Dark Souls Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Dark Souls Wiki

For the Dark Souls III variant, see Power Within (Dark Souls III).

Power Within is a Pyromancy in Dark Souls.

In-Game Description

Pyromancy of Carmina, who harnessed the power of flame to actualize the inner-self. Short strength/endurance boost, but lose HP.
Excessive power eats away the life-force of its caster, and like all dangerous spells, Power Within was kept secret for eons.

Availability[]

Power Within can be found in Blighttown, under the Parasitic Wall Hugger.

General information[]

Power Within increases all damage dealt by the player by 40% and increases stamina recovery by 30 per second for its duration. Though the in-game description implies this is a Strength increase, the spell does not actually increase stats, and attacks that do not scale with Strength (including all offensive spells) are also buffed. The effect is similar to the Red Tearstone Ring, but the former can be triggered on demand rather than conditionally, and the two effects can also stack. Power Within also increases stamina regeneration and constantly drains HP while in effect. Wearing the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring will increase the duration of Power Within, while leaving the total HP loss unchanged (instead it reduces the HP loss rate). Power Within cannot be used in conjunction with other self augmentation spells, such as Iron Flesh or Great Magic Barrier.

Power Within is capable of killing the player; as with other personal buffs in Dark Souls, there is also no way of cancelling the spell while in effect short of dying or using the Homeward Miracle, a Homeward Bone, or the Darksign.

Mechanics[]

Power Within has a duration of 100 seconds, time during which it "pulsates" 100 times. For every pulsation, the player loses 1% of their health (rounded down). At the end of the cast, the spell will have consumed the player's entire health, rounded down to the hundreds. For example, a player with 1,385 health will have lost 1,300 health and be left with 85 health. For players that plan to use Power Within, it is recommended trying to stay under a hundred mark rather than just over, e.g.:

  • 49 Vitality → 1,489 Health → 14 health loss per tick, totaling 1,400 damage → 89 health left
  • 50 vitality → 1,500 Health → 15 health loss per tick, totaling 1,500 damage → 0 health left

When combined with the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring, the spell will last longer but it will still only "pulsate" 100 times, with each pulsation being spaced further apart. The total health loss will be the same and the "damage per pulsation" will appear unchanged when looking at the stats. However, from a pure "health lost per second", the damage will have been reduced by 33%.

Strategy[]

Power Within is a risk-vs-reward spell. It is often useful in boss fights where players are likely to die in a couple of hits anyway and need to kill the boss quickly. In PvP, it is popular for glass cannon builds, as well as a desperation move should players find the odds stacked against them.

Notes[]

Pre-patch 1.06, the health drained a rate of the player's max HP*magic adjust of pyromancy flame used to cast Power Within for the duration of the spell. Therefore, since the benefits of Power Within were constant no matter how upgraded the pyromancy flame is, it was best to cast Power Within with an unupgraded pyromancy flame. 

Gallery[]

Advertisement