Farrukh Jafri has invested 400+ hours in Dark Souls 3. He has gone through extensive research playing the game, so you can easily trust the information he shares!
In Dark Souls, there are several popular ways to approach the game, including Melee builds, Pyromancer builds, and Sorcerer builds. Sorcery relies on the Intelligence stat and involves casting spells using Staffs. Some Sorcerer builds focus on ranged combat, using staffs to cast spells like soul arrows and darts, while others are melee Sorcerer hybrid builds that use Sorcery to buff damage and weapon attacks.
For Sorcerer builds in Dark Souls 3, you’ll need a staff and a high Intelligence level. Here are some recommended stats:
- Intelligence: Aim for a high Intelligence level.
- Strength: A Strength level of at least 50 is recommended.
- Attunement: High attunement (around 35-50) for extra spell slots and higher FP (Focus Points).
- Allocate remaining points based on your specific build preferences.
Key Takeaways
To create a sorcerer build in Dark Souls 3:
- Requirements: High Intelligence, Strength at least 50, Attunement 35-50 for extra spell slots and FP.
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Pure Sorcerer Build:
- Recommended spells: Soul Dart or Arrow, Homing Soulmass, Farron Flashsword, Great Soul Dart, Pestilent Mist
- Rings: Saint’s Ring, Magic Clutch Ring, Sage Ring, Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring
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Dark Sorcerer Build:
- Similar to Pure Sorcerer but uses Dark Sorceries
- Recommended spells: Affinity, Deep Soul, Dark Edge
- Rings: Saint’s Ring, Magic Clutch Ring, Sage Ring, Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring
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Pure Dark Sorcerer Build:
- Use a basic weapon infused with a Dark Gem
- Rings: Prisoner’s Chain, Ring of Favor, Saint’s Ring, Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring
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Melee Sorcerer Hybrid Build:
- Focus on high Strength and a melee weapon
- Use Great Magic Sword and Homing Soulmass for added damage
- Rings similar to Pure Sorcerer but swap Sage Ring for the Ring of Favor
Trending: Elden Ring Builds
Pure Sorcerer Build
The Pure Sorcerer build in Dark Souls 3 focuses exclusively on sorcery and intelligence, with no emphasis on physical combat. Here are the key elements of this build:
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Stats: Aim for an intelligence level of 60, alongside high attunement. Allocate remaining points to vigor or endurance.
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Recommended Sorceries:
- Soul Dart or Arrow: Mainly for smaller enemies and ads.
- Homing Soulmass: Complements your spells during encounters and serves as a defensive mechanism.
- Farron Flashsword and Great Soul Dart: Your heavy-hitting spells.
- Pestilent Mist: Effective against slower-moving large enemies and magic-resistant bosses.
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Rings:
- Saint’s Ring: Provides an extra attunement slot.
- Magic Clutch Ring: Increases spell damage at the cost of lower defense.
- Sage Ring: Reduces spell casting time.
- Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring: Boosts Sorcery damage by 20%, enhancing your damage output.
This build excels in both PvE and PvP, offering high damage, quick kills, and effective distance management. It can be a powerful and enjoyable way to play Dark Souls 3, though be prepared for some rage from invaders you fend off. Overall, the Pure Sorcerer build is a formidable and enjoyable approach to the game.
Dark Sorcerer Build
The Dark Sorcerer build is similar to a Pure Sorcerer build, except that it utilizes Dark Sorceries. While Dark Sorceries may seem a little daunting and confusing at first, I have got you covered. For this build, you require the Izalith staff, for this staff is the best staff for Dark Sorceries. You should also have both Intelligence and Faith at at least level 35 (Izalith staff scales with faith too).
For your rings, I recommend the Prisoners chain and ring of favour to manage your HP and endurance for this build won’t leave much room for those two to be upgraded. Other than that, I suggest the Saint’s ring and the Bellowing Dragoncrest ring.
For your Sorceries, my experience suggests Affinity, Great deep Soul and Dark Edge. For a Pure Dark Sorcerer build, I recommend going with a basic weapon and infusing it with the Dark Gem (check out our Infusions guide) which adds Dark damage and Int/Fth scaling to a weapon, for there are not enough Dark spells to get you through the game along.
A Dark Sorcerer build with a Dark weapon and Dark Spells with high Int/Fth can be devastating. In my opinion, you’ll do wonders with Dark Coloured robes and remaining hollow for aesthetic purposes.
Dark Sorcerer builds in Dark Souls 3 should serve exclusively as a PvE build. This build will feel underwhelming in PvP but will be a lot of fun in PvE. The powerful Dark spells, along with your Dark weapon will tear through every enemy encounter.
Affinity, Great Deep Soul and Dark Edge will get through almost every ad and non boss encounter. During hard/boss encounters, you melee weapon will go hand in hand with your spells. They will work in conjunction to yield a lot of damage and a very fun playthrough.
Melee Sorcerer Hybrid
The melee sorcerer hybrid build in Dark Souls 3 combines both sorcery and melee combat. Here are the key aspects of this build:
Stats:
- Intelligence: 40-50.
- Strength or Dexterity: At least 40.
- Allocate remaining points to Vigor, Endurance, and Attunement.
Equipment:
- Hold a staff in one hand and a Strength or Dexterity weapon in the other.
- Recommended staff: Court Sorcerers Staff.
- Recommended weapon options: Broadsword, Longsword (Strength), Washing Pole (Dexterity).
Rings:
- Saint’s Ring (extra attunement slot).
- Magic Clutch Ring (increased spell damage).
- Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring (20% Sorcery damage boost).
- Ring of Favor (enhances overall stats).
Sorceries:
- Great Magic Weapon (buffs melee weapon with major magic damage).
- Homing Soulmass (provides additional defense and intimidation).
- Soul Dart or Arrow (ranged damage and dealing with smaller enemies).
This build excels in both PvP and PvE, with a focus on versatility. You’ll have the capability to engage in both long-range and short-range combat, using sorceries for damage from a distance and your melee weapon up close. Great Magic Weapon adds significant damage to your melee weapon, making it effective against bosses and groups of enemies. Homing Soulmass provides defensive and offensive utility.
Whether you’re invading a gank squad, engaging in 1v1 battles, or tackling PvE content, this melee sorcerer hybrid build offers adaptability and effectiveness across various encounters. It’s a well-rounded choice for players seeking a mix of sorcery and melee combat in Dark Souls 3.
Locations
Here are the locations for every item mentioned in this guide:
-Soul Dart/Soul Dart:
Can be purchased from Yoel of Londor for 1,000 souls.
-Farron Flashsword:
Can be purchased from Orbeck of Venheim for 3,000 souls.
-Pestilent Mist:
Can be purchased from Orbeck of Venheim for 1,000 souls.
-Great Soul Dart:
Can be purchased from Orbeck of Venheim for 2,000 souls after you give him the Sage’s Scroll.
-Homing Soulmass:
Can be purchased from Orbeck of Venheim after giving him Logan’s scroll.
-Affinity:
Can be purchased from Karla, the Dark Sorcerer for 15,000 souls.
-Dark Edge:
Can be purchased from Karla for 8,000 souls.
-Great Deep Soul:
To acquire this sorcery, you will have to join the Aldrich Faithful covenant. You will be rewarded this Dark Sorcery for reaching level 1 of Aldrich Faithful.
-Great Magic Sword:
Can be picked up from a corpse near the shortcut gate to the Road Of Sacrifices.
–Izalith Staff:
In the smouldering lake, you will come across a hostile large rat. Behind that rat is a hidden wall with a chest. Behind the chest is another hidden wall. Hitting the second wall and then jumping down to a ledge will lead you to the Izalith Staff.
-Court Sorcerer’s Staff:
The court Sorcerer’s Staff is obtained after beating a mimic in the Profaned Capital. Un the Profaned Capital, you will come across a building that resembles a battered church, said mimic will be in the second floor of that building.
-Sage’s Ring:
To the left of the Road of Sacrifices swamp, you will come across a hollow room with an enemy. There you can pick up the Sage’s ring.
-Saint’s Ring:
Can be purchased from Irina of Carim for 3,000 souls.
-Ring of Favour:
From the Pontiff Sulywahn bonfire, tread ahead and pass the area with the giants and the dead giants. Upon entering the first building, go to the left corner and hit the wall. It will be a hidden wall and will reveal a ladder. Going down that ladder will bring you to an area with very difficult Sulyahn beasts. Beating those will give you the Ring of Favour.
-Prisoner’ Chain:
To obtain this ring, you will have to beat Champion Gundyr. After beating him, transpose his soul to get the Prisoner’s chain.
-Magic Crest Ring:
In Irythyll of the Borreal valley, head o where the Pontiff Knights and Fire witches stand together and act in conjunction as if standing on a stage. Kill them and head to the right of the platform, strike the wall for it is a hidden wall. Here you will find the Magic Crest ring laying atop a corpse.
-Bellowing Dragon Ring:
In Irithyll Dungeon, head to the room in the corner of the main area that is opened using the Jailer’s key. You will find the Bellowing Dragoncrest ring here.
Now that I am done with the Sorcerer Builds, let me answer some common questions.
This comes down to personal preference. There is no single greatest sorcerer build in Dark Souls 3. All the Dark Souls 3 sorcerer builds mentioned in my guide and all the infinite builds you can create yourself by trial and error can be equally effective. It all comes down to which build you have the most fun with. However, some of the most popular Sorcerer builds include the pure Sorcerer build and the Sorcerer melee build.
In my opinion, the best Sorcerer build for beginners is the Pure Sorcerer build. Yes, it has a slight learning curve, especially for those transitioning from melee builds. Diving straight into a pure Sorcerer build, however, will mean that you will quickly get acquainted with spells and intelligence scaling. You can then branch out and experiment with other builds.
This entirely depends on what type of encounters you want. Both the melee Sorcerer hybrid and the Pure Sorcerer build are exceptional PvP options. If you want more close-quarters combat, the Melee Sorcerer combo can be very devastating, making you go in and out of combat in an instant. It will also keep your opponent vary of your next move. The Pure sorcerer build can be equally effective. The ability to deal tons of damage very quickly from a distance can be a big advantage. Most players will be overwhelmed by your Sorceries, and some might just give up without trying.
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Farrukh has been covering Souls like games for years now. Having an extensive experience in Dark Soul 3 and Elden Ring he critically judges these games and writes his unbiased thoughts on them after spending hundreds of hours grinding. Farrukh has also worked with Game Rant, MP1st and The Nerd Stash on a variety of gaming guides making him an expert to share his opinions. When not writing he probably be clearing another dungeon. You can also join Farrukh on his Steam.
