Basic Information
Covenants are factions within Dark Souls that players may join. Covenants can be joined by making an oath with an NPC, who is also often the covenant leader. Players are rewarded for following the rules of the covenant and punished if they break them.
Which covenant players choose to join can affect on their online experience. If a player breaks the rules of their covenant, it will count as a sin.
The Nine Covenants
Check each covenant's page for more detailed information.
| Image | Covenant | Focus | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Blade of the Darkmoon | PvP | Can Invade and punish players online who have Sinned |
 |
Chaos Servant | PvE | Can collect Humanity to unlock powerful Pyromancies and open a shortcut to Lost Izalith |
 |
Darkwraith | PvP | Can Invade other players to steal their Humanity |
 |
Forest Hunter | PvP | Can defend the borders of the Darkroot Garden from intruding online players |
 |
Gravelord Servant | PvP | Can infect other players with Gravelord Black Phantoms and lure them into your world for PvP battles |
 |
Path of the Dragon | PvP | Can challenge other players online to gain Dragon Scales and transform into a dragonoid |
 |
Princess's Guard | Co-op | Can gain access to unique defensive Miracles and have a higher chance to team up with other players for co-op play |
 |
Warrior of Sunlight | Co-op | Can gain access to unique offensive Miracles and have a higher chance to team up with other players for jolly co-operation! |
 |
Way of White | Co-op | Can have a higher chance to find other players online for co-op play |
Covenant Betrayals
There are two different ways to be punished for leaving or breaking a covenant. One is less severe and merely halves your offerings to that covenant. Even when that occurs, you can freely rejoin that covenant without issue.1
| Action | Betrayal Type | Penalty | Sin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaving a Covenant (with or without Oswald) |
Soft Betrayal | Covenant offerings are halved, and rank is reduced accordingly | Not a sin |
| Getting kicked out of a Covenant | Hard Betrayal | Covenant offerings are eradicated to 0 | 1 point of PvP Sin obtained (identical to being indicted once) Also toggles PvE Sin to the "on" position, Absolution will fix if covenant leader is still available |
It is only possible to be kicked out of four specific covenants: The Blade of the Darkmoon, Chaos Servant, Forest Hunter, and Princess's Guard covenants.
Covenant Restricted Items
Some items obtained from (or relating to) covenants can be used regardless of your current membership. The following, however, require an active membership to use:
| Item | Covenant Required |
|---|---|
| Blue Eye Orb | Blade of the Darkmoon |
| Darkmoon Blade Covenant Ring | Blade of the Darkmoon |
| Darkmoon Blade | Blade of the Darkmoon |
| Cat Covenant Ring | Forest Hunter |
| Eye of Death | Gravelord Servant |
| Red Eye Orb | Darkwraith |
| Bountiful Sunlight | Princess's Guard |
| Soothing Sunlight | Princess's Guard |
| Sunlight Spear | Warrior of Sunlight |
Notes
- Covenant items can be given when acquiring a rank. They can only be owned once (e.g., Great Chaos Fireball, Great Lightning Spear, Dark Sword) on a character. Although in case of weapons (Dark Sword, Gravelord Sword, and Darkmoon Talisman), they can be obtained online from another player (for example through trading).
- To unlock a covenant-related trophy/achievement, select "Join Covenant" and wait for the box to appear that says "Join Covenant? (abandons former Covenant)." A few seconds later, the achievement will be unlocked automatically. Selecting "Yes" or "No" is not necessary.
- Current covenant levels can carry over to a New Game Plus (NG+)
- Dark Souls Remastered: You can now join and swap covenants with bonfires. The covenant level of your covenant you leave will still be halved though.
- Dark Souls Remastered: If you betray a covenant (hard betrayal), you won't be able to rejoin it with a bonfire; you will have to absolve your sins with Oswald of Carim first.
- Dark Souls Remastered: If you kill a covenant leader, you will not be able to rejoin it with a bonfire (for example killing Dark Sun Gwyndolin prevents you from entering the Blade of the Darkmoon covenant via a bonfire, because you cannot rejoin it through the legitimate way either). The only way to rejoin it is with New Game Plus (NG+).
- Dark Souls Remastered: In New Game Plus (NG+) you will lose all covenants and won't be able to join any of them through a bonfire at the start, except for the one you're in when you begin the new game cycle. It is highly recommended to carry over the Darkwraith covenant because, with this method, you won't have to do Darkstalker Kaathe's questline again. The other covenants don't require much investment to join, and most of them are available early in the game.
