New Player Guide
Welcome to the GG Souls New Player Guide for Demon’s Souls! Whether you dabbled in the 2009 PS3 classic or are playing Demon’s Souls for the first time on PS5, this guide will introduce you to the core mechanics of Demon’s Souls.
If you are reading GG Souls guides for the first time, welcome! The guides on this website are forged with the collective knowledge of the most talented Soulsborne content creators in the world. Their expertise as challenge runners and speedrunners will give you a competitive edge in FromSoftware’s brutal Action RPGs. The guides are written in an accessible way so that anyone can learn how to be a better gamer.
Demon’s Souls - Basics
If this is your first souls game, you are in for a treat! Demon’s Souls is a punishingly difficult game on your first playthrough. Everything from the basic enemies, environments, and the game’s many bosses will challenge your physical and mental strength. Gritty combat and an environmentally revealed story is the core of any Soulsborne game. Demon’s Souls will not “tell” you how to play the game, you have to learn it through trial and error.
Prepare to Die
First time Demon’s Souls players should be expected to die over a hundred times (or much more) over the course of the game. The environments are typically the most challenging, though some of the bosses will also take you significant time to master. Do not go into this game expecting a difficulty mode, detailed in-game tutorials, or anything of the sort. Demon’s Souls does not tell you much about how to play the game. You learn through experimentation—or reading our guides!
Souls
When you defeat enemies or bosses, you collect “souls,” which are the in-game currency. You use souls to level up, upgrade your weapons, and purchase helpful items from NPC vendors.
When you die in Demon’s Souls, you lose all your collected “souls,” which are the in-game currency. If you can get back to where you died, you can collect the souls you lost via your “bloodstain” on the group. However, if you die again before reaching your bloodstain, you permanently lose those souls. Whenever you die, most enemies in the level respawn. This makes it very challenging to collect your souls in areas dense with enemies.
Starting Classes
You have a range of choices for your starting class in Demon’s Souls. The starting class determines what weapons, equipment, spells, and character stats you start with. If you plan to be a spell caster in Demon’s Souls, the Royalty starting class is a solid pick. Those looking for a more traditional melee character may want to consider either the Solider or Knight starting class. Both start with more tank like builds, allowing you to take more damage from enemies before dying. This can be very helpful for a starting player.
Player Gender
Unlike most games, the player gender you select will somewhat change the way you play Demon’s Souls. Certain equipment is restricted to either female or male characters. Many players choose the Female option because of an in-game item that boosts your soul collection. Demon’s Souls is an expansive game and you will not experience everything in a single playthrough. What gender you select is ultimately up to preference. You can always build a new character for a second playthrough!
Leveling Up
As mentioned, souls are the currency you use to level up (become more powerful). When you collect enough souls, you can increase your “soul level” at the Maiden in Black located in the Nexus. The amount of souls required to level up increases as you achieve higher soul levels. For each soul level, you get to increase one of your stats by one point. Stats have the following effect on your character’s strength:
Strength — Increases physical damage (certain weapon types)
Dexterity — increases physical damage (certain weapon types); reduces fall damage taken
Vitality — increases maximum HP and item burden
Endurance — increases maximum stamina, equip weight, and some resistances
Intelligence — increases maximum MP and Magic memory slots
Magic — increases magic damage
Faith — increases miracle damage, Miracle memory slots, and magic resistance
Luck — increases item drop rates and disease resistance
Player Resource Bar
Your character has three main resources to manage: (1) Health; (2) Mana; and (3) Stamina. Your health drops when attacked by enemies, traps, or falling. If it drops to zero, you die. You can regain health (or HP) through Healing Grass and spells. Your mana (or MP) is used to cast spells. You can regain mana by using a Fresh Spice. Health and Mana both return to full after you resurrect from a death or use an Archstone (see fast travel section below). There are certain items in the game that allow you to passively regenerate HP or MP!
The Nexus and Archstones
The Nexus is the central rest zone in Demon’s Souls. Apart from fall damage, you are safe from death in the Nexus. Inside the Nexus are a variety of NPCs and vendors that can aid you. You can level up, purchase items, and learn more about the story of Demon’s Souls from the Nexus’ NPCs.
Archstones are the stone pillars in the the center of the Nexus. They are your path to travel to the various levels in Demon’s Souls. There are five active Archstones in Demon’s Souls, each of which give you access to different “Worlds” in the game. Levels in Demon’s Souls are referenced by their World and Level. After the short tutorial, the first world you will travel to will be World 1, Level 1 or Boletarian Palace (1-1).
Playing Demon’s Souls, you have many options for where you explore first. However, as you descend into the deeper levels within a world, they become more challenging. While you may be tempted to continue adventuring into the deeper levels of a single world, it is usually best to explore the earlier levels of the other worlds (Archstones).
Whenever you teleport via an Archstone, enemies (in all levels) respawn. Bosses, however, do not respawn once defeated.
For a full walkthrough of Demon’s Souls, check out our area guides!
Body and Soul Forms
When you start Demon’s Souls, you will be in “Body Form.” In this form, you have your full maximum HP. If you die, you reawaken in “Soul Form,” which comes with a 50% maximum HP penalty. Certain equipment can reduce the HP penalty from Soul Form. To return to Body Form, you must defeat a world boss. Items in the game can also restore you to Body Form.
Item Burden
Unfortunately, you cannot hold every item on your character that you come across in Demon’s Souls. Your Item Burden determines the total weight of items a character can hold. Your maximum Item Burden increases with your Vitality stat. If you encounter an item in a level that puts you over your Item Burden, you cannot pick it up. To manage your inventory, you can give items to Stockpile Thomas in the Nexus. This is essentially your item bank. When your Item Burden begins to reach capacity, it is a good idea to visit the Nexus and clear out unneeded items.
World Tendency
Unique to Demon’s Souls is the World Tendency game mechanic. Your actions in the world and even the online game environment determine your World Tendency. These actions only affect your tendency within individual Worlds of Demon’s Souls. For a brand new player, you do not need to pay considerable attention to this concept. If however you want your first playthrough to be easier, avoid defeating friendly NPCs (more on this below) and dying in Body Form. For more information on World Tendency, see our full guide!
White World Tendency
White World Tendency decreases enemy HP, resistance, souls, and item drops. It also increases healing item drops. To maintain the maximum White World Tendency, you must not die while in Body Form. Defeating friendly NPCs will also lower your White Tendency.
Black World Tendency
Black World Tendency increases enemy damage. It also increases the amount of souls and items awarded when defeating enemies. To maintain Black World Tendency, you must not visit the Nexus after defeating a boss or Black Phantom (invader) NPC.
Character Tendency
Character Tendency is unrelated to World Tendency. It is essentially your character’s alignment based on actions taken in relation to NPCs and Black Phantoms. Character Tendency affects the game’s difficulty and changes certain NPC interactions. When your Character Tendency is White, you do increased damage in Soul Form. Black Character Tendency reduces your maximum HP in Soul Form. It also increases your attack power as a Black Phantom invader (PVP).
Defeating Black Phantoms moves you towards White Character Tendency. Conversely, defeating friendly NPCs moves you towards Black Character Tendency.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer in Demon’s Souls is seamlessly integrated into the game world. Instead of lobbies or shared servers, you can “summon” helpful players into your game under certain conditions. Players will place their “summoning sign” on the ground. If you click these signs, you will bring that player as a “Blue Phantom” into your game. Most players summon others to help on a difficult boss, so it is common for summoning signs to appear right outside of boss arenas. You must be in Body Form to summon Blue Phantoms. Upon defeating a boss, Blue Phantoms are sent back to their world.
There is also PVP in Demon’s Souls. Player “invaders” can summon into your game against your will. These player “Black Phantoms” will hunt you down in the level and attempt to defeat you. Up to a total of (6) players can join each other in a multiplayer match (Demon’s Souls Remake - PS5).
Players can also leave messages for each other in-game. If you are playing online, you will see these messages appear in various locations. Many of these messages are helpful hints about enemies or the environment.
New Game+
Beating Demon’s Souls is not the end! After your first playthrough, you get an option to replay the game with all your previously acquired equipment, items, and soul level. Playing through another time on NG+ respawns all the bosses and enemies. It also makes the game incrementally more difficult. The higher the NG+ cycle you play through, the more challenging bosses and enemies become.
Demon’s Souls - Combat
Combat is the most important thing to learn in Demon’s Souls. When you start out, you will find yourself being defeated by many early game enemies. As you master the combat system, and level up, you will increasingly become a more efficient combatant.
Offense
Attacking enemies is done through weapons, spells, and items you acquire throughout your playthrough. There are a variety of weapons in Demon’s Souls. Some are more effective than others, but the key is to finding the weapon that works best for your playstyle. Like fast weapons? Grab a dagger or straight sword. Prefer to bash your enemies over the head with a huge weapon? Pick up a large sword or hammer. Whatever weapon you choose, be sure to watch your stamina bar. Each attack takes up stamina, which takes time to recover.
Damage dealing is not limited to melee weapons though. There are a plenty of bows, crossbows, and spell to use if you prefer a ranged build. Depending on what stats you have, you can even build a hybrid character capable to decent melee and ranged offense. Certain builds in Demon’s Souls are more optimized than others. But for your first play through, ignore the meta and pick what you like best! If you are however determined to pick an overpowered build for your first playthrough, check out our “easy mode” builds.
Movesets
Each weapon has a different moveset. Experiment with each weapon type to see what moveset you like best. Note that each weapon has a number of attack types, including the following:
R1 - standard attack
R2 - heavy attack
Circle + R1 - rolling attack
Sprint + R1 - running attack
Forward + R1 - push
R1 (behind enemy) - backstab
Damage Types
Each weapon has an innate damage type(s). Enemies and bosses are inherently weak or strong to these damage types. Therefore, certain weapons or spells will be more effective on different enemies. Physical weapon types include Normal, Blunt, Slashing, and Piercing. Spells and even melee weapons can also take on magical properties, dishing out magic or fire damage. Many of the bosses in Demon’s Souls are weak to magic and/or fire damage.
Weapon Upgrades
As you progress through Demon’s Souls, you will come across various weapon upgrade materials. These materials can be used at a blacksmith to upgrade the strength of your weapons. Before investing too heavily in a particular weapon, make sure you like the weapon’s moveset. Weapon upgrade materials are limited in supply and/or require significant farming to acquire. You will not be able to upgrade every weapon you like on a single playthrough.
Defense
Your ability to defend yourself from incoming damage will be critical on your journey through Demon’s Souls. Protecting you against the various threats across Boletaria is your equipment, stats, and game knowledge. The armor you wear protects you against damage from enemies. Armor in Demon’s Souls comes with different attributes. Some armor is strong against physical attacks whereas other is strong against magic. The majority of damage in Demon’s Souls is physical based, so you will want an armor set with high physical resistance. Magic, fire, and other damage resistance gear is also helpful for certain areas and bosses.
Blocking
If you have a shield equipped, you can block incoming attacks by holding down L1. Absorbing an enemy attack takes stamina, so you cannot block forever. Also, depending on the shield you are using, not all incoming damage will be blocked. Shields, just like armor, have innate strengths (and weaknesses) against damage types.
Rolling
The dodge roll is a core mechanic in all Soulsborne games. If you dodge (pressing Circle) at the right time, you can avoid all enemy damage. Enemies attacks have different timings and range. To master rolling through damage, you will have to learn this enemy timing. Many first time players prefer blocking damage as it is usually easier. As you master more of the game’s enemies, you will become more comfortable rolling through damage. However, like blocking, rolling takes up stamina. Running out of stamina in Demon’s Souls leaves you very vulnerable to enemies.
Parrying
If timed correctly, you can “parry” (interrupt) an enemy attack. After a successful parry, you can “riposte”, dealing critical damage. To parry, you need a parry tool in your left hand. This can be a shield, dagger, rapier, curved sword, or even your bare hand. The right time to parry is generally right before the enemy’s attack is about to land. At this moment, hit L2 to parry. Note that not all enemies in Demon’s Souls can be parried. Player invaders and enemies your size can generally be parried. This excludes large enemies/bosses cannot.
Learning the correct parry timing for each enemy attack is even more challenging than rolling through attacks. Certain parry tools, including the Parrying Dagger and Buckler shield, give you more leeway with your parry timing (making it easier). The PS5 version of Demon’s Souls makes use of the new controller’s haptic feedback system. For some players, this will make “feeling” the correct parry timing easier. (Note: not every enemy attack can be parried.)
Equipment Burden
Equipment Burden is the total weight of the items you have equipped on your character. You can increase your maximum Equipment Burden by leveling up Endurance and through certain equipped items. Generally, you want to keep your equipment weight below 50% of your maximum. If your equipped items exceed 50% of your capacity, you will move slower and your recovery from rolling will be extended. This makes it more difficult to dodge enemy attacks. When the weight of your equipped items equals or exceed 100% of maximum, you cannot move.