Humanity is a game mechanic which controls various aspects of the game, both off- and online. See also Humanity Item and Scaling for weapons.
Mechanics of Humanity
Effects of Humanity
- The amount of Humanity held by the player is represented by a number in the top left corner of the HUD. Usually referred to as 'soft' humanity.
- "Holding" Humanity - that is, when you have Humanity on your person (in your Humanity meter) - puts those points at risk. Upon death, your held Humanity will be left with your bloodstain in addition to your Souls, thus increasing the price of dying twice in a row.
- Humanity affects the damage of weapons that are upgraded with Chaos upgrades and spells, that are considered to be "Chaos" related. Maximum at 10 Humanity.
- Humanity increases the player's Physical and Elemental Defenses (not Bleed and Poison Resistance), similar to leveling up.
- Humanity increases the player's resistance to being Cursed. Maximum at 30 Humanity.
- Humanity also increases the player's Item Discovery rate, which determines the likelihood of enemies dropping items. Maximum at 10 Humanity.
- At 10 humanity the item discovery rate (no other enchantments or buffs) is increased by 110 to 210.
- Maximum Item Discovery rate is 410 and is achievable by holding 10 humanity and using the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring or the Symbol of Avarice .
- Holding Humanity is not the same as being human - recovering your Human form will cost you one Humanity point from your meter.
Use Humanity
- Humanity is used to revive to Human form
- Regaining Human form costs 1 Humanity point, which can be spent at a Bonfire.
- Human form will allow players to summon Phantoms for help and guidance on their journey.
- Human form will allow players to invade another player's world.
- Human form will also leave the player open to invasions by hostile Black Phantoms.
- Humanity is used to kindle Bonfires
- Kindling a Bonfire increases Estus (re)gained at that Bonfire
- For Kindling beyond 10 Estus the Rite of Kindling is required
Earn Humanity
- Humanity can be earned by playing as a Phantom, and helping to kill an end-level boss.
- Humanity can be earned by killing Bosses.
- Humanity can be earned by killing Black Phantoms (invading players), or by invading and killing a player in another world.
- Humanity can be earned by killing a large number of monsters in one area if the boss is alive (up to 10 Humanity).
- Dying, using the bonfire, or leaving the area does not reset your monster kill count for that area.
- Consumable Humanity can be bought from Undead Merchant (Female), Trusty Patches, and Marvelous Chester.(AotA Expansion Only)
- Consumable Humanity can be found from some killed enemies.
- These consumables can be stored, just like other items, and will not be lost if the player dies.
- Rats, Pisacas and Skeleton Babies as well as Giant Humanities (enemy) drop humanity items.
- Consuming a humanity item will also restore the player's health.
- The three consumable humanity items are:
- Humanity (Acquire one humanity)
- Twin Humanities (Acquire two humanities), dropped by the Humanity Spirits in the Chasm of the Abyss (AotA Expansion only).
- Firekeeper Soul (Acquire five humanities), not dropped by regular enemies. (This will void it from the ability to upgrade your estus flask).
Lose Humanity
- Humanity is lost upon death, with one chance to retrieve it, if the player can reach the bloodstain where death occurred.
- However, even though a player can lose their humanity after death, this can easily be prevented if the player has a Ring of Sacrifice equipped. He will keep his human form and all his humanity.
- If the player dies in Human Form, they will also respawn in Hollowed form, or as an undead.
- Hollowed form does not decrease maximum health.
Details and Data
Humanity's effect on Item Discovery and Curse Resistance
| Humanity: | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item Discovery: | 100 | 150 | 158 | 165 | 173 | 180 | 186 | 192 | 198 | 204 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 |
| Curse Resist: | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 88 | 96 | 104 | 112 | 120 | 122 | 123 | 125 | 126 | 128 |
| Humanity: | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
| Item Discovery: | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 | 210 |
| Curse Resist: | 129 | 131 | 132 | 134 | 135 | 137 | 138 | 140 | 141 | 143 | 144 | 146 | 147 | 149 | 150 | 153 |
Notes
- The increase for item discovery Item Discovery is most significant for going from 0 to 1 hold humanity. (50 extra item discovery, compared to between 8 and 6 extra for 2-10 hold humanity)
- The increase for curse resist is most significant for 1-10 hold humanity. (8-10 resist per from 1-10 humanity compared to 1-2 resist per from 11-30 humanity)
Humanity's Effect on Resistances
Holding Humanity will increase the defenses of any player, up to 99 Humanity. Defenses from increasing your Humanity count by 1, is identical to leveling Attunement or Vitality 1 point, but without the benefits of more health or spell slots. Holding a high humanity count gives a huge increase in defenses for low level characters, but high level characters will benefit less, because of diminishing returns.
The numbers below are the increase in defenses for a Level 1? character, from 0 to 30 Humanity.
| Humanity: | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Def: Phy/Mag/Fir/Lig: | 1/1/1/2 | 3/2/3/3 | 4/4/4/5 | 5/5/5/6 | 7/6/6/8 | 8/8/8/9 | 9/9/9/10 | 11/10/10/12 | 12/11/11/13 | 13/13/13/15 |
| Humanity: | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| Def: Phy/Mag/Fir/Lig: | 15/14/14/16 | 16/15/15/18 | 17/16/16/19 | 19/18/18/21 | 20/19/19/22 | 21/20/20/24 | 23/21/21/25 | 24/23/23/27 | 25/24/24/28 | 27/25/25/30 |
| Humanity: | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Def: Phy/Mag/Fir/Lig: | 28/26/26/31 | 29/28/28/33 | 31/29/29/34 | 32/30/30/35 | 33/31/31/37 | 34/33/32/38 | 36/34/34/40 | 37/35/35/41 | 38/36/36/43 | 40/37/37/44 |
Notes:
- Defenses increase steadily from hold humanity.
How much soft Humanity is right for me?
- If your primary concern is getting as much physical, magical, fire and/or lightning defense as possible, keep as much hold humanity as you can easily replace. (extremely early, that might be quite low, but once a player is able to farm the depths rats, 10 or more is recommended)
- If your primary concern is item discovery or curse resist, 10 humanity is recommended. (though especially paranoid players could stack to 30 for a smidgen of extra curse resist)
- If you expect to die and are worried about losing humanity, holding 1 humanity is still recommended. (the 50 extra item discovery is very noticeable, and one humanity is easy to replace)
- Playing with 0 humanity is only a good idea if you die constantly and have no desire for loot from the area you're in. (even then it is questionable, because the extra defenses from hold humanity should help you survive better)
Humanity Farming
- It is possible to farm both Held Humanity and Humanity Items, although Held Humanity must be farmed while the area boss is still alive.
- You can also farm Humanity in The Depths, and can be obtained by killing the rats who dwell there.
- Drops from Moonlight Butterfly (Guaranteed drop - Crystal Cave)
- Drops from Snow Rat (5% Chance - Painted World of Ariamis)
- Drops from Pisaca (4% Chance - The Duke's Archives)
- Drops from Minor Capra Demon (Guaranteed - Demon Ruins)
- Drops from Minor Tauras Demon (Guaranteed - Demon Ruins)
- Drops from Corpse Wielder Infested Ghoul (1% chance - Blighttown)
- Drops from Giant Humanity (9.09% chance for Large, 8% chance for Medium and 4.44% for Small humanity - Chasm of the Abyss)
- Drops from Vagrants, specifically the White Evil Vagrant. (Depths, Undead Burg, Undead Parish, Painted World of Ariamis, Darkroot Garden, Darkroot Basin, The Catacombs, Tomb of Giants, The Great Hollow, Ash Lake, Demon Ruins, Lost Izalith, Sen's Fortress, Blighttown, Anor Londo, New Londo Ruins Lower, New Londo Ruins Upper, The Duke's Archives, Crystal Cave, Northern Undead Asylum, Kiln of the First Flame and Royal Wood)
Consumable Humanity
Humanity items can be farmed from a variety of creatures throughout the game world:
- (Undead Burg/Depths/Painted World of Ariamis) Rats drop consumable humanity items.
- The Rats have poisonous attacks, and the snow rats in Painted World of Ariamis will inflict Toxin, so use the Spider Shield and take out one at a time.
- The Pisacas are vulnerable to fire, so ranged Pyromancy or fire weapons will decimate them.
- (Tomb of Giants) Skeleton Babies drop humanity items just before Nito, and also infinitely spawn (appears to be a max of 8 out at one time).
- Be sure to quickly pick up the item drops from the Skeleton Babies, as they can disappear very quickly (seems to be caused by new Skeleton Babies spawning, and items can easily disappear in the time of a single weapon swing if you continue to kill after an item shows up)
- See Humanity Farming for detailed strategies.
Humanity Increase
In some areas, before the boss is defeated, certain enemies will increase your humanity count after many of them are killed. These enemies usually have one thing in common; they were once human, but are now undead and hollow.
- A total of 10 humanities can be absorbed in one area while the boss is still alive, though this is only viable in certain areas.
- Different enemies are worth different amounts. A humanity will be rewarded after a specific value is reached in a point system that is hidden to the player. After a humanity is received, the next humanity obtained will require more kills / points.
- See Humanity Farming for a list of target enemies, locations, and their worth.
Dark Hand
By utilizing the Dark Hand's R2 attack, you are able to sap humanity from NPCs and online players. (Joining the Darkwraith Covenant and progressing though the covenant will allow you to steal more humanity).
- See Humanity Farming for a list of NPCs who hold humanity.
AnonymousTip to new/casual players: If game is hard for you try to collect soft humanity from killing enemies. Why?
At SL1 having 99 humanity offers around 110 boost to all defences so even while naked thanks to pure humanity you could have defences compared to wearing good armor. At SL125 it's around 50 points so it's still nice especially if you run in light clothes or dragon form. So the basic rule is: more humanity in the screen corner counter means more protection from all damage sources. As your soul level goes up your defences rise from simple leveling and boost from humanity offers less and less but always gives you something. That's why you don't run with 1 or 0 humanity.
But how to get it? In some locations you can get up to 10 humanity from killing human-like enemies. So simply run around area, kill everything, go to bonfire, and repeat.
1. Start in Undead Burg since enemies there are easy and you can also get titanites from hollow soldiers and fire bombs from bomb throwers. Then go to Ricket (blacksmith under Firelink) so you can have +5 weapon and 10 humanity to fight Taurus.
2. Undead Parish has same rule. It takes longer but you also get lots of titanite and Balder Knights stuff (like their sword or shield and they are good). So you should have 20 humanity and +5 weapon when facing Gargoyles.
3. Lower Undead Burg is pain when it comes to humanity farming since only Thieves and Torch Hollows drop it. But try to get at least 3 (or 5 if you have will for it). So before Capra you should have +5 weapon and 23-25 humanity.
4. Dephts offers some change since only Hollows and Butchers offer humanity (rats drops it in usable items but not in soft form). So run from bonfire to entrance and return. You can also kill Slimes along the way for titanites. Before Gaping Hole you should have 33-35 humanity and +10 weapon (if you was lucky with Slimes). Note that with this ammount you will be practically immune to Basilisks cursing vapors.
5. Blighttown is another pain area for humanity farming. Ghouls are poor source so you end up with Crag Spiders and Barbarians. Try to get at least 2 humanity (or 5 if you have patience). You can also kill Leeches for titanites. So when you face Quelaag you should have +10 weapon and 35-40 humanity.
5.5 At this point you should get secondary +5 divine weapon and to make one use green titanites farmed from Slimes and Leeches before. You also need to beat Butterfly to get ember but it should be piece of cake.
6. With divine weapon you can ride Catacombs. Best spot to farm humanity is at Bonewheel pit but you need to have Ring of Fog/Hidden Body and some long range spell to farm them with ease. If you don't stick to normal Skeletons. Try to get at least 5 humanity (10 if you can keep clearing the pit with ease). You should have +10 weapon and around 40-50 humanity before Pinwheel.
7. Sens Fortress is limited to any type of Knigths (Berenike or Balder). So run around top only. You will also get lots of titanite and their armors/weapons. Before facing Iron Golem you should have 50-60 humanity, +10 weapon and +6 armor.
8. Anor Londo has only one type of enemy for collecting and it's Painting Guardians. As with the Catacombs best strategy is using Ring of Fog/Hidden Body and some long range spell. Try to get at least 5 humanity (10 if you can fight white guys with ease). As bonus you should drop at least few swords from them. When you have around 55-70 do not fight O&S yet and instead rub their precious painting with your dirty hands (need doll from Asylum for it).
9. Painted World have many enemies but only normal Hollows, Berenike and Crows drops humanity. You can also farm lots of souls from jelly Phalanxes and covenant items fo Darkmmons from Crows. Try to get at least 5 humanity (10 if you are veeery patient). At this point you should have about 60-80 humanity on counter and earned lots of souls for leveling up or shopping. Now facing O&S should be much much easier than on normal run when you don't grind soft humanity.
9.5. You can dump some of this humanity into Daughter of Chaos / Darkwraith covenants (30 each for max lvl) and still you will have at least 10 left without using any humanity items you collected!
10*. Last (optional) spot is Duke Archives. But farming humanity there is terrible unless you use an exploit. Rest at Undead Parish bofire and then warp to Archives (this will break system counter). Kill any Crystal Soldier to get 1 humanity and return to Parish. Then repeat as many times you want to get infinite ammount of humanity. (exploit tested on PTDE, not sure if it still works on Remastered). However it should be noted that at this point farming Baby Skeletons before Nito for humanity items might be much faster way.
Point of this guide was to how to get strong character with good defences and gear before Lordvessel by just running around and killing stuff. As bonus you will also have lots of chances to practice backstabing and parrying when farming mentioned enemies.
- Anonymous
To me, the best place to farm Humanity is in the sewer just before the entrance of Blightown. It allow you a relatively short and safe path with many rats that have a good chance of drop (especially if you have some discovery bonuses). Giant rats are probably the type of enemy I've slain the most because of this
- Anonymous
This says that humanity can be retrieved after you die by going back to the bloodstain where you died. I’ve done this before and only get humanity back about 10% of the time. What determines whether you can get it back?
- Anonymous
Funny how i just found out how important humanity is but the game never gave any hints for this. I am stuck in ****ing BLIGHTTOWN SWAMP and i can't get humanity in any way.
Do you have to be human to get the perks from held humanity?
- Anonymous
I hate that this is such an obscure mechanic that you can't learn about without wikis. There is nothing in the game telling you that humanity boosts item discovery and resistances, the only use of humanity you can learn through gameplay is bonfire kindling and enabling PVP
- Anonymous
I've played thru the game multiple times... never understood the whole 'humanity' thing.
I've read thru this page multiple times... still do not understand the whole 'humanity' thing.
- Anonymous
The best online system they had, no reason to change especially when it's just objectively worse in games like ds3
- Anonymous
I beat the whole game almost entirely as a hollow because I never noticed the differences. I don’t remember if the game even tells you there is a difference. I could never tell no matter how much humanity I had and I never had a lot because you just die a lot in the game so I don’t really see the point of it.
- Anonymous
I’m playing Remastered on NG (Xbox One), I’m still gaining soft humanity in Dark Anor Londo even though everyone’s dead. I was farming painting guardians for the sword and ended up gaining 3 points of soft humanity by the time I got it. Priscilla is also dead.
- Anonymous
Just never use any humanity and reserve all of them for your spider waifu, worth it
- Anonymous
How much soft Humanity you need? It's pretty simple and depends on what your goals are:
00 HUMANITY
(what you got:)
+ No humanity lost when you die or use Darksign.
(where to use it:)
* Perfect for speed / sucide runs where you only care about picking items or stuff like that.
* Great at NG+ and later if you have your desired, final build and don't care anymore about deaths, souls, loot etc.
01-10 HUMANITY
(what you got:)
+ Increased item drops from enemies.
+ Increased chaos weapons damage.
+ Increased curse resistance.
+ Increased damage resistances.
(where to use it:)
* At 10 humanity you get +200 item discovery rate, half of the maximum rate, so it's recomended for farming items.
* At 10 humanity you get significant fire and psysical damage bonus for Quelaag's Furysword and any weapon upgraded in Chaos path. This boost does NOT affect Chaos pyromancies.
* 10 humanity is most practical all around ammount to have.
* If you die having at least 5 humanity and loose your bloodstain, you'll spawn Evil Vagrant in another player's world.
11-30 HUMANITY
(what you got:)
+ Increased curse resistance.
+ Increased damage resistances.
(where to use it:)
* 30 humanity i usefull if you plan lots od fighting with cursing enemies and your arnor gives you 0 curse resistance.
31-99 HUMANITY
(what you got:)
+ Increased damage resistances.
(where to use it:)
* If you want to greatly boost your defences and you have no problem with retriving bloodstains, you can keep your humanity around 99.
- Anonymous
Well I should have checked it first because I have 99 humanity and thought that it would give a ridiculous amount of item drop rate LOL
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
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- Anonymous
A correction under the “lost humanity” section: It is the Rare Ring of Sacrifice that will allow you to keep all your humanity upon death.
Not the basic Ring of Sacrifice, which only will save your souls.
- Anonymous
Obatin:
Greatsword of Artorias+5/or any remotely fast greatsword.
Symbol of Avarice
Covetous Gold Serpent Ring
Ring of the Evil Eye
Proceed to Tomb of the Giants.
Head to the room right before Nito and kill all the casters.
Equip the farming-gear.
Kill the infinitely spawning baby skeletons.
On NG+1, I got 500k souls and 82 Humanity in about 35minutes.
Enjoy.
- Anonymous
How ironic that humans only appreciate their humanity as a hollow
- Anonymous
Hang on... did I read that right or am I just being paranoid. Do enemies not drop humanity anymore if the boss related to that area is defeated? Please tell me if I’m just being stupid or something, because that spot in the Depths is ideal to farm Humanity and if I kill the Gaping Dragon it could become useless.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I think it should be noted exactly how farming humanity by killing a large amount of mobs works. It works like a point system, and different levels have different thresholds. Additionally, for each humanity you receive with this method, you get diminishing returns. You can also only get these invisible humanity points by killing (usually) humanoid enemies, such as hollows, in areas where you haven't killed the boss and can be invaded. So with this in mind, you can receive up to 10 soft humanity in any area in the game that has a boss and humanoid enemies. Each enemy is worth a different amount of points, with some being worth 2 and others being worth 40. Each soft humanity you receive increases the "price" of the next. This mechanic is glitched in some areas, such as new londo ruins. You're supposed to be able to get the soft humanity from darkwraiths, but the game doesn't enable the mechanic the way it's supposed to once you drain the area.
- Anonymous
Farming the infinite Baby Skeletons outside Gravelord Nito’s room in Tomb of the Giants is really effective. Also it feels like Daddy Day Care.
- Anonymous
If the soul is the source of all life, then what distinguishes the humanity we hold within ourselves? Humanity is the human race, which includes everyone on Earth. It's also a word for the qualities that make us human, such as the ability to love and have compassion, be creative, and not be a robot or alien. The word humanity is from the Latin humanitas for "human nature, kindness.
- Anonymous
Yeah, so I see a guaranteed drop from Minor Capra Demon in Demon Ruins. I don't think so...
- Anonymous
humanity can be farmed on the bridge with red dragon, run here from firecamp ladder shortcut, trigger dragon breath let he wipe zombies and you have chance to get humanity, spear zombie is easy to loot without dying to breath and he can drop titanite shards
- Anonymous
"Hollowed form has detrimental effects on the player, but does not decrease maximum health." does anybody know the details?
- Anonymous
Does the black box and dragon head stone glitch still work in remastered?
- Anonymous
Have you ever wondered why it is that rats are the best source of humanity? Do you think it's social commentary?
- Anonymous
Add me for coop on ps3, ign is Maddash1 and im around sl 25 :)
- Anonymous
I have played every single goddamn game fromsoft has released since dark souls multiple times and i had no idea that humanity increases drop rates from enemies
- Anonymous
This was useful as I still didnt know this after three playthroughs
- Anonymous
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- Anonymous
Ok there is something not clear for me. Humanity work only when you are human form or holding is enough for all this effects
- Anonymous
I'm getting no humanity from either of the minor demons in the demon ruins. I'm at soul level 50+, and trying to kill everyone's favorite duo of doom ornstien and smough. I tried with and without the serpent ring, still nothing. Is it misinformation? or is there something I need to do first? The rats seem to work though, I'm always getting humanitys from the rats.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I would like to know if summoned allies's humanity count towards the item drop chances of the host.
- Anonymous
Although I know most of this information, I just wanna say this wiki is very informative and reliable.
- Anonymous
Ive been stuck in Anor Londo for awhile now cause i cant beat Ornstien and smough without solaire. so its good to know i can get what i need being humanity from kill guards and silver knights over and over.
PRAISE THE SUN!
- Anonymous
i made the mistake of playing DkSls 2 and 3 before trying dark souls and the differences are enormous at first i had gotten so coddled using the embers that humanity seemed so vague and useless unless i had already found the boss area, by understanding the stat increase ill be able to adjust accordingly
Something changed, somewhere along the way. There does not appear to be a cap of 10 Soft Humanity when killing enemies where the boss still lives. I just started a playthrough a couple days ago and I am now in the Depths farming rats and slimes for Humanity and Titanite. I arrived there with 10 SH and kindled the Fire there bringing me to 8. I used two Humanity items to get myself up to 10 (to max out item discovery) and set to work farming the enemies. I am now at 13 SH without using any consumables.
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