The good news? Every veteran Souls player was once exactly where you are right now. And with the right foundation, you won’t just survive, you’ll thrive.

This guide covers everything a complete beginner needs to know before stepping into the world of Souls games: what they are, which one to start with, core mechanics, and the essential tips that will save you hours of frustration.

What Are Souls Games?

Souls games are a genre of action RPGs created by Japanese developer FromSoftware. The term comes from Demon’s Souls (2009), the game that started it all. The series grew to include:

• Demon’s Souls (2009 / Remake 2020)
• Dark Souls (2011)
• Dark Souls II (2014)
• Dark Souls III (2016)
• Bloodborne (2015)
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)
• Elden Ring (2022)

Each game shares a DNA: challenging combat, deep lore told through item descriptions, interconnected worlds, and a punishing but fair difficulty system.

Which Souls Game Should Beginners Start With?

This is the most common question, and the answer is almost always Elden Ring.

Here’s why:

• Open world design — if an area is too hard, you can explore elsewhere and come back stronger
• Spirit Ashes — summoning AI companions to help in boss fights is a game-changer for beginners
• Huge community — more guides, tips, and multiplayer helpers than any other entry
• It’s the most recent — best visuals, most polished systems

Runner-up: Dark Souls III — tighter, more linear, and a great introduction to the classic Souls formula.

Avoid starting with Sekiro or Dark Souls II. Sekiro demands mastery of a very specific combat system, while Dark Souls II has quirks that can confuse new players.

Core Mechanics Every Beginner Must Understand

1. Death Is Part of the Game, Not a Failure

In Souls games, dying is expected. Every death teaches you something: an enemy’s attack pattern, a trap’s location, or your own overconfidence. The game is designed around learning through failure.

When you die, you drop your Souls (the in-game currency used for leveling up and buying items) at the spot where you died. You have one chance to retrieve them and die again before reaching them, and they’re gone. This creates genuine tension but also teaches resource management.

2. Stamina Management

Every action in the Souls games, attacking, blocking, dodging, and sprinting, consumes stamina. Running out at the wrong moment is often fatal. New players often mash buttons and burn through stamina fast. The golden rule: never spend all your stamina. Always keep enough to dodge an incoming attack.

3. The Dodge Roll Is Your Best Friend

The dodge roll (pressing Circle/B) grants you brief invincibility frames, a window where you physically cannot be hit. Mastering when to dodge is the single most important skill in Souls games. Dodge through attacks, not away from them. It feels counterintuitive, but it works.

4. Bonfires and Sites of Grace

These are your checkpoints. Rest at them to refill your healing flasks and save your progress. Enemies respawn when you rest, but that’s the trade-off. Always sprint to the next bonfire in a new area; it’s your safety net if things go wrong.

5. Leveling Up

You spend Souls at bonfires (or Sites of Grace in Elden Ring) to level up your character. Each level increases one stat. For beginners, focus on:

• Vigor — increases your health pool. Always a safe investment.
• Endurance — increases stamina. Very useful early on.
• Your main damage stat — Strength or Dexterity, depending on your weapon of choice.

Don’t spread stats too thin early on. Pick a direction and commit.

Essential Tips for Souls Beginners

1. Play Slow, Not Fast

Souls games reward patience. Take your time in new areas. One enemy at a time. Never rush into a fog gate (boss door) without clearing the area first.

2. Two-Hand Your Weapon Early

Two-handing your weapon (hold Triangle/Y and press R2/RT on most games) boosts your damage significantly and is often more effective early on than trying to master shield blocking.

3. Don’t Hoard Your Healing Flasks

Use your Estus Flasks (or Crimson Tears in Elden Ring). Many beginners are too afraid to use heals mid-fight and die with full flasks. Use them.

4. Read Your Surroundings

Souls games are full of ambushes and environmental traps. Before entering a new room or corridor, look carefully. That suspicious-looking ledge? Something’s waiting behind it.

5. Explore Everything

Hidden paths often lead to shortcuts, better gear, or NPCs with useful items. Souls’ worlds are densely packed with secrets that genuinely reward curiosity.

6. Use Online Resources Without Guilt

There is no award for figuring everything out alone. The Souls community on Reddit, YouTube, and Discord is massive and helpful. If you’re stuck on a boss or lost in a level, look it up. Everyone does.

7. Summon Help for Hard Bosses

Multiplayer summoning is a core game feature, not cheating. In Elden Ring, especially, golden summon signs on the floor let you call in real players to help. Use them.

8. Don’t Panic-Roll

When a boss does a long combo, beginners often spam dodge and run out of stamina. Stay calm, watch the pattern, and roll at the right moment rather than spamming buttons.

9. Upgrade Your Weapon

A +5 upgraded weapon beats a higher-tier unupgraded weapon almost every time. Find a smithing master early and keep your starting weapon upgraded. Titanite Shards (or Smithing Stones) are your best friends.

10. Take Breaks

Souls games are mentally demanding. Playing for hours while frustrated is the fastest way to burn out. A short break often makes a previously impossible boss manageable.

Understanding the Lore (Without Getting Lost)

One of the unique things about the Souls games is how the story is told. There are no long cutscenes or hand-holding narrative moments. Instead, lore is buried in:

• Item descriptions — weapons, armor, and rings contain rich backstory
• NPC dialogue — often cryptic but full of meaning
• Environmental storytelling — the world itself tells the story

You don’t need to understand every piece of lore to enjoy the game. But if you’re curious, content creators like VaatiVidya on YouTube have built entire channels dedicated to Souls lore and are worth watching.

Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Why It Hurts	Fix
Leveling Luck/Luck-adjacent stats early	Wastes Souls on low-impact stats	Focus on Vigor and your damage stat
Never using shields	Blocks early damage effectively	At least try a medium shield early
Rushing bosses unprepared	Die repeatedly to avoidable deaths	Clear all nearby enemies, upgrade gear first
Ignoring NPC questlines	Miss important items and endings	Talk to every NPC more than once
Playing without headphones	Miss audio cues for attacks	Sound design in Souls games is functional, not just aesthetic

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Souls games really that hard?
They’re challenging, but fair. Every death has a reason. Once you understand the systems, the difficulty becomes manageable and deeply satisfying to overcome.

How long does it take to finish a Souls game?
A first playthrough of Elden Ring typically takes 60–100 hours. Dark Souls takes around 40–60 hours. Expect to spend significant time exploring and dying, which is part of the experience.

Can I play Souls games on any difficulty setting?
No. FromSoftware games have no difficulty sliders. The challenge is fixed, though Elden Ring’s open world gives you more flexibility to over-level before tough fights.

Is Elden Ring connected to Dark Souls?
They share design DNA but are entirely separate universes with different stories, characters, and worlds.

Final Thoughts

Souls games aren’t for everyone, but they’re for more people than you think. If you’re willing to be patient, observant, and open to learning from failure, you’ll find one of gaming’s most rewarding experiences waiting on the other side of every boss door.

Start with Elden Ring, go slow, upgrade your Vigor, and remember: every veteran was once a beginner who didn’t know what a bonfire was.

The void awaits. Step in.