Online or Multiplayer is part of Dark Souls 3. Players are encouraged to summon and be summoned and experience the game with others. Please see the Hollow Arena page for information relating to PVP arena.
Online Information
- Connection Servers are dedicated
- Online play is platform specific; no cross-platform play.
- Online interaction happens when the player has used an Ember by summoning of phantoms via signs they place on the ground with a White Sign Soapstone. You may also encounter unwelcome invasions from hostile players using invasion items and covenant mechanics.
- Up to 6 players can interact in the same session, which happens seamlessly during gameplay, each player taking on the roles of cooperator and/or hostile invader. The different Covenants and soapstone signs change the ratio of companions to invaders. It is possible to have anything from a 3v3 to a 1v5 scenario. Even 4vs2 (4 Friendly, 2 Enemy) Check Dried Finger Notes
- The amount of souls gained by the phantom post boss fight appears to be 25% of the boss's normal reward (Tested).
- Using the Dried Finger resets the invasion timer and allows a host player to summon a 3rd phantom as well opening themselves up to a 2nd invading phantom.
- Matchmaking is once again level-based, as well as taking into account the upgrade level of a player's weapon. Please see the Summon Range Calculator for details on the exact level ranges.
- You can summon other players regardless of NG/NG+ differences. There are no NG conditions for matchmaking.
- Password Matching (as seen in Bloodborne Online) is a feature and disregards the aforementioned soul level and weapon upgrade level matchmaking in lieu of a normalizing adjustment to phantom attack power. Password matching DOES NOT allow you to summon a friend in a cleared area with a White Sign Soapstone. However, you can still summon them using a Red Sign Soapstone.
- In addition to the basic online parameters listed below, Covenants also alter the multiplayer experience for players. Several of the covenants are defense pacts that send players in to defend a specific area from being completed by exploring players, each with their own specific mechanics.
- Phantoms have half their current estus charges when in a host's world, rounded down (i.e. 1 flask turns into 0, 3 turns into 1, etc).
- Covenant signs cannot be swapped out when trying to connect to someone else's world.
- Other players summon signs will disappear as long as yours is active.
- Hosts, friendly phantoms, and hostile phantoms can get an estus chargeback if another hostile or friendly phantom dies.
- Some bosses will only allow you to summon a specific amount of phantoms.
- 6 player PvP matches can be quickly made in Irithyll of the Boreal Valley by equipping the Way of Blue Covenant in the area after the Pontiff Sulyvahn bonfire.
- For killing an invader, the host receives 15% of the souls required for the invader's most recent level-up (rounded down). See the Level page for the soul requirements.
- For killing the host of another world, invaders receive 4% of the souls required for the host's most recent level-up (rounded down).
- For killing an invader summoned via Red Sign Soapstone , the host receives roughly 1% or less (topping at 0,75%) of the souls required for the invader's most recent level-up (rounded down).
- For killing the host of another world which summoned the invader via Red Sign Soapstone, the invader will receive around 10% of the souls required for the host's most recent level-up (rounded down).
- Remember, accepting items via online play is risky, some of these may be hacked items in which you can get banned for. So be careful about who you accept items from
Phantoms (Ghosts)
Other players will be shown in the game world as phantoms (ghosts). You cannot interact with phantoms, and they cannot interact with you. Use other phantoms as a guide to what may happen next in-game.
Bloodstains
Examine a blood stain left behind in a spot where another player died, and you'll view a replay of that player's death. Like with phantoms, you can use this as a guide to what may happen next.
Messages
The messages you can write in the main menu will be sent to other players. You'll also receive messages written by other players in your world. Messages can be rated. If other players rate your messages, you'll regain a little HP.
Use a White Sign Soapstone to cast a soul sign, and that sign will be sent to other players' worlds. If you're summoned from the sign, you'll be transported to the summoner's world. Soul signs can be cast by anyone, whether living or undead, but you must have the power of the Lord of Cinder to summon other players.
Co-Op Play
Use a White Sign Soapstone, and you'll be able to play co-op with up to Three other players. However, playing with three other players requires the host to use the Dried finger. The summoning player is called the "host", and the summoned players are called the "clients". You cannot become a host if you've already defeated the boss of the current area. If you've turned voice chat on in the network options, you can chat between the host and the client.
Starting Co-op
- The clients use a White Sign Soapstone to place a soul sign.
- The host then examines the soul sign and summons the client.
- The host and client play together in the host's world.
Success Conditions
If the host defeats the area's boss, the clients will receive rewards and return to their own worlds.Failure Conditions
If the clients or host die or any return items are used, the client will return to their own world.
Competitive Play
Use a Red Eye Orb or Cracked Red Eye Orb and you'll be able to invade other players' worlds and play against them competitively. The invaded player is called the "host", and the invading player is called the "client". Up to two people can invade a world at once. Invaders treat each other as enemies and can attack and damage each other. You may also use a Red Sign Soapstone to be summoned to duel.
Starting Competitive Play
- Please see Hollow Arena for PVP arena information.
- The client uses a Red Eye Orb.
- The client automatically invades the world of the selected host.
- The host and client play against each other in the host's world.
- You cannot invade into a host's world if the boss is dead.
- Players can also use the Red Sign Soapstone to leave a summon sign for duels.
- The red soapstone sign can still be used to be summoned into a host's world that has already killed the boss.
- RSS phantoms don't take a health penalty.
- If the host uses a Dried Finger, the invasion timer is reset, making more rapid invasions possible.
- When Summoned by RSS you can profit of the health bonus from ember form if you embed BEFORE placing your sign, resulting in being a red phantom with 1.3x health.
Success Conditions
If the host is defeated, the client will receive rewards and return to their own world.Failure Conditions
If the client dies, the host enters a boss room, or any return items are used, the client will return to their own world.
Lord of Cinder
In order to summon other players, you must use an Ember to obtain the power of the Lord of Cinder. Using an Ember allows you to become a multiplayer host. When in Lord of Cinder mode, your character's appearance will change, and you'll have the following effects until you die:
- Maximum HP boosted 1.3x
- Able to summon other players via soul sign as well as be invaded.
- The icon next to gauges change.
Note: If you're summoned by another player while in Lord of Cinder mode, your maximum HP will go back to normal until you return to your world.
Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
It’s just cheaters and exploiters now. Play offline if you want to go back and have fun, or spend days on YouTube and online forums learning how to estus cancel and pivot roll and tech swapping and all this other **** that fat ugly losers use to feel like they’re good at something in life. The choice is yours, ashen one
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
i need help to defeat nameless king.. could someone help?
psn : fesnta
- Anonymous
When i get invaded, sometimes invaders seem to have extreme phantom range. and i get hit when they swing at thin air long after i dodged, on the contrary i don't hit them at all, even when it seems i should have. basically a lost fight every time this happens. this is not always the case and never with npc invaders. is this due to lag depending on the players location?
if your name was gundyr on SL 200-300, i must say that buddy, you deserved those point downs
who thought being able to use tears of denial in a differents hosts world was a good idea
like come on jeez it's unfair to the host
what in gods name where they thinking of making an online but without crossplay
- Anonymous
Yo I really want to get into invading and hosting after I got a taste. What level should I be for different areas? Or is it just a SL120 meta thing now? Or have people broadly levelled past that?
- Anonymous
Kinda sad to see what was once an enjoyable brawl mode became a ganker's paradise. Oh well, at least it's the last of it's kind.
- Anonymous
C'mon bro, if you're always getting ganked, try invading somewhere other than pontiff's backyard, crucifixion, and ringed city. Every other area feels multiple times more enjoyable and fluid to deal with squads, including a stream of blues.
Best example is probably the second half of dreg heap- that place has great invasions and it's where I'd recommend going to warm up/learn how to deal with groups in pvp. No one uses a dried finger, so it's usually just you, but there's very few chokepoints where you can be camped at and there's always an escape route no matter where you are.
Tl/dr go invade in more niche areas
- Anonymous
why did they think it was a good idea to give invaders estus
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I miss seeing other people, the world feels so lonely offline
- Anonymous
ive finished elden ring and starting DS3 now. should I wait before online servers are back up? I would like to see the messages etc.
- Anonymous
day 52 no online.... my sun... its setting... its dark., so dark.....
- Anonymous
Bad news everybody.
According to the latest post of the official Dark Souls twitter the online servers will remain offline at least until Elden Ring's release.
https://twitter.com/DarkSoulsGame/status/1491411609499353088
I'm starting to miss you guys. :(
- Anonymous
I seriously had most fun in invasions when I started off and sucked at it, and had an improvised on-the-go build. Every defeat was whatever, let me try again. I might have at least killed a phantom before getting killed and was pretty happy about it. I might have learned some new lesson and applied it next time to good effect. Meanwhile every proper victory was a flood of endorphins to my brain. I was a good sport in losing and a good sport in winning, even facing off against twinks.
Fast forward a few years, with a dedicated PvP build and a good win-to-loss ratio, every victory feels meh, barring the exceptional 1v4 victory where you humiliate each and every phantom along with the host. Meanwhile every loss turns me into a pink Wojak. This is compounded by the fact that I play on the PC and every time I come back it seems the Cheat Engine kiddies proliferate more and more. I know I should not care that much but can't help my brain got wired that way. I feel like PvP is a curse, where I keep chasing that joy I first experienced but cannot recreate. I already cut down my online play time severely and put it towards more productive ends, but every now and then I get drawn back in by an urge like a junkie and always come out disappointed.
/End blogpost
- Anonymous
something's wrong, i can't log into any online server, no matter how much i retry it still says i wasn't able to log in, i tried using a way of white circlet because i thought that would fix the problem but i'm not banned because it wouldn't let me use it. i don't know what's happening and i can not solo SOC, Gael, and Midir no matter how hard i try.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Currently, I'm a SL 20ish lvl invading for shackles on the 1st and 2nd level. If I invade I run into Fight club filled with high gear or gank squads. I can't co-op because I can't get a summons to save my life. I just want 30 shackles for the WARMTH spell. Can anyone help, give advise. Also Get GUD doesn't count I was in anor londo with another character killed like 20 invader some were the same people, I did once i could do it again so GET GUD does not apply.
- Anonymous
I've realized that sometimes I or my opponent gets favored by not having the other's delay. Can anyone confirm what's really going on?
- Anonymous
Heres a dumb question. i have ds3 for pc...ive set prefs to play online. No luck... how or where do i login or sign up to play online ??? Please help
- Anonymous
Pros and cons of ds3 pvp(as an invader):
Pros: more build options, more balanced enemy placement for anti-ganks, consistent combos, good setups for earlygame damage, insane freedom for late game builds, heavily rewards skill and game sense
Cons: gankers, hackers. I would say twinks here as well, but that can be countered pretty well by certain weapons that reward certan playstyles, like Lucerne/glaive, Hollowslayer, sellsword twinblades, dark hand, etc.
Also, no offense to you RKPG twinks, but y'all are honestly easier to fight than non twinks.
- Anonymous
I am currently trying out a SL-1 (no weapon upgrades) pvp build and usually the pairing (red soapstone) with other players works just fine.
However, sometimes I also get paired with players that deal damage well outside the expected level ranges. Like losing 4/5 of the hp from a simple 2-handed firelink greatsword swing or getting outright one-shot.
Is the scaling/summoning range different for the red soapstone (e.g. compared to the white signs)?
- Anonymous
RoF stamina glitch really dampened this. The amount of people who run forever, hide themselves on ladder if they can, really bums out the experience.
- Anonymous
Reasons Ds3 online is bad:
- poorly designed p2p severs
- next to no balance
- terrible anticheat
- no maintenance or patches
- bad invasion system
Reasons DS3 online is good:
- despite how terrible it is, it is still fun
Anyone on to help in farron keep? Trying to get last flame to open door to abyss watcher. Psn: ckatt31
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
How to enjoy online without any lat: Nuke every country that isn't yours
(solution only has a 25% chance of eliminating all lag)
- Anonymous
The disappointment I have in Fromsoft and the community itself is unmeasurable.
- Anonymous
*defeats an invader after an intense chase resulting in an all or nothing duel round the bonfire*
Overly competetive players who hate any form of simple weapon: point down and dung pies
Chads: point up regardless of what build they were using, only dissing hackers
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Hey Flanders, I was working on a thesis for why Dark Souls 3 Online is good, but I accidently proved god isn't real instead.
- Anonymous
Basically if u wanna do pvp u have to use a longsword, goddamn people just spam R1 with that absurd phantom range
- Anonymous
Hey all,
lately, I feel kinda burnt out on the PVP of Dark Souls 3.
I really enjoyed PVP for a time, but after trying out different playstyles (invasion, duels etc.) and different builds/weapons I have the feeling to have seen it all.
Do you have any suggestions or ideas on how to mix up the PVP for a "new" or "different" PVP experience?
Maybe something along the line of "Capture the flag" where red phantoms go against blue phantoms to lead the flag (the host) to a certain location.
However, I don't think that this could be pulled off with the given mechanics of Dark Souls 3 PVP.
I would be happy to hear your thoughts. :)
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Back in the days of ps3, in ds1, i used to invade at darkroot garden, where pvp was quite active (some gonkers, but wasn't nearly as problematic) . Got some hatemails and i remember answering one of them with the following phrase: "when i get dark souls 3, maybe i show some honor."
That didn't age well. Glad i don't pay for ps scam plus anymore.
- Anonymous
I'm i the only one who plays in offline or only plays with my mates if so well i better quit this game because im clearly not playing it right
- Anonymous
lol i've been invaded by 3 ppl at a time without any summons. game can be pretty bullshit
- Anonymous
Hey guys is it possible to summon 3 white phantoms with the Dried Fingers AND summon a red-sign phantom for 5-player DS3?
- Anonymous
I really hope that Elden Ring focuses the majority of the game's features to appeal to it's pvp like how it did with DS3. DS3 may be my second favorite Soulsborne game but it is very flawed when it comes to the pvp.
- Anonymous
DS3 pvp is one of those rare pvp's that is so bad that even when you're doing good you still don't enjoy it and you very quickly become bored of all of the backstabbing, lag switching, spell spamming meta slaves
- Anonymous
Dark souls pvp ain't the best but it definitely isn't the worst as it's unique function's like no other pvp game. It just isn't meant for everyone but it's respectible
- Anonymous
Ds2 was the only Souls game with the tiniest bit decent PvP and Miyazaki didn't direct it. I don't know why y'all are getting you're hopes for Elden Ring PvP.
- Anonymous
Pvp was never meant to be competitive, some of you guys just have a superiority complex from playing a difficult game
- Anonymous
Do many people still play online, I’m looking to help out players with bosses and just wondered whether it’s still popular enough to be worth it?
- Anonymous
The horrible state of multiplayer in this game are the devs's fault for a minor part of it, but most of the fault falls to the community, wich has like 60% of the playerbase being players who got ds3 as their first souls game and never got any sense of difficulty thanks to straight sword's r1 spam winning most situations.
At the beggining fromsoft did listen to the community a little, like "ok, let's be a little more lenient". But these ppl complained from day 1 about the things they weren't interested about, such as invaders being able to kill hosts, the usage of twink builds, certain weapons now known for the nerfs that killed them, etc.
While hosts of embers and blue dudes got babysitted, ppl with interest in pvp for their covenants or some sort of fun got stuck with problems that never got solved, such as infinite summons, bypassing sl limitations to a phantom summoned from ng+2 to ng, dedicated gank squads with nothing else to do than camping the spawnzone of covenant members who needs to invade in order to progress in said covenant (yeah the items can be farmed, but they say the same about blues and darkmoon rewards and they start hating), matchmaking prioritizing worlds with most phantoms summoned, blue phantoms appearing non-stop, etc.
The community asked for host's problems to be solved, but the invader's problems were ignored as they weren't interested in losing that long list of advantages. Therefore invaders had to make do with how little they had left, like one-shot builds and gankspank builds. That's the meta nowadays. Invaders get in a world of a solo host and they have a harder time against a host fightning alone because of how used is the invader to 3 or 4 ppl swimging mindlessly at him. Ganks are that frequent.
Thankfully, invaders got hollow arena and spears of the church, the latter being the best solution against the ganking problem. Of course the majority of the community would complain about the spears of the church being "forced pvp", "artificial difficulty", etc. But the devs stopped listening by that point for a good reason: they accustomed the community to play with summons on the host's back and all the odds in their favor, wich wouldn't be different from the artificial difficulty Lautrec had in ds1 when we tried to kill him via black eye orb. Devs got tired in the last moment and said "we're done. Not fixing stuff we didn't break".
Then there is hollow arena, empty as gael's arena. Ppl too used to have buddies on their back would likely be stomped whenever they find themselves on even ground with their opponents, and the brawls died rather quickly. Only 1 vs 1 left in there, wich is yet another example of the community too accustomed to 3 vs 1 situations.
To finish this long rant, the state of multiplayer in this game is only on you, hosts of embers. If you encounter one-shot daggers, rtsr builds or force + hammer invaders against your gank squads, remember what brought them in the first place before hating on them.
For invaders with some interest left in soul games's pvp, this state of online is a ds3 exclusive. Don't invade here if you want to be creative or have genuine fun.
- Anonymous
If you're playing online in windows, get invaded while embered and want to quit but don't know how to leave the game, the technique I've figured out is to hit alt-enter to put the game in windowed mode, then hit the windows icon key to take mouse control from the game window out to the desktop, and just close the window. I better there's a quicker and better way, but this always works for me. The game is constantly autosaving, so even though it'll start back with the message about "you might lose save data if you don't quit out normally", I've never come close to losing any progress - I may just not be at the exact spot where I was when I closed the window
- Anonymous
Sadly, this would be the only aspect in elden ring that i wouldn't be hyped about.
- Anonymous
I dare anyone to give a reason of Dark Souls online being the slightest bit decent
- Anonymous
Why do you guys always complain about PvP? It's been hot garbage since day 1 and Fromsoft is never going to try to make it bearable. We've all known this and believe me, it's never going to change. So lets just all deal with it and make the best of it
- Anonymous
Calling phantom has not worked for me lately, only after a long wait (about 30 minutes) did I see the callsign of a friend, we both use the same password I'm NG ++ and he's NG +, that shouldn't matter to the password or ?
Can it be that the servers have a certain priority e.g. more for invasions or something?
Would be really grateful if someone has experience.
Today I spent another 2 hours waiting for a sign to appear.
We never put it at the same time, that doesn't work, I know
Don't know what to do anymore
- Anonymous
I think this game was desined for pve, online isnt that fun.
- Anonymous
I swear the day Dark Souls will have decent PvP will be the day I die
- Anonymous
PVP wouldn't be that bad if you didn't always invade / undead arena people who are on the other side of the world from you and it just is a lag fest. add more regions to matchmaking not just japan and the rest of the world
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Why does the PvP have to so freaking addictive??? It's absolute garbage and I know it every time I play it, yet I just can't stop. Help!
- Anonymous
Anyone have issues summoning with a password but can be summoned and invaded without it
- Anonymous
So there's a new cheat script going around that allows cheaters to force players into ng+, reset their progress, and pretty much just ruin their entire saves. From/Bandai still refuse to even acknowledge the situation, and if this isn't proof that they are terrible online developers, then I don't know what is.
Can't do patch squat on PC anymore
- Anonymous
Disliking DS3 PVP isn't just a meme... It's a way of life! :D
- Anonymous
People dislike DS3 PVP. It’s the memes that count... or just git gud.
- Anonymous
I keep getting the message "Unable to summon phantom" when an online player leaves a summoning sign. Why? (I'm at the Sister Friede boss fight if it makes any difference)
- Anonymous
If you think PvP is even the tiniest bit good, then you have less braincells than a PKCS user who posts comments about how good PKCS is
- Anonymous
As "bad" as online play is said to be for Dark Souls, I will say it has always gotten better with each game. And while I doubt Elden Ring PvP (if there is any) will be perfect, I'm sure it'll at least surpass Ds3 which I personally think had done a decent job. Fingers crossed
- Anonymous
Online used to run fine a few months ago, but now everything is so laggy its gotten to the point where general online is just unplayable. Is there any explanation how something like that could happen?
I really really want to enjoy pvp, and I do not mind getting my ass handed to me on the way, but why must I learn to play what is essentially a shittier, laggier version of the regular gameplay. Is there truly no way for From to make pvp where I actually see my character's attacks connecting or are we forever doomed to this bullshit? I could de-educate myself and learn to play with lag or I could stick to the crisp and smooth fun of the normal game... hmmm. tough one
I would be fine with getting my ass whooped by some dumbass overpowered bullshit if you know... I actually saw my character get ****ed up.
If you die helping somebody out as a phantom, do you lose ember + your souls? Or do you simply go back to where you were and put your sign down again? I'm helping people out with nameless king for sunlight medals and i'm kinda unsure about my entire grind being sent down the drain.
- Anonymous
Trying to kill Friede at soul level 45 on pc, if anyone can throw down a summon sign in that area would be dope, no low level summons
- Anonymous
Any streamer who gets hit by a weapon or spell: "Nice latency"
- Anonymous
I want to help a friend with some bosses he struggles with but I need some clarification first. When I put down my summon sign can I only be summoned by people around my SL? I'm currently Level 130 and want to keep it if possible, but is it possible to be to high leveled for your friends to summon you? Or when you have them listed as friends on you console (PS4 in this case) that these summon signs have priority? I'm completely new to online in these games and would appreciate some help.
- Anonymous
If you ever think the toxicity hosts and blues spewed over this game in all these years will just stay here, you re as mad as hodrick. Elden rimg better has this much host protection if you ever want to go past the 1rst zone.
- Anonymous
I like to think the ringing of the bell that awakens the unkindled releases its last bit of energy in the form of messages to guide newly awoken Ash. After all the whole point in us being alive is to take the lords back to their thrones. Wouldn't want to awaken someone and they have no idea how to roll
- Anonymous
Fromsoft should not be allowed to design online play. Better to outsource to some studio that is actually competent and knows what they are doing. Unlike these dunces who can't even understand the basic concept of region lock.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Words you'll never hear in the same sentence: "Fromsoft" & "Decent PvP"
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
People thinking Elden Ring will have good PvP. Fromsoft is just incapable of making decent PvP games anymore. Last good one was Armored Core and that was a looooooong time ago.
- Anonymous
can you get boss souls by assisting the host in killing the boss? I want to get the dragonslayer great-shield without having to start ng+
if i already defeated a boss in my area, can i be summoned in others' worlds to fight alongside them? because i've never been summoned for a boss i've defeated before, and i've tried with almost every boss there is. it's kinda annoying, really.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
am i the only one who cant find a world to invade? ive tried to invade using red eye orb like 10 times and was succesful once
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Imagine a dark souls game where the pvp wasn't absolute ****
- Anonymous
Imagine if getting softbanned would actually just put you in a chinese server. No one would dare cheat again
Wow! I never knew FromSoftware would add ice skaters to Dark Souls 3! Such a surprise, right guys?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
is it just me, or is it laggy as hell. I don't think I've gone through a single invasion that didn't had a second or 2 delay between hits and damage, and half the time I get sniped by a short sword from halfway across the map. Such a shame considering how fun pvp is
- Anonymous
Fromsoft once again proving their complete incompetence at creating an online multiplayer
- Anonymous
What is more scummier than ganking is an invader invading a solo host and then running away to area enemies. Like, if you cannot take on the host 1 on 1, why the **** do you even invade? These scrubs always end up dying, but god damn are they annoying.
- Anonymous
People complain about online PvP being bad when it was bad since the very first game. Dark Souls is based around PvE. PvP was just an afterthought on Fromsofts part and it's a shame its that way, cause PvP really helps keep these games alive. Hope Elden Ring has a stronger focus on PvP
- Anonymous
I hate all of the tech in high level pvp in DS1 but i returned to DS3 and it took all of 5 minutes to enjoy the meta duels more than I ever have in the first game. Straight forward duels involving full move sets, spacing and timing are just my preference really.
- Anonymous
I have ds3 tet still couldn't play online bcoz of fcking money grub called ps plus :'(
I wish I hadn't take this side of the game so serious when it was never supposed to be, investing so much time in improving and then ending feeling indifferent after every victory I achieved. Why did I adapt to such a broken system? The biggest factor is that it just doesn't feel natural to adjust to the latency between opponents. Yeah, when everything goes smooth it's really entertaining to engage but that's not always the case and it should be. Despite all of that, I met wholesome people along the way, fight clubs filled with incredible duelists who pushed me to my limits and made me a better player by losing against them a lot. Worth mentioning that other players I saw were super creative with their swapping techniques and left me in awe by their fast-as-hell button pressing and inventory management. Lone hosts who were completely clueless in PvP but deserved to get some very valuable items like embers and stacks of souls which I dropped when they had a sliver of health left or didn't want to fight at all. But then I went to the dark side of every PvP community and I discovered mentally disturbed individuals who used every dirty trick in the book to gain an advantage and belittle others. Unscaled phantoms, modded armor, etc. As the time went on I got more tilted and started to become somewhat toxic myself (only by my actions in the game, never sending hatemail) by throwing dung pies on the vanishing corpses of my foes and using a lot of glitches to fight fire with fire and guarantee my survival at all cost. Furthermore I fell down the rabbit hole and I moved into various level brackets seeing all types of behaviors and playstyles. Players impersonating other players to give them a bad image, alt accounts to avoid consequences of their heinous acts, constant drama between invaders and gankers escalating in a distasteful manner. I just had enough of seeing all of this and I decided to only help people fighting bosses. Sometimes I think of coming back to that wasteland... I really miss it despite all the flaws I listed, it's such an unique and charming mess of a mode that I didn't see replicated in other multiplayer games.
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