General Dark Souls

Frigid Outskirts’s boss has been killed. Thank God for the pancake technique for the reindeer.

Base game and Poison DLC are cleared. Tomorrow, Ash and Ice DLC.

@Meanlucario  
Big weapons are always effective.

@Mikey  
Only when I remember to equip the stone ring. Otherwise, they are get pancaked.

And every boss of DS2 has been slain. Thank God, finally.

Trying to get a Flamberge before Rotten Greatwood is a pain.

To quote my comment from another thread.  

 
I managed to get through to farron keep on my first playthrough, only to realize i’d probably gone horribly wrong, build-wise, and started over on a new character.

@The★Rickmeister  
Unless you do PvP, a “bad build” isn’t something to worry about.

@Meanlucario  
I’m never usually interested in PVP in basically any game I play.  
I’ve heard to level vigor first, almost exclusively, to around mid-twenties, before moving onto damage-based stats.  
Is this true?

@The★Rickmeister  
20 vig is a great bemchmark, since enemies do hit hard in this game. I suggest going for vig/end and some vit until at least the first two are at 20, but work on str and dex if you find a weapon/shield you want to use that you lack the stats for.

@Meanlucario  
If it’s armour-wise, I’m looking for something with a decent enough defence/weight/maneuverability ratio.  
As for weapons/shields, I found the Irithyll Straight Sword and Grass and Dragon Crest shields on my previous run.  
Are they any good?

@The★Rickmeister  
You’ll find armor sets very often, so that won’t be an issue.
 
The Grass Crest is better on your back due to the stamina regen, though there are much worst shields to use. The Dragon Crest is the anti-fire shield, though it’s outclassed by the Black Knight Shield. The latter is a drop item, though, so unless you feel like farming black knights, I suggest using what you have.
 
The Irithyll Straight Sword I don’t know much about, other than the frost it does (which is situational) and that it requires twinkling titanite to upgrade.

@Meanlucario  
The infused and reinforced longsword I started with (+1 or +2 , I think), was doing a fair amount of damage by itself, so I rarely switched over.  
I’ve just looked on the wiki, and it turns out it’s apaprently recommended to go through the cathedral after you defeat the crystal sage, and then do Farron Keep, due to an item that lowers poison damage.

@The★Rickmeister  
I rarely bother with that ring myself. Too many goodies in the swamp that makes things easier for me. Poison is inconvenient at worst in 3, so the ring isn’t worth going for just for that. After Sage is an important area, so I tend to go there after getting a key bonfire in the swamp. Also, red NPC invaders don’t appear if you’re offline for some reason. No idea why.

@Meanlucario  
I’m guessing it’s the way they’re set up in-game, mechanically speaking.

@The★Rickmeister  
Why just red and not purple phantoms as well than?

@Meanlucario  
Illusionary wall?

@The★Rickmeister  
I changed the comment during you writing your reply it seems. And no, just a easily overlooked ally with only the Poisonbite ring in it.

@Meanlucario  
I’ll have to look carefully, then, in case I ever want it.

@The★Rickmeister  
It’s by a daddy lizard, if that helps.

@Meanlucario  
I’ll keep that in mind.  
I’ve just about cleared Lothric On my new playthrough, with the only thing remaining being Vordt.  
Also, I found a Ring of Sacrifice.

@The★Rickmeister  
Including recruiting Greyrat?
 
Oh, did you help the Onion with a demon problem in your previous run?

@Meanlucario  
The ring was on a wooden awning above the winged knight circling the fountain.  
And yes, including geyrat.

@The★Rickmeister  
Yep. You can’t repair it, unlike DS2. However, I recommend wearing it if you plan on recovering a large stack of souls, since dying with it on does not create a new bloodstain, meaning if you fail, your souls are still there.