While we’re all dying constantly on Dark Souls 2 and cussing it for taking so long to launch on PC, we’ve also been playing around with the mods. Back when Dark Souls launched on PC it was near unplayable until we got hold of DSFix, and now Dark Souls 2 is out, we feel it’s only fair to share the best fifteen mods.
It’s been a struggle as some of you know, Steam have a strong anti-cheat policy in place for this game, which means there aren’t a huge amount of mods. We suggest you play the game offline if you do use any mod:
Mod Makes It Way Easier To Play With Friends. 2/18/16 12:33PM. There’s no way to simply join a specific game in Dark Souls —it’s all random matchmaking.
WARNING: MODS MAY TRIGGER A VAC (VALVE ANTI CHEAT) BAN IT’S UNCLEAR WHICH DO. GAMING BOLT HOLDs NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR USERS WHO SUFFER A VAC DUE TO ANY MODS USED.
Cooperative Gameplay (Dark Souls II) Cooperative Gameplay (co-op for short) is a multiplayer feature that players can use to accept aid from fellow players and NPCs. In order to summon another player one must have reversed their hollowing. The only way to summon a friendly phantom into the host's world is by either activating the summoning sign. Uploader: dragonofdepthsttv. A Music Overhaul that replaces Tracks for Bosses in Dark Souls 2/Scholar of the First Sin.mod is Still Work In Progress, and tracks can and will change if needed to better suit the game, boss, and atmosphere. All feed back are by Nexus Users themselves. May 06, 2018 15. Changed Smelter Demon to Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen OST Daimon 2nd Form Theme. Changed Skeleton Kings to Dark Souls 2 Soundtrack Mashup - Gravelord Nito & The Rottten (Dual Mix) by Macrohazard. Changed Executioner's Chariot to Dark Souls II Scholar of the First Sin - Skeleton Lord OST By Motoi Sakuraba.
1. GeDoSaTo
GeDoSaTo is a must have for any PC user playing Dark Souls 2, it allows for texture modding which results in this:
GeDoSaTo is required for pretty much every single mod, and was created by the now somewhat famousDurante. His mod allows for downsampling, texture modding, and a whole lot more. We strongly suggest you read his PC gamer article especially if you’re a beginner at modding.
As we mentioned, Steam has some pretty heavy VAC in place for this game, and even a well-known mod like GeDoSaTo isn’t one hundred percent safe, some users have reported they’ve been hit with a VAC after using it.
You can get it from here.
2. Zelda Skin Pack
I’m a big Zelda fan. So when I found this skin pack to make my guy look like he hopped out of Hyrule I was practically jumping for joy. Although the pack doesn’t make your character look like Link or Ganondorf, it makes me feel just a little bit happier playing in some Zelda armour. It came with a nifty trailer too!
You can get it from here.
3. Kalicolas Enhanced Graphics ENB
This is a simple graphics mod, but it works so well. It adds a little crispness to the world and adds some screen space ambient occlusion, giving the game’s graphics some excellent depth.
This sets a high standard for graphic mods and really makes the world look as though you can walk into the background rather than the background just sitting there.
You can get it from here.
4. WickfutENB
This is probably one of the best loved mods, it amps up the graphics and brings back the lighting we saw in pre-release, creating the world we all hoped to see when we bought Dark Souls 2. There’s also a few different versions that allows the user to remove various effects.
There’s an issue with AO flickering in some places, but nowhere near enough to consider it a major issue.
You can get it here.
5. GEM – Graphics Enhancement Mod
GEM, that is Graphics Enhancement Mod does what it says on the tin, it makes the graphics slightly more enhanced. Creator neme0 uses SweetFX Stack Shader to give the darker areas of the game a deeper black feel, so it really feels as though the darkness is causing you a problem.
That being said this mod isn’t quite as effective in the darker areas as the Real Darkness ENB is, but due to it enhancing all around graphics, I feel this mod is just a little cut above the Real Darkness ENB, due to the balance it offers.
The mod supports both ENB and GeDoSaTo.
You can get it here.
6. Darth Maul Skin
Let’s just be blunt, Darth Maul is awesome. So think about this: slaying monsters, as Darth Maul. I’m still a little sore that we didn’t get our Darth Maul game, so this is the next best thing. It even gives you a double sided lightsaber!
You’ll need these items:
- Dark Mask
- Twinblade
- Leydia White Robe
My only gripe with this mod is that Duel of the Fates doesn’t automatically play when you get into every battle.
You can get it here.
7. Real Darkness ENB
This mod seems pretty simple “Real darkness”, but it makes the game so much more atmospheric. The point isn’t that the screen is simply darker, otherwise you’d just take the brightness down. It makes the areas that should need a torch actually need a torch. The caves suddenly become almost like a survival horror game rather than an adventure game.
You can get it here.
8. Soul Edge
In the late ‘90s one of my favourite games was released, Soul Blade. The game revolved around a sword called the Soul Edge, so when I saw that Rizaunreleased a mod to add the legendary sword into the game, I had to have it.
The mod is a paint for the Smelter sword, but keeps the glowing effect. Like most mods, this requires GeDoSaTo.
Get it here.
9. Oil painting mod
This texture mod makes the game look out right bizarre. And, as the subtitle suggests like an oil painting, it makes the game a whole lot more enjoyable playing the same area more than once because it looks so different.
This mod is an acquired taste, of course. And actually I’m not hugely keen which is why it’s so low on the list. But it changes the looks so much, that it has to be mentioned. But it brings a new and unique feel to the game.
Get it here.
10. Fleshly Hollow
This mod makes your character slowly lose his/her features everytime you die. They also start to lose skin and fat, by the end you look like Skeletor from He-Man. The key issue with the mod is that there seems to be no way of preserving the original skin tone.
You can get the mod from here.
11. Death Alt text mods:
These mods are pretty straight forward, they change the text from “You died” to “You died like a bitch” or “Thanks Obama”. They add a little dash of humour to the game, but not much else. I’m surprised that there’s been no custom text mod, that allows a player to easily change the text.
You can get it from here.
12. KBAM interface icons
This is a pretty simple little mod, all it does is change the interface icons from the default Xbox 360 icons into familiar PC buttons. Obviously, this isn’t a huge leap for the game.
Cached
You can get it from here.
13. Kitty HD mod
I like this mod so much because it sums up the internet so well, sweet Shalquoir of Majula was a very adorable kitty, but some users simply didn’t find him adorable enough and so ToadR took it upon himself to release a HD mod for Shalquoir, the textures are twice as large, resulting in a white chested tabby.
You can get it from here.
14. Bill Murray mask
I hear you, “how can a Bill Murray mask be so low?” Well, the mask looks nothing like Bill Murray, but that’s part of the charm.The mask is a reskin of the Manikin Mask, which has seen a couple of retextures, there’s a cool Chatter Cenobite mask too.
You can get it from here and here.
15. Traditional Moonlight Great Sword
This mod will bring the Moonlight Great Sword to its former glory and then some. In Dark Souls 2 the Moonlight Great Sword doesn’t look as spectacular as it should. But luckily, Nephutis stepped in and pumped the sword with awesome juice.
Here’s a before and after shot above.
You can get it from here.
Since posting our Dark Souls 2 review, we thought that it was important that people engage in as much jolly co-operation in the game as possible. While FROM Software has done a great job to allow for players to hop into other worlds and help, there are some simple questions that we thought should be addressed.
In addition to the FAQ, we have also included a co-op summoning guide in this handy video:
How many players can play Dark Souls 2 online?
Dark Souls 2 can be played with up to 3 players online.
How do you begin a co-op session in Dark Souls 2?
A white sign soapstone is required for co-op. It is a very early game item given to you by an NPC near the Cardinal Tower bonfire. Once you have the stone, use it and your summon sign will be placed on the ground. Then you can continue on your merry way or wait until you are summoned by someone in another world. The person who is doing the summoning is required to be in HUMAN form.
How does save game progress work for co-op play in Dark Souls 2?
The person that is summoned into another player's game immediately stops all progress in their world and comes into the summoner's world wherever the sign was placed. No progress is given to the phantoms, however you do gain souls from killing enemies as well as turn human from hollow if you successfully defeat the area boss.
Can I join a game if the host is further along than me in Dark Souls 2?
Story progress does not matter for either player when it comes to summoning. There are several factors that will limit when you can be summoned. The first is your soul level (character level), where both players need to be within /- 10 levels /- 10 percent of each other. The next factor is soul memory, which is the total amount of souls a player has collected with that character. To summon someone for co-op, the two players soul memory should be around /- 25 percent. This is not a hard set rule, as it is is much more lenient in the early game. Use it as a guideline to summon your friends. Finally, the host of the game will not see any normal summon signs if they have already killed the area boss, and therefore will only be able to see small white summon signs.
What is the difference between the small and normal white sign soapstones?
The normal white soapstone allows for regular summoning, and remains consistent throughout the series. When you place a summon sign down with the white soapstone, it will appear only to players who have not cleared the area boss. When you are summoned as a phantom using the small white soapstone, it will appear to anyone in that area who is human. When summoned using the small white soapstone, the person appears as a shade and not a regular phantom. A shade will only be available for a short amount of time and will return to their world much quicker than a regular phantom. Each kill by the shade or the host shortens the duration of the summoning.
How do the covenants in Dark Souls 2 affect co-op?
There are a couple covenants that affect co-op play. The Way of the Blue covenant will automatically summon blue phantoms into their game when they are invaded. The Heirs of the Sun will receive Sunlight medals when they have fulfilled their duty to their summoner, which means killing the area boss or remaining in their world for an extended period of time.
Can a summoned player ruin my game?
A phantom cannot interact with NPCs when summoned, nor can they see or pickup items while in phantom form. No one can 'screw up' your game when you summon them, so go ahead and get some help and engage in jolly co-operation.
I see people that look like ghosts running around in my game, what gives!?
These are other players and you will see fain images of them from time to time. There is no need to worry, but simply take comfort in the fact that someone else is going through the same thing as you right now in Dark Souls 2.
Dark Souls 2 Co Op Mods
I see all these orange messages on the ground, what do they do?
Dark Souls 2 Easy Mod
The message system in Dark Souls 2 is unique, as it is a self-curated messaging network that players can write to help (or harm) other players. While they have no effect on gameplay, the messages usually contain useful information and hints on how to progress in the game. To write a message in Dark Souls 2, simply hit the start button and go to the player menu, drop down and hit 'Messaging'. You will then be able to craft a message and hopefully help someone out in another world!