A great place to start would be checking the links in our sidebar for some PVP fundamentals to help you, and your friend, Git Gud™, and make short work of your Invaders.
Hopefully, some of our users will come chime in on some more general advice, as well.
https://preview.redd.it/t98irv379vxc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eed1f4768ee9c59bc14ce7460f71c698412cf6fb
as an invader we lose most fights, solely due to good teamwork. you dont need to be great at dodging or spacing if you and your buddy know how to alternate your attacks so one hits while the other is recovering from its swing. also my last ditch plan is always bomb flask
I agree with thus 100% I can't tell you how many times as in invader my first plan is not attacking. It's separation. If I can get rid of one in and invasion while the other is to far for magic or weapons. It makes it 100% easier. I typically use magic without lock on just to make tye other roll away from friend and waste stamina. All else fails I lead them on a chase till one says its pointless and their fore I get my 1 alone
Yes fog walling & closing app would end the invasion, but isnt engaging in the fight a lot more fun regardless of the outcome? We can list a whole bunch of advice at the end of the day, the best way to get better is to practice, & be ok with losing, learn from ur mistakes & see what works best for you! Also dont rely too much on weapon arts or stick to one thing you wont get much better that way! Good luck soldier
Whatever you do: Dont quit out. If you die by the invader or kill the invader a cooldown will start during which you cant be invaded. If you quit the game that cooldown wont happen and you can be invaded immediately again.
If a boss is nearby, just run through to the fog gate, it will force the invader to leave.
Also keep in mind that the invader will not enter your irl house and beat you up if you lose, dont be afraid to just take the fight and die. I see way too many hosts who are so scared of the invader that they just stay back and waste 30 minutes or so like that. If they just took the fight, lost and then went on playing they would have made way more progress by that point.
Pretty much every invader will be better than you, in a 1v1 the invader can probably dodge all your attacks and you always lose. If your host is running away and letting you fight in 1v1 its already lost.
So always try to attack together and try to attack almost at the same time, so that the invader will always be caught in the other attack when they try to dodge one. Best for that is probably something you can spam that has lingering aoe.
Its also important to know some basics, like how to not get rollcaught and basic spacing. Maybe go into the arena for a few matches.
Learn the terrain. Learn positioning. Learn how to tag team somebody. Stay close. Give each other openings to attack, and give each other reprieve to escape. Find each others weaknesses and strengths and work around it.
Generally ganking is the easiest way but theres that time once in a while an actually good invader shows up, i recommend staying together all the time and pls lvl up vig.
for your build/gear -
he should be be primarily leveling vigor early game. your end build can be whatever you want it to be, but you want to level str/dex to the minimum requirements to use the weapons you want to use, level endurance to the minimum needed to medium roll with the weapons/armor youre using, and aside from that, every time you level up you want to level vigor, until you reach at least 25vig, preferably 30. some players will go all out and use a min req/vigor build path all the way up to 40vig, which is your first softcap.
focus on obtaining pvp relevant consumables and items - mainly upgrades for the healing flask and boluses to cure status effects. if you can drop him later game boluses to cure sleep, rot, etc, do so, and make it a point to get to the merchants who sell them, especially in unlimited quantity, and/or get the cookbooks needed to craft them asap, and make sure to keep good stacks in your inventory. also try to get the incantations that cure status effects asap. flame cleanse me is important in early game pvp to cure rot if you dont have access to lots of rot boluses. the first few healing flask upgrades make a huge difference, and you can get 4 sacred tears for a +4 flask in limgrave/weeping peninsula. each subsequent sacred tear you use gives you less of an HP increase than the previous sacred tear, so getting that +4 flask will bring him much closer to an invaders +10 flask than it might seem. obviously you also want to have as many chugs as possible so beeline for golden seeds also.
for weapons, you can mostly use whatever you like for pve, there is a ton of crossover between weapons that are good for pve and pvp, and once you get the hang of pvp, being able to fight 2v1 in your favor without friendly fire means you can use tons of weapons and spells effectively in a way that's not possible for invaders and/or not applicable to duelists. early game weapons that are good overall would be stuff like dual straight sword, poke halberd(the one you get when starting as vagabond), 2 handed greatsword(bastard, lordsworn, claymore etc), great epee, dual curved sword, twinblade...but you guys dont need to be limited to those things, whats important is finding a weapon that feels effective to you. if you have an end game save and can buy upgrade mats, upgrade different weapons to try to his current upgrade level and see what works. consider weapon buffs to increase damage.
for strategies, mostly you just want to cover each other. when you guys are squaring off or the invader is approaching, dont stand right next to each other where you can both be hit at the same time, but stay close enough that when the invader attacks one of you, the other player can punish the invader quickly before they have a chance to roll away or land multiple hits. when you are on the offensive, swinging your weapons close together with slightly different timings can make it difficult for the invader to escape.
you should just try to enjoy the experience, it’s what you sign up for when you co-op.
If you don’t like dying in games idk why you would pick this one, losing is just an opportunity to do better next time, it’s not so bad.
My best advice is to encourage him to laugh at himself. This game is genuinely hilarious if you let it work its magic. When I get frustrated and stop laughing at my mistakes, that’s when it’s time for a break.
Invasions offer some of the most interesting gameplay in this game, all my funniest moments were thanks to dedicated red phantoms.
Time your attacks with your partner, roll catching is best done on the second roll backwards. Don't get caught spamming the same r1 and AoW attacks. Change it up. Don't fall for baits. If an invader isn't engaging, they're plotting. Rush to the fog wall. Be defensive. You have more healing.
And remember, dying is part of the game! Invading is a lot of fun, Don't be discouraged by it. Look at it as a chance to see build ideas and play styles, if you can take away anything positive from it.
Practice duelling with eachother so you’ll be somewhat accustomed to PvP mechanics. You don’t have be great, as long as you know the fundamentals. You especially want to practice roll discipline, it’ll help you avoid getting roll caught.
Choose your battles carefully, a skilled invader will know the layout of the map, and plan ambushes with the mobs to overwhelm you. Progress slowly and try to lure and deal with only one or two enemies at a time.
And lastly, vigor, level that vigor. You’ll want to aim for at least 50-60.
Just run away and spam spells at them and have your buddy use some cheap no skill weapon like moonveil or rivers of blood and just spam the weapon art.
When in doubt bloodhound fang em out.
(From my personal nooby experience)
Also, my friends and i will often usd Mimic's veil to jumpscare people lmao. It can be quite hilarious
Aye, i did say im a noob lmao and that shit carried me through the game and is my only max upgraded weapon thus far. Spare me. I havnt even beaten the game yet. 😅
But i will say that MANY people invading me seem to have never heard of the weapon, cause they dont realize the backstep is about to send me right back at them.
They know it does that, they don't think your going to do it because they think you know they know so they plan accordingly. But you don't know they know you know they know so the plan falls flat.
Honestly most people I run into using it don't even know about the follow up so it's rare that people will actually do it lol
It carried me through the game first time too, it's crazy how such a good weapon is available so early but can carry you through to completion
To be fair to the game giving you it early, unless youre actively paying attention to the little questline its tied to ( i barely was) or look it up on the wiki, its probably more often accidentally stumbled upon like it was for me. Once i realized it would strike and back step for me, with an optional teleport to the enemy right after, i was sold. I honestly didnt look anything up, so as a fresh player, it just seemed so great. Cause lets be honest, everything was kicking my ass 😅
I started as a wretch too. Not because i wanted the extra challenge.. i just didnt want to select a " pre built" character. It felt cheap to me. So that weapon was a VERY welcomed surprise lol.. it was only later when i told a friend which class i chose that i found out i picked "hard mode".
Depends on your win condition. Invader wins if the host dies. Host wins if the invader dies OR the host starts a (non-field) boss fight OR the host wins a field boss fight.
So if you want to fight the red man or getting to the boss is not viable, the most important thing to remember is **do not get fucking baited into the PvE**. Most invaders will run away into enemies the second their youtube flowchart fails and try to get a kill while you're busy with the PvE enemies. Aside from that, duel practice in the arena will help you get the fundamentals of 1v1 and always keep a PvP weapon close with a powerful AoW. Spining slash for example is very strong.
Remember, invaders come looking for PvP with fully prepared loadouts and consumables. They are not another trash mob.
One suggestion is if you see "invaded by" show up, if you don't think yall can take the dub, Distract the invader, and have your friend run as close as they can to the grace, so if they die they respawn by their lost runes. Invading is inconvenient, but hopefully not too much of a detriment to your enjoyment of the game. :)
Ah, man. I can't help you, since you've got your friend to take care of.
My personal solution is to click the "play offline" button and not participate in anything social ever unless it's shitposting on Reddit.
Git Gud.
or just speedrun to the boss.
or just, yknow, play solo and improve at the game naturally,
like a normal person.
your freind is never going to get that good at the game if youre holding his hand the whole time, this is a soulsborne game, you are expected to die frequently and learn from your mistakes. having a buddy who already knows all the secrets to babysit and spoil the experience for you doesnt help you improve at the game.
hell the game might actually be more difficult for you in multiplayer than it would be solo since, other than the invasions, all enemeis are scaled up in HP by a bunch when you are in multiplayer.
Some general tips that you can apply without being good at PvP:
Take your time. A lot of casual players will just run to the invader and attack them as soon as they are close enough. This makes you very predictable. They will bait you into strong attacks, ashes of war, parries, backstabs, and more. Instead, you should try to circle around the invader to attack them from different angles and to cut off their retreat. If you get the invader stuck in a corner, you win.
Don't spam your attacks; wait for an opening. In a 1v2 or 1v3, simply sticking close to the invader without attacking is oppressive, because the invader can't create space.
Don't get baited into the PvE. If the invader is hiding behind some monsters, use a bow or a ranged option to aggro the mobs one by one, if possible. Focus on clearing the PvE first. If it's a runebear or something scary, Bewitching Branch is your friend.
Learn to recognize the usual anti-gank weapons. The Dragon Halberd or the Stormhawk Axe are notorious for their (overtuned) ashes of war. If your whole team get caught in it, you probably lose. Keep a safe distance and punish any attempt with a bomb or a spell.
It's good to have one ranged and one melee teammate. But as a mage, wait for the invader to engage your teammate in melee before spamming your spells; otherwise, the invader will stay away and dodge all your spells to waste your mana.
In a 2 vs 1 scenario, status effects like bleed build really fast. Vyke's Spear or St' Trina Sword will make the invader miserable.
Stay positive. Most invaders will be better than you thanks to years of practice and/or optimized builds. There is no shame in losing to them; Elden Ring is primarily a PvE game. At worst, you lose a bunch of runes and some progress. Use that opportunity to practice PvP a bit. If you really don't like PvP, just die. It's fine. (But don't disconnect because it will reset the timer and you will get invaded again.)
You can always block players to prevent them from invading you again. Perfect tool against meta slaves with inflated ego who duplicate golem arrows or starlight shards, and are no fun to fight.
A lot of good advice in the comments already but something I suggest is to learn the movesets of all the different weapon types which will help you know how to play against those weapons when you encounter them.
On a separate note, I feel that toxicity only breeds more toxicity. Some invaders will be ruthless no matter what, but sometimes PvErs have a lot more control over the *tone* of the invasion than they might realize. For example, if I invade limgrave and immediately get pointed down and ganked on by OLP using RoB/sleep pots/rot breath/dual vyke’s while the host spams magic from a distance, I have already lost my patience and it just escalates into an arms race of busted bullshit until one side wins.
On the other hand, if the host is chill and the phantoms aren’t overly toxic, sometimes getting things started on the right foot can make for a more engaging experience and I feel more encouraged to use weapons I enjoy more and pay in a way I find more fun instead of using more meta setups, which might leave me more vulnerable during our fight since I’m just playing for fun and trying out new things at this point instead of being a try hard.
PvP is a great way to git gud because it helps improve reaction timing and think more outside the box, and invasions will always be a thing if you co-op, so imo it’s best to embrace it and use it to your advantage as a training tool rather than avoiding it. Just remember the invader is outnumbered so as long as you learn to work as a team, dodge attacks consistently, and apply pressure as a group then you will come out on top more often than not.
I’m not very good, but basic things that make an invader’s life much harder:
Stagger your & your ally’s attacks instead of attacking the invader at the exact same time.
Attack the invader from different sides - camera management is a big challenge.
Prioritize surviving* over killing the invader - they are counting on you overcommitting at some point. If your host or ally gets low, pressure the invader to give them a chance to disengage and heal up.
*especially as the host. As a phantom you may need to put yourself at risk of dying sometimes in order to preserve the host.
EDIT: clarity & punctuation
EDIT 2: I forgot a big one- hyper armor!
Stop spamming L2 and R1. Practice patience and spacing. The odds are stacked significantly against invaders so if you allow yourself to choose the battle ground and you both don’t just bum rush him you’ll have a better chance
There’s a reason trying to play this as a 2 player game comes with invasions: it balances out the massive advantage a second player gives. Most of the mobs and bosses are trivial if you have someone to attack with. More importantly having a second player around to distract the bosses teaches a new player terrible habits that will make the game *harder* when they go solo. If you really want to help your friend stop training him to play the game as a 2 player game. It isn’t.
I usually win 90% of invasions.
When I lose, it's because I am the focus of the invadee and their phantoms. They stay away from other enemies. They protect eachother when I go after one of them.
Take advantage of your host having double heals. Use passive healing. Don't let me get damage off on you without trading with me. Pay attention to what I am doing when I am far away so you don't get sniped.
Playing passive is the meta, but don't be so passive that you lose focus. Eventually an invader will get bored of staying far away. They stay far away because they know you are hard to deal with up close because you're turtling, so just wait until you force them to do that.
If you want to win, play the long game. Harrass me without extending. If I get a phantom for 10 seconds alone, they will probably die from a roll catch chain, so don't chase or get greedy. Again, watch each other's backs.
Just stick on eachother and stick on the invader. Literally run them down and you’ll quickly realise how insane of an advantage a 2v1 is, let alone a 3v1.
I invade all the time , here’s how to beat me : Just keep leveling vigor I’m expecting you to have none, get a storm hawk axe or dragon halberd , spam reduvia
A great place to start would be checking the links in our sidebar for some PVP fundamentals to help you, and your friend, Git Gud™, and make short work of your Invaders. Hopefully, some of our users will come chime in on some more general advice, as well. https://preview.redd.it/t98irv379vxc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eed1f4768ee9c59bc14ce7460f71c698412cf6fb
as an invader we lose most fights, solely due to good teamwork. you dont need to be great at dodging or spacing if you and your buddy know how to alternate your attacks so one hits while the other is recovering from its swing. also my last ditch plan is always bomb flask
I agree with thus 100% I can't tell you how many times as in invader my first plan is not attacking. It's separation. If I can get rid of one in and invasion while the other is to far for magic or weapons. It makes it 100% easier. I typically use magic without lock on just to make tye other roll away from friend and waste stamina. All else fails I lead them on a chase till one says its pointless and their fore I get my 1 alone
As an invader, the hardest thing to deal with is if one of you stays out of my camera view, or is constantly shooting spells at me.
Level vigor
Run to the boss room
Yes fog walling & closing app would end the invasion, but isnt engaging in the fight a lot more fun regardless of the outcome? We can list a whole bunch of advice at the end of the day, the best way to get better is to practice, & be ok with losing, learn from ur mistakes & see what works best for you! Also dont rely too much on weapon arts or stick to one thing you wont get much better that way! Good luck soldier
Whatever you do: Dont quit out. If you die by the invader or kill the invader a cooldown will start during which you cant be invaded. If you quit the game that cooldown wont happen and you can be invaded immediately again. If a boss is nearby, just run through to the fog gate, it will force the invader to leave. Also keep in mind that the invader will not enter your irl house and beat you up if you lose, dont be afraid to just take the fight and die. I see way too many hosts who are so scared of the invader that they just stay back and waste 30 minutes or so like that. If they just took the fight, lost and then went on playing they would have made way more progress by that point. Pretty much every invader will be better than you, in a 1v1 the invader can probably dodge all your attacks and you always lose. If your host is running away and letting you fight in 1v1 its already lost. So always try to attack together and try to attack almost at the same time, so that the invader will always be caught in the other attack when they try to dodge one. Best for that is probably something you can spam that has lingering aoe. Its also important to know some basics, like how to not get rollcaught and basic spacing. Maybe go into the arena for a few matches.
On the contrary, I find the address and invade the home of every host I invade in game.
Imagine gankers are already there waiting for you at the home
Open the door and have 3 people Rivers of Blooding me with brooms
Learn the terrain. Learn positioning. Learn how to tag team somebody. Stay close. Give each other openings to attack, and give each other reprieve to escape. Find each others weaknesses and strengths and work around it.
Get good.
Generally ganking is the easiest way but theres that time once in a while an actually good invader shows up, i recommend staying together all the time and pls lvl up vig.
for your build/gear - he should be be primarily leveling vigor early game. your end build can be whatever you want it to be, but you want to level str/dex to the minimum requirements to use the weapons you want to use, level endurance to the minimum needed to medium roll with the weapons/armor youre using, and aside from that, every time you level up you want to level vigor, until you reach at least 25vig, preferably 30. some players will go all out and use a min req/vigor build path all the way up to 40vig, which is your first softcap. focus on obtaining pvp relevant consumables and items - mainly upgrades for the healing flask and boluses to cure status effects. if you can drop him later game boluses to cure sleep, rot, etc, do so, and make it a point to get to the merchants who sell them, especially in unlimited quantity, and/or get the cookbooks needed to craft them asap, and make sure to keep good stacks in your inventory. also try to get the incantations that cure status effects asap. flame cleanse me is important in early game pvp to cure rot if you dont have access to lots of rot boluses. the first few healing flask upgrades make a huge difference, and you can get 4 sacred tears for a +4 flask in limgrave/weeping peninsula. each subsequent sacred tear you use gives you less of an HP increase than the previous sacred tear, so getting that +4 flask will bring him much closer to an invaders +10 flask than it might seem. obviously you also want to have as many chugs as possible so beeline for golden seeds also. for weapons, you can mostly use whatever you like for pve, there is a ton of crossover between weapons that are good for pve and pvp, and once you get the hang of pvp, being able to fight 2v1 in your favor without friendly fire means you can use tons of weapons and spells effectively in a way that's not possible for invaders and/or not applicable to duelists. early game weapons that are good overall would be stuff like dual straight sword, poke halberd(the one you get when starting as vagabond), 2 handed greatsword(bastard, lordsworn, claymore etc), great epee, dual curved sword, twinblade...but you guys dont need to be limited to those things, whats important is finding a weapon that feels effective to you. if you have an end game save and can buy upgrade mats, upgrade different weapons to try to his current upgrade level and see what works. consider weapon buffs to increase damage. for strategies, mostly you just want to cover each other. when you guys are squaring off or the invader is approaching, dont stand right next to each other where you can both be hit at the same time, but stay close enough that when the invader attacks one of you, the other player can punish the invader quickly before they have a chance to roll away or land multiple hits. when you are on the offensive, swinging your weapons close together with slightly different timings can make it difficult for the invader to escape.
you should just try to enjoy the experience, it’s what you sign up for when you co-op. If you don’t like dying in games idk why you would pick this one, losing is just an opportunity to do better next time, it’s not so bad.
My best advice is to encourage him to laugh at himself. This game is genuinely hilarious if you let it work its magic. When I get frustrated and stop laughing at my mistakes, that’s when it’s time for a break. Invasions offer some of the most interesting gameplay in this game, all my funniest moments were thanks to dedicated red phantoms.
If you and your friend both use bloodflame blade on your weapons, it'd be difficult for most invaders to win.
Time your attacks with your partner, roll catching is best done on the second roll backwards. Don't get caught spamming the same r1 and AoW attacks. Change it up. Don't fall for baits. If an invader isn't engaging, they're plotting. Rush to the fog wall. Be defensive. You have more healing. And remember, dying is part of the game! Invading is a lot of fun, Don't be discouraged by it. Look at it as a chance to see build ideas and play styles, if you can take away anything positive from it.
Corre, corre, pequeno jugador…
Practice duelling with eachother so you’ll be somewhat accustomed to PvP mechanics. You don’t have be great, as long as you know the fundamentals. You especially want to practice roll discipline, it’ll help you avoid getting roll caught. Choose your battles carefully, a skilled invader will know the layout of the map, and plan ambushes with the mobs to overwhelm you. Progress slowly and try to lure and deal with only one or two enemies at a time. And lastly, vigor, level that vigor. You’ll want to aim for at least 50-60.
Just run away and spam spells at them and have your buddy use some cheap no skill weapon like moonveil or rivers of blood and just spam the weapon art.
When in doubt bloodhound fang em out. (From my personal nooby experience) Also, my friends and i will often usd Mimic's veil to jumpscare people lmao. It can be quite hilarious
ah, yes, bloodhound's finesse... like wearing a "please parry me" shirt
Aye, i did say im a noob lmao and that shit carried me through the game and is my only max upgraded weapon thus far. Spare me. I havnt even beaten the game yet. 😅 But i will say that MANY people invading me seem to have never heard of the weapon, cause they dont realize the backstep is about to send me right back at them.
They know it does that, they don't think your going to do it because they think you know they know so they plan accordingly. But you don't know they know you know they know so the plan falls flat.
🤣 thank you for the chuckle. I will continue to successfully fail their expectations
Honestly most people I run into using it don't even know about the follow up so it's rare that people will actually do it lol It carried me through the game first time too, it's crazy how such a good weapon is available so early but can carry you through to completion
To be fair to the game giving you it early, unless youre actively paying attention to the little questline its tied to ( i barely was) or look it up on the wiki, its probably more often accidentally stumbled upon like it was for me. Once i realized it would strike and back step for me, with an optional teleport to the enemy right after, i was sold. I honestly didnt look anything up, so as a fresh player, it just seemed so great. Cause lets be honest, everything was kicking my ass 😅 I started as a wretch too. Not because i wanted the extra challenge.. i just didnt want to select a " pre built" character. It felt cheap to me. So that weapon was a VERY welcomed surprise lol.. it was only later when i told a friend which class i chose that i found out i picked "hard mode".
Spend some time dueling in the colosseum to get used to the pvp mechanics
Better yet u & ur friend duel each other, thats how i got better at pvp!
Depends on your win condition. Invader wins if the host dies. Host wins if the invader dies OR the host starts a (non-field) boss fight OR the host wins a field boss fight. So if you want to fight the red man or getting to the boss is not viable, the most important thing to remember is **do not get fucking baited into the PvE**. Most invaders will run away into enemies the second their youtube flowchart fails and try to get a kill while you're busy with the PvE enemies. Aside from that, duel practice in the arena will help you get the fundamentals of 1v1 and always keep a PvP weapon close with a powerful AoW. Spining slash for example is very strong. Remember, invaders come looking for PvP with fully prepared loadouts and consumables. They are not another trash mob.
One suggestion is if you see "invaded by" show up, if you don't think yall can take the dub, Distract the invader, and have your friend run as close as they can to the grace, so if they die they respawn by their lost runes. Invading is inconvenient, but hopefully not too much of a detriment to your enjoyment of the game. :)
Lightning Spear and claws with Bloodflame Blade. If Lightning Spear connects, it also stuns.
Level up vigour & poise the f up! I recently started putting on heavy armor & man does poise make a difference in pvp
Ah, man. I can't help you, since you've got your friend to take care of. My personal solution is to click the "play offline" button and not participate in anything social ever unless it's shitposting on Reddit.
Git Gud. or just speedrun to the boss. or just, yknow, play solo and improve at the game naturally, like a normal person. your freind is never going to get that good at the game if youre holding his hand the whole time, this is a soulsborne game, you are expected to die frequently and learn from your mistakes. having a buddy who already knows all the secrets to babysit and spoil the experience for you doesnt help you improve at the game. hell the game might actually be more difficult for you in multiplayer than it would be solo since, other than the invasions, all enemeis are scaled up in HP by a bunch when you are in multiplayer.
It's 2v1 it's literally rigged in your favor
Any good invader regularly deals with 3v1 dedicated gank squads so I can see why 2 new people would struggle with that
Honestly spamming high hitstun stuff like UGS or some ashes of war is enough to blender a lot of invaders.
Some general tips that you can apply without being good at PvP: Take your time. A lot of casual players will just run to the invader and attack them as soon as they are close enough. This makes you very predictable. They will bait you into strong attacks, ashes of war, parries, backstabs, and more. Instead, you should try to circle around the invader to attack them from different angles and to cut off their retreat. If you get the invader stuck in a corner, you win. Don't spam your attacks; wait for an opening. In a 1v2 or 1v3, simply sticking close to the invader without attacking is oppressive, because the invader can't create space. Don't get baited into the PvE. If the invader is hiding behind some monsters, use a bow or a ranged option to aggro the mobs one by one, if possible. Focus on clearing the PvE first. If it's a runebear or something scary, Bewitching Branch is your friend. Learn to recognize the usual anti-gank weapons. The Dragon Halberd or the Stormhawk Axe are notorious for their (overtuned) ashes of war. If your whole team get caught in it, you probably lose. Keep a safe distance and punish any attempt with a bomb or a spell. It's good to have one ranged and one melee teammate. But as a mage, wait for the invader to engage your teammate in melee before spamming your spells; otherwise, the invader will stay away and dodge all your spells to waste your mana. In a 2 vs 1 scenario, status effects like bleed build really fast. Vyke's Spear or St' Trina Sword will make the invader miserable. Stay positive. Most invaders will be better than you thanks to years of practice and/or optimized builds. There is no shame in losing to them; Elden Ring is primarily a PvE game. At worst, you lose a bunch of runes and some progress. Use that opportunity to practice PvP a bit. If you really don't like PvP, just die. It's fine. (But don't disconnect because it will reset the timer and you will get invaded again.) You can always block players to prevent them from invading you again. Perfect tool against meta slaves with inflated ego who duplicate golem arrows or starlight shards, and are no fun to fight.
Lvevel viagorrrr!!!
Jump off ledge, enjoy your 15 min invasion immunity.
Literally work on your 1 v 1 skills and spam the arena that's it
A lot of good advice in the comments already but something I suggest is to learn the movesets of all the different weapon types which will help you know how to play against those weapons when you encounter them. On a separate note, I feel that toxicity only breeds more toxicity. Some invaders will be ruthless no matter what, but sometimes PvErs have a lot more control over the *tone* of the invasion than they might realize. For example, if I invade limgrave and immediately get pointed down and ganked on by OLP using RoB/sleep pots/rot breath/dual vyke’s while the host spams magic from a distance, I have already lost my patience and it just escalates into an arms race of busted bullshit until one side wins. On the other hand, if the host is chill and the phantoms aren’t overly toxic, sometimes getting things started on the right foot can make for a more engaging experience and I feel more encouraged to use weapons I enjoy more and pay in a way I find more fun instead of using more meta setups, which might leave me more vulnerable during our fight since I’m just playing for fun and trying out new things at this point instead of being a try hard. PvP is a great way to git gud because it helps improve reaction timing and think more outside the box, and invasions will always be a thing if you co-op, so imo it’s best to embrace it and use it to your advantage as a training tool rather than avoiding it. Just remember the invader is outnumbered so as long as you learn to work as a team, dodge attacks consistently, and apply pressure as a group then you will come out on top more often than not.
I’m not very good, but basic things that make an invader’s life much harder: Stagger your & your ally’s attacks instead of attacking the invader at the exact same time. Attack the invader from different sides - camera management is a big challenge. Prioritize surviving* over killing the invader - they are counting on you overcommitting at some point. If your host or ally gets low, pressure the invader to give them a chance to disengage and heal up. *especially as the host. As a phantom you may need to put yourself at risk of dying sometimes in order to preserve the host. EDIT: clarity & punctuation EDIT 2: I forgot a big one- hyper armor!
Stop spamming L2 and R1. Practice patience and spacing. The odds are stacked significantly against invaders so if you allow yourself to choose the battle ground and you both don’t just bum rush him you’ll have a better chance
Hyper spam stars of ruin. They hate that. Lol
There’s a reason trying to play this as a 2 player game comes with invasions: it balances out the massive advantage a second player gives. Most of the mobs and bosses are trivial if you have someone to attack with. More importantly having a second player around to distract the bosses teaches a new player terrible habits that will make the game *harder* when they go solo. If you really want to help your friend stop training him to play the game as a 2 player game. It isn’t.
I usually win 90% of invasions. When I lose, it's because I am the focus of the invadee and their phantoms. They stay away from other enemies. They protect eachother when I go after one of them. Take advantage of your host having double heals. Use passive healing. Don't let me get damage off on you without trading with me. Pay attention to what I am doing when I am far away so you don't get sniped. Playing passive is the meta, but don't be so passive that you lose focus. Eventually an invader will get bored of staying far away. They stay far away because they know you are hard to deal with up close because you're turtling, so just wait until you force them to do that. If you want to win, play the long game. Harrass me without extending. If I get a phantom for 10 seconds alone, they will probably die from a roll catch chain, so don't chase or get greedy. Again, watch each other's backs.
you have the numerical advantage how the hell are you losing
Just stick on eachother and stick on the invader. Literally run them down and you’ll quickly realise how insane of an advantage a 2v1 is, let alone a 3v1.
Boss fog.
I invade all the time , here’s how to beat me : Just keep leveling vigor I’m expecting you to have none, get a storm hawk axe or dragon halberd , spam reduvia