Soul Gathering | How Do Souls Work?

Souls are a resource in Minecraft Dungeons which power some Artifacts and Enchantments. Learn how to gather more Souls and what you can do with them!

What are Souls?

If you use at least one Weapon or Artifact with a Soul Gathering effect, you'll gather a resource called Souls for each enemy you defeat.

Souls are used mainly for a group of Artifacts which have a “Requires Souls” label on the Inventory screen. These Artifacts have extremely short cooldown times, in exchange for the cost of Souls needed to use them. There are also a few Enchantments, such as Anima Conduit and Enigma Resonator, which are powered up by the Souls you gather without expending them.

How does Soul Gathering Work?

Defeating enemies with Weapons or Artifacts will provide Souls. All enemies have Souls, and enemies such as Slimes, which create multiples of themselves, will even produce Souls for each duplicate defeated. Note that you won't receive Souls if an enemy dies for another reason, such as a Creeper exploding on its own.

Soul Gathering can be stacked, so the more items you have with Soul Gathering, the more Souls you will receive for each kill. Although only one Soul icon will appear from each enemy, make no mistake: each of these Soul icons is worth more the higher your Soul Gathering is!

List of Weapons with Soul Gathering

Weapons such as the Soul Knife and Soul Crossbow will provide +2 Soul Gathering for each kill. Note that you must finish off the enemy with that Weapon, or the Soul Gathering won't take effect.

Name	Rarity	Effect
Feral Soul Crossbow	Unique	Souls Critical Boost, +2 Soul Gathering
Jailor's Scythe	Unique	Binds and Chains Enemies, +2 Soul Gathering
Nocturnal Bow	Unique	Steals Speed, +2 Soul Gathering
Soul Bow	Common/Rare	+2 Soul Gathering
Soul Crossbow	Common/Rare	+2 Soul Gathering
Soul Knife	Common/Rare	Thrust Attack, +2 Soul Gathering
Soul Scythe	Common/Rare	+2 Soul Gathering
Voidcaller	Unique	Pulls enemies in, +2 Soul Gathering

List of Artifacts with Soul Gathering

Artifacts such as the Harvester and the Soul Healer both use Souls to function and provide +1 Soul Gathering.

Conversely to Weapons with Soul Gathering, using an Artifact with Soul Gathering doesn't help you get Souls from an enemy – simply having it equipped is enough to provide a boost to your Soul Gathering. In fact, you won't receive any Souls from enemies defeated when you kill them with Soul-based Artifacts. The reason for this is probably to prevent players who max out their Soul Gathering from gaining Souls instead of spending them when using these Artifacts.

Name	Effect
Corrupted Beacon	Fires a high-powered beam that continously damages enemies.
Harvester	When used, the Harvester releases souls in an explosion.
Lightning Rod	You can spend souls to call down a bolt of lightning onto an area.
Soul Healer	Heals the most injured ally nearby, including yourself.
Torment Quiver	Gives slow arrows that knocks back mobs and passes through walls.

List of Armor with Boosts to Souls Gathered

Some Armor, such as the Soul Robe and Grim Armor, have an effect which provides “+100% souls gathered”. Note that this effect will not provide souls on its own without a Weapon or Artifact with Soul Gathering. It will instead double the effects of all other Soul Gathering items, so be sure to pair it with other items which provide Soul Gathering.

Name	Effects
Dark Armor	+100% souls gathered 35% damage reduction
Frost Bite	Spawns a Snowy Companion +100% souls gathered +30% ranged damage
Grim Armor	+100% souls gathered 3% life steal aura
Phantom Armor	+100% souls gathered +30% ranged damage
Soul Robe	+100% souls gathered +50% artifact damage
Souldancer Robe	30% chance to negate hits +100% souls gathered +50% artifact damage
Titan's Shroud	+20% weapon damage boost aura +100% souls gathered 35% damage reduction
Wither Armor	35% damage reduction +100% souls gathered 6% life steal aura

The Soul Gauge

Soul Gauge Max

The Soul Gauge at the maximum 50 Souls.

The Soul Gauge maxes out at 50 Souls. After collecting 50 Souls, Souls will still come out of enemies when they've been slain and fly towards you, but they will not add to your meter. You'll need to use the Souls you've built up before you can use more Souls.

That said, Enchantments which use Souls will still trigger when getting new Souls even with a maxed-out Soul Gauge. For example, Anima Conduit will still heal you when you acquire Souls even if you've hit the maximum number of Souls.

Maximum Soul Gathering

The maximum confirmed amount of Soul Gathering possible to achieve is +10 Soul Gathering. By equipping three Artifacts which +1 Soul Gathering, a weapon with +2 Soul Gathering, and an Armor with +100% souls gathered, the player will receive 10 Souls for each defeated enemy when using that weapon to deal the final blow. This combination will yield a maxed-out Soul Gauge after only five enemies.

Players can also use the Soul Siphon Enchantment, which has the effect of granting a 10% chance to get 3 to 9 extra Souls with each hit, to maximize their number of Souls acquired. Note that Soul Siphon's effect is not doubled by Armor with +100% Souls Gathered.

Enchantments Using Souls

There are a few Enchantments which are triggered by acquiring Souls, or involve the use of Souls; however, unlike Artifacts, these Enchantments don't use up the Souls, so you can feel free to stack these with your Soul-using Artifacts without worrying about spreading your Souls too thin.

Name	Effect	Tier
Anima Conduit	Each soul you absorb grants a small amount of health.
Enigma Resonator	Gives a chance to deal triple damage based on the number of souls you have.
Soul Siphon	When you hit an enemy, gain a 10% chance to grant you a bunch of extra souls.
Soul Speed	When you gather a soul, you gain a 1% stacking movement speed boost for a short time.

What is Souls Critical Boost?

The Enigma Resonator Effect

When using the Feral Soul Crossbow, your arrows will sometimes strike foes with triple the standard amount of damage. This is the same effect as the Enchantment of the same name, Enigma Resonator.

Although the effect only happens on a low percentage of hits, it occurs more often the more Souls are currently held. If the player doesn't have any Souls, the effect will never occur, so be sure to combo this effect with other Soul Gathering Artifacts and Enchantments.

Enigma Resonator Effects by Tier

Related Links

Game Basics

• Basic Controls and How to Play
• How to Pause the Game
• Difficulty Modes
• How to Play Online
• How to Play Couch Co-Op
• Explanation of Stats
• What is Unique Gear?
• What are Powerful Enchantments?
• Language Settings

For Advanced Players

• Level Cap and Max Level
• What is the Max Power?
• Types of Auras and How to Use Them
• Soul Gathering and How Souls Work
• Explanation of Weapon and Armor Effects
• Do Enchantments Stack?

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