Mechanics

Dark Souls 2 changes more under the surface than its predecessor lets on. Stats interact in ways the level-up screen never mentions, enemies stop respawning after a set number of kills, guarding and backstabs follow new rules, and two separate crafts, reinforcement and infusion, decide what your weapon becomes. This guide follows a character from the first level bought in Majula to a farmed fortune in the Dragon Shrine, pulling the numbers from the five pages in this section.

Levelling: what the nine stats really raise

Levels are bought from the Emerald Herald beside the Majula bonfire, after about four conversations the first time, and every level costs more souls than the last. Our leveling guide walks through each stat’s main job and the side effects that matter as much.

Two of those relationships shape most builds: Poise needs Endurance and Adaptability to climb together, and Dark damage needs both Intelligence and Faith. Fire only needs one of the two, which is why pyromancy fits almost any character. Our character builds page turns these rules into three Soul Level 130 targets.

Combat: the rules the tutorial skips

Our combat guide starts with the seven defence types: Physical, Magic, Fire, Lightning, Dark, Bleed and Poison. Each kind of damage is only reduced by its own defence, which cuts both ways. A sword that does nothing to an enemy is telling you to switch damage type rather than swing harder.

Four status ailments sit on top of that. Bleed and Poison are the familiar ones. Curse lowers your maximum HP with every hit you take while cursed, and Petrify turns you to stone, which is an instant death. Some can be cured with items, but the page’s advice is simpler: do not get hit by the enemies that inflict them, because the fast, dangerous ones usually do.

Reinforcement and infusion

Reinforcing raises a weapon’s damage or a piece of armor’s defence, and our reinforcement and infusion guide lists what each material buys. Most gear takes ordinary Titanite through four grades; special gear takes Twinkling Titanite; boss-soul gear takes Petrified Dragon Bone; and a Pyromancy Flame takes Fire Seeds, which Carhillion of the Fold will use once you have 8 Intelligence, as will Rosabeth of Melfia once she is freed from petrification. Sources and farming routes are in the Titanite guide.

Infusion is a separate service. Only Steady Hand McDuff in the Lost Bastille offers it, and only after you bring him the Dull Ember from the Iron Keep. Each weapon holds one infusion at a time, staffs accept only Faintstones and Darknight Stones, chimes only Boltstones and Darknight Stones, and weapons that already carry an effect, such as the Heide Knight Sword, can still be infused for a different one. An icon on the weapon shows the result.

The four schools of magic

Sorcerers and Clerics cast from the first minute; everyone else needs the Intelligence or Faith first. Our magic guide goes spell by spell through every school with the merchant or location for each, so this table only sets out the shape of each school and a handful of standouts.

Weapon buffs across the schools share a 90 second duration, which the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring extends, and not every weapon accepts them. Dual wielders can hold a staff in the right hand and buff both weapons at once. The magic guide also flags a few oddities: Hush masks rolling, jumping and sprinting from invaders for 90 seconds, Chameleon turns you into scenery until you do anything but walk, and Immolation sets you alight to burn everything near you faster than it burns you.

Souls: losing them, keeping them and farming them

Dying drops every soul you carry as a green orb where you fell; reach it and they are yours again, die on the way and they are gone. The bigger change from the first game, according to our souls farming guide, is that enemies vanish for good after being killed a set number of times, which ruins the old habit of grinding one corridor forever.

The workaround is a Bonfire Ascetic, which respawns an area’s enemies at a higher difficulty and with bigger soul drops when burned in its bonfire. Add the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring and the Jester’s Gloves, both of which raise souls per kill, and the recommended spot is the Dragon Shrine bonfire: about fourteen enemies at roughly 4,500 souls each, or around 60,000 per lap, repeatable until they stop appearing for something like 500,000 souls in total. Burn one Ascetic only; the page is emphatic about that. The boss souls page lists what each boss soul is worth if you would rather consume than trade.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my roll feel slow?

Agility, which comes mainly from Adaptability with a little from Attunement, governs how quickly you roll and drink Estus. Levelling Vigor and Strength alone leaves it where it started.

Can I infuse a weapon and still reinforce it?

Yes. Reinforcement is done with Titanite at a blacksmith and infusion is done with a stone by McDuff; the two are separate processes on the same weapon, and a Palestone removes the infusion if you change your mind.

Do I need Intelligence for pyromancy?

Not to cast it: pyromancies need only the Flame. Intelligence or Faith raises the Fire bonus, and Carhillion wants 8 Intelligence before he will reinforce the Flame with Fire Seeds.

Where does all of this go next?

Into equipment. Our items guide covers the rings, Titanite and boss souls these systems feed on, and the Dark Souls 2 hub lists everything else.