One of the most interesting facets about Bandai Namco and FromSofware's "Dark Souls" series has been the multiplayer function. Players could either summon allies to help them with a segment of a level or defeat a boss, or they could invade other players and kill them for a reward.
What makes the multiplayer so interesting is the risk-reward system attached to it. Yes, players can summon allies to help them, but the only way to do so would be for them to use a special item (Humanity in "Dark Souls I," Human Effigy in "II" and Ember in "Dark Souls III") which would open them up to being invaded. In a similar vein, while players can invade another player's world in the hopes of getting souls and Humanity/Human Effigy/Ember, doing so leaves you open to the potential of being thrown into unfavorable situations such as a 2v1 or 3v1, or the player using a specific item to turn their world's inhabitants against you.
While interesting, the system was also limited. For example, in "Dark Souls III," a player's level and weapon has an impact on who they would get to play with. It prevented high-level players from invading low-level ones, but it also prevented lower-level players from summoning higher-level ones. We knew what factors attributed to this, but we didn't know the specific values.
Or rather, that was the case until FromSoftware published a chart on the DS III website which reveals the calculations for every aspect of multiplayer (a shoutout to GuyIncognito_ on GameFAQs for translating):
Co-Op (No covenant, Warriors of Sunlight, Mound Makers)
A = Summoner's Level
Max: A + 10 + (A * 0.1)
Min: A - 10 - (A * 0.1)
Blue Spirit, i.e. Co-Op Invasion (Blue Sentinels, Blades of the Darkmoon)
B = Destination's Level
Max: B + 10 + (B * 0.1)
Min: B - 10 - (B * 0.1)
Red Spirit, i.e. Hostile Invasion (Red Eye Orb)
C = Invader's level
Max: C + 20 + (C * 0.1)
Min: C - (C * 0.1)
Mound Maker Invasion
D = Invader's level
Max: D + 20 + (D * 0.15)
Min: D - (D * 0.1)
Territorial Invasion (Watchdogs of Farron, Aldrich Faithful)
E : invader's level
Max: E + (E * 0.1)
Min: E - 20 - (E * 0.2)
To get an understanding of this, imagine if you were at level 150, then the level ranges are as follows:
Co-Op: 125-175
Blue Spirit: 125-175
Invasion: 135-185
Territorial Invasion: 100-165
We can see that all of the summoning ranges are +/- 50 except for territorial invades, which have a range of +/- 65. Interestingly, normal invading is more likely to get you someone of a higher level than you, while co-op is even on both ends of the spectrum. Territorial invasions are more likely to pair you with someone weaker than you, but it's offset by the fact that the areas where you can invade others are limited.
The page also has a table which reveals how weapon upgrades play into all of this, however, unlike the soul level ranges, players had already figured it out on their own. Basically the highest level upgrade of a weapon in your possession will determine who you can be paired up with. For example, if Player A has a weapon with no upgrades, then they can be paired with players with up to +2 weapons. Similarly, players with +7 weapons can be matched with players with +10 weapons.
Now, with FromSoftware finally providing us with this information, players can finally understand part of the reason they had to wait so long to receive a summon. More importantly, it will allow them to plan their levels in advance so that they can get the most out of the game's multiplayer.
