The Sanctus is a medium shield in Dark Souls.
In-Game Description
- A legendary weapon of the Way of White, granted to an Undead paladin long ago. Once blessed with the protection of a white flame, but its power has all but faded, so that it provides only slight HP recovery.
Availability
Sanctus can be found when Paladin Leeroy invades near the end of the Tomb of the Giants. When defeated, he drops the shield and its weapon counterpart Grant. Players must have reversed their hollowing in order for Leeroy to spawn. The drop rate should be 100%, although the game sometimes glitches when Leeroy is killed, resulting in him not dropping Grant or Sanctus or having his armor spawn with the defeat of Gravelord Nito.
Characteristics
Sanctus' requirement of 18 Faith makes it rather inaccessible to non-faith builds, further limiting usage. However, it does slowly regenerate the player's HP over time, granting the player potentially limitless healing. The rate is very slow (2 HP/2 seconds), meaning that its practical use in the middle of combat is limited, but patient players can greatly benefit from Sanctus' effects when not in a combat situation. The shield has medium deflection and normal parry speed. When upgraded to crystal, the durability is 41. The Sanctus shares the healing trait with Replenishment, Elizabeth's Mushroom, and Bountiful Sunlight.
It is especially handy for co-op mode, as the Sanctus' health regeneration effectively alleviates the need of a host to heal up after every fight.
The Faith requirement doesn't apply if the player uses it as a shield, though it will have a reduced Stability, increasing the likelihood that the player's guard will break. It only applies in the event the player uses it as a weapon; the health regeneration remains unchanged as well.
Resistance Defense
Along with Physical and Elemental damage reduction, weapons also have hidden stats that reduce the amount of status build-up while blocking.
Resistance | Reduction |
---|---|
90% | |
74% | |
74% | |
100% |
Moveset
Attack | Description |
---|---|
One-handed Weak Attack |
Diagonal swing to the left. |
One-handed Strong Attack |
Strong horizontal swings alternating from left to right. Some starting lag. |
Two-handed Weak Attack |
Shield Bash.* |
Two-handed Strong Attack |
Holds shield up and runs forward, then slams it down at the end. Additional inputs yield a horizontal swing.* |
Jump Attack | Slams shield into the ground. |
Running Attack | Holds shield up and runs forward, then swings open at the end.* |
Rolling Attack | Downward swing. |
Kick | Push away with the shield. |
Left-handed Weak Attack |
Block. |
Left-handed Strong Attack |
Parry. |
*While shield is up the player is actively blocking
Upgrades
Requires: Standard Sanctus, Titanite and 200 souls per upgrade.
Standard Variation | Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sanctus | 62 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Sanctus +1 (Titanite Shard ×1) | 65 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 52 |
Sanctus +2 (Titanite Shard ×1) | 68 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 53 |
Sanctus +3 (Titanite Shard ×2) | 71 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 54 |
Sanctus +4 (Titanite Shard ×2) | 74 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 55 |
Sanctus +5 (Titanite Shard ×3) | 77 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 56 |
Sanctus +6 (L. Titanite Shard ×1) | 81 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 57 |
Sanctus +7 (L. Titanite Shard ×1) | 84 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 58 |
Sanctus +8 (L. Titanite Shard ×2) | 88 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 59 |
Sanctus +9 (L. Titanite Shard ×2) | 92 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 60 |
Sanctus +10 (L. Titanite Shard ×3) | 96 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 61 |
Sanctus +11 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 100 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 61 |
Sanctus +12 (Titanite Chunk ×1) | 104 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 62 |
Sanctus +13 (Titanite Chunk ×2) | 109 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 62 |
Sanctus +14 (Titanite Chunk ×3) | 113 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 63 |
Sanctus +15 (Titanite Slab ×1) | 124 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 63 |
Requires: Standard Sanctus +10, Titanite and 200 souls per upgrade.
Crystal Variation | Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crystal Sanctus (Titanite Chunk ×1) |
96 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 63 |
Crystal Sanctus +1 (Titanite Chunk ×1) |
100 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 64 |
Crystal Sanctus +2 (Titanite Chunk ×1) |
104 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 64 |
Crystal Sanctus +3 (Titanite Chunk ×2) |
109 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 65 |
Crystal Sanctus +4 (Titanite Chunk ×3) |
113 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 65 |
Crystal Sanctus +5 (Titanite Slab ×1) |
124 | – | – | – | D | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 66 |
Requires: Standard Sanctus +5, Green Titanite and 200 souls per upgrade.
Magic Variation | Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Magic Sanctus (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
58 | 62 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +1 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
61 | 65 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 40.8 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +2 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
64 | 68 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 41.6 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +3 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) |
67 | 71 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 42.4 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +4 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) |
70 | 74 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 43.2 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +5 (Green Titanite Shard ×3) |
72 | 77 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 44 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +6 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×1) |
76 | 81 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 44.8 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +7 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×1) |
79 | 84 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 45.6 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +8 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×2) |
82 | 88 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 46.4 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +9 (Blue Titanite Chunk ×3) |
86 | 91 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 47.2 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Magic Sanctus +10 (Blue Titanite Slab ×1) |
94 | 100 | – | – | E | – | D | – | 95 | 47 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Requires: Standard Sanctus +5, Green Titanite and 200 souls per upgrade.
Divine Variation | Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Divine Sanctus (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
52 | 63 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +1 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
55 | 66 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +2 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
57 | 69 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +3 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) |
60 | 72 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +4 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) |
62 | 75 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +5 (Green Titanite Shard ×3) |
65 | 79 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +6 (White Titanite Chunk ×1) |
68 | 82 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +7 (White Titanite Chunk ×1) |
70 | 86 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +8 (White Titanite Chunk ×2) |
73 | 89 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +9 (White Titanite Chunk ×3) |
76 | 93 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Divine Sanctus +10 (White Titanite Slab ×1) |
84 | 102 | – | – | E | – | – | D | 95 | 40 | 70 | 50 | 51 |
Requires: Standard Sanctus +5, Green Titanite and 200 souls per upgrade.
Fire Variation | Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fire Sanctus (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
62 | – | 62 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70.0 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +1 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
64 | – | 64 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 71.4 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +2 (Green Titanite Shard ×1) |
66 | – | 66 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 72.8 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +3 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) |
69 | – | 69 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 74.2 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +4 (Green Titanite Shard ×2) |
71 | – | 71 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 75.6 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +5 (Green Titanite Shard ×3) |
74 | – | 74 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 77.0 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +6 (Red Titanite Chunk ×1) |
78 | – | 78 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 78.4 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +7 (Red Titanite Chunk ×1) |
83 | – | 83 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 79.8 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +8 (Red Titanite Chunk ×2) |
87 | – | 87 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 81.2 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +9 (Red Titanite Chunk ×3) |
91 | – | 91 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 82.6 | 50 | 51 |
Fire Sanctus +10 (Red Titanite Slab ×1) |
96 | – | 96 | – | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 84.0 | 50 | 51 |
Requires: Standard Sanctus +10, Titanite and 200 souls per upgrade.
Lightning Variation | Attack Values | Parameter Bonus | Damage Reduction | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lightning Sanctus (Titanite Chunk ×1) |
74 | – | – | 74 | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 56 | 51 |
Lightning Sanctus +1 (Titanite Chunk ×1) |
79 | – | – | 79 | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 57 | 51 |
Lightning Sanctus +2 (Titanite Chunk ×1) |
84 | – | – | 84 | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 57.5 | 51 |
Lightning Sanctus +3 (Titanite Chunk ×2) |
89 | – | – | 89 | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 58 | 51 |
Lightning Sanctus +4 (Titanite Chunk ×3) |
94 | – | – | 94 | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 59 | 51 |
Lightning Sanctus +5 (Titanite Slab ×1) |
99 | – | – | 99 | – | – | – | – | 95 | 40 | 70 | 60 | 51 |