In Dark Souls, there are countless builds that fans can try their luck with in the world of the Hollow, but everyone will inevitably have to utilize a particular function in the game: the dodge roll. Experts now say that while the feature looks cool, it wouldn’t make sense in combat.
What is dodging all about? In Dark Souls as well as Elden Ring, the dodge roll is an important feature in the game, especially when it comes to evading attacks or traps. By dodging, the protagonists gain what are called “i-frames” (Invincibility Frames), which make you invulnerable for a brief period.
Those who have mastered the Souls games will notice that every boss fight can be conquered with ease if you memorize the attack patterns and the appropriate dodge windows of the respective bosses.
Dodging is, therefore, a core element of the Souls series, but did you know that this feature would be deadly in a real fight? Experts have looked at the action-packed dodging of Dark Souls and advise against it.
In Dark Souls it is practical, in the real world too dangerous
What do the experts say about dodging? The founder of Sellsword Arts, David Miller, along with his colleague, recorded a video on TikTok discussing the dodge roll of Dark Souls. He has been a professional fencer since 2004, is a trained Olympic and classical fencer, and also has 10 years of experience as an instructor.
For the two of them, it is clear: The dodge roll is completely illogical and offers no advantages in a real fight, rather disadvantages. While in Dark Souls, you are invulnerable through the i-frames, in real life, a dodge roll makes you vulnerable – it takes too long and exposes your body parts.
Here is the video if you’re interested:
In itself, dodging wouldn’t be a problem, but it depends on when and how you use it. If you were to utilize a fencer’s dodging and dart back and forth with footwork, that would be advantageous in a fight, and you could even launch a counter-attack.
A large dodge roll like in Dark Souls wouldn’t be a problem either, but the situation has to be right, for example, if an opponent grabs you after an attack and throws you off balance. Here, the dodge roll makes sense to quickly get back on your feet with momentum.
In itself, the dodge roll is more of a hindering feature when keeping an eye on reality, but it still looks cool. Moreover, it fits well in the FromSoftware games because the bosses from the world of Lordran all attack slowly. Speaking of bosses, do you know which one from Dark Souls is the strongest according to the lore? We’ll show you: The strongest bosses in Dark Souls 1, 2, and 3 according to lore in the power ranking
