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!
Anonymous
- Anonymous
19 Apr 2019 03:44
If you remove this factor from multiplayer formulas, the game becomes more fun! I only ever play the game solo if I ever play this game anymore, otherwise with friends. Even that's annoying if they need to farm weapons and outclass your soul "memory". Of course I haven't bothered touching the updated ones for PS4/Xbone. This still a thing in that release?
- Anonymous
24 Jan 2019 00:15
At what tier do most players cap? Or more specifically, at what tier are you able to fin the most people, both on coop and PvP?
19 Jan 2019 12:45
i'm on my first ever run of DS2 and i'm almost at soul memory tier 31 and i'm level 136 (i'm not good, i grind). the tables seem to suggest that soul memory doesn't reset on NG+. on NG+1 in order to open the shrine of winter, you need a soul memory of 2m. what if i reach 2m before going to NG+1? do i need to collect 2m more souls, or is it static?
- Anonymous
02 Jan 2019 14:50
I like the SM mechanic tbh. It prevented the DS1 issue of new players walking into Undead Burg only to have a much more experienced player invade them at SL 4-8 and assblast them with fully upgraded endgame gear.
- Anonymous
02 Oct 2018 05:13
Don't actually have xbox live for 360 rn...wondering if it's worth so I can play online.
- Anonymous
03 Sep 2018 17:02
I decided to play my old tier 44 save... it has been two months and still I found no one pvp.
- Anonymous
02 Sep 2018 22:35
Playing on PS4, SL 184, SM tier 37, anyone interested in farming some sunlinght medals? Message me, nick: rmstoo
15 Aug 2018 16:19
Is anyone interested do some Sunbro Co-op? I play on both PC (SOTFS) and on PS3 (Vanilla). I have several characters in different levels, from low ones till 17 million soul memory. My nick on PC is: King_Havel And on PS3 is: Dastiefeleid666 Praise the Sun! \o/
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
15 Jul 2018 11:23
So stupid that lost souls still count towards soul level. This way, if you are bad, you will be matched up with even higher level players.
- Anonymous
01 Jul 2018 01:04
I'm looking for people to farm some goddamn Sunlight Medals. I play on Steam. Feel free to add me there: King_Havel
- Anonymous
04 Jun 2018 18:58
So i just lost 30k trying to get my souls back from a platform after an impossible jump. I died, theyre gone, but their memory lives on. Wouldve been better to just spend them on trash
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
13 Apr 2018 22:48
Soul Memory is like marriage : they fucked it so much they got to put a ring on it.
- Anonymous
26 Mar 2018 02:50
First the ads block all the item descriptions so that I have 2 reload the page multiple times to just get a glance at wtf I'm trying to read, and now the ads have upgraded to tearing my me away to some ad spam sight telling me I've won a new phone. Took me 5 attempts just to post a mf-ing comment. Why do I come here Why did I male an account? This is awful!
- Anonymous
18 Feb 2018 04:09
The real problem with soul memory isn't exactly the mechanic itself but the game it's in. With the ability to lose souls before spending them, farm the same enemy multiple times and even use items that increase the souls you get per kill it makes these games the WORST for this mechanic. I believe this is a great idea to tie your experience to online matchmaking but only in games where it would be more specific and accurate because in a souls game it's just too random per player and it feels like a very ignorant decision without careful thought put into it.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
10 Jan 2018 13:13
Player 1: experienced, doesn't lose souls by dying, spends them on weapon upgrading etc
Player 2: new, dies often loses souls needed for upgrading and strengthening their character
Souls count towards memory in both examples. GG
20 Jun 2019 16:38
If they could just remove this mechanic the game would've been much more active and fun, tired of fighting turtle havels or jack of all trades master of everything
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