You're stuck at the O&S fog gate with zero sprites in your inventory. We've all been there. It’s that specific brand of Dark Souls misery where you need to summon Solaire or a friendly phantom, but you’re stuck looking at a "00" in the top left corner of your screen. You need to go Dark Souls humanity farming, and you need to do it without losing your mind to the repetition.
Humanity isn't just a matchmaking currency. It’s your curse resistance. It’s your item discovery. It’s the difference between a Chaos Blade that hits like a truck and one that feels like a pool noodle. But the game doesn't exactly hand it out. You have to take it from the world, usually by killing things that have a tiny, lingering shred of soul left in them.
The Mechanics of the Drop
Before you go swinging your Zweihander at everything that moves, you have to understand the math. Item Discovery is the king here. At base, you have 100. If you consume 10 "soft" Humanity (the number next to your health bar), that jumps to 210. This is the cap for humanity-based luck.
Don't stop there.
You need the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring found in Sen’s Fortress or the Symbol of Avarice. These don't stack with each other, but they do stack with your soft humanity. With the ring and 10 humanity, you hit the hard cap of 410 Item Discovery. If you’re farming without hitting 410, you are literally wasting your own time. Honestly, it’s the difference between seeing a drop every three minutes and seeing one every thirty seconds.
The Depths: The Classic Rat Run
Most players start here. It's accessible early, right after you beat the Capra Demon and get the key to the sewers. The Giant Rats in the Depths are the bread and butter of Dark Souls humanity farming for the first half of the game.
Go to the Depths bonfire. Warp there if you have the Lordvessel, or just walk down. There’s a hallway right outside the bonfire room with five rats. Kill them. Run further down, past the heavy soul arrow trap, and there’s a big room with even more.
Why the Depths?
It’s safe. Mostly. The rats aren't going to one-shot a mid-level build. They have a decent drop rate, and the run is incredibly short. You can clear the loop in about 60 seconds if you’re efficient.
The downside? It's boring. You’ll be staring at grey stone walls for hours. Also, the drop rate feels "streaky." You might get three in one run and then nothing for five more. If you’re at the end-game, don't bother with the rats. There are much better places to be.
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The Duke’s Archives: The Pisaca Massacre
If you've made it to Seath’s territory, you have a better option. Down in the prison area, there are these blue, squid-headed monstrosities called Pisacas. Most of them are just crying in a corner. It’s depressing, sure, but they have a massive humanity drop rate compared to rats.
There are about a dozen of them clustered together. If you have a weapon with a wide horizontal swing—looking at you, Claymore—you can mow them down in seconds.
- Start at the prison cell bonfire.
- Run down the spiral stairs.
- Open the big gate.
- Wipe out the Pisacas.
- Homeward Bone or run back.
The Pisacas also drop Soothing Sunlight and Bountiful Sunlight, though you need to be in the Princess's Guard covenant to use those. Even if you aren't, the humanity yield here is significantly higher than the Depths. It’s faster. It’s more concentrated. Just watch out for the two that are actually aggressive; they can grab you and ruin your day.
Tomb of the Giants: The Baby Skeleton Pit
This is the high-risk, high-reward choice. Right before the Nito boss fight, there’s a flooded area with tiny Baby Skeletons. They spawn infinitely. You don't even need to use a bonfire to reset them.
This is arguably the fastest Dark Souls humanity farming spot in the entire game, but it comes with a massive caveat. The items they drop disappear almost instantly.
Because the skeletons respawn immediately, the game’s engine tries to clear out old "entities" to save memory. If you kill a baby skeleton, you have about two seconds to loot that glowing white orb before it vanishes into the ether. You have to stand in the water, take the hits, and mash the loot button.
Pro Tip: Wear the Evil Eye Ring or use a weapon that heals on kill. The babies do tiny bits of toxic damage that add up. If you stay there long enough, you’ll walk away with 99 humanity in less than an hour, but you’ll probably have a headache from the flickering spawns.
The DLC Advantage: Humanity Phantoms
If you have the Artorias of the Abyss DLC, forget everything I just said. The Chasm of the Abyss is the objective "best" place for Dark Souls humanity farming. Period.
The enemies here are literally called "Humanity Phantoms." They are floating sprites of darkness. They come in three sizes: small, medium, and large. They all drop Humanity, and the large ones can even drop Twin Humanity.
The Chasm Strategy
Start at the Oolacile Dungeon bonfire. Head down into the dark. There are dozens of these things. Because they are floating ghosts, they are very susceptible to physical damage. A single Great Combustion or a vertical chop will delete them.
- The drop rate is astronomical.
- You get both single and Twin Humanities.
- The run is relatively safe if you don't fall off a ledge.
Honestly, once you unlock the Chasm, there is zero reason to farm anywhere else. It makes the Depths look like a joke. You can easily stock up enough humanity to kindle every bonfire in the game to max in a single sitting.
Misconceptions About "Soft" Humanity
A lot of people think you have to be Human (revived at a bonfire) to get better drops. You don't. You can be as hollow as a dried-up husk. All that matters is the number in the circle next to your bars.
Another weird myth is that killing bosses increases the drop rate of the mobs in that area. It doesn't. In fact, in some versions of the game, once the area boss is dead, you can no longer "earn" humanity by killing large numbers of enemies in that zone (the hidden gauge that gives you a soft humanity after X amount of kills). But for actual item drops from enemies? The boss being alive or dead changes nothing.
Online Alternatives: The "Git Gud" Method
If you hate grinding mobs, you can farm players. Joining the Darkwraith covenant and using the Red Eye Orb is the "intended" way to get humanity. Every time you kill a host, you get a humanity.
If you’re more of a co-op person, help someone beat a boss. Being summoned as a White Phantom and successfully taking down a boss grants you one soft humanity and restores your human form. It’s slower than the Chasm of the Abyss, but it’s a lot more fun than hitting skeletons in a basement.
Putting It Into Practice
To maximize your efficiency, follow this checklist before you start your session:
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- Acquire the Covetous Gold Serpent Ring: It's in Sen's Fortress behind a breakable wall where the boulders roll.
- Pop 10 Humanity: Use what you have to get what you want. It's an investment.
- Equip a Homeward Bone: Or use the Homeward miracle if you have the faith. It cuts your travel time in half.
- Choose your spot based on progress: Depths for early game, Pisacas for mid-game, Chasm of the Abyss for end-game.
If you’re struggling with the Baby Skeletons in the Tomb, try using a weapon with a wide swing like the Great Scythe. The timing is tricky, but once you get the rhythm of "kill-loot-kill-loot," it’s a gold mine.
Stop wasting your time with low-yield enemies like the undead soldiers in the Burg. They can drop humanity, but the rate is so low it’s statistically negligible. Stick to the rats, the squids, or the ghosts.
Your next step is to head to Sen’s Fortress and grab that ring if you haven't already. Without it, you're just making the game harder for yourself for no reason. Once you have the ring and 10 soft humanity, head to the Chasm of the Abyss and you'll never worry about being hollow again.