Terminology
Critical Damage
Critical Damage are the added damage bonus from either a Backstab or a Parry/Riposte. A fatal upgraded weapon will add a substantial bonus for these attacks.
Direct Hit
A direct hit, also known as sweet spot damage, occurs when the enemy is hit with the right part of the weapon, or when he is at a certain distance away when being hit. Most weapons will deal direct hits, but only some have a built in added bonus. A direct hit often occurs with a R1 attack after a push (forward+R1), but the hit-distance also varies from one weapon to another. The Master's Ring will add a further 15% on top of this, but at the expense of all other attacks dealing less damage.
FireRuler
Knocking an opponent down with Stormruler and using Firestorm as they try to stand.
Grassing
Eating a ton of grass in a fight
Hyper Armor
Hyperarmor defines combos that cannot be interrupted. For example; Two handed Great Axe R1 combo. Most (if not all) large heavy weapons have Hyperarmor. It is not uncommon for a Great Axe user to take 1 swing from you, only to hit you with 3 uninterruptable attacks. Also, Hyperarmor combos also have an "indestructable" bonus, meaning you cannot take damage whilst swinging. The best means of avoiding Hyperarmor users is to make them whiff a combo, which will drain a full stamina bar completely, leaving them vulnerable to retaliation.
Hyper Mode
Describes the substantial boost in damage by using a Clever Rat's Ring and the Morion Blade when your health is below 30%. The ring will boost damage by 50%, and the sword will boost it another 60%. Since they stack, they will give you a combined increase in damage of 140%. You can use the Magic Sword "Makoto" to control your health loss, since it consumes 1% per second of your HP while holding it.
Jumping
In general, a Host attacking a Black Phantom before they're prepared.
Poke
A poke is when you are feeling your opponent out. Trying to learn their strengths and weaknesses. This a very common tactic in Martial Arts as it allows you to keep up your vigor and guard, before going on the offensive.
Pushlocking
Pushlocking is a technique that uses main hand pushes followed by L1 swings constantly until either the stamina bar or the opponents health bar is empty. The followup L1 swing will also deal direct damage, which is approximately a 20% increase in damage. A pushlocker is a person who uses this technique. There are various means of escaping a pushlock. You have a small amount of time after the push to parry, change weapon, or use an emote. Any of these will effectively 'break' the push, allowing you to move away.
Rushing
When a Black Phantom jumps a Host.
Stunlock
Stunlock are used to describe the combos where each hit will push the enemy off balance, setting them up for the next. The 2-handed R1 attack combos with the small Straight Swords, Curved Swords, Axes and Hammers, will all keep the enemy in a stunlock.
Whiff
A whiff is when you use your opponents swing speed and range to your advantage by making them attack and then quickly moving out of the path.
Using this tactic allows you to:
- open them for an attack
- drain their stamina
- set up parries
- leave them open for a backstab
Acronyms
Demon's Souls specific
| Acronym | Full Name | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 2kats | dual katanas or uchis | - |
| AC | Acid Cloud | - |
| Adj. Shield | Adjudicator's Shield | - |
| AR | Attack Rating | Total rate of attack (not damage) added from a weapon's Physical/Magical/Fire Damage. This number is listed in the Weapon Attribute Screen. This number applied against an enemy's Physical/Magical/Fire Defense is what gives you actual damage |
| BBS | Blueblood Sword | - |
| BS | Backstab | - |
| BSD | Blue Stone Down | - |
| BT | Black Turpentine | - |
| CDS | Colorless Demons Soul | - |
| CL | Crystal Lizard | - |
| CT | Character Tendency | - |
| CW | Cursed Weapon | - |
| DBS | Dragon Bone Smasher | - |
| DC | Death Cloud | - |
| DoT | Damage over Time | - |
| DSS | Dark Silver Shield or Drop Soul Sign | just pay attention to how its used |
| Fb | Fireball | - |
| Fb-I | Fireball/Ignite combo | - |
| GA | Great Axe | - |
| GU | Got U | Usually just after summoning |
| GS | Great Sword | - |
| HP | Hit Points | Is the amount of health the player has/Vitality (Red Bar) |
| iCat | Insanity Catalyst | - |
| LOLKATS | dual katanas or uchis | - |
| LSoM | Large Sword of Moonlight | - |
| LSoS | Large Sword of Searching | - |
| LW | Light Weapon | - |
| MC | Meat Cleaver | - |
| MH | Mirdan Hammer | - |
| MP | Magic/Mana Points | Determines the amount of Magic/Mana points left to cast spells with/Intelligence (Blue Bar) |
| NG | New Game | The first game started with a character. You play it through once to the end and when you start playing another game with that same character it is NG+ and then NG++, NG+++, and so on. |
| NR | Northern Regalia | - |
| PB/PW | Pure Black/Pure White | Used in conjunction with WT/CT |
| PC | Poison Cloud | - |
| PD | Primeval Demon | - |
| PFS | Purple Flame Shield | - |
| PvP | Player versus Player | - |
| PvE | Player versus Environment | Playing against the regular enemies/bosses/etc in the game |
| RSS | Red Stone Summon | - |
| SC | Second Chance | - |
| SL | Soul Level | your current Soul Level |
| SSD | Soul Sign Down | Signifies that a Blue or Red stone has been dropped. Helpful when trying to co-ordinate with particular players |
| SoEE | Stone of Ephemeral Eyes | - |
| SR | Stormruler | - |
| SS | SoulSucker or Scraping Spear | Just pay attention to how its used |
| SWS | Sticky White Stuff | - |
| ToB | Talisman of Beasts | - |
| ToG | Talisman of God | - |
| WCat | Wooden Catalyst | - |
| WES | White Eye Stone | Stone used to exit yourself out of another's game or someone out of your game |
| WT | World Tendency | - |
General
| Acronym | Full Name | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| BIAB | Back In A Bit | - |
| BRB | Be Right Back | - |
| BRT | Be Right There | - |
| G2G | Got To Go | - |
| LUK | Let You Know | - |
