The purpose of this guide is to:
1) Teach gameplay basics
2) Teach tactics that you will make common use out of
3) Lead you through the early game with a very beginner friendly build and have you put the tactics I teach you to good use

This is not a full and detailed walkthrough, and after boss 7 you're on your own. Make a new character and forge ahead with your own style, or keep on using the character I've shown you how to make, your call.

This guide is intentionally vague so as to avoid spoilers.

Here are a few gameplay basics you need to know that aren't adequately explained:

1) Invincibility Frames - You get these on rolls and certain other actions like stepping off a ladder. This is a very important concept as you will often avoid damage by rolling right through enemy attacks and relying on your brief moment of invincibility to see you through safely. This should be done when blocking is too risky such as if the enemy can hit through your block, when their attacks drain too much stamina, or when more enemies are approaching and you need to quickly dispatch your current foe by rolling behind and killing them. BEWARE, you get reduced i-frames on fat-rolling. Fat-rolling occurs when your equipment is heavy compared to your maximum carry weight. You can increase your carry weight with vit, allowing you to keep the high dodge i-frames even with heavy armour but armour doesnt offer much protection so vit is just a fashion stat. So if you are fat rolling then wear lighter equipment or take off some of your clothes

2) Blocking - With the correct shield you can negate all physical damage, and most magic damage. Blocking attacks depletes your stamina, often more than dodging but is reliable and requires little skill. The stamina lost depends on your shield's stability, with higher stability resulting in lower stamina loss. Stability tends to increase when you upgrade your shield. Some enemy attacks cannot be blocked, or drain vast amounts of stamina to block so should be dodged instead. You will be surprised just what you can block, there are many attacks that look unblockable but which can quite easily be blocked.

3) Weapon damage - the damage of a weapon usually scales with attributes. For instance, a rapier is a dexterity weapon so raising dexterity increases the damage of the weapon, whereas a mace is a strength weapon. There are special weapons with faith scaling, or intelligence scaling, and these can be added to weapons that dont have these scaling via infusions. However, scaling only gets good when your respective stat is very high, and this means spending level ups on damage stats rather than defensive ones. Because of this, str and dex are end-game stats, and int/fai should be levelled onl if you are going for a magic focused build which is frankly a more advanced style for experienced players, though potentially very powerful

There are weapon types that remove all scaling and give the weapon a high amount of power. They aren't as strong as a scaling weapon with high stats in its scaling attribute, but they are nearly as good and dont require a specific stat investment. Because of this, they are far superior to scaling weapons until you get to the very late game or new game+. You can get raw or fire weapons very quickly and invest all level ups in defenses to be uber, which is what we will be doing

4) Poise - a stat that prevents staggering when taking a hit. This is very unreliable for players but some NPC enemies have this stat. You can break poise with heavier weapons, but run the risk of being staggered by enemies with faster weapons. You can consider carrying a heavy weapon as a sidearm to stagger high poise enemies but you're better off just shield poking them to death instead

5) Shield-poking - The ultimate cheese move. You will be doing this a lot. Some weapons can attack while your shield is still up, such as the spear and rapier. With enough endurance and a high stability shield you can attack while being effectively invincible

These are the basic tactics we will be using:

1) Baiting - the idea is to backpeddle while an enemy closes, and when they are fairly close but not about to attack yet immediately take a step forward and attack. You will almost always take them by surprise as they begin an attack animation. This is also an extremely effective strategy in pvp as 90% of players fall for it, but beware using it against players as they likely will only fall for it a couple of times. Use this tactic when you are being rushed by too many enemies to defend against and need to eliminate some of them quickly through aggression

2) Pulling - you will be picking up a light crossbow fairly early. This will allow you to pick off ranged enemies who you cant reach, soften up tough enemies when you can keep them at a distance, but more importantly it allows you to aggro a single enemy. The idea is when you see a group of enemies, shoot one then back off and lure it away from the group to kill it safely. This can be done with any ranged weapon but the light crossbow requires no real stat investment and can be used along with a shield (somehow)

3) Shield-poking - as mentioned, you can kill enemies safely by poking at them with your shield raised, if you use a rapier or spear

4) Stunlocking - enemies with low poise stagger when hit, so you can bait then stunlock an enemy to death safely. Effective when you need to be aggressive or risk being overwhelmed my multiple foes

5) Berserking - Sometimes things just go fubar. The floor broke, or some enemies dropped down behind you and now you're surrounded. If you cant see an opportunity to get away and defend yourself, then 2H your weapon and start R1 mashing at the enemies. Even if you cant kill them all before your health gets low, if you can get rid of some of them you can switch back to more cautious tactics to finish the rest without being overwhelmed

6) Backstabbing - Somewhat unreliable, it seems very arbitrary as to when it activates, and against high poise enemies you might be hit if you only end up doing a normal attack. When it works you do a ton of damage and the enemy falls over, allowing you to hit them more as they get up. Be careful and try to judge whether you can be punished for attempting this

7) Parrying - also very unreliable. Sometimes you do the animation and get hit for reduced damage but you don't stagger either and your character acts as if they werent hit. It allows you to perform a 'riposte' which is like a backstab but from the front. Maybe give it some tries and see if it clicks with you. Executed by pressing L2 while using a shield that can parry

8) Kicking - staggers enemies who are blocking, allowing you to riposte them. Risky because they might attack while you are attempting it, or your character might just do a normal attack, I struggle to pull this move off reliably. If your opponent is blocking it's easier to hit them with a normal attack, and then do a shield poker because they tend to take a swing immediately after you hit their shield

I recommend you pick a knight as your starting class. This class has decent starting vig/end, and some good str/dex so you wont need to raise them as much to equip whatever you need. Pick the fire gem as your starting gift, you will be needing it

You're going to be pumping all your level ups into vigor and endurance. This will give you a ton of HP so if you mess up and get hit you probably wont die, and the endurance will make it much easier to block, dodge and attack a lot without your stamina getting too low. You only need enough str and dex to equip whatever weapon/shield you want to equip

Str is also required for better shields but just raise it whenever you get a 100% physical block shield with higher stability than your current shield

Vit allows you to equip heavy armour and still be able to fast roll, but armour is a luxury that offers little damage protection, and something people worry about in the end-game, so leave vit alone and stay light enough to fast roll even if it means wearing rags

The following build can easily complete the game:

Vig: 50+ (insane HP)
End: 40 (tons of stamina for blocking)
Str: As much as 40 for the best shield, 12 initially
Dex: Whatever you need to equip your weapons of choice
Vit: base, this stat exists for fashion, and to a lesser extent defense
Int: base, increases magic damage but doesnt get good til late game
Fai: base, same deal as with int

Fire Longsword, spear or rapier +1-10 will do above average damage throughout the game
Kite shield initially, as far as shield of glory/havel shield in the late game will offer strong protection against physical/magical respectively. Spear/rapier can shield poke, but the longsword sweeping attacks can hit multiple foes. I recommend a fire longsword and a raw rapier/spear

Alongside the skills and techniques you will learn, this build is the strongest and most beginner friendly for the early game, and a first time player

Move through the starting area and practice the controls on the enemies. You can kill the mini boss down the river, just back away and watch it til you know its moves. Only it's combo which starts with a bite cant be blocked at this point so punish everything else

The first boss is a bit hard to block at this point. Back off and watch it til you know it's attacks and windup cues. While backing away let it finish a combo then move in to punish it with a quick slash. As with many bosses it gets new moves halfway through. Keep backing away and watching to learn it's new moves. Now might be a good time to practice dodging invincibility frames (I-frames). Just keep letting it finish a combo, or staying at a range and avoiding the rushing attacks and punish with a quick slash after

This is a strategy you will be using against a lot of bosses. Always remember to take the time to learn your opponents moves by playing defensively before you commit to the offensive, know what moves you can punish and what you cant, dont get too greedy by trying to hit a lot of times, and be aware of i-frames and that you can usually block most attacks

In the shrine you can allocate all your estus to gold at the blacksmith, and upgrade your longsword to fire. Come back regularly to upgrade it with titanite shards

Put the rest of your souls into levelling up with the lady, I recommend 20 vig, 20 end, 30 vig, 30 end, then 40 end. You should raise str for new shields as well. 18 str is good for the side area after boss 7 as you can get a very good medium shield, but after getting 30 vig/eng I'd go for 40 str before 40 end to enable you to wield the best shields in the game. The HP will help you stay alive and the stamina will help you block/dodge and therefore stay alive. Strong shields also cause you to lose less stamina when dodging. This will enable you to survive and observe enemy attacks patterns before you commit to dodging

You might want to try the swordsmen outside as well but be careful, he is hard to block right now

Take the next area slow and practice shield poking

Run past the fire enemy, it wont follow you

There is a cell key in the area, and you should unlock the hidden cell. The guy you free will appear in firelink shrine and you need to buy a crossbow and some bolts from him, and the shield if it is an upgrade

The rapier can be found near the fat knight

You can unlock a shortcut elevator near the end

For the boss fight, do the same as before and bait it's attacks, then punish when you know what its moves are and know when it is exposed. It will get new moves halfway through the fight, try to work out which moves you must dodge and which you cannot. Only heal when you see it miss and you know it wont move forward with a combo

This is an easy fight and a good chance to learn more about observing boss movements, and working out when you can block, when you must dodge, and when you can attack safely.

When it is dead, return to firelink immediately to level up and improve your weapon. You never want to delay this because otherwise you risk blundering into your death and losing your souls. Dying isnt scary if you have nothing to lose

This is another easy area, but the enemy will often try to mob and ambush you. Be prepared to bait attack and attack aggressively to try and clear out some enemies so you dont get overwhelmed. Don't be afraid to run away and wait til the enemy stop following you.

This is an interesting boss. You can actually block it, surprisingly, but you will be mobbed if you dally. Kill the extra enemies if you must but try to avoid them and focus on attacking the boss instead. It's hard to learn its moves while you're trying to avoid the extra enemies but do your best to learn. As usual things change in the second half, just play it safe, bait attacks, learn the moves and counter when you know it is safe

This is where things get a bit complicated. The world branches out a bit here. The environment is a bit odd, take note that its harder to dodge in the water.

You can kill the crabs but honestly they're a nuisance. Remember that you don't always need to kill every enemy, avoiding them is a valid choice as well

You are probably going to get stomped by 2 guys partway through this area. This is known as 'ganking'

You can still beat them by shield poking and being careful, but for now go a different way to find the boss of this area

Now this is the first boss you have encountered that makes heavy use of magic. If you play too defensively you will be bombarded from all sides and killed. However, since I told you to spam vig/end you should have a ton of HP and stamina by now so dodge as best you can, make use of cover, try to shoot the clones with your crossbow, and really lay into the boss when you can reach it.

Sometimes the key to victory is overwhelming aggression, and this is a fight where being too careful gets you overwhelmed. The enemy is weak when you get close, and some other enemies/bosses are as well so watch out for this in future as well

Also consider checkingwhat equipment/shields you have got. Do any of them have magic resistance? It's a good idea to switch to whatever lightweight magic resistance rings/armour/shields you have available, and when you see bosses using a specific element/status effect then prepare to defend against it in subsequent attempts. There are some consumeable items that also boost defenses against elements/status so look out for these as well! This is a very important and useful aspect of the game to know!

So you've made it this far? You're doing so well!

The next area should be a graveyard leading up to a cathedral. If you're in a poison swamp then go back you've gone the wrong way

This is an example where the area is harder than the boss. Proceed with caution, watch out for environmental hazards

Remember when I said sometimes enemies have attacks which it appears you cant block from the look of them? Remember this inside the cathedral, you can block everything. However, some attacks will deplete your stamina severely. Try to get behind or under certain enemies to attack safely but beware as some have attacks that hit under or behind them. Sometimes it's safe to bait out an attack from the front, get under or behind an enemy and take ONE attack, then back off and do it all over again

This is another boss that requires aggression. Try to manage extra enemies so as to not be overwhelmed, keep steady pressure on the boss and now when to push aggressively and when to back off before you get cornered. It's a balancing act and this fight will test your judgement

Ok back to the swamp now. You need to put out the 3 flames to unlock the next area that leads to boss 7, but you can do the hidden boss, boss 6 whenever you find the ladder. While you are here watch out for the black knight, his speed is insane, his attacks do crazy HP/stamina damage, he has almost no attack windup and his movements are janky and physics defying, making it hard to dodge effectively. There are also horrible giant birds that are dangerous at this point if you dont have magic. In short, avoid them both. You don't have to fight everything you see, and you can get revenge later

Climb up a ladder in the swamp and take the elevator up to reach this side-boss. It's much easier than the other bosses and the only thing you need to know is that it has an unblockable grab attack thats fast but not too damaging, be sure to watch for it and try to dodge. Also try strafing towards the direction it swings from as it will often whiff over your head saving you stamina. I won't give you more specific advice because you should already know what you're doing by now, put everything I taught you to use and take it down!

Be sure to find all 3 of the candles and put them out to unlock the door to the final area of this guide

Note: This boss won't get a healthbar with it's name pop up on the screen when you approach and unlike other bosses you can flee at any time. It is a recycled boss from Dark Souls 1 with additional moves and a more aggressive combat style, and it gives you a boss soul upon defeating it

There is a bonfire right before this boss, and you can avoid fighting the horrible super poise janky movement black knights by just running down the side of the map

This fight is miles ahead of everything you've fought so far, and if you can beat this one you can beat the game. It's also significant because it tests everything I've taught you up until now:

1) Managing extra enemies to avoid being overwhelmed
2) Balancing caution with aggression
3) Knowing when to dodge and when to block
4) Observing the enemy til you know how they move
5) Baiting out attacks that can easily be punished
6) Defending against a specific element that is frequently used

As usual there are 2 phases:

Phase 1 (gank phase):

You will be rushed by multiple enemies. The have attack you can punish with shield poking, but they also have comboes that are hard to block. Take the time to observe, be ready to unlock and sprint away when you get multiple enemies pursuing you. You will likely notice they fight each other sometimes, so only fight when you can get a 1v1 and be ready to gank the boss whenever he is fighting someone else. Be very aware of your surroundings as a new enemy could come at you from behind at any time

Phase 2 (boss phase):

And now the real fight begins. Bait those attacks and observe. Learn when you can punish and when you cannot. This thing is hard to dodge because of the lingering fire hitboxes so always dodge away and bait out punishable attacks. You will probably die, be ready to change gear to defend against it's element. By now your HP and stamina are high so you should be able to last a long time if you are careful and learn a lot about this enemy

Don't expect to take it down in a few tries, this boss is a true skill test and you really need to have learned important tactics from previous fights to effectively combat it. But if you win then you can use the tactics you have learned to beat any fight!

Honestly this build is extremely easy to play and very beginner friendly. It also has no personality so I recommend you start over now and make your own character and style. Experiment with everything you find, perhaps make a magic character or a miracle character to see what they can do til you find your comfort zone

Some can be even more overpowered than what I have shown you, but they require more skill to play and often dont get strong till they get good spells and scaling attributes at a high level

Or if you just want to beat the game then keep levelling your vig to 50 and end to 40. You dont get much from them after those levels, but vig is decent all the way to 99 really. An elemental weapon will do for the whole game, but consider making a raw rapier as well for the few fire enemies you encounter. You will find better shields as you progress that have higher str requirements so raise str as and when you need to

By the end-game you will have very high strength for the shields you are using, and can consider branching into dexterity and switching to a normal rapier. Not only will it do more damage with 40 dex than a +10 fire rapier will, but you can add additional damage with charcoal/gold pine resin which you cant do with an elemental weapon. There are also powerful str/dex weapons like the claymore

What follows is up to you really, but now you know the game concepts and how to play the game effectively and easily, you have a strong knowledge base to build upon

Vig/End are overpowered stats currently, because fire/raw weapons can easily cover for damage and every other stat is designed for end-game/NG+, and because the longer you stay alive the easier it is to learn the enemy's capabilities. Even in int, fai, str, dex or quality builds these are core stats because of how universally effective they are.

Shield poking is also disproportionately powered because few enemies can effectively handle shields, and high end shields only further increase this advantage, compared to dodging which can be difficult due to janky animations, weird/lingering hitboxes, because of the extreme penalties of failing a dodge, and because of how easy and effective blocking is

There are a handful of basic tactics that are extremely effective for nearly every situation the game can throw at you. Learning these will trivialise the game, but that's better than rage quitting right lol?

Please share any additional info and feedback with me. Just keep it constructive, ok?

13/04/16 - Guide created

14/04/16 - Changed halberd to rapier because halbers cannot shield poke anymore and have worse moves in general