If you have ever played a Dark Souls game before, you will know how important certain things are to your playthrough. Not only does the armor you use matter, but the weapons you choose matter as well. Not only that, but the Rings you choose will help define your build into the one you want. If you want a good build, you will need to equip the right Rings.
There are a ton of Rings in the game and they all have their own uses. From Rings that help with your spells to Rings that can give you more defense for specific enemy types, there is a set of Rings for everyone who is playing the game.
Now the hard part of this article is to find all the best Rings. There are a lot of them to go through, but there are definitely some that are clearly better than others. Some RIngs might have a + version which we won’t be going over, but they are a better version of the Ring that is harder to get. Here are the 15 best Rings that we have found in Dark Souls 2.
How many Rings are in the game?
There are a total of 75 Rings that you can find in the game. Not only are the 75 there, but some of them have better versions that you can find around the game world. Obviously, the better versions are harder to get since you will need to be in endgame areas or even go into NG+ to get them.
Out of those 75, we have made a list of the 15 best ones, and it was a little bit difficult to determine which ones were the best. We didn’t put too many spell Rings on the list, and we tried to go for more defensive or offensive Rings that are good for most builds.
There are a bunch of Rings that you can only get in the DLC areas, but with this game, you can get access to all the DLC areas if you own the Scholar of the First Sin Edition. It is a newer version that includes all the DLCs and new content.
What are the best Rings in the game?
Most of the Rings we chose for this list are ones that can be used by pretty much any player who wants to use them. We chose defensive Rings that will help you defend against most elemental and physical attacks. We also chose Rings that will help boost your attack power.
Keep in mind that Rings can easily break which can make them somewhat of an annoyance at times. One of the most annoying aspects of Dark Souls 2 is how easily your equipment can be destroyed. It can be fixed, but it is very frustrating when it happens to your entire gear set.
Here are the 15 best Rings in Dark Souls 2 and where to find them:
1. Third Dragon Ring
Effect: Increases your maximum HP by 7.5%, your Stamina by 12.5%, and your Maximum Equip Load by 12.5%.
This Ring is one of our favorites since it gives you such good bonuses. not only does it raise your HP, but it increases your equipment load and stamina. It is an extremely useful Ring that can be used by any class. There are no cons to using this Ring at all.
There are actually 2 other versions of this Ring since it is called the Third Dragon Ring. Obviously, the Third version is the best one, but the other two can be found earlier than the Third. You will want to get the best version of it so it will give you the most bonuses for one Ring slot.
Location: It is found in the Dragon Shrine area after the first Bonfire. Walk up both sets of stairs and find the area that is covered in a bunch of boxes on the left-hand side. Go through the boxes and you will find a couple of chests. Run past them to the knight guarding a door. Inside the door, you will find this Ring.
2. Ring of Steel Protection
Effect: Increases your physical defense by 50 points.
This is a Ring that gives you a physical defense bonus. It sounds very boring and simple, but more defense is more defense. You can get this RIng extremely early on in your playthrough and it is a recommended Ring for those who just started the game.
Mejula can be a bit confusing at first, but the guy you want to talk to is sitting down by the monument near the cliff edge. Talk to him and join his Covenant. You will then receive this RIng as a reward for joining and you can equip it at any time after that.
Location: You can get this Ring by talking to Crestfallen Saullden and joining his Covenant. He can be found near the cliff edge in Mejula when you first start the game.
3. Bracing Knuckle Ring
Effect: Reduces Armor, Weapon, and Ring degradation by 20%.
This is a Ring you will want to get if you care about the durability of your weapons. If you are the type of person to defeat every single enemy in an area without resting at a Bonfire, then this RIng is the one you want. It helps with keeping higher durability for every piece of equipment you use.
There are enemies in the game that will destroy all your equipment if they end up defeating you. It is extremely annoying and frustrating, but if you have this Ring, there is a lower chance that your equipment will break on you. It is a great Ring.
Location: It is found in the Lost Bastille. There is a false wall past a small cell towards the beginning of the area that has a corpse with this Ring on it.
4. Dispelling Ring
Effect: It increases Magic, Fire, Lightning, and Dark Defense by 60.
This is a Ring that you will want if you want to have the best defense against a lot of different elemental damages. Not only does it give defense against Magic damage, but it also helps against fire, lightning, and dark damage. It is like all the elemental Rings in one.
There is a better version of the Ring in the Old Iron King DLC, but the base version can be found in the base game. If you haven’t already, make sure you play the DLCs since they do give you a ton of new equipment pieces, and weapons to go along with them.
Location: You can get this Ring by completing Royal Sorcerer Navlaan’s assassination request. You will have to have talked to him while Hollow before opening up his cell. He is located in Aldia’s Keep in one of the cells.
5. Ring of Resistance
Effect: Increases resistance to Poison, Bleeding, Petrification, and Curses by 180 points.
This is very similar to the previous Ring since it gives you better resistance to all types of blights. It helps increase resistance to Poison, Bleeding, Petrification, and Curses. These are all very annoying things to worry about and with this Ring and the previous one, you will have a very defensive build.
As with the other Rings, you can find a better version in the Ivory King DLC. You can get the base version within the base game, but the DLCs just add that extra frosting on the cake. There is soo much content in the game that it can be hard to get through it quickly.
Location: It is either given to you by Cromwell the Pardoner after you complete his questline or dropped by him if you defeat him without finishing his quest.
6. Ring of Blades
Effect: Increases your physical attack by 20 points.
This is another very basic Ring that actually helps out anyone who is not using any sort of magic. It is a Ring that boosts your physical attack damage by 20. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but if you account for the number of times you will be hitting certain enemies, it will actually help out a lot.
It is another easy Ring to get early on since you automatically get it from defeating one of the first bosses in the game. Bosses in Dark Souls 2 aren’t really that great because they don’t really pose that much of a challenge. So getting the Ring is a piece of cake.
Location: Obtained by defeating the boss Pursuer in Forest of Fallen Giants.
7. Stone Ring
Effect: Deal an additional 30 damage to Poise.
This is a Ring that helps you take down enemies quicker if you have a weapon that deals Poise damage. Not only will it get you to stun the enemy a lot faster, but you can deal a ton of damage with a Riposte if you can successfully stun them.
It is a simple Ring, but it actually helps out a lot in the long run since you can take out enemies faster without them really putting up much of a fight. If you don’t like dealing Poise damage, then you might not really like what this Ring brings to the table.
Location: Dropped by the first ogre in Things Betwixt.
8. Red Tearstone Ring
Effect: Boosts attack by 20% when HP is below 30%.
This is a Ring that most speedrunners use to get through the game faster. Not only does it boost your attack, but it does it by 20% if your HP is lower than 30%. This means that the better you are at the game, the more damage you will do.
When speedrunners use this, they always purposefully lose under 30% of their health so they can have that extra damage bonus. If you want to speedrun the game, then this Ring is by far one of the best choices for you since it will take fewer hits to defeat each enemy.
Location: It is found at the tree on a muddy island between Shaded Woods and Aldia’s Keep passage.
9. Covetous Silver Serpent Ring
Effect: Fallen foes yield 10% more souls when you defeat them.
This is a Ring that is necessary if you want to maximize the number of Souls you will get from every enemy you defeat. It will give you 10% more Souls for each enemy you defeat. That means if an enemy normally drops 1,000 Souls, you will get 1,100 Souls from the same enemy with the Ring equipped.
It was in all the Dark Souls games and there wasn’t a time when I had this Ring in any of the three games that I didn’t have it equipped. No matter what Rings I had, this one would always be equipped since it just gave you more currency.
Location: Chest in Lost Bastille closest to The Tower Apart bonfire. Beyond the room with a Royal Crossbowman and multiple undead dogs.
10. Covetous Gold Serpent Ring
Effect: Increases Item Discovery by 50 points.
This is a Ring that you will want to use if you are looking for a specific item to drop from enemies. It will increase your Discovery trait by 50 points which makes it a great option for farming items. If you want to spend hours finding an item, throw this on and it will make life easier.
It is not a Ring that you will have on all the time unless you really want to, but it is a very helpful Ring for when you need it. If you do have it on, then there needs to be a reason for you to have it on. Obviously, if you aren’t looking for an item, the Ring slot is probably best off with another Ring.
Location: After the Smelter Demon, go into the room with the moving platforms, and go up the ladder in the middle of the room. Take a right to go up the stairs, and go up the ladder. You will have to run past a knight and you will find the Ring near a cauldron.
11. Ring of the Evil Eye
Effect: Absorb 30 HP from each defeated foe.
This is a Ring for those people who like life steal in games. Not only does this give you health, but it also gives you 30 HP for every defeated foe. This means that every enemy you defeat will give you a bit of your health back. It is a great option if you don’t have many Estus Flasks or healing items.
It looks really cool as well. Keep in mind that the look of the Ring does not show up on your player model so you have to look at the description of the Ring to see what it looks like. Overall, it is one of the best Rings you can get in the game.
Location: Sold by Sweet Shalquoir in Majula for 4500 souls. Also found in a chest in The Gutter.
12. Ring of Restoration
Effect: Restores 2 HP every second.
This Ring is very similar to the previous one but it works a bit differently. Instead of giving you a chunk of health every time you defeat an enemy, this Ring will slowly increase your health every second you have it equipped.
It works passively so you don’t need to defeat enemies for it to work. As long as it is not broken and you have it equipped, you won’t have to worry about wasting an extra Estus Flask on that small amount of health you want to heal.
Location: Inside a wooden chest below the Cardinal Tower Bonfire in the Forest of Fallen Giants. Go down the ladder next to the bonfire, across the bridge, and unlock the door with the Soldier Key.
13. Flynn’s Ring (DLC)
Effect: Grants the user bonus physical attack based on their maximum Equip Load stat. The lower the stat, the higher the attack bonus will be.
This is a Ring for people who want to have the lightest equipment load possible. It actually gives you more physical attack damage based on how much you are currently carrying. Keep in mind that equipment load is only the items you have currently equipped at once.
It is a DLC Ring so you can only get it in the Sunken King DLC. In our opinion, this one is the best DLC of them all, so if you enjoy Dark Souls 2, go ahead and journey to the DLC areas. You will have to find the items that let you in the doorways though.
Location: Can be found in an iron chest in Dragon’s Sanctum after falling through the gap in the stairs and then take a left, dropping down into the room with the Corrosive Egg Crawlers then going up a ladder.
14. Ring of the Embedded (DLC)
Effect: Increases Vigor, Endurance, and Vitality proportionally to player stats, but also increases damage taken by 8%.
This is a very underrated Ring since does have a con. It increases your health, stamina, and Poise, but it does make you take more damage every hit. It sucks, but the RIng is totally worth it if you don’t get hit often.
You will have to find this Ring in the Ivory King DLC, which isn’t a very good DLC if you have ever played it. The bosses are very far from each other and the world isn’t that interesting. Only go for this Ring if you know that you will use it.
Location: Found just after the second bonfire of Frozen Eleum Loyce in the Crown of the Ivory King DLC. After defeating all the enemies in the first area, before climbing the first set of stairs, turn right and follow the snowy cliff face to a body with the ring on it.
15. Yorgh’s Ring (DLC)
Effect: Has a chance to prevent any damage from spells that hit you.
This RIng isn’t amazing, but it is super helpful for specific situations. If you are having trouble against mage enemies that are constantly throwing spells at you, then this might be a good item to equip. It will give you a chance to not take damage from a spell.
It is found in the Sunken King DLC, so if you are going for the DLC Rings, this is one to go for. It is also a great option for PvP since there are a ton of Mage PvPers that are extremely annoying at times. Just beat the Sunken King DLC and you will get it.
Location: It is the reward for defeating the Sunken King in the Sunken King DLC. It can be found on a corpse after defeating the final boss of the DLC.