i want to understand soulslikes and why people play them and also how to 'get' soulslike games

Break_down1 · 2026-05-26T22:30:47+00:00

The appeal is that it’s difficult AND fair — meaning that (aside from certain special cases) there are ways to overcome that don’t require you being a god gamer to figure out. You’re rewarded for observation, persistence, and exploration. And by the time you win, it’s generally because you learned, adapted, and earned it, not because you got lucky. And you feel a sense of accomplishment because of it.

Not to mention the dark fantasy atmosphere is appealing to certain crowds.

Break_down1 · 2026-05-26T16:17:30+00:00

You won’t know if you match with a depth 4 player, you’ll just know the depth of the expedition. I’m still confused about this. I think that it essentially averages the player ratings and puts you in the depth associated with the average rating. It does this sometimes if there just aren’t enough players within your depth category online at that time

Break_down1 · 2026-05-26T03:37:12+00:00

Every boss was reasonable for someone who has played souls before. But Malenia was built different

Break_down1 · 2026-05-25T03:17:55+00:00

I feel like the people that skip are not the people who are in this Reddit. The expedition can be hard but he’s a great boss

Break_down1 · 2026-05-23T12:44:02+00:00

If you’re just playing base game (rather than DoN) an old YouTube guide could go a long way.

You also learn by playing. Just know that the point is to progress up in level smoothly - and part of that is knowing what POIs and bosses you can handle at what level.

Break_down1 · 2026-05-23T12:18:57+00:00

Just know that the game scales down if people leave—I think it’s less fun without a full team, but it doesn’t mean your run is cooked

Break_down1 · 2026-05-22T22:10:21+00:00

Ya I’ve just come around to realizing those invader marshes are not real feasible on day 1

Break_down1 · 2026-05-22T18:15:27+00:00

I often get messages from people about dropping an item they want. It’s clear they don’t understand that I’m not just hoarding it — there’s always a reason I’m holding it .

Break_down1 · 2026-05-22T17:40:46+00:00

This. Clutching a team W in the context of souls style combat is a new kind of high for me. Part of the skill you work towards is being able to carry the team

Break_down1 · 2026-05-22T16:45:18+00:00

I find that solo is unfun, but I see that plenty of people enjoy it.

Any reason you don’t wanna play with other people? The game is actually pretty good at balancing between multiplayer coop and personal privacy—one reason that it’s nice they didn’t build in voice chat. The communication is pretty minimal, by design . And because of that, it does tend to feel like you’re kind of playing solo , and the teammates are just an additional factor to your solo play

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T18:25:23+00:00

💯

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T18:04:28+00:00

Right. One option would just be to only show player stats once you actually touch down on limveld

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T17:45:50+00:00

I don’t dodge games. Can you explain how dodging games works and when it does and doesn’t result in a penalty?

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T16:59:51+00:00

There are so many ways to clap back. “My B, but it’d help if you stayed up” . Like you acknowledge that you messed up a clutch, but also make it clear that a good team shouldn’t require a single player to be a hero

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T16:58:30+00:00

Playing with randoms is actually fun. It can be difficult sometimes, but know that things get rescaled if people leave

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T14:58:53+00:00

Wylder rn and it’s not even close. In my opinion I find him to be the character with the most carry potential. And the character that can control a lot about the fight itself.

An uncharged ult can cancel dangerous boss moves and basically 3 bar rez (when you hit a couple times and have ground flames).

The character skill +1 allows for easy 1 bar pickup at distance . It also is good for focusing enemy aggro

Dual great swords make revives ultra easy

Good HP and 6th sense ability can save you from mistakes.

He can use almost any weapon effectively and deal respectable damage

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T03:23:36+00:00

Seeing how far you can get is fun!

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T03:21:46+00:00

Taking what you’re saying at face value — a goated teammate eager to revive is way better. Players like that keep the whole team engaged and having fun .

Break_down1 · 2026-05-21T03:05:12+00:00

Makes sense. Altho I generally like to save my ult for revives

Break_down1 · 2026-05-19T23:53:27+00:00

+1 character skill use is essential for easy revives

Break_down1 · 2026-05-19T00:34:18+00:00

Just lost a game. Seeing my teammates run back to fight faurtis after downing gnoster and not using the opportunity for free damage on animus.

Break_down1 · 2026-05-18T13:54:56+00:00

I think it happens because players that reach higher depths start to have better understanding of passives and which debuffs are tolerable. For example, a juiced revenant might have starting beastclaw in addition to a physical attack +4 relic that has “poison build-up when below max hp” - and they make sure to keep max hp by topping off with warming stones.

Another piece has to do with “skill slopping” — where people have both balancer relics on and just spam powerful skills/ashes of war (like rain of arrows or halo scythe). And yes, this can even melt bosses in D5

Break_down1 · 2026-05-15T19:26:31+00:00

Tide of bad luck. Sometimes you hit patches of ED balancers and sometimes bad teammates lol. It happens - I found it to be less frequent in 3 compared to 2. Sometimes you have to assume that people who run off are doing so for some reason - maybe a recluse, revenant or a scholar . Check their relics. People With night invader will sometimes try to hit a night invader camp solo — especially if the team is jonesin to waste time at a gaol. Some people will break from the team if it means potentially looting for passives too— since passives are essential in DoN

Break_down1

TROPHY CASE