Board Thread:Dark Souls/@comment-4680574-20150304003239/@comment-16047389-20150304152016

I've never upgraded a shield. Most PvP combat comes down to who can use their i-frames better.

Here's my advice to you:

First, figure out if you're gonna scale your weapon damage of your stats, or if you just want a high base damage. For example, if I had upgraded my Uchigatana to Standard +15, it would have 225 base damage with an A rank in Dexterity scaling. However, I instead chose to upgrade it into a Lightning Uchigatana +5, giving it a base damage of 450, (225 slash damage and 225 lightning damage) and no scaling. Had I gone with the former, I would've put about 50 levels into Dexterity alone. Instead, I only put enough points in Dexterity and Strength to wield it (Str 14, Dex 14), which most classes have right off the bat anyway. This allows me to take that extra 50 levels, and split them between Endurance and Vitality. In short, if you want to PvP at low levels, then go with weapon upgrade path that eliminates scaling, and just does high base damage, so you can put the rest of your points into Endurance and Vitality. This allows you to have higher survivability early on without compromising damage output.

Second, figure out what armor and weapon set you want to be using far in advanced. Usually I reserve my first character purely for experimenting with weapons and armor builds, so that I can optimize the character that will actually be using that build. In a game like Dark Souls, you want to make sure that not a single level goes wasted. My Uchigatana user I mentioned earlier will never be using sorceries, so I will never put an extra point of INT or ATN into him. Additionally, knowing your weapons and armor in advanced helps you know how much Equip Load you'll need. My current build has roughly 20 END on him, and can fast roll (or ninja flip, since he has the Dark Wood Grain Ring equipped) without any Equip Load increasing items, such as Mask of the Father, Ring of Favor and Protection, or Havel's Ring. Later, when I decide to level him on to 100-125, I can pick up the other 20 endurance, and then simply focus on Vitality, or switch over to a Standard weapon and start raising STR or DEX again.

Third, prioritize reinforcing your weapons and armor over leveling. Since you're playing Dark Souls and not Dark Souls 2, you won't have to worry about Soul Memory. Having fully upgraded gear gives you a better chance against other players around your level, as well against in game enemies. As an example, I had my Lightning Uchigatana +5 BEFORE fighting Ornstein and Smough. While not that effective against Ornstein, it was able to down Smough in about 7-10 hits.

Finally, never be opposed to the idea of using Pyromancy. Pyromancy has no level requirements, and is purely based on the level of your Pyromancy Flame (which weighs nothing). It can do a lot of damage when used properly, and has a wide range of abilities. And since most classes have at least 1 attunement slot, very minimal leveling of ATN is needed in order to use the more powerful pyromancies.