Hello everyone! Thank you for all of your questions and a special thank you to the Fextralife team for organizing this. We are not able to answer all of your questions and some of them may never be able to be answered! FromSoftware loves to create worlds where you can create your own stories, so it’s hard to answer some of the specific lore items. Also, with Dark Souls III coming, we believe that a large part of what makes the game unique is discovery. With that being said we have to be pretty tight-lipped prior to launch. Hopefully you all understand. Starting today you’ll see a large amount of Dark Souls III footage surfacing from the first few areas in the game. Thank you so much for being a part of this community and we definitely appreciate your support. We’re so excited for April 12th and I personally look forward to consulting this community as we embark upon our question together.
Community Manager | Bandai Namco Entertainment America |@jkartje
DS3-Specific
Q:How is equipment load going to be handled? Is it going to be tied to Endurance like Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, or will it be its own separate stat like Dark Souls II? (dibsville)
A:Heavier equipment will affect the player’s movements and will definitely have an impact on the roll maneuver. Equipment load is currently tied to the Vitality stat which also affects Defense and Resistances.
Q: Will poise be present and if so, how will it work? Will it work like DKS (easier to obtain very effective) or DS2? (difficult to stack. more around staggering then tanking.) (Bwo_RazrStorm, GodlessCrom, XuitustheGreat, Llys)
A:Poise is present in Dark Souls III. We can’t discuss any of the specifics at this time though.
Q: What will the upgrade system be like? Will it be like Dark Souls via Embers, simplified like in Dark Souls 2 or going to the gem system of Bloodborne? (Fexelea, popcar, skarekrow13, Emergence, Bwo_RazrStorm, Impyy)
A:Weapon upgrades will be performed with various Shards and Embers, similar to previous games, but not exactly alike.
Q: Will there be covenants? About how many covenants can we expect? Will they be like Dark Souls 2 (join and must leave via NPC) or like Bloodborne (rune)? (Fextralife)
A:Covenants will be making a return in Dark Souls III. We do not want to name a specific number or detail exactly how they work since we believe that is exciting information to discover upon the launch of the game.
Q: What Starting Class Gifts Will there be? (dn1nd)
A:The starting available gifts are a Life Ring, Divine Blessing, Hidden Blessing, Black Firebomb, Fire Gem, Sovereignless Soul, Rusted Gold Coin, Cracked Red Eye Orb, or a Young White Branch.
Q: Are the majority of encounters designed with the assumption that players will be using a shield? (Blitzkeir)
A:Some Weapon Skills require you to 2-hand a weapon. You will see a wide variety of tactics and weapons in Dark Souls III and you will have an even greater challenge ahead within the world.
Q: How would you describe the lore? Will it be an iteration of a previous one or mixed? [Lore] (PrimeraEspada)
A:Dark Souls III will be crafting its own story. There are various characters and tales to discover. That’s about all that we want to say before the launch, since we wouldn’t want to spoil anything!
Q: Will it have another character like maiden in black,the doll, emerald herald? (Primera Espada)
A:You will meet a female Fire Keeper at the Firelink Shrine that will help guide you and level up.
Q: Are the “Weapon Arts/Skills” different from weapon to weapon or are they the same for each weapon of the same type? (Castielle)
A:Weapons Skills differ from weapon to weapon.
Q: Will the game mechanics yield any definite benefits for light armor and rogueish gameplay this time around? (Thief)
A:Weapon Skills offer a variety of new maneuvers and attacks that will assist all different types of characters.
Q: Are starting classes going to be more distinct in any way for people neither min/maxing nor not levelling up at all? (Thief)
A:The Level 1 Deprived class is back!
Q: Has there been any plans regarding DLC? (JudasBlitzkrieg)
A:There is a Season Pass available with Dark Souls III. We’ll have more details on upcoming DLC soon!
Q: There were lots of implied links between Lordran & Drangleic in Dark Souls 2. Will there be links between the world of DkS3 and the previous two games? (JudasBlitzkrieg)
A:There is much to discover in the world of Dark Souls III. We’re excited for you to explore it on your own! We don’t want to spoil anything for you!
Q: Will there be a Tutorial level simliar to DeS and DkS? (blueberryvibe)
A:There is an area at the beginning of the game that will test you to see if you are ready to move on. We wish you good luck against Iudex Gundyr.
Q: Will great shields allow for battle art the same way it does for medium shields? (Neptunesman)
A:Each shield will have an icon letting you know whether it can be used in conjunction with Weapon Skills or Parrying.
Q: Will a magic only build be viable? (M0nty)
A:Yes. You will see more Spells, Miracles, and more. Each wand/weapon will have a Weapon Skills as well to give you even more options.
Q: Can you warp between bonfires from the beginning of the game? Will there be blocks or progression requirements for certain areas? (impyy)
A:you’re able to warp between bonfires at the beginning. That being said the world is very interconnected and you’ll find various shortcuts.
Q: Will Sword Arts (Skills) and Spells take up HUGE chunks of mana or will some take up less than others (say you have 100 mana, soul arrow takes 5 mana while crystal soul spear takes 85 mana). (JTDestroyer5900)
A:Different abilities will consume different amounts of FP.
Q: What are some of the team’s favorite Battle Arts (Skills)? (BloodyBurney)
A:My favorite Weapon Skills haven’t been revealed yet!
Development
Q: With more fan interaction in recent press events such as E3, Gamescom and TGS: How much of an impact does community interaction have in game design pre-release? (Fexelea)
A:FromSoftware actually reads lots of feedback on their games. They want to create their own stories and projects, but look to the players to improve that even further. Hopefully people can see inklings of that in the post-launch support on Dark Souls II, whether through the different DLC areas or the balancing delivered in patches.
Q: Do you notice a difference in how people approach the game based on what region of the world they are from? If there is a difference, are the different expectations challenging to design for? (Emergence)
A:This is a great question. I honestly don’t know the answer, but just wanted to say thank you and that is a very interesting concept. I will research this.
Q: Do you feel like your vision for the players is actually being received, are players understanding the deeper concepts you are trying to present? (Emergence)
A:I feel that players have understood what FromSoftware wants to create and have run with it. FromSoftware are overwhelmed with all of the support they have received and want to create even more stories and memories.
Q: With all the new attention and interest in the Dark Souls franchise, and with the success of the Scholar Of The First Sin on Xbox One/PS4, would you consider doing a similar remake/Remix of the original Dark Souls (or the Prepare To Die Edition) for Xbox One or PS4? (ThatDudeGUy)
A:Dark Souls on Xbox 360 will be playable on the Xbox One soon! That’s about all the information on that front at the moment.
~ J. Kartje
Want to know more and specifics? Read theDark Souls 3 Resource Articlefor details on Classes, locations and more!
