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Souls of a Giant carry over when you start New Game Plus in Dark Souls II, and they still weaken Vendrick. If you plan to fight him, keep enough to reach the five-soul cap: each Soul of a Giant halves his defense, and the effect does not improve beyond five.
Do Souls of a Giant carry over to NG+?
Yes. When you choose Journey 2 to Drangleic at the Far Fire bonfire in Majula, Souls of a Giant in your inventory remain with you. The game removes some items when a new journey begins, but these souls are explicitly retained. See the Dark Souls II Wiki’s NG Cycles reference.
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Because Vendrick’s defense reduction depends on how many Souls of a Giant you possess, retained souls count toward the threshold in the new journey. You do not need to recollect them just because you entered NG+.
How many souls do you need for Vendrick?
Each Soul of a Giant in your inventory halves Vendrick’s defense. With none, his defense is 32 times its base value; five successive halvings bring it back to the 1× base multiplier. Holding more than five does not reduce his defense further. The mechanics are described in the references for Vendrick and the Soul of a Giant.
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The reduction is passive: the souls need to be in your inventory, not used as an item. If you have fewer than five, any you bring forward from the previous journey contribute to the same five-soul cap.
Should you keep them or consume them?
Consuming a Soul of a Giant grants 10,000 souls, but that soul no longer counts toward weakening Vendrick. Keep the souls you need if he is still alive and you want the defense reduction. Once you have defeated him, extra souls have no further effect on his defense; you can consume them for souls or retain them for a later cycle.
The available sources distinguish the repeatable Ancient Dragon drop from the memory souls, which do not regenerate when you use Bonfire Ascetics. Do not assume an Ascetic will restore consumed memory souls. The item’s acquisition details and Ascetic limitation are covered in the Soul of a Giant reference and the Bonfire Ascetic reference.
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Where can you get Souls of a Giant?
The listed sources are the Memories of Jeigh, Orro, and Vammar, the Elite Giants in Black Gulch, and the Ancient Dragon. The Ancient Dragon is the repeatable source; the memory souls do not respawn through Bonfire Ascetics.
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The item description reads: “Soul of a Giant who came to conquer Drangleic. Will the Giants’ resentment for the King be pacified in death, or only emboldened?”
Quick Recap
Practical choice before Journey 2
- Vendrick is still a target: keep your Souls of a Giant, up to the useful five-soul total.
- You have already defeated Vendrick: surplus souls can be consumed for 10,000 souls apiece or saved for a later journey.
- You have fewer than five: retained souls count toward the cap, and the Ancient Dragon is a repeatable source if you want to obtain more.
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