Helping, Surviving, and Hunting Other Players

If you’re online and have the Strength of Fire, you can join others co-operatively, summon them to aid you, or be invaded by sinister enemies. This chapter tells you all about the online aspects of Dark Souls III so that you know what to be ready for. You cannot see other summon signs if you do not have your Ember intact. Even NPC white summon signs while offline!

Playing Offline

First things first. If you want to avoid the online system, it’s entirely possible to stay offline. Go into the Network settings for the game and select the “Play Offline” Launch Setting. This launches your game in offline mode. You won’t be able to get help from others or aid them, but you won’t get invaded, either.

This mode isn’t recommended because the online features of the game are extremely interesting. However, it’s your choice, and you should play the way that you want.

With that said, it’s time to delve into the online features.

Messages

When you’re online, you see way more messages on the ground. This is because other players can leave these messages in their worlds and have them propagate into others. The messages tip you off about dangers ahead, treasure, and so forth.

Whenever you see a message, look around carefully. You might find interesting things or avoid trouble that would otherwise have come your way without warning.

Bloodstains

When you’re playing online, you can see other players’ bloodstains. This is incredibly useful because it shows you that an area is dangerous. Interact with the bloodstain to reveal a ghost of that player’s last 10 seconds of life. Doing this is very effective for showing you what can go wrong in the area you are currently in.

Helping Other Players

Using the White Sign Soapstone, you allow yourself to be summoned to other players’ worlds. You get to help them defeat bosses that are giving them trouble, and in return, you gain the Strength of Fire just as if you’d beaten the boss normally or used an Ember. This is a great way to keep yourself at full strength, practice your techniques against bosses, and help others all at the same time.

There are few downsides to this. You still run the risk of being attacked by invaders, or you might lose to the boss. However, these are risks that you take all the time in your own game. It’s nothing new, and the punishment for failure is no worse.

While in another person’s world, you are considered a Phantom. Red Phantom invaders come to harm the host of the world, while White, Blue, and Gold Phantoms are there to help.

While you’re waiting to be summoned, stay away from boss areas. Going into one of them causes your summon sign to disappear from other worlds. The same is true if you leave the greater area where you placed your sign, so don’t wander too far off.

Killing a boss immediately sends you home, but fighting regular monsters does not. Feel free to attack your host’s enemies. Feel free to attack your host’s enemies. Bosses are worth roughly one-quarter of their standard Sould experience when you help to kill someone else's version of one. Despite this reduction, it is still very lucrative to help other players kill their bosses. You can farm substantial experience while being helpful to other players, too.

For the best chance of being summoned, leave your sign near critical areas, boss rooms, and well-traveled portions of each region. If you’re hoping to be summoned by someone on your friends list, choose an obscure location instead. This lowers the chance that a random person will summon you before your buddy finds the symbol.

Calling for Aid from Other Players

When you’re having trouble with a boss or simply looking to play with allies, search for summoning symbols on the ground. These are the key for bringing friends into your world. You do not need to have the Strength of Fire to place your symbol and go and help others, but you must have the Strength of Fire to summon someone like this.

As such, you must have an Ember or already be filled with the Strength of Fire to even see the symbols. You can find Embers or purchase them in limited quantities from some merchants. You can gain the Strength of Fire by helping others or killing the host during an invasion.

Once you have the Strength of Fire, scout around the outside of boss areas for the best chance of finding a summoning symbol. The main thoroughfares through each area are also likely to have these symbols from time to time.

Stay near allied Phantoms so that they can help you in your skirmishes. Cooperative players will also try to stick with you so that they can do the most good.

Your Phantom allies can stay and help you fight regular monsters, invaders, and bosses. Once a boss is defeated, your friends are returned to their worlds and rewarded for their efforts. You get the advantage of surviving greater battles with less threat of defeat. Cooperative players should spread out so that bosses can still only hit one player with their sweeping attacks. Always have at least one player attacking from the rear, because they can do heavy damage without much fear of reprisal. If the boss turns around, the person on the other side can go on the heavy attack.  

Note that cooperative and aggressive Phantoms can't use as many Estus Flasks as they normally would in their own world. This gives you an edge over your enemies should you choose to heal yourself. It also means that your allies, during boss fights, can't take as many hits and sustain themselves, so don't rely on them to tank and absorb every hit that a boss dishes out.  

Note that cooperative and aggressive Phantoms aren’t able to use as many Estus Flasks as they normally would (in their own worlds). This gives you an edge over your enemies, should you choose to heal yourself. It also means that your allies, during boss fights, aren’t able to take as many hits and sustain themselves, so don’t rely on them to tank and absorb every hit that a boss is dishing out.  

Phantoms regain an Estus use if another Phantom (of any type) is killed, so this is also something to keep in mind. If you have a couple of allies and they get slain, your Invader enemies have a chance to recover themselves before going after you!

Types of Phantoms

Invasions

Invasions are launched by anyone who has a Red Sign Soapstone, A Red Eye Orb, or a Cracked Red Eye Orb.

Red Eye Orbs are permanent invasion items that are used to invade targets who have the Strength of Fire. The invader attempts to kill the host (the person that they are invading) and will gain the Strength of Fire if they succeed. Cracked Red Eye Orbs accomplish the same thing, but they’re one-use items that are expended in the invasion.

Red Sign Soapstones are similar in intent, but they place an invasion sign in target worlds until someone accepts this invitation. This leads to the invader facing other players who are prepared and excited to fight. Red Eye Orbs are for unsolicited PvP, whereas Red Sign Soapstones are a way of asking permission. It’s like a duel request in an MMORPG. If players don’t want to fight or aren’t in a good spot for it, they’ll ignore the sign and move on.

Invaders are not normally influenced by the enemies in the area. They’ll ghost right by, drawing little attention. This makes it easier to avoid trouble and wait for the best spots to ambush your victims. It’s also easier to flee because you can race through areas with undefeated targets so that your enemy can’t recklessly follow.

Invasions don’t occur if you lack the Strength of Fire, so it’s safer to go around in this state. However, you lose the 30% health bonus, which means that regular monsters are more of a threat.

Soul Values in PvP

How to Survive against Invaders

As soon as you get the invasion notice, back away from unexplored areas, traps, and monsters. Find a location that is easy to watch so that no one can get above you or behind you, and get yourself to full health as long as you have the Estus Flasks to do so. Quickly ready your spells and tools to prepare the best possible offense for the fight ahead.

If you have a loadout of equipment that is ideal for PvP, get that ready. Some items are specifically made to assist with battles against real people. There are rings that obscure your dodging, limit your profile at long range, and so forth.

When you’re being invaded, it’s better to be the one to hide and ambush. The other player can hide among monsters, and they’re the ones who are excited about the battle ahead. You might be, too, but they’re really itching for it. Make them wait and make them search. This encourages them to be impatient and reckless, and both of those things tip the encounter in your favor.

If you’re especially nervous and don’t have much PvP experience, make sure to stay near one of the Bonfires in an area. Though you’re easy to find there, this ensures that you can regain your Souls easily if you’re defeated. At most, you’re only losing your Ember, and then you can’t be invaded again unless you use another Ember or defeat a boss.

Some invaders are polite and may emote respectfully before engaging in combat. It’s up to you how to respond. As long as you feel safe and they’re keeping their distance, you can respond in kind. If they get close to you before doing this, trust them a little bit less. It’s not worth dying for honor, especially when you’re dealing with people who invade and murder player characters for fun.

Stay as calm as you possibly can. PvP is heavily determined by control over your emotions. If you get scared or overly invested, it’s easy to mess up your timings, run when you should have attacked, or swing poorly and waste your Stamina. Relax; this is just a smarter monster to contend with. Kill it, and move on.

If you have a Seed of a Giant Tree, you can use this item to force monsters to attack your invaders. This is a fun trick when opposing players are trying to hide among nastier beasts.

How to Succeed as an Invader

As an invader, you should decide from the beginning how brutal you want to be. Are you trying to ambush and massacre any hosts before they know where you are, or are you hoping to meet them, gesture kindly, and then have a proper duel? If you want to play fair, make sure that you stay in the open so that your targets can get a good view of you. Flee if they switch to ranged weaponry and start shooting at you, but otherwise, hold your ground and gesture when they appear at long range. This gives them time to see that you’re here to duel and not to get a cheap kill.

Although you cannot use your flasks when invading, your host can. Remember that, and stay close to your targets. You have to punish them if they resort to healing because it puts you at a great disadvantage. A number of hosts won’t do this because it’s considered bad form, but everyone makes their own decisions on what they consider honorable. So, bow if you want to try engaging in a “fair” duel. Hope that your targets don’t resort to healing, but accept whatever happens.

Invasions end up against targets that are within a fairly modest level range, so the fights are going to be somewhat fair. However, you can stack the odds in your favor by crafting a character that is much more powerful than their Soul Level suggests. Do this by going for high-end weapons and gear without putting many Souls into your leveling. If you have just enough Souls to properly wield the equipment you like, you’re going to face easier opposition than you will if you level like crazy.

Using ranged attacks while standing near monsters is a devious option for Invaders. You force your enemy to come after you, drawing the monsters’ attention. Or, they’ll have to respond with their own ranged attacks and risk hitting the monsters anyway.

It’s tough to rely on slower weapons when fighting in PvP. These weapons are easier to parry or dodge because of their ponderous animations and they’re also easier to interrupt with faster attacks. Even if your Poise is high, you’ll usually be fighting with a disadvantage if you use anything too slow.

It’s useful to keep a good supply of spare items to distract, wound, or even kill your victims. Here are a few that are especially valuable for PvP:

• Firebombs are very effective if you are at a different elevation from your target. Harass them while they figure out how to reach you. If you know an area where there are explosive barrels (High Wall of Lothric, Undead Settlement, etc.), then try to detonate these while enemies are close by. Rope Firebombs are wonderful too, if you’re being chased. Leave them on the ground so players have to run over them and take damage, or delay their pursuit.
• Kukri and Throwing Knives deliver some damage at medium range. Interrupt casters, players who are healing themselves, or targets that are Gesturing at you (hopefully not people who are Bowing, but that’s your decision to make).
• Arrows and Bolts With Poison are usually tepid against most normal enemies, but they are very good when dealing with players. Even when blocked, their damage adds up over time.
• Undead Hunter Charms mess with a player’s line of sight and prevent healing. If you think that another player is about to use a Flask during a fight, this can be an effective way to stop them and possibly cause them to panic.

Matchmaking does take into account weapon reinforcement (among many other factors), so you can only push this edge but so far.

Dried Fingers

For extra insanity, use Dried Fingers to increase the number of Phantoms and invaders that can appear in your world by one each. You can end up with three Phantoms trying to help you, and two invaders trying to destroy you. It’s the potential for madness that makes Dark Souls III even more of a thrill, although you should expect there to be quite a few casualties as a result; try to make sure that you’re not one of them.

Using a Dried Finger results the timer on your invasions, allowing more time for each side to accomplish its goals.

Matchmaking Details

If you’re curious about Dark Souls III’s matchmaking system, this is a good place to go into a bit more detail. First, a player must be eligible for multiplayer; those players already engaged in multiplayer are excluded. Anyone who doesn’t have their game patched correctly are out, too.

Next, character levels are taken into consideration. Most of the time, there is a potential spread of 40 levels between the minimum and the maximum levels allowed. The host is used as a baseline and other players drawn into their world are within 20 levels (above or below) the host. Players with passwords get to break this and have anyone of any level show up, as long as the passwords match. However, this is a general rule for level spreads.

Weapon reinforcement levels are also compared. Players with high-end weapons won’t normally fight against someone who doesn’t have a single +1 item anywhere in their backpack.

If you have Cross-Play enabled, you can be paired with players from other regions. Otherwise, this is set to “Off” and you will be sent into multiplayer only against other players from your home region. Players who have set passwords will only be set up against other players who have put in the same passwords. This is a great way to form dueling clubs, compete against buddies, and so forth.

Reinforced Weapon Level Details

Players can only be matched if their highest weapon has a reinforcement value within two or three points of each other.

If you have a weapon at maximum reinforcements, you can thus be paired with people who have as low as +7 weapons. If you haven’t upgraded any of your gear, you might still encounter people with +1 or +2 reinforcements.

Level Difference Details

The level difference allowed and the distribution of those levels are determined by the type of Phantom involved. Take a look at this chart to learn more.

White Signs and the use of Red Soapstone Signs leads to very balanced numbers. People you summon with these symbols are often going to be very close to your level, and the odds aren’t in anyone’s favor.

In the case of invasions, the person being invaded has the edge. By the odds, they’re more likely to be the person with a higher level. However, it’s still possible to end up fighting targets that are a little bit higher than you.

Some Final Quick Tips

Always have a plan in mind when you’re going into PvP. Your character’s build needs to be used perfectly if you’re facing off against someone with skill, practice, and intelligence. Not all of your opponents will have all of that, but some of them will.

Combat that with more than just practice of your own. Craft a style of play that gives you a major advantage to push during your fights, and use that advantage to its fullest.

• Spam Build

Do you use fast weapons? If so, then your goal is to strike often and keep someone locked down so that they can’t get their own attacks. Make sure that you have a build with high Stamina so that you can spam attacks. Deplete their Stamina and get some damage in before both of you are forced to retreat (or you kill them outright). This is one of the easier PvP styles. Reinforce any fast weapon, though straight swords are a great blend of damage and speed.

• Parry and Crit Build

This is a fairly common style of PvP. People use a shield and a weapon with deadly critical hits to take people out with bursts attacks. They’ll backstab if they get an opening, but otherwise wait for a successful parry before getting a critical blow to land. Parry builds are best against spam builds.

• Ultra Heavy Build

One of the hardest styles in Dark Souls 3 is a heavy weapon build. Ultra Great weapons can’t be parried, so they’re theoretically useful against players who rely on parry + critical hits to kill their prey. However, Ultra Great weapons are tough to use well and get you slaughtered if you try to take on a spam build. They’ll lock you down and make it very hard to get anything done.