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!
AnonymousIn theory it seems like a good idea, stop people from staying at a certain level to gank newbies while having a **** load of health and any weapon/spell combination. The bad news is that this actually rewards better players, which generally speaking are the pvpers. I can run through the entire game, skip more AI, stick to bosses, upgrade my specific weapons/spells and when ready, invade someone 100 levels lower than me. Also just generally it rewards better players, you can have two players at different parts of the game, 30 levels apart and they can still invade/coop one another because one is better at the game. Overall the SL system worked much better than this one, this one actually ended up rewarding better players with easy pvp, which I actually dislike so please fix.
- Anonymous
Never before had a single souls mechanic generaetd such a volume of crying babies.
Dumbasses, dumbasses everywhere complaining about how this system makes the old meta inviable(which was definitely intentional) instead of looking at what it's good for.
This system is only a "problem" if you want to stay at a fixed tier and never go up, which... why should you? just keep playing and keep going up.
The sheer number of tiers and how large the gap gets at higher tiers ensures that you won't end up isolated.
Twinks using the agape ring? not so many people will be actually going for that, specially this late, and the ones they do will be further diluted across the numerous early tiers. You soon won't face them at all just plainly by going past their tier, just playing naturally.
By the point where your soul level is high enough that you can softcap one playstyle's stats and actually put enough points into others to have a funtional sub-build, the gap between one tier and the next is so humongous that non-leveling soul usage/deathloss will be a drop in the bucket for your soul memory tier, yet there's still enough high-level tiers that whoever you find online will *actually* be around your level.
The exponential increase in leveling costs after you hit 200 makes it so that lightweight havel mages that "break the game" won't actually be a thing until you hit the final tier.
And if you actually do play long enough to hit that final tier? at that point the only limit is your equipment slots, so just go bonkers. Your PvP advantages won't be how well you can min-max, but how much power can you draw out of the theoretical limits.
Y'all be crying about "muh meta!" over a system that was specifically designed for "don't worry, just keep leveling if you want, don't think about it too much".
SMH can't appreciate what it is and instead bashing for not being what it isn't.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
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
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
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
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
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
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
Let's be honest here... you only hate soul memory because it doesn't let you gank anymore.
You coward f*cks
- Anonymous
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
I feel like this is such an easily fixable system.
Instead of Soul Memory being the number of souls aquired , make it the number of souls spent
2
+10
-1