Damage Types | Dark Souls

Damage Type is an important gameplay mechanic of Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered game mechanic. Damage is generally divided into two groups: Elemental and Physical.

All damage is determined by your AR (Attack Rating) and AR distribution between types, an attack's specific motion value and the enemy's defense.

Elemental damage

Magic Damage

Effective against: Knights, resistant to physical damage
Ineffective against: Enemies using magic
Protective items: Magic Stoneplate Ring and Speckled Stoneplate Ring

Fire Damage

Effective against: Beasts, boss knight and enemies without armor
Ineffective against: Demon Bosses, Drakes, Wyverns, Serpent kind, enemies using heavy armor
Protective items: Flame Stoneplate Ring and Speckled Stoneplate Ring

Lightning Damage

Effective against: Boss knights, Dragons, Drakes, Wyverns, Serpent-kind, enemies without armor
Ineffective against: Enemies who use lightning
Protective items: Thunder Stoneplate Ring and Speckled Stoneplate Ring

Physical damage

Physical Damage

Effective against: Fragile enemies
Ineffective against: Knights
Protective items: Ring of Steel Protection

Strike Damage

Effective against: Skeletons, Armored enemies
Ineffective against: Enemies resistant to Physical-type damage
Protective items: Ring of Steel Protection

Slash damage

Effective against: Enemies without armor
Ineffective against: Armored enemies
Protective items: Ring of Steel Protection

Thrust Damage

Effective against: Ents, Chained Prisoner
Ineffective against: Skeleton, Hellkite Wyvern, Abysswalker Knight Artorias
Protective items: Ring of Steel Protection

Auxiliary

Divine

Effective against: Skeleton enemies, Crow demon and mass of souls.
Effect: Prevent Skeleton enemies from getting resurrected - The Catacombs and Tomb of the Giants

Occult

Effective against: Black Knight, Royal Sentinel, Sentinel and Silver Knight
Effect: Deal Extra damage to certain enemies and bosses

Poison (Build up)

Effect: Deals low poison damage in a period of time within three minutes (Poison lasts until cured, expired or death)

Toxic (Build up)

Effect: Deals high Toxic damage in a period of time within 10 minutes (Toxic lasts until cured, expired or death)

Bleed (Build up)

Effect: Bleed deals 30%-50% damage of the victim's total health (same with enemies). Bosses bleed only in a smaller amount 10%-15%.

Curse (Build up)

Effects: Allow the players to damage Ghosts without using a Transient Curse and block attacks from ghosts when using two-handed or left-handed cursed weapon.

Damage Type Notes

In the sequel Dark Souls 2 the DLC sorceries Dark Orb, Dark Bead, and Pursuers would be rolled into the new Dark Damage elemental type (with the Dark Hail and Affinity spells being the spiritual successors to Dark Bead and Pursuers). The Black Flame pyromancy would also reappear in Dark Souls 3 dealing Dark Damage.
If the player does not meet the requirements to wield a weapon, they can still use the weapon, but will deal much lower damage and for a few weapons won't be able to use the weapon art.
The status bars are represented inconsistently still: the first segment stops at 33, the second at 103, the third at 300 and the final one at 500, still the your values can go further. This law applies for every status.

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