Article: Hand to hand combat is inevitable in Dark souls. That's why Vitality (health) and Endurance (stamina) are the two most important stats for any player. Stamina is used for all actions by your character including striking, dodging, and blocking, as well as managing equipment load. Points into these stats early is always a safe bet. Endurance has a hard cap at 40 for stamina, meaning you won't receive any more stamina bonuses after that point. However you can continue to increase it for greater equipment load. You can increase your damage by increasing the stat with which your weapon scales, but the benefits early on will be minimal. This is best saved for later in the game. Stability is a rating for shields that determines how much punishment your shield can take before your guard is broken. Poise is a rating for how much you are staggered when you get hit. A higher number for these stats is always better. Having your guard broken leaves you very vulnerable to counterattack. Avoid it at all costs. Although optional, proper use of a shield can be an invaluable defensive option for beginners. A shield is much easier to time than dodging and some enemies may even stagger themselves when striking against it. Your stamina will regenerate faster if you do not have your shield up. This means it is best practice to raise your shield before you are hit, then lower it before the next strike, if you have time. For beginners, find a shield that has a 100% physical defense rating. Otherwise you will still take some damage, even when blocking attacks. Reinforcing a weapon at the blacksmith will give you the most immediate increase in damage, especially compared to stat increases. Neglecting to upgrade your weapons will make the game significantly more difficult. If you don't plan to use a weapon much, it may be best to save the materials for something you will use more frequently. Almost all weapons in Dark Souls are viable. If you keep your starting weapon upgraded, it can carry you through the entire game. Enemies inflict a lot of damage with each hit in Dark Souls and the amount negated by armor is finite. It is important to strike a good balance between equipment load and poise. Lighter armor will give less poise but a faster roll via lower equipment load. All armor and weapons weigh a certain amount. Your equipment load is the percentage of the combined weight of your equipment compared to your burden stat, which is determined by Endurance. It is important to keep your equipment burden below 100% or you will be unable to run or or dodge roll. Lower equipment load (50% or below) will increase the length of your roll invincibility.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Understand the importance of stats. Understand the "hidden stats" like stability and poise. Use a shield. Upgrade your weapon. Assess the effectiveness of armor. Understand equipment load.