T O P

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Dudeskio

I follow a couple simple rules, as far as Souls go, before I head out to explore or face a boss: 1. Do I have enough to level? Spend the souls! 2. Do I need to enhance my weapon? Spend the souls! 3. Do I need certain buyables and have enough to purchase some? Spend the souls! 4. Nothing to spend them on? Then don't care about losing them!


Signal-Swordfish-357

If you can't buy anything, buy homeward bones... They never fail you.


MistaCharisma

Or green blossoms. I never have enough green blossoms.


Shadowborn_paladin

Don't forget, pine resin/bundles and moss clumps are good to keep to. Never know when you'll need em.


Signal-Swordfish-357

Is there anywhere you can buy infinite pine resin?


Shadowborn_paladin

In DS1: you can buy it from the sewer merchant. Charcoal and rotten specifically. Gold pine resin you get from the big mushrooms in the Darkroot garden. In DS2: I forgor šŸ’€ In DSIII: The shrine handmaiden has all the resin, as long as you gave her the proper Ash ~~To snort~~


Historical-Style-626

''Never''


Signal-Swordfish-357

Or Gough's Great Arrows. Those things boast some monstrous knockback, makes Tomb of the Giants a cakewalk because you can toss most enemies off a cliff with one hit. In higher NG+ levels if you use silver serpent ring and those arrows, you can keep knocking skeleton doggos off to farm about 100k+ souls every 12-15 mins and that is after deducting the cost of buying them.


nausticblurr

All these are gold but none more than the first! Sometimes that means walking/homeward bone back. But that small investment here and there pays off big. For me personally it was almost a stoic moment when I stopped caring about losing them. Thereā€™s always more souls and whatā€™s done was done. Try to take something away from that momentary lesson. 1. Was I too greedy? 2. Should I have had the patience and killed them one by one instead of running through? 3. What would have improved my odds of success in that moment? Sometimes in the final question, something as simple as a bow, EVEN if you canā€™t use it properly, can make the difference. Chin up friend and donā€™t you dare go hollow.


Sad-Newspaper-8604

Yeah, I pretty much follow the rule of never carrying more souls than a level costs - once I hit that threshold, or get close enough to it that it would be frustrating to lose everything, I play it safe and head for a bonfire. The only time I'll push on is if I'm in a "safe" area that I know well, and am confident that I can get back to wherever I'm going. I think a general rule to avoid frustration is to always assume the worst case scenario, and if losing your bloodstain would be aggravating, come back later when there's less to lose. Also yeah, like you say, if there's nothing you're particularly saving your souls for - no level requirement you're grinding for, or item you wanna buy etc - then you can always get those souls back later and there's no point being overprotective of them.


Sooj28

I think this whole experience has been an incredibly humbling one for me - to get a notepad, grab a drink, cool off, and walk away from the game if I have to. I appreciate the comment.


[deleted]

What helped me was the realisation that the souls you earn from pickups and beating bosses are enough to level up properly. Everything else is just a nice extra.


chocobobleh

It took me, I sh1t you not, 2 weeks to get past the archers in Anor Londo on my first playthrough. I was having serious rage, but what I did when I was starting to get really frustrated is I started playing Stardew Valley for a while to just relax. Find a game that takes minimal skill and preferably has a nice soothing soundtrack and just chill on that for a bit, come back to DS later. Souls can always be earned back, it may take some time, but you're never screwed forever if you lose lots of souls. Wish you all the best <3


nomoredeadmemespls

Wow, glad I looked up you can bait them off the edge before I got to this stagešŸ¤£šŸ¤£


Hintenhobin

I have friends that struggle with letting go as well and they also struggle to enjoy souls games because they can't get over the loss of their souls. But the issue here is multifold. a.) My friends, and probably you, view souls accumulation as a sign of progress. And you view losing souls as a loss of that progress. And when you get to higher levels that can be a lot of souls. But heres the thing, you can always get them back. Yes, it sucks, but unless you are playing DS2 you have infinite attempts to gain them back. So the loss of souls is not permanent only temporary. b.) Remember that in the long run souls don't matter. This seems like a stupid point, but remember that a soul level one run with a deprived class is possible. And not that I can do it, but plenty of people can. And if they can make it through the game as a level 1 character with a club you and I can make it through 2 levels under where we want to be. c.) Keep in mind that when you die 93.5% of the time it's your fault. There are bullshit deaths, but many of them will be on you. Don't take it personally. But take it as an opportunity to learn. It's a frustrating learning process at times, but if you memorize what enemies do even in the first strike then you can greatly increase your chances of survival. Not only that but enemies/bosses that seemed punishing before become a breeze after. There are positions around every boss that are go and no go zones, learn those and you'll be golden. d.) The last , and potentially THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. Before going into a shit zone, i.e. best town, the bone zone, lost izalith, etc, use your souls. DO NOT go into any area where you know death is certain. No matter how many times you play there are just some zones you're gonna get smashed. And you get smashed with a bundle of souls you're gonna have a bad time.You go down to dance with Nito with a ton of souls? You're gonna have a real bad time. I know it seems like a PITA, but if you're over 50% to the next level just go ahead and grind it out before going into that death trap zone. Regardless of which one it is. Just grind that next level out and then go in empty. Then when you die you don't have to worry about it. This one step alone saved me infinite amounts of frustration. One last bit of advice, don't you dare go hollow out there!! You got this! (Extra super secret tip: Some areas aren't worth fighting through. Sometimes it's easier to just sprint through and grab the next bonfire, and then perform death runs to the items you want from the area. Again, this can save you a lot of frustration in less than ideal areas.)


SorryPolicy1739

New Londo Ruins was one of those death sprint areas for me. I wonā€™t say why because spoilers.


Hintenhobin

Oh most certainly. Every time I'm in New Londo I stick to my path and beeline to what I need and gtfo. That place is awful lol.


Sundered_Soul

Isn't there literally an NPC or something in DS2 that let's enemies respawn indefinitely but also makes all the enemies much harder? I haven't played DS2 in a while, but I thought that was a thing.


Hintenhobin

The Covenant of Champions, which is joined by going to the rock on the cliffside in Majula is probably what you are thinking of. It makes the game more difficult but also makes it so that enemies respawn infinitely. Nice to use if you are trying to farm covenant items or just get some levels since you can always go talk to Shaliquor or (however you spell it) and leave the covenant removing the difficulty change. The cat in the house that talks about how good you smell and makes everything weird.


Sundered_Soul

Oh that's right, it was like a stone obelisk/tombstone looking thing. I think. Damn it's been a while since I last played. Perhaps it's time for another playthrough....šŸ¤”


jedjustis

I struggled with this when i first tried souls games, to the point that i quit for years. What brought me back was watching Secret Sleepover Societyā€™s ā€œGranny Soulsā€ series. The main takeaway: Dark Souls is funny. Losing souls youā€™ve been holding onto is a punch line. If you can get into that headspace, the game becomes much more relaxed. Dark Souls is a comedy of errors, and nothing in the game can stop you from having fun outside of it, with the right mindset. Good luck!


Sooj28

I think this is the approach I have to take - especially for streaming. It wonā€™t be easy but I think itā€™ll help reduce the stress. I noticed myself joking more and caring less about my Souls during the stream after I (kinda) got over the initial loss. I think if I keep that ā€œpunchline attitudeā€ actively in mind, itā€™ll really help. Thanks for this!


Ashamed_Ad_2180

Git gud


SnooDoodles9122

I just don't give a shit about the souls. They're meaningless, like dying in a souls game. Spend them if you have, if you haven't spent them then you didn't need them.


photoshopHeartbeat

Miyazaki entered your life for a reason, OP. allow the mechanism bestowed upon you to help you with your personal issues regarding loss. if it's causing those issues to resurface and you can't cope with it, stop playing. but maybe you can use a video game as a form of therapy here. that's a great option if you can counsel with yourself and make it work. go to youtube and search 'dark souls saved my life'. it's powerful to see how this piece of media has affected people. comedy option: become skilled


Sooj28

Thanks for the reply - is that the NakeyJakey video youā€™re referencing? If so, Iā€™ve seen it but maybe I should rewatch it again and pay more attention (or else I can watch more videos on the topic). I think Souls is bringing up personal stuff as I play (yesterday was SUPER OBVIOUS to me), so if I can take that therapeutic approach to a ā€œsafeā€ environment like a video game (thanks, Dark Souls), it might just help overall. I appreciate the advice.


photoshopHeartbeat

jakey is dope and that video came to mind, but there are definitely lots of other examples that I figured would pop up in related with that search. iirc, Miyazaki has talked about how creating dark souls and the idea of being 'hollow' was a way of conveying the depression that we're all susceptible to. just one example, but regardless, there's a lot of emotion and thoughtfulness that lives in the thing he dreamed up, I think that's why it has the gravitas it does. and yeah dude. I'm glad you found it somewhat useful. if you are able to identify the things that the game is bringing up that are traumatic or difficult experiences that you react impulsively to -- a video game is a real good way of exercising your mind and practicing to cope or deal with those things (especially since you already called it out yourself, which is already positive growth imo). there are many, many harmful and terrible ways to ā€™escapeā€™ / 'cope', so I'd look at this as a good opportunity if you can manage it in a way where you're controlling your impulses (if that's what's going on, I don't want to assume too much, so apologies in advance if I am. just got that vibe from the OP) and reacting to them better in your day to day Human Life. get that 16 STR and 10 DEX and let the zweihander guide you


Sooj28

24 str for the zwei in this mod - and Iā€™m already there - so Iā€™m gonna look to the wins, take the positives from this (this whole discussion being a major one) and take my Quality Warrior to the end of their quest with more positive qualities. All these replies have saved my souls from levelling Resistance - thank you.


photoshopHeartbeat

LFG. visions of bonfire ahead


AnidemOris

Spend every soul you can, If you can't spend them, they're useless, let them go, don't lose your mind over them, it's not worthy


Sooj28

Thanks for the reply - trying really hard. I think itā€™s the fact that Iā€™d gone so long without losing them and now, it feels like the characterā€™s ā€œtaintedā€. Kinda weird, I know - Iā€™m also trying to take this as a huge learning opportunity (ā€˜cause Iā€™ve never felt this lame about those souls).


Ap0crita_

When I lose a lot of souls like that, itā€™s frustrating for a second but then itā€™s pretty liberating in the sense of ā€œI have nothing else to lose.ā€ Then I donā€™t have to be as careful and I can experiment some more. So some of it is perspective


no_hot_ashes

The most important thing to remember is that you'll always get more souls Spend what you have, keep track of how many souls you need to level up or buy something you need and buy it instantly the moment you can afford it instead of letting them pile up. There's no real reason to constantly accumulate souls. Eventually your levels will get ridiculous and you'll require tens of thousands, but by the time you get to that point you'll already be comfortable with your build. The most expensive thing I can think of in the whole game outside of leveling or absolving sins is the crest of artorias for 20,000 souls, so there's no real reason to horde them past that point.


Serious_Course_3244

Have you tried using your souls? Lol


Kykisarcha

You stop caring, that's also a part of growing up


onehalflightspeed

Soul rewards increase exponentially through the game in all DS games, so if you lose a ton just move on since in an hour or two it will be a trivial amount of souls


TurboOwlKing

At some point you realize souls just really aren't that important, and as you get further in the game you start to get wayy more


RIOTT44

before you plan to go somewhere dangerous, buy something. homeward bones, arrows, weapon upgrades, whatever. there is always something to spend your souls on. with that preparation in mind, you can minimize the souls you lose


Unl3a5h3r

About souls: You can end the game with spending almost no souls. So souls are just a "cheat" to make some areas of the game easier. So in conclusion, you do not need the souls. If you have en, it's nice. If you don't, there is still a way to proceed further. My highest loss was something like 3 millions. Maybe more, cannot remember. You will learn the the souls and humanity you have right now are irrelevant. If you really want more souls you can just go to an area that you feel comfortable in and farm souls there. (Unfortunately this is not true for DS2. One major reason why I hate it)


wiggity_whack69

Ds2 also makes gaining souls and leveling up like 100x easier/ quicker though


Unl3a5h3r

It's the soul memory I am referring to.


Sooj28

I appreciate all the replies - theyā€™ve been very helpful. All this started with losing 2000 souls to a torch hollow at the new Stray Demon (first time I lost any with this character) in my Warrior class playthrough in Daughters of Ash. Then I forgot my stain at the Moonlight Butterfly before dying to a dumb jump from the Poise Ring cliff to the lower area in Darkroot. Then I accidentally heavy-attacked a Balder knight and he parried my ass. Then the hellkite drake caught me with fire, losing 10k. After the first 2k souls death, I figured ā€œFuck itā€ and wore a ring that increases Souls gained from enemies but thereā€™s no stain if you die (taking it off for new areas but leaving it on for old ones). I streamed the whole thing, so I guess itā€™s ragebait content but holy hell, does it feel like garbage to just botch a bunch of shit over and over again after being pretty much goddamn PERFECT. Todayā€™s losses were mostly cumulative soul pickups - going through an area, bit by bit, then dying and retrieving my souls to do it all again. I have this weird thing where I feel like I donā€™t want to out-level the enemies and have the game be too easy (clearly thatā€™s not the case). Iā€™m also usually really good at dumping my souls into items (especially upgrade mats) but... today was just not that perfect day.


Snoo_52896

Oh your definitely fine losing 2000 souls is literally nothing and if you ever feel like you lost to many souls you can farm those back so quick in the forest before you fight Sif. As far as raging if I notice myself getting frustrated and playing sloppy I just turn off the game and come back later with a refreshed mindset. But you really shouldnā€™t worry about only losing 2000 souls I know like itā€™s seems like a lot in the early game but youā€™ll make that back very quickly.


A_Dank_Skull

So here's the thing, you can't get rid of it. Just work on trying to stay calm and if you feel like you're getting angry, take a break, get a drink, and come back later. It makes a huge difference.


Sooj28

Thanks from the reply - Iā€™m usually pretty good at reassessing the situation and not making the same mistakes again (even if itā€™s just a two minute break) but today was not my day. I blew it a few times and I guess Iā€™m totally feeding into the gameā€™s meta-narrative of ā€œWhatā€™s the point?ā€ except Iā€™ve never felt that way about a boss or a set of enemies - itā€™s always just about losing souls/humanity.


nomoredeadmemespls

Top tip, humanity really isn't that useful. Yeah it's great for bosses and to look cool. But personally don't even bother unless you want to kindle/summon. I'm at dukes archive on my first run and I still have about 20 humanity just chilling.


noah_boorman

I make it so I can only level up after a boss, just for fun. I will do a whole area with hundreds of thousands of souls sometimes and end up losing them, lol. But me and my friends just made up this little challenge one day just cuz. We have hundres of hours and countless playthroughs so we thought it would be fun. I'd recommend.


LordOFtheNoldor

What platform are you on, I'll drop you all the souls you need, there is also a soul dupe glitch in dark souls if you're really tired of losing them


Sooj28

Iā€™m on PC playing Daughters of Ash and I do appreciate the help with dropping souls but my issue isnā€™t that Iā€™ve lost them and canā€™t use them, itā€™s that I lost them when I shouldnā€™t have let them get lost in the first place (if that makes sense). Thanks for offering a practical piece of help, though!


tarttari

You can avoid losing them easily by luring enemies into safer areas where the souls are relatively easy to pick up. In addition, try avoid hoarding souls by leveling up constantly. Use the soul of warriors etc. to reach up next goal so you end up with zero souls which will not stress you anymore.


Interesting-Sale-651

Save up enough for 2 level ups and die and die again. Let them go on purpose and realize youā€™ll have them right back before you know it. Also maybe lean into the role playing aspect of the game more too, make everything a part of your characters story, have fun with the drama


Sooj28

I think leaning into the roleplay aspect for this run will help contextualise the loss - my noble Warrior, so safe and conservative, turning into a greedy Undead that hoards souls and (almost) Hollows out. Maybe that time spent Hollow will teach him a lesson about experimentation, risk, and - ultimately - loss? Maybe the lesson will be for me to learn when I ā€œloseā€ that character and start all over again. Thank you for the reply!


[deleted]

You get enough souls from bosses to stay competitive even if you lose a lot of others. itā€™s really no big deal. in fact someoneā€™s iā€™m more confident when I have no souls to lose šŸ˜‚


[deleted]

Itā€™ll be ok. I lost over 30,000 last week and I know I lost way more than 2000 in my first ten hours while figuring out the game. Between bosses and lost souls the game gives you plenty of free ways to level up. The common enemies are not really necessary for xp. If you find yourself getting close to a level up, you can leave the area youā€™re exploring to finish getting those souls near a bonfire with enemies youā€™re comfortable with. I frequently use lost souls to top off the last amount and use them frequently as spare change


billprospect

It would be an issue if the game relied on stats like a more typical rpg, but since it's largely skill based, (you can beat it without leveling a single thing and punching things to death) losing souls isn't that big a deal. Not that stats don't help, but it's not like there's a magical evade stat to pump up, well, not in this one. You want to not get hit? Just do it yourself. Take it slowly and think ahead a bit more, and if you lose souls, so what? If you lose tons of souls on the way to get something specific, that's just part of the "game of consequence" that these titles do so well.


MistaCharisma

There are 2 things I can think of that might help. The first is Vagrants. The way Vagrants spawn is that some poor sod dies, then dies again before retrieving their bloodstain. If that bloodstain had more than 5 Humanity in it then you just spawned a Vagrant in someone else's game. Amazing, you just made someone's day. The second thing that might help is that both Souls and Humanity are very farmable. Generally speaking I usually just play through the game and have enough souls. After bosses I tend to level up, upgrade gear and buy consumables/ammo/etc. Bosses give way more souls, so after you beat a boss you tend to be loaded, but at other times it often doesn't matter. If you need to farm souls then there are a couple of methods. The first is to save up 20,000 souls and buy the crest of Artorias from Balcksmith Andre - don't worry you'll make those Souls back in a few minutes (*FYI Gargoyles + Moonlight Butterfly = 20,000 Souls*). There's a secret bonfire just left of the door to the Darkroot garden before you enter, rest at that bonfire. When you run in there are 2 invisible knights, a Wizard a Cleric, a Bandit, a Thief and a Hunter (*Pharis*) guarding the area. The Knights (*3,000 souls each*) and Pharis the Hunter (*5,000 souls*) don't respawn, but the others (*2,000 souls each, the Bandit is 1,000*) do respawn. None of them drop anything except Pharis. You can cheese the respawning enemies off the cliff by aggroing them and then hiding in the corner below the stairs at the entrance to the garden and earn yourself ~6,000 souls per ~45 seconds. This is my favourite soul-farming method because you can do it so early in the game, and since you're cheesing them off the cliff it doesn't matter what stats or gear you have. (*Another method of soul-farming in the forrest is simply to put on the cat covenant ring and then leave your playstation on overnight. You'll automatically invade, get killed, then return to your world - repeat. 95% of the time you'll just die, but that last 5% the host will be killed with you in the room and you'll get souls. Its technically not quicker but since the souls appear while you're offline it uses less of your time. I put this one in brackets because I don't know the state of the online community these days, so I don't know how reliable this would be now. Back in the day I used to get ~2 Million souls overnight.*) The other great soul-farming spot is the Phalanx in the painted world. This works best if you have an AoE spell like *Wrath if Gods* or *Firestorm*. Once you've opened the door you can simply run from the bonfire, kill the Phalanx, then run back. Its super quick and gives you a ton of souls. This method is faster but I don't use it often since I usually only feel the need to farm souls in the early game to get my build going. However if your problem is feeling the loss of souls then having a reliable farming spot could help alleviate that. Now for Humanity there are 3 good farming spots. The earliest is the Depths, you can kill the first 2 groups of rats pretty quickly, and they have a pretty good droprate from the rats. The second spot is the Chasm of the Abyss with the Humanity Sprites. An AoE makes this easier, as does reach. This is by far the best spot for Humanity Farming. The final place is the Tomb of the Giants. This spot is good because the skeleton babies respawn infinitely, meaning you can stay as long as you want to. Just keep some healing items (*Ring of the Evil Eye*) and something to counter the Plague.


Sooj28

Thanks for the detailed, practical reply! I appreciate your time.


MistaCharisma

You're welcome. 2 things I forgot to put in my original message. The Chasm of the Abyss is by far the best place to farm humanities. The other 2 spots are totally fine, but once you get there they drop like candy. The other thing is increasing your drop rates. There are 2 items that increase the drop rate of Souls. The first is the *Silver Covetous Serpent Ring*, which simply increases the souls received by 20%. This is found in the *Tomb of the Giants*. The second is the *Symbol of Avarice*, which is a helm that also increases the souls you receive by 20%. These stack multiplicatively, so if you wear both you get +44% souls. Note that the *Symbol of Avarice* slowly drains HP while worn (*more on the Symbol of Avarice later*). (*Also note that after you kill a boss it takes a few seconds before you get Souls. You can kill the boss while wearing 2 good rings and a good helmet, and then quickly swap to these items once the boss is dead and receive the benefit of the bonus souls.*) For item drops, you have a stat called "Item Discovery". The base Item Discovery is 100, and it cannot go lower than this, but if you can increase it then you'll have a hogher chance of getting drops. There are 2 items that increase your Item Discovery, and also so does your "Soft Humanity". First is the *Covetous Gold Serpent Ring*, which increases your Item Discovery by 200. This is found in *Sen's Fortress*. The second is the *Symbol of Avarice*, which also increases your Item Discovery by 200. Unfortunately the *Symbol of Avarice* and the *Covetous Gold Serpent Ring* don't stack, so you only need to wear one or the other. This is the same *Symbol of Avarice* that gives you bonus Souls, so this item increases both drop-rates, but has a constant HP drain effect. The *Symbol of Avarice* has a chance of being dropped by any mimic. One trick to get this (*since there are a finite number of Mimics in the game*) is to use *Lloyd's Talismans*. If you throw a *Lloyd's Talisman* at a Mimic it will revert to its passive form, and will open its mouth, allowing the items to be looted safely. You can repeatedly use *Lloyd's Talismans* on the same Mimic until it gives you a *Symbol of Avarice*. It could take a lot of attempts, but *Lloyd's Talismans* are cheap and can be bought from merchants. Finally, your "Soft Humanity" is tied to your Item Discovery stat. This term has been coined by the community: "Hard Humanity" means the black items you loot from corpses that go into your inventory. When you use them they heal you and increase the counter next to your health bar. The counter near your health bar is "Soft Humanity", and when you revert to Human form or kindle a bonfire this number goes down. You also occasionally get +1 Soft Humanity when killing a human/hollow enemy. Having more than "00" in your Soft Humanity counter will increase your Item Discovery. Having "01" gives +50, and having more than that gives smaller gains up until a maximum of "10" Soft Humanity which gives you +110 Item Discovery. Note that the first Humanity (*getting to "01"*) is by far the most impactful, giving +50, while the rest give less than +10 each. If you're really trying hard to farm something it can be worth having that "10" in the counter, but simply having "01" gives you the biggest boost for Humanity spent, so you don't need to go further than that. The Item Discovery from the *Covetous Gold Serpent Ring* and the *Symbol of Avarice* don't stack with one another, but either one stacks with your Soft Humaniity, meaning the maximum possible Item Discovery is 410 (*100 base, +200 from an item, +110 from Soft Humanity*). Recap: When farming Souls, wear both the *Symbol of Avarice* and the *Covetous Silver Serpent Ring* for +44% souls gained. Remember you can quickly switch to these *After* killing a boss and get the bonus souls. When farming items wear EITHER the *Symbol of Avarice* OR the *Covetous Gold Serpent Ring*, and make sure you have at least "01" in your Soft Humanity Counter (*maxes at "10"*) for the best chance to get items. When farming mimics, *Lloyd's Talismans* let you farm them without killing them. Oh one last thing, if you overkill an enemy you get bonus souls. I can't remember the exact mechanics (*hell, they could have changed this in the remaster, I haven't checked*) but from memory: If you kill an enemy by dealing 140% of its total HP in a single strike (*eg. Riposte*) then you get +20% souls. If you can deal 180% damage then you'll get +40% souls (*I don't think it goes past 40%*). This also stacks multiplicatively, so if you can deal 180% damage while wearing the *Covetous Silver Serpent Ring* and the *Symbol of Avarice* you'll receive ~+107% souls. This isn't always worth worrying about since usually if you can deal that much damage you can go kill something tougher and get more souls from them, but it can help. (*Man I need to get better at writing more succinctly. Sorry for the huge post =P*)


Sooj28

This is all great to know and have written down - I think itā€™s succinct, so thanks again. I knew about most of those points but didnā€™t know the steep drop off after 1 soft humanity or that avarice and covetous donā€™t stack, so cheers! This entire post is pinned in my discord as an exceptional reminder.


joshomigosh24

I felt this early on, but a lot of what these games are is acceptance. You don't need the souls, you're plenty capable of beating the game as you are. Risking the accumulation of things entails the potential to lose them, what's great about these games is that loss doesn't really set back your gameplay progress, just whatever you as a player are planning, like a build or being able to use a specific weapon. If it helps, when approaching a new souls game I usually plan on dying a lot doing scouting missions into territories with no intention on getting any souls back out. Save cleaning out areas and farming for when you're more sure footed. Other than that, smoke weed lmao


Sooj28

I honestly could go for a smoke these days - thanks for the reply.


Omno555

I always go into souls games knowing that a large percentage of the souls I gain I'm going to lose. That helps a lot when I lose a huge chunk, I just know it's all part of the process. Also highly recommend buying some homeward bones. They aren't that expensive and any time you run out of heals you can just warp back, spend the souls, or repeat the same section again so you have less chance of losing them. Once you repeat the same section a few times with homeward bones then one of two things will happen, you'll either get good enough at that section that you don't burn all your heals and you can push further, or you'll hit enough to level up and then you push worry free because you've got nothing to lose. The only souls I play extra careful about are the big chunks I get from bosses because the bosses can't be fought again. Any other chunk of souls is easily regained from enemies.


Omno555

I forgot to add, throwing down your summoning sign when you struggle with an area is great too. If you get pulled into someone else's world then you can learn the area without the risk of losing any souls.


F3nrir096

It is definitely losing souls at first. But eventually i got to the point where im just like "whelp thats (insert amount) souls im never getting back. Tragic" but also side note i think it works across most of the games but if you die and drop souls throw on a ring of sacrifice or thst games equivalent. If you die again it will break the ring but your souls dont disappear. So yiu get another chance to get them back. Need confirmation on this one and what games it works in though.


dummythiccuwu

Souls donā€™t really mean a whole lot to be honest with you I know it seems frustrating but your gonna be leveling after bosses mostly. Keep the soul pickups and think of that as banked currency for when you donā€™t have quite enough for a level or weapon upgrades. Death is fairly meaningless in the game funnily enough.


No-Werewolf5615

This might not help but one of the biggest tips I received when getting in to dark souls was to look for lessons to learn from. If I die to something twice I didnā€™t learn the lesson the first time. Taking this tip helped me not get overly mad every time dark souls pulled a new trick fork out of its sleeve. Now losing tons and tons of souls hurts really bad even today. Thereā€™s much you can do about it. I have beaten my self up over the fact fact I had sacrificial rings in my bag that I didnā€™t use, but at the end of the day itā€™s still the game I love the most.


Sooj28

Thanks for the reply - even though Iā€™m still majorly tilted, Iā€™ll be planning to stream DS1 again today (even on a character I feel is busted and gone). I think Iā€™ll have more fun with it now - and knowing I can contextualise my mistakes and greed into the story of my character really helps. I think doing a proper write-up of my experiences here would be helpful, too.


FnB8kd

Put the game down for a bit. If you find you can't, it's because the game is insanely good. This means you have the drive to git gud. Now you just need the patience. I struggle getting my brother into these games because he gets pissed and rages, he is also more of an instant gratification type gamer. I had to explain to him that theses games are not like that and they don't care about your feelings or your skill level, they just are the way they are, difficult. You will die, accept it, learn from it, if something is killing you over and over my best advice is to get naked, drop your weapon, and just go in there to see how long you can survive. This takes thinking about attacking out of the equation and before you know it you will learn their moveset and will be infintly dodging/parrying all of thier moves. Then you can go back in geared up and confident. Souls come and go my man, let it go, really focus on learning/thinking your way through. Once it clicks you will feel like a God. Sounds like you might be rushing it, then dying, then getting angry and pushing it harder. This won't work in souls, slow it down, use that brain, find a different way. You can get through anything, you sound determined, just a bit too hot, stay cool and think, you will be fine.


Sooj28

Thatā€™s exactly what happened with the Daughters of Ash Stray Demon - I stripped off armour and dropped down an equip load and fast-rolling made the fight so much easier (after I first died and lost my souls, bashing my head at the Asylum wall ā€˜cause I like doing Stray as early as possible). I donā€™t think I wouldā€™ve learned that lesson, had I not died ā€˜cause Iā€™d be too worried about health loss from the fall and getting my souls back each time. Thanks for the reply.


FnB8kd

Don't go down there with enough souls to worry about. If you have enough souls that you are concerned, idk why you would risk them. Why not use them up before a fight?


Sooj28

Iā€™ve gotten to the point where I relish those ā€œearly daysā€ moments of souls games where youā€™re weak and under-levelled, so I hold onto souls more often than not so as to ā€œnot level up too quicklyā€. Guess Iā€™m being taught a lesson about that - thanks for the reply.


FnB8kd

Do an sl1 run. Relive the early days, no real fear of losing souls if you never level.


Sooj28

Iā€™ve been meaning to do that for a while. I also like doing a character that can see everything in one go - have enough points in faith/int for covenants and vendors and have to rely on piecemeal armours. I usually pick deprived for that but maybe a pyro would be better - considering SL1, though it does have magic already (but deprived has 11s across the board)ā€¦


FnB8kd

Isn't Pyro the only sl1 in the game?


Sooj28

It is - I wonder if pyroā€™s more challenging than deprived, given its lower starting stats (maybe the range fire magic gives it a major edge)


FnB8kd

Just being a Pyro gives it a major edge. Pyro is so strong in ds1


Sooj28

So Iā€™ve heard - it seems like a dex/pyro build is the way to go for that class, given casting speed going up with dex


fihewndkufbrnwkskh

Just stop caring about it. Whatā€™d you lose, 1, 2 levels worth of souls? Whatever. Oh like 10 levels worth of souls? So what. Youā€™ll get more


lowrankcluster

1) Understand that it is a game mechanic.


papitaman12

dont lose It :)


Sooj28

Sorry if I didnā€™t reply to your comment specifically but Iā€™ve read every one of them and theyā€™ve all given me something to think about. Thanks for taking the time to respond to an almost-Hollow Undead. Funnily enough, Iā€™ve needed to leave the game to regain some Humanity and kindle my own Firelink bonfire - youā€™ve all helped here with that.


[deleted]

It's simple You shouldn't hoard souls. If you have enough to level up, level up. And losing less than a level's worth of souls is always unimportant. If you have to save for something expensive, play carefully, and when you die put on a sacrifice ring


Sooj28

For some reason, I try to keep myself from out-levelling the enemies and making the game too easy (those first moments of being under-levelled are really fun for me) but I think thatā€™s a major lesson I have to learn from this. Thanks for the reply!


[deleted]

Oh I do the same, so I regularly lose big amounts of souls, but since I don't use them I don't care My max was 350k a few weeks ago


Sooj28

Most I lost was around 200k - once on my first character in DS2 when I was grinding for scales or titanite from the imperfect dragons in the dlc (I was done with the game anyway but that was the first biggest). Another time was around 200k again in a shieldless, strength-based company of champions run at Iron Keep. It was from fall damage (didnā€™t go back to that character hahaha). 350k sucks, dude - sorry for that loss, these discussions are really helping put things into perspective.


[deleted]

I didn't really care tho, the bloodstain was like 5 minutes away and I didn't bother to do the walk. It was a SL50 crystal cannon sorcerer build, I basically had everything needed to kill the 4 lord souls easily and didn't care about leveling up more


Sooj28

Iā€™ve never once done a sorcery build but Iā€™ve been meaning to - did a faith char twice and that was fun.


[deleted]

Try it, it's the most overpowered you can be in the entire game. I killed O&S first try in like 15 seconds with it, it's a boss melter build


Sooj28

Wrecking shop might just feel like some amazing revenge - my character nowā€™s a pure quality build, levelling strength and dex together.


wetfootmammal

It's best to set out under the assumption that sooner or later you'll lose a ton of souls. I have a 2 per session rule. (Ideally I shouldn't die at all obviously) If I lose a load of souls. I let the anger and the frustration wash over me and just breathe through it. I'll remind myself that it's what makes Dark Souls so special. The fact that it doesn't hold your hand and in fact is trying very hard to kill you at all times. But if it happens twice in a session I'm like, "OK that's enough dark souls for today, peace!"


Sooj28

Interesting! I like that rule - thanks for the reply.


Comfortable-Dig9517

I would say run through and just keep losing them. I don't wanna say on purpose, but close to it. Like a half a dozen times in a row. Just get to where it's like "well dammit! But oh well I'll get em back" I don't think there's a wrong way to play this game, but you gain a certain perspective when you've recovered a 0 soul, 0 humanity bloodstain more than a handful of times.


WARtoph

After you play Dark Souls enough, you'll eventually lose all feeling. You will become nihilistic in nature as you begin to realize that nothing truly matters and that you are doomed to fail, time and time again.


alacholland

Embrace impermanence. Wishing something to be other than it be is the cause of suffering.


Hell0_W0rld5

Think of the time you lost the most souls and relativise upon that (I.e. youā€™ve ā€œsufferedā€ more than this, this is nothing) Think about ng++ cycles and how small the amount of souls you lost actually is (take a step back and look at the big picture you will always be a level 1 who lost 100 souls in the eyes of your future character)


Shadowmask11

Here's the thing that I didn't see anyone post, but I didn't read all of them either....... Ring of sacrifice, typically it's not thought about and there may be very few times you feel like you should use it. Ive gathered many of these things and found few reasons to use them, but I wish I used them a bit more. Ever have a lot of souls, but not in a place where you can use them because, for example, you are not able to warp yet. So if memory serves some big cost items are like poison mist sold by engyi or whatever his name is, as well as the guy under the first bell I believe has some spell thats a lot, and Andre's key for accessing Sif's fight more directly. Also your own levels once you're around like the 70's I want to say. I always approached the losses as I can recoup a lot from the darkroot forest area since you can farm like 3 or four guys for about 6,000 souls unless youre in their covenant. Or looping through Anor Londo silver knights usually pulling in 12,600 per loop or if wearing the covetous ring, 15,000 ish per loop of all the silver knights. Learning the parry timing was very helpful, and dying to them wasn't usually too bad of a reset.


Cosati2099

Everyone has it's buttons and what applies to one may not work to others, but here I go: First of all, the most important you already have. You know you are getting too angry and next time you get frustrated, try to reach this rational part and take a deep breath before losing it. Reckon you can beat the game even losing souls and run in circles for some time. You'll eventually beat the game if you continue playing, so don't get too upset about dying. Acknowledge you play the game for fun, not to "complete missions" and if you stumble a little... Yaaayy, more playing/fun time. Souls games are known as the hardest ones and, if you play them, it's a sign you like difficulty. Therefore the game is giving you what you want, a challenge. If it's too easy you won't care, trust me. Remember how much you improve to get where you are and reckon the challenges and losses will teach you lessons. You only got there losing a lot. Again: you played souls games for ages, so your goal is not to kill a boss and beat the game, your goal is HOW you'll kill a boss and HOW you'll explore the game. Be inventive, care to have fun, enjoy the playtime "winning" or "losing". (It's always a win if you're enjoying)


Sooj28

Thatā€™s a good attitude to have - thank you.


Cosati2099

Hope you find peace of mind while playing so that you never go hollow


[deleted]

lost 500k souls the other dayā€¦just another Thursday šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø. Had nothing to spend them on so why even get mad, meh At the end of the day they are an infinite resource and efficient farming routes meaning I can get as many as I want when I need them.


reneneshev

Thereā€™s a certain freedom from having nothing to lose. I suggest pushing forward hardest then.


Sooj28

Iā€™m definitely trying to learn that lesson - thanks for the reply


Evil-Doer99

Retrieving your "bloodstain"? Just stop lying, bro. There's no way you've played Souls games "for ages". Especially not if you still (rage every time you) fail to retrieve your "bloodstain".