In Dark Souls 2, leveling up can be done by traveling to Majula and talking to Emerald Herald standing near the right side of the Bonfire. At first, you will have to talk to her about 4 times to pop-up the leveling up interface.
Leveling Up costs souls and the number of required souls increases at higher levels. For more help on Dark Souls 2, read our Keys Locations, Estus Shards Locations, Weapons Locations and Armor Sets Guide.
Dark Souls 2 Leveling
The leveling up interface will have different stats that can be upgraded. You can either upgrade one stat or multiple stats at a given time. These stats tend to affect your character in different ways so you need to be really careful.
Vigor
Vigor primarily increases your character’s HP. There are other stats which also increase HP but, Vigor brings about the most prominent change.
Remember that, with higher HP, you increase your chances of surviving the game for longer. The difference between Vigor and Vitality is that Vitality lets you wear heavier armor but, have little effect on the HP.
Endurance
Endurance tends to increase the Stamina of your character which will let your continuously attack, block without letting your guard down, and dodge enemy attacks.
In addition to this, Endurance also increases the Physical Defense of your character which means that you will be able to sustain more physical attacks from enemies.
And lastly, Endurance and Adaptability have a direct relationship. Increasing both Endurance and Adaptability in the same ratio increases the Poise of your character. For instance, if you have 15 Endurance and 15 Adaptability, adding one more point to both of these stats will increase your Poise.
Vitality
Like I have mentioned above, Vitality increases the equipment load of your character. It means that you will be able to move and dodge more effectively while wearing heavy armor and carrying heavy weapons.
In addition to this, Vitality also increases the Physical Defense and Poison Resistance of your character. Furthermore, Vitality does have a little effect on HP but, not like Vigor.
Attunement
How many spell slots you have is determined by Attunement. The basic task of spell slots is to equip Miracles, Sorceries, Hexes, and Pyromancies. And if you want to use more magic then, it is must upgrade for you.
In addition to this, Attunement also increases your Cast Speed more than any other stat. As a general rule of thumb, Attunement increases your Cast Speed twice the amount increased by Faith and Intelligence.
It also increases your Curse Resistance which enables your character to stay at the maximum HP at Hollowing Curse. And lastly, your Agility is somewhat increased by Attunement.
Strength
Strength has a simple function and i.e. it increases your character’s Physical Attack Strength. It also increases your Physical Defense and is a must have for carrying heavier swords and shields.
Dexterity
Dexterity increases your character’s Physical Attack Dexterity stat. It is very similar to Strength in regard that certain weapons/shields require certain Dexterity stats to use them effectively.
And just like with Strength, it also increases your Physical Defense. Lastly, Dexterity also increases your Poison Bonus and Bleed Bonus which means increased damage for these status ailments.
Adaptability
Adaptability has many hidden interconnected relationships with other stats and exactly how this works is not known.
For one, Adaptability increases the overall HP of your character along with Poison Bonus. Other than this, it also increases all of the status resistances by a small bit.
It is said that primarily, Adaptability increases your character’s Agility which increases the evading and tasks such as drinking Estus Flask more quickly.
And lastly, like I have aforementioned, Adaptability and Endurance have a direct relationship. Check above to know more about it!
Intelligence
While relying on Sorcery, it is recommended to upgrade Intelligence as it increases your Magic Bonus and Cast Speed. It is advised that a Sorcerer must have 20 points assigned to Intelligence or 40. Anything between 20 and 40 has very little return value.
Intelligence, along with Faith, increases your Fire Bonus. However, there is no direct relationship between them like Endurance and Adaptability. If your increase one of Intelligence or Faith, your Fire Bonus will shoot up.
As for the Dark Bonus, you need to upgrade both Intelligence and Faith. And lastly, Intelligence has some minor effects on Magic, Fire, and Dark Defenses.
Faith
The primary goal of increasing Faith is to increase your Lightning Bonus and Cast Speed.
And as you can see from Intelligence, Faith also increases your Dark Magic and Fire Bonus. And lastly, Faith also increases your Bleed Bonus.
If you have any questions regarding these stats and how they work, comment below and we will get back to you!
