Because of DS2's finite respawn I try to avoid killing enemies so I can keep their souls available later on when I may really need them. For anyone who's far into the game or has won the game. does the issue of running out of soul-cash become a problem?

If you're careful enough to go to the safe zone after each boss, running out of souls is a non-issue.

not really an issue. I was a little worried in the beginning but then realized you can make ridiculous amounts of souls leaving your summon sign in front of boss doors. Plus you don't have to worry about losing any souls if you die while summoned.

Nah, the thread I made earlier points out some areas where you can farm for a lot of souls very easily. But you'll never really be short on them anyway.

It's really not a problem. The next area will always give you more than enough souls than you need. Plus you get lots of souls if you help another player beat a boss.

No. I'm level 187 and have purchased every armour and spell available to me because I don't know what else to spend them on. I haven't used a boss soul to gain souls. I have beaten the game but haven't started NG+ as I'm farming for items. If you need souls you can put down a summon sign and help with a boss or clearing an area. You can get souls from PVP too. Souls are infinite. Don't worry about it.

Never was an issue, and never had to farm for souls.

No, it never becomes an issue. Additionally, being summoned for co-op is an easy way of accruing more souls without killing any of your own creatures.

I have more souls than I know what to do with right now. I'm just buying mats so I can upgrade gear I don't use. Souls aren't a problem.

You shouldn't worry about it. Level in ds2 very cheap. After some bosses you may find yourself leveling 5 times. Also playing co-op allows you to get even more souls.

I'm about SL 140 and have gotten over 2 million souls total. Have only had a couple section of enemies stop spawning. I would say it is not an issue whatsoever.

So can we modify the question a bit? Is running out of souls going to be a problem if I plan on playing the game entirely offline?

Nope. People worrying about this are entirely overeacting.

@laudasolem: any time you want more souls, take out your white soapstone and help out kill a boss a few times. Summon times were always within 30 seconds for me and bosses with multiple people are a breeze. Nets you a large chunk of souls, and you can keep doing this for quite a while before you outlevel that area boss.

I actually enjoyed the disappearing enemies, because sometimes I simply wanted to do a run to the boss gate and didn't want to ass around with everything in between here and there.

The only time it was an issue was when I was trying to get the sexy Fire Sorceress outfit and kept respawning the enemies over and over again waiting for the full set to drop. I got everything except for the gloves before they simply stopped spawning.

This. The only time enemies would also actually stop respawning for me would be when I was actively farming the area. Souls really aren't an issue, and if they somehow do become a little scarce, coop makes for a great way for getting a decent handful pretty fast.

The only way this could possibly be an issue is if you're constantly dying over and over and never making it back to your bloodstain. That or you rely completely on power leveling and must spend hours and hours grinding for souls in a single spot to reach obscene levels way too early.

There's more than enough souls to go around for anyone with even a modicum of skill. The vast majority of enemies likely won't even come close to disappearing.

Grinding for loot drops is much much much more likely to be a reason for exhausting enemy spawns than souls.

You don't need to farm souls. I have more souls than I know what to do with (stopped my Soul Level at 99) so I just use them to buy up armor, weapons, and spells that I don't intend to use.

You get more than enough souls when playing this game, assuming you don't die every other minute and lose half of them.

No, you can farm bonfire ascetics infinitely in one of the covenants. They'll respawn an areas population at the next playthrough's difficulty. So even in offline the supply of souls is infinite.

@believer258 said:

My first time through I beat the game around level 120 playing sloppy and missing a handful of optional bosses. This was before the game was released.

Second time through (new character, not NG+) I beat it around level 145 with a little bit of co-op, but I also maxed out all my equipment and bought a ton of shit I will never use. Also I never popped a boss soul.

I should point out that my first playthrough, only two small areas started despawning enemies, but that was because I was an idiot on the boss and had to try 15-20 times. Second time through I zero enemies started despawning. As long as you return to Majula every time you have 20000-40000 souls, you'll be just fine for levels and equipment. And like others have said, Bonfire Ascetics are plentiful and even if you don't like online play, co-op is super easy and can net you lots of souls in little time late game.

Souls don't seem to be a problem. I'd be more concerned about limited items to farm then souls.

Way more souls in the game, even offline, than you need to be appropriately leveled. I've bought loads of expensive and ultimately useless items, lost tens of thousands of souls and never had a problem in either of my playthoughs. I'd say you get enough souls from each boss in the game, even if you kept losing world enemy souls. Plus if you cash in all your boss souls you'd be loaded.

I don't understand why you'd ever use a bonfire ascetic seeing's it bones your NG+ runs.

So does that last bit mean that you can participate in co-op without having to worry about being invaded? I just don't like the idea of me playing the game when some high-level bozo comes in and stabs me with his endgame sword or something.

@believer258: That's why there is soul memory. Your PvP and co-op in NG is determined by the character lifetime total souls, not the soul level.

@believer258: After sinking dozens of hours into the game across several different characters I've been invaded a grand total of 1 time (outside of covenant specific invasion areas). It's really not a concern right now.

I... what? Are you saying that when you finish the game and move on to New Game Plus, the amount of souls you've gathered in total transfers over, not how you've spec'd your character? Sorry, I'm totally confused by your post.

Still, one fellow above said that he didn't start running out of guys to kill until after he had found himself running after the boss 10-15 times. I'm already in the habit of not hoarding souls in DS1, so that just doesn't sound like a problem even if I'm planning on playing completely offline.

@believer258: Matchmaking is now based on the total of all the souls you've gained since you started, not simply the ones you've spent on levels. So a SL1 character with a couple million stocked souls and maxed out weapons should not be able to invade a SL1 character who just started.

Oh, OK! So I'll (presumably) never get invaded by someone gaming the system to kill low-level characters that don't have a chance. I guess if invading is something that occurs at an astonishingly low rate, and continues to occur at an astonishingly low rate, I'll just not bother with keeping the game offline.

Co op does sound more interesting, but the idea of getting invaded while I'm poking around this dark and lonely world at my own pace is one of the things that pushed me away from Demon's and Dark Souls in the first place.

EDIT: I'm also holding out for the PC version, which is why I haven't played it yet.

@believer258: In NG matchmaking is based on life to date souls. In NG+ it's based on soul level. Your stats transfer as you'd expect. The only way for a player to get high end gear and grief new players is for him to avoid getting souls.

@believer258: Just as a word of note, there are at least 4 specific areas in the game that are exempt from that rule, as they are tied to covenants, but they're all optional.

Also I forgot to mention that sinning will increase your chance of getting invaded, but as long as you're not going around murdering NPCs that shouldn't be a problem.

@zeik: Is there any way to remove sin once you have it? I went around and killed all the NPCs before going to NG+ (stupid move I guess) and now I found the guy in Brightstone who I presume absolves sins, but he says I haven't sinned. Am I fucked because I NG+'d before absolving?

Also, I don't know if it's because the game is still pretty fresh or because the soul memory thing actually works, but I've had a much better time in PVP then previously. I'm still never seeking it out (and even with my sins I've only been invaded a half dozen times in 48 hours, all Arbiters), but I think I've won more encounters than I've lost, and it's pretty awesome.

@waffles13: Sin should reset after you NG+ officially. As far as I know, this mechanic has not changed between games and does not follow you to eternity.

@kkotd: The wiki states that it carries over, and I was invaded almost immediately upon starting NG+. Definitely didn't kill anyone at that point.

I finished the game at lvl 172 and there were only a couple areas where enemies stopped spawning on me. I can't really see this being an issue for most.

@waffles13: No idea, I know I was invaded more as I moved into NG+ and I don't see anything on Dark Souls 2 Wikidot wiki about it carrying over. If it does and you can't absolve it after a NG+... Wow... They really stacked this game and perhaps not in the best or most obvious ways.

You should be able to see your sin level on the character screen, under your covenant.

@zeik: Didn't know this, I'll have to check next time I play.

Arbiter spirits are just people invading due to sin, right? Discounting Rat/Bell Tower invasions, I'm pretty sure I've ONLY seen Arbiters.

@waffles13: Like in DS1, there is an NPC you run into later in the game that you can pay to absolve you of your sins, but I believe it costs 1000 times your level to do it.

Sorry if this has been stated or something... But let's assume one doesn't live where they can get online help for a boss like the "Old Iron King" and is low on effigys. I'm a full on melee build with a dwindling amount of enemies to kill. Yeah I get that I suck but unlike alot of "help" that say just go online and go coop I don't have that ability... ugh. I've beat almost every boss but that giant rat and cant beat either....

@mason20: Did you beat all three of the other Great Soul bosses? If not you've got options for grinding.

More importantly, stop assuming you need Effigies. At all. Get the Ring of Binding if you don't have it and a big ass shield. Blocking or rolling is always a better option than having more health. I used a total of maybe 15 Effigies between 2 playthroughs, and most of those were in the service of coop. I know saying "I did it, so be like me" helps no one, but it's absolutely possible to go through the game on 75% health. In many ways, it helps because you learn to value dodges and patience more if you can't take serious hits.

Also, when it comes to the Old Iron King, he has a total of either 5 or 6 attacks, all of which have very obvious tells and are easily dodged by backing up and waiting. When he does the fire breath, go to the far side of the arena and he can't hit you. If he does the hand laser, roll to the side. The overhead smash that creates a firestorm sucks, but again it can't hit you if you back up. The only really devastating move is the sideways slap because it has a huge area, but he gives you enough time to back up and even if you don't, you should be able to take the hit if you have 75% health, and then heal while he does the fist. Also, if you time it right, you can roll INTO the swing and you'll move straight through it.

I should point out that, if you don't know, there's a bonfire in the room RIGHT before the King. It's pretty easy to find, but I completely missed it until my third run through the area. It's one of the shortest boss runs in the game, so even if you feel compelled to fight using Effigies, just go at him hollowed a couple of times to learn all his moves and then human up for the big fight. He has some real dick moves, but he's also the only boss I can think of that is stationary the entire fight. All that you need to focus on is avoiding his attacks. You'll know when you get a good opening to attack.

First of all, equip the ring of life protection. As long as you can rack up at least 3000 souls between each death for repairs you'll never need an effigy again. Second, it's extremely unlikely you would be able to exhaust every notable source of souls without adequately leveling in the process. There's no boss that can't be beaten solo, so it's just a matter of practice. If you're really having trouble explore new tactics and items. Stubbornly sticking to failed tactics is often the source of the most frustration.

This! I was sticking to being a mage, I'd never done it in the other games because of how OP it was, but DS 2 quickly smacks ya about trying to use badly timed spells. I decided to go for a sword and make a battle mage build and it's never been more fun. Change your build, explore different weapons and armor and find what fits for your playstyle. Levels matter but they won't win or lose a boss battle in the short term.

You're probably hurting yourself more doing this. The souls early enemies have are very small compared to the souls later enemies have, or the souls you'll need for later spells/items/levels, so you're not going to want to grind in early levels. The souls from enemies in the levels seem scaled to get you an extra level or two at the time you're going through it, but eventually the few thousand souls you can get from clearing an early area is negligible. And even tossing away hundreds of thousands of souls in my playthrough I never had a problem.

In my opinion, the game is designed for you to be able to get through relying only on boss souls drops for levels and upgrades if you have to. You only start hitting real high leveling requirements once you're very far into developing your character.

It's impossible to run out of souls. Multiplayer, especially jolly cooperation, yields huge amounts of souls. Assist a few people with bosses if you happen to run out of enemies to kill and you don't want to burn an ascetic.

I would like to throw my opinion out there. I am fucking terrible at this game and I have completely run out of souls. I am stuck at the ruin sentinels with half health, and no one left to farm and no more effigies available to me. I used up all of my boss souls to level my character which didn't provide much help. Granted, I haven't tried leaving a summon sign, but I can't imagine I would be much use to anyone on account of the aforementioned sucking and half health. I'm pretty sure my Dark Souls run has ended here since even my attempts at summoning help for that battle have ended in comically disastrous ways

@mildmolasses: When you get summoned you can heal to full health. Sometimes you regain your humanity by being summoned, even if you die in 5 seconds. There are also likely more areas you could visit. The Souls games aren't linear. They are meant for you to explore.

@mosespippy: God damn this game and its lack of explanations!

As for unexplored areas, I would love to know. I feel I've been pretty thorough, but maybe I missed something.

I guess I'll go drop a sign outside the Pursuer and hope for the best. Thanks!

Edit: actually I haven't done that mansion yet that the Cartographer gives the key for. Is that advisable at this point? Or is that something I should do later?

@mildmolasses: That is one enemy. Have you been to Heide's Tower of Flame? It's a short area that'll get you access to 2 other bosses, and after that, two more areas and 2 more merchants.

@mosespippy: Nope. Guess I haven't been as thorough as I had hoped. I just looked that up, so hopefully that will help me out because 2 hours of getting beat down by the sentinels was pushing me to my breaking point. Thanks!