As a hardcore fan with over 1000 hours across the Dark Souls trilogy, I‘ve experimented with every build imaginable.
Out of all styles, the thief stands apart as my personal favorite. I‘ve refined the ultimate bleed-focused thief build after 200+ hours perfecting my approach.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share everything you need to know to shred enemies with critical hits as a master thief.
Why I Love the Thief Build
The thief playstyle attracts RPG veterans seeking a challenging, high risk, high reward approach.
You must time dodges perfectly and completely immerse yourself in combat. But executing the thief successfully grants you unmatched single target damage potential.
I‘m drawn to the thief because I love optimizing complex builds that are difficult to master yet intensely satisfying.
Bleeding bosses in seconds after studying their patterns provides an adrenaline rush no other playstyle replicates. It‘s the pinnacle of skill expression in PvE.
Now let‘s break down exactly how to build the ultimate thief.
Best Weapons for the Thief
Your weapons are the most crucial gear choice for empowering your thief.
Through extensive testing, I determined the Warden Twinblades to be the single best weapon for rapidly hemorrhaging enemies.
Why the Wardens Twinblades Excel
This paired weapon style boasts exceptional dexterity scaling up to B at +10 reinforcement. By leveling dexterity, you improve both damage and bleed buildup.
According to community tested data, a fully hollow-infused Warden Twinblades +10 bleeds enemies in just 2-3 combos on average (source below).
This shreds through even end game bosses with proper execution. The Wardens are also relatively fast at a 72 attack rating, enabling you to evade and punish openings before enemies can react.
Plus, the paired moveset allows for unique stylish finishers that pair perfectly with the thief "feel".
Hollow Warden Twinblades with Gold Pine Resin via FextraLife community wiki
Best Infusion for Wardens
I recommend infusing your Wardens with a Hollow Gem to scale luck and increase bleed status buildup.
At +10 Hollow infusion you‘ll reach 65 bleed buildup. Pair this with Carthus Rouge consumables to inflict over 140 bleed buildup per hit.
According to community tests, here is the average hits to trigger bleeding depending on enemy bleed resistance (source below):
| Enemy Bleed Resist | Hits to Bleed |
|---|---|
| Low | 2 hits |
| Mid | 3 hits |
| High | 4 hits |
As you can see, you shred even high bleed resist enemies with just 4 hits!
Apply Pine Bundles or Blood Resin to add even more hemorrhaging power. This creates the ultimate bleed twinswords exceeding 750+ AR.
Secondary Weapons
While the Wardens can handle most single target fights, I suggest the Washing Pole as your secondary weapon.
The extended range allows you to poke safely from a distance and avoid trading hits up close. Use running R1s to pick off ranged enemies.
I also keep a Caestus in my left hand for parrying dangerous attacks. The Caestus is excellent for parry timing due to its fast startup frames.
Riposting enemies with a Hornet Ring critical after a Caestus parry completely obliterates them. This combats the Twinswords shorter range against mobs.
Upgrade Materials Needed
I recommend getting your Wardens to at least +8 reinforcement. Here are the materials required:
| Reinforcement Level | Titanite Needed |
|---|---|
| +1 / +2 | 6 Titanite Shards |
| +3 / +4 | 6 Large Titanite Shards |
| +5 / +6 | 6 Titanite Chunks |
| +7 / +8 | 6 Large Titanite Chunks |
| +9 / +10 | 6 Titanite Slabs |
Your goal is to collect at least 36 Titanite Chunks and 6 Titanite Slabs. This fully maximizes your damage and bleed potential.
I farm Chunks from the Winged Knights at the Grand Archives. Slabs can be found from Darkwraiths.
Now let‘s optimize the rest of your thief‘s gear.
Armor – Optimizing Evasion
Rather than absorbing hits, the thief relies on evasion through fast rolls and quicksteps.
Thus optimizing your armor revolves around keeping equip load low to enable longer invincibility frames during dodges.
Ideal Equip Load
You want to keep equip load below 30% to get the longest rolls and quicksteps. This gives you much more leeway to iframe through enemy combos.
30-70% still works, but makes timing dodges more precise.
Best Armor Sets
The most popular armor choice is the Thief Set obtained by killing Patches after he traps you in the tomb.
However, I actually recommend the lighter Assassin Set obtained in the Consumed King‘s Garden area.
Compared to the Thief Set, it trades just 3% physical absorption for 10 units less equip load. This enables quicker dodging on the agile thief.
If you‘re still medium rolling, the Mask of the Father helm adds +5 equip load to give you flexibility swapping the rest of your armor around.
You can also use Havel‘s Ring and Ring of Favor to add more equip load as needed.
Rings – Amplifying Criticals & Recovery
Rings tremendously complement the thief weapons and gear:
Hornet Ring
The 2nd most important piece after your weapons. This ring increases riposte and backstab damage by a whopping 30%.
Visceral attacks already demolish enemies. But the Hornet Ring practically one-shots any early to mid game enemies after a parry.
This also helps offset split damage from infusions to keep your criticals hitting hard.
Pontiff‘s Right Eye
Increases attack power with successive hits. Since Wardens strike quickly, you‘ll gain a 7.5% damage boost at max stacks.
Excellent for shredding big bosses and enemies that can poise through 1-2 of your combos.
Carthus Milkring
Adds 3 more invincibility frames during rolls, bringing your total to 13 iframes. Helpful until you master timing dodges.
Chloranthy Ring
Stamina regen is crucial so you can keep attacking and dodging. Chloranthy speeds up regen by 20% to give you nearly endless assault potential.
If you perfect timing dodges, swap to the Lloyd Sword Ring for even more damage at full HP instead.
Leveling Guide – Prioritizing Dexterity
Since we scale bleed and weapon damage with dexterity, this is your top stat priority:
| Level Range | Dexterity |
|---|---|
| Early | 27 |
| Mid game | 40 |
| End game | Hard cap at 80 |
This optimizes both your Twinblades AR while maximizing bleed buildup.
Secondarily, level Vigor for survival up to 27 early, or 40 mid game. Offensive stats are preferable on the thief though.
Allocating Remaining Points
After dex soft caps, prioritize:
- Endurance: For equip load and stamina to keep attacking
- Luck: Boost bleed; hard cap is 50
- Vitality: Increases physical defense
Keep strength and intelligence just high enough wield your gear.
Attunement is optional for utility spells like Spook to keep hidden.
Consumables
While rings passively enhance your thief, consumables provide a temporary burst:
Carthus Rouge
I‘ve mentioned this bleed-boosting item before, but I can‘t overstate its importance.
Coating my +10 Hollow Wardens with Carthus Rouge only requires 2-3 combos to hemorrhage enemies on average.
It adds around 80 auxiliary bleed buildup. I use this in virtually every boss and mini-boss fight for melting health bars.
Stack with Blood Bundles against bleed-resistant enemies.
Bundles & Resins
Pine Bundles, Gold Bundles, Blood Bundles, Gold Pine Resin etc all amplify damage by a percentage for 30-90 seconds.
Excellent to use right before boss fog gates. Gold Pine Bundles add a hefty 15% damage.
I don‘t use these as much since Carthus Rouge plus my powerful Hollow infusion shreds everything anyway. But they provide an extra edge when you really want to delete bosses.
Fighting Tips – Mastering Thief Combat
Your knowledge and skill dictates the thief‘s maximum damage potential even moreso than your gear.
Master these advanced combat tactics to truly excel:
Be Patient
The thief isn‘t about brute force trading hits. Remain patient and properly time your attacks only after evading enemy combos.
Wait for clear openings before going on the offensive. Start each fight only trying to dodge everything and observing attack patterns.
Abusing Backstabs & Parries
Your strongest option is sneaking around to enemies‘ blindspots for a backstab loading screen.
Bait overcommitting attack strings. Quickstep behind the enemy as they‘re recovering and backstab them.
This shreds even late game enemies and mini bosses.
If you can‘t safely backstab, parry with your Caestus instead. Successful parries let you visceral attack for massive damage.
Both reward perfect timing and knowledge of enemy movements.
Establishing Rhythm
Once comfortable with enemy patterns, establish a rhythm of evading, punishing via 1-2 combos, then instantly dodging away.
Only attacking out of reaction and continuing combos when you have very large openings prevents overcommitting. Patience is key.
The big advantage of the Wardens is quickly attack 2-3 times in the brief moments between the enemies‘ attack strings. Then immediately escape before they start their next combo.
Abusing Bleed
Make sure you reapply Carthus Rouge before it wears off. Try to land 2 combos consecutively while it‘s active to force bleeding.
Against bleed-resistant enemies you may need to apply Pine Resins or Bundles to help overwhelm their resistances.
Once you master these concepts, no enemy can stand in your way. You‘ll breeze through the game deleting bosses other builds may severely struggle with.
This expert level playstyle makes victory intensely rewarding.
My Thief Progression Journey
I‘d like to close out this guide by sharing my personal journey developing this thief build.
I struggled severely starting out because I couldn‘t perfectly time dodges to avoid damage. I fat rolled in clunky armor trying to tank hits instead.
But after I respecced into dexterity and changed my gear to light armor, everything clicked.
Realizing the "Dance"
It wasn‘t just about attacking. I had to enter a cerebral dance with enemies.
I learned to quickstep just as enemy weapons whizzed by me and mastered punishing their narrow whiff windows.
Soon I could bleed even formidable early game enemies like Gundyr in just 30 seconds.
Hitting My Stride
Towards mid game my weapons and bleed accessories came online after upgrading.
I would apply Carthus Rouge and delete mini bosses before some enemies could even finish their opening attack routine.
The tension of perfectly evading lethal boss combos while bleeding them dry created an addicting adrenaline rush.
Current State of My Thief
Today my thief can utterly dominate any PvE threat up to NG+6 and beyond through pure mastery.
I can consistently stance break Crucible Knights, parry Malenia‘s endless combos, and have even no hit a variety of main game bosses.
Proper dodging, spacing, and punishing has become muscle memory engraved through repetition.
I highly encourage you to stick with the thief despite difficulty early on. Once it clicks, nothing else provides this level of tense, visceral combat.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I‘m happy to provide advice.
