My best talisman Dark Souls 3 guide will detail the characteristics of six talismans you can find in the game. I have also mentioned the key locations or methods to find all of the talismans.
Key Takeaways
- Talisman’s choice in Dark Souls 3 should align with your preferred playstyle and build.
- Sunlight Talisman offers high poise but a low spell buff in Dark Souls 3.
- Each talisman caters to different strengths and styles.
- The top six frequently asked questions about Dark Souls 3 talismans have been addressed.
Hasaan has covered 100+ hours in Dark Souls games, so you can easily trust the information he provides for the best-starting gifts in the game.
DS3 Best Talismans And Comparison
No. Name Physical Attack Stability Durability Weight Focus Cost
1 Standard Talisman 52 10 50 0.5 8(-/-)
2 The Sunlight Talisman 52 10 65 0.5 9(-/-)
3 The Canvas Talisman 52 10 65 0.5 8(-/-)
4 The Sunless Talisman 74 10 55 0.5 8(-/-)
5 White Hair Talisman 73 10 45 0.5 11(-/-)
6 Saint’s Talisman 53 10 100 0.5 8
Standard Talisman
The Ashen one obtains this early talisman in Dark Souls 3 as a Herald. Other classes can purchase it for 500 souls from Shrine Handmaid.

Physical | Magic | Fire | Lightning | Dark | Critical | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attack | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Bonus | 15.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | ||
Defense | 25.0 | - | ||||
Stability | 10 | |||||
Str | Dex | Int | Fai | |||
Scaling | E | - | - | B | ||
Requires | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
Skill | Unfaltering Prayer | |||||
Acquired From | Sold by Shrine Handmaid for 500 souls. | |||||
Spell Buff | 100 | |||||
Durability | 50 | |||||
Weight | 0.5 | |||||
Focus Cost | 8( -/ -) |
The standard talisman excels as starting Miracles casting gear, outperforming mid-to-late game options. It boasts remarkable poise for buffing spells and unfaltering prayer and scales impressively past 30 or 45 faith, with 60 poise health.
Sunlight Talisman
While not the best, the Sunlight talisman in Dark Souls 3 is far from the worst. Its key strength lies in providing the highest unfaltering prayer poise, making it nearly impossible to disrupt an Ashen one’s Miracle casting pose in both PvP and PvE one-on-one scenarios, thanks to its unrivaled poise.

Physical | Magic | Fire | Lightning | Dark | Critical | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attack | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Bonus | 15.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | ||
Defense | 25.0 | - | ||||
Stability | 10 | |||||
Str | Dex | Int | Fai | |||
Scaling | D | - | - | B | ||
Requires | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | ||
Skill | Unfaltering Prayer | |||||
Acquired From | Farron Keep, in the swamp near the Estus Soup. | |||||
Spell Buff | 103 | |||||
Focus Cost | 9( -/ -) | |||||
Durability | 65 | |||||
Weight | 0.5 |
Yet, the Sunlight talisman disappoints with its below-average spell buff. This drawback deters many players from choosing it for Miracles casting, especially for faith builds.
To locate the Sunlight talisman, venture into the Keep Ruins, descend the stairs away from the Old Wolf of Farron Altar, then head left through the poisonous swamp. Here, you’ll find a raised mound with two items to interact with, one being the Sunlight talisman.

Canvas Talisman
Physical | Magic | Fire | Lightning | Dark | Critical | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attack | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Bonus | 15.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | ||
Defense | 25.0 | - | ||||
Stability | 10 | |||||
Str | Dex | Int | Fai | |||
Scaling | D | - | - | B | ||
Requires | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | ||
Skill | Unfaltering Prayer | |||||
Acquired From | Purchased from Shrine Handmaid for 3,000 souls after giving her Paladin's Ashes | |||||
Spell Buff | 112 | |||||
Focus Cost | 8( -/ -) | |||||
Durability | 65 | |||||
Weight | 0.5 |
The Canvas talisman in Dark Souls 3 stands out as an excellent choice for Miracle casting. Unlike other similar talismans, its spell buff exhibits exponential growth rather than scaling with faith level.
It offers a strong spell buff right from the start, and while faith growth steadily improves it, the talisman reaches its peak potential between 30 and 45 faith.
Going beyond 60 faith doesn’t provide significant benefits. Therefore, the Canvas talisman shines for hybrid builds, making it arguably the top choice in Dark Souls 3 for those not solely committed to a faith-based build.

Obtaining the Canvas talisman is made accessible by providing the Paladin’s Ashes to the Shrine Handmaid. Once done, she offers this miracle casting equipment for 3000 souls.
To find the Paladin’s Ashes, head to the Cathedral of the Deep bonfire and take the downhill path to the left before ascending the stairs. There, you’ll discover an item next to a fallen knight that you can interact with.

Sunless Talisman
Physical | Magic | Fire | Lightning | Dark | Critical | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attack | 74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bonus | - | 15.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | - |
Defense | 25.0 | - | - | - | - | - |
Stability | - | - | - | - | - | 10 |
Str | Dex | Int | Fai | |||
Scaling | E | - | C | B | ||
Requires | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | ||
Skill | Unfaltering Prayer | |||||
Acquired From | Reward for completing the questline of Sirris of the Sunless Realms | |||||
Spell Buff | 117 | |||||
Focus Cost | 8( -/ -) | |||||
Durability | 55 | |||||
Weight | 0.5 |
The Sunless talisman is an ideal choice for combined intelligence and faith builds. When used in a faith build for casting regular miracles, its spell buffs are average.
However, the Sunless talisman truly excels when employed for dark miracles and with simultaneous investment in faith and intelligence. This is due to its unique scaling with both attributes, as detailed in its official description.

In Dark Souls 3, you can acquire the Sunless talisman through two methods. The first is by defeating Sirris of the Sunless Realms, and the second involves completing her questline, which includes vanquishing the twin princes, Lothric and Lorian.
Upon successful questline completion, the Sunless talisman can be found near a grave at the edge of the cliff in the Cemetery of Ash area.

White Hair Talisman
Physical | Magic | Fire | Lightning | Dark | Critical | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attack | 73 | 0 | 79 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
Bonus | 15.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 10.0 | ||
Defense | 25.0 | - | ||||
Stability | 10 | |||||
Str | Dex | Int | Fai | |||
Scaling | E | - | D | D | ||
Requires | 4 | 0 | 16 | 20 | ||
Skill | Combustion | |||||
Acquired From | Smouldering Lake: Lava pit. | |||||
Spell Buff | 103 | |||||
Focus Cost | 11( -/ -) | |||||
Durability | 45 | |||||
Weight | 0.5 |
The White Hair talisman is versatile, capable of casting both pyromancies and miracles, necessitating continuous leveling of Faith and Intelligence. Players with a miracle-pyro hybrid build may favor this talisman in Dark Souls 3.
However, a notable drawback is its lack of unfaltering prayer poise. While casting miracles, it relies solely on faith scaling and does not benefit from intelligence.
The situation changes when using dark miracles or pyromancy, where intelligence comes into play.

To obtain the White Hair talisman, an Ashen one must descend into the lava pit situated near the Smouldering Lake area.
Surviving the lava and reaching the corner of the pit is a challenge, but there are strategies to achieve this. One of the easiest methods is to cast the Flash Sweat spell, don fire-resistant armor, and leap into the lava pit while in an Embered state.

Saint’s Talisman
Physical | Magic | Fire | Lightning | Dark | Critical | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attack | 53 | - | - | - | - | 100 |
Bonus | 25.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | - | - |
Defense | 15.0 | |||||
Stability | 10 | |||||
Str | Dex | Int | Fai | |||
Scaling | D | - | - | A | ||
Requires | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||
Skill | Unfaltering Prayer | |||||
Acquired From | Talisman | |||||
Spell Buff | 60 | |||||
Focus Cost | 8 | |||||
Durability | 65 | |||||
Weight | 0.5 |
The Saint’s talisman exhibits linear scaling for spell buff and other miracles. Initially, at lower faith levels, its performance is lackluster.
However, as you invest in faith and reach level 45, you’ll notice a steady improvement. In a pure faith build with 60 points allocated to faith, the Saint’s talisman is arguably the best choice for spell buff and miracle casting in Dark Souls 3.

The primary drawback of this talisman is its weapon art, “unfaltering prayer,” which offers the lowest poise among all the talismans in the game.
To acquire the Saint’s talisman, an Ashen one needs the Grave Key and must visit the sewers of Undead Settlement. It can be found in the sewer room, just before the ladder leading to Irina of Carim.
My Opinion
In my view, the choice of talisman in Dark Souls 3 should be guided by your preferred playstyle and build. The Sunlight talisman, while offering a low spell buff, provides high poise. Others have their unique strengths, so pick accordingly.
I’ve also addressed the top six frequently asked questions regarding the best talismans in the game.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dark Souls 3 Talisman
Each talisman suits a specific playstyle. Choose based on your preferences. The Sunlight talisman has low spell buff but high poise.
Consider your build and style when selecting one. We’ve covered the top six frequently asked questions about the best talismans in Dark Souls 3.
Canvas Talisman
Sunlight Talisman
Sunless Talisman
White Hair Talisman
Standard Talisman
Sunlight Talisman
That is pretty much everything you need to know about talismans in Dark Souls 3. Let us know in the comments section which out of the six talismans is your go-to miracle casting equipment in the game.
Since I was on the topic of breaking down the characteristics of talismans, the Dark Souls 3 best faith weapon guide may help you pick up the right weapons. If going with a faith build is not your forte, you can always create a luck, katana, or quality build as well in Dark Souls 3.
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Hasaan is an enthusiatic gamer with a particular interest in MOBA, RTS, and story-mode games. He creates quality guides, playing games and sharing valuable information to his readers. Beyond his gaming pursuits, he finds enjoyment in watching animes, movies and TV shows. Additionally, he nurtures his creative side through drawing and continuously seeks personal growth by exploring new experiences, all in an endeavor to understand his life and purpose better. Do find him on Steam to learn more about Hassan’s Gaming Adventures.