Talk:Gwyn, Lord of Cinder/@comment-70.193.210.244-20150113231813/@comment-4511886-20150311170939

It's permanent.

Some people keep him alive for the soul drain (alternatively, they use PvP to "delevel") so they can change their build around. For example, you can level up Vitality and Endurance first, then level specific stats like Intelligence or Strength. When you're done, you can use Allant to revise your build, although you'll need to farm all the souls to get to level up again.