Soul Memory in Dark Souls 2 is covered on this page.
Soul Memory
What is Soul Memory for?
Soul Memory is the cumulative total of all the souls gathered on a character. In this game, it is part of the formula that sets minimum and maximum range for interactions between players online (co-op and invasions).
This is, for example, to prevent a player of a certain level that is close to the end of the game from invading/doing co-op with a player of the same level that might be still in the first areas of the game.
If you wish to play with others, you must be within a similar Soul Memory range. Higher Soul Level characters can still be paired with lower leveled characters who have similar Soul Memory ranges.
- Soul items and boss souls you pick up add to your Soul Memory only when you use them.
- You can check your Soul Memory on your Player Status screen, the top right-hand number.
- Souls picked up from your bloodstain after dying won't add up to your soul memory.
- Souls lost upon dying a second time without touching your bloodstain still count in your soul memory.
- It is better to always recover your souls on the bloodstain if you don't want to get "under(soul)leveled".
- A summoning range calculator can be found here.
Notes
- Soul Level does not matter in summoning - it is purely Soul Memory that affects it.
- NG shares the same exact ranges as NG+.
- The Soul Memory threshold flattens out at 45m. Once you pass this threshold, you can summon and be summoned by anyone else past it, regardless of how large the gap! If your SM is 50m and your friends is 400m, you can still summon each other regardless.
Soul Memory Tiers and Exact Ranges for Multiplayer Connections
Note that the specifics may be subject to change in future calibrations, but this appears to be exactly how it works for now. Tested on PS3.
How are the ranges calculated?
- Soul Memory is divided into tiers, but the tiers are not hard boundaries. Instead, different multiplayer items extend across different amounts of neighboring tiers. So there's no direct math involved, it's a question of
- A) What tier am I in? and
- B) How many tiers above and below my own can I pair up with?
- It is NOT anything like +/- 25%, 50,000, etc.
Tiers
| Tier # | Soul Memory |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0 - 9,999 |
| 2 | 10,000 - 19,999 |
| 3 | 20,000 - 29,999 |
| 4 | 30,000 - 39,999 |
| 5 | 40,000 - 49,999 |
| 6 | 50,000 - 69,999 |
| 7 | 70,000 - 89,999 |
| 8 | 90,000 - 109,999 |
| 9 | 110,000 - 129,999 |
| 10 | 130,000 - 149,999 |
| 11 | 150,000 - 179,999 |
| 12 | 180,000 - 209,999 |
| 13 | 210,000 - 239,999 |
| 14 | 240,000 - 269,999 |
| 15 | 270,000 - 299,999 |
| 16 | 300,000 - 349,999 |
| 17 | 350,000 - 399,999 |
| 18 | 400,000 - 449,999 |
| 19 | 450,000 - 499,999 |
| 20 | 500,000 - 599,999 |
| 21 | 600,000 - 699,999 |
| 22 | 700,000 - 799,999 |
| 23 | 800,000 - 899,999 |
| 24 | 900,000 - 999,999 |
| 25 | 1,000,000 - 1,099,999 |
| 26 | 1,100,000 - 1,199,999 |
| 27 | 1,200,000 - 1,299,999 |
| 28 | 1,300,000 - 1,399,999 |
| 29 | 1,400,000 - 1,499,999 |
| 30 | 1,500,000 - 1,749,999 |
| 31 | 1,750,000 - 1,999,999 |
| 32 | 2,000,000 - 2,249,999 |
| 33 | 2,250,000 - 2,499,999 |
| 34 | 2,500,000 - 2,749,999 |
| 35 | 2,750,000 - 2,999,999 |
| 36 | 3,000,000 - 4,999,999 |
| 37 | 5,000,000 - 6,999,999 |
| 38 | 7,000,000 - 8,999,999 |
| 39 | 9,000,000 - 11,999,999 |
| 40 | 12,000,000 - 14,999,999 |
| 41 | 15,000,000 - 19,999,999 |
| 42 | 20,000,000 - 29,999,999 |
| 43 | 30,000,000 - 44,999,999 |
| 44 | 45,000,000 - 999,999,999 |
Multiplayer Items
| Multiplayer Item | Downward Range | Upward Range | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Sign Soapstone | -3 Tiers | +1 Tier | Tier 20 can send their sign to a host in tiers 17 - 21 |
| White Sign Soapstone with Name-Engraved Ring |
-6 Tiers | +4 Tiers | Tier 20 can send their sign to a host in tiers 14 - 24 |
| Small White Sign Soapstone | -4 Tiers | +2 Tiers | Tier 20 can send their sign to a host in tiers 16 - 22 |
| Small White Sign Soapstone with Name-Engraved Ring |
-7 Tiers | +5 Tiers | Tier 20 can send their sign to a host in tiers 13 - 25 |
| Red Sign Soapstone | -5 Tiers | +2 Tiers | Tier 20 can send their sign to a host in tiers 15 - 22 |
| Dragon Eye | -5 Tiers | +5 Tiers | Tier 20 can send their sign to a host in tiers 15 - 25 |
| Cracked Red Eye Orb | none | +4 Tiers | Tier 20 can invade a host in tiers 20 - 24 |
| Cracked Blue Eye Orb | -3 Tiers | +3 Tiers | Tier 20 can invade a host in tiers 17 - 23 |
| Bell Keeper's Seal | -1 Tier | +3 Tiers | Tier 20 can invade a host in tiers 19 - 23 |
Untested
- Abyss Invasions
- Mirror Knight Summons
- Tested by Hirokisugihara & Illusorywall
- All credits go to illusorywall & optic_niko, hellkite_drake, ein death, hiroki sugihara, greensvadhisthana, eur0pa, blade, and necroi!
Anonymous24 Aug 2021 04:34
I'm SL160 with a soul memory of 36 (~4,15m souls) I've seen ONE player's mark in my entire run. Am I f-ed for being invoked in someone's world as a sunbro?
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
06 Jul 2021 04:28
Easy soul memory fix that fromsoft's lazy ass didn't apply for some reason:
make it so that soul memory increases when you SPEND souls, not GAIN them.
- Anonymous
22 Jun 2021 16:02
Most players: this system is so terrible! my matchmaking is fckd, i can't summon dudes to defend me or invade with all the advantages possible!
Me, with over 75 millions of souls: MY HUNGER IS INSATIABLE
- Anonymous
13 May 2021 07:21
Now I see why this community likes this game the least on average. I came here looking for the meta range. What a dumb system.. Real gamers wanna make their ideal build and put themselves against other players, not NPC they learn to predict. Twinks are dumb I agree but the trade off is nowhere near worth it, just a bad idea.. Every other aspect is ok imo. Sad, the pvp is more than half of why the communities last. Glad this didn't last. You can't really have a meta like this. Enjoying the game regardless, loving my playthroughs.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
19 Feb 2021 17:31
Since there's no uncracked eye orbs in ds2, the only ways to maintain low and mid level invasion scene is to use agape ring, and periodically farm mobs for the orbs (can't buy them since you cant get souls), or cheat them in. This means only the most dedicated players will bother at all and it kills any sense of normalcy throughout the playtime.
It also doesn't solve twinking problem, it distills twinks to the best and most dedicated players. They'll get to agape ring deathless and pump all their points into levels; you'll get some cool armours and die a few times. Suddenly they're the same soul memory as you, but while you're SL 40, they're SL 80.
Blue covenant is dead. Red invaders are very rare. Dried finger + Delicate String playthroughs are moot. Consumables are extremely limited. Coop grants no souls, or you go up in brackets. Want to test a different weapon and upgrade it - you go up in brackets. Want to stay at SL 150 without wearing agape ring? Eventually you'll end up playing with and against SL 250+, you'll feel bad. Want to get Outcry so you can cast one cool spell per rest? That's two levels you just lost if you're around SL 120; that other guy leveled up and got stronger instead. It's miniscule with 2 levels, but it all adds up to one trainwreck of a system.
It's a shame, because DS2 is the best souls game to coop due to it's enemy placement and sheer amount of bullshit, and would be most fun to invade and Delicate String + Dried Finger run, due to the variety of zones.
- Anonymous
15 Feb 2021 12:52
Its a good idea on paper, but too much stuff gets in the way of it working to prevent gank, ppl having high weapon etc.
Consumables arrows and all the stuff you buy but dont use and the the souls lost to dying punish you very hard
Being forced to level character as much as possible and the need to be carefull of weapon selection and upgrading because if the guy that invades has put everything into a dedicated build and didnt wasted anything will destroy anyone who dies and plays around too much with gear at same/similar soul memory
there is no perfect solution for pvp and for pve its way worse especially when you help as a phantom alot
- Anonymous
14 Feb 2021 05:38
Let's be honest here... you only hate soul memory because it doesn't let you gank anymore.
You coward f*cks
- Anonymous
10 Feb 2021 09:53
This might be crap, but at least we don't have to fight people with end-game content at lvl 10 *cough* dark souls 3 *cough*
- Anonymous
05 Feb 2021 08:34
Is Soul Memory a bad mechanic? It sure is horrendous and ruins the game a lot for me and many other players who would much prefere to have a level-based matchmaking rather than this bs where you HAVE to spend all of your souls on leveling unless you want to be in constant disadvantage to other players who did so. SM murdered any meta SL one should stop at. Every lifegem, every arrow, every set of armor and weapon bought for collection purposes now make your character weaker. Forever! It's like an unending falling into the abyss... And the only solution to this flaw is a ring which takes up a precious ring slot and leaves you not only weaker, but also unable to repair your broken gear and buy stuff (RIP archer builds). Terrible!
Now, is there a way From could fix it?.. Yes, I can see one very clearly. For example, SM could only count the souls you spend on character levels and weapon reinforcements. Simple, right? Basicly, only add to SM souls spent to make your character stronger. And never the souls you have gathered, the souls you have lost, the souls you spent on trinkets, buying things you don't need just to have 1 of everything and then some arrows and lockstones just in case. Now that would be a wise solution.
- Anonymous
31 Jan 2021 20:07
F u c k whoever thought this was a smart idea
Completely ****ed pvp outside of the covenant system , hated for a good reason. Hopefully never again to be seen
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
18 Dec 2020 00:03
Wow. Looking thru these comments is like watching a war playout. Can confirm that the dark chasm invasions go atleast 6 tiers up. Did some at tier 26 (1mil) & got a dude at tier 32 (2mil) mirror squire invasions seem to be based off of cracked red eye ranges but im still not sure.
03 Dec 2020 11:22
Soul Memory brought more balance and fairness to the game. Dark Souls 2 punishes you for having wasted your souls on consumables (remember that in Dark Souls 1 there was no such a thing as Lifegems).
- Anonymous
27 Nov 2020 20:51
imagine making a mechanic so god awful that you needed to add a new item to fix it thus making the mechanic irrelevant because now players can just use said item to bypass this and Harass as many new players as they want
- Anonymous
27 Nov 2020 20:45
what's that ran out of life gems but are on meta sm welp sucks to be you guess you don't get to have anymore gems or else you're gunna get pushed out of your level have fun
- Anonymous
13 Nov 2020 14:48
Da due giorni a questa parte non riesci più a giocare in co-op con un altra persona, il mio lvl corrisponde a 98 mentre l'altra persona è al 100. So che ci sono determinate zone in cui non è possibile fare evocazioni, ma visto che la differenza di lvl è minima, perché non riesco ad evocare o ad essere evocato? E'la prima run
- Anonymous
03 Nov 2020 15:52
This mechanic is really good and FromSoft should add it into DS3. It really balances players beyond the character level. If you want to keep certain tier just buy the Agape Ring from straid
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
15 Sep 2021 10:15
An OK mechanics, there's just way to many tiers.
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