Does the co-op still work the same way?

[Cyberdyne Systems]

I wanted to get this to play it through co-op but I've been reading that co-op isn't much good for the second player as they're only given half the XP, don't get item drops and can't level up etc unless they go back to their own world & progress their own story.

I don't want to play through the game twice by repeating everything we've just done in the other player's world so this setup doesn't sound much good.

Have they changed the way it works or is it still like that?

Thanks.

[Nerik]

Co-op is very good for second player, not only you get your drop, but also able to trade with NPCs and get extra Orius covenant coins after each boss death, and you dont loose your vigor if you die. If not for poor connection sometimes, its the best co-op expirience souls likes ever had, and I tried most of them if not all.

[Cyberdyne Systems]

Originally posted by Nerik:

Co-op is very good for second player, not only you get your drop, but also able to trade with NPCs and get extra Orius covenant coins after each boss death, and you dont loose your vigor if you die. If not for poor connection sometimes, its the best co-op expirience souls likes ever had, and I tried most of them if not all.

Okay so it sounds like it might've improved it from its original state then?

[Nerik]

Yes, because second player can level up, can buy/sell, have their loot from mobs, not sure about exp. Second player can not teleport, can not loot items that not drob from mobs, can not open doors / pull levers and second player is teleported to the host if go to far away from him. But if you are a host you still can drop any item for second player (accept key items) and same goes for the second player. In fact its a good idea to drop +10 weapon to your host so you can eassely kill everyone, else second players weapons are scaled to hightest host weapon so damage is significaly lower. But since we have leveled weapons drop modifire in this game, getting extra +10 weapons is very eassy onse you hit 100+ char level, so you always will have a storage for random players to drop.

[Cyberdyne Systems]

I see. Well I think it'll be worth a shot then. Thanks for the info :)

[Black Paper Moon]

at launch developers stated that the game was "seamless coop" and it was never delivered, I think until they patch in real seamless coop you stay far away from this one. I certainly wont be returning and refunded my purchase @ launch until the original promise is delivered. I want shared progression, none of this half xp nonsense, as far from my understanding it has gotten better but its far from a perfect coop experience. If you and a friend are interested in trying it out LotF is currently available on Xbox Game Pass for PC and that might be the best way to check it out to see if its worth buying for you.

[Cyberdyne Systems]

Originally posted by Black Paper Moon:

at launch developers stated that the game was "seamless coop" and it was never delivered, I think until they patch in real seamless coop you stay far away from this one. I certainly wont be returning and refunded my purchase @ launch until the original promise is delivered. I want shared progression, none of this half xp nonsense, as far from my understanding it has gotten better but its far from a perfect coop experience. If you and a friend are interested in trying it out LotF is currently available on Xbox Game Pass for PC and that might be the best way to check it out to see if its worth buying for you.

Oh, so you're saying they haven't properly sorted those issues out then.. I suppose I'll just have to give it a shot at some point. I just don't want to have to go back and forth between mine and the other player's world repeating the same things just so we can both get full xp, level up & get the same equipment etc because that wouldn't be fun..

[Nerik]

You dont have to go "back and forth between mine and the other player's world", co-op works from very first boss to very end of the game credits if you so desire. And since you can restart your NG0 at any moment (and trust me you will), progression is more about your character gear and level. Co-op is as seemless as it can be with Souls Likes, you just go to bonfire and select "beacon lampbearer" for random player or "beacon friend" for your own friend you dont even have to wait till they come cause they will just teleport to you, and thats it you just go kill your bosses in any way you like without ever disconnecting. And an other matter, dont forget to set "multiplatform" connection in your game options or else PC have less players then XBOX and PS5 so less invaders and harder to find Co-op.

[Cyberdyne Systems]

Originally posted by Nerik:

You dont have to go "back and forth between mine and the other player's world", co-op works from very first boss to very end of the game credits if you so desire. And since you can restart your NG0 at any moment (and trust me you will), progression is more about your character gear and level. Co-op is as seemless as it can be with Souls Likes, you just go to bonfire and select "beacon lampbearer" for random player or "beacon friend" for your own friend you dont even have to wait till they come cause they will just teleport to you, and thats it you just go kill your bosses in any way you like without ever disconnecting. And an other matter, dont forget to set "multiplatform" connection in your game options or else PC have less players then XBOX and PS5 so less invaders and harder to find Co-op.

Thanks for the info. I will give it a shot at some point :)

[Evil Carpenter]

does the second player who joins me he's story progression is not counting ?

[Nerik]

Unfrotunatly no, its only host progressing. They say they will make progression for both players in the next game, but since its going to be an epic exlusive, guess we never know for sure...

[Cyberdyne Systems]

I tried the game out co-op and it turns out that the second player is only getting consumables. They don't get any weapon/armour drops from enemies or chests which is annoying because now it feels like we need to do all the same stuff again in their world so they can get these items which is exactly what I wanted to avoid...

If I could drop items for them then it wouldn't be so bad but I didn't notice an option for that so I'll have to look again next time I play.

But yeh, co-op is not quite the proper co-op experience I was hoping it'd be as far as I can tell from my first few hours of it..

[Rhett]

Originally posted by Cyberdyne Systems:

I tried the game out co-op and it turns out that the second player is only getting consumables. They don't get any weapon/armour drops from enemies or chests which is annoying because now it feels like we need to do all the same stuff again in their world so they can get these items which is exactly what I wanted to avoid...

If I could drop items for them then it wouldn't be so bad but I didn't notice an option for that so I'll have to look again next time I play.

But yeh, co-op is not quite the proper co-op experience I was hoping it'd be as far as I can tell from my first few hours of it..

I just played through the entire game twice (both players') in co-op, and to clarify:

The co-op player gets the exact same "drops" from random trash mobs, minibosses (the non-remembrance ones) or boss-like duplicates (minibosses that were a boss fight previously), just not any of the placed loot or quest items, or remembrances sadly. You do get pilfered coins and eyeballs though.

You can also drop *most* items, just not spells or quest items, or remembrances (but I think you can drop items claimed from remembrances). We shared consumables and the occasional drops.

It is tedious running through the game twice and going back and forth, but the joining player has the benefit of never losing their vigor (souls/runes), so you both end up with extra levels and umbral scourings (remembrance currency) at least. Also, invasions are dumb, but there's ways around them if they aren't something you want to bother with (dying/ALT-F4/mirror of protection when entering an area you really don't want an interruption in).

At the least, you never get kicked or dropped because the host died or anything, which is really nice. Less cumbersome than DS or vanilla Elden Ring.