Enhancement

Enhancement is done with one of three different materials: pure Titanite (Shards, Large Shards, and Chunks), Twinkling Titanite (for unique weapons), and Titanite Scales (for special weapons created from powerful Souls). To reach the maximum level on any item requires a rare Titanite Slab.

It takes 12 basic Titanite for each set of +3 levels, finishing with a Titanite Slab for a total of 36 Titanite of three tiers to reach +9. Twinkling and Scale weapons require 15 of their respective type to reach +4. All weapons require a Titanite Slab to reach max level, be it +10 or +5.

Because Twinkling and Scale weapons are so expensive to upgrade to +4 with a rare material, consider upgrading a few that you enjoy using to +3 instead, and saving the +4 and +5 upgrades for a single weapon you really enjoy using.

Reinforcing a shield has little impact on its defensive attributes, except for Stability, which gains about a point per level. This isn’t a great amount, but in a lot of cases, you’re going to be using your shield for the majority of the game, so there’s no reason not to squeeze every little bit of defensive utility out of it as you can. When you have the Titanite to spare, upgrade your shield to boost its Stability.

Titanite

Titanite Scales (Special Weapons)

Twinkling Titanite (Unique Weapons)