DARK SOULS MULTIPLAYER FAQ / Copyright 2012 Steven A. Sarasin Version: 1.1.2 : 2/10/2012 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO MY FIRST F.A.Q., I've been an active member of the Dark Souls community. So many of the questions I encounter are repeated again and again. The problem is that there is no one-stop source for information regarding the multiplayer. You can find bits and pieces across forums and wikis, but there is no one-stop source. I have always wanted to write a guide, and here I find the one vacuum of knowledge that is begging for such an unwritten FAQ. It is time I finally write my own. WHAT THIS FAQ COVERS: This FAQ will answer questions about where and how one engages in multiplayer, from pvp with strangers, to summoning someone specific. It also covers what gear and items are worth upgrading, and the most efficient way to upgrade said items. This guide has some example builds for various soul level ranges, and attempts to provide counter strategies for the most common "cheese" tactics, like the pivot-backstab (misleadingly called the lagstab by many), and chain backstabs. WHAT THIS GUIDE WILL NOT DO: I am not going to cover how to beat the single player campaign, nor am I going to divulge into boss strategies. There are many , many videos and wikis with already excellent advice on these things. This also means I will not be discussing the story/plot. COPYRIGHT: This FAQ is the soul property of me , Steven A. Sarasin, and is not to be reproduced published, or posted on any website, magazine, or other medium , neither in part nor in whole , without written consent from me. If you wish to use part, or all of my guide please write a request and outline of purpose to tutoringsteve@gmail.com WORK IN PROGRESS: This guide is incomplete, missing sections, and parts of sections. Also the formatting is continually being worked on to make the material more readable and easier for quick info. I thank you for your patience as I continue to work on this guide, and will update it as regularly as I can find time to work on it. As this guide is for the dark souls community (i.e. the coolest game community) I welcome any feedback that you have for me. If you think it would be better if I did X, or added Y, let me know by emailing tutoringsteve@gmail.com Sites allowed to place this guide: -gamefaqs.com -ign.com -gamespot.com -neoseeker.com forum users on these sites are excluded from the right to post this guide without written consent. Contents: (HUM1) | Humanity (FAR2) | Farming (MOV3) | Weight & Movement (ARM4) | Armor Choices (WEA5) | Common PVP Weapons (COV6) | Covenants (PLA7) | Places/Soul Level (CHR8) | Character builds/stats (PVP9) | PVP strategies __________________________________________________________ Some Common Lingo/Abbreviations: -------------------------------- SL = Soul Level Pulling / Aggroing = Causing a monster to notice and come at you SSD = Soul Sign Down (used to communicate to someone you intend to co-op/duel with). NG+ / NG++ / e.t.c. = New Game +, New Game ++, e.t.c. PVP = Player versus player , combat between two human opponents. Twink = Low level player who has acquired/upgraded end-game gear. These are the guys who invaded you in the beginning and did 500 lightning weapon damage to you in one hit. __________________________________________________________ ::::---------------:::: :: (HUM1) | Humanity :: ::::---------------:::: Humanity is essential to the multiplayer aspect of the game: Humanity can be found obtained in several ways, and appears in your inventory under the items tab. It may be equipped to your item slots, like Estus flasks. Its use will add a point to the upper left corner of your screen, above your health bar, and the total points (0 - 99) are your "Active Humanity". At a bonfire you may consume an Active Point of humanity to "Reverse Hollowing".The number in the corner dons a white border, and your character's skin looks less zombie-like. This state is called "being human". While human you may invade other people's world, summon others to help you, and be invaded by enemy players. With a few exceptions (invading with a blue orb or placing a white soapstone sign down to be summoned) you need to be human to engage in the multiplayer aspect of this game. Obtaining humanity: You can find humanity as items scattered throughout the game world. You may also gain a humanity if you kill a certain number of monsters in some areas. Dying does not reset this kill-count, and the requirement requires you to kill more than all the enemies once (you must reset them with the bonfire). It's not a reliable way to gain humanity. In essence there are three ways to effectively farm humanity: Killing rats: underneath the bridge where the red dragon roosts, in the basement floors of some of the buildings in The Painted World, in the Depths. Farming rats in the depths gives the benefit of being close to a bonfire and in an area with a lot of potential to invade players if you're between level 20-50. The squid-headed enemies in the Dukes Archives: They are found in the area where you get taken to after first encountering (and dying to) Seath the Scaleless. The benefit here is that they have a really high drop rate (about 2-3 humanity drop from the 9 squid enemies that spawn). Also they enemies give a lot of souls, but it's annoying to get down from the bonfire to the squid enemies every time you kill them. (*BEST*)The skeleton babies in The Tomb Of The Giants : They spawn in the last room before the Gravelord Nito boss. Running around the water they will spawn up to a maximum number, but when killed they will respawn indefinitely. Sometimes the humanity will disappear before you can collect it. I find that by the shores but not on the shores, the humanity stays a bit longer. Try fighting them with no-lock on and stay near the recently killed ones to scoop up any humanity drop as soon as you can. The skeleton babies also give you a fair amount of souls (about 1000 per, about 3000 per on NG +), and since the respawn indefinitely, this is also a decent way to farm souls. I loaded up The Book Of The Guilty, which ranks players by how much Sin they have accumulated through Covenant betrayals, npc killing, and player indictments. The top players (who have 1000s of player kills and indictments) all had 99 humanity points in their stat screen. The question is why? The reason to have as many active humanity points as you can: At 99 active humanity points you will gain 74 Physical Def. (same to VS strike , VS slash & VS thrust) 77 Magic DEF 72 Flame DEF 77 Lightning DEF Giving you a total of 300 additional defense points (not counting the 120 extra Curse Resist & 110 Item Find) Compare with the +5 Giant's Armor which gives you a total of 285 defense points (not counting its Weight, Poise, and Resists) Basically , 99 humanity points is like having an extra chest piece equipped that weighs nothing, and gives more total defense points than any other piece fully upgraded. As if humanity wasn't important enough, it also has the ability to heal you completely. If you're invading , or you have been summoned, then this allows you to heal yourself despite being unable to use your estus flasks. Even if you are the host, the humanity fully heals you, and although it's slower to use, this property might make it better to use than an estus flask. For example, if you are very near death and have lots of health compared to what a single flask can heal, or you are injured but your phantoms are not, so you want to save the flasks for healing your phantom. WARNING: Any active humanity point will be dropped upon death just like your souls. You can retrieve these by going to your bloodstain without dying, but it's important to remind yourself how bad loosing 99 humanity would be. One tip is that a ring of sacrifice will make it so that your bloodstain is not moved/destroyed if you die on the way to retrieve it. So if you die, always immediately equip a ring of sacrifice just in case you die again, so that you don't loose your 99 humanity. Rings of sacrifice can be bought from Pardoner of Sin , Velkas, atop the Undead Church, in the tower past the gargoyle boss fight. Eventually he stops selling them, but the number you can buy is something like 10, which should last you a while. __________________________________________________________ ::::---------------------------:::: :: (FAR2) | Farming for upgrades :: ::::---------------------------:::: The only materials that are worth farming for are Souls, and chunks. With the most recent patch, you can purchase large titanite, green titanite, and (thankfully!) twinkling titanite. ::::--------------------------------------------------------:::: ::> IT IS MUCH FASTER TO FARM SOULS AND BUY THESE MATERIALS < :: ::::--------------------------------------------------------:::: You may have been told to farm slimes (and if you asked me before, the slugs in Blighttown) for large/green titanite shards. It's workable for low leveled players, but it's simply not as efficient (not even close) as farming the souls and buying the material from the giant blacksmith in Anor Londo. I usually wait to farm from NPCs until NG+ where you gain an incredible amount of souls compared to regular game. The most important chunk type to farm is the regular Titanite Chunk. For these the best method (by far) is killing the Darkwraith NPC enemies in Lower New Londo Ruins. Farming (recommended) prerequisites: At least 10 active points of humanity. A golden covetous ring. A silver covetous ring. A helm of avarice. The 10 active points brings your item find up to 210 from 100. The effect humanity has on item find is capped at 210, any more active humanity points will not add to the item find (but still worth it because of the defense bonuses, see above). The golden ring of covetous, found in Sen's fortress, adds 200 item find, so with your 10 active humanity points and the golden covetous ring you have the maximum item find rate, 410. The helm of avarice has the combined effect of wearing both covetous rings, that is gives you 20% more souls per kill, and increases item find rate by 200 (to a maximum of 410). The helm of avarice does not stack with the golden covetous ring, wearing both produces no benefits. However, the silver covetous ring does stack with the helm of avarice giving you a total of 44% more souls per kill! souls * 1.20 (20% silver covetous) * 1.20 (20% helm of avarice) = souls * 1.44 (combined effect is 44% increase). I said I usually wait until NG+ to do any serious soul farming, and here's why. New game + you get 3 times as many souls per kill, after that and applying the 44% helm and ring boost to souls I'm getting NG+ souls = normal_souls * 3 * 1.44 = normal_souls * 4.32. That's more than 4 times as many souls per kill, so each soul farming run you do nets you more than 4 runs worth on normal game. Overkill bonus to souls : If you kill the enemy in one hit (e.g.: with a backstab) you will get 20% more souls for the kill, and if you kill the same enemy with the same weapon, this time with a parry/riposte (which will do yet more damage), you get a total of 44% more souls (remember 1.2*1.2 = 1.44 not 1.40). The parry/riposte doesn't necessarily trigger the double-overkill bonus, but if you do enough damage in one backstab to get the single overkill bonus, the parry/riposte will likely be enough damage to trigger the double-overkill bonus. Notably, against the darkwraiths on NG+ , an 1100 damage parry does not trigger double-overkill bonus, despite them having less than 750 hp. Combine the double-overkill bonus with the helm and silver covetous ring bonus you get : 1.44 * 1.44 = 2.0736 times (207.36 % ) more souls My favorite places to farm souls are (1) The forest NPCs: there are 4 that respawn (a) the magician : 2000 souls , 6000 souls NG+ (b) the thief : 2000 souls , 6000 souls NG+ (c) the priest : 2000 souls , 6000 souls NG+ (d) the axeman : 1000 souls , 3000 souls NG+ Total = 7000 souls , or 21000 NG+ (2) New Londo Darkwraiths: There are 11 total, giving you 13200 souls , or 39600 souls NG+. If you wear the helm of avarice and silver covetous ring, a run will give you a total of 57,024 on NG+ (more with overkill bonuses) as well as 2-5 Titanite Chunks. (3) Being invaded: When you are invaded you get 50% of the cost of the invaders next soul level if you win. Assuming that on average the invading soul level is equal to your soul level, you are getting 50% of a soul level per kill. At higher soul levels, this method trumps ALL other forms of soul farming. My soul level 214 for example, can get 300,000 souls per kill, and on a good day I'll get millions of souls per hour. On my level 45 , the souls are between 7000-13000 for the most part, and I don't find that being invaded is the BEST way to get souls consistently (although it's surely the most fun). Every 80,000 souls you get allows you to buy 10 twinkling titanite from the giant merchant at Anor Londo. This is enough to bring a non-upgraded piece of armor to +5, the max upgrade level for twinkling items. There is an incredible amount of armors and combinations for wearing such armor. Which armors to wear and which to upgrade is never simple, as it depends on the weight limit you have. __________________________________________________________ ::::--------------------------:::: :: (MOV3) | Weight and Movement :: ::::--------------------------:::: Your_Weight is the total weight from your EQUIPPED ITEMs. Dark Souls removes the weight limit to carried items, so only the equipped items matter. The Equip_Load is the value of your "Equip Load" stat, which is determined by your endurance and possibly modified by your items. The ratio of Your_Weight to the Equip_Load determines how fast you move, roll, sprint, and how long your recovery times are. There are 5 classes of movement : (Ia) 0 <= Your_Weight <= 0.25*Equip_Load : Your roll is the fastest it can be, as well as your movement speed and sprinting speed. You have almost no recovery time during rolls, which means that almost the entirety of the animation is the invincibility frames: The frames of the rolling animation that if attacked during, you receive no damage. (Ib) 0 <= Your_Weight <= 0.50*Equip_Load + Darkwood Grain Ring : Your roll is replaced by a flip, as is your back-step (roll button with no direction). Your movement speed is the same as when you are less than 25% of your Equip_Load, even if you are between 25% and 50% of your Equip_Load. The flip animation is maybe faster, but it's length is longer, so this maneuver is harder to use to backstab people than with a <25% regular roll. (II) .25*Equip_Load <= Your_Weight <= 0.50*Equip_Load : Your roll is about 50% longer in time, with the added frames leaving you vulnerable to attack. The sprinting speed and movement speed are also less, but in most situations this difference in speed is less important than the roll speed duration. Counter to popular belief, this move-speed/roll-time is completely viable, as most fights don't involve long sprints, and rolling is only marginally more dangerous. (III) .50*Equip_Load <= Your_Weight <= 1.00*Equip_Load Your roll shakes the controller, and is now about 75% longer in duration than that of (I). Your movement speed and sprint speed are more noticeably reduced, leaving you vulnerable to someone with <25% equip burden. The reduced movement speed is an obvious give away to PVP opponents who will know immediately that you will be susceptible to spell spamming and backstabs. Never have over 50% burden when PVPing. (IV) Your_Weight > 1.00*Equip_Load : This is unacceptable. You move like molasses, and trying to roll staggers you. This lack of mobility would make even the best of players a free meal for enemy players and NPCs alike. You always want to be below 50% of your Equip_Load, so that you can roll effectively. The Darkwood Grain Ring allows you to maintain the fastest move-speed with up to double the limits that having <25% Equip_Load would impose, making this ring extremely popular. __________________________________________________________ ::::--------------------:::: :: (ARM4) | Armor choices :: ::::--------------------:::: As a general rule of thumb , I tend to equip my weapon/shield of choice first, then use the remaining weight for my armor. This way requires a great deal of flexibility in armors, which means I need to have most of the armor sets upgraded. Twinkling Titanite sets that should be upgraded: Giants set Paladin set Black Iron set Catarina set Big Hat Logan's Chest & Helm Gargoyle Helm Darkwraith set Kirk's Armor set Total souls needed : 2,160,000 Optional Twinkling Titanite sets: Silver Knight set Black Knight set Brass set Witch set Oolacile set Painting Guardian set Crimson set Xanthous set Embraced Armor set Black Cleric set Total souls needed: 3,200,000 Mostly you want to upgrade the chest piece, then the legs and hands, and finally the helm piece. The reason is that for the same upgrade cost the chest piece is simply more powerful. Also, the helm can be replaced by one of the specialty helms (which can't be upgraded). Poise: Poise is new to Dark Souls, and its an important feature of melee combat. Each time a weapon hits you, your poise meter (which is invisible) fills up a little bit. If that meter is filled completely you become stunned, your character staggers, and is unable to act. If the opponent continues to swing at you while in this state, you are helpless, and this is known as "stun-locking". To avoid being stun-locked you need to have enough poise to be able to take a hit. While the debate rages on about how much poise you need, make sure to have more than zero, or else any attack will stun you. A good amount to shoot for is 40+, and if you plan to get hit more, then aiming towards 70 poise is not a bad idea. Even with a lot of poise, successive hits will eventually stun you. The idea is really to be able to take 1, at most 2, hits without being stunned. Just enough so that your mistake won't guarantee a loss. Trick: If you are being stun-locked and you repeatedly try to switch your weapon or shield(right on the d-pad) you can break the stun-lock just long enough to roll out of the way. This is extremely helpful, especially for those who wear no-poise gear. You have to time the switch with the onset of the attack though, so it's not a perfect solution. The highest poise is found on the Havel set, with the Stone set a close second. Other high poise sets include Giant's set, Black Iron set, Paladin's set, Golem set, and Smough's set. Notable Non-Twinkling Armor: By non-twinkling armor, I mean the armor sets that must be upgraded with regular titanite instead of with twinkling titanite. It's a lot more hassle to upgrade these pieces because eventually you must use Titanite Chunks, which must be farmed 2-5 chunks per run from the Darkwraiths at New Londo Ruins. You can't buy them. It gets worse, because to finish upgrading the armor you need to use a Titanite Slab, which is so rare that you may as well consider there to be a finite amount of them per game cycle. One guaranteed, and three if you know where to look. But 3 slabs isn't even a full set (which is 4 pieces of gear). Luckily in these cases, it's not whole sets that stand out, but individual pieces. For example, Big Hat Logan's leggings (his little shoes) and his gloves (Traveler’s gloves) are awful. You can save your Titanite for another piece. The hat he wears and especially the robe he wears are actually really good for light-armor (no poise). I'll list a couple of the better non-twinkling armors, and their stats at +14 (the last upgrade possible before you must use a Titanite Slab). Specialty Helms: Mask of the father, mask of the Mother, Mask of the Child, Dusk Crown. __________________________________________________________ ::::-------------------------:::: :: (WEA5) | Common PVP Weapons :: ::::-------------------------:::: I will attempt to give a brief Synopsis of what I consider to be the major pvp weapons. These are the weapons I see the most in pvp settings. I make no recommendation for a "best" weapon nor even a best weapon for a particular build. I strongly believe that almost any weapon is viable in the right setting with the right amount of skill. It's really down to personal preference and situation. You can learn a lot about an opponent simply from their choice of weapon. The Great Black Knight weapons require over 30 strength to use one-handed, which implies something about their build and stat point distribution. A moonblade sword on the other hand requires intelligence and probably implies a magic user. These tell tales are especially important at lower levels where 30 strength would imply a very low amount of health for example, while at SL 120 it still leaves room for the opponent to have high vitality , or some faith/int magic. Other weapons imply a strategy. For example, a rapier implies they will try to backstab, or a parry/riposte. You can also assume that they are using a hornet ring (which means they only have 1 other ring slot). Knowing your opponent is the only way to know how to counter your opponent. In no particular order: Claymore: 6lbs, 16str, 10 dex, good at stunlocking, fairly slow, 2handed roll + R1 thrusts the sword very far, 2hand R2 can hit targets roughly 180 degrees around the user, 1hand R2 is a fairly long thrust attack. I love and hate this sword. It's powerful and versatile, yet it often feels like the sword is too short. Useful attack opportunities are negated by a tiny distance too far. Watch out when someone 2hands the sword, as the weak attack (an up then down chopping combo) can stunlock you very quickly. It's quick for the class of swords, and the stunlock is near inescapable. Not as bad as the moonlight blade though. Also, when someone rolls towards you with this weapon it's an immediate threat, be ready for that thrust attack. Zweihander: 10lbs 24str, 10 dex., great at stunlocking, very slow Similar to claymore except longer, slower, and a lot more damaging. This bad boy can stunlock in 1 hit, and can kill easily with regular attacks. Has the same rolling 2handed R1 attack as the Claymore. This sword is a BEAST. It's slow and powerful , and I think the longest weapon in the game. Even at the maximum possible stamina this sword can only last for a couple 2handed swings. However, one direct 2handed swing is sure to stun all but the most heavily armored warriors. When using this sword don't treat it like other weapons. Each attack costs a lot of stamina, and they must be judged carefully for their effectiveness. Also keep in mind that the long reach requires long recovery times, and you're vulnerable to those dreaded backstabs for quite some time after any missed attack. Uchigatana: 33 bleed build per strike 6lbs, 16str, 14 dex, fast attack, causes bleed, lacks range, low durability. This weapon is fantastic overall, medium base damage is made up for by an awesome 1handed R2 thrust, a backstep (roll with no direction) followed by an attack lunges forward and thrusts for huge range. The bleed build up is quite effective as a physchological weapon. Opponents tend to panick as that bleed bar builds up, and bleeding can be applied right through their shield. Learn to love that 1hand strong attack (thrust). It's far reaching and is really great at knicking people when they've briefly left themselves open. It's a bit longer than say Balder Side Swords thrust , but it does more damage and applies that dreaded bleed. The weak attack will be a great source of punishment against people who attempt to get behind you for the backstab. Unlock, point your character opposite the way he was facing and go for a couple quick slashes. Be warned that spamming this attack will demolish your stamina, leaving you useless for a moment. Also, it's not very hard to parry for people who are good at that. If you see someone attempt to parry you, be very careful and NEVER swing twice in quick succession. Washing Pole: 30 bleed per strike ::::---------------------------------------------:::: :: Weight: 8lbs || Requirements : 20 STR / 16 DEX :: ::::---------------------------------------------:::: :: Bleed rate per strike 30 || Bleed value 300 :: ::::---------------------------------------------:::: :: PROS: Incredible range |X| Cons: Slowest katana,:: ::causes blood loss, |X|Very low durability, :: ::one-hand move set great,|X|low bleed rate :: ::::---------------------------------------------:::: What can I say? I'm in love. It's got the uchigatana's move set and bleed, well a little less bleed per strike, and it's freakishly long. I mean this weapon is on par with the longest spears! The 1handed weak attack feels like it has a little bit less range than I expect looking at it, but the 2handed weak attack has just the right range. The thrusts on this thing could hit Russia from Sarah Palin's house. It's awesome. However, like the Uchigatana (and all Katanas/Curved Swords) this weapon is weak to people who are good at parrying in pvp. As well, it's easy to get carried away and burn up your stamina trying to get the bleed to set in, or to finish off a stunned/weakened opponent. This will be the death of you if you're not careful! So remember that it's always better to take it slow and steady, so that when the enemy is actually ready to be finished you have the stamina to seal the deal before they attempt to heal. Chaos Blade: 36 bleed per strike Iaito: 33 bleed per strike Gravelord Sword: Murakumo: Quelaag's Sword: This weapon is great for single player, and looks really cool. It's the most common demon ascension weapon, but it's also a telltale noob sign. That's because the weapon is not very good for PVP. Its damage doesn't match up with the more common lightning or buffed weapons, it's reach is surprisingly low for the size of the weapon, and its regular attack pattern begs to be parried. The kick move (forward + R1) is replaced with a slash followed by a fanciful backflip. However the stamina costs only as much as a normal R1 attack, so it's conceivable to use this as a "free" roll. Shotel: R2 attack strikes (almost) as if you have no shield up, so don't bother blocking this weapon. It's fast acting , but has low reach, and spamming this weapon leaves one very open to a parry. The damage is surprisingly good for the size of the weapon, but nothing special. Great side-arm, but a poor choice as one's only weapon. Moonblade Sword: Used to be my favorite weapon in Dark Souls, and it's definitely still near the top. The 2hand up/down chopping weak attack will stunlock anyone and almost immediately. I've stunlocked people in full Havel's before. I'm still trying to figure out what makes this weapon so much better at it then even the Serpent Sword or Claymore. But that's not all that defines this sword, as it has an incredibly useful special attack. If you hit R2 , either 1handed or 2handed, it launches a powerful magic attack from the weapon. A successful hit will knock the enemy flat on their face. If you see someone sprinting towards you, probably for a backstab, untarget them, hit R2, and aim in front of your feet or the ground directly behind you depending on how close they've gotten. The magic explosion will get the enemy so often, it's saved me dozens of times. For this reason I carry a full stack (99) of repair powder from the Undead Berg's merchant. Thespecial attack has the one downside of reducing the durability of the blade by 40 each time you use it's 2handed R2. The 1handed R2 is not nearly as good because it launches a vertical crescent as opposed to the 2handed R2 which launches a horizontal crescent. The horizontal one is MUCH harder to dodge, and therefore much more effective despite it costing twice as much durability It's usually not worth while to spam the R2, even with a full stack of repair powder. If you're locked onto the enemy then your magic attack will go to where they were when you initiated the attack, so it's likely to miss a mobile opponent. However an unlocked attack can be made to lead the enemy, to have the magic attack land where the enemy will be when the attack hits the ground. Rapier: Bandit's Knife: Halberds: Black Knight Great Axe (BKGA): Greatsword of Artorias : Great Scythe: Lifehunt Scythe: Painted World Guardian Spears: Bows: Crossbows: __________________________________________________________ ::::----------------:::: :: (COV6) | Covenants :: ::::----------------:::: The Darkmoon Blade: ::::-------------------------------------------------------------:::: :: Darkmoon | Can invade while hollow | Phantom color = Blue :: :: | Doesn't leave a bloodstain | :: :: | if you die while invading | :: ::_____________|___________________________________________________:: ::Blue Eye orb | Invade 10% below level, no upper limit :: ::-------------|---------------------------------------------------:: ::Covenant ring| Will invade Dark Anor Londo, no lower/upper limit :: ::-------------|---------------------------------------------------:: ::Reward | 10% of cost of host's next soul level in souls :: :: | and 1 stone of reprisal :: ::::-------------------------------------------------------------:::: As a darkmoon blade you are given a Blue orb and a Covenant ring, both of which allow you to invade even while hollow. You activate the orb as you would any other item, and it will search for a target to invade. The target must have "sin", that is they must have either betrayed a covenant, killed a non-hostile NPC, or been indicted by another player. Upon invasion you enter the hosts world as a blue phantom, a spirit of vengeance has invaded announcement tells the host of your presence. The Darkmoon covenant ring works a bit differently. You equip it, and it constantly searches for someone in Dark Anor Londo. A person who kills Gwynavere is in Dark Anor Londo. Once an invasion is initiated you are summoned to Dark Anor Londo and the invasion proceeds normally. Successfully killing the host gives you a souvenir of reprisal , which are used to level up your stance with the covenant, as well as 10% of host's next soul level cost, and an active humanity point. Defeat has no repercussions, and you return your world as you were before, hollow or alive, and with all your active humanity and souls. The Darkwraiths: ::::--------------------------------------------------------------:::: :: Darkwraith | Must be human to invade | Phantom color = Red :: :: | Will leave a bloodstain | :: :: | if you die while invading | :: ::________________|_________________________________________________:: ::Red Eye orb | Invade 10% below level, no upper limit :: ::----------------|-------------------------------------------------:: ::Cracked Red Eye*| Same as above but is consumed after invasion :: ::----------------|-------------------------------------------------:: ::Reward | 10% of cost of host's next soul level in souls :: :: | and 1 active humanity point :: ::::--------------------------------------------------------------:::: As a darkwraith you must give Kaathe the serpent enough humanity to become a Darkwraith+1 which rewards you the red eye orb. This orb works identically to the cracked red eye orb, except unlike the cracked variant, the red eye orb is non-perishable. In order to invade as a Darkwraith you must actually be human and an invading darkwraith will appear red to you and the host. A successful invasion gains you an active humanity point, and 10% of the hosts next soul level cost. If you die while invading you leave all your active humanity and your souls in a bloodstain right where you were when you left your world to invade. You do however remain human, but be careful not to loose your bloodstain as it will disappear if you die on the way. *- Cracked Red Eye Orbs can be used whether or not you are a darkwraith, but it's just like using the Red Eye Orb which is exclusive to Darkwraiths. The forest Covenant: ::::-------------------------------------------------------------:::: :: Forest | Can invade while hollow | Phantom color = Blue :: :: Covenant | Doesn't leave a bloodstain | :: :: | if you die while invading | :: ::_____________|___________________________________________________:: ::Covenant ring| Will invade Darkroot Garden, any soul level 1-300 :: ::-------------|---------------------------------------------------:: ::Reward | 10% of cost of host's next soul level in souls :: :: | and 1 active humanity point as well as a random :: :: | upgrade item (possibly a pendant) :: ::::-------------------------------------------------------------:::: The forest Covenant gives you a ring, Alvina's Ring, which is identical in nature to the Darkmoon Covenant Ring. While wearing it, even while hollow, you may invade an intruder in the Darkroot Garden. A forest covenant invader also appears as a blue phantom, and is announced as a spirit of vengeance. As a member of the forest Covenant You can invade anyone level 1-300 who is human, has not defeated Sif, and is in the Darkroot garden past the door you unlock with the Seal of Artorias. It preferences people near your soul level if possible, but you can end up invading someone way over your level. A successful invasion nets you the standard 10% of the cost of the host's next soul level and one active humanity point. Unique to the forest covenant, is that when you successfully defeat the host you are given a random upgrade item, such as a green titanite shard. The worth of this upgrade item seems to be in part determined by the soul level of the host you killed. A higher level opponent seems to yield stronger upgrade materials. I have seen everything from small titanite shards, to titanite chunks, but never a slab (yet). It's also been said that there is a rare chance to get a pendant, which is purely story related, as a victory consolation instead of the random upgrade item. The Sunlight Covenant: The Dragon Covenant: Others: __________________________________________________________ ::::-------------:::: :: (PLA7) | Places :: ::::-------------:::: The forest: SL range 1 - 300 The forest is my personal favorite pvp area in the game. At least for being the host. If you're not in the forest covenant then you are going to be invaded by 3 different groups of people: Darkmoon covenant (if you have sin), forest Covenant (you're on their turf!), Darkwraith. I like to buy the Crest of Artorias from Andres of Astoria (the jacked blacksmith between the forest, sen's, and the undead parish) as soon as possible. With it you can open the sealed door near the Darkroot Garden bonfire. This door immediately leads out to a small set of stairs. At the bottom of these stairs is where you will find most of the soul signs. If you're not in the forest covenant you can summon one ally here. It helps to have an ally as you will be invaded very frequently, so that you will often have 2 invaders at once. Having your own backup can mean the difference, but be warned that many consider this dishonest or cheesy (only if you kill them of course). Dangers: There are a ton of (lethal) npcs. The first to watch out for are the humanoid NPCs, the wizard, the rogue, the priest, and the axeman. The wizard can be goaded into melee for a quick parry/riposte, but be warned, on NG+ his magic does quite a bit of damage. The rogue is semi-invisible but still target-able. He's glitchy in that he will sometimes run up to you and stand still, until you attack him. I usually try to goad him into attacking and then parry him. The priest has a harder parry timing as he holds his weapon above for a moment, but it's still easy. The one to watch out for is the axe guy, who on New Game+ can do over 500 damage a hit. I've had many phantoms die after accidentally aggroing the axeman. He's even more of a nuisance if you're fighting him while fighting a human invader. I almost always parry him, unless I'm being invaded and there is noticeable lag. On the right, from the stairs, starts the treevine enemies. There are a bunch of them that come from fairly far, so watch your back constantly to make sure none of them have snuck up on you. They have more health than the tree enemies in the rest of the garden. They also do a lot of damage on NG+, so watch out for their whips, as they can damage you while rolling! The silliest but most deadly attack is a close range grab where they pull you up to their mouth and start munching. It can do a lot of damage, and I've had it kill quite a few phantoms. They're fairly quiet so make sure you don't let one sneak up on you while you fight a human or another tree guy. Across the bridge where Alvina is, and towards the door to the Sif battle are many little mushroom dudes. When hit they will run toward a small pond where there are 2 large mushroom dudes. The large ones telegraph their punches with plenty of time to move, but the reach of their attacks can be surprising, and the punch does serious damage. Many annoying invaders will lure you here to make auto-locking harder (because of the little mushroom guys everywhere stealing the lock-on) and to have you fight them in between the big mushrooms. The rolling cats are up the ladder from the Hydra boss in Darkroot Basin but they can also be reached from the Crest of Artorias door. If you get lured to this area be very careful of following. It's extremely hectic (and fun!) to be fighting an invader while you have these cats rolling around crushing you. If you beat the invader while the cats are rolling you've permanently scarred the ego of the invader (who will doubtlessly have their own excuses as to why they lost). Course of action: Whenever I decide to partake in some forest action I always follow a routine. Become human at bonfire, run down stairs, initiate the summoning of a phantom, while that's happening I engage the wizard. Usually by the time I'm fighting the priest/rogue the summon finishes or fails. If it fails I run back and re-initiate a summon, otherwise bow to phantom ally, and continue killing the remaining NPCs. Then you two will probably be invaded, try to fight the invader on the clearing, as it's annoying to have the fight drag into the treemen area. If you have time , quickly clear out the treemen. Honestly, I never bother with the mushroom men, but if invasions are coming on slowly I might run over to that side and kill them while I wait. If you want to be particularly scary to the next invader, leave a prism stone wherever you kill someone. If you're on a killing streak the forest floor will be littered with multicolored prisms, and any invader will immediately recognize the signs. Psychological warfare can cause panicky moves and hopefully misplays, but dropping prism stones during someones death cam is as bad or worse than a taunt. So it's best to wait a little after the kill to drop the prism. The Undeadberg: SL 1-15 but semi-active at all levels This is the first area most people go to after leaving the Undead Asylum tutorial level. There is a single bonfire, right outside the room with that bonfire is where most people leave summon signs / red soapstone signs. The area is active mostly due to low level darkwraiths who beat the four kings at low level (often SL 1) so that they can invade anyone. Remember that invaders have no upper limit on what soul level they can invade but there is a lower limit. Being SL 1 allows them to invade anyone, presumably with the intention of invading new characters with their twinked out SL1 darkwraith. On the other side of the spectrum you have high level players that camp out this area, waiting for low level darkwraiths to invade them. They do this for vengeance, justice, and possibly because they have a wraith like sense of cruelty and humor. As a low level darkwraith be warned that your noob bashing will be interspersed with people dual wielding Smough Hammer's rocking 1800+ hit points. Good luck :) The area's enemies are really not dangerous so it's your call whether or not to clear out the npcs as quickly as possible like in the forrest. The exception would be on higher NG+, where any enemy is a threat due to damage scaling. Also watch out for the opponent running to heal and having a left-over hollow knight get in your way long enough to allow the heal to go unpunished. The Undead Parish: SL 5-30 , but invaders will encounter people up to max level The Gargoyle boss is unescapable, you need to do it in order to get to Anor Londo. Because of this the area remains very active. It's also a beginner area, often times the second boss people kill. This means a lot of lower level players for the lower level darkwraiths to harass. To take advantage of the youthful population one often encounters here, the low level darkwraiths often invade fully equipped with lightning weapons, upgraded armors, and no hint of shame, honor , or remorse. That being said it's fairly easy to find a phantom or two to help you. Most summon signs are left across the church from the elevators right outside the church steps. Comming from the forrest, this is the first entrance you encounter. The annoying part of this area is that most battles will take place in the second level of the church. This is because invaders always start at the fog gate, atop the two ladders. Otherwise you may have fairly interesting battles on the church's first floor. The pillars provide much needed cover from magic and make large swinging weapons like the zweihander less useful. Otherwise fights will take place outside the church, in the open region right next to where I said the soul signs are left. That's because when invaded a host will typically retreat back to summon a phantom or too. As the invader you will likely want to force an encounter before the host successfully summons. Anor Londo Bridge: Anor Londo Inner: Dark Anor Londo: Painted World: Demon Ruins: The Kiln: The Depths: Questions/Corrections/Requests/E.t.c. : Please email me at tutoringsteve@gmail.com