14 BEST Dark Souls 3 Infusions Ranked [2024]

In Dark Souls 3, infusions are arguably one of the most important factors. Without the ability to infuse your weapons, the game’s options would have been too less, especially for builds that are not popular.

With the use of infusion, a ton of weapons can be altered to fit different styles. For example, the Greatsword can be infused and fit for a melee pyromancer hybrid.

Best DS3 Infusions

Here is a summary table for the best Infusions in Dark Souls 3. The table includes all the infusions and their description in a sequence:

No	Name	Infusion	Stone
1	Raw Infusion	Raw	Raw Gem
2	Bleed Infusion	Bleed	Blood Gem
3	Fire Infusion	Fire	Fire Gem
4	Poison Infusion	Poison	Poison Gem
5	Deep Infusion	Deep	Dee Gem
6	Simple Infusion	Simple	Simple Gem
7	Blessed Infusion	Blessed	Blessed Gem
8	Heavy and Sharp Infusions	Heavy, Sharp	Heavy Gem, Sharp Gem
9	Hallow Infusion	Hallow	Hallow Gem
10	Lightning Infusion	Lightning	Lightning Gem
11	Dark Infusion	Dark	Dark Gem
12	Crystal Infusion	Crystal	Crystal Gem
13	Refined Infusions	Refined	Refined Gem
14	Chaos Infusion	Chaos	Chaos Gem

There are many infusions, from fire infusions to magic infusions to Dark infusions. All come with different perks and features, be it added elemental damage or added scaling. Here are all the infusions in Dark Souls 3, ranked.

Raw Infusion

Best In Early Game DEX Builds.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Raw	Raw Gem	Significantly increase the base damage of the weapon but removes all scaling

Raw Gem Stats Table.

While in no way bad, Raw infusions are not of much use outside of the early game as per my experience. Raw infusions remove base scaling from your weapon and add in a ton of damage. Your weapons also retain their ability to be buffed.

While there is not much use of a raw infusion late game, I found it to be extremely effective for the early game uses. The added damage will mean that you will be crushing through early-game enemies with ease.

Raw infusions are also good for caster-type builds that want a viable melee weapon on the side without having to care about upgrading it through a non-caster stat (for example, a sorcerer using a raw straight sword as a side weapon) but honestly, such people will be much better off with alternatives like a melee weapon fit for their build or infused to suit their build.

You can find the Raw gem as a drop by hollow soldiers in the High Wall of Lothric. I found that the best weapons for the Raw Infusion are the straight sword and the broad sword.

Bleed Infusion

Best for Bleed And Overtime Damage.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Bleed	Blood Gem	Adds a bleed build effect to the weapon but reduces its base physical damage and physical stat scaling

Blood Gem Stats Table.

While the blood gem looks cool and bleed infusions sound very powerful, the reality is not so. While bleed infusions can be viable at times and the bleed effect does cause a lot of damage, the loss in overall damage and scaling is just not worth it.

In PvP, I observed most physical damage weapons will fare much better than a blood-infused weapon. Bleed in PVP sounds like something that will be extremely effective, it is largely just a gimmick.

While bleed infusions do cause a lot of damage over time, the buildup is slow, and the weapon hits do reduced damage. It is mostly just a small annoyance for your opponent. On top of all this, bleed buildup scales with luck which isn’t exactly the most useful stat in Dark Souls 3. Read our Best PVP Dark Souls 3 Weapons.

You can acquire the blood gem as a drop from Irithyllian slaves. To use this infusion, you will first have to provide Andre the Farron Coal. In my opinion, the best weapons for the bleed infusion are the dagger and Manikin Claws.

Much like the raw infusion, while the bleed infusion is not bad by any means, it is far from being one of the best infusions. You can get more on Bleed Weapons through our in-depth info.

Fire Infusion

Best Infusion For Pyromancers.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Fire	Fire Gem	Adds Fire damage to the weapon but reduces its base physical damage and removes all scaling.

Fire Gem Stats Table.

The Fire infusion is different from the Chaos infusion and has its pros and cons. It removes scaling and reduces the base damage of your weapon while adding fire damage. While this may sound useful, the reduction in base damage and scaling results in relatively low overall damage output.

To mitigate this, you can use the Fire Clutch Ring, which boosts your fire damage. You can obtain this ring by defeating the fire demon with Siegward of Catarina in the Undead Settlement.

While the Fire infusion won’t provide high damage, in my opinion, it can be annoying to PvP opponents and help you deal with early-game enemies. The added stagger effect from fire damage can also be advantageous.

I believe that the straight sword is one of the better choices for this infusion.

In summary, the Fire infusion is decent but not exceptional, and it can be useful in specific situations, particularly against early-game foes and for PvP annoyance.

Poison Infusion

Best Poison Buildup and DoT Effects.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Poison	Poison Gem	Adds a Poison build-up effect to the weapon but reduces its base physical damage and physical stat scaling

Poison Gem Stats Table. 

Similar to the bleed Infusion, the poison infusion also makes the list of underwhelming Infusions. It gives your weapons poison damage that builds up over time. The tradeoff for the added poison damage is that you lose base damage and scaling for your weapon.

While the Poison gem is very similar to the blood gem, I discovered some benefits to this infusion. As per my experience, many weapons go well with Poison infusions and the overall net damage effect of the Poison gem is usually greater than that of the blood gem.

One popular method is to go with the poison gem and focus only on upgrading vigor and endurance. While this method is not the most effective, it is suitable for most enemies in PvE and will often lead to rage quits in PvP.

You can acquire this gem as a drop from Rotten Slugs and Elder Ghrus in the Farron Keep. You will have to provide the Farron Coal to Andre to use this infusion. My best weapon picks for such Infusions are fast weapons like twin daggers and katanas.

Deep Infusion

Best Infusion For Caster Builds.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Deep	Dee Gem	Adds Dark damage to the weapon and scaling with both Intelligence and Faith. Reduces base physical damage but does not affect scaling.

Deep Gem Stats Table.

Much like how the fire gem adds fire damage to a weapon but removes scaling and reduces damage, the deep damage adds dark scaling and does the same. The benefit here is that Dark Scaling deals more damage in PvE and has fewer enemies that are less prone to it.

The issue with gems like Deep and Fire is that while they are viable to an extent, they have better counterparts that add the same kind of damage but allow for scaling that increases that damage as you level up the scale that boosts it.

For what it’s worth, the deep gem is a decent option according to me, especially for caster-type builds who want a weapon on the side and just do not want to go with a raw gem for aesthetic purposes. The deep gem deals dark damage, which is more in line with caster-type builds.

In my experience, this build is especially nice with Dark Pyros and Dark Sorcerer Builds (check out our pyromancer and sorcerer build guides). Much like the fire gem, Infusions also add in stagger which means they will work fine against most PvE enemies.

While there are quite a few of these scattered throughout the map, one of the best ways to acquire it is as a drop from the deacons of the deep enemies, try killing them with boosted item discovery for a better chance of success.

I believe the best weapons for Deep Infusions are early-game weapons like the broad sword and the long sword.

Simple Infusion

Best Utility Infusion.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Simple	Simple Gem	Adds Magic damage to the weapon, as well as scaling with intelligence. Reduces base physical damage more severely than the Crystal infusion but does not affect scaling. Also, it adds a slow FP recovery effect while the weapon is in use.

Simple Gem Stats Table.

Don’t get me wrong, the Simple Infusion is one of the best Dark Souls 3 infusions. The Simple infusion has its uses and it excels in what it’s made for, but the best crystal infusion is far superior if what you care about is damage only.

The simple gem infusions add in intelligence scaling, although the scaling is underwhelming. In exchange for the low scaling, you get FP regeneration which can be crucial for builds focusing on intelligence.

While the Crystal gem is a clear option for intelligence-dependent builds, the Simple Infusion is one of the best infusions for hybrid builds or builds that use intelligence to an extent but do not have it as their primary stat. Builds such as a sorcerer strength hybrid that focuses mainly on strength can use such an Infusion very effectively for such builds often have low Ashen Estus flasks, to begin with.

I also noticed the FP regeneration that simple Infusions offers will come in handy for players who will be refilling their FP bar as they go through the game.

Blessed Infusion

Best Infusion For Support Builds.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Blessed	Blessed Gem	Adds a slow HP recovery effect while the weapon is held and scaling with Faith. Reduces base physical damage and physical stat scaling. It prevents skeletons from reviving.

Blessed Gem Stats Table.

What Blessed Infusions do is that in exchange for base damage and scaling, they add faith scaling and add in HP regeneration (similar to Simple Infusion’s FP regeneration). While the scaling is not very high, the HP regeneration gives the blessed gem a ton of uses and puts it amongst the best infusions.

I honestly think the ability to regenerate your health can be crucial in the heat of battle. The regeneration is not even linked to your faith level, but rather the level of your weapon. A +10 weapon will give 3 hp every 1.5 seconds. All this gives this gem even more use.

One very popular way of using the Blessed Infusion is to use it with an off-hand weapon, purely for its regeneration. In PvE, this will save you tons of Estus, for you will be reaching full health almost every time before you face off with an enemy.

You can acquire the blessed gem as a drop from the Evangelists in the Irithyll Valley, undead settlement, and the cathedral of the deep. You can use it with any weapon if you plan on using it as an off-hand HP recovering weapon; I recommend something like the dagger that has low weight.

All in all, the blessed gem, if used correctly, is easily one of the best infusions for your build.

See also: Best Dark Souls 3 Mage Builds

Heavy & Sharp Infusions

Best for Strength (Heavy) & DEX (Sharp) Builds.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Heavy	Heavy Gem	Bolsters a weapon's scaling with strength, but reduces the weapon's base damage and removes scaling with Dexterity
Sharp	Sharp Gem	Bolsters a weapon's scaling with Dexterity but reduces the weapon's base damage and scaling with Strength.

Heavy Gem Stats Table.

The only reason I am ranking these together is due to their similarity. The heavy gem turns any infusible weapon into a strength weapon and the Sharp gem turns any infusible weapon into a dexterity weapon, making them both excellent infusions.

Related: Best Dark Souls 3 Heavy Armor Sets

Since Strength and  Dexterity builds are some of the most used builds, these infusions are some of the most popular infusions in the game. While there is not much to say for these infusions are some of the simplest infusions in the game, they do remove base scaling.

To maximize the effectiveness of these Infusions, I recommend a Strength (for heavy gem) or a Dexterity (for sharp gem) level of at least 45 each. These Dark Souls 3 Infusions let weapons be buffed, which makes them all the better.

The best weapons for the Heavy gem are greatswords and ultra greatswords with quality scaling and/or dexterity weapons like katanas and rapiers.

In contrast, for the sharp gem, the best weapons are strength weapons that you would like to use with a high dexterity, such as the Greatsword. Both these gems are common and can be found scattered across the game.

Hollow Infusion

Best For Luck Builds.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Hallow	Hallow Gem	It adds Luck scaling to the weapon and grants the player additional Luck based on their level of Hollowing. Reduces the weapon's base damage less severely than the Heavy and Sharp infusions.

Hollow Gem Stats Table.

Hollow infusions are arguably the most underrated and one of the best infusions in Dark Souls 3. Hollow Infusions reduce your weapon base damage but add in scaling with luck which goes a long way. On top of this, hollow infusions allow you to buff your weapons with items and/or spells, which can make for devastating outputs of damage.

While it is true that luck may not be the most used skill, it can still be very useful and tons of fun. Firstly, luck increases the chance of finding rare items drops by a lot. Luck also increases bleed buildup.

With a build that uses hollow infusion, you are forced to have a high luck level and while the infusion alone may not make it worth it, the aforementioned perks certainly do. You can read about Luck Build here.

While the Hollow gem is scattered throughout the map, the easiest way to pick it up is to farm it through Corvian Storytellers in the Road of Sacrifices.

While not necessary, being hollow while using this infusion will give you bonus luck. Hollow infusions go great with curved swords and Katanas according to my experience.

Lightning Infusion

Best Faith Build Infusion.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Lightning	Lightning Gem	Adds Lightning damage to the weapon and scaling with Faith, but reduces base physical damage and scaling with Strength and Dexterity.

Lightning Gem Stats Table. 

Lightning Infusion adds lightning damage to your weapon and makes it scalable; how cool is that?! With the lightning infusion, your weapon loses base scaling and gains faith scaling.

Lightning damage, especially at a high faith level, can be devastating. Many enemies, including arguably the hardest Miyazaki boss to date, Darkeater Midir, are weak to lightning. Plus, lightning damage is the coolest-looking elemental damage in the game.

While there are multiple ways to obtain this gem, one of the simplest ways is to acquire it as a drop from the larger enemies in Archdragon Peak, just make sure you go in wearing everything that enhances your item discovery.

While Lightning Infusion can buff up any weapon, I recommend great hammers and ultra greatswords.

Dark Infusion

Best For Dark Magic Builds.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Dark	Dark Gem	Adds Dark damage to the weapon and scaling with both Intelligence and Faith. Reduces base physical damage but does not affect scaling.

Dark Gem Stats Table.

Similar to the Lightning infusion, the Dark infusion is also another infusion that makes weapons scalable while giving them elemental damage. Except, the Dark infusion is a lot more viable due to the many more uses it has.

Firstly, Dark damage is something many build, from Pyros to mages to sorcerers to melee builds utilize, it is also something that is scaled with both intelligence and faith, making it very versatile.

On top of all this, this infusion also adds faith scaling to weapons with lightning damage built-in and intelligence scaling to weapons with magic scaling.

The Dark gem varies from the Deep gem with its ability to add scaling to a weapon, and its variety. While you can stumble upon the Dark gem in the World of Dark Souls, it is a rare drop.

One of the best ways to acquire the Dark Gem is as a drop from the Pus-Man in the High Wall Of Lothric. While this Infusion can go with most weapons, a personal favorite is the Dark Zweihander.

Crystal Infusion

Best Infusion For Sorcerers.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Crystal	Crystal Gem	Adds Magic damage to the weapon and scaling with intelligence but reduces base physical damage and scaling with Strength and Dexterity.

Crystal Gem Stats Table. 

The Crystal gem is akin to the simple infusion but with intelligence scaling and no FP regeneration. The reason it ranks so high on the list is because of the versatility it offers to Sorcerers in Dark Souls 3. The ability to have your favorite weapons and heave them scale with intelligence translates to a world of possibilities for Sorcerers.

Such Infusions will allow sorcerers to experiment with different weapons and cause devastating amounts of damage. I found this to also be excellent for melee sorcerers.

Since sorcery is very popular and sorcerers compromise a large chunk of Dark Souls 3’s population, this infusion is useful for a lot of players. While some can argue the FP regeneration the Simple gem offers makes it better, the scaling this gem offers makes it almost objectively better for those who focus on sorcery, for they have more than enough ashen Estus’ to never run out.

One of the easiest ways to acquire this gem is to pick it up from a crystal lizard on the road of sacrifices. Since this gem gives intelligence scaling to most weapons, you can use any weapon that you can not normally use as a sorcerer.

Refined Infusion

Best for Quality Builds And Melee Weapons.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Refined	Refined Gem	Equalizes the weapon's scaling with Strength and Dexterity but reduces the weapon's base damage more severely than the Heavy and Sharp infusions.

Refined Gem Stats Table.

Most Dark Souls 3 veterans agree that quality builds are some of the most viable and fun builds to go through Dark Souls 3. But what if you happen to be someone who wants to try a quality build but can not let go of one favorite weapon?

This is where Refined infusions in Dark Souls 3 come in. Refined infusions give quality scaling to weapons while taking away their base scaling.

Quality builds/scalings utilize a mixture of strength and dexterity scaling and focus on melee weapons. These builds have some of the most versatility in the game, primarily due to their weapon variety and damage output.

Most strength and dexterity weapons prioritize or only focus on one of these 2 scalings, what the Refined infusion does is make sure the scaling is balanced, and if you are someone with high strength and dexterity, your damage is being maximized.

While there are many ways per playthrough to acquire this gem, one easy early game way is going to the High Wall of Lothric, then taking a left-right before the Emma room and killing the red-eyed knight there; this will guarantee at least 1 Refined gem per playthrough.

My best picks for a refined infusion are the Astora Greatsword, the Uchigatana, and the Greatsword and I recommend a strength and dexterity level of at least 40 each.

Chaos Infusion

Best Infusion For Pyros and Dark Pyros.

Infusion	Stone	Description
Chaos	Chaos Gem	Adds both Fire damage and scaling with Intelligence and Faith. Reduces base physical damage but does not affect scaling.

Chaos Gem Stats Table.

Chaos Gem essentially rewards you with unlimited fire paper that is scalable.

It grants your build extensive fire damage, much like the Fire gem, but it makes it scalable with intelligence and faith. This gem is perfect for pyromancers and dark pyromancers.

The ability to have fire damage that scales with your primary stats means your weapon of choice will be outputting insane amounts of damage.

Since many enemies in the game are weak to fire, that makes this gem all the more useful. Much like the Dark gem, the Chaos gem adds Faith scaling to weapons with lightning damage and Intelligence scaling to weapons with Magic scaling.

Chaos infusions can go with any weapon of your choice; I recommend an intelligence and faith level of at least 40.

How Infusions In Dark Souls 3 Work

In order to infuse a weapon, you may or may need to bring a coal to Andre the blacksmith. For Dark Souls 3 infusions that do not require a coal, just provide Andre with the required stone, and he will infuse your weapon. For weapons that do require a coal, give Andre that coal, and he will then accept stones for the infusions that coal has unlocked (for example, a fire infusion requires the Farron Coal).

What I Recommend

Honestly, all the infusions except a selected few like Raw infusion, are a great addition to your gameplay. But still, out of all, my first choice will always be Chaos Infusion, mainly because it goes well with Dark and Pyro builds, however, it also gives lightning AOE attack, which is almost like having Lightning infusion with Dark/Pyro buffs.