Elden Ring Stat Caps Explained (2024)

Surely to be remembered as one of the biggest RPGs of its generation, Elden Ring has done nothing less than justice to the legacy of modern open-world role-playing games. Being no exception to the traditional genre tropes that it manages to subvert, the gameplay of Elden Ring is controlled by several significant player stats. The main stats in Elden Ring, also known as attributes, govern all other secondary stats of the player character. By spending earned Runes at a Site of Grace to level up these primary attributes, players are able to create the various builds available in the game.

In FromSoftware’s traditional fashion, however, stat progression in Elden Ring is more complex than it may initially seem. While there is a “hard cap” maximum level of 99 in Elden Ring that all of the eight main stats can be increased up to, there are also “soft cap” levels at which the Attributes begin to advance with diminished returns at different rates. When it comes to building one's best Tarnished, it is often imperative that the player acknowledge these diminishing stat rewards so that attributes are invested in efficiently. By keeping track of the soft cap levels for each important stat to a respective build, players are able to optimize their Tarnished by gaining the most benefit for each invested level.

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Vigor (Soft cap: 40/60)

Vigor is vital in Elden Ring, governing the player's HP. It also has an impact on certain resistances, but it’s mainly the indicator of a character’s health bar. Vigor is a unique Attribute from the others due to the fact that it actually provides increasing returns in HP gained, although this only lasts until level 40. After this soft cap, levels invested into Vigor will begin to yield diminishing returns. There’s an even further limit at level 60, at which point the player will receive an almost negligible gain to their massive HP bar. The main resistance that Vigor dictates, Immunity, affects the player’s susceptibility to Poison and Scarlet Rot ailments at similar rates and limits to HP in terms of levels.

Mind (Soft cap: 50/60)

Mind is the opposing stat to Vigor, governing the player character’s FP points. FP is used for casting different types of magic in Elden Ring and even using certain items, acting as a resource to balance the massive power of some abilities. Mind is highly worth investing in up to its soft cap at level 50, and there are even decent diminished returns up to around level 60, after which they drop back down to starting levels.

Endurance (Soft cap: 15/30/50, 25/60)

Endurance is an attribute that controls several secondary stats, namely the vital Stamina and Equip Load. Some points into Endurance are going to be necessary for most builds, and even a few levels invested can make a big impact on Stat requirements. Stamina in Elden Ring, which controls most actions from attacking to running, receives incremental returns that diminish very slightly after the soft cap levels of 15, 30, and 50 until offering nothing at some high levels. Equip Load, or how much the player can carry, on the other hand, only decreases after the soft cap levels of 25 and 60.

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Strength (Soft cap: 16/60/80)

Strength is one of the major Attributes, impacting attack damage and stat requirements for Elden Ring's strength weapons. Strength increases damage scaling for weapons associated with it beyond just allowing the player to wield them at certain levels. Due to the various types of weapon affinities that Strength affects, it has different soft cap levels depending on the damage type being inflicted. The values are all relatively similar to regular physical damage though, with the returns diminishing around levels 16, 60, and even 80 for the dedicated Strength builds. It’s also worth noting that Strength has a “true” hard cap of 150 when factoring in items and other modifiers to increase the stat beyond its actual level.

Dexterity (Soft cap: 16/60/80)

Dexterity is the flip side to Strength as one of the primary attributes, also governing damage scaling and weapon requirements. Associated with the more “advanced” Dexterity weapons in Elden Ring that require finesse and skill to wield, Dexterity also governs multiple types of damage scaling from various affinities. The soft cap values are similar at levels 16, 60, and 80 when it comes to the main physical damage, with similar values for the other types. In addition, a lesser-known aspect of Dexterity is its effect on the player’s casting speed, which soft caps around level 70.

Intelligence (Soft cap: 20/50/80)

Intelligence is one of the main magic attributes, controlling the player’s ability to perform Elden Ring's Sorceries. Aside from the actual stat requirements for the spells, Intelligence also controls the damage scaling of magic and elemental damage in general. For players looking to specialize in sorcery damage, leveling up the stat to 20 and 50 will yield the best returns, with returns dropping off even more after level 80.

Faith (Soft cap: 20/50/80)

Faith is the opposing stat to Intelligence, governing the ability to cast Elden Ring's Incantation type spells as opposed to Sorceries. It similarly controls magic and elemental damage scaling and is necessary to meet weapon requirements endemic to a Faith build. It follows a similar path to Intelligence in terms of soft cap values as well, also decreasing after levels 20, 50, and 80.

Arcane (Soft cap: 16/60/80, 20/50/80)

Arcane in Elden Ring is the most unique stat, governing a combination of the Discovery stat for items through flat increases, status build-up infliction, and damage of weapons and spells that scale with it. Due to the diversity of options in the game associated with the Arcane attribute, it can be affected by similar soft caps to both the physical and magic stats depending on the build that the player is creating. When it comes to the status build-up aspect of Arcane, however, its soft caps can vary depending on the method of infliction, while they remain relatively similar to the main damage increase soft caps.

Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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