I have been playing the game for a week or so, and really enjoy it. It caught me within the first few minutes and it's really hard to put down. So far I've made it to Anor Londo (With a few resets here there when i wasn't happy with my build) I've gotten a nice feel for combat, and tactics, but there are still a few things in the game that confuse me, and i'd like a little help.
1st on the list, Poise, how important is this? I find myself mostly dodging and blocking with my shield, waiting for openings or going for the parry and riposte kills, or backstabs when I have the chance. Normally the only armor set I have used through the game was the starter set, upgraded here and there - normally to +5-6. I really like the lower weight armor sets for the mobility, but find myself stun-locked into oblivion occasionally by certain mobs. Normally I keep my stamina at the base value until I am happy with my Dex/Int, would it be good to increase this to 20 or so earlier on? Also is there a decent low weight armor with a good-to-decent poise rating on it?
2. Weapons, I was a little confused about this at first on how upgrade paths worked, and what upgrade paths would work for me. Build wise I like to go Dex/Int for Bow use and the weapons like Spears/Katanas, and I'd find myself upgrading my weapons down the magic/enchanted paths for more damage. I rarely used the Lightning/Fire upgrades due to their non-scaling with stats. Was this smart? I sometimes find myself lacking in the damage department when fighting certain monsters, should I carry around a different weapon with Lightning/Fire damage for those monsters as a back up?
Also, for weapons, is it better to have a weapon that uses constant damage types, I.E. Slash all the time, or a weapon that can use both Slash and Thrust?
What weapons are good? I find myself lugging the claymore around most of the time. Loving it's power, but hating it's speed.
3. Definitely shields. I am confused as to what I am looking for in shields. For most of the game I have been using 1 shield, the Heater shield, with it's low weight (2 pounds) Fast parry speed, and 100% Damage reduction and Ok stability I haven't had a reason to switch from this shield through the entire parts of the game I've played through. My only wonder is what are the important stats on shields? I have been looking for 100% damage reduction and low weight. Would Grass Crests shields Stamina regen bonus + 95% Damage reduction make it a good shield? Are great shields worth it at all? I'm not a huge fan of shield-bashing, and really enjoy the parry-riposte style of play.
I really apologize for all of my questions, a lot of them might be stupid. The wiki hasn't helped me so much on these questions, and I'd just like a little help. Thanks everyone.