Like any Dark Souls learning curve, I died and died and died in my quest for fight club success, and found the weapon-less, bare-fisted melees to be the most entertaining. Likewise, Dark Souls III has the most populated fight club scene today, but last year's Remastered has breathed new life into the original's frontlines. I learned that fight clubs often litter their battlegrounds with multicoloured Prism Stones – cosmetic items used as in-game markers – and that the likes of Sen's Fortress, Oolacile, Iron Keep and the High Wall Of Lothric are considered hotspots throughout the series. I learned the best and most frequented spots for fight-clubbing, the most appropriate gestures and their pseudo-contextualised meanings, how to host my own set-tos, and how best to learn as an observer.

After the brief and bloody misadventure outlined earlier, I scoured the series' community threads in order to give its fight clubs a proper crack of the Notched Whip. Once you learn the ropes, though, Dark Souls' fight clubs are great fun.

Want to get involved in the action? Here's a Dark Souls 3 location and etiquette guide to get you started.

Dark souls 3 duel arena