Pyromancers are the jack of all trades school of casters in the world of Dark Souls. They use flame to both harm targets and buff themselves. It might not be as damaging as Sorceries or as utility-heavy as Miracles, but Pyromancy offers a great middle-ground that requires little investment to use.
Buffs, damaging mists, and flaming orbs are all useful in some capacity. With that said, some spells are more useful thanks to more common circumstances or higher stats. From throwing suns to charming foes, here are the 15 best pyromancies in Dark Souls 3 along with how to unlock them.
Updated November 22nd, 2020 by Charles Burgar: Due to the sheer versatility of pyromancies in Dark Souls 3, listing only ten unique options wasn't going to cut it. The number of unique builds for PvE and PvP that are possible in Dark Souls 3 is staggering, making it a great game to play while From Software fans eagerly await the release of Elden Ring. For those that are looking to dive into Lothric once more, here are five additional pyromancy options that are sure to bring the heat.
15 Sacred Flame
Similar to the Dark Hand from previous Souls games, the Sacred Flame pyromancy allows you to grab a target and deal a damaging blow to them.
Instead of stealing Humanity like in the first Dark Souls, you instead cause a fiery explosion when the spell ends. This can one-shot players if you have enough buffs active and their fire resistance is low enough. It has little use in PvE but tons of potential in PvP engagements. Sacred Flame can be obtained past Knight Slayer Tsorig in the Smouldering Lake demon ruins.
14 Toxic Mist
Toxic Mist is a fantastic zoning option while invading or in any PvP activity. This pyromancy is best kept unslotted in PvE, however.
Enemies that stand inside of the mist have their toxin meter quickly fill up. When it's full, the enemy will be inflicted with a strong damage-over-time debuff for around a minute. This forces the player to either cleanse the toxin or face on with a depleting health pool. Either way, it's a great way to give yourself some breathing room during an invasion. Toxic Mist is not tied to a tome but rather an item obtained from the lava pits inside Smouldering Lake's demon ruins.
13 Seething Chaos
For those that want the damage of a Chaos Bed Vestige but without the obvious cast animation, Seething Chaos is an arguably weaker yet solid alternative.
When Seething Chaos is cast, it will deploy a mine that needs four seconds to charge. Once four seconds pass, the mine will release a massive explosion. This can be incredibly strong when paired with Warmth in PvP or other AoE spells in PvE. Transpose the Soul of the Demon Prince to learn this pyromancy.
12 Carthus Beacon
Carthus Beacon is a great utility spell for pyromancers to run in their loadout. When active, it will grant a scaling damage buff on consecutive attacks.
It only lasts for 30 seconds, a short period in a Souls game. Time it right before you enter an attack frenzy to see the largest benefit. This can be exceptional for fighting bosses with low poise such as the Abyss Watchers. Cornyx can teach Carthus Beacon to you if you give him the Carthus Pyromancy Tome.
11 Great Combustion
Great Combustion is a flexible pyromancy spell that deals a high amount of fire and poise damage to anyone in front of you. It might not beat the monstrous pyromancies further down on this list, but it does serve as a great early to mid-game option that can annihilate enemies that are weak to fire such as Pontiff Sulyvahn.
As for PvP, Great Combustion is best used as a mixup pyromancy when the enemy can predict your attacks. Its cast animation is similar to other pyromancies, meaning you can close the gap and get a surprise fire attack on them to make the enemy panic. You can obtain Great Combustion from Cornyx of the Great Swamp for 3,000 Souls.
10 Black Fire Orb
Lobbing fireballs at targets is fun in nearly every game. Dark Souls 3 gives many options to suit this playstyle, but the best option for overall PvE content is Black Fire Orb.
Compared to Fire Orb, this pyromancy deals dark damage instead of fire. That might sound inconsequential, but many enemies in Dark Souls 3 have low dark resistance compared to fire. With its moderate splash damage and solid scaling, Black Fire Orb is a great pyromancy you can rely on in PvE and PvP. Players can purchase this spell after giving Karla the Grave Warden Pyromancy Tome.
9 Fire Whip
Fire Whip might be one of the most underrated pyromancies in Dark Souls 3. For the low cost of two FP, you can release a flurry of projectiles that knock targets back and deals a great amount of damage considering the low FP cost.
When this is coupled with the Pyromancer's Parting Flame, casting Fire Whip gives you an opening to use Black Flame on the same target, resulting in an absurdly high amount of damage. Use Fire Whip as an opener and you will not be disappointed. Obtain this pyromancy from Karla after giving her the Quelana Pyromancy Tome.
8 Warmth
In a game as punishing as Dark Souls 3, having reliable ways of healing yourself is crucial no matter the foe. That is why Warmth is such a solid pyromancy.
Warmth places a radial healing field that grants 35HP a second while you are nearby. It lasts for a whole minute, granting ample health if you can stay near it. Enemies can also benefit from this pyromancy. That can be advantageous, however, if you use area denial pyromancies such as Toxic Mist or Chaos Bed Vestiges. Warmth is rewarded after offering 30 Vertebra Shackles to the Mound-Makers covenant.
7 Rapport
Rapport is a charm pyromancy that will cause afflicted targets to become allied with you for 30 seconds. It doesn't work on bosses or players, but the typical mobs you face will stand with you when charmed.
Charmed targets will immediately drop aggro from you and focus on fighting nearby targets. This can include player invaders to shake up combat. This can also be used as a cheap way of getting backstabs on aggressive enemies. The Quelana Pyromancy Tome must be given to Karla first before you can learn this pyromancy.
6 Boulder Heave
Should you have enough intelligence and faith, you can learn how to project boulders out of your character's mouth. Boulder Heave is a strange pyromancy that will fire a heavy boulder at wherever you're looking.
Boulders from this pyromancy deal physical damage, send targets prone if they aren't blocking, and splits into multiple shards to deal additional staggers when it lands on someone. Considering its cheap cost of 17 FP, Boulder Heave is a fantastic choice for catching players that roll in PvP or stun-locking enemies in PvE. You can obtain Boulder Heave by transposing the Soul of a Stray Demon.
5 Power Within
Power Within is one of the best pyromancies any player could use, granting a suite of buffs that are hard to pass up with a small tradeoff.
Dealing small tick damage per second, Power Within nearly doubles your base stamina regeneration while increasing your damage multiplicatively by nearly 20%. These buffs are insane for any content with the only drawback being the small loss of health each second. A hidden wall in the Grand Archives holds this powerful pyromancy.
4 Carthus Flame Arc
Coating a Greatsword with flame might be one of the coolest things you can do in a Souls game. Carthus Flame Arc lets you do just that, granting a flat amount of fire damage to your weapon for 90 seconds.
Unlike most pyromancies, Carthus Flame Arc does not scale on your intelligence or faith stats. Instead, the sole stat that increases Flame Arc's strength is your Pyromancy Flame's Spell Buff stat. This is fantastic for low-leveled characters but falls off as you get stronger. The Carthus Pyromancy Tomb must be given to Cornyx before you can learn this pyromancy.
3 Great Chaos Fire Orb
Great Chaos Fire Orb is a beast of a pyromancy, dealing a massive amount of fire damage on impact while leaving behind a pool of lava for two seconds after impact. Needless to say, PvE targets that don't move much get decimated by this pyromancy.
Invaders that frequently roll will also be caught by either the explosion or the lava with this pyromancy, making this an excellent choice in PvE as well. If it wasn't for the high FP cost of 32 and the two attunement slots it needs, it would be even higher on this list. You can purchase this pyromancy from Cornyx for 10,000 Souls after giving him the Izalith Pyromancy Tome.
2 Black Flame
Black Flame is a great short-range pyromancy that forces players to roll away and can shut down PvE mobs with ease.
This spell works the same as Great Combustion, spawning a dark-damaging explosion from your hand. It deals high damage in a forgiving radius, staggering targets for a short period while dealing massive stamina damage if the target is blocking. Karla will sell this to players once she has the Grave Warden Pyromancy Tome.
1 Chaos Bed Vestiges
Dark Souls 2's Forbidden Sun pyromancy is back and brighter than ever. Chaos Bed Vestiges is Dark Souls 3's ultimate fireball-like pyromancy.
It releases a giant orb that radiates flame, dealing light damage to enemies in the radiating heat. If you get caught in the blast radius, prepare for one of the most damaging ranged attacks in the game. This spell will easily half-health most players and kill nearly every non-boss target in PvE. To obtain this pyromancy, you must transpose the Soul of the Old Demon King's soul.