Too many gifters, ruining the low level play

Having started all new characters, I'm running into phantom characters thAt one shot Havel, the black knight, Taurus demon ! Capra demon, and  some Mages who 2 shotted the Gaping Dragon, and Quelaag.  All with a character that was sl6 thru sl13.
So far with this character, I 've been gifted. Demon great axe and the BK great axe (in blighttown ) and in the depths , a fire hand axe (cause he saw I was dual wielding hand axes, when he summoned me).  Funny thing, "my plan" was to go to the catacombs "next" to make a fire or chaos hand axe for my offhand.  
Anyways, besides seeing OP characters, I'm seeing a few beggars looking for OP gifts, early on.  Last one asked for something , I then told him "If you are able" you can go to catacombs and make one.  He BC'd me.

All this gifting makes the early part of the game reedickulously ez.

and then I read the last line in your signature... :-)

Drop the gifted items. There are several accounts now of them glitching characters.

But ya, it's ridiculous.

It's possibly because of the mentality of "I want to make things easier for others in co-op" so they drop OP items for a low SL to "help" the host. I think if anything phantoms should go in with the mentality of "I want to make things more fun for the host in co-op", so they don't completely destroy the challenge of PVE but also introduce how it can be less stressful and more fun when summoning.

I think the other big problem with giftwraiths is the fact that they don't drop items that should be used at that level. Like instead of dropping a +3 longsword for the gargoyles they instead drop a +3 black knight halberd, something that could clear the game even without another upgrade. Doing that ruins the idea of what a host should expect from a giftwraith and what a giftwraith should drop for a host.

I have been given items many times but if I make my original chosen weapon, I box the gift. If I co op, sometimes i'll drop a slab just to say thx for summoning me. I don't give weapons unless I know you. Also, I don't like the ones who summon and ask for stuff, I tell them no and crystal out.

Whether gifts are helpful or harmful depends on the player receiving them.

I can run this game start to finish in a few hours, with no summons.  If my builds allows an attunement of at least 10, I can trivialize NG and almost all of NG+ by slapping on power within before boss fogs.  A lightning weapon +5 and PW will get you through almost everything even on multiple NG, only needing a backup for O&S.  For me, receiving a chaos hand axe +5 or something saves time, but has no real material impact on the difficulty of a regular NG...and there are players out there much better than me.  It would save some time farming if it's something I'd actually use, but that's about it.

However, that's due to experience.  For someone playing through the first time, such gifts cheapen the game for them.  Some players are happy with that (and happy with their PvP being mostly ganking), and the game's gift system makes this practice more accessible to them.  Other players appreciate the challenge, but they wouldn't likely use such gifts.

To me the big issue here is the 3rd party stuff and the impact it has on the game.  It's really grating to see people chugging nigh-impossible amounts of divine blessings or only using crystal +5 weapons because they have no disincentive from it...but this is literally because they're cheating.  I'm not a fan of cheating in any capacity and certainly have no extra respect for people who spread that to others.

My only real complaint, is that some of the drops make the game way too easy.  Of course I used the fire hand axe, upgraded it too.  Was heading to make one anyways.  The others went to the bottomless box, may use the BKGA later, saves farming for it,   Yes?

My observation, was that, this kind of stuff is getting widespread, don't recall seeing so much a few months ago.

I spent a long time farming in the Dukes for a Channelers Trident on my SL1 guy, once I got it (and Plat) I went back to the Burg and Parish and had a bit of fun as a summon (using appropriate gear with an ascended flame and GC for twinks).

This was nearly a year ago and I would get plenty of people asking or gesturing for items.

I'd usually drop them 5 titanite and a Crystal Straight Sword anyway, as the material lets them upgrade what they want and isn't OP, just a time saver, and the Crystal Sword is alright, but will eventually break, plus I had a f**king thousand of them.

If anyone got greedy or childish and BC'd me because I wouldn't drop them more (not common, but not unusual either) I'd just invade until I found them and chain-stab them with my fists, or poison arrow/knife them and Lloyds them until death     

Spoilt brats.

At least they aren't modding.
Either way, I love people who look up walkthroughs and become OP in minutes. They go on to PVP thinking they can do the same thing and we corner them in a dark alley and pull out a gun. We take their credit cards and their clothes and XXXX them in their XXXXX. Then we kick their teeth in and XXX all over their XXXXXXX. Usually if you're like me you leave the carcass for some sick XXXX to come and have his way with it. All this because they thought they could handle the world because their friend decided to show him how to rob from a store instead of getting a job.

You .... Channing all over their Tatum?

I just drop a +4 lightning broken sword.

Out of curiosity, how would you go about one-shotting Havel at such a low level barring Dark Magic and PW?

Parry/Backstab + Hornet Ring + Elemental Weapon.

I actually think Dark Magic would do less damage to him than an elemental weapon due to his high magic defence.

1. Invade as SL 1 in Burg.
2. Drop a Humanity.
3. Backstab low level as they are picking it up
4. OHKO them.
5. They consume Humanity and revive.
6. Invade them again.
7. Go back to Step 2.

I had a host put something on the ground in the forest when I invaded him (I was ~SL 60-70ish at the time).  There is almost no area more dubious to have items on the ground than in the forest, and on top of that the guy was right next to it!  At least it wasn't next to a ledge...

So, like any other veteran darkwraith I just attacked him (making it obvious I would do so; I prefer to fight someone who's trying to fight back, as that differentiates them from NG hollows near firelink), managing to stunlock + kill him pretty close to the item.  Out of curiosity I made an immediate beeline to it and managed to get it.  It was a firekeeper soul.  Pretty useful to most players, but if you're in NG ++ and beyond they're basically a big humanity.  I had mixed feelings about killing him after snagging that, but then what was the purpose of a host leaving that on the ground, other than to pull some shenanigans like you describe :p?  The forest is no place for newcomers in need of firekeeper souls ^_^.

StiffNipples wrote:Parry/Backstab + Hornet Ring + Elemental Weapon.

I actually think Dark Magic would do less damage to him than an elemental weapon due to his high magic defence.

Ah, right. I forget about the HR sometimes because I never use it in PvE.
I wonder if a Chaos Rapier +5 would be able to do it without the HR, though I doubt it given his HP and armour. I know my Chaos Zwei +4 only takes him down about 700 HP on NG.

Two chaos fireballs will take Havel out in NG. Granted, it's not one-shotting him, but it's still impressive for a SL1 guy.

I try not to gift weapons unless they are mediocre weapons. I usually only gift chunks and stuff that I don't use to save the host time farming. Or sometimes I drop duplicate shields and rings I've picked up through NG+'s.

I gifted a guy 15 humanity, 30 repair powders, and a slab.  I forgot I was on a new cycle and was leaving the township open this time.

I gave him the 15 humanity and 30 repair powders (he had a golem axe).  We started from the beginning of the township and this guy hardly needed a flask.  He also got a decent amount of souls from the new cycle. We were standing at the Manus fog gate.

So after I gave him that, he gave me.... the Soul of Manus.  I already had one and didn't need it, but I didn't want to give it back as an insult.  I left him a regular slab.  I only had 6 and wanted to keep it, but I thought it was an appropriate gesture.

The first gift I received in the game was the Slumbering ring; I was at the beginning of Sunlight Altar and had no idea this ring existed.

I had to check the wiki to see where my other characters could pick up this treasure.