Dark Souls 101

Stats are largely irrelevant except for Endurance, Dexterity and anything that scales the damage the player would like to inflict. Over the long run, it's generally best to boost all stats to a minimum of 30 for utility purposes, but certain stats like Endurance and Dexterity or Faith should be boosted first for certain purposes.

Endurance increases equip load and stamina which allows for heavier item loads while still having access to fast roll dodging and general action availability.

Dexterity increases the players action readiness by providing a marginal boost to spell cast times, attack swings, dodge rolls, flask chugs and rate of fire, as well as, scaling damage.

Faith of 25 is required to join the Warriors of Sunlight covenant, the stat requirement lowers by 5 points for each boss the player is summoned in to defeat but the faulty match-making mechanics can make jolly co-op difficult.

Personally, I enjoy starting as either Deprived or Pyromancer, currently I'm doing a Cleric run for early access into the Sun Bro's covenant. Any starting class is good, for a Gift, either the Master Key or the Old Witches Ring are typically the best. The Black Firebombs can be taken to beat the first boss as well but it's kind of a waste.

Irregardless of the class, do yourself a favor and unequip all armor except for the pants and gloves since they are the lightest usually for access to fast rolls. All the damage the player takes is massive irregardless so it's best to just be able to avoid any and all damage with fast rolling.

The only thing to know about weaponry and armor is that as long as the scaling and damage / damage reduction to weight ratio is decent than there is no such thing as "best equipment" in these games. Any equipment that is fully upgraded with the proper stat scaling is good, some are better than others, but it really doesn't make a difference. Personally, I prefer swords and the light armor, however many enemies are weak to Strike and Thrust damage so a variety of weapon options can be good. The only thing that matters when it comes to weapons is attack speed, swords swing the fastest, axes swing slower and maces swing the slowest, there are variations on these but everything is all about attack timing and effective weapon range. The longer the weapon the better, this is why the Longsword, Claymore and Halberd are all top tier in the bladed weapon categories because they have the best damage to weight to range ratio of all the weapons, the ultra greatswords and other ultra weapons are of their own class because they are the slowest and heaviest of all these builds and more for advanced players.

Players start off in the Asylum which is all scripted corridors with the boss demon in the middle blocking the exit for anyone that doesn't know, open the church doors and just run forward and to the left through the gate into the next section. Continue to the fog gate for access to a platform suggesting a drop attack tutorial, hit the demon with the drop attack and then just roll around to it's backside and watch the animations, run in hit it when it's caught in an animation, roll out, rinse and repeat.

Exit the church and head up the cliff to be carried off by the Giant Raven to the Undead Parish.

From the Undead Parish there are three paths available, two of which are mostly blocked but can be opened, however these are advanced routes for players with immediate goals in mind.

If the player took the Master Key, they can head down into the New Londo Ruins and open the gate into the Valley of Drakes and the exit path to the Swamp place whose name I've forgotten. The Astora Straight Sword can be picked up in the Valley of the Drakes and if the player would like to experience more pain they can run through to the elevator at the back of the valley into Dark Root Basin to pick up the Grass Crest Shield. These two items are top tier and this is generally the best starting equipment run for players that want to get the good gear right from the start which can be carried through to Anor Londo and beyond.

If the player wants to attain the Rite of Kindling and experience real hell, they can just run past all the skeletons in the graveyard behind the church and head straight down into the Catacombs, at the bottom of the Catacombs is Pinwheel a "boss" that is more of a mini-boss, easily beaten at a later level but can be difficult from the very beginning of the game. This is for very advanced players that want to kindle bonfires to the maximum for +20 Estus Charges from the start of the game.

However, the best time to complete the Catacombs and defeat Pinwheel is really before defeating the Capra Demon in Undead Burg for the sake of Reah and Patches storyline.

The suggested and sane path is into the upper portion of Undead Burg, hack, slash, bash and thrash through the enemies near the aqueduct and around the town and ramparts until you've made it to the Taurus Demon. For anyone that doesn't know, at the top of the tower area is a Taurus Demon, enter the fog gate, turn to the right and climb the hidden ladder to kill the two undead soldiers at the top, climb back down and run across the wall and a big demon will pop out, turn around climb the ladder again and the demon will chase after, turn around at the top and use the drop attack like in the previous boss fight. Roll past the demon, run down the wall, turn around and get the monster to chase, the idea is to create a gap to bait out it's jump attack which is easily dodged to run back to the ladder and maintain the gap which gives the player time to climb without getting hit for another jump attack. Rinse and repeat these tactics 3-4 times to kill the demon and progress.

Make sure to talk to Knight Solaire and equip the White Soapstone for Jolly co-op, walk down the bridge and start sprinting with a sense of urgency once you hear flapping, make for the stairs in the middle as fast as possible and try not to get roasted alive. Kick the ladder down to access the shortcut into the next section.

Congrats, the first early game farming loop has been completed.