Minmaxing or finding a crazy build is one of the few joys left in Dark Souls 2 once you've conquered its legendary host of ugly monstrosities and you run out of things to do with your bleak existence in the game. Apart from being fashionable, one also has to ensure that their Bearer of the Curse is an effective hero and seek good item combos lest they face the disappointed eyes of the Emerald Herald.
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When it comes to improving your character in Dark Souls 2, or any Dark Souls game for that matter, rings are underrated yet powerful tools. In fact, some rings can even allow certain builds to exist or make some clunky setups impressive. So make sure you take note of these lovely ring and weapon combinations as you journey to NG+ ad infinitum.
10 Chloranthy Ring + Royal Soldier's Ring + Dragon Rings + Any Ultra Greatsword
The most imposing weapon class in any Dark Souls game are ultra or great weapons. Since the manga Berserk is one of its chief inspirations, ultra greatswords are some of the most broken weapons in the game. They do come with a downside of being heavy or even unwieldy.
They require tons of stamina and weight reduction. Thankfully, lots of items provide those in good doses, such as multiple ring benefits coming from the Chloranthy Ring, Royal Soldier's Ring, and two or one of the three Dragon Rings. It's simple but devastating and lets you swing that heap of iron with reckless abandon.
9 Bracing Knuckle Ring + Chrloranthy Ring + Red Iron Twinblade
That isn't to say that the ultra greatswords are the highest-DPS weapons in the game. They just hit heavy but can miss too. If you want something more consistent, then the Red Iron Twinblade is considered a beast of a weapon that can stunlock an enemy while whittling down their health.
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Too bad it breaks rather easily due to the fast and successive attacks to prevent that predicament from happening too much and interrupting your boss fights, the Bracing Knuckle Ring can help greatly. Then pair it with a Chloranthy Ring among others of your choice for more carefree attacks.
8 Ring Of Blades + Ivory Warrior Ring + Fist/Claw Weapon
Fist and Claw weapons in Dark Souls 2 aren't really that popular since they require you to be up close and personal and they also don't deal much damage compared to greatswords. However, you can change all that by equipping the Ring of Blades.
It makes each quick attack of a fist or claw weapon deal significantly more damage. Add the Ivory Warrior Ring into the fray and enemies with shields will end up losing stamina with each of your attacks. It just so happens that fist and claw weapon attacks consume little stamina and let you attack quickly. Just be wary of parry attempts.
7 Red Tearstone Ring + Fume Ultra Greatsword
Then are risky builds that rely on the skill and knowledge of experienced players to pull off. Regardless, this one's an exciting combo. The Fume Ultra Greatsword is considered as one of the best in the game and the weapon that deals the highest damage as it scales with Strength.
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You can boost that up even higher using the Red Tearstone Ring. The downside is that your HP needs to be at 30 percent or below to reap the truckload of damage from the Red Tearstone Ring. It's high risk, high reward. For a player who has gone through two NG+ runs, that shouldn't be too hard.
6 Old Leo Ring + Grand Lance
Thrusting weapons are a nice alternative to Ultra Greatswords because they have better range and still deal respectable enough damage. You can make that damage even more respectable by grabbing yourself an Old Leo Ring from that bootleg Ornstein boss.
The Old Leo Ring increases Thrusting weapon counterattack damage by 12.5 percent. This makes a defensive mode of play a viable method of plowing through the game (no pun intended) as counterattack damage can be made as your main offense.
5 Clear Bluestone Ring + Lingering Dragoncrest Ring + Northern Ritual Band + Staves/Chimes
As it turns out spellcasters do have their own tricks when it comes to ring combos. It might not be as gimmicky as melee weapon users but it's a straightforward bonus to their spells be it for damage, casting time, or increasing the viability of magic builds.
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The Clear Bluestone Ring increases the longevity of spell effects making hexers and miracle builds more useful. Meanwhile, the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring ensures that spellcasters aren't sitting ducks by decreasing the casting time. Finally, the Northern Ritual Band makes spells more available.
4 Hawk Ring + Red Tearstone Ring + Hunter's Blackbow
Ranged builds or archers also have it good but not as versatile as melee builds. However, one accessory called the Hawk Ring lets patient players cheese through the game, especially in non-boss areas. The aforementioned ring increases the range of all bows by 7.55 percent.
In theory, it can make players quite untouchable, more so if their targets don't have ranged attacks. In that case, pairing the Hawk Ring with the Hunter's Blackbow which is a solid bow choice for the game is a good choice. You can further experiment with increased damage using the Red Tearstone Ring. You're attacking from a safe distance anyway.
3 Illusory Ring Of The Exalted + Ultra Greatsword
Now on to PVP shenanigans; there's one beautiful ring rewarded to the players upon completing the game without resting at bonfires. It's a tall-order yes, but the Illusory Ring of the Exalted is worth it for the PVP tricks alone.
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It makes the right-hand weapon invisible. Pair it with an Ultra Greatsword and then go invade some worlds or welcome some invaders and watch them scramble and quake in fear before becoming undead pancakes since they can't dodge or see whatever you're hitting them with.
2 Illusory Ring Of The Exalted + Illusory Ring Of A Conqueror + Chloranthy Ring + Power Stanced Dual Red Iron Twinblades
If you want even more fun with the Illusory Ring of the Exalted, then you can grab its smaller brother, the Illusory Ring of a Conqueror. That one makes the left-hand weapon invisible but requires you to clear the game without dying.
Instead of using dual tower shields to baffle the enemy, you can go dual Red Iron Twinblades or great-weapons instead, power stance them, and then make PVP invaders question their life decisions. The stamina cost for this is a bit insane so have a Chloranthy Ring at the ready.
1 Crest Of Blood + Notched Whip
Bleed builds are also a popular choice for many Dark Souls players regardless of the iteration and in Dark Souls 2, the best bleed weapon is the Notched Whip. It applies bleed the highest and fastest, enough to make any PVP player panic or to even cheese PVE content.
To make the bleed application even higher, you can pair it with the Crest of Blood Ring and any other ring that lets you attack in quick successions such as the Chloranthy Ring. For added pain, you can even throw in the Ivory Warrior Ring to chip away at their stamina. Either way, you'll be having fun.
