Can Someone explain hollowing to a newcomer

[ElJugoJalapeno]

I'm completely new to the souls game, and i dont quite understand what hollowing is in dark souls 3. I'm far enough to the game to know i occasionally get free levels (2 so far) from yoel, and i have dark sigil. I googled it and youtubed on this topic and all I found is how to get rid of it but not what it is or why people wants to get rid of it. Can somebody explain hollowing to me? more specifically, how will it would affect the status, story, game play or npc interaction etc. why do people wants to get rid of it? please, some souls veterans explain this to me and help a newcomer out.

[ElJugoJalapeno]

or lead me to a place where a noob like me can find info about this game

[Reverend Jerry]

https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Hollowing

[ElJugoJalapeno]

i saw that wiki page to but i dont understand what does it mean to become hollow? how would being a hollow effect me in anyway.

[morgz342]

just mean you can't summon

[Xengre]

Hollowing is STRICTLY cosmetic and for what is considered the best ending "Lord of Hollows". You must be in a hollowed state to complete Yuria's questline for Lord of Hollows ending and remain in a hollowed state for the entirety of the game's completion. Not doing her quest will not result in that ending even if hollowed.

Other than this hollowing makes you look undead. You can get five free levels from Yoel (talk to him and take free level, then die to activate the next, repeat for 5x). After the 5th one when you return to him at Firelink Yuria will replace him and he will be dead on the ground near her. She has her questline then available along with some items specific to her shop (only a few). Hollowing cosmetic effect can be hidden by a ring (Untrue Ring I think it was?).

[Ambugaton]

You can summon while hollow. One of the things that changed in DS3. Hollow is not the same as unembered. It really has no negative effects other than making your character look like beef jerky. That can be taken care of with purging stones, but only until the next time you die, then you start drying out and decaying again.

Where it can have a real effect is with any weapons infused with a hollow gem. Those weapons have damage that scales with luck, and add luck as you upgrade them. But other than that I really can't think of any effect at all.

Someone said you see more signs offering assistance when you're hollow, but I haven't noticed a difference.

[The Fountaineer 🖋]

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

You can summon while hollow. One of the things that changed in DS3. Hollow is not the same as unembered. It really has no negative effects other than making your character look like beef jerky. That can be taken care of with purging stones, but only until the next time you die, then you start drying out and decaying again.

Where it can have a real effect is with any weapons infused with a hollow gem. Those weapons have damage that scales with luck, and add luck as you upgrade them. But other than that I really can't think of any effect at all.

Someone said you see more signs offering assistance when you're hollow, but I haven't noticed a difference.

There is definitely a difference the more hollowed you are, its been tested and confirmed that you’ll start to see other Hollow players signs more often.

[Xengre]

Originally posted by William See:

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

You can summon while hollow. One of the things that changed in DS3. Hollow is not the same as unembered. It really has no negative effects other than making your character look like beef jerky. That can be taken care of with purging stones, but only until the next time you die, then you start drying out and decaying again.

Where it can have a real effect is with any weapons infused with a hollow gem. Those weapons have damage that scales with luck, and add luck as you upgrade them. But other than that I really can't think of any effect at all.

Someone said you see more signs offering assistance when you're hollow, but I haven't noticed a difference.

There is definitely a difference the more hollowed you are, its been tested and confirmed that you’ll start to see other Hollow players signs more often.

1. I've never seen any such thing and a quick Google doesn't bring up any such thing, either.

2. I've gone from max hollowing to purified and seen no change in summon signs in the appropriate areas.

This seems incredibly unlikely.

[Ambugaton]

Originally posted by William See:

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

You can summon while hollow. One of the things that changed in DS3. Hollow is not the same as unembered. It really has no negative effects other than making your character look like beef jerky. That can be taken care of with purging stones, but only until the next time you die, then you start drying out and decaying again.

Where it can have a real effect is with any weapons infused with a hollow gem. Those weapons have damage that scales with luck, and add luck as you upgrade them. But other than that I really can't think of any effect at all.

Someone said you see more signs offering assistance when you're hollow, but I haven't noticed a difference.

There is definitely a difference the more hollowed you are, its been tested and confirmed that you’ll start to see other Hollow players signs more often.

That's interesting and actually kind of cool.

Am I missing something with the hollow infusion? I thought about doing a hollow/luck build (figured he would be good to farm with if nothing else) and the weapon damage with that infusion and even 99 luck is total garbage compared to... well, just about anything.

[Xengre]

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

Originally posted by William See:

There is definitely a difference the more hollowed you are, its been tested and confirmed that you’ll start to see other Hollow players signs more often.

That's interesting and actually kind of cool.

Am I missing something with the hollow infusion? I thought about doing a hollow/luck build (figured he would be good to farm with if nothing else) and the weapon damage with that infusion and even 99 luck is total garbage compared to... well, just about anything.

It just helps bleed builds but the amount is negligible even with high luck + hollowing + hollow infusion in left hand ever since they changed bleed's formula or whatever it was (I forget) way back. As for item find farming it is too small to be a relevant factor and you can just use another Crystal Sage's Rapier.

As for the summon sign things pretty sure the guy is incorrect.

[The Fountaineer 🖋]

Originally posted by Xengre:

Originally posted by Ambugaton:

That's interesting and actually kind of cool.

Am I missing something with the hollow infusion? I thought about doing a hollow/luck build (figured he would be good to farm with if nothing else) and the weapon damage with that infusion and even 99 luck is total garbage compared to... well, just about anything.

It just helps bleed builds but the amount is negligible even with high luck + hollowing + hollow infusion in left hand ever since they changed bleed's formula or whatever it was (I forget) way back. As for item find farming it is too small to be a relevant factor and you can just use another Crystal Sage's Rapier.

As for the summon sign things pretty sure the guy is incorrect.

I swear this was a thing back when i had my hollow build. I would use a purging stone and guys whom i previously couldnt see started popping up next to other visibly hollow players.

Problem is i keep reading anectdotes from other players about seeing less signs as well. Couldve just been a rumor though. I might make a new dude and test it out again

[The Fountaineer 🖋]

Disregard my initial statement, its starting to look more and more coincidental, though its a helluva coincidence to get multiple people stating the same stories

[Xengre]

Originally posted by William See:

Disregard my initial statement, its starting to look more and more coincidental, though its a helluva coincidence to get multiple people stating the same stories

One issue with summon signs is connection due to crap netcode + possibly any issue on your connections end or if people are geographically far away can result in signs taking some time to appear. This may be why it often might seem like there are less signs at some point.