Just to clear some things up...

[Eskol]

1. I cannot play with my friends, is this correct?
2. Are Black Phantoms are generally within my level range?
3. Can gear be bought/crafted from scratch?(meaning not upgraded)
4. Do magic users seem unstopable in PvP?
5. Will I get to decide who's world I invade, should I choose to invade?

*update*
6. What is with the blue-ish aura around some PC's? I have noticed some have it, some don't.

[CUR715]

1. With a little co-ordination it is possible.
2. Yes, there are soul level restrictions on who you can summon, and who can invade. Keeps it fair.
3. There are vendors in all the worlds that sell various weapons and armour.
4. Depends on the skill of the player. From experience, if you stick to Magic only, you will struggle.
5. No.
6. There are many types of aura that your character as; it's all to do with whatever rings/equipment you have on, or spells/miracles you may have cast on yourself.

[Syra]

To expound a bit, since you've pretty much got your answers:

1. You can play with friends. The game does not have a function to just invite someone from your list, but with a phone, IM, or even through XMB chat, you can coordinate to meet in a location for the summoning. Just remember you have to be within ten levels of each other, someone has to be alive to summon, and the one(s) being summoned must be in soul form.

5. No you can't. However, similar to question 1, you can coordinate a duel with friends in much the same fashion as co-op play. I believe the same restrictions apply for the most part(feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), but instead of being summoned to help them, you'll be summoned to fight with them. Duels use the Red Eye Stone instead of Black which is for invading.

6. The blue aura is most likely the Blue Phantom aura present during co-operative play. Everyone summoned as a Blue Phantom, or helping player, will have a blue aura to show that. Invading players will have a red aura(Black and Red Phantoms) showing that they are there to kill the living player. The light green/white aura present on your character in solo play shows that you're in soul form, not body form, which has no aura by default.

[CUR715]

I assumed when he said 'aura' he didn't mean bright blue all over! Haha! That would of course mean he's a Blue Phantom.

I'm referring to glows/auras such as holding a Crescent weapon, or having the Eternal Warrior's Ring equipped. Both of which, are very noticeable.

[Eskol]

haha thanks guys, and yea i was wondering I have seen the video's of players who are encase in a blue aura all over, while it is nice to see the first time, I think I would rather just see my character in the normal form

[Karkarov]

haha thanks guys, and yea i was wondering I have seen the video's of players who are encase in a blue aura all over, while it is nice to see the first time, I think I would rather just see my character in the normal form

The reason it is that way is more for potential invader benefit so they can tell at a glance who is actually alive and who is a co op buddy. Remember, the black phantom doesn't technically need to kill the co op players only the living one.

[NeverFinal]

Hey i got a question...

Can you beat the first time through and then on your NG+ go online from there?

[pram12]

Hey i got a question...

Can you beat the first time through and then on your NG+ go online from there?

Pretty sure you can change to online anytime you want during your playthrough... correct me if I'm wrong please... I don't have the game yet.

[Eternal Sin]

All you have to do is sign out from your online account and presto: offline mode.

[SpiritThief]

All you have to do is sign out from your online account and presto: offline mode.

I heard the only way was by pulling the cable out. I don't understand the lack of no friend invite that just seems silly.

To add a question. How many character slots do we get? I heard 4, that can't be right with 10 classes.

[Pibbman]

All you have to do is sign out from your online account and presto: offline mode.

I heard the only way was by pulling the cable out. I don't understand the lack of no friend invite that just seems silly.

To add a question. How many character slots do we get? I heard 4, that can't be right with 10 classes.

Yeah, someone who has the asian version said it's 4. Yes, it doesn't make any frigging sense either. Because you would pretty much have to use a new PSN account for the others, assuming you wanted to save your characters.

Personally, I hope it was something Atlus had changed, but I doubt it.

[CUR715]

It's been said a million times, but i'll reiterate: the 10 'classes' are not strict in the traditional RPG sense - they're only jumping off points, based on starting stats, weapons, and clothes/armour.

Anything one 'class' can do, another can do as well (i.e. a starting Barbarian, could easily become a fully-fledged Magician within a few levels).

Don't think of it as "oh i'm a Mage, i'm stuck with these robes & wand for 40 hours". See some armour you like? Wear it! Bagged a Long Sword? Increase those stats til you can wield the bad-boy! Hey-presto! - from Mage to Knight.

See what i mean? There are no strict rules, you can play the game anywhich way you choose.

Trust me, four slots is plenty. Think about how much server space it'd take up if everyone had 20 slots filled with garbage characters they don't use or play.

Once you get into the game, you'll become quite attached to your main character, believe me. It'll be a fair few hours before you even contemplate starting another from scratch. Hell, it takes 4 runs to get all the trophies, so you're looking at a good 80 hours minimum!

[Karkarov]

Also it was posted elsewhere but you do not need to pull the plug or do anything else that loony. If you don't want to play online all you need to do is go into your ps3 system settings and disable auto log in for the psn network. Then if you want to play offline you simply launch the game without logging in. Later if you want to go online simply exit your game (it auto saves your exact progress when you do so you risk nothing) and then log into psn then restart the game. It is really that easy.

[Alex]

Also it was posted elsewhere but you do not need to pull the plug or do anything else that loony. If you don't want to play online all you need to do is go into your ps3 system settings and disable auto log in for the psn network. Then if you want to play offline you simply launch the game without logging in. Later if you want to go online simply exit your game (it auto saves your exact progress when you do so you risk nothing) and then log into psn then restart the game. It is really that easy.
True. But I will not recommend it. You have to play this game online. :) It's so much more thrilling and eerie. Al those bloodstains, messages and souls you'll see. Awesome.