Stability

Stability is a stat in Dark Souls specific to weapons and shields. It determines the amount of stamina drained when blocking attacks.

Effect[]

Stability reduces the stamina drain linearly: one point of stability equals 1% of stamina drain reduction. For example, 60 stability will reduce all stamina drain by 60%. 100 stability completely negates all stamina drain.

Certain classes of shields and weapons have higher stability than others, and can thus receive more blows. Greatshields are known for having the highest stability out of the shields, with the highest being a Crystal Tower Shield. Ultra Greatswords, meanwhile, have the highest out of the weapons.

While reinforcing a shield usually increases its stability, some shields only have their damage increased. Only gaining an increase in damage mostly occurs on Unique shields.

Apart from reinforcing, stability can be increased with the Magic Shield & Strong Magic Shield sorceries. Both sorceries last for 15 seconds (~22 with the Lingering Dragoncrest Ring) and grant an additional stability of 18 and 34 respectively. This allows any shield with 82 stability to negate all stamina loss, and the strong version will do the same for shields with as little as 66 stability.