[DARK SOULS 3] How to Gank Guide

Ganking has been a staple of video gaming for a long time and originally, it wasn't used in a bad way. The term is thought to have come from MMORPG's, and was used to describe multiple players 'ganging up' on other players, who were usually defenceless against the onslaught.

In Dark Souls 3, ganking refers to a host and multiple phantoms - usually 3, but a host and a single phantom can be equally effective in some cases - wandering around waiting for invaders to spawn so they can slaughter them like IS soldiers shooting a child. The ultimate goal of a session of ganking varies; it can be a result of a group of people trying to get through a difficult area, people trying to get souls or, the most likely goal, a bunch of sadists attempting to get hatemail on their account.

The average invader, as the host and phantoms point down and throw dung pies at their corpse.

Where do I gank?

The best place to gank is Irithyll, right after the boss fight with Pontiff Sulyvahn. This area is home to the Aldrich Faithfuls, a covenant that invades any embered host in the area; ripe picking for a gank squad. That's not to say there aren't other valuable locations. Other hotspots include:

1. The entirety of the Ringed City.
2. Undead Settlement.
3. Pre-Sulyvahn Irithyll.
4. Archdragon Peak.
5. The Painted World of Ariandel.
6. The Kiln of the First Flame.

In theory, anywhere is good for ganking, but try not to choose somewhere with lots of enemies or with a tougher enemy like a Ravenous Titanite Lizard, Outrider Knight or a Pus of Man; a way to counteract this and extend your range is to kill all the enemies in the level beforehand. Another great technique is to leave the boss of the area alive, which will allow you to effectively send all invaders home, just in case your phantoms die and you have no chance of winning.

Beware this ladder in Irithyll; as this invader demonstrates, an invader can easilly knock an overconfident host to his death.

What equipment should I have?

Generally, each gank squad should have one of the following:

1. A caster (sorcerer, pyromancer or cleric).
2. Someone with a heavy, high damage weapon and lots of poise.
3. Someone with a light, fast weapon and a low equip load.

If possible, everyone in the gank squad should wear the Hornet Ring at all times and carry a Sun Princess Ring, Silvercat Ring and Black Obscuring Ring (for phantoms). Collecting Seeds of a Giant Tree, while they have been nerfed, is still a good idea, as it can easily flush out any invaders trying to hide behind hoardes of enemies or a mini-boss.

In this screenshot, we can see the host and his summons using a wide variety of weapons.

Can invaders gank too?

If you allow 2 phantoms to stay alive in your world and one of your phantoms die, then another invader will take their place. If your phantoms keep dying, then eventually, you will become the hunted. It's not worth trying to beat them because, as the host of a gank squad, you probably won't be the most savvy at fighting for yourself. Instead, there are several escape routes:

1. Continue running around the map, occasionally stopping to hit any invaders that get too close. While you'll never kill anyone doing this, you'll have wasted a lot of their time and probably gotten them very tilted in the process. If you have enough of a headstart, you may be able to resummon if your world isn't full of invaders.
2. Make a b-line for the boss fog. The moment you cross it, every invader is sent home and all you have to do is warp back to the bonfire to leave the fight.
3. Find a corner of the map that nobody really checks (such as the area with the Hollow Slaves in post-Sulyvahn Irithyll or near either of the two Wyverns in Lothric Castle) and either use a Young White Branch or use a gesture like Curl Up to hide yourself. I've found that you can become basically invisible by either hiding underwater or glitching inside props with the Stretch Out gesture.
4. If all else fails, disconnect from the world. The most efficient way to do this is by pressing alt+F4, but by either entering Airplane Mode or turning off the router, you can get similar results.

In this screenshot, I exemplify using Stretch Out in the deep, dark water of the Ringed City Streets.

Should I be honorable?

No, you're human garbage and you should probably go hang yourself by the neck from a tree. Yes, of course. There are a few simple steps that should help you on the road to being very honorable:

1. Point down on an invader's corpse to put them in their place like the beta male they are to show the other phantoms their location so they can come over and mourn.
2. Applaud an invader after they die to emphasize how pathetic their attempt was and that they might as well go split their head open by bashing it against a brick wall to show appreciation for their effort.
3. Throw dung pies at the spot where an invader died to remind the invader that they're just awful at everything and they won't ever be anything more than that so that one day, flowers may grow on the fertilized soil where they died.

A blue phantom showing his appreciation for a recently deceased Mound Maker.

Guide by Ristretto