Dark Souls 3 offers a deep and complex weapon infusion system that allows players to transform and enhance their gear in many interesting ways. With the right gems and some help from the smith Andre, you can augment weapons to gain additional damage types, new stat scaling, and unique effects.
Choosing the optimal infusion for your build and playstyle is key to getting the most out of your arsenal. In this guide, I‘ll countdown and analyze the 10 best Dark Souls 3 infusions to help you make informed decisions when upgrading.
10. Raw Infusion
The raw infusion significantly boosts base damage at the cost of removing all scaling. This can be useful in the early game when stats are low. It allows players to punch above their weight class damage-wise.
However, as you progress and level up offensive stats, the raw infusion falls behind other choices. It‘s outclassed late game by elemental options that add split damage while retaining scaling.
Best for: Early and mid game boosts to base damage. Particularly nice on faster side weapons.
Drawbacks: Loses effectiveness as stats increase. Lacks versatility of other gems.
Where to Find: Dropped by Hollow Soldiers in High Wall of Lothric.
9. Poison Infusion
The poison infusion adds a poison build-up effect in exchange for reduced base damage and scaling. It transforms weapons to inflict the toxic status that damages enemies over time.
Poison can be strong in PvE as the DoT effect remains active even when switching gear. However, the low proc damage and slow build-up make it underwhelming for PvP. It‘s mainly an annoyance there.
Best for: Supplementary toxic damage against bosses and tough enemies.
Drawbacks: Low damage and slow status application.
Where to Find: Dropped by Rotten Slugs and Elder Ghrus in Farron Keep.
8. Bleed Infusion
Similar to poison, the bleed infusion adds hemorrhage build-up in return for reduced physical performance. When the meter fills after enough hits, a percent health explosion of damage will occur.
Bleed can shred bosses and difficult enemies. However, quick-hitting weapons and high luck are needed to build up the meter efficiently. The damage loss makes it lackluster in PvP without dedicated investment.
Best for: Quick bleed builds using fast weapons to melt PvE bosses.
Drawbacks: Weak without high luck and rapid attacks. Underwhelming in PvP.
Where to Find: Dropped by Irithyllian Slaves.
7. Blessed Infusion
The blessed infusion grants passive health regeneration when a weapon is equipped in exchange for reduced base damage and scaling. It also prevents skeletons from reviving.
The HP regen is slow but stacks if dual wielding blessed weapons. It saves on Estus Flasks during long expeditions. Useful on off-hand gear when grass is scarce.
Best for: Supplementary passive healing and skeleton control. Shines on off-hand gear.
Drawbacks: Low damage and scaling. Slow regeneration.
Where to Find: Dropped by Evangelists in Irithyll Valley, Undead Settlement, and Cathedral of the Deep.
6. Simple Infusion
Similar to blessed, simple infusions provide steady Focus Point regeneration when equipped at the cost of base damage. This can greatly benefit spellcasting builds in reducing Ashen Estus reliance.
The infusion also adds magic damage and intelligence scaling. However, the spell buff scaling is not exceptionally high. It offers a balance of melee potency and sustained mana.
Best for: Supplementary FP regen and side weapons for sorcerers. Good for battlemage builds.
Drawbacks: Mediocre spell buff scaling. Lower melee damage than other choices.
Where to Find: Dropped by mimic chests and also sold by Yuria of Londor.
5. Deep Infusion
The deep infusion converts all damage to dark while adding intelligence and faith scaling. This makes it a great choice for pyromancers and dark casters wanting an alternate melee option.
It retains a weapon‘s full physical scaling allowing both magical and physical stats to contribute damage. The split dark damage also helps bypass tough enemy resistances in PvE.
Best for: Supplementary side weapons for pyros, dark sorcs, and clerics. Good scaling.
Drawbacks: Lacks unique benefits of crystal or chaos infusion for dedicated casters.
Where to Find: Dropped by Deacons of the Deep.
4. Hollow Infusion
Hollow infusions add luck scaling to weapons and grant extra luck based on the player‘s hollowing level. This synergizes well with bleed and poison effects.
In addition to increasing item discovery and bleed/poison build-ups, leveling luck also boosts attack power when hollowed. This allows for unique hypermode glass-cannon builds.
Best for: Bleed and poison builds. Can enable powerful hollow hybrids.
Drawbacks: Requires hollowing mechanic. Vulnerable defensively.
Where to Find: Dropped by Corvian Storytellers in Road of Sacrifices.
3. Refined Infusion
The refined infusion perfectly balances strength and dexterity scaling while reducing base damage. This is ideal for quality builds to achieve even offensive distribution.
With quality builds boasting massive weapon versatility and potent damage across multiple attack stats, the refined infusion is incredibly popular. It unlocks the full potential of these powerful all-round builds.
Best for: Optimizing quality builds by equalizing strength and dex scaling.
Drawbacks: Not specialized for pure physical or caster builds. Lower base damage.
Where to Find: Guaranteed early from the Red-Eyed Knight in High Wall of Lothric.
2. Sharp Infusion
The sharp infusion provides a hefty boost to dexterity scaling at the cost of strength scaling and base damage. This allows dex builds to push weapon damage into overdrive.
With buffs, the sharp infusion can achieve outrageous DPS perfect for shredding even late game bosses with rapid critical attacks. It‘s the go-to for maximizing deadly dex weapons like katanas, daggers, and rapiers.
Best for: Dex focused builds crushing enemies through massive critical damage. Enable aggressive high risk/reward.
Drawbacks: Loss of strength scaling limits versatility on heavier weapons. Lower base damage.
Where to Find: Dropped by many standard enemies including Lothric Knights.
1. Heavy Infusion
In the same vein as sharp, the heavy infusion provides a substantial strength scaling bonus in return for reduced dexterity. This allows ultra weapons and bonk builds to reach their full double-handed power fantasy.
By converting weapons to S tier strength scaling, heavy infusion enables some of the most impressive damage per hit in the game. The sheer attack power suits aggressive high poise tank builds extremely well.
Best for: Massive damage on ultra and colossal weapons to smash enemies and melt bosses. Big bonk playstyles.
Drawbacks: Limits dex focused weapons. Lower base damage than some alternatives.
Where to Find: Dropped by many enemies including Cathedral Knights.
The process of infusing gear requires visiting Andre the Blacksmith at the Firelink Shrine. He possesses the tools to channel gems‘ elemental energy into arms and armor.
To imbue simple base infusions like raw and heavy, you only need to provide Andre with the correct gem. These are obtained as random drops from enemies corresponding to that element.
However, more exotic effects require delivering special ember items to unlock the ability first. These are often hidden deeper into the world or behind tough bosses and can be missed.
In addition to altering damage and scaling, infusions reset any upgrades on a weapon back to +0. So you‘ll need to reinvest titanite to regain lost levels. Make sure you‘re committed before infusing!
Here‘s a quick overview of notable top gem choices suited for popular archetypes and builds:
- Quality – Refined Gem
- Strength – Heavy Gem
- Dexterity – Sharp Gem
- Sorcerer – Crystal Gem
- Pyromancer – Chaos Gem / Dark Gem
- Cleric – Lightning Gem / Blessed Gem
- Bleed – Blood Gem / Hollow Gem
- Poison – Poison Gem / Hollow Gem
Hopefully this breakdown gives you a better grasp of Dark Souls 3‘s extensive infusion options. Take time to experiment with what works best for your playstyle rather than blindly following the meta. The mechanics offer deep customization if utilized properly.
Let me know your favorite infusion gems and weapons combos in the comments! And praise that sun \`[T] /
