Description
Falling a non-negligible distance will cause players and monsters to take damage based on how fast they were traveling. Damage taken from falling is a set amount of damage, not a percent of max HP. Certain equipment can reduce the amount of damage you take from a fall, which can be very useful in areas like Brightstone Cove Tseldora and Earthen Peak, especially for invading. When incorporating falling damage reduction into your build, there are a few things to consider:
- After a certain height, falls are always fatal, regardless of your HP or damage reduction equipment.
- The threshold for instant death is at approximately 1600 damage, so you will likely never take damage from non-fatal falls with maximum fall protection.
- Fall reduction stacks purely additively, and does not exhibit diminishing returns. For example, The Silvercat Ring (~600) + the Flying Feline Boots (~450) will reduce about 1050 damage.
- Higher equip load causes more damage to be taken.
Equipment which reduce Falling Damage
Fall protection is a hidden stat in Dark Souls 2. There is a spell and several items that increase this stat by a certain amount. Multiplying the fall protection modifier of an item by 150 gives you the approximate damage reduction it will provide.
| Item | Fall Protection Modifier | Approximate Damage Reduction |
|---|---|---|
| Fall Control | 100 | 15000¹ |
| Silvercat Ring | 4 | 600 |
| Flying Feline Boots | 3 | 450 |
| Lion Warrior Helm | 1 | 150 |
| Lion Warrior Cape | 1 | 150 |
| Red Lion Warrior Cape | 2 | 300 |
| Lion Warrior Cuffs | 1 | 150 |
| Lion Warrior Skirt | 2 | 300 |
| Jester's Tights | 2 | 300 |
| Moon Butterfly Wings | ? | ? |
| Moon Butterfly Skirt | ? | ? |
| Sanctum Knight Leggings | 2 | 300 |
¹ Falls that would do more than about 1600 damage (with no load) will be fatal regardless of how much damage reduction you have
Information About how Load Affects Fall Damage
The heavier a player is, the more damage they will take from falls. The amount of extra damage is based on percent load, rather than weight alone. Fall damage reduction is also applied before load penalties, so fall protection potency is actually amplified somewhat when you're under more load.
The amount of damage increases linearly with percent load, though the rate of change increases dramatically after 100% load and drops to zero after 120% load. The equations for damage can thus be derived quite simply.
| Equip Load | Formula |
|---|---|
| Under 100% | Base Damage * ( 1 + Equip Load / 6 ) |
| Between 100% and 120% ² | Base Damage * ( 1 + 1/6 + 4/5 * ( Equip Load - 1 ) ) |
| Over 120% ² | Base Damage * ( 1 + 1/6 + 4/5 * 0.2 ) |
² These equations are left unsimplified to show the similarities between the equations.
Note: In the equations, Equip Load is used as a proper percentage value, meaning that 100% is 1.0 and 0% is 0.0. Base Damage is the damage the player would take from the fall provided they had no equipment load. Fall damage reduction is applied prior to use in the equations.
Notes
- Extra Damage from higher equip load is based on your percentage of equip load, not the total weight you're wearing. This means that equip-load-boosting equipment, such as the Royal Soldier's Ring will slightly reduce falling damage, provided you have other pieces of equipment on; exactly 0.0% equip load will always deal less fall damage.
- Armor has no effect on fall damage, outside of its role in weighing down the player.
- Weight does not cause a great deal of extra damage. At 100% burden, it will cause around 17% extra damage.
- The fall to the first board in the Majula pit deals around 1,342 damage.
- The fall to the floor from the hole next to the Cardinal Tower in Forest of Fallen Giants bonfire deals around 676 damage.
- The fall from the top of the ladder in the elevator room in Drangleic Castle is fatal.
- You can determine if a drop will be fatal by dropping a prism stone.
- Note that due to differences in individual falls, and fall reduction gear having weight of its own, testing exact numbers is difficult.
