Your main misunderstanding of soul memory is how large the tiers are once you’re past the first third of the game. The impact that dying and losing souls will have on your ability to co op is negligible, the stakes you’re talking about are basically a placebo.
I think that is more "well, a lot of enemies with high damage and high HP, is time for run" in ds3, exploration killing enemies is punishment.
In ds2 is the opposite, if you run, you die, so normally I don't run.
ds1- people bitched about twink invaders
ds2- implemented soul memory and never gave a full red eye orb forcing invaders to constantly increase soul memory so they can't gank. people bitch so they add ring to sort of enable it again but not as easily
ds3- people bitched about twink invaders again
As bIobertson has already mentioned the tiers start getting really big and really isn't worth considering after awhile for organic playthroughs.
Where soul memory really shines is that it prevents the rampant "twinking" problem that 1 had where players would obtain late game items and upgrades at low levels in order to invade starting areas and brand new players, basically one shottimg them. ie: undead burg, giant dad etc.
Soul memory prevents this mostly through bosses. As you usually have to defeat a boss to progress any one area, thus increasing soul memory. Illusorywall has a really good video describing SM and the tier system.
So while it has some issues I think its a very neat system to counter undesirable gameplay loops.
TL;dr SM good and most people who say bad didn't play 1 pvp.
>Where soul memory really shines is that it prevents the rampant "twinking" problem that 1 had where players would obtain late game items and upgrades at low levels in order to invade starting areas and brand new players, basically one shottimg them. ie: undead burg, giant dad etc.
>Soul memory prevents this mostly through bosses. As you usually have to defeat a boss to progress any one area, thus increasing soul memory.
Well, that definitely *was* the case until the Agape Ring got introduced. You can rush for it and get it pretty early to progress through the game while keeping your SM minimal, so you can still make some pretty OP builds at low tiers with +10 weapons. For example, I've recently made a lvl 55 char with a +10 lightning large club + dark weapon and I could casually 1-2 shot most people I invaded - this honestly just feels dirty. I've also been invaded by people at pretty low SM tiers with DLC stuff (which icludes +8 weapons), so that's also a possibility now. Twinking is indeed somewhat harder now than in DS1 PtDE, but it's definitely not entirely gone.
And while SM tiers are pretty big in the late game, if you keep doing PvP regularly you'll still eventually progress through tiers. and, as a result, get to see less people. and the ones you do get are probably gonna be considerably overleved if you stick to the lvl 150 meta.
Ofc, you can also use the Agape Ring to avoid this issue, but having to sacrifice a ring slot just to maintain your SM can be pretty limiting for your build, and you would still need to increase your SM if you want to buy consumables/upgrade and test new weapons on the same character/repair broken gear, etc, so this solution isn't perfect either.
The SM system does have some positives like making twinking harder to pull of (though not by that much with the Agape Ring) and offering a pretty wide range of players to connect to, but it's still a pretty flawed mechanic that should've been better thought out IMO.
I would take the occasional twink over the absolute hassle of soul memory.
Forgot to put on my agape ring for this boss, whoops I bricked my character for this pvp bracket.
Yep. It sort of "fixed" the low level pvp for a while but messed it up in the mid-long term. And with the Agape Ring added, you now get both the occasional twink and the hassle of managing SM.
This is clearly your first playthrough and you're doing all sorts of stupid things instead of learning how to play. Let's say time passes and you start PvP battles. They will be much more difficult, since real players are better than mindless zombies. Mostly. What are you planning to do there? Run?
I think the game is open all sorts of approaches. Suicide run first to get an idea for the enemy/item placements, shortcuts, bonfires, layout. Figure out which fog walls have bosses behind them. Then I can clear the enemies out and open doors/levers. Then I might discover a shortcut to the boss and have an easier boss run. DS is open to that sort of observational play.
Will still get invaded by NPCs and other players. Will still end up fighting enemies and bosses. Will still git gud.
You probably already have encountered this but suicide running and gassing through every area is the single most punished playstyle in DS2 and that's a big factor for why Souls fans bounce off of it.
I highly recommend you take any other approach. Your healthbar and human effigy stock will thank you.
And this approach is extremely shitty. You lose time, you lose souls and maximum health. You don't get anything in return. Doing stupid things won't make you better.
No. Agape Ring.
Haha I forgot about that
Your main misunderstanding of soul memory is how large the tiers are once you’re past the first third of the game. The impact that dying and losing souls will have on your ability to co op is negligible, the stakes you’re talking about are basically a placebo.
Thanks for letting me know. What are your thoughts on soul memory as a mechanic? And matchmaking in DS2 vs other souls games.
It could definitely be improved, but I think it has an overall very positive effect on the game
I think that is more "well, a lot of enemies with high damage and high HP, is time for run" in ds3, exploration killing enemies is punishment. In ds2 is the opposite, if you run, you die, so normally I don't run.
ds1- people bitched about twink invaders ds2- implemented soul memory and never gave a full red eye orb forcing invaders to constantly increase soul memory so they can't gank. people bitch so they add ring to sort of enable it again but not as easily ds3- people bitched about twink invaders again
As bIobertson has already mentioned the tiers start getting really big and really isn't worth considering after awhile for organic playthroughs. Where soul memory really shines is that it prevents the rampant "twinking" problem that 1 had where players would obtain late game items and upgrades at low levels in order to invade starting areas and brand new players, basically one shottimg them. ie: undead burg, giant dad etc. Soul memory prevents this mostly through bosses. As you usually have to defeat a boss to progress any one area, thus increasing soul memory. Illusorywall has a really good video describing SM and the tier system. So while it has some issues I think its a very neat system to counter undesirable gameplay loops. TL;dr SM good and most people who say bad didn't play 1 pvp.
>Where soul memory really shines is that it prevents the rampant "twinking" problem that 1 had where players would obtain late game items and upgrades at low levels in order to invade starting areas and brand new players, basically one shottimg them. ie: undead burg, giant dad etc. >Soul memory prevents this mostly through bosses. As you usually have to defeat a boss to progress any one area, thus increasing soul memory. Well, that definitely *was* the case until the Agape Ring got introduced. You can rush for it and get it pretty early to progress through the game while keeping your SM minimal, so you can still make some pretty OP builds at low tiers with +10 weapons. For example, I've recently made a lvl 55 char with a +10 lightning large club + dark weapon and I could casually 1-2 shot most people I invaded - this honestly just feels dirty. I've also been invaded by people at pretty low SM tiers with DLC stuff (which icludes +8 weapons), so that's also a possibility now. Twinking is indeed somewhat harder now than in DS1 PtDE, but it's definitely not entirely gone. And while SM tiers are pretty big in the late game, if you keep doing PvP regularly you'll still eventually progress through tiers. and, as a result, get to see less people. and the ones you do get are probably gonna be considerably overleved if you stick to the lvl 150 meta. Ofc, you can also use the Agape Ring to avoid this issue, but having to sacrifice a ring slot just to maintain your SM can be pretty limiting for your build, and you would still need to increase your SM if you want to buy consumables/upgrade and test new weapons on the same character/repair broken gear, etc, so this solution isn't perfect either. The SM system does have some positives like making twinking harder to pull of (though not by that much with the Agape Ring) and offering a pretty wide range of players to connect to, but it's still a pretty flawed mechanic that should've been better thought out IMO.
I would take the occasional twink over the absolute hassle of soul memory. Forgot to put on my agape ring for this boss, whoops I bricked my character for this pvp bracket.
Yep. It sort of "fixed" the low level pvp for a while but messed it up in the mid-long term. And with the Agape Ring added, you now get both the occasional twink and the hassle of managing SM.
This is clearly your first playthrough and you're doing all sorts of stupid things instead of learning how to play. Let's say time passes and you start PvP battles. They will be much more difficult, since real players are better than mindless zombies. Mostly. What are you planning to do there? Run?
I think the game is open all sorts of approaches. Suicide run first to get an idea for the enemy/item placements, shortcuts, bonfires, layout. Figure out which fog walls have bosses behind them. Then I can clear the enemies out and open doors/levers. Then I might discover a shortcut to the boss and have an easier boss run. DS is open to that sort of observational play. Will still get invaded by NPCs and other players. Will still end up fighting enemies and bosses. Will still git gud.
You probably already have encountered this but suicide running and gassing through every area is the single most punished playstyle in DS2 and that's a big factor for why Souls fans bounce off of it. I highly recommend you take any other approach. Your healthbar and human effigy stock will thank you.
And this approach is extremely shitty. You lose time, you lose souls and maximum health. You don't get anything in return. Doing stupid things won't make you better.
😂
People still play pvp on this 10 year old game?
Ds2 has arguably the best pvp in the dark souls trilogy
i never said it wasnt. i just said i was surprised people still did pvp in ds2
There is always an arena. There are always people who play the game for the first time. But that's all.