Understanding stats is a critical part of perfecting a character's build, and this, in turn, is a critical part of beating Dark Souls. Each hard-earned level can only raise a single stat by a single point, thereby it is essential to know which stats to prioritize for your preferred build. Done incorrectly, this can cripple a playthrough.
While we've no way to know which build you're personally going for, there is a generally approved hierarchy as to which stats are more valuable. For this article, we'll only be taking PVE (Player Versus Enemy) and not PVP (Player Versus Player) recommendations into account, as one is more broadly played than the other. This also won’t consider Humanity and Soul Level as stats as the former won’t increase via leveling and the latter is the character’s level.
Updated April 19, 2022, by Cameron Roy Hall: From Software's most recent open-world RPG, Elden Ring, has been out for a few months now, and there's a startling amount of players that have already combed every corner of its colossal map. We've polished up a few Dark Souls articles, like this one where we ranked the stats by their subjective importance, for anyone looking for a little more Soulsborne action.
8 Resistance
Resistance refers to the character's physical defense, fire defense, and poison resistance. At first glance, there's no build that wouldn't benefit from bulking this stat, but the gains for each stacked point are incredibly low.
In fact, you'll get more mileage out of increasing Vitality to simply absorb the damage as opposed to trying to negate it. The gains also pale in comparison to the armor and other equipment that will naturally raise Resistance levels without consuming souls. In almost every situation, your souls are better spent on any other stat improvement.
7 Faith
Faith is primarily used for the casting of miracles and raising Magic Defense. While miracles are helpful, they're neither the most powerful nor the most diverse skillset. The other benefits that come from Faith, such as raising Magic Adjustment on talismans, or the weapons and equipment that scale based on Faith, aren't always exciting.
This isn’t to say Faith is useless and should be ignored. Underestimating the power of a Sunlight Spear is potentially fatal, and healing miracles are incredibly useful. The stat just doesn’t hold up as well on a balanced build.
6 Attunement
Attunement is needed to increase the amount of Attunement slots you have. If you intend to use Pyromancies, Sorceries, or Miracles, then having multiple Attunement slots is critical for getting more charges and therefore more uses.
The most Attunement slots you can acquire through this method is ten, which is achieved by reaching 50 attunement points. Allocating any more points to Attunement after that will have zero effect. This is the only stat that has a hard plateau effect. The game does not tell you this, which is very Dark Souls, but even though it's cruelly secretive, Attunement is pivotal for a number of builds.
5 Dexterity
Dexterity and Strength are essentially tied in terms of usefulness. Dexterity is primarily to increase the damage done by Dexterity-based weapons, like bows. It's also needed to equip certain gear and can increase the casting speed of Pyromancies, sorceries, and miracles.
Dexterity is better if you prefer to dodge rather than use shields. Ultimately it comes down to your playstyle preferences whether more points should be in Strength or Dexterity, though having a balance is almost always recommended for having more options.
4 Strength
As mentioned before, Strength and Dexterity are essentially tied. Strength is primarily used to increase the damage of Strength-based weapons. There is also a lot of equipment in this game that relies upon a high strength to wield effectively.
Strength is better if you prefer to use shields to block attacks rather than dodge, as Strength is needed to wield said shields. Once again we recommend a balance of Strength and Dexterity, potentially with slight favour to whichever best suits your play style.
3 Endurance
Endurance is a stat that increases max Stamina, raises your equipable burden, and raises Bleed Resistance. A higher equipable burden means you will be able to carry more without the weight affecting movement speed, roll ability, and, more importantly, Stamina regeneration. Bleed Resistance is highly recommended, even if your dodging skills are immaculate.
But the real reason for raising Endurance is to increase your max Stamina. This is the fuel needed to perform any physical action. Whether it’s rolling, blocking, or attacking, you'll want a lot of stamina. One thing to keep in mind is that the Stamina boost will drop off after 40 which makes this stat a lot less useful after this point.
2 Intelligence
Intelligence is used primarily in the casting of sorceries. It will also raise damage with certain magical weapons, is needed to wield certain gear, and can raise the Magic Adjustment of catalysts. For an aspiring magic user, Intelligence is a must-have.
There's a certain subset of the Dark Souls community that believes in ignoring sorcery and Pyromancy, as they believe it diminishes the experience. This is, quite bluntly, a horrible take to force on another player. If you want to be a sorcerer and enjoy the brief luxury of long-range magic, go for it.
1 Vitality
Vitality is broadly considered the most important stat in Dark Souls. It serves a single purpose in the game and that’s to increase your max Hit Points. While there are some who can beat the game without ever getting hit, most of us will get hit... a lot. Having a healthy bank of Hit Points will allow you to survive more damage output.
Vitality does see some setbacks after 40 as each stat point raises the overall Hit Points less and less, but prior to 40 Vitality is easily the most important stat to consider, and even after that number is reached, it still ranks high. It doesn’t matter what your playstyle or build is, invest in Vitality.