Dark Souls II

This page is for the original release. For the re-release, see Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin.

Dark Souls II

Developers
	FromSoftware
Publishers
	Bandai Namco Entertainment
Japan	FromSoftware
Release dates
Windows	April 25, 2014
Reception
Metacritic	91
OpenCritic	88
IGDB	90
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, RPG
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Dark Souls

Dark Souls
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition	2012
Dark Souls II	2014
Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin	2015
Dark Souls III	2016
Dark Souls: Remastered	2018

Dark Souls II is a singleplayer and multiplayer third-person action and RPG game in the Dark Souls series.

General information

Official manual

PC Report

Official Bandai Namco Support Thread

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
GamersGate
Steam		DARK SOULS II Bundle also available.
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)

All versions require Steam DRM.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Crown of the Sunken King	Included in the DARK SOULS II Bundle, Season Pass
Crown of the Old Iron King	Included in the DARK SOULS II Bundle, Season Pass
Crown of the Ivory King	Included in the DARK SOULS II Bundle, Season Pass
Season Pass

Essential improvements

Improve controller deadzone

The default controller deadzone is handled poorly compared to every other game in the franchise.

Steam Input Method

Right click on Dark Souls II and choose "Properties" > "Controller" > "Enable Steam Input" While the game is running press ⇧ Shift Tab to access Big Picture Mode and then click "Controller Configuration" Click the Left Analogue Stick & then Click "Additional Settings" in the bottom right. Set "Dead Zone Shape" to Cross, "Dead Zone Inner" to 10 and "Anti-Dead Zone" to a value between 13 and 16 (I use 15). Repeat this for the Right Analogue Stick. Click a Slider and tap Left or Right on the keyboard to adjust it by 1. Export the configuration to save it and have the game automatically re-use it during subsequent game sessions.

Durazno XInput Wrapper Method

Download Durazno XInput Wrapper. Go to <path-to-game>\Game\ and extract the contents of the archive. Run the <path-to-game>\Game\Durazno.exe file. Enable the LinearADZ option. Change the AntiDeadzone option to 36%. Change the Deadzone option to 20%. Notes Running Durazno.exe regenerates Durazno.ini which you can also alter manually by opening it with Notepad. If you don't want to use Durazno.exe, then you can use the following values in the Durazno.ini file: LinearADZ=1, AntiDeadzone=360 and Deadzone=200 to closely mimic the first game's deadzone.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\DarkSoulsII\GraphicsConfig.xml
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/236430/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\DarkSoulsII\<user-id>\DARKSII0000.sl2
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/236430/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

Basic and advanced graphical settings.

Screen option menu.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		16:9; use Flawless Widescreen to remove letterboxing.
Multi-monitor		Use Flawless Widescreen.
Ultra-widescreen		Use Flawless Widescreen.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Default FOV is 75°. Use Dark Souls II FOV Fix.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use Flawless Widescreen
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		On or Off Setting, FXAA
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Capped at 60 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

Game option menu.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Acceleration is off by default, game ignores Windows Enhance pointer precision setting.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Xbox buttons prompts explanation

The game is always displaying Xbox button prompts regardless of real input scheme thus making very hard to navigate menus.

Fortunately the game is also accepting in-game actions what would be bound on Xbox controller buttons. Use this as a reference guide.

Actions listed below can be bound to the same key.

Xbox controller button	Action in-game
A	Interact or confirm.
B	Dash/backstep/roll or Cancel.
X	Use item or Menu function 1
Y	Wield right weapon two-handed or Menu function 2

Delay between mouse clicks and actions

You can bind some of your actions to mouse double clicks, however this feature is causing slight delay between single click and its action as the game is waiting for another click.

An option to disable double-clicking functionality was added in one of the patches, but it's bugged and doesn't persist after you exit the game.

Use QOL mod
Disables double-clicking functionality regardless of in-game setting. Requires Scholar of the First Sin edition of the game. Get the mod here. Put dinput8.dll file in the game's main folder (where DarkSoulsII.exe is located).

Use additional buttons on gaming mouse[citation needed]
For users with gaming mouse or mouse with additional buttons. Bind your attacks on any unused keyboard key (F keys for example). Open your mouse setting application and bind your new attack keys to additional mouse buttons.

AutoHotkey script

Unbind all the mouse bindings in the game. Download and install AutoHotkey. Let application create sample script. This script file should open after installation. Delete everything, insert these lines and reload script (open AutoHotkey window (green H icon in tray area), navigate to File and hit Reload Script). AutoHotkey script: #SingleInstance Force #MaxHotkeysPerInterval 99999` #IfWinActive ahk_class DarkSouls2 ; Hold to block with a shield in left hand LShift::Send {u down} LShift Up::Send {u up} ; Strong attack (left hand) / Parry CapsLock:: XButton1:: send {y down} CapsLock up:: XButton1 up:: send {y up} ; Attack (left hand) XButton2::send {u down} XButton2 up::send {u up} ; Boss key LAlt & Tab::AltTab ; Wield right weapon two-handed (hold for left weapon) Tab::n ; Attack (right hand) $LButton:: send {h down} send {LButton down} return $LButton up:: send {h up} send {LButton up} return ; Strong attack (right hand) $RButton:: send {g down} send {RButton down} return $RButton up:: send {g up} send {RButton up} return ; Equipment menu 1:: send {Escape down} sleep 30 send {Escape up} send {ENTER down} sleep 30 send {ENTER up} return ; Inventory menu 2:: send {Escape down} sleep 30 send {Escape up} send {right down} sleep 30 send {right up} send {ENTER down} sleep 30 send {ENTER up} return ; Player status menu 3:: send {Escape down} sleep 30 send {Escape up} send {right down} sleep 30 send {right up} send {right down} sleep 30 send {right up} send {ENTER down} sleep 30 send {ENTER up} return ; Message menu 4:: send {Escape down} sleep 30 send {Escape up} send {right down} sleep 30 send {right up} send {right down} sleep 30 send {right up} send {right down} sleep 30 send {right up} send {ENTER down} sleep 30 send {ENTER up} return ; Interact (open doors, speak to the NPCs) e::ENTER ; Use item (drink dat estus) q::e ; Guard break c:: ^LButton:: send {w down} send {h down} send {w up} send {h up} return ; Jump attack r:: ^RButton:: send {w down} send {g down} send {w up} send {g up} return ; Switch left weapon WheelLeft:: send {left down} send {left up} return ; Switch right weapon WheelRight:: send {right down} send {right up} return F1::Suspend Features This script was made with default DS II controls in mind, please reset your controls or be sure to adjust the script before using. Doesn't break menu controls. Left mouse button and right mouse button are bound to the right handed attacks. ⇧ Shift and Capslock are bound to the left hand, mouse 4 and mouse 5 works too Tab ↹ to toggle between one-handed and two-handed stances, also try holding it and see what happens. Doesn't break AltTabbing. E for interacting. Q for using items (drink estus, etc.). One-button jumping attacks and guard breaks with R and C, Ctrl + left or right mouse button works too. Move your mouse wheel to the left or right to change weapons in both hands (if your mouse doesn't support this, remove ^LButton:: and ^RButton:: lines from Jump attack and Guard break sections. 1 for equipment menu. 2 for inventory menu. 3 for player status menu. 4 for message menu. F1 to enable/disable the script. The script only works when Dark Souls 2 is running and has focus.

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Voice, SFX, Music (scales from 0 to 10)
Surround sound		7.1 surround sound supported
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation, #1, #2.
Italian
Japanese				Japan version only.
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Ukrainian				Fan translation

Network

Dark Souls II and Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin players cannot play together.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play
Online play		4

Ports

No port information; you can edit this page to add it.

This game supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		new Geo-11 3D Driver (RTX3000/4000 compatible)
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Run the game at screen refresh rate

Fullscreen mode forces 60 Hz refresh rate even if your monitor supports higher than that.

Override refresh rate set by game
Download Chiri's resolution forcing tool. Extract d3d9.dll and d3dx.ini to the installation folder. Open d3dx.ini. Change refresh_rate=60 to desired hertz; e.g. refresh_rate=120.

Game volume decreases when summoning/being summoned

Disable communications activity sound reduction[citation needed]
Open the Start screen/Start menu, type mmsys.cpl and press ↵ Enter. Go to the Communications tab. Choose Do nothing. Click OK to save your changes.

Mouse cursor reappear when using controller

If playing with a controller, the mouse cursor will always reappear in the middle of the screen, even if not in use or relocated.

Use AutoHideMouseCursor

Pink artifacts with Radeon GPUs

Make sure you are not forcing AF through AMD Catalyst Control Center[citation needed]
Open AMD CCC Gaming --> 3D Application Settings --> Texture Filtering --> Anisotropic Filtering Mode Make sure to set it to "Use application settings" You can set the AF as high as you want in game without the artifacts reappearing.

Controller not working

Disconnect every non-XInput device
Alternatively, place the blocker dinput8.dll in <path-to-game>\Game\

Xbox 360 Controller Freezes game

When using an original Xbox 360 controller, your game freezes when struck or fat-rolling (actions that activate rumble).

This may be caused by previously using MotionInJoy and even after the uninstall, your controller will still be labelled "MotionInJoy Virtual XInput Device for Windows"

Remove MotionInJoy remnants
Uninstall MotionInJoy. If the controller is still not detected, install the Xbox 360 Accessories Software.

Other information

Disable profanity filter

Not required for Chinese, Korean, or Russian setups.^{[citation needed]}

Disable profanity filter[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\Game\NGWord\Chinese\. Copy win32OnlyNgWord.bin. Go to the preferred language folder and replace the content with copied file.

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c	11 available in Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			64-bit available in Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	FMOD
Interface	Scaleform
Cutscenes	Windows Media Video
Multiplayer	Steamworks

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Vista SP2	7 SP1, 8
Processor (CPU)	AMD Phenom II X2 555 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo E8500 3.17 GHz	AMD A8 3870K 3.0 GHz Intel Core i3 2100 3.10 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	12 GB	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 5870 Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT DirectX 9.0c compatible	AMD Radeon HD 6870 Nvidia GeForce GTX 750
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9 sound device
Other		Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller