Combat Basics

Learn the essential combat mechanics of Dark Souls III: The Ringed City, including Stamina management, Lock-On, attacks, backstabs, ranged combat, and spellcasting to survive.

Combat is the most important part of Dark Souls 3, with intricate features that can be the difference of an area being easy or difficult. Mastering combat is going to be the deal breaker of whether or not you like this game, with many people finding the harsh punishments for failure as a reason to give up.

Stamina is used for everything from attacking and rolling to dashing and backstepping, so you need to make sure that you use it appropriately in order to prevent death due to the inability to avoid an attack. Stamina regenerates naturally if you're not using your Stamina, so make sure that you give yourself time to recover in between attacks or battles.

When near a target you can Lock-On, allowing you to backstep and side-step easily around them. If there are multiple targets you can switch targets or unlock and then lock a new target. While this can be great for aiming your attacks, you may wish to not lock on for large enemies with weaknesses in their arms or legs, as the lock-on typically targets their head.

There are two types of attacks: basic and strong attacks. Basic attacks are weaker, use less stamina, and can be chained together easily. Strong attacks are much slower and can be charged to do significant damage, but don't chain well with basic attacks. All weapons can be two-handed to do additional damage and access Weapon Skills.

Sneaking up behind enemies, or getting behind them mid-combat, will give you the chance to backstab them with a normal attack. This lethal form of attack will deal massive damage and kick the enemy to the ground. Use this to your advantage, but don't prolong a battle by fishing for these.

Ranged attacks using bows or crossbows can hit enemies at range, which many enemies are unable to perform. Bows must be two-handed to perform an attack, and you can either aim to fire or lock-on and then fire. Having a bow equipped is great for pulling enemies or dealing free damage before a target reaches you.

Spellcasting uses FP (Focus Points) to cast spells and deal massive damage, unless enemies have high Magic resistance. Casting requires Attunement slots to equip spells, Catalysts to use them, and Intelligence and/or Faith to increase potency. Spellcasters should mix Estus Flasks (HP) with Ashen Estus Flasks (FP) for healing.

Even melee builds can benefit from some Intelligence/Faith and one attunement slot. For example, a Miracle like Caressing Tears, which heals status ailments, costs only 12 Faith and 1 Attunement slot, potentially saving many Estus Flasks in areas with damaging status effects.