Character attributes are very important in Dark Souls III. You use Souls to improve your attributes throughout the game to deal more damage, survive stronger enemy attacks, use better equipment, and master the best spells.
Vigor
Overall Health and Frost Resistance are controlled by your character’s Vigor. This is a major aspect of your survivability. It’s very good for almost all characters to have some investment in Vigor, so they don’t die in one or two hits.
Endurance
Endurance controls your Stamina and Resistance to lightning and bleeding. Stamina is a very powerful offensive and defensive attribute. Without high Stamina, you cannot block, dodge, or attack as effectively. All character builds need Endurance.
Attunement
Attunement raises your FPs and the number of Attunement Slots that you receive. This is primarily an attribute for spellcasters, or if you want to use a large amount of stance attacks. The more you want to push towards this style of play with your character, the more you will want to concentrate on this attribute.
Vitality
This attribute controls your Equip Load, Resistance to poison, and it helps your Defense as well. The heavier your equipment, the more of this you need. This is a very defensive attribute because heavier equipment is essential for your survival against high-damage enemies with melee focused builds. If you can’t equip the heavier gear, you won’t benefit from it.
Luck
Luck raises your Resistance to bleeding, poison, and curses. It also heavily influences Item Discovery. The chance of monsters dropping items increases with the more points you commit to this attribute.
Strength
Strength raises your Resistance to fire. It is also the primary attribute that determines which heavier weapons you can wield, and how much Attack Power you gain when using them! Strength is a major attribute for melee characters. It is either taken in conjunction with Dexterity, or used more exclusively if you are focused on specific high-strength weaponry.
Dexterity
Dexterity also adds Attack Power to many weapons. It improves spellcasting times, reduces falling damage, and is required for wielding a number of items. A number of high-speed weapons are based on Dexterity more than Strength, so this can also be the primary damage attribute for many character builds.
Intelligence
Intelligence is required to cast Sorceries and Pyromancies, and improves the potency of your spells. Pyromancy is affected by both Faith and Intelligence.
Faith
Faith is similar to Intelligence in that it is required for certain spells, and it raises the power of those spells too. Miracles and (partially) Pyromancy are controlled by Faith, where Sorceries are Intelligence based. This attribute also influences your Resistance to magic and dark-based attacks.
Stamina
Stamina is your physical energy level. It falls when you block, dodge, or attack. It replenishes quickly, as long as you stop blocking and attacking. You can still move around while restoring your Stamina, so you can back away from your enemies and regain Stamina while they try to pursue you.
Equip Load
Equip Load is your capacity for carrying and using your equipped weapons and armor. The more you have, the heavier your gear can be without messing up your movements.
Attack Power
Attack Power shows the total damage inflicted by various weapons if they strike a target without any Reduction. This value is a combination of all damage types that the weapon inflicts (physical, magical, etc.).
Defense and Resistances
Defensive stats show you how strong your character is against basic types of attacks (strike, slash, thrust, magical, etc.). Your Defense against each is determined by your character’s attributes. Your Reduction is controlled by your equipment.