Backstabs do not work just fine. The mechanic is broken AF. It's more about fighting the glitch than fighting PVP. Most players exploiting it are trash. Bleed and poise are not exploits. Like it or not, they're intended mechanics of the game. Call me salty, but Dark Souls PVP is a lot more fun when people lay off exploiting glitches and just dual. The hit-confirmation for backstabs is indeed one of the few things that I think have helped improved PvP in Dark Souls 2. I really find it sad and pathetic that so many people here are nostalgic for the days of magnetic snap-on-stab backstabs. The problem is not the hit confirmation. 1 Avoid PVP Until You're More Confident. Dark Souls’ primary campaign is singleplayer, but it’s also – technically – always a multiplayer, online experience. At practically any point in the game, another player can invade your campaign and trigger a PVP (Player Vs Player) battle. For Dark Souls on the Xbox 360, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "How do you counter lag backstabs?". For Dark Souls on the PlayStation 3, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "How would you fix backstabs?" - Page 3. For Dark Souls on the PlayStation 3, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "How to counter laggy backstabs?" - Page 3. The best players will abuse the strongest stuff mercilessly and everyone knows it. You're playing the same game as everyone else. You can do everything that others can. Backstabs are a great mechanic in a competitive sense. If you look at it like a fighting game, it's a move that allows you to punish mistakes consistently. Theres really not much you can do vs someone who lags so bad they are teleporting all over the place. The best thing to do is just block them This is not true, as people have pointed out. Although, if you are immune to improving like our friend heca here, blocking everybody better than you may be the way to go. Dark souls isn't a fighting game. And I'm not talking exclusively about bugs. I'm talking about the shit backstab mechanic, which is instant and has no startup animation at all (i.e., telegraphing, which is what DS is all about.), and the requirement to abuse a bug to combat how incredibly easy it is to abuse that shit mechanic. For Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition on the PC, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "PvP backstabs". 8Jbc.