Dark Souls 3: How to Farm Souls and Embers

This guide will explain the best methods for farming Souls and Embers in Dark Souls 3. We will explain which enemies have the best drop rate of Souls and Embers, and we will cover various strategies for farming Souls throughout the game. Follow these guidelines to effectively stay embered and level up fast.

Embers and Souls are valuable commodities in Dark Souls 3. Taking the place of Humanity and Human Effigies, Embers will increase a player’s maximum HP until death. Embers are also required to become a host in multiplayer. A Host of Embers can summon others for co-op or PvP using summon signs, but will become vulnerable to invasions while in the embered state.

Souls are the main currency in the Dark Souls games, and are necessary for leveling up or purchasing new items. Souls are dropped upon death, and can only be recovered by returning to the death location. A player’s soul leveling requirement will increase exponentially for each level gained, making each level increase costlier than the last. We will provide several soul farming methods to help you level up fast and purchase more expensive items.

Help Other Players Defeat Bosses in Co-Op

One of the most efficient methods for earning both Embers and Souls is to participate in co-op activities and help other players complete critical boss battles. Helping a Host of Embers defeat a boss in co-op rewards you with an additional Ember for your inventory. You will also become Embered at the end of the boss fight, if you weren’t already. Successful boss battles grant a hefty amount of souls upon completion, making this an ideal method for soul farming.

To join another player in co-op, you must use a White Sign Soapstone to place a friendly summon sign on the ground. Other players can then use your white sign to summon you into their world for co-op PvE activities. Purchase a White Sign Soapstone from the Shrine Handmaid if you don’t have one already. Keep in mind that you don’t need to be Embered to be summoned into another world.

For the best discoverability, place your white summon sign just outside of boss entrances. Players will often only seek help right before a boss fight, especially if the boss is particularly challenging. After the boss battle, place another summon sign outside the boss door to repeat the process. Bosses that are found further in the game tend to drop more souls than early game bosses, due to their increased difficulty. Consider placing a summon sign near later bosses if you are looking to gain a higher soul reward for the boss fight.

Sometimes players have trouble making their way to the boss chamber at all, and will seek help near a bonfire in order to ease their burden of navigating through a region. Consider placing a summon sign near certain bonfires to help other players defeat tough PvE enemies and reach the boss battle.

The more enemies you help take down, the more souls you accumulate. Add this to the souls awarded for completing a boss fight while summoned, and you can easily earn enough souls for several levels in just a couple co-op runs. Also, if you die as a friendly phantom in a host’s world, you won’t lose your accumulated souls, adding extra incentive to friendly co-op.

Farm Certain Enemies for Souls and Embers

Certain enemies will drop Embers or a high number of souls when defeated. In the High Wall of Lothric, Lothric Knights are known to occasionally drop Embers. These are the red knights that are found patrolling the walkway outside the chapel just before Vordt of the Boreal Valley. These Lothric Knights are relatively easy to farm, since they are available early in the game. Lothric Knights with a slightly higher Ember drop rate are found much later in the game, just outside the boss chamber of the Grand Archives. Red-eyed enemies will sometimes drop Embers as well. Since these enemies tend to be more challenging, they may be better for farming souls than Embers.

The Darkwraith beneath the Tower on the Wall Bonfire is a decent enemy to farm for souls very early in the game. Defeating this enemy for the first time will also grant the Red Eye Orb for PvP. To find the Darkwraith, pursue Leonhard’s questline until he gives you the Lift Chamber Key. Open the locked gate in the tower two floors beneath the Tower on the Wall bonfire, and ride the lift down to reach this enemy. You can earn about 2,500 souls each time you defeat the Darkwraith, which can really add up fast early on in the game.

Increase Luck for Item Discovery

A higher Luck attribute can increase the chances for loot drops from defeated enemies. Consider adding points to your Luck stat to improve the chances of Ember drops from enemies, including the Lothric Knights mentioned earlier. Wielding certain weapons can also boost your item discovery, such as the Crystal Sage’s Rapier. For a high Luck attribute at the start of the game, play as the either the Thief or Cleric classes.

If you are specifically doing an item farming run, use a Rusted Coin or Rusted Gold Coin in order to greatly increase your item discovery for a short duration. The effects of these items only lasts for about a minute. Crush a Rusted Coin just before fighting an enemy you hope to farm for loot, such as the Lothric Knights, to boost your chances for an item drop.

Rusted Coins can be found above the Dilapidated Bridge Bonfire in Undead Settlement, as well as behind crates to the left of the first upper double doors in the Cathedral of the Deep. Unbreakable Patches will also have these coins for sale in his inventory.

Wear Covetous Serpent Rings

Covetous Serpent Rings can also be worn to increase item discovery or souls gained per kill. The Covetous Silver Serpent Ring increases souls gained from fallen enemies by 10%. Likewise, the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring will increase item discovery by 50. Follow our steps below to locate both of these rings during your playthrough.

The Covetous Silver Serpent Ring is found on a hidden upper floor in Firelink Shrine. To get this ring, you must purchase the Tower Key from the Shrine Handmaid and ascend the tower on the upper level outside of Firelink Shrine. Go halfway across the bridge, and drop down onto the rooftop. Drop down once more onto a lower ledge, and look for a door leading to a series of beams just beneath the shrine rooftop. Walk across the beam and strike the wall on the opposite side to reveal a hidden section. Walk forward toward the far wall, and look for a chest on the right containing the ring.

The Covetous Gold Serpent Ring is found much later in an Irithyll Dungeon prison cell. Obtain the Old Cell Key in a chest beyond some sewer rats in Irithyll Dungeon, then head to the Profaned Capital. Climb to the roof of the church, and jump across a gap over the stairs to reach the window of the adjacent building. The ring is found on a corpse in the cell ahead.

Crush Unwanted Boss Souls

Defeating a critical boss in your world rewards you with that boss’ soul. These twisted souls can then be taken to Ludleth in Firelink Shrine to upgrade his wares with new purchasable weapons and items. However, if items offered from the soul of a certain boss aren’t of interest to you, the boss soul can be used to increase your soul quantity instead.

Keep in mind that you only receive one of these major twisted souls per boss battle in a single playthrough, so be sure to check Ludleth’s inventory carefully before crushing the boss soul. Once you use a boss soul, the corresponding weapon in Ludleth’s inventory will no longer be available.

Purchase Embers from NPCs

If you need an Ember quickly and don’t want to attain one through multiplayer, you can purchase limited quantities of Embers from various vendors in Firelink Shrine.

The Shrine Handmaid initially sells only three Embers. Giving the Shrine Handmaid umbral ashes will add another three Embers to her inventory for each umbral ash given. Both Greirat and Unbreakable Patches will also sell limited Embers as well.

For more useful Dark Souls 3 features, head over to our Dark Souls 3 Walkthrough and Guide. We'll show you how to discover new Covenants, trade items with an invisible crow, turn into a dragon, and much more.