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How to Obtain Humanity in Dark Souls: A Comprehensive Guide

The elusive and crucial resource in Dark Souls, Humanity, is vital for both progression and enjoying the multiplayer aspects of the game. But how exactly do you obtain this enigmatic item? The answer is multifaceted, involving combat, exploration, and a bit of luck. Here’s a breakdown of all the ways you can acquire Humanity in Dark Souls:

Cooperative Play: Successfully assisting another player in defeating an area boss as a summoned phantom will grant you one Humanity. This is a reliable way to obtain it if you’re skilled in combat and comfortable with multiplayer.
Farming Enemies: Defeating enemies, especially in areas where the boss is still alive, can result in Humanity drops. Certain enemy types have a higher chance of dropping it, making specific locations ideal for farming.
Random Mob Drops: While less consistent, Humanity can drop as a random loot from defeating various enemies throughout the game world. The drop rate is influenced by your item discovery stat and current Humanity count.
Looting Corpses: Humanity can be found as a lootable item on grey, inanimate corpses scattered across the game world. Exploring thoroughly is often rewarding.

Let’s dive deeper into these methods and how you can optimize your farming.

Farming for Humanity: The Best Strategies

While several methods exist to acquire Humanity, farming, particularly with specific strategies, proves to be the most consistent for players.

Rat Farming in The Depths

The most commonly recommended area for farming Humanity is The Depths. Undead Rats found here have a decent chance of dropping it, particularly the smaller ones. Here’s how to optimize your farming runs:

Location: Warp to the bonfire in The Depths and clear out the surrounding rats.
Equip Covetous Gold Serpent Ring: Found in Sen’s Fortress, this ring significantly boosts your item discovery, dramatically increasing Humanity drop rate.
Boost Humanity Counter: The more Humanity you have in your counter (up to 10), the higher your item discovery will be. Use one Humanity to become human, then use your current Humanity count for maximum item find.
Patience: Farming can be a grind, so be prepared for repeated runs to accumulate a substantial amount of Humanity.
Drop Rates: Be aware that small rats in The Depths have a slightly lower Humanity drop rate compared to larger rats in other areas.

Other Farming Locations

While the rats in The Depths are popular, other locations can also yield Humanity:

Painted World of Ariamis: The Phalanx enemies here can drop it, although this is often considered more difficult than rat farming.
Undead Burg: The larger hollow soldiers with their slow attack patterns can be farmed with relatively low risk, although the drop rate is lower than rats.
Darkroot Garden: Certain enemies here also drop Humanity, though be aware that these zones are far more difficult early on.

The Importance of Item Discovery

Item discovery is a stat that directly influences the drop rates of items from enemies. It is significantly affected by:

Humanity Counter: Having up to 10 “soft” Humanity active in your counter will exponentially increase your item discovery stat. This means that having 10 Humanity will result in a higher Humanity drop rate than only having one.
Covetous Gold Serpent Ring: This crucial ring, found in Sen’s Fortress, offers a substantial increase to item discovery and is essential for efficient farming.
Symbol of Avarice: The Symbol of Avarice, a rare helmet gained by defeating mimics, provides an even larger item discovery boost, but comes at the cost of slowly draining health.

The Significance of Humanity in Dark Souls

Humanity serves multiple purposes in the world of Dark Souls, making it an essential resource to understand and acquire.

Reversing Hollowing and Multiplayer

Using a Humanity item, you gain one “soft” Humanity. This “soft” Humanity is displayed next to your health bar in the upper left corner.

Reversing Hollowing: You can use your soft Humanity while resting at a bonfire to restore your human form, turning your character back from a hollow. This enables summoning and being summoned for cooperative gameplay.
Multiplayer: Being human allows you to summon other players to help with bosses or difficult areas, and allows you to be summoned by other players.

Item Discovery

Increased Drop Rates: Having “soft” Humanity increases your item discovery stat, which increases your chance of loot drops. This is incredibly useful while farming for any items, including more Humanity.
Chaos Weapon Scaling: Having up to 10 active Humanity will also increase the damage of Chaos weapons, making them much more powerful.

Other Benefits

Curse Resistance: Having a large active Humanity count improves your curse resistance, preventing a debilitating status ailment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some commonly asked questions regarding Humanity in Dark Souls:

How do I become human in Dark Souls?
- To become human, you need to rest at a bonfire and select “Reverse Hollowing.” You’ll consume a single “soft” Humanity from the upper left of your screen, and you’ll look like a normal person until you die.
Can you retrieve Humanity in Dark Souls?
- Yes, “soft” Humanity is lost upon death, with one chance to retrieve it by reaching your bloodstain. You can prevent the loss by equipping a Ring of Sacrifice.
Where is the best place to farm humanity in Dark Souls 1?
- The best place is typically the bonfire in The Depths. The surrounding areas contain undead rats which drop Humanity, particularly with the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring equipped.
Which NPCs drop Humanity?
- Undead Rats are the most common source, with smaller rats in The Depths having a lower drop rate than larger ones. Some NPCs also drop them.
How many kills does it take to get Humanity in Dark Souls?
- The number of kills varies greatly. However, in general, it can be approximated that it will take 28 kills for the 1st Humanity, 29 for the 2nd, 31 for the 3rd, and 35 for the 4th, with diminishing returns beyond that. This number is heavily impacted by item discovery.
Is Humanity important in Dark Souls 1?
- Yes, Humanity is vital. It increases item discovery, the power of Chaos weapons, curse resistance, and allows for player summoning and being summoned.
Why should I become human in Dark Souls?
- Being human allows for cooperative play, improved item discovery, and a boost to the power of chaos weapons.
How many Humanity can I have in my counter?
- You can have up to 99 “soft” Humanity in your counter, however, item discovery benefits stop at 10, and defensive stats stop at 30.
What is the point of Humanity in Dark Souls?
- It increases item drop chances, allows for human restoration for multiplayer, and boosts chaos weapon damage as well as curse resistance.
How do you reverse hollowing?
- Provided you have at least one “soft” Humanity total, resting at a bonfire will allow you to reverse the effects of hollow.
What does 99 Humanity do in Dark Souls?
- Having 99 Humanity will increase defensive stats by about 40 points each.
How to get humanity without using Humanity items?
- You can gain Humanity by being summoned as a phantom and assisting in killing a boss, by farming enemies while the boss of the area is still alive, as a random drop from mobs, and as lootable items on grey corpses.
Is Humanity permanent in Dark Souls?
- No, “soft” Humanity is lost upon death like souls, but can be recovered by reaching your bloodstain.
Which merchants sell Humanity in Dark Souls?
- The Undead Female Merchant sells one for 5,000 souls, and Patches the Hyena sells 3 for 10,000 souls.
What does kindling a bonfire do?

Kindling a bonfire increases the number of Estus Flasks received by that bonfire by 5, meaning you can heal more frequently while travelling.

Understanding how to obtain and utilize Humanity is fundamental to mastering Dark Souls. By employing the farming strategies and understanding its benefits, you can better navigate the challenging world of Lordran and enjoy all the game has to offer.

How do you get humanity in Dark Souls?