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Nearly every weapon and armor piece in Dark Souls can be upgraded by using Titanite. Unlike Dark Souls 2 and 3, the original title has multiple variants of Titanite that can make upgrading your gear rather confusing.

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If the Titanite variants weren't confusing enough, they all have unique drop tables that encourage you to farm in different locations. This isn't much of a downside, though, as most good Titanite farming methods can give you dozens of Titanite in just a few minutes. For those looking to upgrade their gear to the max, here are tips for farming Titanite in Dark Souls.

Updated April 2, 2023 by Branden Lizardi: There's few games as classic and timeless as DS1. Our latest playthrough has been centered on defeating giant monsters and powerful bosses with something as underwhelming as a "Divine Shortsword." But before we can start using our White Titanite Shards, we need to farm more Green Titanite Shards for upgrades. Thankfully, this guide is here. We've revisited this guide and made sure everything was clean, clear, and up to date.

Only Farm What You Can't Buy

Andre the blacksmith in Dark Souls

When it comes down to it, don't waste your time farming Titanite that you can purchase. The likes of Andre and other shopkeeps throughout Dark Souls sell different types of Titanite in exchange for Souls. While you're still going to need to grind for the higher tiers, you can cut the difference by simply buying all the lower tier Titanite you need.

This does mean Soul grinding, but this is much easier than Titanite farming. You can get Souls in abundance by mid-game and more than enough to purchase anything you need by late-game. With this in mind, prioritize farming what you can't buy above all else.

Summon NPC Phantoms When Possible

The Witch Beatrice in Dark Souls

This is only going to work in areas where you haven't beaten the boss yet, so it might not work for anyone who's farming from an endgame file. Summoning NPC Phantoms will farming for Titanite will give you a partner who can help distract enemies and keep you alive.

Summoning someone like Beatrice is especially useful when farming down in New Londo Ruins, as she can help you circumvent the harder enemies without depriving you of item drops or Souls. Just keep in mind you'll need to resummon them every time you reenter the area.

Increase Your Item Discovery

Dark Souls Symbol of Avarice

Before you begin to farm any material in Dark Souls, make sure you have a few items that boost your Item Discovery. This particular stat determines the probability that an enemy will drop an item when slain. Here are a few valuable items that boost your Item Discovery rating:

Item

Effect

Details

Symbol of Avarice

+200 Item Discovery

  • Drops from slain Mimics.
  • Killing every Mimic in a playthrough guarantees a Symbol of Avarice. Does not stack with the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring.

Covetous Gold Serpent Ring

+200 Item Discovery

  • Found in Sen's Fortress in a hidden room beside the first Mimic. Send four boulders down the west path to break the wall.
  • Does not stack with the Symbol of Avarice.

Humanity

Up to +110 Item Discovery

  • Must be consumed to grant Item Discovery, grants diminishing amounts of additional Item Discovery.
  • One Humanity grants +50 Item Discovery while ten caps out at +110.

The maximum Item Discovery you can have is 410, causing the drop rate of all items to increase by 4.1 times as much. For example, if an enemy has a 25 percent chance to drop an item by default, 410 Item Discovery would increase the item's drop rate to 100 percent.

Titanite Shard Farming

Dark Souls Balder Knight

Titanite Shards are rather common in Dark Souls, obtainable from most blacksmiths for 800 Souls. The early game also has quite a few shards for players to find.

For those who are determined to farm Titanite Shards of both sizes, these are the most effective methodss

Titanite Shard Farming

  • Purchase from any Blacksmith for 800 Souls.
  • Defeat Balder Knights in Sen's Fortress (22 percent drop chance).

Large Titanite Shard Farming

  • Purchase from the Giant Blacksmith in Anor Londo for 3,800 Souls.
  • Defeat Barenike Knights in Sen's Fortress (25 percent drop rate).
  • Kill the Giant Leeches in Blightown's swamp (5 percent drop chance, dozens of leeches per run).

Titanite Chunk Farming

Dark Souls Darkwraith

Unfortunately, Titanite Chunks cannot be purchased from any of the game's vendors. Farming this resource from enemies is your best option.

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Darkwraiths in the New Londo Ruins are the best enemies to farm since they have a chance to drop either one or two. You can find a small group of them at the lowest part of the level just before the Four Kings boss. A single Black Knight carrying a sword in the Kiln of the First Flame always drops a Titanite Chunk.

Titanite Chunk Farming

  • Slay Darkwraiths in the New Londo Ruins (8.47 percent drop rate, 0.32 percent chance to receive two).
  • Defeat the sword-wielding Black Knight in Kiln of the First Flame (guaranteed drop).

Titanite Slab Farming

Dark Souls Stray Demon

Most Titanite Slabs drop from defeating non-respawning enemies such as the Stray Demon in Undead Asylum. The only respawning enemy type that spawns Titanite Slabs are Darkwraiths, and they have an absurdly low drop chance.

Other sources of Titanite Slabs include the Crystal Lizards in The Great Hollow, Sieglinde of Catarina after completing Siegmeyer's questline, and a treasure chest in Kalameet's arena.

Titanite Slab Farming

  • Defeat Darkwraiths in the New Londo Ruins (0.21 percent drop chance).

Green Titanite Shard Farming

Dark Souls Giant Leech

Large Titanite Shards have a green variant that can be used to reinforce elemental weapons to +5 quality. They can be purchased from the Crestfallen Merchant for 5,000 Souls or from Anor Londo's Giant Blacksmith for 4,800 Souls.

Farming this item is rather easy; Giant Leeches in Blighttown have a two percent chance to drop five Green Titanite Shards at once. Since so many leeches huddle together in Blighttown, they are by far the best enemies to farm this resource from.

Green Titanite Shard Farming

  • Purchase from the Crestfallen Merchant for 5,000 Souls.
  • Purchase from the Giant Blacksmith for 4,800 Souls.
  • Kill the Giant Leeches in Blighttown (2 percent drop chance for five).

Red Titanite Farming

Dark Souls Chaos Eater

By far the best means of obtaining Red Titanite Chunks is to kill the greatsword-wielding Black Knight in Kiln of the First Flame. The Black Knight will always drop a chunk when slain. For those that haven't reached that area yet, the Chaos Eaters in Lost Izalith have a ten percent chance of dropping a Red Titanite Chunk.

Slabs are much harder to come by. One Red Titanite Slab can be obtained by trading an Ascended Pyromancy Flame to Snuggly the Crow in the Undead Asylum, A second slab can be found in a chest in Lost Izalith near Siegmeyer's location during the end of his quest. As for farming them, the only enemies that drop Red Titanite Slabs are Chaos Eaters. The item has a drop chance is 0.3 percent.

Red Titanite Chunk Farming

  • Farm the Chaos Eaters in Lost Izalith (10 percent drop chance).
  • Kill the greatsword-wielding Black Knight in Kiln of the First Flame (guaranteed drop).

Red Titanite Slab Farming

  • Farm the Chaos Eaters in Lost Izalith (0.3 percent drop chance).

Blue Titanite Farming

The Crystal Cave from Dark Souls

Blue Titanite Chunks are most frequently found on Crystal Lizards near the Duke's Archives. Those that want to farm this resource should kill the Crystal Golems that roam near the Crystal Cave and Darkroot Basin. Every Crystal Golem has an eight percent chance of dropping a Blue Titanite Chunk. Alternatively, the halberd-wielding Black Knight in Kiln of the First Flame always drops one.

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As with Red Titanite Slabs, Blue Titanite Slabs are absurdly rare. The only enemy that drops one is the Lesser Moonlight Butterfly that can be found in the Crystal Cave.

Blue Titanite Chunk Farming

  • Farm the Crystal Golems in Darkroot Basin or the Crystal Cave (8 percent drop chance).
  • Kill the halberd-wielding Black Knight in Kiln of the First Flame (guaranteed drop).

Blue Titanite Slab Farming

  • Farm the Lesser Moonlight Butterfly in the Crystal Caves (0.3 percent drop chance).

White Titanite Farming

Dark-Souls-Tomb-of-the-Giants

Tomb of the Giants is the best place to farm White Titanite Chunks. Both the Bone Towers and Pinwheel Servant enemies have a reasonable chance of dropping a White Titanite Chunk on death—a five and ten percent chance, respectively. Pinwheel Servants usually drop two chunks. Kiln of the First Flame's greataxe-wielding Black Knight will always drop a White Titanite Chunk when killed.

Pinwheel Servants also have a chance of dropping a White Titanite Slab, the only enemy in the game that can drop this item.

White Titanite Chunk Farming

  • Defeat Bone Towers in the Tomb of the Giants (5 percent drop chance).
  • Kill Pinwheel Servants in the Tomb of the Giants (10 percent drop chance for two, 0.3 percent for one).

White Titanite Slab Farming

  • Kill Piwnheel Servants in the Tomb of the Giants (0.2 percent drop chance).

Twinkling Titanite Farming

Dark Souls Crystal Lizard

Twinkling Titanite always drops from slain Crystals Lizards. Two can be earned from every lizard slain, although this resource can also be farmed from either the Guardians in Oolacile or the Giant Clams in the Crystal Caves.

Twinkling Titanite Farming

  • Kill Guardians in Oolacile (20 percent drop chance).
  • Defeat Giant Clams in the Crystal Caves (20 percent drop chance).

Demon Titanite Farming

Dark Souls Titanite Demon

Demon Titanite is the final variant of Titanite, dropped from Titanite Demons in the Demon Ruins and Lost Izalith. The Titanite Demon guarding the Lost Izalith shortcut bridge respawns and always drops two on death.

Demon Titanite Farming

  • Slay the Titanite Demon guarding the Demon Ruins' bridge shortcut (guaranteed to drop two).

Dragon Scale Farming

Dark Souls Red Dragon Encounter

White not a titanite, dragon scale is the last upgrade material you might require. Dragon-based weapons, such as the Drake Sword of Dragon Greatsword will require Dragon Scales instead of titanite for their upgrades.

The following enemies and locations will yield Dragon Scales, but they aren't repeatable.

  • Trade Snuggly an Egg Vermafuge
  • Found throughout Ash Lake
  • Defeating Undead Dragons and Hydra

Vagrants also drop dragon scales. But due to their rare nature, they're not a reliable source.

Dragon Scale Farming

The most reliable way to farm Dragon Scales is through the Drakes in the Valley of the Drakes. Though they only have a base chance of five percent to drop the item, they are farmable with a relatively close bonfire.

Next: Dark Souls 2: Hidden Bosses You Likely Missed