Are The Clutch Rings Worth Using? (DS3)

The Clutch Rings are a group of four rings that each boost a corresponding type of elemental damage. The rings are as follows:

• Magic Clutch Ring – boosts Magic damage
• Lightning Clutch Ring – boosts Lightning damage
• Fire Clutch Ring – boosts Fire Damage
• Dark Clutch Ring – boosts Dark damage

Whether or not any of these rings are worth using depends on what kind of build you’re playing.

Each of these rings also comes with a drawback that may prevent melee builds from using them effectively.

We’ll explore exactly when you should and shouldn’t use a Clutch Ring down below.

What Do The Clutch Rings Do?

Each Clutch Ring will boost the damage of its corresponding element by 15% in single player, and 8% in PvP.

These damage increases affect spells, magic weapons, weapons buffed by spells, and infused weapons.

While these are certainly great buffs, wearing a Clutch Ring also activates another effect – your Physical damage absorption is lowered by 15%.

This affects all kinds of Physical damage, including Slash, Strike and Thrust. This means that regardless of what kind of weapon you’re hit with, you’ll be taking more damage.

This worsens the Clutch rings significantly for melee-focused builds, as opening yourself up to more Physical damage is simply not worth the buff the rings give.

If you’re playing as a mage, however, you may want to consider wearing the Clutch Ring that corresponds to the school of Magic you’re focusing on.

This is because spellcasters will spend a lot of time far away from Physical threats. They’ll also get much more use out of the 15% buff, since they’ll be using elemental damage constantly.

For Sorcery users in particular, the Magic Clutch Ring is a vital piece of equipment, being seen often in the most popular Sorcerer ring set-ups.

Even if you’re a spellcaster, don’t wear more than one of the Clutch Rings at once. Their damage absorption debuff stacks, causing you to become incredibly fragile if you wear two or more.

How To Get The Clutch Rings

Each of the Clutch Rings are found as glowing items in different corners of the overworld.

Here’s how to find them:

Magic Clutch Ring Location

• Warp to the Church of Yorshka Bonfire in Irithyll of The Boreal Valley
• Walk out of the church entrance and turn left
• Follow the walkway around until you reach a metal gateway
• Look to your right to see a large group of enemies with a large wall behind them
• Run past the enemies and strike this wall to break it’s illusion, revealing the Magic Clutch Ring behind it

Lightning Clutch Ring Location

• Warp to the Archdragon Peak Bonfire
• Walk over to the door to the Ancient Wyvern boss arena and turn left before the gate
• Walk down this side-path to find the Lightning Clutch Ring at its end

If you need a rundown on how to reach Archdragon Peak, you can find one in this video guide.

Fire Clutch Ring Location

• Warp to the Cliff Underside Bonfire in the Undead Settlement
• Walk out onto the roof, and roll down onto the path
• Climb the stairs past the enemy, then climb the gallows to your right
• Behind the gallows is a broken bridge with the Fire Clutch Ring at its end

Dark Clutch Ring Location

• Warp to the Irithyll Dungeon Bonfire
• Follow the main path through the dungeon until you pass the chained Giant
• In the tunnel past the Giant, climb the stairs to find two chests
• The chest on the left is a Mimic which will drop the Dark Clutch Ring when killed

Are The Clutch Rings Worth It?

If you’re a sorcerer, the Magic Clutch Ring is absolutely worth it. If you’re another kind of spellcaster, you may find that one of the other Clutch Rings are also worth equipping.

If you’re a melee-focused character, you should probably avoid using a Clutch Ring. Chances are that equipping a Clutch Ring will do more harm than good for melee, thanks to the large Physical defense debuff you’ll receive for wearing it.