Dark Souls 3: Souls and Bonfires

Dark Souls 3

Last week Awkward Mixture began a trek into the heart of Dark Souls 3 examining, the history of the series, the briefest shadows of the universe of Dark Souls 1 and 3, and the basics of character creation.

As mentioned previously, Dark Souls 3 is an action RPG where the player controls a medieval style knight, composed of nine different Attributes which can each be leveled up from one to ninety-nine. In most RPGs a character's level increases upon earning a specific amount of experience. Experience is normally gained by killing enemies and completing tasks. In Dark Souls 3, every slain monster releases a number of souls. Souls are both currency and experience. They can be spent on a variety of actions; purchasing items, improving weapons, and increasing Attributes. The key difference between most RPGs and Dark Souls 3, which many find frustrating, is that the player can't save in advance of a tough fight. There is no option to Save, only to Save and Quit. Simultaneously, the game records and saves every moment of play. When the player dies, they don't reload a save file, but are reborn at the most recent Bonfire, without their souls. All the souls the player was carrying, unspent, are deposited on the spot of the player's demise. They can be recovered, by traveling to the location, but if the player dies again, any unreclaimed souls are lost. A player can rest at a Bonfire, and this will not delete any unrecouped souls.

Bonfires light the path for the Chosen Undead. As mentioned in the previous article, fire is significant, practically and symbolically, in Dark Souls 3. It is life, power, and knowledge, but also chaos and destruction. It is the First Flame, but also the linking of the flame which led to the curse of the Darksign, and the decay of the gods. There are seventy-seven Bonfires spread across Lordran, and activating (or resting at) each restores the player's Health and Focus Points and refills their Estus and Ashen Flasks. Unlike Dark Souls 1, the player can immediately travel from any Bonfire to another instantly. Also unlike the original game (in which the player could level up at any Bonfire), a player can only level up with the aid of the Firekeeper at the Firelink Shrine Bonfire.


Dark Souls 3 does an incredible job at maintaining the proper proportion of souls. To advance from level 9 to 10 requires 829 souls, and the player will be in an area where most foes release 10 to 20 souls upon death. In the first hour or two, 2,000 souls seems like a phenomenal amount. Then, the player will reach level 17, which costs 2,113 souls. The same pattern repeats endlessly, because 10,000 souls will then seem like a monumental amount, but at level 40, it's the amount needed to improve one Attribute point. At which point 30,000 souls seems unachievable until level 72, where 50,000 sounds impossible, but that's the cost only 19 levels later. In spite of this escalation, the rewards of success are designed to provide the perfect amount of souls to lead a hardy soul onward. Each new enemy is worth enough to challenge them, but is also a threat capable of ending the players quest in a few careless seconds. If one dares to look back, the player will be astonished at how much they've achieved since they were awoken by the tolling of the bell.

There are seventy-seven Bonfires, but the player begins without any, as they arise from a unknown burial plot in the Cemetery of Ash, and must defeat a few simple foes before they can rest their grave chilled bones. Traveling from one Bonfire to another is always a risky enterprise, because the distance between any two flames is highly variable. For instance, upon the Road of Sacrifices, the Bonfire of Crucifixion Woods was so close to the Halfway Fortress Bonfire (and well sheltered in a grove of trees off the main path), that I missed it, and only discovered it after being led to its light by a Host of Embers as a Phantom. On the other hand, I died more than a score of times trying to find and light the Ringed City Streets Bonfire when beginning from the Ringed Inner Wall in the Ringed City DLC. Even including Bosses, I don't believe I died more when starting at any one Bonfire than the Ringed Inner Wall Bonfire. It was the only location where I died so much, trying to reach the next Bonfire where I was swearing at the game in frustration.

To reach the next Bonfire on the road, the Ashen One's most valuable tools for enduring the trials of darkness are his two flasks, the Estus and the Ashen. The Estus is the most vital element of all three Dark Souls games, as it heals the player's Health Points with each sip, and can carry an increasing number of charges as the player improves it with Estus shards. The Ashen flask debuted in Dark Souls 3, and restores Focus Points. It wasn't in the previous games, because the previous Dark Souls games did not include Focus Points. In Dark Souls 3 spells costs FP. In 1 and 2, each spell had a limited number of uses before the player must tag a Bonfire to recharge them.
In Dark Souls 3, the Unkindled player is tasked with searching for five Lords of Cinder. As the only willing Lord of Cinder says, “Five thrones will take Five Lords, as kindling for the linking of the Fire.” Unsurprisingly, these Lords have abandoned their thrones and hidden themselves away, and the player must retrieve their unwilling souls and return them to Firelink Shrine. While the player character is called many insulting names, Unkindled, Ashen One, Hollow, Undead, and Cursed, they can enkindle themselves by spending an Ember or aiding another player as a Phantom. When they do this, they become a Host of Embers and can summon other players, as Phantoms, to their world to aid them.

Next Monday, Awkward Mixture will examine the integral aspect of always online multiplayer in Dark Souls 3 and how it fits into the lore of the series.

But before we conclude today, each article going forward will have few odds and ends, that wouldn't fit anywhere else. Today, some stuff from the beginning.

One, there's a sign in the Ashen Cemetary which says, “Turn Back.” I won't spoil the surprise, but I beat the area at level 17, and I'm not that great at the game, so you probably can as well.
And Two, which is more inane? That a Dragon in the Highwall area won't adjust his position (from which he can't harm me) even as I shoot 100 crossbow bolts into him, or that the developer made it impossible to fight this monster with sword and shield.

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