Dark Souls 3: Guide – 9 Tips For Newbies

Dark Souls 3, continues to push the same boundaries of the mighty Dark Souls series, with the latest, ambitious division in the critically-acclaimed and a remarkable series. Dark Souls 3 is a heavy, challenging game. However, it can be quite daunting for the people who are new to the series. In my opinion, Dark Souls is pretty much difficult to get into; there are plenty of players who’ll love it and some might get confused or uninterested due to the dense Gameplay of Souls 3. Dark Souls 3 will turn from a demanding toil into an effective glorious adventure once you get over a few time-taking obstacles.  We’ll make it easy for you soon enough.

Note: We’ve limited these tips to control the maximum level of spoilers so that the beginning of your journey of Dark Souls 3 would be free of spoilers and easy as well. But still, I can’t guarantee if this guide will be spoiler free or not, continue at your own decision.

Get a good shield and a healing vial for the beginning

At the beginning of the game, you might feel held back because of the early bosses and heavy damage regular enemies do, that’s why it’s easy to see why new players might call it ‘Quits’ so soon. To ease up on the pressure, I’m going to point out where to find a shield that protects your health meter from 100% of physical damage and also an item which converts into an extra Estus Flask, a healing vial that refills every time after resting at any bonfire.

Through the Tower on the Wall Bonfire, drop down a level (Keep an eye out for the knife-throwing enemies), head out the door, run over the roof, and slide down the ladder going down from its far corner.

Go through the door next to the ladder and keep on going straight until you enter a room with an elevated catwalk above a few wandering knights and a zombie dog. A crate/chest with the Eagle Kite Shield is located on the upper level. In the same room, you’ll find a treasured piece on the far wall. Take out the dogs and knights and pick it up to get an Estus Flask Shard. Bring it back to your chosen blacksmith and he will turn it into an extra Estus Flask, a well-deserved permanent addition for your healing.

Bring up that Endurance

In Dark Souls, the hit points do not mean much, because the basic primary attribute that prevents you from taking damage is based on the level of Endurance. How much damage a block takes, how many swings you can absorb, dodging and sprinting all depends on the amount of Stamina available, which can be leveled up through the Endurance attribute. All of the health in the world isn’t going to save you from getting pinned down in a destructive chain, but surely if your endurance is high enough, you can skip, roll and dodge or get away from some the messiest situations. Don’t neglect endurance at all.

Get the tower key ASAP

I’ll try not be specific here, but in the beginning, you will get the opportunity to buy an Old Tower Key from a seller in Firelink Shrine. The old tower is a part of Firelink Shrine, the locked door at the upstairs and outside. Just don’t wait too long here, take the risk and work out some souls, because a ton of worthy goodies are hanging out up there. Be effective, look up, look down, and don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith often.

Keep the Battle Arts in your mind always

Dark Souls is a kind of game that has been developed in a manner, that is going to force you out of your comfort zone, so if a specific enemy seems impossible to defeat, it might have a weakness you’ve yet to discover. To help you, there are Battle Arts, a new combat system that gives every shield and weapons a special ability. Buffs for the time being, destructive uppercuts and the ability to parry are just one of the few available from the get-go, and each has essential benefits. It’s easy to get stuck in a bad habit of exclusively jamming your light attack and hiding behind a shield. Spend extra time in pulling the trigger and experimenting with all of the tools available. You may find a way to turn a particularly difficult enemy or scenario into a piece of cake.

 The naked katana-wielding person

You will find a very good place to practice your Battle Arts outside of the Firelink Shrine. From the upper path to the left of the main entrance is a katana-wielding person having a chill time in their birthday suit. They’re snarky and hits pretty hard, but don’t fret, even if the kill you over and over, they double as a convenient practice dummy. Work on those dodge rolls, parries, and Estus flask timings. Expect to die repeatedly, but after some time you will take them out and get their gear as an amazing reward.

Spend some time here and there

In Dark Souls 3 indulging in sweeping cliffside vistas that offer a view of where you have been and where you are going is also a part you should take interest in. The Adjacent level design is a huge part of DS’s charm as well. Sometimes you can even see the entirety of a level – enemies and everything- from a single vantage point and plan accordingly. Also, you can see the NPCs and all sorts of treasure items hidden in corners of each environment, and the only way to stumble across all of this is to catch a glance from up high. Even though the vistas are just nice to look at. In a dense game like Dark Souls 3, take a second to appreciate the beauty wherever you find, because you aren’t going to find much there.

Check in with your NPCs friends often

One of the greatest parts of Dark Soul games are the characters you meet in your journey beyond the game. All of them have their own stories, more dilemmas, and requests that reveal over time. So be sure to talk to each of them repeatedly until their dialogue repeats. Don’t ignore them completely or they might disappear afterward, which means you will miss out on interesting special items and lore. Stretch your social muscles and get chatty.

Don’t be afraid to spend

Souls are never in short supply in Dark Souls. Enemies respawn with their souls dropping, everytime you rest at a bonfire. Do not feed your urge to spend all of your hard earned dark fantasy bucks on leveling up. There are a lot of weapons and armor sets to purchase, upgrades and remedies to try out, miracles and spells to cast and a few more keys to throw money at. Spend wisely, play with everything and find out what works better for you.

Don’t fret death

If you consider death as the norm of the difficulty of the game, Dark Souls 3 can get quite daunting for you. It’s a deeply integrated habit for a lot of newcomers to see death as the failure, but the actual challenge works through the knowledge acquired. If you die, but find a new item at the same time, it isn’t counted as a failure. If you found a time-saving shortcut or a lost NPC, you’re definitely making progress. Dark Souls is a slow expansion into the oblivion, but you’ll get there.