Trying to get into PvP, need some advice

Hi everybody, after beating the game once (and playing it halfway on a bunch of different builds) I decided to try and give PvP a shot. I've already created a character for that purpose (going for a dex/pyro route, that's what I used on my "main" and enjoyed a lot), however, I've still got some questions right now.

Firstly, what would be a good SL (and place) to get into some "serious" PvP of practice? I'm currently on 15 (since I spent some time farming and upgrading stuff to be able to progress through the story more quickly) and about to kill the gargoyles, so I have access to pretty much all of the starting area up to Sen's.
I suppose the forest might be a decent way although I'm afraid that by joining the covenant I'd propably be matched against people of a much higher SL (and with better gear), so I would need to level up some before doing that. Any other ideas/tips where I can start a PvP "career"?

Also, after getting some practice, which covenant would you recommend? I guess this is a question of taste, I'd just like to hear some experiences which would get me some reliable and fun fights. Right now, I'm sort of looking towards becoming a darkwraith, since the others all seem a little dependant on luck whether I'll get into a fight at all.

Since you'll propably be interested, I would generally prefer duels, although I wouldn't mind going for an all-out "kill the host no matter what happens"-invasion occasionally.

Also, if you have some general tips for a PvP-newbie, I'd greatly appreciate any help.
Thanks in advance

1. It depends on what you plan to do. 100-120 seems to be the agreed upon level however, if you want to join user covenants then you might want to keep it at 60-80 level range! The burg is a popular place for 1v1 matches, but no guarntees of what fights you will get there (average ought to 100-120).

2. If you want to go for an all out kill all try to invade outside the burg. I as a host often wait for people to bow, but if you make it clear you are going for an all out war bring it on! (Though I probaly won't heal unless you try to chainstab me or gank me). Covenant wise it really depends. Forest hunters and dark wraiths are the fastest, but darkmoons have the slowest (yet we get some sick stuff to make up for it).

Hey man, welcome to the forums. Getting into PVP can hav a rough learning curve, if you thought PvE was challenging prepare to think the game is broken lol. Starting as a forest hunter and just messing around, you're right everyone will be MUCH higher level, can be good just to try it out. Expect to lose pretty much everytime though, and don't worry too much about loses.


Did you say you are level 15? That is really low for pvp, most people pvp around 80-120. The thing is pretty much everyone has maxed out gear, so i would pick the weapon you want to use and focus on upgrading it. Same with armor. If you can, post your build using this build creator. http://mugenmonkey.com it will help for us to see your stats, and maybe post what weapons you have access to and what upgrade path they are.

I tend to just go with whatever weapon and armor combo looks cool at the moment, so I won't be helpful with build advice. The best thing I can think of to say is go into it with a thick skin. Know that you'll not only get killed a lot, but after they kill you many players will taunt you. Just know that it's not always because they're a jerk, it's sometimes because they want us to indict them so they can 'rank up' on the sin list.

This may not be a big deal to you -- hopefully it isn't -- but for some people it can be.

I'd recommend Dark Wraith. Save up enough humanities or farm them to get the Red Eye Orb. Once you get that, the only thing you lose when you invade is your time. If you die, you go back to your bonfire, and your souls are wherever you used your Red Eye Orb (normally, right beside the bonfire). You can invade all over the place.

High traffic areas are: the Forest, the Kiln, the Burg. Forest especially is a crazy FFA. If you want practice, HOST in the the forest (if you can spare the humanity). Same with the Kiln, and be ready for anything.

For a dark wraith, push your SL up to around 70 to invade in the lord areas (anything after Anor Londo; archives, new londo, etc). Should give you plenty of practice.

Your build depends on what level you want to be. If you want to invade lord areas, be a lvl 70 dark wraith. Forest is full of gankers, but you can be any level. Hosting is better there, same with the Kiln.

Thanks to all of you.
As for my build: this is what I'm planning to go for right now, at least weapon- and statwise. I like the combination of range, speed and bleed the uchi provides. As for my shield, I don't intend to be blocking a lot, so I figured I might as well pick up the extra stamina regen from GCS. The short bow will mainly be a backup weapon for when I need to be fighting from a distance. I prefer the short bow because of the additional speed. I'm just not sure about the rest of my equipment right now. Part of me wants to go for some poise (I suppose 53 would be the most realistic breakpoint to go for, although that would propably require the wolf ring since I don't want to give up fast roll) because I still have some weight left. In that case, I'd replace DWGR with the wolf ring and then get some more poise from a couple different pieces. Weaponwise, I currently have and use the uchi(+10), and as I said, I like the versatility it provides so I would like to use it for PvP once I'm on a higher level.

For now, I guess I'll just go make some story progress since clearly, hanging around on 15 isn't going to get me much further.

You seem to be on the right track, you are more aware of things then i expected for only being your second playthrough. This is how i would change it, in order to have 53+poise http://tinyurl.com/8esmhln . It will prepare you for the patch when you wont be able to use DWGR unless you have 25% equip or under.

Ok you should probably not use firewhip, it is one of the worst pyros for PVP. It isn't impossible to use, but great chaos FB is by far one of the best. Practice manually aiming them to hit opponents,aiming them at your feet often catches opponents in the lava.

As for areas/covenants, maybe just try hosting/summoning invaders in the burg/moonlight butterfly garden/Anor Londo/or the Kiln. Good luck, i think you will do fine. Are you on ps3? I'm on a break until DLC, but i will be playing a lot again once it comes out later this month.