Dark Souls 3: How To Play Co-op & Leave Summon Signs (2024)

There is a reason the Dark Souls series is best known for its difficulty. Even iftraversing its unforgiving environments and countless surprisesdon’tget to you, the boss battles will. For challenges that seem unsurmountable, the game affords players the option to summon help in the form of phantoms. These phantoms can either be NPCs (Non-Player Characters) or other players on the network.

Dark Souls III is no different in this regard. Series veterans prefer playing solo for that extra sense of achievement, if you’re new to the seriesand are having trouble with a certain area or boss, know that you don’t have to go it alone. If you managed to defeat the first boss and make it to the second area of the game, you’ve probably already come across summon signs and may even have summoned a few playersto your world to engage injolly cooperation.In what follows, we’ll walk you through usingsummon signs in Dark Souls III, its advantages anddisadvantages, as well as leaving your own summon sign to help others and therewards you can get for doing so.

How To Summon Other Players

Summoning is simple.Pastthe first boss (Iudex Gundyr) and the game’s hub (Firelink Shrine), you’ll be able to see summon signs littered across the Dark Souls III landscapeas long as your character holdsthe power of the Lord of Cinder, which can be obtained by consuming an Ember or defeating a boss and boosts your health points till your next death. Embers can be found all across the game’s world and earned by helping other players defeat a boss. To use a summon sign, simply walk over it and hit the action button once to activate itand again to confirm the summoning.

Usually found at bonfires that precede particularly challenging areas, or right before a boss battle, summon signs are matchedto both your soul level andthe upgrade level of your weapon, and disappear from an area as soon as itsboss has been defeated. The matchmaking range for soul level and weapon upgrade levelis such that you cansee summon signs for players who are at a +10/-10differencein soul levelcompared to your own and are carryingweapons thathave a+2/-2 upgrade level compared to the highest-upgraded weapon in your inventory. Items in the Storage Box do not seem to be considered.

Note:Some areas and bonfires, like the one before the first boss, Iudex Gundyr, do not allow summoning players.

You can summon up to two playersfor co-op at a time.A third player can be summoned by using the Dried Fingeritem, which can be purchased from theShrine Handmaidin Firelink Shrine for 2000 souls. Note that doing so will increase your chances of being invaded by up to two dark spirits (players looking tokill the host of a world for a reward).

Summon Sign Colors

Summonsigns come inwhite, gold, purple, andred colors. The red variants are PvP (Player vs Player)signsand should only be used if you’re willingto test your skills in a duelwithanother player. The purple signs are from players in theMound-Makers covenant. These players can help you defeat yourenemies or attack you and other phantoms, but they can’t join you in boss battles. Considering that their prize lies in killing you and ruining your day, their signs are best left untouched if you’re looking for help.

Orange signs are left by playersin the co-op-focusedWarriors of Sunlightcovenant while players in any other covenant or those without one leave white signs. The last two are the ones you should be looking for if you’re having trouble with an area.

Advantages & Disadvantages Of Summoning

The advantages are numerous, of course.You and your phantom friends can gank enemies from multiple sides, keeping them in constant stun-lock or performing critical hits from the rear. The phantoms who help you have usually cleared the area themselves and know their way around. They may point you to secrets and warn you of enemies that you may otherwise have missed. Summons also help tremendously with dark spirit invasions, though ganking an invader is considered unethical amongst Dark Souls PvP vets.

Boss battles, on the other hand, may not always become easier with co-op. Whenever you summon other players to an area, the boss of the area getsa boost to itshealth points. While it becomes easier to flank enemies in numbers, certain bosses have attacks or combos that can make short work of your help, leaving you with an even tougher fight on your hands, likely to result in a wasted Ember.Pick your co-op battles wisely.

If you’re unlucky, you might get co-op buddies that like to dash through the area and get to the boss battle as soon as possible. This could result in you missing key items. You could always return to the area after you’ve defeated the boss and scour through it again on your own, without fear of invasions.

InvitingYour Friends For Co-opVia Password Matching

Taking a leaf out of Bloodborne’s page, Dark Souls III has introduced thePassword Matching feature to the series, allowing players tosummonfriends of choice over to their world. Apart from it being loads more fun, playing with people you know makes it easier to coordinate during boss fights, unless your friends enjoytormenting you like mine do. It also removes the aforementioned soul level and weapon upgrade level matchmaking restrictions, scaling thestats of summoned phantoms according to the level of the summoner. What this means, essentially, is that you or your friend could beplaying through the final stages of the game and still help out one anotherwith early-game bosses and areas.

To invite a friend to your world,open the game’s menu toNetwork Settings, type an invitepassword of choice into the Passwordfield,and have your friend do the same. You and your friend(s) should now be the only ones able to see each other’s summon signs in the game’s world.

How &Where To Leave Your Summon Sign

To get summoned into another player’s world for co-op fun, you’ll need the White Sign Soapstone, which can be purchased from theShrine Handmaidfor a meager 1500 souls.

Once that is done,simply walk to whatever area with which you’d like to help other players, open your inventory, select the White Sign Soapstone, hitUse and go about your business. You don’t need to consume an Ember to leave your summon sign.

When another player within a certain range of your soul and weapon level interacts with your sign, you will be alerted and subsequently teleportedto the player’s world.The item offersunlimited uses, so you don’t have to worry about your co-op adventures costing more than that initial investment.

Summon signs are best left near bonfiresor before boss battle areas.

Potential Rewards & Benefits Of Getting Summoned

Getting summoned is a risk-free way of farming souls, first and foremost. When you die in another player’s world as a friendly summon, you don’t lose souls or the Lord of Cinder boost. Summoned phantoms have their health points returned to the original count if Embered, and are given half of their Estus Flask charges in another player’s world.Youearn souls for whatever enemies are killedin thehost’s world, including a percentage (approximated at 25%) of the soul reward for the boss of the area. In addition, killing the boss

1. restores Ember, earningyou the Lord of Cinder power and its temporary health boost.
2. earns you a consumable Ember and
3. aSunlight Medal (whichcan be traded for rewards by members of the Warriors of Sunlight covenant).

How To Send Summoned Players Back Or Return To Your World

Friendlyphantoms are automaticallyreturned to their worlds after being killed or as soon as the boss of the area has been defeated. Toreturn a particular phantomto theirworld at any time, simply usethe Black Separation Crystal item from the in-gameor your inventory and from the list that follows, select the player you want to remove.Using the same item while within another player’s world will have the same effect.

Greet Your Host, Welcome Your Summons!

Last but not the least, don’t forget togreet your fellow Dark Soul-ers with anice bow or a hearty wave. Open the Gestures menu and select a greetingthat suitsyou. You can collect more of these gesturesby completing certain actions and talking to NPCs throughout the game.

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