A packed schedule of the Dark Souls 3 Network Test is in the books and we were there for it from the start to the end. Intrepid warriors Castielle and Fexelea manned their battlestations for both the Japanese and North America sessions and streamed them all from start to finish. Tab over for a complete video series of the network tests for your perusal. We all know that you can read all the info available, but seeing the mechanics and world in action is what truly brings it all together.

Here are some observations Cas made in our PSA thread in the Fextralife forums:

1. You can be invaded ONLY while Co-oping. We are not sure if this is a Network Test thing or a permanent change. You can dismiss your Phantom and have a duel if you wish, but you cannot be invaded until you attempt to summon someone (unsuccessfully or successfully). It is unclear if this is a glitch or not, but there are scattered reports of players being invaded AFTER trying “failing to summon” anyone, providing 1 vs. 1 scenarios.
2. The Dried Finger seems to let you be invaded infinitely until you die if you keep using it. At one point during the JP Network Test we were invaded so frequently that it took us nearly an hour to get through all the invaders on the way to the boss. There were about 20 invasions (sadly most died to ganking. RIP)

   

3. It doesn’t appear you can have 2 Red Phantoms in your world without 3 White Phantoms unless you use the Black Separation Crystal on one of your Phantoms AFTER the 2 Reds are in your world OR unless a White Phantom dies or returns home of his/her own accord AFTER 2 Reds are in your world. Should one of the Reds die or return home after this, it doesn’t appear that you can get 2 Reds again without first summoning a third White.
4. When summoned you spawn with full health and HALF your max total Ash Estus and Estus Flasks (rounded down). If you die you return home without gaining any Estus or Ash Estus. If you destroy the boss you gain an Ember and return home with whatever you had before you left.

   

5. Killing an invader replenishes HALF of your max total Ash Estus and Estus Flasks for the host and I’m not sure, but I think it is ALL for your Phantoms. I actually found myself using the Dried Finger before a Boss to quickly butcher a Red to replenish our Flasks before the fight (they literally spawn in the doorway sometimes).
6. There appears to be a glitch? or perhaps it’s intentional, but sometimes after a Red Phantom kills a White Phantom they will return home shortly thereafter as if their mission was complete. I do not know if Red Phantoms are on a timer or if that timer is affected by destroying summons, or if like I said, this is just a glitch, but I saw it happen 3 times so far (suspicion is that it is just a glitch).
7. So far the combat feels like a blend of Dark Souls 1 and Bloodborne, leaning more towards Dark Souls 1. Combat is faster than previous Souls games, but still slower than Bloodborne.
8. Mixing rolling and blocking was essential for bosses, making it more frantic. Healing on the fly is not as fluid as Bloodborne, forcing you to stop what you’re doing.
9. The boss design of the Dancer of the Frigid Valley was brilliant in atmosphere and in execution. It seemed almost designed specifically for multiplayer, with how it varied its attacks and where they were designed to attack. The Frost Knight mini boss also featured intuitive AI and aggressive heal punishing making for a challenging experience.
10. The 4 Classes available for the test were the Academy Assassin, Herald of White, Northern Warrior and Wandering Knight.

In addition, we were given a preview of the new Frostbite status effect which prevents stamina regeneration upon being inflicted by the attacks of the Frost Knight. Lord of Cinder mode and its visual flair were a popular new addition, as well as the chaotic and thrilling 6 person multiplayer of which there are several examples of in the videos. Of course all of this info is subject to change upon release of the final game in April 2016, which is something to keep in mind while we speculate. It was exciting however to get some new Souls into our hands and we can happily report that the game looks to be coming along quite well indeed.