Spoiler-proof, proof! Starting new on PC, I decided to give a SL1 run a try, after a few frustrations, I decided to cheese the last 1/3rd of the game. I'm no souls professional, so I wasn't able to do the 360 no-scope MLG playthrough, especially with low AGL. And in the end, I decided to go with cheese.

In the bottom left hand corner is basically how I was able to kill 90% of all of the major bosses.

What made the run almost trivial for me was two handing the Royal Kite Shield +10. This is by far the easiest way to do SL1.

Rings: Third Dragon Ring, Southern Ritual Band +2, Ring of Life Protection, Chloranthy Ring +2

Executioners Chariot can be a little tricky, but using a 100% physical block shield does wonders. You can also cheese him with holy water as well. Najka for the Southern Ritual Band +2 is ezpz.

If you feel comfortable dodging, then you probably can get away with any set up. For bosses up til Velstadt, I two handed a Mace. The biggest hurdle was Giant Lord, which would one shot me even through shields. Dung pies + holy water is what got me through that fight.

Cheers everyone!

EDIT: I've decided to start a LP on youtube for SL1. I've restarted the game to document my journey again!

The first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qbPPQ8nfvY

I agree with @dudeglove. You are limiting yourself to not level up. Nothing is cheesing at that point.

Very well done though. I am going to attempt SL1 after my current playthrough and record it. See how far I get.

Yep, especially with the stat requirements on everything now. You gotta use what you can, if that means plinking something with a bow for an hour or tossing a hundred knives/bombs.

Also, you people are crazy. Don't think I could force myself to do one of those.

Thanks for all the support. I'm thinking about revisiting some of the optional bosses in the game as well. Gargoyles might be a challenge, but I've thought of a really simple way that involves forbidden sun haha.

You can actually use a decent number of them. You have 6 in each stat, so you basically have 12 STR. You can wield the Broadsword, Mace, Club and Hand Axe for instance. You can also just wield weapons that are out of your stat range. It will inflict a penalty to damage dealt, but it is still manageable. It's not like you do 10% of damage at that point.

@dudeglove: For weapons, the most commonly used at SL1 are the Hand Axe and Mace. Mace is great because enemies are generally weak against Strike weapons. For shields, most people use Blue Wooden Shield or two hand the Royal Kite Shield. People have suggested a Pyro-run, but from my experience, unless you use herbs, the DPS is pretty low for fire spells. I went with the Mace early on until I decided to two hand the Royal Kite Shield and throw holy water urns behind that. Enemies with high def against consumables, I used Toxic and Poison mists + dung pies.

You posion/toxic misted your way through every boss past the halfway point? How's that even possible? Are all of them even vulnerable to posion?

Indeed, I mean I'm not doing an SL 1 run (I don't think I'll ever be that good) but the mace has seen me through the game wonderfully.

The only boss I was not able to Poison was Nashandra.

Interesting. I'm doing it too and am at the beginning of the Shrine of Amana. Been 2-handing the mace as well. Was gonna wait to get an attunement hat to use Pyromancy, but I should have thought to get the ring. Duh. It's been pretty easy and not much different up to this point. I'm wearing Vengarl's set without a helmet and I can take a good beating, but I don't like the look of Vengarl's set so I often switch to lighter armors.

I've fought the Giant Lord a billion times, because of soul farming on previous characters, so I feel comfortable fighting him without getting hit. I'm actually more worried about the Throne Guardians. Hardest bosses in the game for me; no question.

Might have to try that shield. I'll put it off until I run up against a wall, but I'm gonna use the Holy Waters regardless. Overall it's been real fun so far.

Congrats! The idea of playing this game without leveling seems INSANE to me, so good job.

So I decided to restart this character from scratch and document the journey again in an LP. This is the first LP I've ever recorded haha. Feedback is appreciated.

The first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qbPPQ8nfvY

Hopefully this doesn't count as "youtube spam." :(

I enjoyed that, might try the run myself!

@oni: Thanks for the feedback. I've actually uploaded part 2 based on some other comments from people who viewed the video. I added some voice over commentary instead of relying on the youtube annotations. I've also upped the bitrate for the video to increase the quality (in theory). Based on how quickly im going through it though, there might only be 8 or 9 installments.

I know it is extra work for you, but I did really like the quick "Jump to (boss)" annotation links on the first video. If it's not too much trouble, I think those would be very helpful for part 2 and future installments. Great job, though!

PS: Thanks for making me feel like a chump, struggling as much as I am on my SL100+ run, ya big butt!