So I never got very far into Demon's Souls so I never really got a handle on some of the mechanics, namely the way weapon effectiveness works. I am playing as a Pyromancer and found an Estoc and a Bow but I was unable to use them effectively. When I leveled up my stats, I found I was able to use the Estoc. My question is this: is there a way to see what weapon needs what stat in order to use it or are weapons all universally tied to certain stats? Silly question, I know, but hey we all gotta start somewhere.

Highlight the weapon in the inventory, there should be a button to bring up some detailed stats.

Basically a weapons effectiveness in dependent on 4 stats: Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Faith; each weapon will have a letter grade pertaining to each of those stats. If say your using a scimitar it will have an A or B rating for dexterity, maybe D or E rating for strength, and no grade for intellect or faith. This means dexterity will have a major impact on that weapons effectiveness, while intellect and faith have no impact.

Hit triangle on the weapon in the item menu, you can cycle the displays until you see one that says the exact number of each stat you need, it'll say like 14 with the picture of a open hand, you can look on the right for the picture beside the stat.