Build planners:

MugenMonkey - Originally the most popular planner, but is lacking in features and isn’t regularly updated anymore.

Soulsplanner - A much better planner, allows you to set modifiers for weapon level, active buffs, PvP vs. PvE stats, etc.

Dark Souls 3 Name Censor Checker - Beware that this censor list is for PC, and PS4 uses a different set of strings that is generally less strict (though exceptions exist). When in doubt, ask to summon or be summoned by another player and verify the name in-game shortly after character creation. The Clear Name Censoring mod can negate censoring of your own name altogether, but not that of other players.

Character sliders - Updated version that includes everything from the previous sheet. You can find sliders to help you here, or submit your own.

Infinite respecs - Lets you use the respec feature as many times as you want, in case you screw up.

Area

Soul Level

Weapon Memory

Notes

High Wall

1-20

+0 to +1

Undead Settlement

15-25

+0 to +2

Some high level hosting on NG+ cycles may exist

Crucifixion Woods

20-35

+2 to +3

Watchdogs covenant zone, lots of PvP activity at all levels

Cathedral of the Deep

25-45

+2 to +4

Side area, wide range of activity

Farron Keep

25-35

+2 to +4

Catacombs of Carthus

30-45

+4 to +5

Smouldering Lake

40-55

+4 to +6

Optional area, activity range can vary widely

Irithyll of the Boreal Valley

45-55

+5 to +6

Post-Pontiff, Anor Londo

50-65

+6 to +7

Aldrich Faithful covenant zone, mostly gank squads past SL60

Irithyll Dungeon, Profaned Capital

50-65

+5 to +7

Lothric Castle, Consumed King’s Garden

60-75

+6 to +8

Grand Archives

70-85

+8 to +10

Untended Graves

60-75

+7 to +10

Optional area, activity range can vary

Archdragon Peak

65-90

+7 to +10

Optional end-game area, wide activity range

Painted World of Ariandel

70-120

+8 to +10

Due to how early it can be accessed, some activity exists in the SL30-50 range

Dreg Heap, the Ringed City

80-120

+10

The invader build recommended ranges table has been moved to the invader’s handbook document above, please look there instead.

Wex Dust is a PC connectivity mod that allows invaders to search all around the world for matching hosts, instead of having to search area by area and warping bonfire to bonfire. It can cause crashes every now and then due to stability issues, but is otherwise well worth using for greatly increasing game activity.

While encountering Cheat Engine users is rather uncommon outside of meta level and PvP hotspots (Crucifixion Woods, Post-Pontiff), the ease of accessing the program and scripts means that you’ll eventually run into a hacker sooner or later. Read this Reddit post (trigger warning!) if you want to know more about softbans and how to protect yourself.

Before heading online, it’s a good idea to regularly back up your save, and keep multiple backups just in case. You can manually back it up (C:/Users/(You)/AppData/Roaming/DarkSoulsIII/###’s/DS30000.sl2), or use either the Speed Souls Save Organizer or Save Game Backup Tool.

As a general rule of thumb, don’t pick up items dropped by strangers, unless you’re trading with somebody with whom you’ve agreed to meet at a predetermined location and with a password. If you pick up a +10 Twinkling/Scale weapon, Undead Bone Shards, Poison Binoculars, Coals or any other untradeable/unobtainable item (beware that hackers can also forcibly inject them into your inventory), or if you are in a world alongside a person who is obviously hacking, immediately quit and restore your backed up save file. Do not log back in to the matchmaking server until you have restored the backup!

Blue Sentinel (by the maker of the previous Dark Souls 3 PvP Watchdog) is a serious lifesaver, and should be considered a first priority to install. It can save you from the vast majority of attempts by hackers to ruin your save file (invalid item pickups/injections will fail and give you safe items instead, for example). You should still maintain save backups to be safe, but Watchdog includes an auto-backup feature that helps with this. Another option you have is PyreProtecc, though the source for this one is considerably more dubious and should be taken with at least a few salt tablets.

To avoid encountering a hacker again, find their Steam profile and block communication (from the main Steam window, View -> Players; from the in-game overlay, View Players -> Recent Games). While they can get around blocks with a Family Share account, it will provide you with at least temporary protection. Blue Sentinel keeps a log that flags cheaters and Family Share accounts, and its player list feature also gives you the Steam ID of all players in the session to make tracking them even easier.

By backing up your save before trading, you can give another player free stuff, and then retain those items by reloading that save. Similarly, if you’re helping someone else mule, you can keep copies of their stuff by backing up your save after the first stage of the trade, and then reloading after the second stage.

Fight Clubs

Fight clubs normally take place at the first bonfire at the High Wall of Lothric. Activity is largely PC-centric, and most players are SL120-125.

If you want to host a fight club, make sure that the boss for the area is alive, and use a Dried Finger. Be sure to host un-Embered too, if you don’t want invaders interrupting. And most importantly, make sure your internet connection isn’t terrible, and that you aren’t living in some third world country far away from everyone else.