Heroes in Dark Souls are armed with weapons and magic, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Producer/Director, explained as a knight shot a small fireball.

Attack spells are fairly straightforward, so Miyazaki took some time to demonstrate some of the more unusual magic From Software added to Dark Souls. One spell transforms your character’s body from flesh to iron. While this enchantment protects the hero from sword strikes, it also greatly restricts movement. Imagine wearing three lead vests while walking underwater. That’s roughly how the hero moved. Evading attacks was impossible since this spell also canceled the dodge roll. But, who needs to evade attacks when you can resist them in the first place?

Another spell transforms the hero into a tall vase. Similar to Snake from the Metal Gear Series, you can creep through a stage as a background object. This spell isn’t designed to decoy enemies, it’s made to trick invading players. Miyazaki asked the demonstrator to move to a row of jugs and the knight, dressed as vase, fit right in. Stand still you may be able to pull a surprise attack. Well, that’s if the invader doesn’t destroy all of the jars they see in their path. Once you attack the vase shatters, revealing the player.

It appears the team at From Software are implementing new elements, like stealth, to suit different play styles.