This time around, FromSoftware was feeling generous, and gave players a whopping 4 ring slots to mess about with! While the staples may seem obvious such as the ring of favour or chloranthy ring, there are a load of other- often overlooked- options which are a ton of fun to play around with! Today I’m going to go over some of the best, most interesting, or most game-changing choices for your builds!
15/14. Skull Ring and Calamity Ring
Starting off with a light-hearted one, and not for most players. For some, Dark Souls just isn’t hard enough. This is where this combo comes in. The skull ring makes enemies detect you easier and causes them to prioritise you over other potential targets. The calamity ring makes you take double damage. I personally challenge anyone reading this to try this out, it’s a ton of fun but may require a back-up controller or two… How to get (Skull ring): Obtained by killing Ludleth (He’ll respawn, don’t worry). How to get (Calamity ring): Use the path of the dragon gesture in front of the dragon statue in archdragon peak, where the drakeblood knight gets summoned.
13. Sages Ring
Ok, on to more serious stuff now. What some players may not know is that casting speed- for all schools of magic- is affected by your dex level, capping at 50. Don’t want to build 50 dex? No problem! That’s where this ring shines. The sages ring gives ‘virtual’ dex, essentially inflating that cast speed without giving the stat points themselves. The +2 version gives an insane 40 virtual dex! Placing you only 10 points away from the cap. How to get: Base version found in the crab-infested waters of the road of sacrifices, in a ruined room to the left. +2 version is on the broken staircase in the consumed kings garden (requires NG++)
12. Dusk Crown Ring
Staying in the realm of spellcasting, the dusk crown ring reduces the FP of all spells at the cost of 15% of your max HP! This may seem scary and is largely the reason the ring gets overlooked, but magic users (especially sorcerers) tend to be quite glass-cannon to begin with, especially in NG+ and beyond. If you find yourself slinging spells a ton, the FP reduction from the dusk crown will go a long way. How to get: In a cell at the bottom of the Irithyll dungeon.
11. Leo Ring
If you’ve read any of my past lists, you’ll know I’m obsessed with the Leo. It boosts the damage of thrust weapon counter attacks- which occur when hitting a foe mid attack animation- by 15%. Any weapon that stabs often should be paired with this ring. Spears benefit the most, being all thrust, and often having the ability to outrange enemies while they attack. There is just nothing better than the hollow whoomph sound that plays when landing a counterattack. How to get: In a chest on the second floor of the silver knight room in the Irithyll.
10. Hawk Ring
A must-have for all bow users. The hawk ring has the unique effect of extending the effective range of arrows, and by quite a sizable amount, too! Not only this, the hawk ring extends the damage drop-off range, allowing your arrows to still do full damage even when far away. This ring single-handedly enables long-range sniping builds which are a ton of fun to invade other players with! How to get: Dropped by the friendly giant in the undead settlement when killed, or when he dies naturally in the late game.
9. Knight Slayer’s Ring
Despite being a much more situational choice, I always keep the knight slayer in my back pocket during PvP. Its effect causes enemy stamina to plummet when blocking your attacks, making it fantastic at punishing shield-spamming players during fights, and will 9 times out of 10 land you a riposte. It sees its uses during general gameplay too, being effective against spear-using Lothric knights or the dreaded mace cathedral knights. How to get: Dropped by knight slayer Tsorig in the catacombs of Carthus.
8. Farron Ring
The Farron ring may seem a bit boring on paper, but trust me, I’ve been able to make plenty of use of it in my builds. It reduces weapon skill FP costs by 25%, allowing you to spam those flashy weapon skills without completely chewing through your spell supply. It’s great for all sorts of weapons such as Friede’s great scythe, frayed blade, the ringed knight weapons, onyx blade – the list goes on. Try it out- the extra skill uses might be the difference in a fight! How to get: Talk to Hawkwood in Firelink after defeating the abyss watchers.
7. Red Tearstone Ring
For all you balls-of-steel players out there, the RTSR rewards white-knuckle low-health gameplay, giving a huge 20% damage buff but only while below 20% HP. It takes guts to use this ring generally, but if you have skills, you can pull it off for a crazy boost to DPS. Being a critical component for one-shot builds, the RTSR will have a place in the heart of Dark Souls fans for years to come. How to get: In a room next to the dragonslayer armour bossfight, in Lothric castle.
6. Lloyd’s Sword Ring
On the other side of the HP spectrum, Lloyd’s sword ring rewards flawless gameplay, giving 10% bonus damage while at full HP. The boost may be smaller than the RTSR, but it is much easier to enable and allows you to actually get hit without dying instantly. It’s especially great for long-range builds such as bows or sorceries, as they tend to want to stay out of harm’s way to begin with! How to get: In the cathedral of the deep, where you first encounter a giant.
5. Pontiff’s Right Eye
The last of the damage boosters, Pontiff’s right eye rewards continuous attacking. Its effect boosts your attack power so long as attacking persists, starting at a 3% going all the way up to 10%! The effect triggers every 3-5 hits, depending on weapon types, but sadly only works with melee weapons. Still, it’s great for spam-heavy weapon types such as daggers or straight swords! How to get: In the Irithyll, obtained by killing the Sulyvahn’s beast on the bridge at the start.
4. Carthus Bloodring
PSA: This ring exists! The Carthus bloodring is so strange and so niche, and because of this is completely overlooked by almost everyone. It reduces your damage absorption by a crippling 30%, but in exchange raising your i-frames while rolling by about 1.3x. It sees fringe uses in PvP, but in my experience it particularly shines when running through populated areas. Especially that terrifying double angel bridge run in the ringed city DLC- I owe this ring my life. It’s also great to throw on if you’re struggling with a boss fight, or are in a NG+ level high enough that you get one-shot anyway. How to get: Found in the catacombs of Carthus, down the skeleton wheel and slime infested corridor.
3. Silvercat Ring
Whilst not being a complete necessity in this game like it was in DS2, the silvercat ring still has some fun applications. The rings effect means that if a fall wouldn’t kill you outright, you’ll take no damage from it. It’s so much fun to drop from the top of a building, be in free-fall for a solid 2-3 seconds, and walk away with full HP. It has great applications in PvP invasions too, allowing you to be a complete nuisance and often bait other players to near-death falls. How to get: Given by Sirris at Firelink after helping her kill Creighton on the Irithyll bridge.
2. Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring
The perfect ring for going sneaky-beaky like. The slumbering dragoncrest ring causes you to make no sound when moving or rolling! It also has the nice added effect of hiding certain visual effects such as tears of denial, which can be a dead giveaway for stealthy invaders. It won’t see much use solo, but when paired with the other bundle of stealth rings, it plays an integral part of the annoying invader setup. How to get: Given by Orbeck after buying the ‘gimmick’ spells- aural decoy, Farron flashsword, pestilent mist, and spook.
1. Obscuring Ring
Let’s be honest, messing with people is just so much fun. And the obscuring ring will be a fantastic tool for just that. It makes you completely invisible to other players who are any more than 10 meters away! Pair this with the hawk ring and you can pepper away at foes without a trace! Watch in glee as their character spins trying to figure out where your arrows are coming from. Take it a step further and throw on the silvercat and slumbering Dragoncrest ring too to become a completely undetectable ninja. And a total pain in the ass. How to get: Reach rank 1 of the Rosaria’s fingers covenant.
