Stats make the Slayer, and no one’s going to be beating Demon’s Souls on their first playthrough without leveling up in the process. While skilled players and perhaps even series veterans can get through Demon’s Souls at SL1, most players will be making use of everything at their disposal to get an advantage. Demon’s Souls was a hostile game when it originally released on the PS3, and its PS5 remake is no different.
FromSoftware’s cult classic may be challenging, but leveling goes a long way in Demon’s Souls – so long as players pick the right stats. Just like in Dark Souls, not every stat in Demon’s Souls is all that useful in the grand scheme of things. Worse, it’s considerably easier to mess up a build in Demon’s Souls than a game like Bloodborne. Knowing which stats to level and what they do goes a long way in making Demon’s Souls manageable.
Edited on August 31, 2021 by Renan Fontes: Not every stat in Demon's Souls is useful, a cardinal sin of any RPG. It's possible to make some serious mistakes while leveling up your character, resulting in a build that demands resetting your progress. Demon's Souls is also fairly restrictive when it comes to builds. There isn't as much variety as Dark Souls and you need to be very selective which the stats that you raise, otherwise you won't live up to your full potential.
Luck
Even though Luck increases item drop rate and Plague resistance (theoretically useful for the Valley of Defilement), its benefits are almost utterly useless. Luck doesn’t increase item rarity, what actually matters about the drop rate, and Plague is one of the most circumstantial status effects in the game – easily preventable through gameplay. Blueblood builds are free to level Luck as that’s their main damage stat, but there are otherwise no tangible benefits to leveling Luck.
Dexterity
Although Dexterity builds can create truly powerful end-game characters (especially for archers using the Sticky Compound Longbow), the weapon variety available isn’t as outright ferocious as for Strength builds.
On the same token, Dexterity builds have access to the Uchigatana, a katana that scales well with Dex and can be found in 4-1 by Vanguard. Dexterity itself is an attack stat, increasing the offensive capabilities of a Dex based weapon. Dexterity soft caps at 40, but can be pushed to 50 if you're desperate for some extra damage output.
Strength
Strength, like Dexterity, is primarily an attack stat. Players should only level Strength if they’re looking to build a melee character who will be equipping heavy weapons. The Dragon Bone Smasher is an excellent example of a high-level Strength weapon, doing obscene damage in spite of its limited move set. Strength soft caps at 40, but there are certain weapons that benefit from pushing the stat to at least 50.
Magic
Demon’s Souls may be hard, but it’s nowhere near impossible thanks to the inclusion of magic. When all else fails, a mage will get through the game with little to no trouble. Very few enemies and bosses actually resist magic, and those that do can typically be defeated with unique spells. Even the hardest boss in the game – Old King Doran – can do nothing in the face of spells like Poison or Death Could.
The Magic stat raises the damage output of all spells, basically like an attack stat such as Strength and Dexterity. Interestingly, Magic has different soft caps depending on which Catalyst players have equipped. Wooden Catalysts soft cap at 30, whereas Insanity Catalysts soft cap at 50.
Faith
While there aren’t as many Miracles as there are spells in Demon’s Souls, Faith Builds have a noticeable advantage over traditional mages who stick to leveling Magic & Intelligence: they only have one main stat. Faith Builds will need to raise Intelligence to increase their MP, but the Faith stat has the added benefit of raising Miracle potency while unlocking new Miracle slots in the process.
By 36, you'll have access to four Miracle slots along with high-level Miracles. Rather than damaging enemies, Miracles offer buffs, healing, and status effect removal – extremely useful for anyone consistently taking a lot of damage.
Intelligence
Since Intelligence raises MP – tied to some of the most overpowered spells in the game – it goes without saying that the stat stands out as one of Demon’s Souls’ most useful. Intelligence offers a max of 6 spell slots at 40, while also only soft capping at 60. It’s debatable whether or not any build needs that much MP (especially since Magic could likely benefit from those extra levels), but being able to fire off an onslaught of varied magic is always useful in Demon’s Souls.
Vitality
Not only does Vitality increase item burden (useful for anyone who carries a lot of equipment, or even just Full Moon Grass), it’s the only means of raising max health in a game where dying cuts the total health pool in half – without the Cling Ring, of course.
Vitality soft caps 50, but the stat will always offer extra HP and Item Burden up to Level 99, ensuring that levels are never wasted. Health goes a long way in Demon’s Souls.
Endurance
Ignoring Endurance is a surefire way of ruining any playthrough. Endurance increases Stamina up to 40, equip burden (extremely useful for melee characters, especially Strength builds), and Fire, Poison, & Bleed Resistance depending on the level.
Endurance is an all-purpose stat that ensures any character can equip what they want, move how they like, and resist virtually everything in their path. It’s more debatable whether Endurance is worth leveling past 40 like Vitality, but the benefits of a light Equip Burden on a heavy character shouldn’t be ignored.
Which Stats Should You Level Up First?
Which stats you'll be leveling up first depends entirely on your builds and how skilled you are at the game. If you want to play a traditional melee character, you should prioritize leveling up either Strength or Dexterity first – ideally pushing either to 25 in order to get a solid early-game attack boost.
If you want to play a ranged mage, you need to level up Magic, Intelligence, or Faith depending on which Spells or Miracles you want. If you're struggling with gameplay and dying often, you should level up Vitality or Endurance. Vitality is always useful and Endurance is vital if you want to chain long combos or simply dodge reliably during combat.
Which Stats Should You Avoid?
Which stats to avoid will also depend on your build. If you're a magic-user, don't even bother leveling up Strength or Dexterity unless there's some piece of gear you need to equip for some reason. Melee characters can level up both Strength and Dexterity, but it's better to focus on a single offense stat and ignore the other unless you want weapon variety. Similarly, it's better to pick between Faith and Intelligence instead of going for both. In general, Avoid leveling up Luck unless you're specifically running a Luck build – otherwise, you'll just be wasting your levels.