The covenants in Dark Souls 2 have become a key way for players to get access to special rewards or content, with completely different features of each. Whether you want to become an invading attacker who lives for the PvP or to help the rest of the clan with cooperative gameplay, there's a covenant for all walks of life.
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Whatever covenant is chosen, a special ring will be picked up, each with its own unique powers. This gives players a boost throughout the entire game, not only when they're doing tasks for the group. However, some rings stand out among the rest as the best of the bunch, giving serious improvements to the journey.
9 Blue Sentinels – Guardian's Seal
Possibly the most pointless covenant ring in the entire game, the Guardians Seal allows the player to be summoned to other worlds in order to protect their fellow members. It basically puts the player in the position of a babysitter for other players who wear the Blue Seal ring.
While every other ring offers at least a small reward for the trouble, this ring is only for those who are feeling charitable and have little else to do with their time. Even the rewards, while having fancy names, don't do much for the amount of work put in when being dragged to the aid of unprepared warriors.
8 The Way Of The Blue – Blue Seal
Equally questionable in its use, the Blue Seal is used as a safety net for players who are being invaded. While it does give a small 3% bump to health, players won't benefit from that small of a bump very often.
After a patch made long ago to Dark Souls 2, this ring became even more useless, taking away the need to even be wearing the ring when calling for help from the Blue Sentinels. Offering slightly more use than the Guardian's Seal, this will only be helpful in the early game for players that don't want to risk getting taken out.
7 Rat King – Crest of the Rat
The Crest Of The Rat is very useful for those that want to farm enemies, drawing trespassers of the Rat King's territory into the player's world to take them on. This will give the player some intruder souls while also giving their poison weapon a big jump, leeching the enemies' health during battle.
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The poison buff will change whether the weapon has been infused with a poison stone or not, giving a 60 hit boost for poison weapons that have also been infused. While defending a giant rat might not seem the noblest cause, it will definitely pay off in combat and damage. Hitting the highest rank will give players the ability to walk/run silently with the Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring.
6 Bell Keepers – Bell Keeper's Seal
Given away by the name, this covenant is all about either attacking or defending bell towers. Every time they kill an enemy in either, members receive upgrade material for their items, making this ring a great grind tool.
The Bell Keeper's Seal, on the other hand, doesn't do much besides transporting the player to battle, making it one of the most useless covenant rings. It will give people plenty of chances to farm the material but it doesn't add any real value outside of summoning.
5 Heirs To The Sun – Sun Seal
The friendliest covenant of the bunch is focused on helping others fight through bosses or arenas. The Sun Seal will increase the strength of miracles by 5%, a good jump for an important mechanic. While it doesn't seem like a lot, miracles will be helped a lot in the early game when they struggle the most.
The covenant will prepare players for the harder challenges ahead while boosting their big miracles and allowing them some great hits when helping their teammates. The rewards also shine, giving players one of the best swords in the game and a high damage miracle to go with their damage boost.
4 Brotherhood of Blood – Crest of Blood
The Brotherhood of Blood is purely focused on invading others to steal their souls and get rewards from their own covenant. The Crest Of Blood will give any weapon that has a bleed effect a 50 point bump, making every swing more devastating than the last.
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While there are definitely some great rewards to be had, it also takes a lot to rank up in this covenant. Winning 500 PvP battles to get to the highest rank will take some time, more than most are willing to put in.
3 Pilgrims Of Dark – Abyss Seal
Not only the most interesting of the covenants, giving players access to an exclusive area called the Dark Chasm Of Old, but containing one of the best reward lists in the game. The Abyss Seal increases the power of hexes by 7.5% but it will cost the player 30 health every time they use it, making the ring a double-edged sword.
Access to an exclusive farming area and the covenant's rewards are enough to bait players in, though the ring itself is a 50/50 depending on how much each person is getting out of their hex. Dark magicians will find it well worth the hit to their health but everyone else definitely can find better rings.
2 Company Of Champions – Vanquisher's Seal
Completely centered around PvE gameplay, this covenant will make enemies a more daunting experience. Essentially making the game more difficult, most of the rewards are going to be a real grind to work towards without any major pay off.
On the other hand, the Company Of Champions couldn't just leave members high and dry without some items to back them up. The Vanquisher's Seal will increase the player's barehanded attacks greatly, taking away the need for a special weapon to land heavy blows. Basically, this covenant is all about upping the stakes while getting some style points along the way.
1 Dragon Remnants – Ancient Dragon Seal
Instead of invading for their PvP combat, the Dragon Remnants simplify the whole process and stick to straight duels. The Ancient Dragon Seal will help by making Estus Flasks restore 50 more health along the way, giving players a big advantage when things aren't looking too good.
Combining some of the best rewards in both armor and weapons, the added healing factor makes for a pretty good all-around balance. Collecting Dragon Scales will increase the player's rank, and they are awarded after every PvP win as they send members deeper into the covenants war room of equipment.