My first pvp experiences...

So I just started this game a little while back, chose a cleric and got to the first bonfire in the undead burg (or whatever its called... the noob area). I was like hey, I should stoke this fire. Did so and got my estus flasks and went along my way...

Then all of a sudden a message came across my screen you have been invaded. I ran to a safe zone and was quickly met by a player with a lightning spear and incredibly powerful armor (I was hitting him for like 20 dmg).

So here I am, a noob lvl 5 or so against some twinked out char. I put up a valiant fight, got a couple backstabs in, but alas he was just too powerful, and I was vanquished.

I was understandably shocked that I would be met by such a powerful foe, but I went along my way, scared to stoke another fire. Well I made it to blight town, and was getting my *** handed to me, so I figured I should stoke the fire up in the sewers. Did so and started killing things in blight town, only to be invaded again!

This time my fight was far less valiant. He was equipped with a fire enchanted fist weapon, I held my sheild up in guard and prepared to repel this invader scum. He just walked up to me and punched my sheild- bam, bam, dead... he almost 1 shot me, the second shot was just overkill damage. He 2 shot me... through my sheild!?

1) Why am I being matched up with obviously overpowered characters at level 5 and ~30-40? What parameters are in place to make sure a pvp battle is at least a somewhat even fight? I understand that I was in blight town and that the levels there might've been higher, but the level 5 fight is the real kicker here. How does this guy even have a lightning spear at this point in the game?

2) I am obviously scared to stoke my fires now. What do I lose when I am defeated in pvp? Just my human form? Should I just jump off a ledge to save me the greif of getting invaded?

3) Do you think that pvp needs to be balanced more? Taking into account levels of characters and their item upgrades? How is a lvl 5 noob against a guy with a lightning spear supposed to be fun for either party? Well I guess if the guy gets some e-peen for killing a lvl 5 noob...

4) Is there any way to opt out of pvp for the "time being" other than making an offline profile (which to my understanding cannot play online afterwards)?

5) The messages that people leave on the ground not only spoil the atmosphere of the game, but add major spoilers. I know ivan just not read them, but when you see one infront of a wall you know that there is probably an illusion there (spoiled the catacombs and tree area bonfire secrets both times). Is there a way to turn them off? Or do I just have to play offline?

Sorry for the long read... I am not raging here or anything, more or less just trying to find ways to make my playthrough more enjoyable. As of right now, the online part of the game is ruining it horribly, but at the same time I think I will want to do pvp sometime so I don't want to opt out of it.

most of this issue will be fixed in the coming patch, the glitch that allows low level characters to have end game gear is getting fixed. the invaders actually were at your level... note you can swithc any profile from online to offline and vice versa at any time (on xbox you need to pay for the online function but if you do it works the same.) and there is no penalty for dying in pvp besides loss of human form, be sure to walk around human in some areas for special invaders that are pre programmed in the game, other wise the only other reason to be human is to summon help.

You met a griefer..the game is full of them people get lighting/fire weapons and due to damage they can have a starting chacracter doing insane amounts of damage the person you thought would proberly be the same, dont let peopel like this ruin your game just smile and move on

Right heres the deal.

You get invaded when you are in Human form. If you do not wish to be invaded stay in Hollow form.

You return to Hollow form every time you die.

To become a human you have to first use a humanity, this will put a 01 in the top left of your screen.

You then sit at the bonfire and use one of the humanity you have put to the number in the top left and click the option "Reverse hollowing". This turns you human.

As long as you are human you can summon people to help you through white summon signs and get invaded by red phantoms.

If you are hollow you cannot access any of the online features except messages.

The main reason you are getting invaded by really powerful douchebags is because the games been out for quite a while basically. People have gone far enough into the game at low levels to get the good gear then came back to the noob areas and invaded. Either that or they're glitchers.

I'm not going to go into the glitch, but the good news is it's being patched out very soon (3 weeks or something) so there will be less (Still a considerable amount) of this particular thing.

I hope this helps man, anything I didn't cover just ask me

Welcome to the crappy thing that is Dark Souls low level PvP. You've been hit by griefers, which I have no respect for.

1) You can legitimately beat the game on low level, become a dark wraith, and invade low level areas. This begs the question: if they're so good, why bother invading low level players. Most however, use a Bottomless Box Glitch (BB Glitch) which you can copy all your items from one character to a new character.

2) You won't win a PvP fight; you don't have experience, and more important, you don't have the gear/soft humanities. If you don't want to be invaded, and seems like you don't care about summoning other players, you can play in offline mode. Also, you can just quit the game if you get invaded by hitting the XBox/PS3 button and quitting out.

3) PvP is balanced when you have maxed out gear; the only thing that needs to be fixed is the lag on the PS3. Your example of the Lightning Spear may be the result of an escalating arms race; invaders may have invaded with level appropriate gaer, but many, many hosts also use this BB Glitch and so they have maxed weapons. Maxed weapons/gear is the default position now in this game.

4) Your understanding is incorrect. You can switch between online/offline with no issues.

5) You have to play offline. You can't control the messages that crop up (other than making more messages appear with the "Seek Guidance" spell).

Thanks for the replies everyone, I am at least relieved to hear that this issue is being looked at/fixed.

Mark, im not sure whether you read my question right, but my understanding was you cannot switch between online/offline.

To give a little backround, I am playing the pc version, and every time I open the game a prompt tells me that I must log in or my game cannot be saved. I assume this has to do with anti-hack/piracy. And since it is pretty hard (or impossible?) to hack using a console they probably don't enforce this on the ps3/x360 versions.

I assume most people are using the console versions, not sure what you're using mark, but does anyone know if you can switch from offline to online on the pc version?

I think there is a way but you can't save it, so effectively no.

Quick google search turned up this:

To play offline I just turn my router off for a moment after signing in to GFWL.
This leaves your profile active, but offline. So you can still save and earn achievements. When you want to go back online again just quit the game and restart it.
You can't just reconnect and go back to online mode, it gets stuck in offline mode until you quit the game.
It's annoying, but it works.

Could try it. May not need to turn off your router, just unplug your network connection or otherwise block the ports the game uses preventing access.

I play offline on pc while waiting for summons online on Xbox. I bring up a character on pc, then sign into Xbox live and it sends me back to the start menu on pc, so I still have access to all my characters but in offline mode. It saves everything just like normal when I play offline on pc.

So you sign on the PC in "Online" mode, sign into the Xbox, and that act kick the PC to "offline" mode?

IV_Mark_VI wrote:Quick google search turned up this:

To play offline I just turn my router off for a moment after signing in to GFWL.
This leaves your profile active, but offline. So you can still save and earn achievements. When you want to go back online again just quit the game and restart it.
You can't just reconnect and go back to online mode, it gets stuck in offline mode until you quit the game.
It's annoying, but it works.

Could try it. May not need to turn off your router, just unplug your network connection or otherwise block the ports the game uses preventing access.

Ya I did a little research myself and found the same thing on the gamespot forums... will try to buy something from a vendor and see if it stays when I re-log. Will update to see if it works... currently at work having withdrawals lol...

IV_Mark_VI wrote:So you sign on the PC in "Online" mode, sign into the Xbox, and that act kick the PC to "offline" mode?

Yes, exactly. I used my Xbox account thingy when I had to sign up with GfWL.

BloodBlade22 wrote:

2) I am obviously scared to stoke my fires now. What do I lose when I am defeated in pvp? Just my human form? Should I just jump off a ledge to save me the greif of getting invaded?

My take/opinion on point 2, is that in certain areas of the game (like Darkroot garden), invading is part and parcel, and most of the invaders are not dueling, so they will come straight for you. Other areas (like Undead Burg) are mostly known for duels, ie. your invader will first bow before fighting you. These duels I happily carry out, even if I get beaten soundly. However, invaders who don't bow, and show that they don't follow duel ettiquette, i promptly jump off the nearest bridge, dont want to give them the satisfaction, or I try to tackle them using any dirty tactic possible.