Infusions and Reinforcements in Dark Souls 2 (DKS2) allow the player to improve the total statistics and scaling quality of equipment, and to ' infuse' those items with elemental stones, giving them elemental properties like dark or poison. In certain situations, Infusions can grant the player an advantage over particular enemies, as many have at least one elemental weakness. This section contains an overview of possible equipment modifications, along with their effects and requirements.
Infusion and Reinforcement Upgrades
A significant difference to note with Dark Souls II, as compared to the original, is the ability to infuse weapons with elemental properties already present. For example, a weapon with an inherent elemental property, such as the Heide Knight Sword, can still be converted into a Dark Heide Knight Sword, meaning it will deal both Dark and Lightning damage.
Please see Weapon AR and Scaling Calculator for a simple tool to calculate weapon damage output.
How does one upgrade equipment in Dark Souls 2?
Reinforcement refers to incremental upgrades of a weapon (+1, +4, etc.), regardless of its current Infusion or lack thereof. These incremental upgrades can be performed by any blacksmith. Depending on what type and state of weapon you are reinforcing, the required souls and type/quantity of stones needed to reinforce the weapon will differ. Each upgrade increases the weapon's base damage by 10% of its original, un-upgraded base damage; therefore, every +X bonus, when multiplied by ten, represents a damage-increase percentage over the weapon's initial base damage value (+5 = +50% damage, +10 = +100% damage, etc.). +10 weapons, therefore, always deal twice the normal base damage of un-upgraded weapons.
Unique weapons, that upgrade via Twinkling Titanite, follow the same rules but are capped at +5, giving them +50% base damage, which is why they deal more damage initially.
Boss soul weapons increase by 30% per upgrade, rather than by 10%, but stop at +5 (+150%), granting them higher base damage increases than regular weapons, despite their lower upgrade cap. To figure out which weapon (between regular, unique, and boss) will ultimately have the highest damage when fully upgraded, multiply their current base damage by 2, 1.5, and 2.5 respectively. Note that attribute scaling also increases as weapons are upgraded, so keep that in mind when comparing and choosing weapons.
Infusion is the process of applying an elemental property to a piece of equipment. Dark Souls II features a new ascension system that allows players to infuse equipment independently of its reinforcement level. Applying any elemental ore stone to equipment will decrease all attack ratings, damage reductions, and scaling grades not related to that particular element, but will increase all other statistics and add a scaling grade for the corresponding element type. Infusions are not permanent, either, as the effects can be undone by the application of a Palestone.
Dark Souls 2 Blacksmiths
The following are NPCs who provide Blacksmith services to the player:
Notes on Infusions
- Weapon infusion can only be performed by one blacksmith: Steady Hand McDuff.
- McDuff will require a Dull Ember before his services are made available.
- Infusing a shield will increase its damage reduction for that element to varying degrees, depending on the shield, while lowering all other defenses.
- Few shields can be infused to receive 100% damage reduction against specific elements.
- Armor cannot be infused.
Shields with 100% elemental damage reduction after infusion:
| Moon Butterfly Shield | Poison |
| Blossom Kite Shield | Poison |
| Magic Shield | Magic |
| Rebel's Greatshield | Magic/Fire/Lightning/Dark/Poison/Bleed |
| Transgressor's Leather Shield | Dark |
| Watcher's Shield | Lightning |
| Mastodon Greatshield | Lightning |
| Havel's Greatshield | Magic |
| Old Knight Greatshield | Poison/Bleed |
| Greatshield of Glory | Fire |
(Note: The Gyrm Greatshield has 100% Physical and Fire damage reduction by default.)
Dark Souls 2 Infusion Paths, Ore & Boss Soul Weapons
Infusion Paths in Dark Souls 2 (DKS2) are services exclusively provided by the blacksmith Steady Hand McDuff. Prior to utilizing his expertise, McDuff insists on obtaining a Dull Ember.
Infusing a shield enhances its damage reduction for a specific element, with the extent varying based on the shield. However, this comes at the cost of reduced defenses against other elements. A select few shields can be infused to achieve 100% damage reduction against specific elements. It's important to note that armor pieces cannot undergo infusion.
All Dark Souls 2 Infusion Paths
Dark Souls 2 Infusion Paths Comparison Table
You can search by Name, Ore Type,and Smith Availability.... Just type into the search box what you are looking for.
Quick Search of all Infusion Paths in Dark Souls 2
Name |
Smith Availability |
Ore Type |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Normal |
Blacksmith Lenigrast, Steady Hand McDuff, Weaponsmith Ornifex |
+1 to +3 Titanite Shard +4 to +6 L. Titanite Shard +7 to +9 Titanite Chunk +10 Titanite Slab |
Upgrades weapon Physical base power by 10% of initial value per level, increases stat scaling, and can be enchanted with temporary weapon effects. |
Boss Weapons& Armor |
Blacksmith Lenigrast, Steady Hand McDuff, Weaponsmith Ornifex |
Boss Weapon +5 Petrified Dragon Bone |
Upgrades weapon Physical base power by 30% of initial value per level, increases stat scaling. |
Special Weapons& Armor |
Blacksmith Lenigrast, Steady Hand McDuff, Weaponsmith Ornifex |
Special Armor +5 Twinkling Titanite | Upgrades weapon Physical base power by 10% of initial value per level, increases stat scaling. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Faintstone | Reduces Physical damage, as well as Strength and Dexterity scaling, but improves Magic scaling and adds Magic damage. Reduces base Physical damage by 30.5%, adds base Magic damage, adds initial C Magic scaling to previously un-infused, un-upgraded, and scalable weapons, and reduces Strength and Dexterity scaling down by 1-2 letters. If added to a weapon that does additional non-Physical damage (other than Magic) without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds less base Magic damage. If added to a weapon that does Magic damage without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds more base Magic damage. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Firedrake Stone | Reduces Physical damage, as well as Strength and Dexterity scaling, but improves Fire scaling and adds Fire damage. Reduces base Physical damage by 30.5%, adds base Fire damage, adds initial C Fire scaling to previously un-infused, un-upgraded, and scalable weapons, and reduces Strength and Dexterity scaling down by 1-2 letters. If added to a weapon that does additional non-Physical damage (other than Fire) without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds less base Fire damage. If added to a weapon that does Fire damage without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds more base Fire damage. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Boltstone | Reduces Physical damage, as well as Strength and Dexterity scaling, but improves Lightning scaling and adds Lightning damage. Reduces base Physical damage by 30.5%, adds base Lightning damage, adds initial C Lightning scaling to previously un-infused, un-upgraded, and scalable weapons, and reduces Strength and Dexterity scaling down by 1-2 letters. If added to a weapon that does additional non-Physical damage (other than Lightning) without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds less base Lightning damage. If added to a weapon that does Lightning damage without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds more base Lightning damage. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Darknight Stone | Reduces Physical damage, as well as Strength and Dexterity scaling, but improves Dark scaling and adds Dark damage. Reduces base Physical damage by 30.5%, adds base Dark damage, adds initial C Dark scaling to previously un-infused, un-upgraded, and scalable weapons, and reduces Strength and Dexterity scaling down by 1-2 letters. If added to a weapon that does additional non-Physical damage (other than Dark) without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds less base Dark damage. If added to a weapon that does Dark damage without having been infused, reduces all other base damage types by a smaller percentage and adds more base Dark damage. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Poison Stone | Reduces base damage and scaling but adds a Poison effect. Most effective on weapons that either already have a Poison effect, as this infusion will enhance the effect, or on weapons with fast attack speed, to build up Poison quickly. Reduces base Physical damage by 30.5%, adds 112 to the Poison effect of a previously un-infused, un-upgraded weapon, and reduces Strength and Dexterity scaling down by 1-2 letters. If added to a weapon that does additional non-Physical damage without having been infused (such as the Crescent Axe), it adds 96 to the Poison effect and reduces all base damage types by 11%. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Bleed Stone | Reduces base damage and scaling but adds a bleed effect. Most effective on weapons that either already have a bleed effect, as this infusion will enhance the effect, or on weapons with fast attack speed, to build up Bleed quickly. Reduces base Physical damage by 30.5%, adds 112 to the Bleed effect of a previously un-infused, un-upgraded weapon, and reduces Strength and Dexterity scaling down by 1-2 letters. If added to a weapon that does additional non-Physical damage without having been infused (such as the Crescent Axe), it adds 96 to the Bleed effect and reduces all base damage types by 11%. . |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Raw Stone | Upgrades weapon Physical base power, decreases stat scaling, and can be enchanted with temporary weapon effects. Best used on weapons that have very low scaling to begin with, as weapons that rely on their scaling for damage will most likely lose damage by choosing this infusion. It can also be effective when a player knows that they won't be getting their stats high enough for the weapon's scaling to truly shine. Adds initial 14.4% to the base Physical/Magic/Fire/Lightning/Dark attack of a previously un-upgraded, un-infused weapon and reduces the Strength/Dexterity/Magic/Fire/Lightning/Dark scaling down to D or E. Extremely useful on weapons without scaling as it'll simply add up the damage. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Magic Stone | Reduces Strength/Dexterity/Fire/Lightning/Dark scaling down to D or E, adds initial D Magic scaling, does not affect base damages, and makes Physical damage—not Magic damage—scale with Intelligence. Weapons that already include Magic damage and/or have low Magic scaling effectively benefit from the Enchanted infusion; also, the infusion is ideal for builds that only use Magic as their primary means of damage and/or builds that have high Intelligence. If used on a weapon with no scaling, such as the Bluemoon Greatsword or Avelyn, the weapon will gain the same D rank (or C after fully upgraded) Physical-damage Intelligence scaling; also, it will outscale any Raw weapon when Intelligence is at 50 points or above. |
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Steady Hand McDuff | Old Mundane Stone | Upgrades weapon to scale by the player's lowest stat, but decreases weapon base damage by about 50% and decreases the original stat scaling. Useful for builds that have near-equal stats, using fast-attack weapons. With 30 points in every stat, a Mundane weapon gets +200 bonus damage; if the same player continues to level up, a Mundane weapon does not gain damage until all nine stats are equal again (such as leveling up every stat to have 32 points), since the weapon will only scale with the lowest stat, which would still be 30—also, leveling up does not decrease any damage. Extremely useful on weapons with low base damage or without scaling, such as the Handmaid's Ladle, Parrying Dagger, and Broken Straight Sword. |
Upgrade Paths and Weapon Enchantments
Weapon Enchantments, such as Dark Weapon and Sunlight Blade, as well as items that apply an elemental effect on to the weapon, such as Gold Pine Resin and Rotten Pine Resin, will only work on weapons with certain upgrade paths and infusions. Normal and raw weapons can be affected by all weapon enchantments and work with item buffs, while weapons with infusions can be affected by weapon enchantments but not items. When choosing your infusion bear in mind whether your character can/will be using a weapon enchantment as they will work best with weapons infused with the same element. This is due to the fact that not only do weapon enchantments add elemental damage but also increase the damage of their element by 30%. For instance if a player was to cast Sunlight Blade on a weapon with only physical damage, then it would simply add 50 points of lightning damage, however if the player were to cast it on a weapon that already has lightning damage then that damage will be increased by 30% and then on top of that the weapon will receive 50 points of lightning damage resulting in far more damage. Also take into account what stats your character will be using, remember that intelligence increases magic, fire and dark damage while faith increases fire, lightning and dark damage. Therefore it makes little sense to infuse a weapon with magic if the character is using faith as they won't be able to benefit from it as much as if they were using an infusion that scaled with faith.
Everyone! I know the secrets to how the base damage of most infused weapons, I will explain the exception in the end. When you infuse any weapon it's base damage will drop to 70% of its original damage, so a magic +10 falchion and none-upgraded magic falchion will will both have 30% less damage in its physical damage than its none infused counter parts. In addition to this the weapon will also have a 70% of the base damage add to whatever you infused it in (I will cover poison and bleed in a second). So for a none-upgraded magic falchion, whose none-infused counter part has a base damage of 120, it will have 84 in magic and physical damage. When fully upgraded it will have 168 damage in physical and magic compared to its none-infused counterpart's 240 in physical. Now I will move on to poison and bleed which work differently. The base damage is still 70% of what it would regularly be, but rather than getting 70% of its base physical damage in poison it gets a base 112 damage in which ever you infuse it in and every upgrade adds 2.8 damage to to the infused damage. An example would be the utchigatana, when at not upgraded but infused it will have 77 base physical damage and 112 poison damage. When fully upgraded it would have 154 damage and 140 poison damage. One thing you must keep in mind is that this does not apply to all weapons. The weapons that these rules don't apply to would be any weapon that already has damage in anything other than physical. the rules on the minus in 70% is true for all weapons, this also applies to the elemental damage it already has (minusing poison and bleed), but when infusing a weapon with the type of damage it already has, the increase in damage is different to other regular weapons. some weapons this apply to would be the falchion with bleed, heide knight weapons with lightning, black knight weapons with fire. there are some weapons that none of these rules apply for, like the manikin saber whose damages increases when infused rather than decreases. As for defenses, this need more research.
AnonymousIs this the souls game with the more simple upgrade system? If not, which one is?
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Do you know of those moments where your mage finds a whole magic resistant zone and has no option but to use physical damage? Enchanted exist for those situations, and an enchanted old hammer is a good choice for this scenario.
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raw seems kinda pointless in this game, even if you barely have the stats to wield a particular weapon, raw infusion will be an overall damage downgrade for most weapons in the game.
it was an absolute life saver in ds3 sl1 but here I get more AR out of my handaxe without the infusion, even tho I can barely wield it at all
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I did not know you could upgrade AND infuse a weapon. Well well
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Upgrading your weapon to the max is basically playing on easy mode.
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If I shot a fire arrow with a lighting bow will the damage be caused by both elements?
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how if you now how i can play pve tell me in instgram abdoXHhunter
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I reckon a petrify infusion would've worked nicely, say it turns certain enemies to stone before their health runs out giving you the choice to leave them be or smash them for extra damage risking the chance of just unfreezing them if HP isn't low enough. PVP kills this idea tho.
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Seems like quality builds are seriously gimped until late game. Once you can afford 40/40 STR+DEX they're fine, but in early/mid game you're far better off infusing with fire or lightning and investing levels in more health, stamina and agility.
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Hey guys, I wield two Falchion+6 in a power stance. I also wear the Stone Ring (which reduces enemy poise), so when I R1 attack continuously, it stuns most enemies and I can quickly get 8 hits (from both the Falchions) before my stamina runs out. What would the ideal infusion for me be?
I was thinking of bleed, because the Falchion already has a bleed effect, but in all the time I have played with the Falchions, I don't think I have made anyone bleed, maybe all the enemies have good bleed resistance?
So, anyway, should I opt for poison or is bleed better on higher bonus, or should I infuse it with something entirely else
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Whats DS2's equivalent to the Dark Lothric Knight sword from DS3? I found that once I got the right stats up, that weapon just killed in for me in PvE, not really that into PvP. Is the long sword or another straight sword that has scaling similar that does good dps?
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I am curious... I saw that Strength and Dexterity scaling on shields slightly boosts the amount of damage they block, but I was wondering if the same thing applies to scaling gotten from infusions?
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Magic vs Enchanted infusions... Magic Infusions deal extra magic damage and increase the AR. But they cant use resins. Enchanted transform some Int into physical damage, it has less AR but they can use resins, which makes up for something, I guess. My char is Str 13, Dex 15 and Int 54, and my Rapier 10 with AR of 304, infsd with Enchant gets to 310. So I guess that as soon as I give more Str and Dex(enough to use MLGS), it may be stronger in normal path...?
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I'm not sure where to find this info, I don't see it here or the Staves page or on the stones pages. Does upgrading a staff affect spellcasting? Does imbuing a staff?
I started out as a sorcerer and now that I've hit 20 Int I'm wondering if there is another way to spend souls to raise my damage.
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Is there any pattern as to the kind of enemy and an elemental weakness? Such as beasts are weak against fire, and such?
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To get equipment to maximum level:
Normal: 6 Titanite Shards, 6 Large Titanite Shards, 6 Titanite Chunks, 1 Titanite Slab.
Special Weapons: 15 Twinkling Titanite.
Special Armour: 9 Twinkling Titanite.
Boss: 15 Petrified Dragon Bone.
15
+10
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