Online Mechanics

Matchmaking

The tiers used for deciding who you can summon and invade are constrained by both Soul Level and weapon reinforcement level in Dark Souls III. As your Soul Level increases and your weaponry grows stronger, you will move up the tiers, restricting you to your current tier.

The flow regarding online multiplayer matching is as follows:

  • Players who do not match regulation versions are disregarded
  • Players who can only connect on certain network types (especially NAT3) are disregarded.1
  • With the host as a basis, players with characters who are outside a certain level range are disregarded.
  • Players in a different region are disregarded
  • With the host as a basis, players who have their strongest maximum upgraded weapon surpass a certain range are disregarded.
  • Only during password matchmaking can players match ignoring both character level and weapon upgrade level as long as they have matching passwords.

1. If your network type is currently NAT3 (strict), you may be able to open internet browsers but chat functions and online game connections can be limited so we recommend checking the notes below.

  • Have a global IP address outside of NAT.
  • Enabled UPnP settings.
  • If UPnP is disabled, unlocking the port is necessary.

Even if your NAT type is 1 (open) or 2 (moderate), there are times when it will be difficult to connect with other players.

2. Going to system > network settings > cross region matching and setting it to Matchmaking ON can enable matching with players from another region.

Soul Level

During co-op play, matching will be easier the closer one is to the hosts' level.
During PvP/Invasions, either the invader and the host will be around the same level, or the invader will get matched to a higher level host.

The following soul level ranges are used for co-op and PvP matchmaking1:
Summons Upper Limit If Soul Level < 351 Lower Limit If Soul Level < 351
Sign summons Soul LevelHost × 1.1 + 10 Soul LevelHost × 0.9 - 10
Way of Blue Soul LevelHost × 1.1 + 15 Soul LevelHost × 0.9 - 15
Invaders Upper Limit If Soul Level < 351 Lower Limit If Soul Level < 351
Dark Spirit Soul LevelInvader × 1.1 + 20 Soul LevelInvader × 0.9
Mound Maker Soul LevelInvader × 1.15 + 20 Soul LevelInvader × 0.9
Covenant Soul LevelHost × 1.1 Soul LevelHost × 0.8 - 20

Soul Level 351. As of Regulation 1.35 the Upper Limit is removed if you're Soul Level 351 or above - but without a password you will not be able to do matchmaking with anyone below Soul Level 351.

Weapon Reinforcement

Players who are widely separated in terms of their highest upgraded weapon level do not get matched with each other. Only in password matchmaking do these terms not take effect.

Now, regardless of whether or not the weapon is in your inventory or how many of said weapon you currently bring, the highest level you ever upgraded a certain weapon until now will become the basis for this system to take place.

As of regulation 1.13 the adjustments are as follows, host and guest compared both ways:

Host Guest
0 1
1 2
2 3
3 4
4 6
5 7
6 8
7 9
8 10
9 10
10 10

Password Matching

When you use password matching to summon/invade somebody, tier restrictions are not enforced. However the higher leveled player will be scaled down to the lower leveled player's strength.

Player Count

By default, the maximum number of players in your world is four, including yourself. If you use the Dried Finger, this is increased to six.

Lord of Cinder

Summoners must be in Lord of Cinder mode to be able to summon other players.

Passives

Bloodstains

Shows where another player died and replays their last actions.

Messages

Players can leave messages on the ground in the game world. Messages can be control through the menu and can be rated. A player will gain HP when one of their messages is rated.

Ghosts

Other players can be shown in the game world as non-interactive ghosts fading in and out.

Summons

Summon Signs

Summon Signs are used to get people into your game. There are 3 different types of summon signs white, red, and purple although these can come in different colors excluding purple. Red can be red and yellow, white can change to yellow depending on which covenant you are in at the time. Red summons are the same as invaders. Purple are basically the same as red just different covenant, except can help the host or work against the host. White phantoms help you progress in game and can go into boss fights unlike the previous two, same is for solid yellow phantom.

Estus Flask

The number of flasks is reduced when summoned as any phantom. The current number is divided by two and rounded down.

Estus Flasks (normal) Estus Flasks (summoned)
0 0
1 0
2 1
3 1
4 2
5 2
6 3
7 3
8 4
9 4
10 5
11 5
12 6
13 6
14 7
15 7

Same applies for Ashen Estus Flask

Legacy

Prior to App: 1.13

Co-op play

  • Via Sign Summoning: A (Summoners level) Max: A + 10 + (A x 0.1) Min: A - 10 - (A x 0.1)
  • Way of the Blue: B (WoB hosts level) Max: B + 10 + (B x 0.1) Min: B - 10 - (B x 0.1)

PvP

  • Invading as dark spirit: C (Invaders level) Max: C +20 + (C x0.1) Min: C -(C x0.1)
  • As a Moundmaker: D (Invaders level) Max: D +20 + (D x 0.15) Min: D - (D x 0.1)
  • As a covenant invader: E (Invaders level) Max: E +(E x 0.1) such as Farran/Aldritch Min: E - 20 - (E x0.2)

Weapon Reinforcement

Lower weapon Higher weapon
0 +2
1 +3
2 +4
3 +5
4 +6
5 +8
6 +9
7 +10
8 +10
9 +10
10 +10

Comments

Footnotes
page revision: 42, last edited: 14 Jun 2017 14:42
Edit Rate (0) Tags History Files Print Site tools + Options
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License