Dark Souls III is a difficult game; if you start playing the game for the first time, you will be in for a long ride.
From the bosses to the worlds, there is no other game like it, excluding the other Dark Souls games. It has a very dark vibe and can get a little lonely after a while if it is your first time playing.
White Sign Soapstone
The main thing you will need to have either you play with friends, or vice versa is a White Sign Soapstone. The way to get this item is very easy, all you have to do is buy it from the Shrine Handmaid for only 500 souls, and it is yours forever.
Once you have this item, the way to use it is to go to a world where your friend is. Once there, you must be Embered to use the item, so keep that in mind. As you are Embered, go to the specific spot where your friend is and use the White Sign Soapstone.
You will then write a sign on the ground that the other player will see if they are also Embered. Once the other player sees it, they can summon you to their world. The only downside to summoning in Dark Souls III is that once you defeat the area’s boss or die by an enemy, the summoned person will be sent back to their world. It is pretty complicated, but it is not that hard once you figure it out.
PVP
Player versus player is another huge aspect of Dark Souls that many people do to fill their time. Many people have PVP builds that are almost overpowered and unnecessary, and very unbearable for a person with a normal build.
You can randomly get invaded by anyone if you are connected online. Still, if you want to invade someone else that wants to be invaded, you can get a Red Sign Soapstone and put down an invasion sign that will allow a random person to summon you for the sole purpose of fighting you.
You can also do this if you want to fight your friend to change the gameplay for a bit. It can irritate a regular player to get invaded when they don’t want to be, so wanting to get invaded can change up your build entirely. It is fun to fight someone you know because it is just a friendly competition rather than a rage fest.
PVE
This is the more chill side of summoning because you and a buddy or two can easily just go around in a world and fight enemies together. Nothing is better than taking on a horde of enemies with your buddies and dominating them.
If you have only played the game solo, I would highly recommend getting a friend or two and playing through the game with them. It takes a little while to get the stuff for it, but it is fun.
Invading
There is a way to invade other people without them wanting an invasion, and that is through the Red Eye Orb. All you have to do is use this item, and you will be sent to another Embered player’s world to fight them.
If you beat them, you will receive a Pale Tongue, and your character will become Ember. If you don’t have any Embers, this is the perfect way to become Embers for summoning.
You can also find Red invasion signs on the ground for those who want to fight you. Using the Red Eye Orb is fun, but those people usually want to play the game and not get invaded.
It is fun for you, but when you get invaded and don’t want to, it is annoying. Do others a favor and find the signs on the ground before resorting to the Orb.
DLC Hollow Arena
Hollow Arena or Undead Match is a Location in Dark Souls 3. It is a PvP-exclusive feature accessible to owners of the Season Pass, Ashes of Ariandel, or The Ringed City DLC. It can be accessed at any Bonfire after you have unlocked it in your game. There are 2 game types in the arena: Duel and Brawl. All matches are timed events.
In a Brawl, players fight and die repeatedly, and the player with the most kills at the end of a match is the victor. In Brawls, combatants are allowed a maximum of one Estus and one Ashen Estus flask, which become refilled by killing an opponent (once per life) or respawning after death.
Brawls have several different formats, team-based 2v2, and 3v3 or more chaotic formats like 4-player and 6-player free for all. Upon dying, players spawn back in with a potent Wrath of God’s blast to prevent spawn camping.
Duels are simple “to the death” events that end when one player dies. Players are not able to use Estus during a duel, but they are provided with five flasks of Ashen Estus for their magic weapons.
There are a total of 4 maps that the players can choose from, but the maps are only maps, and it does not really matter which one you choose.
Why should you summon other players?
The most important thing is how you, as a player, enjoy fighting, not what everybody else thinks. If you take pride in taking on a boss solo, do that. If you get stuck, put your sign down and get summoned so that you can study the boss in slightly more forgiving circumstances.
Just play how you want to, and don’t beat yourself over a section that is too hard to beat. If you look at it differently, summoning is a tool you can use to learn the game even better.
Why should other players summon you?
There are really 3 reasons other people should summon you: either helping the player get through a part they are stuck on, invading someone else, or helping someone fight against another person who is invading them.
Other than just playing with your friends, those are the only reasons to be summoned by other people. Use all the tools the game gives you to learn more about the mechanics and gameplay of the game itself.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the number of things it allows you to do makes Dark Souls III special. You can either play with your friend or go and fight a random person. The possibilities are endless when it comes to content in this game.
If you don’t own the DLCs and want more content from the game, go ahead and buy it because it unlocks even more content for you to enjoy and even harder difficulty than the normal game.
Related: Check out this amazing guide to Dark Souls III on Amazon here.