Stats Explained: Stat Effects and the Best Stats to Level Up
Stats in Elden Ring are what govern your proficiency in battle. Read on to see all Elden Ring stats explained including what each stat does and how each one can increase your effectiveness in combat.
List of Contents
Stats Explained
Main Stats
Runes are required to level up your stats. You can get Runes from defeating enemies or bosses. Each stat you level up increases your level by 1.
| Stats | Description |
|---|---|
| Vigor | ・Increases maximum HP and fire resistance. ・Increases Immunity, making you more resistant to Poison and Scarlet Rot. ・Called Vitality in Dark Souls and Demon's Souls. Dark Souls II and III used both Vigor and Vitality. |
| Mind | ・Increases maximum FP. ・Increases Focus resistance, making you more resistant to Sleep and Madness. ・In Dark Souls 3, Attunement raised your FP. In Demon's Souls, this was called Intelligence. |
| Endurance | ・Increases maximum stamina. Your stamina will not deplete in the open world unless aggroed by enemies. ・Increases physical defense ・Increases Robustness, which is your resistance to Hemorrhage and Frostbite ・Increases your maximum equip load. |
| Strength | ・Increases damage of strength-scaling weapons. ・Required to equip heavy, Strength-based weapons. |
| Dexterity | ・Increases damage of dexterity-scaling weapons. ・Required to equip advanced, Dexterity-based weapons. ・Reduces casting time of spells ・Decreases fall damage ・Makes it harder to get thrown off your mount. |
| Intelligence | ・Boosts damage of intelligence-scaling sorceries and weapons. ・Required to perform more advanced sorceries. ・Improves resistance to magic attacks. |
| Faith | ・Boosts power of faith-scaling incantations and weapons. ・Required to perform more advanced incantations. |
| Arcane | ・Boosts discovery, which increases rare item drops. ・Raises your Death resistance. ・Increases blood loss buildup for weapons that both have Arcane-scaling and blood loss buildup. ・In Dark Souls 3, this stat was known as Luck. In previous Souls games, an invisible stat called Item Discovery governed item drop rates. |
Best Stats to Level Up
When in Doubt, Level Up Vigor
When you are unsure which stat to level up, go with the Vigor stat. Increasing Vigor will raise your health, making it easier to survive dangerous areas and bosses. Of course, using certain weapons or spells will require putting levels into other stats as well, but when starting out, you can never have too much health.
Endurance is Always a Good Idea
Elden Ring's combat system, like Soulsborne games, is dependent on stamina management. Even caster builds will have to do melee and dodge roll at some point. Making sure you always have enough stamina to block attacks, swing your weapon, or dodge away is a good investment.
Arcane for Quick Bursts of Damage Due to Blood Loss
Arcane is the go-to stat for many builds nowadays due to the Hemorrhage status effect.
Since blood loss buildup increases with weapons that have Arcane scaling, investing points in this stat triggers Hemorrhage quicker, letting you take down even the strongest bosses in a short amount of time.
Take note, however, that there are enemies and bosses that are immune to Hemorrhage, so it's still good to invest in another weapon and stat.
How to Respec Stats
Unlocked After Defeating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
Players will be able to respec their stats after defeating Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. Once she is defeated, she becomes an NPC. If you also have a Larval Tear in your inventory, you can respec your stats by talking to her and selecting Rebirth.
How to Respec | Can You Change Stats?
Other Stats
Player Traits
These stats show how developed your character has become. These player traits can only be raised by leveling up the eight main stats listed above.
| Traits | Description |
|---|---|
| Level | ・Goes up per stat you level up. ・Represents the combined strength of all your stats. ・The amount of Runes required to level up will increase with every level. |
| Runes Held | ・Number of Runes you currently possesses. ・Gain runes by defeating enemies and bosses. ・If you die in combat, you drop all your Runes Held. |
| HP | ・Health Points are represented by a red bar at the top left. ・Reduced by taking damage. ・Recovered by drinking Flasks or resting at Sites of Grace. ・If reduced to 0, you will die and be returned to the last checkpoint. |
| FP | ・Focus Points are represented by a blue bar at the top left. ・Used to cast spells and use skills such as Ashes of War. ・Recovered by drinking Flasks or resting at Sites of Grace. |
| Stamina | ・Represented by a green bar at the top left. ・Determines how many actions you can take. These actions include attacking, blocking, running, jumping, and dodging. ・If depleted, you won't be able to perform any of the above actions. ・Your Stamina bar quickly regenerates over time and can regenerate even faster with certain weapons or Talismans. |
| Poise | ・Determines if an enemy attack has high enough Poise damage to stagger you. ・The higher the Poise the less likely you are to reel or get staggered back when getting hit. ・Heavy armor sets grants the most Poise. ・Some weapons provide high Poise during attacks, you'll still get damaged but your attack will push through. |
| Equip Load | ・Determined by the weight of all the weapons and apparel you have equipped. ・The smaller the equip load, the faster your dodges. ・Higher equip loads make your dodge rolls much slower. |
| Memory Slots | ・Total number of Sorceries or Incantations you can equip. |
Combat Stats
These stats represent how much offensive and defensive prowess your character is capable of. These combat stats can only be raised by equipping and improving different kinds of gear, as well as leveling up some of your main stats.
Attack Power
| Stat | Description |
|---|---|
| R Armament | ・Determined by the total offensive power of the item equipped on your right hand. ・You can equip up to 3 armaments for use on your right hand. |
| L Armament | ・Determined by the total offensive power of the item equipped on your left hand. ・You can equip up to 3 armaments for use on your left hand. |
Defense and Damage Negation
These stats represent how well you can defend against the different types of physical and magical damage in Elden Ring. The number on the left is determined by your stats, while the number on the right is determined by all your defensive gear.
| Stat | Description |
|---|---|
| Physical | ・Total resistance against physical attacks in general. |
| VS Strike | ・Total resistance against physical attacks that do strike damage, like clubs and other blunt weapons. |
| VS Slash | ・Total resistance against physical attacks that do slash damage, like swords and weapons with long blades. |
| VS Pierce | ・Total resistance against physical attacks that do pierce damage, like lances and other thrusting weapons. |
| Magic | ・Total resistance against magical attacks. |
| Fire | ・Total resistance against fire-based attacks. |
| Lightning | ・Total resistance against lightning-based attacks. |
| Holy | ・Total resistance against holy-based attacks. |
Resistance
These stats determine your susceptibility to being afflicted with certain status ailments.
| Stat | Description |
|---|---|
| Immunity | ・Resistance to poison and Scarlet Rot. ・Increased by your attributes, armor, and additional effects. |
| Robustness | ・Resistance to Hemorrhage and Frostbite. ・Increased by your attributes, armor, and additional effects. |
| Focus | ・Resistance to Sleep and Madness. ・Increased by your attributes, armor, and additional effects. |
| Death | ・This is your resistance to Instant Death. ・Increased by your attributes, armor, and additional effects. |
All Stat Soft Caps
Levelling Main Stats are Effective to a Certain Point
The Stat/Attribute Soft Cap is the point where a certain stat when leveled up will start to have diminishing returns. Every attribute in the game has a soft cap and knowing these can greatly assist with your stat distribution.
| Attribute | Level Caps |
|---|---|
| Vigor | 40 | 60 |
| Mind | 60 |
| Endurance (Stam.) Endurance (Eq. Load) |
50 60 |
| Strength | 60 | 80 |
| Dexterity | 60 | 80 |
| Intelligence Sorcery Scaling |
50 | 80 60 | 80 |
| Faith Incant Scaling (FAI) |
50 | 80 45 | 60 | 80 |
| Arcane Arcane (Physical) Arcane Buildup Incant Scaling (ARC) |
50 | 80 60 | 80 45 | 60 | 80 45 | 60 | 80 |
It is not recommend to level up an attribute any further after its last soft cap.
All Soft Caps for Stats (2024)
Elden Ring Related Guides
Beginner's Guide: All Tips and Tricks
