If this is your first foray into a From Software game, first off: our condolences. We understand. You had no idea it would be this hard. Luckily, we’ve got your back. Down below are five tips for Leveling Up in Demon Souls and some soul farming tricks that’ll help you get the most out of your suffering game.
1. You can only start leveling up after the First Boss Fight
Unlike Sekiro, or Dark Souls or Bloodborne, leveling in Demon’s Souls is locked behind the first boss fight. Before you can start spending souls on stat points, you’ll have to make your way to Phalanx, the first boss, and send him into soulless purgatory. This is non-negotiable.
You’ll be able to collect souls beforehand, but you won’t be able to spend them. If you’re wondering how to unlock leveling in Demon’s Souls, it all starts with the Monumentals in the Nexus.
Send Phalanx to oblivion, return to the nexus and listen to the tale of the Monumentals. After that, you’ll be able to hop down and speak to the Maiden in Black below to start spending souls on the stats you’ll need for your herculean journey.
Related: Demon’s Souls Boss Souls Guide: How To Get Them
2. Safe Soul Farming is Good Soul Farming
Newer players should be quickly made aware that, though you lose all your souls upon death, you can return to the site of your grisly end and retrieve all of your souls by touching your bloodstain.
However, it’s prudent to return to the Nexus, speak with the Maiden in Black, and spend your souls whenever you have enough for a level up. Backtracking isn’t glorious but is a great way to keep your power somewhat consistent with your progress. You’ll still die. A lot. But less.
Related: Storm Demon Soul Guide: How to Defeating Storm King in Demon’s Souls
3. Start Soul Farming Reapers at 4-1
A great way to cheese yourself into high levels of power is to farm the pants off of the reaper near the start of Ritual Path. Pop out of the Ritual Path Archstone, drop down and head into the caverns below the entrance until you find the Reaper enemy patrolling the darkness below.
Blasting it with arrows can make quick work of the Reaper which will give you a few hundred souls for very little work. Head back to the Nexus and then rinse, wash and repeat until you have enough souls to convince yourself you’re ready. It’s not glorious, it’s cheesy, but it’s an easy way for some early game soul farming in Demon’s Souls.
Related: How to Farm Colorless Demon Souls in Demon’s Souls
4. Min-Max FTW
Rather than building out a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type character, many consider min-maxing a straight specialist for whatever your playstyle is to be a more effective way to grow your character.
Rather than building across the board and ending up with a watered-down character who seems just short of the mark everywhere, investing in a particular stat or set of stats to adhere to a playstyle or combat system you prefer will give you a heck of a lot more bang for your buck.
5. Don’t Be Stingy with Souls (But Do Be Shrewd with Boss Souls)
As the price of leveling increases and your soul farming sessions lengthen, you may be reluctant to shell out for support items like Healing Grass or Heavy Arrows when these might be exactly what makes the difference between coming back to loot your own corpse and finally slaying that boss.
And when you do slay that boss, make sure to see what it can be traded for rather than just straight spending a unique soul. You might be passing up on something of serious value in favor of a quick stat point that you could just grind for and have said item.
There you go! Five tips to keep your leveling running as smooth as can be in what is officially one of the single most pitiless games in existence. Just remember to embrace the suffering and lose yourself in the grind — beating a Souls game is a resounding achievement for any gamer.
Discussion