How to Farm Souls and Items - Dark Souls 3 Guide - IGN (2024)

In the world of Dark Souls 3, you'll need every advantage you can get, and sometimes getting just enough souls to level, or that one rare weapon or piece of armor, can spell the different between victory or defeat.

This page will show How to Farm Souls and Items through smart use of equipment, and some of the best places to rack up good items or lots of souls quickly.

Gearing Up to Farm

To make the best of your farming runs, you'll need the right equipment to get the best possible returns. These include Weapons, Equipment, Rings, and even Consumables and Tools, as listed below:

The Covetous Serpent Rings

• The Covetous Silver Serpent Ring will increase the amount of souls obtained from killing enemies, and is a must-have early item to get. You can find this ring at Firelink Shrine, high up in the building. You can access the roof either by getting the Tower Key from the Shrine Handmaid for 20,000 Souls, or trying to glitch onto the roof by running and jumping off a tree outside. Once in the rafters, cross the beams to an Illusory Wall that reveals an area behind the thrones with the ring in a chest.

Skip the Key - Find out how to glitch onto roof of Firelink Shrine

• The Covetous Gold Serpent Ring increases your Discovery stat, making you more likely to find good items when killing enemies. This ring can be found deep in Irithyll Dungeon, in a cell with a window looking into the Giant's cell. First you must find the Old Cell Key in a chest in the sewers beyond the Giant's Cell, then head into the Profaned Capital before doubling back to the dungeon through a side passage until you come to a large shrine amid a poisonous lake. At the roof of the shrine, look for an open window along the far wall you can jump into that leads to the Old Cell where the ring is located.

The Shield and Helm

• The Shield of Want is a special magical shield that allows you to obtain more souls from enemies, much like the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring - though it's located about halfway through the game. Take a detour down the bridge before High Lord Wolnir to enter the Smouldering Lake, and head left to where a Giant Sand Wurm has made its home. Dodge it or kill it, and look around its lair for a body holding the shield.
• The Symbol of Avarice is a funny looking Mimic Hat that is dropped from killing a random Mimic in the game. Every Mimic you meet has a chance to drop it, but the last Mimic left in the game should drop it regardless - if you haven't found it before then. This helm boosts your Item Discovery Rate - but at the cost of constantly draining health. Because of this, you'll only want to equip this when you have a farming spot close to a bonfire - or at least pack lots of Estus.

The Weapon

• The Crystal Sage's Rapier is a special weapon transposed from the Soul of the Crystal Sage, which can be gained early on in the game. Simply wielding the weapon will raise your Item Discovery stat, making it great for farming. However, for late game farming, you'll either want to be sure to upgrade the weapon so it can actually damage enemies, or wield it in the off-hand instead of the Shield of Want, while using your main weapon to kill enemies.

Consumables

• The Rusted Coin is an item that temporarily boosts your Item Discovery, and is worth using since it stacks with other boosts you may already have. They are easy enough to buy from Unbreakable Patches for a measly 200 Souls each, which you should be easily able to gain back with your increased soul-farming gear. Due to the availability of these coins, it is recommended that they be used for farming rather than the rarer Rusted Gold Coin.
• The Rusted Gold Coin boasts a much higher boost to Item Discovery, but is much harder to find. There are a few places in the world you can obtain a finite amount, but the only other place to obtain them is by defeating the Handmaids in the Profaned Capital outside of Yhorm the Giant's boss room - and even then it is a rare drop.

Farming Locations

The following sections will detail ideal spots to farm both items and souls at various stages in the game. If you know of great places to farm, share them with us by editing the page or letting us know in the comments!

High Wall of Lothric

A good early place to get plenty of souls and the chance for powerful items is right after defeating Vordt of the Boreal Valley. Once defeated, use his Bonfire to quickly run up the long courtyard towards High Priestess Emma, and kill the four Lothric Knights who patrol the courtyard. The knights, while tough, drop a decent amount of souls, as well as their armor, weapons, and other items like Ember or Titanite Shards. Their close proximity to the Bonfire makes resetting them fairly painless, even if you accidentally die while farming.

Cathedral of the Deep

After defeating the Deacons of the Deep, you can farm the main altar pretty quickly that's located just before the boss. The room contains several Deacons who drop their equipment, as well as two imposing Cathedral Knights who also drop their weapons and equipment - and one of them will sit patiently in a pew until you attack them.

Farron Keep

One of the great early to mid-game farming spots is just before the Abyss Watchers fight in Farron Keep. Opposite the boss is the Bonfire for the Farron Keep Perimeter. From here you can run outside just in time to see two Darkwraiths walk up and start killing several Ghru outside the boss entrance. Not only to do you get the souls from whoever loses, but you can get a full set of Darkwraith armor and their weapons by ambushing them while they attack the Ghru, as well as Pale Tongues for the Rosaria's Fingers Covenant, and Cracked Red Eye Orb for more invading. It's also worth finishing off the Ghru in the area for a chance to get Wolf's Blood Swordgrass for the Watchdogs of Farron Covenant, and any poison weapons or gems they drop.

Archdragon Keep

Although strictly for farming souls near the endgame, the Bonfire at the Dragon-kin Mausoleum can net you thousands of souls fast - without even needing to rest at the bonfire to reset the area. Simply walking into the mausoleum will cause the Serpent-man Summoner above the room to summon a Drakeblood Knight. He's a tough opponent with lightning enchanted weapons, but with enough practice you can start defeating him like clockwork, and the Summoner will just keep bringing knights in for you to slaughter, providing and endless fountain of souls!

Grand Archives

The Grand Archives are the absolute best spot to farm Souls. On the roof are three Gold Winged Knights. Not only do they reward several thousand souls per kill, but also have a very high chance to drop Large Titanite Shards. Although rarer, they can also drop Titanite Chunks as well.

With the proper items, as mentioned above, killing all three knights will net you 20,000+ souls each run. On NG+, that number can climb as high as 60,000+ per run.

Lothric Castle

The Lothric Castle bonfire is an excellent late-game area to farm souls and Titanite Shards — more on farming materials in the section below. Simply spawn at the bonfire, take an immediate right, kill the Lothric Knight walking through the doorway, and repeat.

Farming Titanite Chunks, Scales and Twinkling

If you're looking to farm these high end crafting materials, you have a couple methods. The first is to just farm souls and buy them. After you obtain the Dragon Chaser's Ashes, you can purchase an unlimited supply from the Shrine Handmaid.

Alternatively, you can farm the items. Chunks have a very low chance to drop from high level enemies, such as those found in Archdragon Peak or just outside Prince Lothrics battle area. You can also farm Twinkling Titanite and Titanite Scale by killing the Stone Lizards on Archdragon Peak. It's a very low drop chance, but with enough Item Discovery, you should get one or two pieces every few runs.