10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series, Ranked

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The world of the Dark Souls series is grueling, but there’s a wide roster of intriguing characters to meet, and these are some of the most helpful.

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10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

The world of FromSoftware’s acclaimed Dark Souls series is a grueling one, but, despite the medieval, western-fantasy wasteland setting, there’s a wide roster of engaging NPCs to meet. Many of them provide different things for the Chosen Undead, Bearer of the Curse, and Ashen One protagonists.

With how punishing the Dark Souls environments and bosses can be, the player character should take whatever they can get on their quest. The different NPCs that can benefit the player range from the crucial mainstays of Firelink Shrine to invaluable ones met throughout the vast adventures of Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, and III.

10 Giant Of The Undead Settlement

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

Friends will always be difficult to come by, and an unusual but nonetheless welcome one is the Giant of the Undead Settlement in Dark Souls III. Giants were a marginalized species in this world, but this one possesses no shortage of kindness, as he clears large mobs of enemies peppered throughout the Settlement.

At the top of the tower on the way to meeting Siegward, the Giant stands vigilant, and, if the Chosen Ash talks to him and gifts him the White Birch Branch, he immediately becomes a friend. From there, he rains massive arrows in select areas with White Birches on the ground to kill enemies that would normally swarm the protagonist.

9 Lautrec Of Carim

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

Knight Lautrec of Carim is a character from the original Dark Souls and isn’t helpful in the conventional sense. In the upper level of a church in the Undead Parish, Lautrec will be found locked in a prison cell. If the Chosen Undead frees him with the Mystery Key and allows him to live, he’ll go to Firelink Shrine and occasionally offer hints as to where to find other NPCs.

But, where this character’s usefulness lies is if he’s killed early, if not immediately. If Lautrec is killed, he drops the Ring of Favor and Protection and five Humanities. The ring is particularly crucial, as it raises HP, Stamina, and Equip Load by 20 percent. However, should the player continue with him alive, he’ll kill the Fire Keeper at the Shrine.

8 Hawkeye Gough

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

This NPC is one that’s more situational, as he’s in the Artorias of the Abyss DLC of the first game, but Hawkeye Gough proves useful in making a tough boss fight more manageable. Hawkeye Gough was once a lethal archer and one of Lord Gwyn’s Four Knights, but he is now solitary, without purpose, and found at the top of a tower in Oolacile where he was imprisoned.

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If the player encounters Black Dragon Kalameet for the boss fight, he’ll assist the Chosen Undead in killing him. It’s not necessary to kill him, but having Gough shoot down Kalameet will force the dragon to fight the player on the ground.

7 Solaire Of Astora

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

An assured fan-favorite character, Solaire of Astora is an NPC that is both helpful in a gameplay sense as well as a motivational one. It’s a bleak world, and the ray of sunshine that is Solaire is more than a welcomed sight throughout the first game’s adventure. He’s a Warrior of Sunlight, a group watched over by Gwyn’s firstborn from Dark Souls III, the Nameless King, on a quest to find his “own sun,” and he offers the player to be a member of the covenant.

His goal is unclear in meaning, but he offers great help in the Chosen Undead for several key boss fights. Solaire is a potential summon in the Bell Gargoyles fight, Gaping Dragon, but perhaps most notably for the dreaded battle with Ornstein and Smough. Should the player carefully follow his sidequest and keep him alive, he’s also a summon for the final fight against Lord Gwyn.

6 Nesting Crows

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

The nesting crows, known by many names, are one of the recurring FromSoftware characters in their Souls franchise. They provide the same function to the player mechanically in all three Dark Souls games and even both versions of Demon’s Souls. In the first game, the nesting crow merchant is found in the Northern Undead Asylum, the Things Betwixt location in II, and at the top of the tower in Firelink Shrine in III.

The invisible crows offer item trades with the player. What players receive depends on what’s given, but valuable materials like Titanite Scales, Chunks, and Slabs are available.

5 Straid Of Olaphis

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

While an insufferably vain person, Straid of Olaphis offers vital item purchases for anyone using a magic-oriented build in Dark Souls II. Straid is one of the only two characters in II that offer exchanges using Boss Souls, which are crucial to obtain the strongest gear depending on what the player is leveling toward.

He offers a solid amount of weapon trades for Boss Souls, but he’s most valuable as a magic trainer. He’s the only NPC in the game that can teach the player every kind of magic, which is fitting considering Straid was originally invited to Olaphis for being an extremely knowledgeable sorcerer.

4 Weaponsmith Ornifex

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

The other Boss Soul merchant alongside Straid in Dark Souls II is Weaponsmith Ornifex. The tradeoff is the focus on spells is lesser, while she offers a wider variety of weapons and the like. Ornifex will be useful to the player later on as the higher-tier Boss Souls will be going through her, and she gives the first Soul trade for free.

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She’ll need to be saved from an underground cave in the Shaded Woods, but, after finding her workshop, though somewhat tricky to find, Ornifex will let you trade as thanks. Many typically opt for builds that involve some sort of melee combat, making Ornifex important for later-game weapons to keep up with what Dark Souls II has left to throw the Bearer of the Curse’s way.

3 Ludleth Of Courland

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

In Dark Souls III, Ludleth of Courland is the NPC the Chosen Ash interacts with to exchange Boss Souls for weapons and items. It’s clear this is a feature the player can’t do without, and it’s especially convenient in this third game. Ludleth is a mainstay at Firelink Shrine, as he’s a Lord of Cinder like the others the Chosen Ash is tasked with defeating and returning to their thrones.

After the player acquires the Transposing Kiln, Ludleth will be able to begin the art of Transposition to convert Souls into gear. On top of the convenience of not having to leave the central hub, Ludleth offers great dialogue for lore and worldbuilding, making him arguably one of the best characters in general in Dark Souls III.

2 The Blacksmiths

10 Most Helpful NPCs In The Dark Souls Series Ranked

They’re certainly among the most obvious NPCs that are most helpful but nonetheless deserve the recognition. From Blacksmith Andre in the first Dark Souls to his direct spiritual successor in the trilogy closer, the smiths of the series are where players will go first before ever thinking of the Boss Souls.

With Andre in Dark Souls III, the player is granted the ability to Infuse weapons to give them an additional, even elemental property. However, Boss weapons are excluded. But, regardless of the game, the traditional blacksmiths literally cannot be ignored if the player expects a successful journey.

1 The Fire Keepers

As far as NPCs that the player can never do without, the Fire Keepers throughout the games are the most indispensable. Like most characters in the franchise, they bear tragic and overwhelming burdens in order to retain some semblance of peace in this grim world. Fire Keepers are tasked and bound to aiding the chosen protagonist to ail the dying and hollowing that struggle in the current fading age.

In doing so, they are the channel the player uses to level up each of their stats by converting gathered souls. This makes getting rid of Lautrec in Dark Souls all the more vital. Otherwise, the player will get a taste of how much more brutal the game becomes without her.

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