Dark Souls 3 Co Op Guide And How To Play With Friends
Navigating the beautiful yet unforgiving kingdom of Lothric can be a daunting task when attempting it completely alone. Fortunately, the multiplayer mechanics allow players to summon allies to their side to share the burden of difficult boss encounters and treacherous environments. This guide will outline the exact steps required to establish a stable cooperative session with your friends seamlessly.
Understanding the Embered Requirement
Before you can invite other players into your game world, your character must enter the Embered state. You can achieve this temporary status bonus by consuming an Ember item from your inventory or by defeating a major area boss. Becoming Embered increases your maximum health pool by thirty percent and reveals the multiplayer symbols painted on the ground by other adventurers.
It is important to remember that this state remains highly temporary and vanishes immediately upon your character's death. If you fall in battle, you must consume another precious resource to open your world to friendly spirits once again. Managing your supply of these items is essential for maintaining long cooperative sessions throughout your journey.
Acquiring the White Sign Soapstone
To place down your own multiplayer markings, you must first purchase a specific tool from the main hub area. Travel directly to Firelink Shrine and locate the Shrine Handmaid sitting in the narrow stone corridor. She sells the White Sign Soapstone for a small fee of five hundred souls early in the game.
Once purchased, this infinite-use item can be placed into your quick-slot inventory bar for rapid access during exploration. Using the soapstone draws a bright white glowing signature on the floor that can be viewed by players in other worlds. This allows you to easily join a friend's campaign to help them conquer the threats ahead.
Setting Up Matchmaking Passwords
Standard matchmaking system restrictions rely heavily on matching players who possess similar character levels and weapon upgrade tiers. If your levels differ significantly, the game will naturally hide your cooperative markings from each other. Fortunately, you can entirely bypass these restrictions by utilizing the built-in system password feature.
Open your main network settings menu and navigate to the matchmaking options tab to input a unique phrase. Ensure that both you and your companion are using the exact same capitalization and spelling in this box. This structural synchronization forces the servers to display your specific markers regardless of any statistical gaps between characters.
Managing Invaders and Area Bosses
While playing cooperatively provides an immense combat advantage, it also leaves your world highly vulnerable to hostile player invasions. The matchmaking algorithm prioritizes open multiplayer sessions when sending red phantom invaders to disrupt progress. Staying close to your companions ensures you can quickly coordinate defenses against these unexpected threats.
Additionally, you must keep in mind that cooperative play remains localized to specific subregions tied to the area's main boss. Once the primary boss of a region has been defeated, the host player can no longer summon friendly phantoms into that specific zone. Plan your exploration paths carefully to ensure you gather all hidden items before initiating the final boss fight.