1. Rush through Heide's as quickly as possible and cheese Dragonrider by making him fall off.
   
2. Run through to No-Man's Wharf and speedrun the area, or kill everything.
   
3. Make sure to talk to Lucatiel and pick up the Fragrant Branch of Yore from one of the houses.
   
4. Knock down the shortcut and rest at the bonfire.
   
5. Clear all the enemies on the way to the ship.
   
6. Come back and summon Lucatiel for the Flexile Sentry fight.
   
7. Make your way over to Lucatiel in Lost Bastille.
   
8. Open the chest by her to get the Antiquated Key.
   
9. Run all the way back over to where you met Pursuer in the open field.
   
10. Knock the wooden planks off that one wall and unlock the door.
    
11. Kill or run past the enemies you encounter and go through the 2 rooms.
    
12. Ride the cage elevator up to Straid and unpetrify him.

No lockstone is needed to ride the cage to his room anymore and he will only sell the Agape Ring if your SM is 30,000 or higher.

On the bonfire warp menu look at what has an orange border and invade there, if you still aren't getting activity, go to the 'next' area as if you were progressing through the game. It's the same case for blue sentinels, but don't expect to find activity as often as reds. As for where to engage in other PvP activities, these are the most active ranges:


I am still collecting data on the most optimal soul memory range for members of the rat covenant and the best range for invading the abyss.

Stat Calculator[mugenmonkey.com]

After choosing what stats to level it will list your Soul Memory (Minimum: Total Soul Cost). Remember to add the total cost of your upgraded gear or what needs to be purchased, that will be the SM for your character. A few more things to consider is that Ornifex will give you your first boss weapon, absolutely free. It's also worth mentioning that there are some items that require you to spend souls in order to obtain.


The Silvercat Ring is not needed to go into the Gutter if your HP is 1358 or higher. This will allow you to survive the drop. Leveling your VGR to reach that amount of HP is recommended, you can always reallocate those spent stats with a Soul Vessel anyway.

Now is the moment you've all been waiting for, no more grinding off of enemies or fighting in the arena. You must have access to Shulva in order to use this method. DO NOT light any sconces in Aldia's Keep or else this will make the method a lot harder.

1. Progress through the game and make your way to Aldia's Keep.
   
2. Head up the stairs towards the giant basilisk.
   
3. Unpetrify the hollow and kill it, you will get 2 bonfire ascetics.
   
4. Go back to the first bonfire and ascetic it.
   
5. Voila, infinite bonfire ascetics without going to the abyss.
   
6. Head to Shulva and ascetic the Sanctum Walk bonfire.
   
7. Warp to Tower of Prayer.
   
8. Drop down, run over towards the way you would be coming from.
   
9. Grab the 5 Cracked Red Eye Orbs.
   
10. Rinse and repeat.

Keep in mind, in order to use the method you NEED to kill both Elana and the Guardian Dragon. It will not allow you to ascetic either bonfire if the boss is not dead and they do not respawn with each ascetic. You do not need to unpetrify the hollow each time you ascetic.

Q: I unpetrified the hollow, but got wilted dusk herbs and mushrooms!
A: You unpetrified the wrong one, luckily for you there's plenty to spare in the game.

As much as it pains me to say this, there needs to be more blues to counter twinks. I've been sitting at wretch status for the past several days and have only been invaded by an arbiter spirit once. Therefore I will share the method on getting infinite Cracked Blue Eye Orbs. The method behind it isn't as simple as Cracked Red Eye Orbs, but it's still the same in principle.

1. Progress through the game and make your way to Aldia's Keep.
   
2. Head up the stairs towards the giant basilisk.
   
3. Unpetrify the hollow and kill it, you will get 2 bonfire ascetics.
   
4. Go back to the first bonfire and ascetic it.
   
5. Voila, infinite bonfire ascetics without going to the abyss.
   
6. Head to Heide's Tower of Flame and ascetic the first bonfire.
   
7. Run through the area, killing the Old Knights is optional.
   
8. Kill each red phantom you encounter for 3 orbs.
   
9. Enter the Dragonrider fight and cheese him.

It's important not to pull any of the levers or else you will be stuck fighting the Dragonrider forever. You may also get some orbs from the Old Knights if you choose to kill them. If you are struggling against the enemies, summoning friends is always helpful.

Since you will be using the Agape Ring, you won't be using those precious souls to buy from shops. So here are some of the most efficient methods on grinding for consumables. When it comes to grinding on enemies, remember to enter the Company of Champions covenant to keep them from despawning. This chart will list the EARLIEST enemies you can grind for those consumables.


Now there are some consumables and ammunition that require you to use a Bonfire Ascetic to obtain. These are the bonfires you should burn a Bonfire Ascetic in order to continue obtaining them.


Q: Is there a way to repair things?
A: Yes! All you have to do is whip the strange looking tree in Shulva and it will repair all gear.