For some reason, I feel like trying Dark Souls 2 again

[Stalker Fairy]

Never actually beaten it(or any of those Souls-like games tbqh) due to the frustrating(to me) difficulty. That, and my permanent loss of souls if I die before manage to reclaim them.

One question that I never understood that I would like to clarify though: those (in-game) summons that people say can help to trivialize some bosses. Are they reusable (ie they refresh if you die), or are they a pure one-time use(regardless you win or lose, the summon is gone for good for that game(the game copy?) )?

I've always been under the impression it's the later and I've always wondered whether I should've used them more when I played the last time. Maybe it might's alleviate some of the difficulty.

[Livy]

Get agape ring from Straid in the lost bastille. Use it when you progress so you don't have to think about losing souls (since you get none). Remove it when you want to get some levels (Like before bosses).

Also dogs drop humanity so farm some from outside the 2nd smith's area. (With company of champions active for infinite spawns).

[NeutronVortex]

Originally posted by Stalker Fairy:

One question that I never understood that I would like to clarify though: those (in-game) summons that people say can help to trivialize some bosses. Are they reusable (ie they refresh if you die), or are they a pure one-time use(regardless you win or lose, the summon is gone for good for that game(the game copy?) )?

You'll be able to see summon signs as long as you are 'human' and the boss of the area you are in is still alive -- once the area boss is dead, you'll no longer see summon signs in that area. Dying doesn't remove summons for good, but you'll have to become 'human' again for them to reappear. This is done a bit differently in each game; In DS1 you must use an item call humanity and then reverse hollowing at a bonfire. In DS2 and DS3 is simpler as you just use a consumable to instantly return human -- Human Effigies in DS2 and Embers in DS3.

Edit: I wouldn't even worry about the agape ring. That ring is used to keep your Soul Memory at a set value for PvP / Coop purposes and can (and probably should) be safely ignored on your first playthrough. You want as many souls as you possibly can get so you can increase your core stats, buy items, upgrade weapons etc.

There is a ring called the Ring of Life Protection which will allow you to keep all your souls when you die. The ring will then break, but it can be repaired at the blacksmith.

http://darksouls2.wikidot.com/ring-of-life-protection

[JellyPuff]

Originally posted by NeutronVortex:

You'll be able to see summon signs as long as you are 'human' and the boss of the area you are in is still alive -- once the area boss is dead, you'll no longer see summon signs in that area.

This actually only applies to regular normal White-Signs. You can still see Small-White Signs with the area boss dead to summon "Shades" (shorter summon-duration). There are a few NPC summons using small-signs, like "Lone Hunter Schmidt" at Shrine of Amana. You can still get invaded by NPC's (and players) as well, after killing an area boss (you also don't need to be in human form in order to get invaded in DS2).

The one thing too look out for, if you don't see Small Signs or want (scripted) invasions to happen, after the area boss is dead, is the "Human Effigy"-effect you get, after killing a boss. It's signified by a little crossed-out Human Effigy-symbol below your stamina bar.
It blocks all co-op and invasions for 30 minutes, but can always be cancelled at an affected area's bonfire. The 30 minute timer carries over to NG+ and only ticks down, while in an affected area. You can also manually invoke this effect, by burning a Human Effigy at a bonfire, which is the only way to block invasions, besides playing offline.

[NeutronVortex]

Originally posted by JellyPuff:

Originally posted by NeutronVortex:

You'll be able to see summon signs as long as you are 'human' and the boss of the area you are in is still alive -- once the area boss is dead, you'll no longer see summon signs in that area.

This actually only applies to regular normal White-Signs. You can still see Small-White Signs with the area boss dead to summon "Shades" (shorter summon-duration)....

True, I forgot about that.

[Stalker Fairy]

Originally posted by JellyPuff:

bonfire, which is the only way to block invasions, besides playing offline.

...I recall getting attacked though, eventhough I play offline.(the enemies were red iirc)

In fact, though people like it, invasion is one of the primary reason I used to avoid Dark Souls back in the day. Im on the assumption that the one plus if I come back now is the lack of those people.

[NeutronVortex]

Originally posted by Stalker Fairy:

Originally posted by JellyPuff:

bonfire, which is the only way to block invasions, besides playing offline.

...I recall getting attacked though, eventhough I play offline.(the enemies were red iirc)

The games do have some NPC invaders in a few areas who will invade regardless of whether you are currently online or not -- as long as you are human at the time. Once you kill them, they won't return in that area, otherwise they will keep invading in that spot until you are able to kill them once.

Edit2: Yes as JellyPuff states below, in DS2 you can be invaded while undead. fwiw, in this post and previous one I was speaking more to the Dark Souls series in general as you mentioned the 'other souls-like' games in the first sentence of your post and I thought I'd answer your questions in more generalized terms to cover the other games aswell. Sry if some of the specifics of my info where inaccurate to DS2 specifically because of this.

Edit1: Also, in DS2 there are a few red phantom enemies that are placed on the maps. They generally won't respawn after you kill them though, unlike normal enemies.

[JellyPuff]

Originally posted by Stalker Fairy:

...I recall getting attacked though, eventhough I play offline.(the enemies were red iirc)

Scripted NPC invaders. They can invade no matter if you're online or not and again, you can be invaded while hollow in DS2.

There's also a NPC invader, that has a random chance to appear in most areas, called "Forlorn".

Some scripted NPC invaders also appear exclusively in offline-mode in specific areas. Those NPC invaders also re-spawn on NG+/Bonfire Intensity 2 and higher, so they can be used to farm Awestones to rank up Company of Champions offline or just to have a reason, to use the traps in Grave of Saints or Doors of Pharros (usually meant for the Rat King PvP-covenant, which is pretty much dead at this point).

FromSoft had been oddly focused on providing an offline-experience that can at least somewhat approximate, how it's like playing online. Tons of NPC co-op phantoms and invaders. DS2, especially at the DLC areas, has some scripted NPC invaders, that are pretty good at behaving (or griefing) like humans. I stopped counting, how often people tried hate-mailing Armorer Dennis on this forum, thinking he was a real player.