*When infused: 63 physical dmg/63 elemental dmg and B scaling with chosen element. Str scaling changes to B. Dex scaling changes to C.
Caestus is a weapon in Dark Souls 2. Caestus is a hand-to-hand combat weapon designed for striking with fists. It scales primarily with Strength and Dexterity. You can purchase this weapon from Merchant Hag Melentia. Additionally, a +8 version can be found in Brume Tower.
Weapon used to strike with one's fists.
The thick leather covering bears iron studs, and protects the hands while augmenting their striking power.
Attacks with the fists are solely dependent on one's strength. With this weapon, any encounter becomes a brawl.
Acquired From
- Sold by Merchant Hag Melentia for 1000 souls.
- A +8 version can be found in Brume Tower.
Hints and Tips:
- Upgraded with regular Titanite to +10. Note: Cannot be infused with Bleed Stone.
- The parry can deflect bombs.
- When used in your left hand with the stats to power stance it, You can use the power stance mode with only a single Caestus in your left hand, and nothing in your right. This is useful if you wish to use the Vanquisher's Seal, but have a better stagger ability with minimal damage loss.
Youtube relevant videos:
((Links only please, no embeds, no PvP videos))
Required in Build:
Caestus Upgrades
| Attack ValuesBonus | Parameter Bonus | Auxiliary Effects | Damage Reduction (%) | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Regular | 45 | - | - | - | - | 130 15 |
A | B | - | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Regular +10 | 90 | - | - | - | - | ^ | A | A | - | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Magic | 31 | 31 | - | - | - | ^ | B | C | C | - | - | - | - | - | 27.9 | 26.6 | 17.9 | 17.9 | 27.9 |
| Magic +10 | 63 | 63 | - | - | - | ^ | B | C | B | - | - | - | - | - | 27.9 | 26.6 | 17.9 | 17.9 | 27.9 |
| Fire | 31 | - | 31 | - | - | ^ | B | C | - | C | - | - | - | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 36.6 | 17.9 | 27.9 |
| Fire +10 | 63 | - | 63 | - | - | ^ | B | C | - | B | - | - | - | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 36.6 | 17.9 | 27.9 |
| Lightning | 31 | - | - | 31 | - | ^ | B | C | - | - | C | - | - | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 17.9 | 36.6 | 27.9 |
| Lightning +10 | 63 | - | - | 63 | - | ^ | B | C | - | - | B | - | - | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 17.9 | 36.6 | 27.9 |
| Dark | 31 | - | - | - | 31 | ^ | B | C | - | - | - | C | - | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 17.9 | 17.9 | 46.6 |
| Dark +10 | 63 | - | - | - | 63 | ^ | B | C | - | - | - | B | - | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 17.9 | 17.9 | 46.6 |
| Poison | 31 | - | - | - | - | ^ | B | C | - | - | - | - | 112 | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 17.9 | 17.9 | 27.9 |
| Poison +10 | 63 | - | - | - | - | ^ | B | C | - | - | - | - | 140 | - | 27.9 | 7.9 | 17.9 | 17.9 | 27.9 |
| Raw | 51 | - | - | - | - | ^ | D | E | - | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Raw +10 | 103 | - | - | - | - | ^ | D | E | - | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Enchanted | 45 | - | - | - | - | ^ | D | E | D | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Enchanted +10 | 90 | - | - | - | - | ^ | D | D | C | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Mundane | 22 | - | - | - | - | ^ | C | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
| Mundane +10 | 45 | - | - | - | - | ^ | C | D | - | - | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | 20 | 20 | 30 |
Note: Cannot be infused with Bleed Stone.
Table Key
Please see the Upgrades page for details on Upgrade paths, ore and blacksmiths. You can see the Stats page for detailed explanations on what they do.
| Requirements/ Parameter Bonus |
Attack Values | Damage Reduction (%) Reducing the elemental damage taken in % |
Auxiliary Effects | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Strength |
Physical |
Physical |
Bleeding |
 Durability |
 Dexterity |
Magic |
Magic |
 Poison |
Weight |
 Intelligence |
Fire |
Fire |
 Petrify |
|
 Faith |
Lightning |
Lightning |
 Curse |
|
| Magic Bonus |
 Counter Strength |
 Stability |
||
|
|
 Poise Damage |
|||
| Lighting Bonus |
 Cast Speed |
|||
| Dark Bonus |
 Range |
Parameter Bonus: Strength, Dexterity,Magic, Fire, Lightning and Dark bonuses - The scaling multiplier applied to the [Attack: stat]. Scaling quality is from highest to lowest as follows: S/A/B/C/D/E.
The higher the player's [Str, Dex, Mag, Fire, Light] stat, the higher the [Attack Bonus: Stat] is (found on the player status screen). The higher the scaling letter, the higher the percent multiplier applied to the [Attack: Stat].
This resulting bonus damage is added to the base physical damage of the weapon and is shown in the equipment screen in blue numbers as a "+ X".
Durability: The weapon's HP, when the durability hits 0, the effectiveness of its attacks become weakened to the point of almost uselessness. When an items durability is low, a message will come up saying "Weapon At Risk!" at this point the weapon does not perform at it's best.
Weight: How much the item weights when equipped.
Stability: How well the player keeps stance after being hit
Attack Type: Defines what kind of swing set the weapon has.
Regular(R), Thrust(T), Slash(Sl), Strike(St)
Anonymous
- Anonymous
it's kinda bad in the early game because it deals very low damage and has low range, so you'll get ganked by mobs often, but once you pump up those souls into str and dex for scaling it becomes a great dps choice for single enemies
I was just messing around with this dual wielding looking for a str wepon and was suprised there actully not to shabby
- Anonymous
Great weapons, but the rapid hits tend to degrade them... and the lack of reach is suicidal at times. So, i keep these in my back-up slots. Helps that they are soooo lightweight and perfect for that purpose.
- Anonymous
With 15 in both str and dex, powerstancing two of these almost feels like cheating. Such dps for such low stamina cost...
Early on its better to play with swords, but as low as 20/20 STR/DEX is enough to shred through enemies to get to 30/30, im running 50/50 rn for optimal damage and sometimes i feel to strong
- Anonymous
This is a really annoying yet obv extremely good weapon, honestly as a main cast user i have to spam melee spells (soul gs, combustion at lower lvl...) or use the rapier timing to catch off guard the opponent.
On ph builds tho i have not found a way to counter this, since poise is non existent for this thing since stone ring + power stance with one landed combo does 70 poise dmg...
- Anonymous
When i first played this game i thought this was a joke weapon. Now on my 7th playthrough im having a blast with this and the bone fist.
- Anonymous
The moment when you power stance this the punch out theme should start playing, someone make a mod to add this in
- Anonymous
I was thinking about doing a monk build with this weapon it reminds me of shining force 2 a bit
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA
- Anonymous
The A/A scaling looks impressive, but remember that Dex scales a lot less hard than Str does. At 10/10 you're looking at 164 damage. 40/10 and 10/40 respectively do 234 and 201 damage, a hefty 33 damage difference. 50/10 and 10/50 go as far as 247 and 208, a difference of 83 and 44 damage increase over 40 levels. So if you go Caestus keep that in mind. 40/40 lands you a cool 272 damage, which is 291 at 50/50. Make sure to equip the Ring of Blades +2 to increase that by an additional 50 damage. But what do you get out of all of this? Well, one of the fastest attack speeds in the game. Sure, sub-300 damage is nothing to write home about but when you can land two or more of those hits in the time it takes a larger weapon a single swing you'll be dishing out the pain by the truckloads. Make sure to at least go to 15/10 so you can power stance these bad boys to really bring the pain, and their ease of acquisition (Melentia at 2000 souls for a pair) means you can take down some of the earliest bosses with these babies. Don't forget the Stone Ring if you want to stunlock your enemies to death. Now, while the Caestus is a fine weapon if you want to go Hajime no Ippo on your enemies, you need to keep two things in mind. First, because of their limited range you work best fighting enemies one on one. If you're outnumbered or surrounded you need to get out and reposition ASAP to avoid being beaten to a pulp. Second, because of your dependency on large numbers of attacks your weapons will wear down quickly, so either pick up some repair powder, obtain the Repair spell and the stats to use it (15 Int, 10 Att), wear the Bracing Knuckle Ring or if you're fancy invest in an additional pair. As for infusing, it's generally not worth it. The decreased damage will greatly hamper your damage output, and the hefty tax on your rings to get the most out of them will impair your effectiveness. A special mention does go to the Poisoned version however: with 40 Dex you're looking at 209 damage per hit. The Sanctum Soldier Gauntlets and Crest of the Rat buff this by 25 each, meaning you're looking at a beefy 259 damage per hit. For a weapon this fast that's quite a lot, but because of the decreased scaling you're looking at only 131 damage at 40/40. So if you're a Dex build and want to slap some poison onto someone, consider investing in a single poisoned Caestus. Otherwise go for quality and beat dudes to death with your boxing gloves.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Don't forget to equip the Stone Ring to maximize the effectiveness of these little beasties and plough through all the regular enemies with brute force.
- Anonymous
it isn't a party without Punch! .... I won't let the door hit me on the way out.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
How? It's hitbox is a little funky, has less reach, and... well, it's speed isn't exactly higher than dual Daggers.
The warrior class has enough base stats to powerstance straight away.
3
+10
-1