Dark Souls III Randomizer Setup Guide

First, download the client from the link above (DS3.Archipelago.*.zip). It doesn't need to go into any particular directory; it'll automatically locate Dark Souls III in your Steam installation folder.

Version 3.0.0 of the randomizer only supports the latest version of Dark Souls III, 1.15.2. This is the latest version, so you don't need to do any downpatching! However, if you've already downpatched your game to use an older version of the randomizer, you'll need to reinstall the latest version before using this version. You should also delete the dinput8.dll file if you still have one from an older randomizer version.

One-Time Setup

Before you first connect to a multiworld, you need to generate the local data files for your world's randomized item and (optionally) enemy locations. You only need to do this once per multiworld.

Before you first connect to a multiworld, run randomizer\DS3Randomizer.exe.
Put in your MultiworldGG room address (usually something like multiworld.gg:12345), your player name (also known as your "slot name"), and your password if you have one.
Click "Load" and wait a minute or two.

Running and Connecting the Game

To run Dark Souls III in Archipelago mode:

Start Steam. Do not run Steam in offline mode. Running Steam in offline mode will make certain scripted invaders fail to spawn.
To prevent you from getting penalized, make sure to set Dark Souls III to offline mode in the game options.
Run launchmod_darksouls3.bat. This will start Dark Souls III as well as a command prompt that you can use to interact with the MultiworldGG server.
Start playing as normal. An "Archipelago connected" message will appear onscreen once you have control of your character and the connection is established.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I get a config file?

The Player Options page on the website allows you to configure your personal options and export them into a config file. The AP client archive also includes an options template.

Does this work with Proton?

The Dark Souls III Archipelago randomizer supports running on Linux under Proton. There are a few things to keep in mind:

Because DS3Randomizer.exe relies on the .NET runtime, you'll need to install the .NET Runtime under plain WINE, then run DS3Randomizer.exe under plain WINE as well. It won't work as a Proton app!
To run the game itself, just run launchmod_darksouls3.bat under Proton.

Troubleshooting

Enemy randomizer issues

The DS3 Archipelago randomizer uses thefifthmatt's DS3 enemy randomizer, essentially unchanged. Unfortunately, this randomizer has a few known issues, including enemy AI not working, enemies spawning in places they can't be killed, and, in a few rare cases, enemies spawning in ways that crash the game when they load. These bugs should be reported upstream, but unfortunately the MultiworldGG devs can't help much with them.

Because in rare cases the enemy randomizer can cause seeds to be impossible to complete, we recommend disabling it for large async multiworlds for safety purposes.

`launchmod_darksouls3.bat` isn't working

Sometimes launchmod_darksouls3.bat will briefly flash a terminal on your screen and then terminate without actually starting the game. This is usually caused by some issue communicating with Steam either to find DarkSoulsIII.exe or to launch it properly. If this is happening to you, make sure:

You have DS3 1.15.2 installed. This is the latest patch as of January 2025. (Note that older versions of Archipelago required an older patch, but that will not work with the current version.)
You own the DS3 DLC if your randomizer config has DLC enabled. (It's possible, but unconfirmed, that you need the DLC even when it's disabled in your config).
Steam is not running in administrator mode. To fix this, right-click steam.exe (by default this is in C:\Program Files\Steam), select "Properties", open the "Compatiblity" tab, and uncheck "Run this program as an administrator".
There is no dinput8.dll file in your DS3 game directory. This is the old way of installing mods, and it can interfere with the new ModEngine2 workflow.

If you've checked all of these, you can also try:

Running launchmod_darksouls3.bat as an administrator.
Reinstalling DS3 or even reinstalling Steam itself.
Making sure DS3 is installed on the same drive as Steam and as the randomizer. (A number of users are able to run these on different drives, but this has helped some users.)

If none of this works, unfortunately there's not much we can do. We use ModEngine2 to launch DS3 with the Archipelago mod enabled, but unfortunately it's no longer maintained and its successor, ModEngine3, isn't usable yet.

`DS3Randomizer.exe` isn't working

This is almost always caused by using a version of the randomizer client that's not compatible with the version used to generate the multiworld. If you're generating your multiworld on multiworld.gg, you must use the latest Dark Souls III AP Client. If you want to use a different client version, you must generate the multiworld locally using the apworld bundled with the client.