Both are damage-over-time statuses, but Scarlet Rot deals significantly more damage per tick. Poison is easier to apply and has more weapon support. Which DoT is better?
Poison
Easy application with wide weapon support
Strengths
- Many weapons have innate poison
- Poison infusion available on any standard weapon
- Lower resistance thresholds than Rot
- Poison Mist is a free stealthy application
- Kindred of Rot's Exultation synergy
Weaknesses
- Much lower damage per tick than Rot
- Bosses have high poison resistance
- Poison alone won't kill tough enemies
- Less impactful than other status effects
- Often supplementary, not primary
VS
Scarlet Rot
Massive DoT damage on bosses
Strengths
- Significantly higher damage per tick than poison
- Rotten Breath trivializes many bosses
- Percentage-based damage on large HP pools
- Fewer enemies immune to Rot
- Can be applied from range with incantations
Weaknesses
- Fewer weapons with innate Rot
- Requires Faith/Arcane for breath incantations
- Higher resistance thresholds
- Cannot be infused on most weapons
- Harder to apply through melee
Verdict
Scarlet Rot is objectively stronger — it deals roughly 3x the damage of poison per tick. But poison is easier to apply with more weapon options. For pure damage, Scarlet Rot wins decisively. The Antspur Rapier can apply both simultaneously for the best of both worlds.