7. Equipment and upgrades Dark Souls III Guide

You have problems with frostbite? Equip an armor with high frost resistance.

Your equipment (both weapon and elements of attire) will gradually wear and break down. If you want to increase the durability of a given item, you must go to the Blacksmith Andre. He will perform the task, provided that you have enough souls. However, this is not the only service that the blacksmith offers.

A weapon can be upgraded by using a special kind of stone (items made of tytanite, such as the Tytanite Fragment). The level of your equipment will be increased (+1, +2, and so on), which will increase the damage your weapon is capable of dealing. Aside from that, a weapon can also be enchanted, if you have the required gem. It will affect the special stats of the weapon, such as a special types of damage, like elemental damage. Unfortunately, an enchanted weapon almost always stops scaling with your stats.

Try to upgrade only those weapons, that you are currently using, or are planning to use in the future. There's no point in wasting precious fragments to enhance all of your items, as it's way too time-consuming. Focus on developing either your favorite gear or the best gear you have available. Pay attention to the bonuses associated with specific stats (marked with letters). It means, that some of the weapons will become more powerful as your stats (such as strength) increases. It will allow you to pick up the equipment appropriate for your playstyle, which will complement your character development.

Remember, that there's no universal type of weapon and/or armor. Each of them is effective against different types of enemies. An armor capable of absorbing huge amount of physical damage will be useful against enemies with those types of attacks, whereas a weapon dealing additional fire damage will be effective against enemies vulnerable to this element. Try to be adaptive and have various sets of items in your inventory, which can be used if the situation calls for it.