Luck - 7
The Pyromancer Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
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Hand axe; caduceus round shield; full pyromancer's garb set; pyromancy flame (spellcasting weapon); great swamp ring (boosts pyromancy spells). The pyromancer also starts with the pyromancy spell fireball.
The Cleric in Dark Souls 3
'A traveling cleric who collapsed from exhaustion. Channels high faith to cast many and varied miracles.' The cleric is a magically amped kind of herald, so has higher spellcasting abilities in exchange for slightly lower physical combat ones. The cleric starts with two miracle spells instead of one, including Force, which can stagger enemies away from you if you need a bit of breathing space.
The Cleric Starting Attributes in Dark Souls 3
Level - 7
Vigor - 10
Attunement - 14
Endurance - 9
Vitality - 7
Strength - 12
Dexterity - 8
Intelligence - 7
Faith - 16
Luck - 13
The Cleric Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Mace; blue wooden shield; full cleric robes set; cleric's sacred chime (spellcasting weapon). Clerics also start with the sorcery spells Heal and Force.
The Deprived in Dark Souls 3
'Naked and of unknown origin. Either an unimaginable fool in life, or was stripped of possessions upon burial.' This is the starting class if you want a bit more of a challenge. The deprived isn't especially good at anything, and you wake in your grave with nothing. But, on the other hand, they aren't especially bad at anything either. They're just an average person.
The Deprived Starting Stats in Dark Souls 3
Level - 1
Vigor - 10
Attunement - 10
Endurance - 10
Vitality - 10
Strength - 10
Dexterity - 10
Intelligence - 10
Faith - 10
Luck - 10
The Deprived Starting Equipment in Dark Souls 3
Cub; plank shield. Rack all else. No armour. Just a tasteful loincloth. Pants Man.
In depth explanation of all the Dark Souls 3 player stats so you can make the right choice in your character’s build! Details the best use of stats, what the soft and hard caps of each stat are, and gives some build ideas. Don’t make the mistake of wasting stat points on useless attributes.
Each stat is explained in detail and includes the soft and hard cap for the stat. The soft cap is where you will start seeing diminishing returns (less benefit) and is set at 40 for most stats. For example on Endurance with a soft cap of 40, raising the stat to 41 or higher will start to give you less Stamina per point. In some cases you would be better off raising a different stat instead.
We’ll have a lot more Dark Souls III builds, guides, and other information coming out so check out our other articles and be sure to come back soon!
Vigor:
- HP (Hit Points)
- Frost resistance
- Physical resistance (+1 resist per point in all physical types)
- Gradual Soft Cap to 27? (needs verification) / Medium Cap: 50 / Hard Cap: 99
- up to 27: gradually lowers from about 45 to 30 HP per stat point in vigor / 27+: 19 HP per point (?) / 50-99: +5 HP per point (?)
Vigor determines how much health your character has. It is hugely important for every class and build and should not be overlooked. At absolutely minimum, every character will probably want to invest at least enough points to reach 20 stat points in Vigor. It can mean the difference between surviving a stunlock / stagger combo that catches you. Also increases Frost Resistance as a secondary defensive effect.
Note: Currently we are working on verify specifics. It appears the 1.03 patch adjusted stats so some of the information available elsewhere is inaccurate. I can confirm that on patch 1.03 (retail release with Day 1 patch), this is true:
- Vigor stat from 19 up to 20: + 41 HP (764 total HP)
- Vigor stat from 20 up to 21: +40 HP (804 HP)
- Vigor stat from 21 up to 22: +38 HP (842 HP)
- Based on this it appears to be correct Vigor has a gradual soft cap. I will update when it is verified if there is a major point of diminishing returns.
Attunement
- Spell Slots
- Focus Power (FP)
In Dark Souls 3, similarly to Dark Souls 2, attunement is a stat that is important for Sorcerers, Clerics, and Pyromancers. Melee focused builds will likely also want enough for 1 or 2 attunement slots in order to enchant their weapons or use other minor spells. Each slot is one more spell you are allowed to “equip”. Focus Power, or FP is used to cast magic and perform Weapon Arts. It is the blue bar in the HUD. FP does not regenerate, but can be refilled by using the Ashen Estus Flask.
- Attunement Stat / Spell Slots Given:
- 10 – 13 – 1 slot
- 14 – 17 – 2 slots
- 18 – 23 – 3 slots
- 24 – 29 – 4 slots
- 30 – 39 – 5 slots
- 40 – 49 – 6 slots
- 50 – 7 slots
- 60 – 8 slots
- 99 – 10 slots
Endurance
- Stamina
- Lightning and Bleeding Resistance
- Soft Cap: 40 / Hard Cap: 99
Endurance primarily determines how much stamina you have in Dark Souls III. More stamina means you can dodge, block, run, or attack more before you need to wait for your stamina bar to refill. Almost no character will ever want to go over 40 Endurance attribute points in their build, and most will want to use considerably less. If you were to really max endurance the main real-world benefit you would get would be that you could possibly block some heavy boss attacks without being staggered if you used a high stability and damage absorbtion shield. The other use would be being able to spam attack combos for longer, but that’s not normally helpful with how PvP or PvE ends up working due to knock downs and dodge-rolls (you usually have time for your stamina to refill.)
Vitality
- Equipment Load
- Poison Resistance
- Physical Defense
- Soft Cap: 40 / Hard Cap: 99 (after 40 you gain less physical defense per point)
- +1 weight / burden per stat point in Vitality up to 99
Although it may be slightly confusing, Vitality does not affect your HP. In many games Vitality is basically synonymous with hit points, but here it mostly affects your Equip Load, which affects how much armor and weapon weight you can use. For example if you plan to build a heavily armored tank, Vitality will be a primary stat for you. In a roundabout way it also affects your roll speed, since your roll speed is based on how much of your Equip Load is used.
Equip Load / Weight Important Note: The cutoff for a “fast” roll is 70% equip load. You can see your equip weight and percentage on the character stats screen. Most characters will want to stay below 70% equip load in order to have a good roll speed and distance. From information available it appears there is a tiny advantage to going even lighter — you get slightly more distance with your roll at light equip weights. However so far most sources agree it is almost negligible and that being right at 70% equipment burden is the ideal weight.
Strength
- Increases damage with strength scaling weapons (clubs, hammers, axes, etc)
- Attack Strength
- Fire Resistance
- Increases Defense
- Soft Cap: 40 / Mid Cap: 60 / Hard Cap: 99
Strength is important for using heavy weapons and other equipment like heavy greatshields (to meet the minimum stat requirements). It also will increase damage on any weapon that scales off of strength.
Dexterity
- Increases damage with dexterity scaling weapons (finesse weapons like daggers and light swords)
- Reduces spellcasting time
- Reduces damage from falling
- Soft Cap: 40 / Mid Cap: 60 / Hard Cap: 99
Dexterity is the main damage stat for characters using lighter, faster, and “advanced” weapons in DS3. This can include daggers, bows, light swords like scimitars and other weapons – mostly light, fast, or ranged. It also reduces spellcasting time so it might be a consideration for hybrid melee / caster builds like dex and faith or dex and intelligence.
Intelligence
- Increases sorcery spell damage
- Required to meet minimum stats to cast some spells
- Increases damage with intelligence scaling weapons (which are somewhat rare)
- Magic Defense
- Also affects pyromancy
- Soft Cap: 40 / Mid Cap: 60 / Hard Cap: 99
Intelligence is the main attribute for sorcerers in combination with attunement. (Not to be confused with miracles, which instead rely on Faith for damage). Faith and intelligence are some of the few stats that don’t have sharp caps on their benefits, so take the 40 / 60 caps as a general guideline. For example a primary sorcerer will likely benefit quite a bit going up to at least 60 points in intelligence.
Faith
- Increases miracle damage and effectiveness
- Required to meet minimum stats to cast some miracles
- Increases damage with Faith scaling weapons (which are somewhat rare)
- Increases Dark Defense
- Pyromancy spells
- Soft Cap: 40 / Mid Cap: 60 / Hard Cap: 99
Faith is the main attribute for clerics, who cast miracles. Miracles can heal, do damage, and create other effects. It also affects damage and effectiveness of Pyromancy. Faith and intelligence are some of the few stats that don’t have sharp caps on their benefits, so take the 40 / 60 caps as a general guideline.
Luck
- Item Discovery boost
- Increase Bleed Resist and Damage
- Increase Poison Resist and Poison
- Increase Curse Resist
- Soft Cap: 40 / Medium Cap: 60 / Hard Cap: 99
Luck is probably the least popular (worst) stat as of writing this. It really does not help you much in combat in most situations. It may be that some creative players work out a way to make a build based around luck, but most players would be better off not wasting stats in luck.
Example builds
Most players are agreeing that SL120 OR SL 125 (Soul Level 125) is the end game level for PvP. This is an important consideration because Dark Souls 3 matchmaking matches you up with people in a small range of your level. Hence if you want to find people to play with, you should consider shooting for level 125 as your end-game.
The best starting classes are probably the Knight, Warrior, or Pyromancer because they have the lowest amount of luck and it is generally considered a wasted stat point. Note this does not take into consideration starting gear or early game builds, but after around 10 level ups and a few hours of play your starting class makes little difference.
Standard Versatile Melee Fighter (Start as Knight)
40 Str / 40 Dex / 20 End / 40 Vit / 40 Vig
This gives you high damage on strength and dex scaling weapons, the ability to use some decent armor, and a solid chunk of HP to fight with.
Cleric (Start as Herald)
40 Dex / 40 Faith / 25 Vigor / 25 Attunement / 25 Endurance / 15 Vitality