i want to attach a status screen shot but i'm at work so i'll have to estimate my stats:

Lvl ~72

Vit 18
End 26
Str 18
Skill 26
Tinge ~22
Arcane 20

thinking back to my first dark souls playthrough i think i ended up with a similar build to the one above. it's kind of a middling "i want to try everything as i'm figuring out the game" build. it's not great but my refusal to put points into vit unless it's absolutely necessary helps a lot with damage output. (they can't damage me if i kill them first!) i only regret putting those last 2 points into arcane to see what the executioners gloves did. not worth it

i'm primarily using evelyn, chikage, and rifle spear. kind of underwhelmed by evelyn and transformed chikage but i also don't have a lot of points in tinge which is something i'm slowly correcting. my guess is that i'll beat the game with a 30/30 skill/tinge build and very few changes to the other stats

just made it to nightmare of mensis. still need to go back and kill amygdala in nightmare frontier. poked into the DLC and got destroyed by time/space distortion axe guy at the top of the stairs. my understanding is that there are some amazing weapons in the DLC and that i need to do the DLC before beating the final boss, wherever that is (probably not in mensis?)

where do i farm gems besides the chalice dungeons? i really don't like the chalice dungeons at all but i think i just need to spend more time in them to learn how the pieces can be sewn together, spelunky-style. but the chalice dungeons are the only place where you get alternate versions of weapons, right? is there a particular dungeon i should be running for loot?