All Elden Ring Soft & Hard Stat Caps, Explained

Leveling up in can be deceptively complicated, with hidden hard and soft caps that can prevent players from making the most of their skill points. Whenever the player gathers a sufficient number of Runes, they're able to gain a level. The number of Runes required increases with each level, beginning at 673 for level two and soaring to 8,879,348 by the maximum level of 713. Each time the player character levels up in , they're permitted to put a single point into one of eight stats, also called Attributes.

Each Attribute affects a variety of gameplay functions: Vigor, for example, determines the character's maximum HP, while others like Strength and Dexterity scale up the damage of various weapons. But each Attribute has at least two different level caps — a soft cap and a hard cap — after which devoting skill points to them begins to offer diminishing returns. Knowing when to stop putting points into an Attribute is important to any player's success, but soft caps aren't well explained in-game. Thankfully, their effects have been well documented, and it's fairly easy to see where they are if players know what to look for.

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's soft caps reduce the overall effect of each point invested in an Attribute after a particular number is reached. For each of the first 40 or so points in every stat, the benefits grow larger before suddenly falling off. For example, increasing Vigor from level one to level two grants the Tarnished an additional four points to their maximum HP. They get more max HP points with each level: increasing from 39 to 40 gives them an additional 48 HP. But after that, the max HP points granted by each further level in Vigor begin to fall: first to 26 at level 41, all the way down to three by level 99.

The hard cap for every stat in is 99, after which players can no longer put points into the stat at all.

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