Souls are an all-important currency inDark Souls. They are used to purchase items, upgrade equipment, and even level up one’s character. With the ever-increasing difficulty ofDark Souls,however, players can soon find themselves struggling to get by as prices increase to buy the spells, infuse weapons, and buy armor.
When this happens, players must resort to the age-old method of farming. But what are thebestDark SoulsSoul farming areasat each point in the game? And, more importantly, in which areas can players easily get Souls without worrying something will come along and kill them? Players should prepare thoroughly, as they’re going to need their Symbol of Avarice after this.
Updated on Jun 12, 2025, by Gerardo Molina:There’s no denying that there are many areas of the original Dark Souls that are not only extremely challenging, but frustrating as well. In many cases, players might be tempted to rush through said areas to forget all about them and never give them a second look. And while this is sometimes a good idea, in other instances they might need to be revisited, as they hold enemies that can be farmed for a pretty penny. Farming is, unfortunately, a tedious yet necessary process to level up in Dark Souls and make the challenges along the way more manageable and less frustrating.
18New Londo Ruins
Each Darkwraith Defeated Drops 1,200 Souls
The New Londo Ruins isn’t a particularly difficult area, even if getting to it is a challenge in and of itself. If players explore this little area, they will quickly come across the formidable Darkwraiths, which are no joke.
Not only do they hit like a truck and have a fast moveset, but they can also take a lot of punishment, which makes defeating them quite hard. On the plus side, each Darkwraith that players defeat yields 1,200 Souls, which can quickly turn into a small fortune after a little farming.
17Lost Izalith
At 1,000 Souls Per Kill, Chaos Eaters Are A Gold Mine
Lost Izalith is one of those areas in the originalDark Soulsthat won’t be winning any popularity contests anytime soon. The area is very difficult and full of challenging enemies that will make players die more than once. On top of this, there’s a ton of lava, which can be an environmental hazard if players are not careful.
The one upside about Lost Izalith is that it’s full ofChaos Eaters, which can be killed for 1000 Souls a pop. This makes them ideal for farming, even when their location isn’t the best.
16Darkroot Basin
Unlock The Hidden Bonfire To Efficiently And Repeatedly Kill A Group Of Valuable Enemies Nearby
There’s a hidden bonfire near the door inDarkroot Basinthat requires 20,000 Souls to open. Players should unlock this bonfire since this farming method becomes efficient that way. Near this door is an open area that isfull to the brim with a variety of enemiesthat give varying amounts of experience.
Players should efficiently clear the entire area in as little time as possible before running back to the bonfire and restarting the process. In some time, players will have more than the number of Souls required to buy the key from Andre!. If players ever get bored of this repetitive process, facing the Moonlight Butterfly boss in this area, and the Great Grey Wolf Sif might offer some variety. In NG, the former yields 10,000 Souls, whereas the latter will drop 3,432 for a grand total of 13,432 Souls.
Defeating them won’t be as easy as farming the spot mentioned above, but it’s also an option players should take into account.
15Crystal Caves
The Man-Eater Shells Here Drop Valuable Items Along With 2000 Souls Each
To utilize this great farming spot, players need to defeat Seath the Scaleless and activate the bonfire that spawns right after. This gives them a quick spot to go back to after hunting down all the Man-Eater Shells that are present in theCrystal Caves,since players can easily bait them to fight one at a time before taking them out in a resounding fashion.
These shells drop Twinkling Titanite and Purging Stones rather frequently as well, making this tactic great for players who may need both these items. Along with this, they’ll drop 2000 Souls each, meaning that taking these six Man-Eater Shells out nets a great 12,000 Souls in no time at all. That being said, players should still be wary every time they farm and only bait these enemies one at a time since they’re pretty durable, and trying to take down multiple enemies at once is more trouble than it’s worth.
14Firelink Shrine
A Risky Way To Farm Souls In The Early Game By Going To The Graveyard And Taking Out Skeletons
Firelink Shrineis one of the earliest areas in the game and acts like a central hub where most of the NPCs go after players convince them to travel there. This area is also good for soul farming early on in the game, especially for those who are new. There are easy-to-kill undead enemies here that players can use to practice their parrying, which will help them in the future. They can also make things a little easier when they unlock theaqueduct shortcut.Simply run back and forth between the bonfires, and players are good to go.
One fairly risky yet lucrative way to get a decent amount of Souls early on is to farm the giant skeleton enemies in the graveyard nearby. Each of these big boney fellows drops 500 Souls and has a low chance of dropping a Murakumo curved greatsword as well. Since this area is so close to a bonfire, there’s little trouble to retrieve one’s Souls if a giant skeleton or one of their smaller allies defeats the Chosen Undead. It is recommended to use Fire damage or a Strike weapon on them as they have high damage resistance to pretty much every other type of attack.
The original Dark Souls' version of the Firelink Shrine is a lot more friendly to players than the Dark Souls 3 version and is also arguably better for farming.
The Hellkite Wyvern’s Fiery Blaze Nets Players A Ton Of Souls In No Time
TheUndead Burgis another great opportunity for players to practice their parrying skills but this time on more enemies. Around the primary bonfire in Undead Burg are a bunch of enemies from which to reap Souls. All of these enemies are easy to parry or backstab to get thebonus Souls. If players open up the shortcut to the depths there are even more enemies to run around and kill. Granted, killing all these enemies won’t provide very many Souls, but early on, every Soul counts.
A remarkably easy and quick way to farm Souls is to use the Hellkite Wyvern as an unexpected ally. Once one finds the occasionally burning bridge where the draconic foe perches above, be sure to unlock the ladder shortcut on the right that leads down to a previously encountered bonfire. Since there are quite a few hollow enemies on this bridge that respawn, poking one’s head out on this bridge will trigger the Hellkite Wyvern to unleash its fire breath and immolate all those in its path. Repeatedly using the bonfire and peeking out to trigger this attack can net players hundreds of Souls every minute.
12The Depths
Kill Oozes And Rats, Then Repeating The Process
The Depthsare another great early farming location to get those extra Souls needed to get stronger. Once players get to the bonfire, simply run out and kill all the oozes, then take a turn down the stairs to slay a large group of rats. This is an extremely easy area to farm, especially if they are a spellcaster. All the rats also have a chance to drop humanity which is always useful, even for a seasonedDark Soulsveteran. Even if players end up getting poisoned, the nearby bonfire can quickly remove it, leading to the Chosen Undead rarely dying with this method. Just don’t get careless.
The inky, black slimes that try to ambush the player from above rightly deserve the worst kind of death. Therefore, one should utilize their weakness to Fire damage when farming these sludge-like adversaries. It is much more worth it to focus on the slimes instead of the rats, as the former drops 100 Souls and the latter only 20. If one does not have pyromancies, Firebombs can make farming in the Depths less tedious.
11Darkroot Forest
The Three NPC Enemies Are Challenging But Drop A Decent Amount Of Souls
Accessing theDarkroot Forestrequires a few Souls, 20,000 to be exact, but it is worth it. Once players unlock the secret bonfire next to the massive stone door, unlock the door with the Crest of Artorias (which can be bought from Andre of Astora), and on the other side are three NPC enemies to kill. Each of these enemies grants 2,000 Souls and some good practice forPVP fightswithout being overly difficult. If they do prove to be too tough at the time, players can always bait them off the cliff as well.
consider tackle each of these foes one at a time, as the abundance of trees makes it difficult to see if one is being snuck up on by another of the Forest Hunter covenant’s warriors… that is, if one intends to face them in head-on combat. A far easier method is to draw the attention of these warriors and then head back to the stairs leading to the bonfire. Run up the stairs and then drop down the side, directly next to the cliff. The AI’s pathing will take them up the stairs if they are close enough behind the player, but as they follow off the edge of the stairs, they’ll most likely tumble down the cliff.
10Anor Londo - Castle
The Castle Is Littered With Silver Knights And Bat Wing Demons That Drop A Decent Amount Of Souls
Once players have progressed a little farther intoAnor Londo, they will find themselves at thecastlesurrounded by silver knights. These gleaming beauties provide about 1,000 Souls each. There is another great area to practice one’s parrying skills since silver knights don’t pose much of a challenge and, if necessary, areeasily backstabbed.There are also other enemies further down by Smough and Ornstein’s boss room, but players may need a homeward bone for that route unless they have the bonfire there as well.
Another type of enemy that there is an abundance of in this area is the bat wing demons (sometimes called “imps”). These ugly, pink fiends grant 500 Souls each and also have a low chance of dropping the Demon’s Spear, one of the longest and highest-damaging spears in the game. Despite having wings, these thin demons cannot fly and can be pushed or tricked into falling off the area’s many ledges to their demise. Their frailty lets players easily push them around with the shield bash of great shields or even with standard kicks due to the bat wing demons' low poise.
That said, even when imps are easily dealt with, this is only true when they come in smaller numbers. If players are not careful and trigger their attacks, others might join in, turning a simple Souls run into a losing battle for survival. The same goes for Silver Knights, so players must time their attacks correctly and ensure that they’re not rushing for a backstab.
9Anor Londo - Throne Room
The Area Before The Boss Has Two Royal Sentinels That Drop 3000 Souls Each
In theThrone Roombefore the boss fight with Ornstein and Smough, players can fight two Royal Sentinels. These enemies only appear here and nowhere else, and can serve as a great source of Souls. However, they can be really tough to beat, and a melee build might face some issues while fighting this enemy… especially given the annoying archer that’s present in this area as well.
However, a mage can help players quickly farm these enemies without any problems. Players need to maintain their distance and pepper this enemy with spells to take them down before they can trigger their healing spell. Doing so efficiently will net players a cool 3,000 Souls per enemy, which is a pretty substantial number indeed.
