Lords of the Fallen Weapon Scaling and Soft Caps Explained

Understand weapon scaling, soft caps, and hard caps in Lords of the Fallen (2023). Learn how to min-max your damage by optimizing your stats and weapon upgrades for maximum effectiveness.

This guide explains weapon scaling and attribute soft caps in Lords of the Fallen (2023) to help you maximize your damage output. Weapon scaling is influenced by three main factors: the weapon's base stat scores, your character's attribute levels and their respective soft caps, and the weapon's upgrade level.

How Weapon Scaling Works

Weapon scaling determines how much bonus damage a weapon gains from your character's attributes. The effectiveness of scaling varies based on the attribute (Strength, Agility, Radiance, Inferno) and the weapon's grade in that attribute (D, C, B, etc.).

• D-Grade Scaling: For D-grade scaling, you typically gain 1 point of bonus damage for every 2 attribute levels invested in a stat, or 2 points every three levels for magic/agility. Strength might yield 1 point for every 3 levels.
• C-Grade Scaling: At C-grade, the bonus increases, often granting 3 bonus damage for every 4 or 5 attribute levels invested.
• B-Grade Scaling: In B-grade scaling, you generally see 2 points of bonus damage added for every level invested, an improvement over lower tiers.

Weapon upgrades significantly impact scaling. For instance, a D-grade Strength scaling on a non-upgraded weapon might increase damage every other level, while an upgraded weapon could see damage increase with every single level invested in the corresponding attribute.

Soft and Hard Caps

Attribute soft and hard caps dictate the diminishing returns and eventual cessation of stat benefits. Exceeding these caps provides no further advantages.

Soft Caps: Reaching a soft cap means the bonus gained from increasing that stat begins to diminish. For combat stats like Strength, Agility, Radiance, and Inferno, this occurs at level 50. For Vitality and Endurance, soft caps at 20 and 40 indicate breakpoints where health and stamina gains start to lessen.

Hard Caps: At the hard cap, investing further in an attribute yields no additional benefits. This is at level 75 for Strength, Agility, Radiance, and Inferno, and level 60 for Vitality and Endurance.

Synergy: Weapons that scale with multiple magic attributes (Radiance and Inferno) theoretically offer the highest damage potential, as they can benefit from two scaling types simultaneously. However, reaching this potential often requires very high character levels, making it more feasible for New Game Plus playthroughs.