As a Soulslike veteran with over 300 hours across the PS3 and PS5 versions of Demon‘s Souls, I‘ve painstakingly tested every starting gift across a wide variety of builds. In this ultimate guide, we‘ll be ranking all 9 gifts based on overall combat utility and examining the strengths and weaknesses of each one in detail.
Whether you‘re a seasoned Soulslike fan or first-time demon slayer, you need to choose your starting gift wisely to get your build off the ground effectively as you take your first steps into the fog. Let‘s dive in and shed some light on these shadowy relics!
The Starting Gifts – Quick Facts
Before analyzing individual rankings, here‘s a reference table covering some key characteristics of each gift:
| Gift | Type | Usage Count | Effects Summary | Purchase Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augite of Guidance | Consumable | 10 | Leaves colored trail | Shop after first area |
| Soul Remains | Consumable | 3-5 | Make noise distraction | Multiple shops |
| Bright Water | Consumable | 2 | MP regen over time | Filthy Woman vendor |
| Elixir | Consumable | 1 | Temp stamina boost | N/A |
| Grass Jelly | Consumable | 2 | HP regen over time | Filthy Woman vendor |
| Providential Ring | Accessory | N/A | Boost item discovery | Found mid/late-game |
| Kunai | Consumable | About 15 | Damage + poison buildup | Multiple shops |
| Fire Arrows | Ammunition | 20 | Fire arrow shots | Multiple shops |
| Fire Bombs | Consumable | 5 | AoE fire damage | Merchant in first area |
As you can see, some gifts like Elixir provide powerful short-term effects, while the Providential Ring confers permanent progression bonuses. Others offer ranged abilities to handle threats from afar. This table should help contextualize my individual analyses below.
Now let‘s get into the detailed gift examination and final rankings!
9. Augite of Guidance
I simply cannot in good faith recommend ever choosing Augite of Guidance as your starting gift. Leaving a colored trail to follow sounds innocuous enough…but serves extremely marginal utility even for first-time players.
"Leaves a colored trail behind to follow. The color is random each time."
The core issue is that Demon‘s Souls‘ level design steers most players along a set path without many side routes or branches. So the street-painting properties of Augite don‘t provide meaningful navigation aid. Its trail-blazing effects likely won‘t prevent you from getting lost.
To add insult to injury, FromSoftware also saw fit to make this gift consumable rather than permanent. So after your initial 10 uses, the0134 gift is completely depleted. For such an underwhelming effect, I‘d expect unlimited activations.
In summary, Augite of Guidance ranks at the bottom of the list for its negligible benefits. Don‘t let its flashy name lure you into a newbish mistake! Now let‘s examine the far more impactful alternatives.
8. Soul Remains
While still underpowered compared to other gifts, Soul Remains at least offer some tangible combat advantages rather than lackluster navigation assistance. When used, they make noise that draws enemies to investigate the source.
This distraction effect enables some fantastic stealth tactics against the demonic denizens of Boletaria, letting you sneak by oblivious foes to backstab or avoid them entirely. As Sun Tzu said, "All warfare is based on deception."
However, the noise doesn‘t work on all enemies, with unpredictable reactions even from those that do investigate. And again, FromSoftware painfully restricted the use count to just 3-5, forcing you to purchase more from merchants if you actually leverage the gift often.
For these reasons, Soul Remains deliver only modest advantages that are quickly depleted. Their unique stealth purposes still outshine non-gifts like Augite, but other boons prove far more versatile and enduring.
7. Bright Water
Shifting elements, Bright Water is the first gift on our list to offer tangible enhancements for magic and faith builds. When consumed, this mystical concoction temporarily increases your MP regeneration rate.
"Gradually recovers MP over a period of time."
Casting offensive and defensive sorceries consumes massive MP, easily burning through your reserves. So accelerating natural MP recovery provides an obvious sustainability benefit to spell-slingers. The effect lasts for 60 seconds after consuming Bright Water.
However, similar to previous entries, the two uses you receive upfront represent the entirety of the gift. Once again, no merchants sell Bright Water to replenish your supply. And the Filthy Woman vendor only offers the far weaker Yin Water instead.
So while the short-term MP regen boost helps offset early mana constraints, the long term advantages prove quite limited. Other magic-focused gifts like Fragrant Ring outclass this in the end.
6. Elixir
We‘ve finally reached the midway point of our gift tier list with Elixir, offering much-needed stamina recovery improvements that boost survivability substantially in the accursed realm.
Stamina governs your ability to attack, block, dodge roll, and sprint. So running low mid-fight often results in a lethal failure to evade the next attack. Elixir provides a massive boost to stamina regeneration for 45 seconds after drinking, helping you recover much faster.
This effect combines perfectly with Grass Jelly‘s gradual HP replenishment, sustainably restoring both critical combat resources simultaneously. In terms of raw survival impact, no other gift compares to Elixir in the first area.
Unfortunately as expected, your initial one use doesn‘t allow repeated activations. And no merchant sells Elixir either. So once your lone buff runs out, that‘s all she wrote. Still, 45 seconds of turbo stamina recovery can get you through extremely dangerous early fights.
5. Grass Jelly
Our first non-consumable restorative gift, Grass Jelly gradually replenishes your health bar over the course of 60 seconds after consuming one. Especially for melee builds, sustaining HP levels during combat involves constant grass popping otherwise.
Grass Jelly‘s slow regeneration eases this frantic chug cycle substantially, providing passive drip healing that lets you actually attack instead of fleeing battle to heal.
Now two uses may not seem like much upfront. However, the Filthy Woman vendor sells unlimited Grass Jelly for 1,000 souls once you unlock her shop. So you can continually restock this gift, keeping the warming regeneration flowing across all your future respawns and play sessions. No other supply-limited gift offers reliable merchant access for replacements!
Combine this unlimited lifespan with the intuitiveness of gradual HP restoration, and Grass Jelly claims the #5 position over its consumable brethren on full display previously. Let‘s indulge in more lasting benefits from here on out!
4. Kunai
Kunai takes the consumable gift concept actually worth leveraging – ranged damage options – and perfectly executes it. These throwing knives pierce enemies from a distance, dealing direct damage supplemented with bleeding or poison buildup depending on the type. Their ability to force approaching foes to block also opens tactical opportunities.
Standard Kunai excel particularly in PvE encounters against slower enemies. Patient players can lure overconfident knight NPCs and then pelt them with Kunai from behind a shield until poisoning takes effect for massive damage over time bypassing their blocking stance.
The chief limitations with Kunai come from range and use count. Their throwing distance pales compared to bows and magic. And even with buying replacements, your overall supply remains quite finite. These exhibitions of throwing blade artistry rarely last overlong.
Still, for pure offensive pressure early on against nasty demons, Kunai are unmatched in their bracket. Their flexibility and vitality damage supplement your still-growing melee capabilities wonderfully at minimal weight cost. They‘re always worth keeping handy in your back pocket.
The Top Tier Starting Gifts
We‘ve covered five middling picks with minor upsides or limited mastery span. Now it‘s time to bask in gifts granting game-long advantages far outweighing early merits alone! Our #3 winner sets an ultra rare precedent…
3. Providential Ring
This intricately glowing ring stands completely unique as Demon Soul‘s only permanent starting gift. Every single other option slowly depletes in usage until emptied for good. By contrast, Providential Ring persists indefinitely across your entire adventure.
Its primary effect fits perfectly with this enduring lifespan – improving item discovery to yield more and better grass and crafting materials from every defeated enemy going forward.
Unlike the highly specific temporary effects covered previously, escalated item drops indirectly strengthen virtually every build by increasing healing reserves. The Providence Ring transcends consumable limitations by bolstering your underlying combat and progression systems persistently.
As soon as you can hold weapons with both hands, the discovery rate bonus outperforms most alternatives completely. This rare gift simply has no expiration date. You‘ll reap increasing dividends the farther you push into Boletaria‘s corruption.
2. Fire Arrows
Shifting from subtle to overwhelming force, Fire Arrows embody ranged pyromancy at its blistering best. Your initial bundle contains 20 arrows that ignite enemies struck for heavy additional fire damage after impact. They also apply the burning status effect for extended suffering.
Combining range, high damage, elemental flexibility, and use count, Fire Arrows simply offer the best blend of early offense and continued viability later on. Fearsome demons that overwhelm you up close become just another bloodstain when assaulted with a barrage of flaming bolts at a distance.
While the standard Short Bow you start with suffers from low accuracy, Fire Arrows offset this by detonating with sizable area damage on top of the initial puncture blow. So even near misses often lead to roasted horrors for your troubles.
Once beyond the first area, specialized bow ascensions and advanced ammunition types unlock considerably more power potential down the road as well. But among starting weaponry, no options exceed Fire Arrows for raw damage flexibility.
1. Fire Bombs
And now we‘ve reached the blazing pinnacle of starting gifts – Fire Bombs guaranteeing grim demise to all before you with righteous fury. Veteran and fledgling demon slayers alike can leverage these munitions masterfully.
Their sheer explosive radius enables easy dispatching of mob clusters – fling one into their midst and watch the health bars drop in unison. Most impressively, even intimidating early bosses fall swiftly to sufficient explosions chipping away.
And unlike the ranged gifts before, Fire Bombs need no stat investment whatsoever to inflict grievous harm against anyone foolish enough to invade your personal space. Their primordial, indiscriminate damage neatly answers the lack of capabilities most classes start with.
Quite simply, no other gift allows fledgling adventurers to cut down foes so far above their current means. Combined with unlimited merchant restocking, Fire Bombs claim the #1 position for delivering the fastest and biggest damage from the earliest possible point you journey into Boletaria.
If you lack patience for subtly or finesse, ignite the flames of destruction immediately with these potent explosives!
Conclusion
And there you have it – the definitive starting gift rankings and analysis to help you begin your Demon‘s Souls crusade properly prepared for the challenges ahead. We‘ve covered each boon extensively to highlight strengths, weaknesses, and ideal use cases.
Now Go Forth Bravely, Slayer of Demons!
While Fire Bombs claim the crown currently through overwhelming force projection, don‘t neglect the more strategic gifts like Soul Remains or Providential Ring depending on your preferred playstyle and builds.
Hopefully equipping one of these relics aids you against the coming horrors and bosses awaiting in Boletaria. Let me know in the comments which starting gift you choose and how it performs as you venture through the fog!
