Telling the difference: Summon Signs

Keep summoning who you think is a normal Sunbro? Does it turn out to be a nasty Dark Spirit looking to fight you for a Sunlight Medal? Or maybe you summoned a Mad Phantom or Dark Spirit not understanding their purpose. Hopefully this guide will end your confusion and result in a more enjoyable experience for all.

Overview

Have you ever summoned who you thought was a friendly sunbro, but in actuality they were a nasty dark spirit? Maybe, confused and scared, you summoned more people to try to gank them. If so, that's perfectly understandable. Hopefully this guide will help you so that you can tell the difference between different types of signs and therefore not summon anyone you don't want to.

Basic Signs: Red and White(but not Blue)

In most cases when one uses a White Sign Soapstone, they'll drop a plain white sign by which they can be summoned for jolly cooperation.



Similarly, in most cases when one uses a Red Sign Soapstone, they'll drop a plain red sign by which they can be summoned for (hopefully) honorable duels.



Should be pretty easy to tell the difference, right? Well, no. When some covenants get involved, things can get confusing for new players.

Mound Makers: Mad Phantoms/Spirits

This is where it starts to get a bit complicated. Some walls of text ahead, be warned.

When a member of the Mound Maker's covenant uses a White Sign Soapstone, they produce a sign whose text is outlined in white, but whose glow is purple. When these signs are used, the player who produced them enters the world as a Mad Phantom. While a Mad Phantom is subject to assault from NPCs the same as you are, they have a different objective. A Mad Phantom's objective is to slay either the host player(if you summoned them, that's you!) or a certain number of phantoms or dark spirits(this number varies depending on the number in your world at the current time; while the exact ratio of non-host players available:non-host players required for victory is unclear, the latter portion maxes out at 3). They furthermore cannot follow you through the boss fog to help you with a boss. As such, you should try to avoid summoning them unless you're looking for a tough fight.



When a Mound Maker uses a Red Sign Soapstone, they produce a sign whose text is outlined in red, but whose glow is purple. When these signs are used, the player who produced them enters the world as a Mad Dark Spirit. A Mad Dark Spirit's objectives are essentially the same as those of a Mad Phantom, however NPCs will not attack them. As such, they tend to be more inclined to duel than anything, and after a few victories in a fight club will likely leave. While it can be difficult to tell the difference between the signs, ultimately it matters little as you shouldn't summon either unless you're ready for PvP.

Sunbros: Honorable Cooperators or Duelists.

Warriors of Sunlight(colloquially sunbros) are in some ways a bit trickier than those we've discussed previously. This is because the distinction between the purposes of their signs is the same as that of a normal player, but the visual similarities between the signs are such that it's easy for new players to confuse one for the other.

When a Sunbro uses a White Sign Soapstone, they produce a summon sign whose text is outlined in white and whose glow is a brilliant gold, much the same as in previous games. When the sign is used, the one who produced it is summoned as a brilliant golden phantom, the essence of jolly cooperation.



When a Sunbro uses a Red Sign Soapstone, they produce a summon sign whose text is outlined in red and whose glow maintains the same brilliant gold as previously. When the sign is used, the one who produced it is summoned as a Dark Spirit whose body is gold but who glows with a red aura. These Dark Spirits wish solely to engage in honorable combat with other phantoms and Dark Spirits, or with the host who summoned them. Due to the glow being the same, it's easy for new players to confuse this and a Sunbro's white sign, however it's important to remember that the text will always be outlined in red if the sign is for a Dark Spirit.

Closing Statements

Having now detailed the differences between the various colors of summon signs, it is my hope that more new players will understand these differences, resulting in a more enjoyable experience for all, whether you be a host, a phantom, or a dark spirit. Have fun everyone, and remember to look closely before you summon!

[Reeva!]

scrubrush alert:
how do you use the soapstone? like just the white one?

[foxpower93]

Thank you you probably save my life with this

[Oberon's Top Guy]

I found this helpful.

[asmcint]

@GamingSanta: You'd think it wouldn't be, but I encountered first-hand exactly what necessitated it. :/

[GamingSanta]

@asmcint \[T]/ I'm not criticizing or anything; it just seems like something you shouldn't need to make a guide about, but I guess if I were new to the series this might be helpful.

[asmcint]

@GamingSanta: The big issue was really people not looking for the red highlights on signs, causing them to summon red sign sunbros thinking they were friendly, then panicking and ganking them. Not fun. I just added the rest for more content overall.

[GamingSanta]

This guide could be shortened quite a bit.

"White=good, Red = bad" Yeah, that'd probably do it.

[Dark Star]

lol, the entire point of the red-gold sign is to sneak it into the crowds of real gold signs to trick people into summoning you and taking up their phantom slots

[Sin Archbishop of Vainglory]

:D i love mad phantoms and being one, as its super fun to act all nice n shit help throughtout the level then when they least expect it kill the host or other phantom

[wren]

@asmcint \[T]/
i'm the real type of moundmaker that will help you through the level until you're in a really tough spot
then i backstab you