What is faith for in Dark Souls?

Answered by Stephen Mosley

Faith in Dark Souls III serves as a crucial stat that enhances various aspects of gameplay. It primarily focuses on increasing the damage output of Faith-based weapons and catalysts, as well as amplifying the effectiveness of Miracles and Pyromancies.

1. Faith-based Weapons and Catalysts:
Faith affects the scaling of certain weapons and catalysts that have a Faith requirement. These weapons include swords, hammers, and even bows that deal primarily Faith-based damage. By investing points into the Faith stat, players can significantly increase the attack power of these weapons, making them more effective against enemies.

Catalysts, such as chimes and talismans, are used to cast Miracles and Pyromancies. Increasing Faith can improve the spell buff of these catalysts, which in turn boosts the damage output of miracles and pyromancies. It is important to note that not all catalysts scale with Faith, so players need to choose their catalyst wisely based on their build and playstyle.

2. Miracles:
Faith is directly tied to the effectiveness of casting Miracles, which are spells focused on healing, buffing, and offensive abilities. By investing in Faith, players can increase the damage output of offensive miracles like Lightning Spear and Wrath of the Gods. Additionally, the healing miracles, such as Heal and Great Heal, become more potent with higher Faith levels, allowing players to restore more health during combat.

Miracles also offer various buffs and utility spells. Increasing Faith can enhance the effectiveness and duration of these buffs, providing players with advantages such as increased damage resistance or improved stamina regeneration. These buffs can be invaluable in challenging boss fights or difficult areas of the game.

3. Pyromancies:
While Pyromancies are primarily associated with Intelligence, Faith also plays a crucial role in their effectiveness. Some Pyromancies scale with both Intelligence and Faith, allowing players to increase their damage output by investing in both stats. Certain powerful Pyromancies, like Chaos Bed Vestiges and Black Flame, scale more with Faith, making it an essential attribute for Pyromancer builds.

Similar to Miracles, Faith can also affect the effectiveness and duration of Pyromancy buffs and utility spells. These can provide additional damage, defense, or utility, making Faith an important consideration for Pyromancers.

Personal Experience:
As an avid Dark Souls player, I have experimented with various builds, including Faith-based ones. One of my favorite playthroughs was with a Faith-focused character, wielding a powerful Faith-based weapon and utilizing Miracles for offense and healing. By investing heavily in Faith, I was able to deal significant damage with lightning-based miracles and restore a substantial amount of health with healing spells. The feeling of striking down enemies with lightning bolts and surviving tough encounters with well-timed healing spells was incredibly satisfying.

Faith in Dark Souls III enhances the damage output of Faith-based weapons and catalysts, as well as amplifies the effectiveness of Miracles and Pyromancies. By investing in Faith, players can unleash devastating attacks, heal themselves during challenging encounters, and utilize powerful buffs and utility spells. It adds depth and versatility to gameplay, allowing players to adopt different playstyles and strategies.