March 11th has arrived and it’s time to go beyond death. The Dark Souls II servers are live and we’re excited to see everyone online and exploring the world of Drangleic. Today, we wanted to give an extended look at some of the Covenants that you may be joining in Dark Souls II. This is not a complete list as we wouldn’t want to spoil the secrets that await you on your quest.
Covenant masters are scattered throughout the world of Dark Souls II and, under certain conditions, may invite you to join their ranks. Seek the protection of a noble order of knights. Defend against invaders from other worlds. Set out on a lonely and arduous journey. Lay a trap and draw other players into your world. Protect a long-forgotten tower. Thirst for more blood. These tasks and more are laid before you as you deceive, challenge, and offer aid to fellow players online.
Way of the Blue
Not everyone seeks to challenge other players online. Joining the Way of the Blue will give a player access to a ring that will summon a member of the noble Blue Sentinels if invaded by an enemy player from another world. If you’re not comfortable battling online in a PvP scenario, this Covenant is for you. Perfect for holding on to that human form as long as possible.
Blue Sentinels
Not everyone is fit to join the Blue Sentinels. When you first encounter this Covenant’s master, you won’t be able to join until you prove that you’ve assisted another player already. Once a member of the Blue Sentinels, PvP arenas will be opened up that allow you to duel fellow members. Blue Sentinels represent a noble cause and are encouraged to always be wearing their Covenant ring to assist other players in need.
Champion’s Covenant
Only the fittest are recommended to join the Champion’s Covenant. Accessible very early in the game, players will be asked “Are you sure?” when joining. Members of the Champion’s Covenant will find a more difficult and unforgiving world of Drangleic as they explore Dark Souls II. These players may also have difficulty summoning friendly phantoms. But surviving in this harsh world will net you special stones that can be offered to advance your rank within the Covenant. Champion’s Covenant members also have access to a leaderboard that displays players with the most offerings. Only the bravest will remain on top.
Rat King Covenant
Join the mysterious Rat King Covenant and the sewers, dirt, and slime will be your new friends. Equipping the Rat King ring and lurking in one of the designated areas will draw other unsuspecting players into your world. You may also find that the denizens of these areas are a bit more friendly to one of their own. Will they escape with their lives, or will you cut them down as they try?
Bell Keeper’s Covenant
Not everyone will find the old Bell Towers. And once they find them, not everyone will want to stay. If you do wish to join the ranks of the Bell Keepers, then you’ll be provided a Covenant ring to equip. While patrolling the long forgotten towers, if an intruder wanders into the area, you’ll be drawn into their world to stop them. This covenant functions similarly to the Forest Keeper Covenant from Dark Souls.
Brotherhood of Blood
Blood, blood, and more blood. Some evil might never be sated. Members of the Brotherhood of Blood vow to spill as much blood as possible as often as possible. You’ll not be welcomed into the ranks of this Covenant until you offer proof that you have the will and the means to slay a fellow explorer in the world of Drangleic. Similarly to the Blue Sentinels, the Brotherhood of Blood offers its members PvP arenas to see who is the true champion of the Brotherhood.
For those who choose not to interact with the game’s online systems, offline play is always available. But we do encourage everyone to play online as From Software put a great amount of work into improving the online mechanics to be deeper and more rewarding for all players.
We’re very excited for everyone to dive in and explore the world of Dark Souls II. It’s a special launch day for many people as there’s a vast amount of mystery to explore and experience.
Don’t think I will be pre ordering anything again from psn because this is pure rubbish! You purchase something and you don’t get what you paid for.
I think someone at Sony is taking their “Greatness Awaits” slogan a little to literal…
Oh and for the love of all things holy, please use this, the BLOG, to communicate with the majority of PSN users, not just Twitter.
2:20 am here. . .up all night because im sick and i cant sleep. . .im still waiting for the store update.
I hope the place was not hack again,
WTF? It’s already WEDNESDAY and the F store has not been updated!
willdabeast im having same problem and its been 24 hrs now
i guess that’s what we get. the preorder download said to come back any time after 12:01 to download your black armor/weapons, silly us for thinking that it meant launch day. **** us right?
PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 LOL i really want this game for ps4, been playing since demon souls, i gave my ps3 to my little bro along with dark souls when i got my ps4, i really hope you guys port the pc version to ps4, shouldnt be that hard now that the consoles are very similar to pc
I think the Store team or too busy playing Dark Souls II or Titanfall to do their damn jobs!
Get your assets in gear and update the Damn store already, it’s Wednesday on Pacific time… I hope we get compensated for this lack of (motuvation) to give the consumers there fix
Tweet from 15 min ago: “PS Store: We’re now targeting Wednesday for updating the North American PS Store. We’ll keep you posted, apologies for the delay”
I’m getting a constant freeze on the game. Everytime I try to get out of the starting area the game freezes on me. I ran another game on my HDD (Demon souls) and didnt get any freezing. please help :(
WTF is this?
A fan page?
You know that people that pay a service is expecting that the service work?
Totally amateur performance.
Please be more serious.
I just want to know that if I buy the ps3 version, will I be able to pay a cheaper price for the ps4 one? Just like battlefield and cod. And seriously, I feel a little lag when playing dark soul 1 in ps3, how can it be possible that we can play dark souls 2 smoothly in ps3.
so , when will i have my bonus dlcs? im still confused about all this lol.
To the people raging about the PS+ update being one day late…that is a bonus service they offer you to thank you for being a loyal customer. Honestly….what does ONE day hurt. Grow up and learn that good things come to those that wait. It’s not like they aren’t going to give you the games they promised. It’s a delay, it happens. Life is never perfect.
@114 It’s only a ‘bonus’ if you’re on PS4 and got it to play online multiplayer. On PS3, you pay mostly to have the free games and the deals. Even the non PS+ deals aren’t on there. It’s not like it ruined my day or anything, but it is nice to get timely updates, especially if you’re a subscriber. I browse a lot of storefronts online that update at the same time every week. Even Nintendo’s eShop manages that. It’s not the waiting that bothers me; it’s that it’s so unprofessional. It feels like Sony doesn’t take us seriously when these little updates don’t happen.
@114 good things come to those who wait? yeah right. not when you’re paying for a product. there’s an agreement & if we don’t pay, the agreement is terminated & we don’t get the product anymore. so when corporations don’t honor their agreements, the little guy is just supposed to take it & like it? no. they advertised the game AND used the dlc items as a selling point. you can’t advertise something, take my money, & then not provide said items. that is false advertising. i don’t care if it was a mistake, or a hiccup in service, it is what it is.
@Seluhir (#70) Not trying to sound like a jerk or anything, but I don’t think the developers should need to simplify their game because someone does not like a small feature (like getting invaded). The invasions (or the possibility of being invaded) is just another part of the game, and it adds to the atmosphere and tension, as well as to the risk/reward system of being in human form. Plus, From Software does a pretty good job at how they set up the invasion process so that it’s not too cheap or overwhelming.
(cont.) If that’s the only thing holding you back from getting the game, I’d say don’t worry about it too much. You don’t get invaded nearly as often as you might believe (I’ve been playing for about 2 hours and have yet to be invaded), and if this is anything like the first Dark Souls, they have various systems in place so that you’re not overwhelmed by invasions. This includes that level gap between invader and invadee lisatsunami was talking about, summoning other players to help you fight off invaders, and the fact that if you’re in hollow form (meaning you have died), you can’t be invaded at all (and you will be in hollow form ALOT). And in the case that someday maybe you do get invaded, for what it’s worth, killing someone who has invaded your game is one of the most satisfying feelings ever (and it nets you a ton of souls as a bonus reward).
I hope this clears things up a bit.
I got my platinum in Dark Souls last night and started up Dark Souls 2 this morning before work. So far I’m not out of the tutorial yet, I can’t wait to really dig into it. :)
@Gorvi Nice job! As for Dark Souls II, I’m about two hours in and I’m not even sure there was a tutorial lol.
@BlueBl1zzard Well, that area where you go right after you create your character, the one with all the headstones that have the controls on them, that’s where I am. It felt like a tutorial area with garbage enemies and such. I did manage to take down the two blue cyclops things, but the boat behind them doesn’t seem to do anything when you get in. The screen just goes black and then comes back and you get out.
a day later… still no sight of the dlc content.
I’m still holding down the game to play it with the dlc… What a poor service sony, that’s not even the first time this happen in a lauch day.
@Gorvi Wha….? I must’ve missed that area competely o_o. After creating my character, I simply followed a path that led me to this destroyed village (I believe it’s call Mujala or something), and from there, to the Forest of the Giants.
Having played Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls, I was assuming there would be something like what you described (with the headstones and weak enemies), but I have yet to see it. And the cyclopses and boat don’t sound familiar at all either. Weird.
Hello. Had anyone receive the bonus weapons yet?
Everyone complaining about the store not being updated yet is pretty ridiculous first world problems, IMO. You’d think most people have nothing better to do than sit on this site hitting F5 all day.
@ECisME, if you dont get what you pay for and you dont complain, you just give sony more motive to keep giving you a rubbish service.
you cant let companies get used to giving you a poor quality customer service, like EA and Ubisoft.
@BlueBl1zzard Yeah, along that path after you leave the hut with the old women are a bunch of trees with fog doors, that’s where all the tutorial stuff is. I’d be willing to bet you can still warp back to that first bonfire and see the area.
@zHusserl I was able to redeem the code that came with the Black Armor Edition and get the weapons. Not that it did me any good, starting as a sorcerer they all seem useless. There was a staff for spellcasting, I need to take a closer look at it.
^ Shut your trap with your first world problems meme. As consumers, we have a right to complain about things, big or small. Thing is that other online services update on time on a specific day and specific time in the week. Also, so, Sony hasn’t fixed the problem but sent everyone home for the day with a pat on the back and a “good job”? Why didn’t someone stay and make sure that the task at hand was completed?
Anyhow, what happens when someone in a 3rd world country has a first world problem, what then? I just don’t get your stupid first world problem meme because it is incredibly stupid. i guess people can only complain about life threatening issues then is what you’re saying, for using your immature smarmy FWP meme.
I personally want a product that is very reliable and consistent. Not sure why the PSN staff can’t get their act together and act professional and get some sort of weekly structure to get things moving on time. In the professional world you have a schedule and deadlines to meet. Stop being hippies, do your job and be more professional please, staff.
Also, can you guys please shut up about Dark Souls 2 spoilers? Not everyone has it yet, and I have been avoiding videos and such about it. Great, now I know some of the enemies and areas because you guys spoiled it. Thanks.
24 hours since I got the game for PS3 and I still cant connect to the server.
@SpaceTheHunter – First, I don’t “pay for” store updates as part of Plus (if that is what you are referring to), because I could still access the PlayStation Store without my subscription. And if I ever get to a point where I am unhappy with the service, you can rest easy knowing that I will hit them where it hurts by not renewing my subscription.
@neuropunk – If the PlayStation service isn’t working to your expectations, like not coming out on the normal day, then you have two options: go find something else to do until it’s fixed (which would be my suggestion) or quit using the service. Complaining isn’t going to fix the issue any faster. I use FWP only because games aren’t serious business. We’re not talking about late food rations here, or corrupt medical insurance, or underfunded educational institutions or power line failures. You’re not going to die or get hurt from getting your video games a day later than expected.
And calling people “hippies” is just ridiculous.
Picked up my DS 2 collectors edition. I’ll fire it up over the weeked. I’ll consider double dippin’ IF a Dark Souls 2 Complete/Definitive version with All DLC and streaming/ interactive features finds it way to the PS4.
@Gorvi Oh! You’re right! I do remember seeing those fog gates, I just didn’t bother going through them. I guess my paranoia got the best of me, heh.
@neuropunk (#129) Really? I hope you’re not referring to me and Gorvi’s conversation. Because I’m pretty sure a very minor detail about something in the very beginning of the game, and one that affects very little, can hardly be considered a “spoiler”.
@ECisME It’s a shame really. After weeks and weeks of consistent updates, we get one that’s a little late and people are out for blood (or souls for that matter)
@131 Why do you want us to talk about 3rd world problems when discussing video games? How does that come up when discussing video games?
@133 Well, now I know that in the beginning there is a destroyed _____ and a forest of ______. Also had no clue there would be those types of monsters in this. Probably far different from how I envision, but it gives me small details of what to expect and kinda want to go into it without expectations. Anyhow, I should be getting Dark Souls 2 in the mail today.
bought the game on PSN, still no weapons for me, i called namco office yesterday morning and called sony, i really hope you guys fix this because to be honest i’m dying alot and could use a good weapon to help me along, have only made it to the dragonrider boss, but not beaten him.
I was incredibly excited for this game. I’ve been along for the ride since demon souls and i don’t know how many times i’ve beaten both dark souls and demon souls, but i have one major complaint about Dark Souls 2… in the beta there was manual aiming for sorceries with a strong and weak version for each sorcery; however, in the actual game they took it out, probably for balancing purposes. I don’t care how minuscule the balancing tweak it was overall, but to take something out that really makes me decide one class over another without saying anything is not right by any means. I was really looking forward to being a master sorcerer in Dark Souls 2, but now I guess i’ll have to wait and hope it gets patched back in some day… Don’t get me wrong there are still plenty of amazing things about Dark Souls 2, but this did set it back in my eyes, and no longer can I tell all my customer’s at Game Stop that literally everything about the game is pure genius. If it gets patched then i’ll be back on board with boasting to every one about the perfect game for true gamers.
another thing how do i know when i get the bonus weapon sets, how will i be notified and where do i find the download for them.
yes what happened to manually aiming for spells. or charging your spells up?
@138: The game adds the weapons to your inventory. It will show you a couple of messages saying that you “picked” the items.
@140. how do you know? i didnt get the weapons yet. =/
@141: I got my copy at Gamestop yesterday. I played the game for like 3 hours and then I redeemed the code around 10 pm. It worked the next time I played the game (around midnight).
@141: Anyway, the weapons aren’t that good. You get better ones during your first hour into the game.
People got burned with pre-orders (PSN) many times. They got burned with The Last of Us, GTA V, TWD, FF…and now DS II. Guys, you should know that the PSN is really bad with Day 1 games. The guys at Sony loves to update the store when they feel like doing it.
One time the ps store was late updating while everyone was waiting for the soul sacrifice demo. The comments section exploded, and made it to the top 3 most commented page on the ps blog. I’m happy to say I played my part during that fiasco. ^_^
But this is one of the reasons why I will NEVER EVER NEVER consider digital day 1 over retail copy. Anyways, I’m off to go play Atelier Escha (the physical disc). ciao.
btw, dark souls is freakin awesome!!!!
anyone know when the people like me who pre order the game form psn are gonna get are bonus content i’ve been waiting awhile now
sheik_ah Ah yes, I remember that…people were losing their minds that day.
Over 36 hours and still haven’t received preorder bonus. I chose digital version BECAUSE of the preorder bonus and I probably have already out leveled the bonus weapons usefulness…very very very shoddy service and I will NOT be preordering through psn again. Amazon and gamestop just got another customer.
Agreed with post 148
PS4 customers, time for a reality check.
As I’m sure Mr. Kartje is aware, this is not gonna happen anytime soon (certainly not this year). With 5 millions systems and an attached rate of 2% for such a niche game like DS2 (and I’m very optimistic here), you’re looking at a potential sale of 100.000 copies in 2014. If your first name is Namuko and your surname Bandai, you know a PS4 conversion is way out of the picture for the time being.