Weapons and other equipment makes up for the majority of your character’s combat abilities. Without weapons you’ll be unable to fight the foes in the game and without armor you’ll take heavy damage from enemy attacks.

Use the details page when equipping new items to determine how they will effect your characters stats and which ones best suit your play style, such as using light gear will result in a fast character with little defense.

Equip Load¶

Unlike other role-playing games that have equipment, Dark Souls has a stat known as Equip Load that is determined by you character’s Vitality. This stat will effect the mobility of your character based on the combined weigh of each item you equip, from weapons to rings.

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Every item you equip increases your Equip Load and Weigh Ratio (left), which you can increase by pumping stats into Vitlity (right).

Weapons¶

There are multiple types of “weapons” that you can equip to your Champion of Ash, each serving a different function:

Standard weapons such as swords are your primary form of attack for melee characters and are usually equipped to the right hand, while shields are often equipped to the left hand so you can block and attack at the same time.

In addition you can also use ranged weapons, such as bows, and catalysts, used for casting magic. All of these “weapons” must be equipped to either the right or left hand and can be switched quickly through shortcuts during battle.

Weapons have basic stats that can be increased by reinforcing your weapons with upgrade materials or infusing them with gems that enhance a type of attack. Both of these options can be performed by visiting Andre the Blacksmith in Firelink Shrine and each has a material/gem and Soul cost dependent on the item and level.

Armor¶

Armor is equipped to four slots that make up your general defensive capabilities: Head, Chest, Gloves, and Legs. Each piece of gear will effect your overall defense either positively or negatively, but most will also effect your resistances to things like Poison and Fire.

In general there are two types of armor: light and heavy, determined by their weight vs your Equip Load. Remember that heavy armor will result in limited mobility in exchange for added defense, while light armor has less defense.

Rings¶

Rings are unique pieces of equipment that offer a wide range of supportive abilities, as the cost of very little weight. You can equip up to four rings at a time and other than a non-magic character using magic boosting rings, there is no wrong choice.

Experiment with multiple different rings and don’t be afraid to switch them up on a case by case basis.