Adaptability is a Stat in Dark Souls II.
General information[]
Adaptability is the combination of Resistance and an Agility stat (from the beta tests). Its main focus is the improvement of one's Agility. Raising Adaptability improves action speed, such as evasion and drinking Estus Flasks. However, it does not improve the player's parry speed.
Improving Adaptability also raises all status defenses (i.e. Poison, Bleed, Curse and Petrify), whilst also raising the player's HP and Poison Attack Bonus slightly. Finally, Adaptability is also complementary with the Endurance stat, in that raising the two stats at the same rate will grant extra natural Poise.
Agility[]
Increased by both Adaptability and Attunement, where Adaptability is more beneficial. Hard-capped at 120 with both Adaptability and Attunement at 99.
This section will list things that are affected by the Agility stat. Please keep in mind these are found via testing and "professional" commentary (people who helped write the guide).
- Estus consumption animation
- Estus recovery
- Stagger recovery when Poise is broken
- Natural poise
- Increased effectiveness of Poise granted from armor
- Additional invincibility frames while rolling and backstepping
Invincibility frames[]
Invincibility frames (or i-frames) are the amount of time during a roll that a character is unaffected by enemies' attacks, measured in 1/30ths of a second (or about 0.0333... seconds each).
Invincibility frames are increased in a non-linear way, affected by Agility rather than Equip Load, with Equip Load only affecting distance when rolling. However, having a high amount of adaptability allows you to backstep and roll through attacks that would otherwise be harder to dodge by someone with fewer points invested in the stat, as well as allowing you to even misjudge the timing for a roll and backstep and still avoid damage.
Agility is increased by leveling Adaptability and Attunement (Dark Souls II), which gives 3 points and 1 points respectively. Up until 110 Agility is reached, 4 points is needed to increase it by 1 stage. After that, roughly 27 points is needed to increase Agility by 1 stage. For the table below, among the starting classes the Bandit, the Cleric, and the Warrior start at 85 Agility (needing 13, 2, and 4 "points" respectively to increase to 86 Agility), the Deprived, and the Swordsman start at 86 Agility (both needing 4 "points" to increase to 87 Agility), the Sorcerer starts at 89 Agility (needing 4 "points" to increase to 90 Agility), and the Explorer starts at 90 Agility (needing 1 "points" to increase to 91 Agility).
Compared to Dark Souls, 88 Agility will give you the same amount of i-frames as a heavy roll, 96 Agility will give you the same amount of i-frames as a mediumroll, and 105 Agility will give you the same amount of i-frames as a light roll.
| Agility | i-frames |
|---|---|
| 85 | 5 |
| 86 | 8 |
| 88 | 9 |
| 92 | 10 |
| 96 | 11 |
| 99 | 12 |
| 105 | 13 |
| 111 | 14 |
| 114 | 15 |
| 116 | 16 |