Traditional No-Hit

Dark Souls Traditional No-Hit Run
A No-Hit run in the Dark Souls series is completing a game from start to finish without taking a hit. The first person to complete the entire Dark Souls trilogy with no hits was The Happy Hob. Traditional no hit runs are available for Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne.

Dark Souls 3 Traditional No-Hit Run
A No-Hit run in Dark Souls 3 is completing the game from start to finish without taking a hit. No-Hit runs in Dark Souls 3 have gone through many changes since the first runs were completed. As time has gone on the community has refined strategies and routing sometimes due to new discoveries and sometimes due to patching. To date, only runners, Squillakilla , FaraazKhan, Imapi , GinoMachino , Vswed_ , and The Happy Hob have completed Dark Souls 3 in its entirety (All Bosses + DLC1 and DLC2) with no hits.

No-Hit Checklist:
Here is a list of items recommended to complete a no-hit run based on Squillakilla's and FaraazKhan's runs for Dark Souls 3:

Rings:
Cloranthy Ring, Flynn's Ring, Pontiff's Right Eye, Covetous Silver Serpent Ring, Carthus Bloodring, Red Tearstone Ring, Lloyd's Sword Ring

Items:
Sellsword Twinblades, Sharp Gem, Farron Coal

Run Categories:
There are several categories of runs based on how much of the game is completed in a given run.

All Bosses + DLC1 and DLC2: All bosses from the main game and all bosses from the Ashes of Ariandel DLC and The Ringed City DLC must be killed. (All Content)

All Bosses + DLC1: All bosses from the main game and all bosses from the Ashes of Ariandel DLC must be killed.

All Bosses : All bosses from the main game must be killed.

Any% : Soul of Cinder has to be killed.



Detailed Rules:
This is not an official document, and any person who would like to start a No Hit Run on Dark Souls 3 IS ALLOWED AND ENCOURAGED TO DEFINE THEIR OWN RULES. The following rules are just the ones adopted by the main runners of the DS3 No Hit Run.

These rules form the "core concept" behind no-hit runs. Some specific run categories make exceptions to some of these rules. The creation of variants and new categories is always encouraged.

Goal : Finishing the game without being hit once.

What is considered a hit?
-If the character does a "Hit Animation" in reaction to either an ally or enemy's action, it is considered a Hit.

-If an enemy (either a boss or a basic monster) hits the character and causes some damage, it is considered a Hit.

-If an enemy (either a boss or a basic monster) hits the character without causing any damage, it is still considered a Hit. (Stagger Hits)

-Being hit by a projectile (arrow, bolt, spell, knife, bomb, ...) is considered a hit.

-If an attack with an AOE hits the character (for example, the explosion produced by Yhorm's stomp), it is considered a Hit.

-If an enemy falls on the character, it is considered a Hit.

-Blocking an attack with a shield is considered a Hit.

-Environmental damage is not considered a Hit (for example : Lava from Smoldering Lake, Poison from Farron keep, etc..) However there are exceptions to this. Attacks from traps for example, are always considered a hit. (i.e Catacombs of Carthus dart traps) There is no consensus for all cases of environmental damage. The fires burning in Farron and Undead Settlement cause damage and a stagger but not all runners consider them to be hits.

-Status Effects (Frostbite, Curse, Bleed, Poison, Toxic), if caused by an enemy, are considered a Hit when the gauge is fully filled.

-Dying because of fall damage is considered a Hit.

-Indirect damage that reduces the Health Bar, such as those caused by the Irythyll dungeon jailers, are considered a Hit. (The number of hits caused by the jailer "drain" attack can be very difficult to determine. Some runners count each "tick" of health lost, while others count the entire drain as one single hit)

-Falling through the floor and any other similar glitches leading to death or a "Hit Animation" are considered a Hit.

What is forbidden?
-No glitches allowed (EXCEPT IF STATED IN THE SECTION "What is allowed")

-Blocking with a shield or parrying with a shield is forbidden. If an attack is blocked with a shield, it is considered a Hit.

-The use of spells (sorceries, miracles and pyromancies) is forbidden. THERE IS NO EXCEPTION. You can't use offensive nor defensive spells (for example, Soul Arrow is forbidden, Magic Weapon is forbidden, Carthus Flame Arc is forbidden, Spook is forbidden, etc...)

-No Bow nor Crossbow allowed. (DS3)

-Quitting out the game through the in-game menu is forbidden, in doing so the run will be invalidated (especially if used in order to escape a bad situation).

-Quitting out the game by directly closing the program is forbidden, in doing so the run will be invalidated (especially if used in order to escape a bad situation).

-Summoning (either a NPC or a player) is forbidden.

What is allowed?
-Jumping on the tree in Firelink Shrine (skip) is allowed.

-Bare hand parries are allowed.

-Shields can be equipped in order to take advantage of their specials effects (for example, the Grass Crest Shield).

-Fall damage is allowed except IF YOU DIE FROM IT. If you die from it, it is considered a hit.

-The use of throwing knives or bombs is allowed.

-Having spells in inventory is allowed, only the use is forbidden. You can equip/unequip, and/or sell them, if you consider that it's worth it.

-Every weapon is allowed. Every armor is allowed. Every ring is allowed.

-Bosses can be killed in the order of your own choice.

-Using the Symbol of Avarice (Mimic Head) to lower your health is allowed.

-Interacting with NPCs is allowed, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T DIE OR GET HIT WHILE DOING IT (example : dying in order to get free levels with Yoel Of Londor is considered a hit, for each death, obviously).

-There is no restriction on Soul Level.

-You can level up any stats you want. No Restriction.

-Rosaria's Rebirth is allowed.

-The use of all Consumables is allowed, there is no limit nor exception (for example : alluring skulls, resins, bundles, homeward bone, ...) EXCEPT IF STATED IN THE SECTION "What is forbidden".

-If the game or the capture crashes, it's not considered an issue for the validity of the run as long as it's not suspicious.