You could have been a perfectly good sorcerer. But instead you wanted to learn more about the forbidden techniques and strayed down the path of lifts pinky finger… Evil! Well okay, perhaps things aren’t as dramatic as I make them out to be. In Dark Souls 2, every element has its own spells. Magic has sorceries, fire has pyromancies, physical damage has fists, and dark has hexes! Unfortunately, there’s only so many spells that you can have attuned at a time, due to your limited attunement slots. So we’ll be reading ancient scriptures, practicing the dark arts, and ranking the best hexes to bring together on your journey.
10. Profound Still
Hexes, just like sorceries, aren’t always used to cause damage (although some like this one do cause psychological damage). Profound Still is a supportive Hex that, when cast, mutes everyone around you. This makes them unable to cast any spells for a short while. It’s main use is found in PvP battlers, to gain the upper hand against other casters. Profound Still can also be used against NPC spellcasters, often making the fight against them incredibly easier. It even works on bosses too, such as the Darklurker! How to get: Sold by Darkdiver Grandahl.
9. Dark Greatsword
Do not go looking in your weapons when you pick this up – for it’s a hex after all! Dark Greatsword is the dark variant of the Soul Greatsword sorcery, with two notable changes. Compared to its sorcery cousin, the Dark Greatsword is a bit smaller/shorter in range. But to make up for that it fires several beams that look very similar to those of the Moonlight Greatsword. It’s useful against any enemy in melee range, but you might want to just use a regular sword, due to its absurd 55 Intelligence requirement. How to get: Treasure in Shulva, Sanctum City. Get on the lift next to the Priestess’ Chamber bonfire, and keep an eye out for an opening to roll onto about halfway down.
8. Great Resonant Soul
This is the first hex we come across that uses the ideology of “Power has its price”. What I mean by that is many of the DS2 Hexes (not just in this list, but in general) will often require you to sacrifice souls in order to cast them at their maximum potential – otherwise you get a much weaker version of the spell instead. Great Resonant Soul is one of those hexes. It costs 500 souls per cast to get the most out of it, while the 0 soul version has its power cut down by about half. In return for your investments, you get a pretty powerful, high damaging spell that’s also very accurate and has a long range. I only recommend using this later in the game where 500 souls aren’t much, or sparingly used against important targets such as bosses. How to get: Sold by Felkin the Outcast, reward for reaching rank 2 with the Pilgrims of Dark covenant.
7. Resonant Weapon
Next up we’ve got another soul-consuming hex, and what’s possibly the best weapon buff in the entire game for purely physical weapons. The downside? The steep cost of 2000 souls per cast, making this one less desirable than every other weapon buff. Just like Great Resonant Soul, the best place to use this hex is challenging boss battles, in PvP, or when you’re at a point in the game where 2000 souls are nothing to you. How to get: Sold by Felkin the Outcast.
6. Affinity
This is a familiar hex to any Dark Souls 1 veteran – the Pursuers put on a fake moustache and changed their name to Affinity. Affinity is an offensive-defensive spell, if you could call it that. Depending on your intelligence, it creates up to 5 dark orbs above you that will lock on and slowly pursue the nearest enemy, until they either reach their target or are stopped by terrain. It shines in PvP scenarios, while its often outclassed by other spells in PvE. How to get: Sold by Straid of Olaphis, dropped by Rabid Kobolds in Aldia’s Keep.
5. Scraps of Life
This is the spell that the firestorm pyromancy wished it was. Scraps of Life creates dark-damage-dealing pillars inside an indicated circle. It’s very quick to cast, and does quite impactful damage too. You can use this against cornered enemies, or when you find yourself in that position to create a brief window of respite. Also very useful against hordes of enemies with low health. How to get: Sold by Cromwell the Pardoner, treasure in Black Gulch near the first pools of tar.
4. Dark Fog
Here’s a notoriously infamous spell since the early days of Dark Souls 2. Dark fog is very similar to Poison/Toxic mist, and creates a big cloud that causes poison buildup, albeit at a much larger range. The poison does considerable damage, and is very useful against many regular enemies – or even boss enemies. A good strategy is to start your battles off with a Dark Fog, poison your enemy, and then switch to your other spells to get the most out of your death cloud. Just like every other poison-inducing item, you can use this to cheese regular enemies by poisoning them, running away, and letting them meet their slow but inevitable demise. Fun fact: before a certain patch came into place, you used to be able to poison players instantly when you casted Dark Fog while wielding a Bat Staff! How to get: Sold by Straid of Olaphis.
3. Dark Hail
From here on out, we’ve got the crème de la crème of the hexing world. Despite being ranked at the third position, Dark Hail is one of the two hexes that you’ll be using the most in any and all situations. When cast, it shoots a blast of several small dark orbs in front of you. A single target can be hit by more than one of the orbs, causing Dark Hail to behave as a shotgun extension for your staff when used against big enemies. If you’re having problems against crowds of enemies, consider giving this bad boy a try. How to get: Sold by Darkdiver Grandahl, Straid of Olaphis, and Magerold of Lanafir.
2. Dark Weapon
Dark Weapon is the slightly inferior version of Resonant Weapon, but in reality the roles are reversed. Unlike his father, Dark weapon doesn’t cost any souls to cast, has more casts, and requires less attunement slots – while only losing a miniscule amount of damage. Unless you’re literally drowning in souls and don’t know what to do with them, I’d recommend using Dark over Resonant Weapon any day (it’s also found early in the game!) How to get: Sold by Felkin the Outcast
1. Dark Orb
The bread and butter for any hex build. Dark Orb has everything that you’d ever want from a spell. It might look basic, but remember that looks are often deceiving! Excellent damage paired together with a high amount of casts per attunement slot ensure that you’ll find yourself casting this again and again, until everything in your path has succumbed to the darkness. How to get: Sold by Felkin the Outcast, Straid of Olaphis, and Darkdiver Grandahl. As a closing note, I’d like to remind everyone that some hexes require a staff, while others require a chime in order to be cast. Make sure you’ve got the correct catalysts before heading into battle!
