Firelink Shrine sits cold and its thrones stand empty. Return the four Lords of Cinder: the Abyss Watchers, Aldrich, Yhorm, and the Twin Princes: to their seats and the road to the Kiln of the First Flame cracks open. There the Soul of Cinder waits, and you choose to link the fire, let it fade, or usurp the flame for the Age of Dark. First Hours is the spoiler-light Mercenary bleed start; Full Progression is the spoiler-structured walkthrough with every boss, coal, NPC fate and missable; Leveling is the Sharp Dex / Bleed twinblades stat plan. Every tick saves on this device as you go.
Start Mercenary: you begin with the Sellsword Twinblades. Their L1 flurry hits 4–6 times, stacking bleed fast. Grab the Farron Coal to infuse them Sharp (Dexterity), keep Carthus Rouge for on-demand bleed, and pump Vigor to 27 first. Dark Souls III plays like Elden Ring: fast, aggressive, dodge-and-punish. Firelink Shrine is your hub.
Light. Covers the opening areas and names a couple of early bosses only. For the full route + live checklist use the Full Progression tab; for the stat plan, Leveling.
Tally your opening hours as you go. Items marked ↔ shared also live on the Full Progression tracker: tick them in either place and both stay in sync.
If you've played Elden Ring, this will feel familiar: ER was built on DS3's bones. Fast, aggressive, dodge-timing combat around stamina and i-frames.
- Roll i-frames scale with equip load. Stay under 70% equip load for the fast roll: fat-rolling is a death sentence. (No Adaptability stat here, unlike DS2.)
- Weapon Arts (L2). Every weapon has a special skill that costs FP (blue bar). Refill FP with Ashen Estus. The twinblades' skill is a spinning flurry.
- Bleed procs deal a burst of the target's max HP. The Sellsword Twinblades' rapid hits fill the bleed meter incredibly fast: bosses hemorrhage repeatedly.
- Estus + Ashen Estus. Split your flasks between HP (Estus) and FP (Ashen Estus) at the Fire Keeper; a mostly-melee bleed build wants more HP flasks.
Dodge into a boss's combo, then unload an L1 flurry on the recovery. Two flurries usually proc a bleed. Stay close: this build punishes hesitation, not aggression.
Mercenary is the ideal start: it spawns with the Sellsword Twinblades and high Dexterity, so you're at full power from character creation. (Any class can use them: Mercenary just skips the trip to the Road of Sacrifices to find a pair.)
- Infuse Sharp. Once you grab the Farron Coal (Farron Keep), reforge the twinblades to Sharp for max Dexterity scaling: the simple, strong choice.
- Carthus Rouge (Catacombs of Carthus) is a bleed resin you can apply to any weapon; keep a stack for tough bosses.
- Optional later: with the Profaned Coal you can infuse Hollow and pump Luck for even more bleed: see the Leveling tab.
Firelink Shrine is your hub: Andre reinforces and infuses your weapon, the Fire Keeper levels you, and the handmaid sells gear.
End of the High Wall. A dodge-and-punish fight: stay under his belly, roll through his frost charge, and flurry his legs. Watch the frostbite build.
Undead Settlement. Attack the glowing egg sacs to collapse the floor into phase 2, then keep hitting the sacs. Bleed melts it. While here, free Siegward from the well (start of his questline) and rescue Cornyx. Undead Settlement (wiki)
Head to the Road of Sacrifices, then Farron Keep for the Farron Coal. Switch to Full Progression for the spoiler route + checklist, and Leveling for the Vigor → Dex plan.
Vigor to 27 first (the ~1000 HP soft cap), enough Endurance and Vitality to stay under 70% equip load (fast roll), then Dexterity toward 40 → 60 as your damage. Infuse the twinblades Sharp for pure Dex, or go Hollow + Luck for maximum bleed. Keep Carthus Rouge for tough fights. First-run target: roughly SL 100–125.
Tick each breakpoint as you hit it. This checklist is DS3-specific and saves as you go.
| Stat | Priority | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vigor | ★★★ | 27 (→ 39 late) | HP. Soft cap at 27 (~1000 HP): the most important early investment. Prevents one-shots. |
| Dexterity | ★★★ | 40 → 60 | Primary damage for the twinblades. Soft caps at 40 and 60. |
| Endurance | ★★ | ~30 | Stamina for flurries and rolls. |
| Vitality | ★★ | as needed | Equip load. Enough to stay under 70% for the fast roll with your armor. |
| Luck | ★ (Hollow build) | ~35 | Only for a Hollow-infused bleed build: boosts bleed buildup and Hollow weapon scaling. |
| Attunement | - | ~10 opt | A few points if you want a spell slot or more FP for weapon arts. Otherwise skip. |
| Int / Faith | - | base | Not needed for a Dex/bleed build. |
Sharp = pure Dexterity scaling, simplest, and you still bleed via innate/Carthus Rouge. Hollow (needs the Profaned Coal) scales with Luck and adds innate bleed buildup: more hemorrhage, but you split points into Luck. Sharp is the easy default; Hollow is the "max bleed" variant.
| Area | Soul Level |
|---|---|
| High Wall → Vordt | SL 1–15 |
| Undead Settlement → Greatwood | SL 10–25 |
| Road of Sacrifices → Farron (Abyss Watchers) | SL 20–45 |
| Cathedral → Catacombs (Wolnir) | SL 35–55 |
| Irithyll → Anor Londo (Pontiff, Aldrich) | SL 50–70 |
| Lothric Castle → Twin Princes | SL 70–100 |
| Kiln → Soul of Cinder | SL 90–120 |
| DLC (Friede → Gael) | SL 90–130 |
- Upgrade to +10. The Sellsword Twinblades use regular Titanite (not a boss weapon): take them to +10 at Andre. Weapon level beats a few extra stat points.
- Infuse: Sharp (Farron Coal) for pure Dex, or Hollow (Profaned Coal) for the Luck/bleed variant.
- Carthus Rouge: apply before a tough boss to add bleed to whatever you're holding. Cheap and craftable-adjacent; keep a stack.
- Alternatives: Warden Twinblades and Onikiri & Ubadachi have innate bleed if you'd rather not rely on Rouge; Friede's Great Scythe (DLC) is a bleed monster.
By the Kiln a comfortable bleed hunter looks roughly like: Vigor 39, Endurance ~30, Vitality for a fast roll, Dexterity 40–60 (plus Luck ~35 if Hollow), and +10 twinblades. That lands around SL 100–125: plenty for Soul of Cinder and the DLC's Friede and Gael.
Pair this with the Full Progression tracker to see which area fits your level (and grab every coal), and First Hours if you're still setting up the Mercenary bleed kit.