On starting a new game, I decided to focus my attention after completing my adventures in the lost bastille by spending alot of time in the belltower covenant. Over two nights of great laughs against people of varying skill level I learned alot and reached rank three of the covenant, giving me the rarely seen (have yet to see another player wearing it) Belltower guardian armour set (I will include a picture at a later stage but i must warn you, its pretty silly).

Now, I am a student at exam time, so this guide will be improved over the next few weeks as i get more free time but if you have any questions or things youd like me to try to explain i will be happy to try. I am by no means an elite member of the souls community and you may disagree with my explanations of the mechanics, but it is just how I understand the way the game works; if you have a better explanation or think im straight up wrong, then please let me know!

Please note, I remained a set soul level of 75 all the way to rank 3 of the covenant (my soul memory wasn't constant, as it increased each time i invaded) doing nearly all invasions in Belfry Luna, aside from a few unexpected invasions in Belfry Sol, caused by the no-man's wharf spot. I found the iron keep spot about level 135 - 150 on a different character, can't really remember exact level though.

Certain locations in the game world seem to have certain "improved" connections to the belltowers.
not only that but some of these better connection rate hotspots seem to subtley shift, almost like the freakin' gulf stream.

I have yet to find a good explanation for why these specific spots give high rates of succesful invasions as grey phantoms, please provide one if you can (succesful means you actually appear in the other players world, it is in no way related to how you fare in combat).

The first area is located near the last bonfire in the lost bastille ( the tower apart)
outside of the tower, just past the rubble blocked path ahead of you, go round to the other side and fight the pyro mummy dude, the area he roams in has a higher success rate than other areas of the lost bastille, i believe this from roaming the bastille many times and quickly getting summoned as soon as i enter that area
*Area has strong connection to Belfry Luna, Belfry Sol summons are uncommon



Second area is in no man's warf: continue until you reach the torch by two shacks, one on left and one on right at bottom of stairs. kill the vangarian and two undead infantry that ambush you and ontop of the roof of the shack on the left, there is an unusually high summons rate i can't explain. You'll know you are in the right place if the roof has a large hole in it. (by this i mean succesive frequent summons)
*Area has an almost equal summon rate of Belfry Luna and Sol, but Sol summons are just slightly more common.


Third area is located in the iron keep and is the most difficult to reach in one piece. From the bonfire after fighting the smelter demon, go along the level until you reach the lava pit and the metal walkway with the two turtle dudes, either kill them or run past them.
Immediately pull the lever and then hurry across to the opposite side of the room and up the ladder. continue to follow this path to the next ladder that brings you to a room with a pharros lock
(here's something you probably didn't know, when you use a pharros lockstone on it, it makes a pool of water, few people realise that what the water does is HEAL YOU)
This area is the beginning of the improved invasion rate area but i alway get the best results by following the steps up from that room to an open tower that has 3 samurai bowmen. kill them anda you'll be able to get summoned indefinitely (at least I was).
*Has Immensley high preference for Belfry Sol, extremely rare for Belfry Luna

And as a bonus, here's what the goofy rank 3 armour set looks like:

Belfry Luna:
The entire design of this tower is small-scale and tight. The stairs act as choke points and ambush positions, while each floor , including the one only accessible through a hole on the first floor provide good room for dodging and traditional combat. I believe that battle in this tower means the cats ring is a must; its ability to protect against fall damage is invaluable to an invader which allows you to preserve health while chasing your opponent or taking shortcuts through the tower, since you cant heal through normal means. try to have some method of ranged combat, even throwing daggers and expect your opponent to run away to heal. if they try to flee by falling through the hole, keep close and do a plunge attack as you land to try to finish them off.
spell users and large slow weapon wielders are most effective on the stairs since there's no room to dodge.
Normal sized weapon wielders should try to fight their opponent(s) on one of the floors instead, if on the stairs, your most effective method of hitting your opponent would be to roll and follow through with an attack, since most weapons use a plunge or area of effect attack.

a seemingly common tactic by players is to hide behind the wooden door at the entrance to the tower and attack you, usually with a spell as you open the door. your best option is to destroy the door rather than open it so they are stuck on a small bridge with no room to dodge left or right. and form of strong ranged combat becomes super useful here, my preference is emit force miracle since it is so large. if they try to get through the door hole, quickly switch out to a weapon again and prepare for an attack.

if you end up fighting a player and a white phantom, who haven't killed any of the npc grey phantom bellkeepers and are still on the bottom floor, stall them until another grey phantom spawns to increase your chance of success.
A seemingly common occurrence is if another grey spirit appears, they will watch you fight from the stairs. if this happens, run back to them and force them to get involved as the player chases after you and subsequently interacts with them; they are on your side, so make them do their part!


Belfry Sol:


Common tips for both towers

Be wary of poison weapons and spells, they are your biggest danger since you can't heal! (although healing miracles still work, but take longer to cast, so ensure the enemy is preoccupied first)

When fighting, have a wolf mentality, almost encircle your foe, in other words, always try to stay just out of range of a melee attack, so if they try to cast a spell or do ranged attack, you can close gap quick enough to damage them. keeping this distance also ensures they have lowest success rate for healing.
A follow up to this is the remarkable usefulness of the backstep which when followed up with an attack is quite good at staggering foes.

never.Never.NEVER forget the awesomeness that is guardbreak, if an opponent blocks with shield while fighting with you, most likey to give him a chance to roll, try attacking him once so he holds up his shield, then do a guardbreak attack ( W + H for keyboard/mouse users) ,which he will hold up his shield for, expecting you to try a combo on him. immediately move in while the animation occurs and attack for a critical. (personal handy tip, i keep a dagger as the next weapon on my quickswap list, which has a higher crit damage rating so its almost always a one hit kill! the old leo ring is a good buff for it as well.)

This is a list of all people who contributed to this guide:

• Phrozen Flash
  
• Ryher