Board Thread:Dark Souls/@comment-17834624-20140814132507/@comment-24912592-20140816050731

The Greatshield of Artorias is acquired by upgrading a +10 (great)shield with the Soul of Sif at the Giant Blacksmith. Non-DLC. d(^^)

I was not a tanky build, neither. A tank wears heavy armor to tank a blow or two while attacking. Wearing a greatshield makes you more of a hit'n'run-character, as you attack while the enemy is recovering and deflect the attacks afterwards. If anything gets through the shield, you're dead. That was my concept.

Yes, no offense, but selling the Havel ring to Frampt was really, REALLY bad. How in the world could you think that a ring which makes you lighter isn't suited for a non-tank build? =/  What about the FaP ring? And you can also get a Mask of the Father, though the effect is rather small. Plus, the Tower Shield is rather light for a greatshield.

Yup, killing merchants is a bad idea. There are still firebombs... Not optimal, though. Dude, be careful next time! xD

Against the Four Kings, it doesn't matter what you want to be. Put on Havel, Giant, Stone, whatever heavy, and beat the soul out of them. Perhaps the best advice I can give you, is the following:

Souls-games are about adaptation, exploiting. They give you some freedom in your character choice, but every boss and region will demand different skills from you. Trying to be stubborn (don't mean you personally) just doesn't work in a Souls-game! If you are experiencing troubles, change your strategy. Adapt. Exploit. And defeat.

I stated that a few times in different places, I'll gladly repeat it: the most bloodstains I see show the exact same things: some person two-handing some weapon, trying to roll from an attck, only to be killed right after coming out of the roll. You're not superman in this game, at least not in the beginning. Do what is nessessary to survive, and be patient! That's what Dark Souls is about!