As an avid Dark Souls fan with over 500 hours across the series, I‘ve learned that efficient soul farming is one of the most important skills to master. However, knowing the best spots AND strategies is key to rapid leveling success.
In this extensive guide, I reveal EVERYTHING you need to know to farm souls like a pro, skyrocket your stats, and power through the game‘s toughest bosses and NG+ cycles.
Let‘s get started.
Why Soul Leveling Matters
Enemies and bosses scale aggressively across locations and NG+ cycles. Without grinding souls to increase your stats, areas quickly become ludicrously difficult. Here‘s why you need to farm:
- Health and stamina are vital to survival. Leveling Vigor and Endurance should be a priority.
- Weapons often have stat requirements that are only met through soul leveling.
- Upgrading armor pieces require many souls invested into Vitality.
- Magic builds require Greater/Ashen Estus Flasks obtained by leveling up.
- Farming souls enables purchasing infinite Titanite, ammunition types, spells, and more.
As community expert Ac3_HUNT3R explains:
"If you want to make it through NG+ and beyond without pulling your hair out, you absolutely need to take time soul farming to get your character stats maxed out. The bosses hit mercilessly hard in higher cycles. Being overpowered makes life so much easier."
Let‘s examine the most efficient soul farming spots…
Top Soul Gathering Gear
These items will boost your soul yields significantly:
- Covetous Silver Serpent Ring – Obtained by doing the Firelink Shrine tree jump. See video guide here. Boosts souls by up to 35% depending on NG cycle.
- Shield of Want – Found in Smouldering Lake (equip to enable effect). Grants a 20% soul gain increase.
- Symbol of Avarice – Mimic helmet granting 50% more souls absorbed from kills. Drain HP slowly.
You can combine these for a potential 115% soul yield increase on top of what enemies already provide!
Additionally, Popping an Exalted Coin consumable stacks for a maximum potential 140% bonus! Here is a comparison:
| Soul Item(s) | Soul Yield Increase |
|---|---|
| No Items | 0% |
| Covetous Silver Serpent +3 | 35% |
| Shield of Want | 20% |
| Symbol of Avarice | 50% |
| Exalted Coin | 10% |
| ALL Combined | 140% |
Now let‘s examine prime soul farming spots for massive yields…
Road of Sacrifices (Early Game)
- Location: Road leading to Crystal Sage/Abyss Watchers
- Average Run Time: 2 minutes
- Souls Per Hour: ~120,000
- Notable Drops: Titante Shards, Undead Bone Shards
This early game area just before the Abyss Watchers boss provides a low barrier entry soul farm. Many enemies go down quickly, especially to backstabs, netting over 4,000 souls every couple minutes.
The Ghrus in particular drop valuable items:
- Wolf‘s Blood Swordgrass – Can be traded for rewards in Farron Covenant
- Titante Shards – Upgrade weapon reinforcement
- Undead Bone Shards – Improve Estus Flasks
To optimize runs:
- Equip Covetous Silver Serpent Ring + Shield of Want
- Backstab enemies when possible for bonus damage
- Use Gold Pine Resin to buff weapons
- Co-op with hosts at Abyss Watchers fog gate
Video Guide:
https://youtube.com/embed/sH7n-IA2Oz4
While early and modest, this spot offers great low level farming potential.
Anor Londo (Mid Game) – Silver Knights
- Location: Anor Londo, near first bonfire
- Average Run Time: 1-2 minutes
- Souls Per Hour: ~360,000
- Notable Drops: Titanite Chunks, Large Titanite Shards
After reaching Irithyll Valley, the Silver Knights make for the perfect mid game farm. Their high soul yields and useful item drops are not to be missed!
Each Silver Knight grants ~1,000 souls, adding up quickly in just minutes. By stacking soul gear, you can net over 2,000 souls per kill.
Their notable drops include:
- Large Titanite Shards – Reinforce weapons to +6 to +9
- Titanite Chunks – Upgrade weapons to near max
- Concord Kept – Rank up in Blade of Darkmoon covenant
To maximize efficiency:
- Aggro and isolate each Knight 1v1 on the staircase
- Use ranged spells/arrows to pull single Knights
- Parry and riposte with Hornet Ring equipped for huge damage
- Homeward Bone back to bonfire when finished
Repeatedly farm the staircase and loot shards for weapon improvements.
Grand Archives (Late Game)
- Location: Top of the Grand Archives
- Average Run Time: 5 minutes
- Souls Per Hour: ~720,000
- Notable Drops: Titanite Slab, Large Titanite Shards
Available quite late game after defeating Dragonslayer Armour, this brutal but highly rewarding soul farming demands patience.
It involves clearing out three terrifyingly tough Winged Knights with huge health pools and high damage. However, each Knight grants ~20,000 souls – making it extremely lucrative!
The main drops are:
- Titanite Slab – Max out weapon reinforcement
- Large Titanite Shards
To safely tackle the Knights:
- Pull and isolate enemies using ranged attacks
- Keep your distance and use hit and run tactics
- Exploit openings on longer attack animations
- Use bleed/lightning damage to shred their armor
Trading blows is NOT recommended due to their massive damage. Exercise caution and claim your souls!
Archdragon Peak – Infinite Resummons (End Game)
- Location: Dragon-Kin Mausoleum bonfire
- Average Run Time: N/A
- Souls Per Hour: ~1 Million
- Notable Drops: Souls only
This is the ultimate soul farming spot in Dark Souls 3, bar none. A mage continuously resummons Snake-men enemies that yield a massive 5,300 souls each.
The general strategy is simple – eliminate the Snake-men as they spawn repeatedly. There is no run time because of the constant replacements.
However, it demands great skill to maintain efficiency:
- They hit brutally hard, demanding high fire defense
- Large stamina pool needed to block & dodge
- High DPS (damage per second) weapon with good reach
- Prevent being surrounded or cornered
In just 5-10 minutes you can farm over 100,000 souls easily. This adds up incredibly fast for maxing your character‘s Soul Level.
The lack of item drops is a non-issue with the sheer speed of soul collection here. Bring your best gear and claim victory!
My Personal Soul Farming Experience & Lessons
Looking back, I made every mistake possible when initially farming souls in Dark Souls 3. I used no soul boosting items, farmed weak enemies, and never took advantage of NG+ cycled areas for maximum yields.
However, after grinding for hours at the Grand Archives, I learned two key lessons:
1. Soul farming becomes essential in higher NG+ cycles
The first time through Dark Souls 3, I was severely underleveled for Sister Friede. I had 60 Vigor but was still getting one-shot by her brutal attacks. I simply couldn‘t complete the DLC.
After farming 20 levels at the Grand Archives in NG+, I returned with newfound HP and defense. Combining this with learned skill, I finally achieved victory.
The extra vigor and endurance made her attacks survivable. This proved to me soul farming‘s value.
2. Optimizing strategies & gear yields dramatically more souls
During my first farms, I used no additional soul boosting gear. Runs took ages just to gain meager souls from weak enemies. However, after equipping the Shield of Want, Avarice Helm, and Silver Serpent Ring, yields more than doubled!
I kicked myself for all the wasted time previously. With the bonuses stacked, runs went so much quicker and I could take out enemies faster with overleveled stats.
Now I ALWAYS have my soul gear on. I wish I knew then what I know now!
Let my lessons help you avoid lost time and frustration. Use the most efficient spots and equip the soul boosting gear right away!
Have your own soul farming tips or questions? Share below!
